By Carolyn Dryer
It started Jan. 28, 2009, when the Tohono O’odham Nation submitted an application to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to acquire in trust 134.88 acres of land at 91st and Northern avenues.
From the Feb. 5, 2009 issue of The Glendale Star:
One of the state’s largest Native American tribes has big plans for a 135-acre parcel of county island land at the southwest corner of 91st and Northern avenues. The tribe plans to build a hotel, convention center and casino, which would be just a mile north of Glendale’s sports and entertainment district at 91st and Glendale avenues.
A 1986 federal law, Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act, was passed to guarantee replacement of reservation lands lost by the tribe when the federal government constructed Painted Rock Dam. The GBIR lost 9,880 acres to flooding of the land that forced tribal members to move to a 40-acre parcel of the reservation that was not flooded. The law allows the tribe to purchase land from private sellers in Pima, Pinal or Maricopa counties for economic and community development purposes.
(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents leadership of the Arizona Legislature in the case.)
