By Monica Alonzo | Phoenix New Times
Jiivik Siiki sits inside the Wild Horse Pass Resort just outside Chandler. His black hair parted into two long braids that rest on his back, he wears a small silver hoop in each ear.
Siiki is a member of the Gila River Indian Community who values tribal traditions over the structure imposed by the U.S. government that all tribes adopted in the early 1900s. He’s troubled by the ongoing battle his community is waging against the Tohono O’odham Nation over a West Valley casino the Nation wants to build.
His maternal grandmother was Tohono O’odham. He explains in his soothing voice that his community’s approach is not the traditional path.
