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Vol. 11 No. 9 Sacaton, Arizona Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
Gila River Indian NewsP.O. Box 459Sacaton, AZ 85247Change Service Requested
PRESORTED STAN-DARD
U.S. PostagePAID
Sacaton, AZPermit No. 25
By Mihio ManusGRIN Managing Editor
Sacaton - Adam Beach went before
Council on Wed, Aug. 20, with a
business proposal to develop Little
Big Productions, a movie produc-
tion company that would tell stories
from Native America. Beach, along
with his partner Andreas Kidess,
expressed to Council that they feel
Gila River is a prime location for
this endeavor.
Lars Sylvest, who is the
third partner along with Beach and
Kidess, was not present at the
meeting due to a prior engage-
ment.
Before the proposal was
put on the Council agenda, it had
gone through the Economic Devel-
opment Standing Committee
(EDSC). The EDSC recom-
mended that Council have a third
party review and due diligence of
an executive summary of the ex-
pansion plan. The EDSC also rec-
ommended to have the Law Office
prepare a resolution for Council au-
thorization that would be presented
to Council for further consideration.
In his proposal to Council,
Beach said that Little Big Produc-
tions would produce, develop and
sell movies with a Native American
spirit. However, that wouldn’t be
the only market the company would
target. He said they would also ac-
Little Big Productions could finda home in Gila River
Little Big Page 2
Golden Globe nominated actor, Adam Beach addressed Councilwith a proposal to develop a movie production company here on theCommunity. (GRIN Photo - Mihio Manus)
Transfer Agreement brings 411Slots to Gila River Casinos
Rhodes and Allison-Raygain Governor candidacyin Primary Elections
By Mihio ManusGRIN Managing Editor
Sacaton – When it camedown to it, Governor WilliamR. Rhodes and Lt. Gov.Jennifer Allison-Ray werethe candidates that voterschose to put on the ballotfor Governor in the 2008General Election.
For the seat of Lt.Governor, Community Man-agers Joseph Manuel andTina Notah-Enas nabbedenough votes to be placedon the ticket as well.
Unofficially, Rhodesearned 33% of the voteswith 586 votes in support ofhim. Allison-Ray carried15% with 270 votes cast forher. In the race for Lt. Gov-ernor, Manuel held on to thelead at 28.29% with 503votes barely edging Notah-Enas who received 28.01%with 498 votes.
Notable efforts weremade by Donald R. Antone,Sr., who with 195 votesearned 11% of the votes forGovernor and Malcolm Es-chief who received 370votes which translated to21% of the votes for the of-fice of Lt. Governor.
Leading up to thePrimaries, the candidatescontended for office by par-ticipating in a series of fo-rums. The forums gave thecandidates the opportunityto address the Communitywith their concerns, plat-forms and general aspira-tions for the direction of theCommunity. During the fo-rums, candidates weregiven five minutes to ad-dress the audience, afterwhich time the floor wasopened up to questions.
Manuel and Notah-Enas take top spots as can-didates for Lt. Governor
See Primary ElectionsPage 7
By Mihio ManusGRIN Managing Editor
Wild Horse Pass – The Gila River Indian
Community entered into a new agreement
with Navajo Nation allowing the Gila River
Gaming Enterprises (GRGE) to operate an
additional 411 slot machines.
The transfer is part of a historic
pooling agreement between the Navajo
Nation and three other gaming tribes in-
cluding the Giila River Indian Community,
the Fort McDowell Yavapai Apache Nation,
and the Tohono O’odham Nation.
The agreement between GRIC and
the Navajo Nation is authorized by the
2003 Tribal State Gaming Compacts,
which allow non-gaming Arizona Tribes to
transfer slot machines to tribes with gam-
ing facilities.
See Transfer Page 7
Page 2 Gila River Indian News Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
William R. Rhodes, Governor
Jennifer Allison-Ray, Lt. Governor
Gila River Indian CommunityP.O. Box 97, Sacaton, AZ 85247520.562.9500 www.gric.nsn.us
Arthur Felder, Tribal Treasurer John Giff, Community Council Secretary
LETTERS POLICY: GRIN welcomesletters and columns from readers. Let-ters should be limited to 200 wordsand be in good taste. Material thatcould be libelous or slanderous is notacceptable. All letters or columnsshould be signed with the writerʼs truename, address and telephone numberin the event GRIN may need to contactthe writer. Only the name of the writerwill be printed in the paper. Letters orcolumns without a complete signature,name, address or phone number willnot be acceptable to GRIN for publica-tion. GRIN reserves the right to editsubmitted materials for grammar,spelling and content.
Write to:Editor, GRINP.O. Box 459
Sacaton, AZ 85247
Published letters or columns do notnecessarily reflect the opinion of the
editor or Gila River Indian Community.
District #1: Arzie HoggAugustine Enos
District #2: Jewell Whitman
District #3: Rodney JacksonMyron Schurz
District #4: Malcom EschiefRebecca RoweDarrell GerlaughJohn Antone
District #5: Brenda RobertsonCecil LewisFrank Pablo, Sr.Delane Enos
District #6: Anthony VillarealAlbert PabloTerrance B Evans
District #7: Devin Redbird
Material published in the Gila River Indian News may not be reproduced inany form without consent from the Gila River Indian Community.
Gila River Indian News
MIHIO MANUSmihio.manus@gric.nsn.us
GRIN Managing Editor
JERI THOMASjeri.thomas@gric.nsn.us
GRIN Office Manager
GINA GOODMANgina.goodman@gric.nsn.us
Receptionist
Phone: (520)562-9715, 9716, 9717Fax: (520)562-9712
Email: grin@gric.nsn.uswww.grin.nsn.us Gila River News
Congratulations!
Blackwater Community School
had 102 students who had PER-
FECT ATTENDANCE in the month
of August. That meant that they
were at school everyday, on time
and did not leave early. We are
very proud of our students. We
know that every minute counts!
These students received $25 gift
cards from a store of their choice.
They are working towards getting
perfect attendance for the year so
they can earn a 42” Flat Screen
TV, a computer or a Wii Video
Game. Great Job!
102 students from Blackwater Commu-nity School get Perfect Attendance
Membership weighedheavily on the minds of most Com-munity Members attending pre-sentations of the TribalConstitution Reform Project in Au-gust. Task Force members andstaff visited each District and theUrban Members Association inPhoenix as part of the Public Infor-mation Campaign phase of theProject. During theses visits, theTask Force members presentedan overview of the Project and asummary of the Community’s Con-stitution. Presenters also sharedsurvey results and continued gath-ering information on what Commu-nity Members would like to see intheir Constitution.
Many members agree thatthose who live off of the reserva-tion for more than 20 years shouldnot automatically lose member-ship. “To me, you are always amember of the Tribe no matterhow long you are away,” said oneanonymous commenter from Dis-trict 5.
However, opinions variedon the topic of blood quantum.Some members want to see theblood quantum increased or makethe Indian blood requirement spe-cific to Pima or Maricopa. Others
want to see the blood quantum re-duced or for decendency to beconsidered for membership qualifi-cation. Still, many others wouldlike to see membership require-ments remain the same.
Because constitutional re-form is an historical event, theTask Force recorded each presen-tation and the discussions that fol-lowed. Additionally, the TaskForce asked attendees to fill outcomment cards. The recordingsand comment cards will serve theTask Force in further evaluatingthe sections of the Constitutionthat the membership would like tosee revised as well as what theCommunity wants to see in anynew sections.
District presentations re-main a crucial method of directcommunication between the TaskForce and the community mem-bership. . There are a few addi-tional meetings scheduled inSeptember.
If you missed your Dis-trict’s presentation, or if you needadditional information, contactyour district representative or theProject Manager, Gerald Cal-nimptewa at (520) 562-9757/ Ger-ald.Calnimptewa@gric.nsn.us.
Constitution Task Force findsmembership is on the minds ofCommunity Members
quire scripts for commercial films
which would appeal to a broader
demographic.
The intention of Little Big
Productions, according to Beach, is
to bring movie production to Gila
River, create employment and
hopefully a buzz surrounding the
endeavor.
The Economic Develop-
ment Department has met with Lit-
tle Big Productions for the past year
and reported to the EDSC. Eco-
nomic Development has also been
gathering information and refining
this proposal to best fit the eco-
nomic needs of the Community.
According to Robin
Fohrenkam, Planner with GRIC’s
Economic Development Depart-
ment, the project would be a joint
venture with Gila River being the
initial investor. At a later point, Lit-
tle Big Productions and the Com-
munity would jointly approach other
Native nations to become part of
this venture.
“Gila River is already home
to a film school of budding and very
talented film makers through the
Employment and Training Depart-
ment under the direction of Mrs.
Lana Chanda,” said Fohrenkam.
Employment and Training
has developed a project called Edit
Box where a production teams film,
edit and produce short films as a
part of a film making class. Team
member, Ruben Ringlero has ex-
plored many possibilities for initial
projects with Beach’s Little Big Pro-
ductions. Most notably, a script
written by one of the students,
Robert Jackson is one of the first
projects to be considered by Little
Big Pictures.
During previous visits to the
Community, Beach visited the film
making school in Gila River and
said that it was exactly what Little
Big Pictures would like to expand
upon.
The proposal was not met
without skepticism. District 2 Coun-
cilman Jewel Whitman told Beach
that many people promise to bring
industry to the Community and in
their proposals, they commit to hir-
ing Community members. How-
ever, Whitman said that when it
comes time to staff, tribal members
aren’t always hired.
Beach responded that one
goal is to eventually build a studio
that will train Community members
in all aspect of movie production
from building studio sets and be-
coming sound engineers to writing
screenplays and being cast in roles.
D4 Councilman, Darrell
Gerlaugh asked what Little Big Pro-
ductions’ portfolio currently looked
like. Gerlaugh inquired as to what
investments both Beach and
Kidess have to use in developing
the company. According to Kidess,
Little Big Pictures does have a port-
folio and slate of projects at its dis-
position. These projects range from
ideas such as a Pixar-type ani-
mated movie called ‘The Return of
the White Buffalo’, to a life action
adaptation of the comic book
Little Big from page 1‘Turok: Dinosaur Hunter’ to finished
scripts such as ‘Wagon West’.
Because Little Big Produc-
tions has asked Gila River to be a
partner in this endeavor, they have
held off in approaching other tribes
for investments until the Community
has made a final decision.
In the proposal put before
Council, Beach and Kidess are ask-
ing the Community for a $5M in-
vestment which will go towards start
up costs to develop the movie pro-
duction company here within the
Community.
The Council motioned to
have a third party law firm, Dorsey
& Whitney, review the business
plan and then come back with rec-
ommendations to the Community
Council on the best way to ap-
proach investment into this project.
Adam Beach is a Golden
Globe nominated actor who is of
Saulteaux descent. The Salteaux
are a branch of the Ojibwa from
Canada. Beach has starred in nu-
merous films ranging from Chris
Eyre’s Smoke Signals to the Clint
Eastwood epic Flags of Our Fa-
thers, where he portrayed Commu-
nity member Ira H. Hayes.
Andreas Kidess is a Ger-
man-born film director. Kidess has
directed several short films includ-
ing “My Brother” and “Meet The
President”. The latter of which re-
ceived 2002 Music Video Produc-
tion Assocation (MVPA) Director’s
Cut award and was screened at
several film festivals throughout the
US. He also directed “Sawtooth”, a
movie written by Jason Rainwater
that featured Beach, Garry Farmer
and Georgina Lightning.
Lars Sylvest founded Lon-
don-based Brass Hat Films Ltd., to-
gether with Nick Hamson. Since its
formation, Brass Hat Films have fi-
nanced and co-produced produc-
tions with a combined volume in
excess of $380 million, including
Premonition (Sandra Bullock / Co-
lumbia TriStar); Dreamer (Kurt Rus-
sel / Dreamworks), Shopgirl (Steve
Martin / Disney), Death Sentence
(Kevin Bacon / 20th Century Fox),
Trade (Kevin Kline / Lionsgate) and
Other End of the Line (MGM).
Brass Hat Films are currently in
pre-production on the $80million re-
make of the ‘70s hit TV series The
Persuaders.
By Emmett S. White, D5
There was a Ma:hkai
(Medicine Man) by the name of
Pi’ thoichu (Gekko) who predicted
that many things would come be-
tween the people and turn them
towards each other. He said
there would come a time when a
separation of clans, families and
children would occur. This be-
came apparent when people be-
came a very angry society and
relations accused each other of
improprieties- cheating, stealing,
lying and deceit. The children fol-
lowed the hostility of the parents
and grandparents and began to
treat other children with violence
not knowing the reasons why.
This kind of behavior would go on
for generations and Pi’thoichu
had died in the meantime but his
predictions holds true.
Then one day a man
came to the people by way of the
river. He came floating down the
water on a raft with two other
men who rowed and guided the
raft. He was a tall handsome man
with shoulder length hair and
crystal blue eyes. He wore a long
purple robe and sandals much
like the ga’gigtha (O’Otham san-
dals) the people wore. He spoke
the language of the people and
began talking as it came to the
shore. He never stepped onto the
ground but remained on the raft.
For days he talked about love, re-
sponsibility and forgiveness. He
talked about the children, he
talked about the four legged, the
two legged and the crawling crea-
tures. He talked about the water
creatures, the creatures that fly in
the air, the clouds, the sky and
the stars. He talked about the
trees and the mountains and the
water and the importance of all
these in our way of life. He talked
to many of the people who came
to listen to what he had to say,
sometimes just out of curiosity.
Some people ignored his words
and went away only to return to
the way they lived amid the evil
and the hatred. Others heard him
and began to practice the good
things of life that he talked about
and it spread to even the worst of
the worst. The people began to
live in a comfortable atmosphere,
always reminding themselves of
the Himdagi.
No one bother to ask the
man his name or where he came
from or what ever happened to
him. Who was he? What was the
reason he came to the people at
that particular time?
Today, we can only
guess. Some of the people are
still caught up in the predictions
of Pi’thoichu, unwilling to forgive
the past for reasons of their own.
Is there room today to change
and live with respect, of responsi-
bility and reverence? If we are to
remain Akimel O’Otham, let us all
think about what this man who
came and said about the simple
ways of love, responsibility and
forgiveness for people, places
and things and obtaining a hap-
pier way of life. Let us began to
change.
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 3
Early Voting by mail REGISTERED VOTERS,
MAKE SURE YOUR VOTE COUNTS!
Voting by Mail is a way for tribal members to
vote without the ID requirements needed at the
polling place. Contact your county recorder to
request an early ballot. The only ID requirement
used in early voting is that the signature on your
early ballot will be compared to the signature on
your voter registration form.
When completed, your early ballot can be
mailed back to the County Recorder or, if you so
choose, brought to any polling location in the
county on Election Day.
Important Dates:
October 9th Early Ballots mailed October 24th Last day to request early ballot from County Recorder November 4th Presidential General Election For more information contact the Secretary of State’s office at (877) THE-VOTE or visit http://www.itcaonline.com
DISTRICTS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
DATE
EVENT
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008
VOTER REGISTRATION OPENS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION: New registrations or any changes/corrections to your existing voter registration status (i.e., married, moved, etc.).
OCTOBER 1, 2008
Community Council certifies election results of Primary Election
OCTOBER 7, 2008
VOTER REGISTRATION CLOSES for new registrations, changes, etc.
OCTOBER 11, 2008
Training on Absentee Balloting for District & Chief Election Judges
OCTOBER 14, 2008
ABSENTEE BALLOTS ARE AVAILABLE for the General Election
NOVEMBER 1, 2008
Election Officials Training for the General Election
NOVEMBER 3, 2008
Tabulation Training for Election Officials ABSENTEE VOTING CLOSES @ 5:00 PM
NOVEMBER 4, 2008
GENERAL ELECTION for Distr icts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
NOVEMBER 7, 2008
5:00 pm deadline to a file protest to the November 4th General Election. Protest must be filed in writing to the Community Council Secretary.
NOVEMBER 19, 2008
Community Council to certify the election results of the 2008 General Election.
For further information on this schedule, please call (520) 562-9735, 9758
Letters
Dear Editor,
Hello, I am sending you this here
brief note in regards to the article
in the July ’08 issue of the GRIN
that you reported on behalf of the
Per Capita on page 4. Now I am
confused, due to the fact that you
had mentioned about an applica-
tion having to be submitted; is
there a specific application that is
needed to be submitted? I am cur-
rently incarcerated and am con-
cerned about this application that
you have mentioned about in your
article. I have my current address
and information updated with the
Enrollment office; is this the only
part of the application process that
you have mentioned about? If
there is a specific application that
needs to be submitted, may you
please consider in providing me
with the info of who I need to con-
tact for this application.
Sincerely,
Bryant Thomas
A Man Who CameWhen Wilma Thurman-Pablo was
a young girl she was a terrific ath-
lete and had an infectious laugh.
In 1963, she was chosen by our
people as the first Miss Gila River.
On September 23rd, after a life-
time of hardships and triumph, of
joy and sorrow; Gila River laid its
first Miss to rest. Wilma was the
prototype of what this community
expects of its titleholders: intelli-
gent, graceful and strong. She
was proud of each and every ex-
ceptional woman who carried her
title and welcomed each into the
Sisterhood of Miss Gila Rivers.
We, as the collective of for-
mer Miss Gila Rivers, feel of the
loss of our founding sister. Each of
us has felt the pressure of filling
her traditional sandals and living
up to the standards she created.
She taught us that we were more
than mere beauty queens who
won a contest - we were ambas-
sadors. We were entrusted with a
duty and responsibility to our com-
munity selected based our knowl-
edge and personality. Our reigns
have brought us closer to our edu-
cational goals, our culture and our
community, but none of us could
have experienced this if it were not
for her and her inaugural reign.
We owe so much to our founding
queen.
With a heavy heart we bid
farewell to our predecessor. We
presented a heart shaped wreath
of 45 roses, one for each Miss
Gila River she inspired and influ-
enced throughout her lifetime. As
we say goodbye, we must thank
God for her: the example she left
for all of us, the love she had for
her community & family, for her
beautiful smile and tremendous
fast pitch!
Our prayers and hearts go
out to the family & friends she left
behind. We will all miss her im-
mensely.
On Behalf of Every Miss Gila
River,
Cher Thomas Miss
Gila River 2004
Gila River says goodbye to it’s first Miss
RAP Application?
Dear Gila River Indian Commu-
nity,
My name is Cynthia Lin and I am
a research fellow at the National
Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences. I am doing a study
examining pesticide use and dia-
betes in Pima Indians. For this
study, I need information about
what kind of pesticides were
used in the 1970s. If you (or
your parents or grandparents)
farmed in the 1970s and 1980s,
you could help provide some crit-
ical information. Please contact
me at lincy@niehs.nih.gov or
919-541-0383.
Thank you in advance,
Cynthia Lin
Research study on Pesticide use, Pima FarmersCorrection to Ovations article, Aug. ‘08, pg. 14.
The opening date is November 20 – the GRIC Com-
munity celebration is from noon to 3pm that day at the
new Lone Butte Casino. Attendees must be 21 years
of age or older.
The 75% is a goal however, what is being used to get
to that goal is the current hiring policy of native and
tribal member preference.
By Mihio Manus
GRIN Managing Editor
Sacaton - It’s a Wednesday night
at the youth home and kids are
running around, playing basket-
ball and enjoying shaved ice and
popcorn. Parents are sitting at
picnic tables and kids are bounc-
ing around in the jumping gym.
The atmosphere is calm and the
breeze is cool.
Tonight is Family Night at
the Residential Youth Home in
Sacaton. It’s a special night be-
cause along with visiting parents
and family, the kids are welcom-
ing Governor William R. Rhodes
and members of the Community
Council.
Trina Hart and her staff
host Family Night once a month
as a way for residential children
to get together with their families
in a less stressful, positive envi-
ronment. Hart is the Administra-
tor for the Residential Program
for Youth which is a department
of Tribal Social Services.
Upon completing a tour of
the facility, Governor Rhodes
asked, “What can I do to help?”
Hart tells the Governor
that the program needs someone
to help ‘push’ for a new building to
be built. She hopes to see new
digs that would provide more
space for more kids. As it stands
the home can accommodate 24
children and there are currently 18
living there.
Hart said, “The goal is to
have small cottages where every-
one will have their own room and
space.”
The Governor tells her that
according to the revenue allocation
plan the GRIC government needs
to allocate money to ensure the
operation of it’s community depart-
ments and programs. As such, he
says that he’d like to see more
money appropriated towards pro-
grams like the Residential Youth
Home.
“Where are the parents?”
asked Governor Rhodes.
Although there are parents
present, Hart said that more often
it’s the family members who at-
tend. The kids who live in the
home are wards of the children’s
court and have all at one time or
another been involved with Child
Protective Services. Some are
there because their parents have
failed to comply with their proba-
tionary terms with the courts.
“Because substance abuse
has overrun our community, some
parents are not ready (to take cus-
tody),” she said.
Hart said that money for
the program was appropriated
seven years ago but it was only
two years back when they were al-
lowed to start remodeling the cur-
rent home. They’ve done what
they could with the space they
have. Walls have been knocked
out to make room for play space,
new beds and mattresses have
been brought in, and the rest-
rooms have been given new stalls,
tiles and showers.
Still, the state of mending
holes in the walls is constant. “Be-
cause of the temperament of some
kids, we’re constantly repairing
holes in the walls,” she said.
“Some kids are angry and destruc-
tive.”
The repercussion of bad
behavior is not swept under the
rug at the youth home. It is dealt
with immediately. The residents
must help in repairing the damage
they’ve caused and they also must
work off the cost of the repairs.
Doors are also an amenity
here, where the kids can lose their
door privileges if they are consis-
tently being slammed or kicked.
When a child loses his or her door
they have the opportunity to get it
put back on by exhibiting good be-
havior. It’s not unusual for doors to
be taken off and put back on in the
same week or even a couple of
times during the month. The latter
case being when it takes longer for
a child to earn their door back.
As stated before, the cur-
rent facility can accommodate up
to 24 residents. It’s comprised of
three wings that split the residents
into age groups and separates the
boys and girls. Currently, the resi-
dents range in age from 11 months
old to 18 years old. When the resi-
dents reach 18 years of age, they
become old enough to leave which
is known an as “aging out”.
Plans for a new facility in-
clude an independent living area
where those kids who are about to
“age out” would be given the op-
portunity to stay in the home for a
little longer while making the tran-
sition back into living in the Com-
munity. It would also facilitate the
need for transitioning resi-
dents, not “aging out” but re-
turning home, back into home
life.
Hart says there have been
cases where residents are re-
turned back to their parents
and have a hard time adjusting
into a normal home life. In
these cases, the children nor-
mally end up back in the facility
because the parents aren’t
able to deal with them.
She hopes that a transi-
tional living area would ease
the pressures of returning
home while giving the staff the
opportunity to iron out issues
the children might have when
returning to life with their par-
ents. “We have plans and
ways we want to keep the fam-
ilies involved,” Hart said.
Councilmen Malcolm Es-
chief, D4, Arzie Hogg, D1, and
Jewel Whitman, D2, were also
on hand to tour the facility and
give insights into how the Resi-
dential Youth Home could work
with the different standing
committees to help move the
plans forward for a new build-
ing.
Lt. Governor Jennifer Alli-
son-Ray also toured the facility
earlier that day and according to
Hart, she expressed the same
concerns that Governor Rhodes
did.
It would be hard not to walk
away from this visit unaffected. To
see children who are separated
from their families, who are some-
times angry but still retain the inno-
cence and drive to live life to the
fullest as only a child can. But
there is comfort in knowing the
staff of the Residential Youth
Home is consistently putting their
best foot forward in nurturing the
development and security of the
children who reside here.
On his way out, the Gover-
nor told Hart, “We’re moving this
up on our priorities.”
Page 4 Gila River Indian News Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
Governor Rhodes, Council visit Residential Youth Home
Clockwise from Above Left: A view through the window of one of the rooms. Trina Hart(left) and Governor Rhodes talk about the youth home. Councilmen Whitman (left), Hogg(middle) and Eschief (right) tour the living area of the older residents.
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 5
GILA RIVER YOUTH FOOTBALL AND CHEER
2008 SCHEDULE:
“ALL AMERICAN DUST DEVILS”Head Coach:
MikeTashquinth COLOR: Silver and Black
DATE: TIME: VENUE: OPPONENT:
9/13/2008 2:00PM Sacaton Middle School Gila River Raiders
9/20/2008 8:00PM Tartesso Park Buckeye Bolts
Buckeye, Az
9/27/2008 12:00PM Sacaton Middle School Gila River Raiders
10/11/20008 10:00AM Tartesso Park Buckeye Bolts
Buckeye, Az
10/18/2008 8:00PM Tartesso Park Buckeye Bolts
Buckeye, AZ
“Pee Wee” Head Coach: Leon Manuel
9/13/2008 12:00PM Sacaton Middle School West Valley Hurricanes
9/20/2008 8:00AM Friendship Park West Valley Cougars
Avondale, AZ
9/27/2008 10:00AM Sacaton Middle School Cave Creek Warriors
10/04/2008 12:00PM Sacaton Middle School Southeast Jr Devils
10/11/2008 10:00AM Camelback HS South Mountain Team AZ
Phoenix, AZ
10/18/2008 12:00PM Sacaton Middle School Gilbert Dawgs (Silver Team)
“Mighty Mites” Head Coach: Joseph Manuel
9/13/2008 10:00AM Sacaton Middle School Cave Creek Coyotes
9/20/2008 8:00AM Tumbleweed Park Chandler Rattlers
Chandler, AZ
9/27/2008 8:00AM Boulder Creek HS Desert Highland Wolfpack
Anthem, AZ (Silver Team)
10/04/2008 10:00AM Sacaton Middle School Southeast Valley Destroyers
10/18/2008 10:00AM Sacaton Middle School Chandler Rockets
“All American Raiders” Head Coach: Lloyd Gray
9/13/2008 2:00PM Sacaton Middle School Gila River Dust Devils
9/27/2008 12:00PM Sacaton Middle School Gila River Dust Devils
10/04/2008 2:00PM Sacaton Middle School Buckeye Bolts
10/11/2008 8:00PM Tartesso Park Buckeye Bolts
Buckeye, AZ
10/25/2008 2:00PM Sacaton Middle School Casa Grande Cyclones
Please come out and support your Gila River Raiders ALL AMERICAN team!
Any question contact David Yesk 520-562-2025 or Leon Manuel 602-908-6598
ETAD
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!
The Gila River Indian Com-
munity Utility Authority (GRICUA) is
interested in becoming your Electric
Utility!
GRICUA was started to pro-
vide low cost power to Community
members and we are doing just
that. Today, GRICUA serves ap-
proximately 290 customers and we
are interested in serving you. Any
on-Reservation, residential cus-
tomer currently served by the San
Carlos Irrigation Project (SCIP) is
eligible.
GRICUA is extending an in-
vitation for you to switch your exist-
ing electric service from SCIP to
GRICUA. Residential customers
that have switched are experienc-
ing an average of 6% monthly sav-
ings. For example, a customer that
uses 1300kWh per month has a
payment of $155.49 with GRICUA
compared to $165.84 with SCIP, for
a savings of $10.35 per month or
$124.20 per year. There is no
charge for customers to switch and
GRICUA is currently not charging
any deposits when you switch from
SCIP to GRICUA.
To switch to GRICUA you
will need to complete an Agreement
for Service, and an Exhibit E. Once
submitted, GRICUA will handle all
the paperwork and GRICUA will ex-
change your existing electric meter.
Once the meter is exchanged,
GRICUA will be your new service
provider. For more information on
making the switch please feel free
to stop by the office at 6640 W.
Sundust Rd, call us at 520-796-
0600, or view our website at
http://www.gricua.net
Want to save money on your electric bill?
By Johnny Federico
Design Engineer
GILA RIVER INDIAN COMMUNITY
District One Service Center Phone: (520) 215-4471
Route 1, Box 94-G Fax: (520) 215-3831
Coolidge, Arizona 85228
Gila River Indian Community District One-Blackwater Community
Roads Improvement Project-Phase II; Right of Way Consents
Friday, September 05, 2008
District One is trying to locate the following individuals for the District One-Road Improvement Project Phase II-to obtain Right-of-Way (ROW) Consents from the following individuals below: The Road Improvements would greatly benefit you and all the community residents, as they provide access to homes of your family members, local churches, and other momentous facilities within the community. They would also be utilized by emergency response vehicles (police, ambulance, fire, DPW trash pick up, school buses, Safe Ride) and other community vehicles that provide transportation services to the residents. Air quality will also improve, by reducing the dust in the area. In addition, the road construction will be an overall improvement to the community. If you should have any questions, please contact the Project Administrator at the District One Service Center at (520) 215-4471. 1. Juanita Johnson 2. Gerald Thomas 3. Peter Thomas Jr. 4. Betty Gustin Lewis Herrington 5. Hazel Jackson Makil 6. Kenneth Marrietta 7. Joseph Ellis 8. Charles Jose 9. Malrow Jose III 10. Lafayette Johnson 11. Margaret Johnson 12. Charlene Jackson 13. Loretta Jackson 14. Rosanna Jackson 15. Hazel Makil Jackson 16. Lorenzo Jackson 17. Livia Lamb Jackson 18. Rosanna Jackson 19. Arlana Jackson 20. Frelon Jackson 21. Yolanda Jackson 22. David Thomas
Wild Horse Pass - Dr. Ronald J. Areglado, ED. D., was the keynotespeaker at the 4th annual GRIC reservation-wide teacher in-service.Areglado is currently an elementary school principal in Warwick, RI,the stateʼs second largest city.
In his keynote address, he said, “A number of Native Ameri-can educators told me to never mistake a childʼs ability to learn fortheir background.” Areglado said that he believes that it is themoral imperative of every educator to help adults and young peoplefulfill their own personal hopes and dreams.
The in-service took place at the Sheraton at Wild HorsePass and held the theme of “Weaving Our Past Through Educa-tion, To the Future”. Throughout the course of the day, teachersparticipated in breakout sessions including: “Teaching Mathemati-cal Problem Solving”, “Growing Culture in the Garden”, and “PeePa Kavey – People of the West”. These are just a few examples ofthe many sessions the teachers had to choose from.
In closing his address, Areglado said, “I often think of edu-cation in todayʼs world as being a Cinderella story. Thereʼs the slip-per but there is too much foot. We need to make t he foot fit theslipper.”
Teacher In-Service weaves pastto the future through education
Keynote speaker, Dr. Ronald J. Areglado came from Warwick, RI, to speakabout his lifeʼs journey in the education field. (GRIN photo - Mihio Manus)
Page 6 Gila River Indian News Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
By Jeri Thomas
GRIN Office Manager
Sacaton. Breakfast and
lunch service will soon be avail-
able to the public and approxi-
mately 1000 employees housed at
the Governance Center and the
Sacaton Hospital.
Danelle Spring, owner and
operator of the Rez Stop Café, will
offer up the usual cafeteria fare
such as soups, salads, and sand-
wiches. “It will be a balancing act
because I am not here to present
meals at $10 a plate. Most people
are on a limited budget.” However,
she promises and emphasizes
special menu items. On her list is a
gas grill to char chicken and
steaks which will add to the flair
and variety of dishes offered.
Spring has an easy laugh
and an unassuming demeanor. As
we sit to talk about her background
and plans for the café, the first
topic she broached was that she is
new to the Community. Spring and
her brother were raised in Virginia
by her paternal grandparents.
“Let me just tell you I was a
bad kid. I was into drugs and alco-
hol and I didn’t always do so well
in school. Opportunities did not
exist in the small town where I
grew up. It was just black and
white (ethnicities). I had no family.”
At the age of 21 she left
Virginia and the drug lifestyle.
Spring’s intended path was Co-op
Village, thanks, in part, to mom,
Sandra Harvey. It was a reunion of
a lifetime so to speak, because
Harvey was not raised in the West-
end, or the Gila River Indian Com-
munity, for that matter. Harvey was
raised in the state child care foster
system. As an adult, Harvey re-
united with her biological mother
and father.
“Here it is totally different. I
have family here. I have cousins.
It’s ‘nice’ here. There is a sense of
community and everyone knows
each other.”
Spring settled in Co-Op
next to her grandmother, Caroline
Barehand. She subsided on low
paying jobs. It became clear that
this was not the lifestyle she envi-
sioned. She enrolled in business
school and paid for tuition with a
student loan. Spring said “I learned
that when you’re in school you
don’t know anything.” But actually,
this is where she learned com-
puter, accounting, and business
management.
At the prompting of her
grandmother, she prepared and
submitted her paperwork to be-
come an enrolled member of the
Gila River Indian Community. “I
was an adult then and could do my
own paperwork.”
Student loan payments
were imminent. “I was not looking
for the Scottsdale Culinary Institute
in particular, but I knew basic food
preparation. I took a tour of the
campus. The courses looked over-
whelming and challenging. For
those without exposure to culinary
arts, it is basically is a science and
you have to find what people like,”
she said.
As Spring recalls, she was
apprehensive about the GRIC
scholarship process because the
rumor mill had it pegged that
awards were hard to come by.
People told me it would be difficult.
“It wasn’t, she said. “It just took
steps and if you were stuck, some-
one was always available and will-
ing to help.”
“You know, the beautiful
thing about Gila River is they pay
you to go to school. They pay the
school and they don’t ask you to
pay it back. That is unheard of. If
you need to eat, you get a job.”
The Le Cordon Bleu pro-
gram at the Scottsdale Culinary In-
stitute is a 15-month program that
emphasizes techniques. “All chefs
have their own techniques and
they think theirs is the best.” Six to
12 weeks are dedicated to hands-
on training in the school restau-
rants which are open to the public.
She graduated in 2005. When
asked how she felt upon graduat-
ing, Spring said “It was . . . l-o-v-e-
l-y. I was definitely happy and I
had an overwhelming sense of
pride because I accomplished
something.”
“You have to do something
to get something. You have to
work at it. It was hard. It’s not easy.
But it is not impossible. It can be
done. It is not as easy as going to
the store and buying a 40. There
were plenty of bad things/hard-
ships. That is the hard part. But
you have to take pride in yourself
because you never did it before.
You have to keep on going. It’s
easy to give up.”
Her mom’s fellow church-
goers made the connection with
“Taco Bite.” The late Christine Es-
chief quickly became her mentor.
Taco Bite is a family-owned
business located on 51st Avenue in
Gila
Crossing that serves popovers,
green and red chili burros, etc. to
the locals and commuters to/from
the Phoenix metro area. “They did
the best job they could. It was
‘their’ food. Christine is one of
those women in the Community
who was very supportive and an
inspiration in her own way.”
At seven dollars an hour,
Spring did everything she could at
Taco Bite. Eschief was retired from
the health care field and was in-
strumental in the formative years
with what now known as the Ko-
matke Market.
When sales were slow Es-
chief would tell stories of her trav-
els. It was through these talks that
Eschief instilled a sense of how
things were and how things can be
when faced with challenges. She
encouraged Spring that it would be
hard but it could be done.
Spring went to work every
day and managed to put away
savings. Eschief was struck with
cancer. The house is behind the
shop. It was a very hard time for
the family. It was horrible. After she
passed, it was not the same.
Spring pressed onward to
perfect her recipes. “The recipes
are mine from school, my grand-
mother, my mom, and co-workers.”
Spring shared that through the blur
of Alzheimer’s her grandmother in
Virginia professed, “If you treat
people right good things will hap-
pen to you.”
It started happening with
the Entrepreneurship Program
through the Economic Develop-
ment Department. With the assis-
tance of Sally Martinez, Spring
obtained her first micro business
loan.
“I got a big grill, a ‘pig
cooker’ some tease.” Spring also
purchased a tent, tables and
chairs and set up shop at 51st Av-
enue and Pecos Road, across the
Komatke Market because, “You
can’t make business happen when
you’re stuck in your house. I began
meeting people. Lots of people
want to help, they won’t do it for
you but they are willing to help.”
Her calendar quickly filled with cul-
tural festivals—Five Tribes, Mus-
tering-In, and the Sacaton Rodeo.
The Entrepreneurship Pro-
gram connected Spring with the
Business Owners Association.
The best boost came this
past January. It was the culture
fest kickoff for the NFL Super Bowl
sponsored by the Arizona Indian
Office of Tourism. Event organizers
anticipated 10,000 participants to
walk through the gates at Steele
Indian School Park in Phoenix.
Spring partnered with Matt
Kisto, a fellow GRIC business
owner. Jackie Marquez, Spring’s
cousin and dough extraordinaire,
was floured up from the moment
they arrived until the moment they
left. A lot of dough was made dur-
ing those days.
“You need to be real secure
in what you are doing. You can
only sit in your room for so long
when things go wrong. You can
have a plan, but the work is how
you get there.”
Spring rhetorically asks,
“How did I get here? Opening up
shop at the Governance Center
was not my plan. I envisioned get-
ting more concession equipment to
do the festivals because Gila River
lacks retail space.” “But they are
working on that,” she said.
Spring’s life revolves
around her business. Two years
ago she kicked alcohol. “I shop
and look for the best prices. It is
my life. I am not scared to take on
a new direction. The point of life is
to experience new things. This was
an opportunity to change. I went
with it and won the contract.”
“Take a Break at the Rez
Stop” is the motto Spring settled
upon. “Come, enjoy the ambience
and camaraderie. Replenish your
body,” she invites.
Café hours are from 7:30
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There will be
hours when certain menu items
will not be available but the café
will not close.
When asked about flavored
coffees and creams like crème
brulèe, for instance? She quickly
replies, “I make crème brulèe!”
Violà!
Take a Break at the Rez StopThe Rez Stop Café at the Governance Center Will Open Mon,Sept. 29
“You have to do something toget something. You have to
work at it. It was hard. It’s noteasy. But it is not impossible.”
Although the Navajo Nation has ap-
proved gaming and is currently building casinos,
they have been allocated 2,400 slot machines
and an additional 450 machines this past spring.
Not needing the whole of the machines allo-
cated, the tribe placed some 1,050 machines for
its own gaming operations into a pool and invited
other Arizona gaming tribes to bid on them.
The result of which garnered GRIC an
additional 411 slot machines for its own gaming
facilities. The Navajo Nation also negotiated to
lease 180 machines to the Fort McDowell Yava-
pai Nation and 454 machines to the Tohono
O’odham Nation.
Leasing the excess machines came with
a price tag of $7.4M which was paid to the
Navajo Nation at an Agreement Signing Cere-
mony and Check Presentation on Mon, Sept.15,
2008, at 11am. The Ceremony was held at the
Whirlwind Golf Course Club House in Chandler,
AZ.
Governor Rhodes stated that this Agree-
ment is a good example of how the 2003 Com-
pacts are working: “This is a true win-win
situation. Gila River can better serve its casino
patrons and the Navajo Nation receives revenue
that it can use for economic development.”
During the ceremony, Navajo Nation
President, Joe Shirley, Jr., thanked GRIC and
said it was good that the tribes were working to-
gether. “I want to express appreciation to all
three sovereigns,” Shirley said. “We’re all on the
same side. We should be standing together.”
Shirley went on to thank Governor
Rhodes for the lump sum payment amount.
Fort McDowell President, Clinton Pattea
recollected back to May 12th, 1992 when the FBI
and US Marshalls raided six casinos in Arizona
with Ft. McDowell being one of them. Pattea rec-
ollected about their slot machines being loaded
up into Mayflower vans and how Ft. McDowell
stopped the raid. “We said, ‘No, you couldn’t do
that’. We said we have sovereignty, we have self
determination and we want to keep our casinos
open.”
Ned Norris, Chairman of the Tohono
O’Odham Nation, noted that there was a lot of
history sitting at the table and that he was hon-
ored to be in attendance. Norris said the tribes
have come a long way in establishing their sov-
ereignty by gaining the right to operate casinos
through the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act of 1988. “Look at what it takes to fulfill the
IGRA compacts,” he said. “We’ve come a long
way.”
Norris said that through gaming tribes are
able to further provide opportunities within their
communities and address issues that face them.
“We need to address the 3rd world conditions that
exist within our lands,” he said.
Gila River Gaming Enterprises is now au-
thorized to operate 2,686 slot machines at three
Casinos - Wild Horse Pass, Vee Quiva and at its
new Lone Butte Casino scheduled to open the
evening of November 20, 2008, all located in the
Phoenix metropolitan area.
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 7
Along with messages ofchange, the forums sometimes di-gressed into gripe sessions wherecandidates shot from the hip aboutwhat they felt was wrong with thecurrent administration.
At the D3 forum, RichardNarcia told the audience that thepast three years have been frustrat-ing for him because Communitymembers would comment to him onwhat is happening.
“Employees and directorscome up to me at the post office andother places,” Narcia said. “We areon a downward spiral. We need tostabilize our tribal budget. $30 mil-lion dollars could have been spentlast year. We are lacking good man-agement. There is no reason whywe shouldnʼt have banks or shop-ping centers.”
Donald Antone said theCommunity is at a standstill and thatit needs more development both in-dustrial and commercial. “We arenot well organized. We need to re-
build on our stability and credibilityamong our sister tribes, county andstate government,” Antone told thecrowd. “My approach is a commonsense approach.”
Lt. Governor Jennifer Alli-son-Ray expressed concern withthe direction the Community isheaded. She feels that some em-ployees within the GRIC depart-ments are favored and given specialtreatment according to who theyʼrerelated to. Allison-Ray commented,“Progress is slow at the departmentlevel.”
Responding to those whofelt a lack of progress, GovernorRhodes said, “Maybe Iʼm dreamingbut I see a lot of progress. Lookaround you. Look outside yourhouses. Things are getting done.”
Rhodes went on to say, “Ihave been in public service for 44years. We are all public servants.We serve you, the people. If youfeel you want to continue to haveme in office, then vote for me.”
In D4, Lt. Governor Allison-Ray told the audience, “This is myhome community where I grew up.Iʼm fortunate to be a part of this dis-trict.”
She said that sheʼs heardthat people are saying if sheʼselected, sheʼs going to do away withper capita payments. To the con-trary, she said that the people havevoted on it and the plans for pay-ment are in place. She told the peo-ple that the right to vote is soimportant and that there have beenmany Community members whohave fought for this right.
Allison-Ray also said thatthe Community should not severties with congressmen, senators orour sister tribes. She said, “Theseties are as important as the ties wehave to each other as Communitymembers.”
The Lt. Governor said shegets along well with tribes and canwork with anyone from congress-men to senators. She also said thatprogress will not happen within theCommunity when there is inner tur-moil and favoritism existing within
the government. “Iʼm not here toplay games,” she said. “Iʼm seri-ous.”
Governor Rhodes deliveredhis platform with succinct brevity.He told the audience that many ofthe candidates are painting a bleakpicture and that nobody is recogniz-ing the important changes that arehappening within the Community.Houses are coming up, he said, anddevelopment is taking placethroughout the Community andwithin governmental departments.
“Thereʼs still more to do,” hesaid. “Iʼm not done yet but if youhave any problems, come ElectionDay, take care of it at the polls.”
The Governor was one ofthe only candidates that the audi-ence asked questions of. An at-tendee asked what the Governorwas going to do about dealing witha hostile Council. Rhodes said, “Ididnʼt make Council hostile. I be-lieve that now, Council is working to-gether for the people.”
Another asked why hethought there were so many formerGovernors running against him. Heresponded that apparently theseformer Governors want the job. Hesaid, “Itʼs a free election, anyonecan run.”
An member of the audiencesaid, “You say things are progress-ing yet I still see a lot of problems.”
The Governor asked “Whatspecifically?”
“Well Housing is a mess.The Governorʼs response was thatfor the past 15 years Housing hasbeen a mess and that his adminis-tration is just now getting it cleanedup and running.
Rhodes said he felt manycandidates lacked the insight intothe current administration and weretrying to instill fear in the audienceby telling them that the Communityin a ʻdownward spiralʼ and that noprogress is being made. “Theyeven scared me,” he said jokingly.
But the Governor contendsthat heʼs not finished yet and thatthere is much to do by way of hous-ing, employment and gaming.
Primary Elections from page 1
Transfer from page 1
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 9
Mustering In Day FestivitiesIn District Seven we celebrate the valor and commitment our commu-
nity’s veterans and troops have displayed throughout their service in the military.
For over a hundred years our community has helped fight in many wars and still
continue to do so even today.
This year, we celebrated their dedication by hosting our annual Muster-
ing In Day at Cardinal Park in Co-op Village. Our Pee-Posh Veterans presented
colors and the Ira Hayes Post conducted a 21 gun salute to those who have
fallen while serving our country.
Several dance groups and singers arrived to share their culture. The
Bird Singing & Dancing by the River Dance Group from Lehi as well as dancers
from District 4 and Hualapai shared as well. In the evening there was boxing
tournament and a chicken scratch dance with music provided by Papago War-
rior.
It’s always a good thing when we can come together and acknowledge
the sacrifices our troops have made in ensuring our freedom.
Devin RedbirdD7 Councilman
Hualapai Skywalker YouthBird Singer and Dancers
Papago Warrior
Pee Posh Veterans Miss and Junior MissGila River
Photos by Mihio Manus, Jeri Thomas, Devin Redbird and Cher Thomas
Page 10 Gila River Indian News Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
TUCSON, Ariz. - A federal grand
jury in Tucson returned an18 count
indictment against Adam Thomas
Vega, 30, of Tucson, Arizona, for
Theft by Officer or Employee of
Gaming Establishment on Indian
Lands (Counts 1-15) and At-
tempted Evasion of Assessment
and Payment of Federal Individual
Income Taxes (Counts 16-18).
U.S. Attorney Diane
Humetewa said, “The gaming
tribes rely on the integrity of their
casino operations to put money
back into their local communities.
This alleged theft hurts the in-
tegrity of the system. Hopefully
this indictment will send a mes-
sage that such individuals will be
investigated and prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law possible to
preserve the integrity of our Indian
gaming casinos in Arizona.”
The indictment alleges
that between October 2005 and
July 2007, while employed as a
slot floor person at the Desert Dia-
mond Casino in Tucson, Arizona,
Vega created 585 fraudulent jack-
pot override tickets. All of the false
jackpot tickets were for amounts
under $1,200 to avoid generating
a W-2G federal tax withholding
form. Vega submitted the jackpot
tickets to the casino cage cashier
and a total of $664,422.00 was
taken from the casino. Further-
more, the indictment alleges that
Vega failed to report any of the
money earned from creating the
false jackpot tickets as gross in-
come as required by law. He is al-
leged to have evaded the payment
of $23,452 for tax year 2005;
$129,248 for tax year 2006; and
$53,377 for tax year 2007. The
IRS estimates that the Vega
evaded paying approximately
$205,077 in taxes. The defendant
has been summoned to appear on
September 18, 2008 at 11:00 am.
A conviction for Theft by
Officer or Employee of Gaming Es-
tablishment on Indian Lands car-
ries a maximum penalty of 20
years, a $1,000,000 fine or both. A
conviction for Attempted Evasion
of Assessment and Payment of
Federal Individual Income Taxes
carries a maximum penalty of 5
years, a $100,00 fine or both. In
determining an actual sentence,
the judge will consult the U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines, which pro-
vide appropriate sentencing
ranges. The judge, however, is
not bound by those guidelines in
determining a sentence.
An indictment is simply
the method by which a person is
charged with criminal activity and
raises no inference of guilt. An in-
dividual is presumed innocent until
competent evidence is presented
to a jury that establishes guilt be-
yond a reasonable doubt. The investigation pre-
ceding the indictment was con-ducted by the Tohono O’odhamNation Police Department and theU.S. Internal Revenue Service.The prosecution is being handledby Mark Brnovich, Assistant U.S.Attorney, District of Arizona,Phoenix and Danny Roetzel, Spe-cial Assistant
U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona,
Tucson.
Casino employee indicted for embezzling $664,443from Desert Diamond Casino
PHOENIX – George Renteria,19,
of Casa Blanca, Ariz. was sen-
tenced to 75 months in federal
prison by U.S. District Judge Mary
H. Murguia. Renteria pleaded
guilty on January 3, 2008 to rob-
bery after trying to steal a car on
the Gila River Indian Reservation
with co-defendant Traci Jackson.
In the same incident, Jackson, 41,
of the Gila River Indian Reserva-
tion, pleaded guilty to aggravated
assault and was sentenced on
May 19, 2008, to 42 months in
prison.
After meeting the victim at
a bar, Jackson and her friends
claimed that they could not find
their vehicle in the parking lot so
the victim offered the women a
ride home. When the victim
dropped off Jackson, Renteria
came out of the home. Together
Renteria and Jackson tried to steal
the victim’s vehicle. They as-
saulted the victim by beating him
with a baseball bat. After the beat-
ing, Jackson made him get into the
vehicle and drove him into the
desert where the car stalled.
Jackson then left the vehicle and
the victim eventually found help.
The victim suffered serious injuries
from the beating including multiple
lacerations to his scalp, a skull
fracture and a subdural
hematoma.
Renteria was sentenced on
August 27, 2008. The investigation
in this case was conducted by the
Gila River Police Department and
the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion. The prosecution was handled
by Sharon Sexton, Assistant U.S.
Attorney, District of Arizona,
Phoenix, Ariz.
Casa Blanca man sentenced to over 6 years for robbery
Largest casino related theft by an employee in Arizona casino history.
PHOENIX - Secundino Favela, an
illegal alien living in Bapchule,
Ariz. on the Gila River Indian
Reservation , pleaded guilty today
in federal district court in Phoenix
to Conspiracy to Possess With In-
tent to Distribute Methampheta-
mine. Approximately four pounds
of methamphetamine were found
by law enforcement officials in
April 2008 after a search was
conducted at his residence.
In February and April 2008
several purchases of metham-
phetamine were monitored by
Special Agents of the Drug En-
forcement Administration and pro-
vided the basis for a search
warrant. On April 28, 2008 a fed-
eral search warrant was executed
and the search of the residence
yielded, among other things, mul-
tiple assault rifles, handguns and
$76,523 in U.S. currency. A
search of a car on the property
yielded approximately four
pounds of methamphetamine.
Sentencing is set before
Judge Roslyn O. Silver on No-
vember 17, 2008. A conviction for
Conspiracy With Intent to Distrib-
ute Methamphetamine carries a
mandatory minimum sentence of
10 years, to a maximum penalty
of life, in prison, a $4,000,000 fine
or both. In determining an actual
sentence, Judge Silver will con-
sult the U.S. Sentencing Guide-
lines, which provide appropriate
sentencing ranges. The judge,
however, is not bound by those
guidelines in determining a sen-
tence.
The investigation in this
case was conducted by the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the
Gila River Police Department and
the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Of-
fice. The prosecution is being
handled by Howard D. Sukenic,
Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of
Arizona, Phoenix.
Ilegal inBapchulepleads guilty toMeth charge
PHOENIX – Terrell “Teddy” Guerra
Sr., 23 of Laveen, Ariz. was sen-
tenced on Monday, September 8,
2008 to seven years in federal
prison by U.S. District Judge Neil
V. Wake. Guerra pleaded guilty on
June 13, 2008 to Assault with a
Dangerous Weapon.
At the time of the incident
on October 31, 2007, Guerra be-
came angry with his then 18year-
old girlfriend and began to beat
her. She attempted to escape but
he followed her, grabbed her by
the hair and dragged her back to
the house. Guerra assaulted her
for over an hour, beating her in the
head with a pistol as well as metal
bar.
Guerra ultimately apolo-
gized to the victim, but kept her in
his home for approximately 5 days
after the assault. Her mother even-
tually went to the home and found
her daughter, bruised and bat-
tered. The victim suffered serious
injuries including four fractured
bones in her back, severe facial
bruising, as well as multiple contu-
sions and abrasions all over her
body.
The investigation in this
case was conducted by the Gila
River Police Department. The
prosecution was handled by
Sharon Sexton, Assistant U.S. At-
torney, District of Arizona, Phoenix,
Ariz.
Nicholas Villareal, 26, of
Laveen, Ariz. was sentenced in
federal court on September 10,
2008, to 78 months in prison by
U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia.
Villareal had pleaded guilty on
April 3, 2008 to Assault with a
Dangerous Weapon.
The facts showed that on
January 17, 2006, Phoenix Police
responded to a car-jacking in
Phoenix. A description of the
stolen vehicle was broadcast and
police eventually identified the ve-
hicle that Mr. Villareal had stolen.
Police helicopters responded to
assist with the case. While fleeing
from police, Villareal drove the ve-
hicle to the Gila River Indian
Reservation, where tribal officers
joined in the pursuit.
The stolen vehicle was
eventually stopped. Police tried to
apprehend Villareal. Villareal re-
fused to comply with the police.
He then used a sawed off shotgun
and fired in the air, near the police
helicopter. He also fired in the di-
rection of a tribal officer. A tribal
officer returned fire, shot Villareal
in the leg and Villareal was ulti-
mately arrested. No law enforce-
ment officers were injured.
The 78 month sentence
was ordered to be served consec-
utive to a state sentence of 4.5
years prison for the offense that
happened in state jurisdiction.
Thus, defendant was sentenced to
a combined prison term of 11
years in prison for this crime
spree.
The investigation in this
case was conducted by the Gila
River Police Department and the
Phoenix Police Department. The
prosecution was handled by
Sharon Sexton, Assistant U.S. At-
torney, District of Arizona, Phoenix,
Ariz.
Laveen man sentenced to 7 years for assault, an-other gets 78 months
PHOENIX - Officials from various fed-
eral, tribal and state agencies hosted
the inaugural training academy for
new tribal gaming agents the week of
September 11, 2008 at the Mazatzal
Hotel and Casino in Payson, Ariz.
The first of its kind in the
United States, the Arizona Tribal Gam-
ing Regulators Alliance Training Acad-
emy provides new tribal gaming
agents and regulators a better under-
standing of casino operations and the
multiple expectations of their job.
Fifteen Arizona tribes operate
22 casinos in Arizona and generated
$1.94 billion in revenue in fiscal year
2007. Since the Arizona Tribal-State
Gaming Compact went into effect in
2003, tribes have contributed more
than $430 million to state and local
governments.
Forty-five gaming agents and
representatives from 13 tribal gaming
offices attended the training.
The instruction and curriculum
were coordinated by the Arizona Tribal
Gaming Regulators Alliance, the Ari-
zona Department of Gaming and the
U.S. Attorney’s Office. Arizona is the
only federal district in the U.S. with a
dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorney who
prosecutes casino related crimes and
who also works closely with state and
tribal gaming regulators to provide
unique and useful training opportuni-
ties. Organizers hope to provide this
type of training every six months for
new gaming agents.
“This academy is designed to
provide agents with the tools they’ll
need to protect the integrity of a $2 bil-
lion a year industry,” stated U.S. Attor-
ney Diane J. Humetewa. “We hope
the cooperative approach we’ve im-
plemented with tribal and state gam-
ing regulators and our office can serve
as a model for other jurisdictions.”
The Academy curriculum in-
cludes Introduction to Gaming; the Ari-
zona Gaming Compact; Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act; Tribal Sover-
eignty; Problem Gambling; Self-Exclu-
sion Program; Gaming Law
(prosecution, criminal, arrest, and de-
tention); Introduction to Casino Opera-
tions; Licensing Process; Auditing,
Inspection and Compliance; Ethics;
Professionalism; Code of Conduct;
Sexual Harassment; Cheats and
Scams; Investigations and Interview-
ing; Report Writing; Introduction to
Table Games; Slot Operations; Sur-
veillance and Minimum Internal Con-
trol Standards.
“The Arizona Tribal Gaming
Regulators Alliance (ATGRA) Five Day
Training Academy that began this
week at Tonto Apache in Payson was
designed to provide Tribal Gaming
Regulators basic gaming regulatory
skills to inspect, audit and investigate
gaming activities on the casino floor,”
said Courtney Moyah, president of
ATGRA. “These regulatory skills will
enhance the protection of Tribal as-
sets, preserve the integrity of gaming
services to the public, and insure that
unsuitable persons are kept out of the
gaming activities. The Training Acad-
emy will also provide Tribal regulators
a broad background and perspective
of the history of Indian gaming law
and related gaming regulations at the
federal and state level.”
“ATGRA gives recognition and
appreciation to our Arizona Tribal
leaders and the Arizona Indian Gam-
ing Association in their endeavor to
improve and standardize the manage-
ment of gaming regulation,” added
Moyah. “ATGRA also recognizes the
professional training services offered
by our member Tribes, the U.S. Attor-
ney’s Office, the National Indian Gam-
ing Commission, and the Arizona
Department of Gaming.”
“This innovative Arizona train-
ing model—which involves a partner-
ship and sharing of expertise between
tribal, state and federal authorities—is
unique to Arizona,” said Paul A. Bullis,
Director of the Arizona Department of
Gaming. “We believe this is the first
training academy of its kind in the na-
tion.”
This training may also serve
as a deterrent to employee theft.
Adam Thomas Vega, 30, of Tucson,
Ariz., was charged on September 3,
2008 in an 18-count indictment for al-
legedly stealing over $664,000 from
one of the Desert Diamond Casinos in
Tucson. While employed as a slot
floor person at the casino, Vega al-
legedly created 585 fraudulent jackpot
override tickets and submitted the
jackpot tickets to the casino cage
cashier in exchange for cash.
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 11
GILA RIVER POLICE DEPARTMENT
MONTHLY MANAGEMENT DATA
MONTH July YEAR: 2008 PREPARED BY: Denna L. Domingo
CRIMINAL DATA
ASSAULT - OFFENSES REPORTED 12.20% 24.80%
26.90% 18.10%
FORGERY - OFFENSES REPORTED -100% -75%
Same -100%
CRIMINAL - OFFENSES REPORTED 50% -8.10%
44.40% -13.10%
WEAPONS - OFFENSES REPORTED Same -9.70%
33.30% -35.10%
SEXUAL - OFFENSES REPORTED Same 21.70%
CONDUCT ARRESTS MADE
W/CHILDREN 100% -66.60%
D.U.I. - OFFENSES REPORTED -9% -23.50%
-9% -23.50%
LIQUOR - OFFENSES REPORTED 33.30% 3.27%
LAWS ARRESTS MADE 66.60% -6.70%
DISORDER. OFFENSES REPORTED 11.70% 16.80%
CONDUCT ARRESTS MADE -75% -10.80%
CHILD - OFFENSES REPORTED -50% -2.20%
ABUSE ARRESTS MADE Same -62.50%
ARPA - OFFENSES REPORTED Same Same
VIOLATIONS ARRESTS MADE Same Same
CURFEW - OFFENSES REPORTED -60% 72.70%
ARRESTS MADE -75% 64.20%
DRUG - OFFENSES REPORTED 46.60% 19.20%
OFFENSES ARRESTS MADE Same 6.40%
ALL OTHER - OFFENSES REPORTED -11.60% 31.30%
OFFENSES ARRESTS MADE -12.50% 22.90%133 152 1,013 781
9551,392198175
6 6 77 72
5
8 104 84
2 8 14
15
2 5 11 3
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 3 8
1 2 43 44
4 16 66 74
17 15 95 79
9 3 69 74
9 6 61 59
85
10 11 65 85 ARRESTS MADE
10 11 65
1 0 1 3
3 3 23 18
37 41
24 37 ARRESTS MADE 6
5 5
4
9 5 33 38
46 23 247 269
DAMAGE ARRESTS MADE
26 19 132
0 2 4
0 0 0
%
(No weapons) ARRESTS MADE
ARRESTS MADE
108
16
3
233
CURRENT MONTH LAST MONTH % YEAR TO DATE PRIOR YEAR
57 50 310
CRIMINAL DATA CURRENT MONTH LAST MONTH % YEAR TO DATE PRIOR YEAR %
+ OR - TO DATE + OR -
HOMICIDE - OFFENSES REPORTED 0 1 -100% 5 2 60%
ARRESTS MADE 0 1 -100% 2 0 100%
RAPE - OFFENSES REPORTED 5 1 80% 12 11 8%
ARRESTS MADE 0 0 Same 0 1 -100%
ASSAULT - OFFENSES REPORTED 12 5 58% 65 87 -25.20%
(Weapons) ARRESTS MADE 7 1 85.70% 32 44 -27.20%
ROBBERY - OFFENSES REPORTED 0 0 Same 6 9 -33.30%
ARRESTS MADE 0 0 Same 2 1 50%
BURGLARY-OFFENSES REPORTED 9 7 22.20% 52 73 -28.70%
ARRESTS MADE 0 1 -100% 5 9 -44.40%
THEFT - OFFENSES REPORTED 30 37 -18.90% 232 164 29.30%
ARRESTS MADE 2 3 -33% 9 9 Same
MV THEFT-OFFENSES REPORTED 13 21 -38.00% 66 137 -52%
ARRESTS MADE 0 4 -100% 9 16 -44%
TOTALS - OFFENSES REPORTED 409 400 2.20% 2,872 2,366 17.60%
ARRESTS MADE 215 234 -8% 1,556 1,368 12.00%
ARREST / DETENTION DATA CURRENT MONTH LAST MONTH % R TO DATE PRIOR YEAR %
+ OR - + OR -
ADULTS - FELONY 3 7 -57% 33 23 30%
MISDEMEANOR 179 194 -7.70% 1,238 1,052 15.00%
TOTAL ADULT 182 201 -9.40% 1,271 1,055 16.90%
JUVENILES - FELONY 0 0 Same 0 4 -100
MISDEMEANOR 33 33 Same 285 274 3.80%
TOTAL JUVENILE 33 33 Same 285 278 2.40%
Not only do teens who use alcohol oftenprogress to addictive behavior later in life, theyare— according to the article “Alcoholism: Clinicaland Experimental Research” (Aug. 2005) from Al-bert Einstein College of Medicine — “at a higher riskfor developing mental illnesses such as depression,suicide, and psychoticism as adults.” Among 12-17year-olds who were current drinkers, 31 percent ex-hibited extreme levels of psychological distress and39 percent exhibited serious behavioral problems. •12-16 year old girls who were current drinkerswere four times more likely than their non-drinkingpeers to suffer depression. •12-17 Suicide attempts among heavy-drinkingadolescents were three to four times greater thanamong non-drinkers. •12-18 Among 8th grade girls who drink heavily, 37percent report attempting suicide, whereas 11 per-cent of girls who do not drink report attempting sui-
cide. Those who start drinking before age 15 are
more than 10 times more likely to get in physicalfights during or after using alcohol.
Alcohol-related injuries are the leadingcause of death among youth. Approximately 5,000people under age 21 die each year from causes re-lated to alcohol use.
Alcohol use among children is strongly cor-related with violence, poor academic performance,unwanted sexual advances, illicit substance use andother dangers. In fact, alcohol use by teens is one ofthe strongest predictors of unintentional teen in-jury—the main cause of death for people under age21, be it by motor vehicle crashes, homicide or sui-cide.
Alcoholism is a terrible fate for a young per-son. They become irritable and moody, as the crav-ing for the next drink is a constant nagging
presence. Getting the next drink becomes more im-portant than grades, sports, or other activities he orshe used to enjoy.
In addition to alcoholism, teens that drinkare far more likely to try illegal drugs. In fact, re-search shows that 67 percent of teens that drink be-fore the age of 15 will go on to use illegal drugs.They are 22 times more likely to use marijuana, and50 times more likely to use cocaine.
This information is brought to you by theDraw The Line campaign. Drawyourline.com.
Please join the Gila River PreventionCoalition at our upcoming meetings. All meet-ings are from 10 am – noon. September 23: Dis-trict 4 Service Center. For more information callthe Gila River Behavioral Health Authority at520-562-3321, ext 7031.
Underage drinking linked to mental health problems
JTG:jlu 898499.1 9/4/2008
NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION
TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF COOLIDGE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 21 OF
PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA:
A special election will be held in Coolidge Unified School District No. 21 of Pinal County, Arizona, on November 4, 2008, at the following polling places:
Precinct Polling Place
Coolidge NE Coolidge Women's Club, 240 W. Pinkley Avenue, Coolidge
Coolidge NW Coolidge Community Center, 670 W. Pima Avenue, Coolidge
Coolidge S HoHoKam Mobile Village, 1925 S. Arizona Boulevard, Coolidge
Randolph St. Paul Church of God in Christ, 3627 E. Bell Avenue, Coolidge
Central Arizona College Central Arizona College Student Services Center, M-101 8470 N. Overfield
Road, Coolidge
11-Mile Corner Pinal County Fairgrounds Building #3, 512 S. 11 Mile Corner Road, Casa Grande
Florence S Jr. High Multi Purpose Room, 225 S. Orlando Street, Florence
Cactus Forest Desert Gardens RV Oasis, 9668 N. Highway 79, Florence
Blackwater District District #1 Service Center, 3745 E. Blackwater School Road, Coolidge
San Tan District District #4 Service Center, Sesame Road W. of Stotonic Road, Sacaton
San Tan Park Mountain Vista Elementary School, 33622 N. Mountain Vista Boulevard,
Queen Creek
San Tan Heights San Tan Heights Elementary School, 2500 W. San Tan Heights Boulevard,
Queen Creek
The polls will open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. The purpose of the election is to permit the qualified
electors of the District to vote on authorizing the District to:
1. Adopt a budget which exceeds capital outlay revenue limit for a period of not to exceed seven (7) years in an
amount not to exceed $1,000,000. To fund the increase in the District's budget would require an estimated tax rate of $0.27 per $100 of assessed valuation used for secondary property tax purposes. In future years the amount of
the increase will be as provided by law.
2. Issue and sell $55,000,000 principal amount of school improvement bonds of the District. The estimated
average tax rate for the proposed bond authorization is $0.45.
Any qualified elector is eligible for early voting. Early voting materials may be obtained by contacting the Pinal County Elections Department, Post Office Box 1592, Florence, Arizona 85232, (520) 866-7555. For more
information about the foregoing, please review A.R.S. §§ 15-481, 15-482, 15-491 and 35-454, or contact the
Executive Director of Business and Planning, Coolidge Unified School District at (520) 723-2044.
Training academy for tribal gaming agents held at Mazatzal
Page 12 Gila River Indian News Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
Tempe Butte (“A” Mountain), Tempe,
Arizona, where the students and faculty of Ari-
zona State University, along with their friends,
gather to watch the warriors of Sun Devil Sta-
dium take on the braves of their opposing foes.
Today, these sporting events rarely
shed blood and both the victor and the van-
quished return to their homes. They will do
battle another day.
This wasn’t the circumstance in the
bloody encounter between the Pima and the
Apache Indians at Tempe Butte in 1851. On
that particular occasion, at least one Pima was
wounded and three Apaches lost their lives.
How do we know of this violent and
bloody event that took place over 150 years
ago? Who prepared the report and upon what
was it recorded? Intriguing questions, indeed,
but they can and will be answered. The reader
will find the answers equally as intriguing as the
questions.
The reader of this account must recog-
nize that very few records or calendars of per-
sonal or tribal interest were kept by the Indians
of Southern Arizona. At the turn of the century
a mere handful of records are known to have
existed. Five, the majority, were located
amongst the Pima (Akimel O’odham) Indians.
The Maricopa (Pee Posh) are known to have
kept at least one record. Those families recog-
nized today as Maricopa, are an amalgam or
composite of five tribes that formerly lived
along the lower Colorado River and Gila River
area. They relocated to the land of the Pimas
around the beginning of the 19th century. The
Tohono O’odham (Papago) of southwestern
Arizona, are a desert people, not a bean peo-
ple, like they had been called in the past. They
are also known to have kept at least one
record. Tradition suggests that these tribes
may have had others, but they have vanished
with time. Some were lost, but most were
buried with their
makers or burned,
as was the Indian
custom. The record
keeper prepared,
maintained and related the historical events he
had preserved. Hence, when the record
keeper, the village historian, died, his record
died with him. They were both usually buried
together.
Of the known Pima record keepers, two
were from the Salt River area east of Phoenix.
Owl Ear was one of the them. He, as well as
the other keeper, were very old men at the time
they were called upon to share their histories.
Juan Thomas, from Blackwater, also main-
tained an account of events. Another record
keeper lived at Gila Crossing. Paul Head is
known to have maintained a record, as did
Benjamin Thomas of Casa Blanca.
The recording by these Pima elders, as
well as those prepared by the Maricopa and To-
hono O’odham historians, were of events of in-
terest to them personally. Theirs was not a
tribal assignment, but was a matter of personal
interest and choice. Their record was not re-
tained in a ledger or a notebook. Nor were
they kept on a string of shells or beads. Not
even a cord of many knots was kept, nor in-
scriptions on a piece of skin or leather. What
they used may seem unusual, but they ingen-
iously utilized material that was available.
Their account of important dates and events
was kept on a stick or cane. Willow, pine and
even sahuaro ribs were the frequent wood of
choice. Their ledger is recognized or acknowl-
edged today as a “record rod” or a “calendar
stick.“
The stick or cane utilized by these men
was generally between three and four feet in
length. The writing, or marking on it, took the
form of notches, scratches and carvings. The
various notches and cuttings served as indica-
tors and varied in size and length. The record
stick often contained dots and symbols of dif-
ferent colors. As special indicators, they were
placed at specific locations on the rod. Some
dots were of a red color, while others of blue,
white or whatever the recorder chose to serve
as a reminder to him. As record keepers, histo-
rians of the day, the men highlighted what they
considered to be important events. Warfare
was always included in a Pima historian’s log.
The same was true for the Maricopa and To-
hono O’odham historians. A figure of a man
was often included. The fierce battle with the
Apache Indians at Tempe Butte was one of
those important occasions.
The notches, carvings and various col-
ored indicators, served as memory aids to the
stick’s owner and interpreter. The sight of the
stick and the touch of its symbols was impor-
tant in the relating of the story contained
thereon. The different years, for example,
were noted by deep notches across the stick.
They were in essence, comparable to notes or
shorthand. The Indian historian would review
his meticulously kept stick and then share with
his audience the important story recorded
thereon. In his own tongue, he would begin,
“that notch means,” etc. There was one sym-
bol that meant the same thing each time and
that was a “T.” It indicated that there had been
a “Tiswin” drinking session, often by all present.
The fermented juice from the fruit of the
sahuaro or agave, made an excellent festival
drink. To anyone, other than the stick’s owner,
the notches, scratches, dots and colors meant
no sense. Perhaps in time, one might under-
stand what the “T” meant, but likely only that
one symbol.
One of the elderly Pima men, who was
living at the time of the Tempe Butte battle,
recorded the dramatic encounter of the day. In
1851, he was a young man, some 28 years of
age. In his older years, following the turn of the
century, he was called upon to share the histor-
ical “writings” on his calender stick or record
rod. By looking at the stick and then giving his
interpretation of its notches, dots and colors,
the battle was recalled. It was just as exciting
and alive in his rendering, as the day it took
place, over 50 years previous.
One could compare his explanation to a
broadcaster announcing an event at the sta-
dium of Arizona State University by means of
modern radio. You hear the excitement and
feel the emotion, as expressed by the speaker,
The Pimas and Apaches BattleA historical account of an 1851 battle
By Don M. MahanSpecial to the GRIN
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 13
instead of viewing the action in person or on a
television set. It could also be compared to
having the day’s happening played back later
on a cassette or tape recording. The event ac-
tually happened, it is history. So to with the va-
riety of information on the record rods or
calendar sticks of the Arizona Indians.
But first, some background or history of
this old Pima Indian, Owl Ear our historian, now
long deceased. He was born around 1814.
His birth and youth were spent along the Gila
River. As an adult, Owl Ear lived the majority of
his life at Gila Crossing. His older years, until
his death in 1914, were along the Salt River
east of Scottsdale, Arizona, where he relocated
to about 1872. His tribe, the Pima Indians and
various other Indian tribes of Arizona, were fre-
quently at war with each other.
The Maricopas were their friends and
close neighbors. The Pimas were also on good
relations with their relatives, the Tohono O’od-
ham, who lived near Tucson and southwestern
Arizona. Alone or together, these tribes often
did battle with the Quechan (Yuma) Indians that
lived along the lower Colorado River. The Mo-
haves (A’ha Macav/Macave) who lived along
the upper Colorado River, were also their ene-
mies. Frequently the Pimas fought the Apache
Indians, their deadly enemy. The Zuni word for
enemy is Apachu, although the Quechan word
means fighting men. The Zuni term was likely
the origin or source of the name, Apache (Inde,
Dne). On occasion the Navajo (Dine or Dineh)
was the Pima’s opponent in battle. The Zuni
word Nabaju was applied to the Dine by the
Spaniards. The Navajos on occasion, joined
force with the Apaches, in a joint venture
against the Pimas. The same alliance likely at-
tacked the Maricopa. As far as the Tohono
O’odham were concerned, the Apache was
their number one enemy.
The warfare between the opposing
tribes was fought, often, just for the sake of bat-
tle. It was like an outing or sporting event for
the men. Women occasionally joined in the
fray. On other ventures, the battles were the
result of a raiding party. Whether a selected
battle or a raid, the Indians all loved a surprise
attack. They also preferred the winter months
for striking unexpectedly. The weather was
extra cold and often accompanied by wind and
stormy conditions. Families would be found
defenseless, huddled together in the shelter of
their village. Along with fallen warriors, women
and children were the frequent victims. Many
were brutally beaten to death with clubs. Their
skulls literally bashed in.
These mortal enemies lived some dis-
tance from each other and it would take up to a
week or more, of walking, before their fierce
and deadly encounters took place. The bow
and arrow, along with knives and clubs were
the weapons of choice. As to the use of the
club, the Indians along the Colorado River, in
particular the Mohaves, were quite adept.
When an enemy attack took place, the event
resembled somewhat the comic strip character
Alley Oop with a huge replica of a masher that
mom used on her potatoes. The result was
similar. Celebrations would take place when
the victorious warriors returned home.
The majority of the notches, scratches
and dots, colored or otherwise, placed by the
various recorders on their personal “record rod”
or “calendar stick” were of battles. Bloody and
violent encounters that they believed should be
memorialized.
The stick, from which the account of the
battle at Tempe Butte was taken, was began as
a calendar and event keeper, in 1833. The
Pima Indian historian was, at that time, but a
young lad of about ten years of age. By 1851,
he had been keeping account of events of in-
terest, for some eighteen years. He had care-
fully notched, marked and colored his rod about
a quarter of its future length of events.
The significant happening of 1851 defi-
nitely needed to be retained. A small raiding
party of Apaches had set out to steal horses
from the Pimas. This endeavor proved to be
unsuccessful, hence they changed their quest
to the Pima’s cattle, which they herded off in
the darkness of night. Mission accomplished,
the Apaches quickly and quietly, headed to-
wards home. The following morning the Pimas
discovered their cattle missing and soon were
in hot pursuit. The excited war party, seeking
recovery of their animals, as well as
vengeance, began to close the distance be-
tween themselves and the fleeing Apaches.
Whereupon, the raiding party of Apaches felt
extremely uncomfortable and quickly aban-
doned the stolen cattle and sought safety on
Tempe Butte. The Apaches may have felt quite
secure, as a little stone wall or breastwork had
been hastily setup on the hill, about one or two
years earlier, by a previous raiding party. The
butte was quickly surrounded by the angry
Pimas.
The Apaches may have had a few guns.
Prior to the year 1851 they had already used
them in battle against the Pimas. Whether this
raiding party had any is unknown, but they
would have had lances along with their bows
and arrows. As to the Pimas, they had as their
weapons a few bows and arrows, along with
many sharp sticks. Their first acquaintance
with the gun was in 1853. This fact is noted on
the record rod of our Salt River historian.
Screaming and shouting, hot words of
anger were first exchanged by the two hostile
parties. The air was quickly filled, not with
choice words, but with flying lances, rocks and
numerous arrows. Kicking and jabbing, along
with the final swinging of a deadly club soon
followed. Then all was silent. Celebrations
would soon began.
Let us now focus our attention, although
briefly, back to the turn of the century, as we lis-
ten carefully to the old Pima Indian. He sets
there in his favorite chair. Quietly, he looks
over his hand crafted account of events, his
calendar stick. Then, without any hesitation, he
rakes his thumbnail across the year notch. In
his native tongue, he next begins to speak,
sharing the historical account of the Tempe
Butte battle of 1851. The interpreter, sitting
close by, then takes the same stick and in simi-
lar fashion, digs his nail into the same notch
and repeats the elderly Piman’s account, this
time in English. To the observer it seems that
both the older gentleman and the younger in-
terpreter have endowed the stick and its notch
with a definite personality in their minds. From
the record rod, that unique moment in time is
simply explained:
“One night four Apaches came to a
Pima village to steal horses, but the Pimas had
tied their horses close to their kees (huts of
brush and grass.) So the Apaches came to the
corral and turned out the cattle and drove them
toward Tempe Butte.
The Pimas followed in the morning.
When they came up, the Apaches left the cattle
and ran to the Butte.
Pimas followed and surrounded the
Apaches on top of the Butte. They killed three
Apaches. One Pima was wounded in the leg,
but he got well.”
The account as recorded, although
brief, is filled with drama and excitement. As
the elderly Pima historian related the account,
one could easily visualize the Apache stealthily
entering the Pima village. Quickly and quietly
they seized their enemies’ prized cattle. The
raiding party then silently disappeared into the
night.
The light of day revealed the emptiness
of the Pima corral. It also shone brightly on the
prints of the departed Apaches and the Pima
cattle.
Blood would soon flow when the Pimas
and Apaches did battle on Tempe Butte.
Tempe Butte apparently was a favorite
place of refuge for raiding Apaches. It had
been used sometime in 1849-1850 by a small
party fleeing from an unsuccessful attack on
the Pima village at Gila Crossing. Again, in
1851, it was a temporary, but deadly place of
shelter, as we’ve just noted. Then a few years
later, near the end of 1857, a band of Apaches
were surrounded on the butte and all killed, ex-
cept one who escaped into the brush. In the
early years, a violent death often awaited those
that scaled the small butte in Tempe, Arizona.
Many thousands of people have been to
the top of Tempe Butte in these modern years.
Looking in any direction, they observe a
sprawling number of cities. Turning their eyes
directly below the butte, they might see a sport-
ing event of one type or another taking place.
Perhaps an event that is collegiate or even pro-
fessional. Unknown to them, immediately be-
neath their feet may lay the evidence or relics
of the long past and forgotten battle of 1851.
Minute particles and bone fragments may still
remain. The same may be said for the
weapons expended that day or in other battles.
The blood stained soil, overlooking the modern
stadium, is still there. It is all forensic evidence
that testifies to the integrity and accuracy of
one man and his life long interest in recording
historical accounts. Whether one chooses to
call his ledger or memory aid, a “record rod” or
a “calendar stick,” really doesn’t matter. His in-
genious material and meticulous manner of in-
dicating important events does.
Our thanks and appreciation are in
order to the Pima, Maricopa and Tohono O’od-
ham historians. In particular, the elderly Pima
gentleman who recorded, maintained and inter-
preted for posterity, the dramatic account of
the 1851 encounter, “when the Pima and
Apache Indians did battle on Tempe Butte.”
Don M. Mahan, a native Arizonanhas written over a dozen historicalmanuscripts on the Southwest. Hismost recent manuscripts were pub-lished by “La Herencia”, in SantaFe, New Mexico and by the Univer-sity of Arizona for the BoyceThompson Arboretum. Don lives inPhoenix, Arizona.
Page 14 Gila River Indian News Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008
September 3, 2008 – Attendees at
TribalNet’s 9th Annual conference
will experience a wide variety of
learning sessions and trend setting
technology information during the
four day event.
The conference will be held
September 29 – October 2 at the
Radisson Fort McDowell Resort &
Casino in Scottsdale, AZ and fea-
tures three focused tracks for
those in tribal government, casino
or general IT operations. High-
lighting the conference this year
are two well known industry lead-
ers that are sure to have an impact
on the future of tribal IT depart-
ments, Mark Sunday, CIO of Ora-
cle Corporation and Chris
Cummiskey, State of Arizona CIO
Sunday will be the keynote
speaker on September 30 at 9
a.m. “Mark’s presentation is titled
“Building for the next generation-
technology, service & environmen-
tal strategies” and is focused on
just that – what tribes can do for
future generations that will have a
maximum impact in technology but
minimal impact on the environ-
ment,” said Shannon Bouschor,
TribalNet Director and Coordinator.
For almost 30 years, Ora-
cle has been helping customers
manage business systems and in-
formation with reliable, secure, and
integrated technologies. The com-
pany is the world’s leading supplier
of software for information man-
agement, and the world’s second
largest independent software com-
pany. Oracle technology can be
found in nearly every industry, and
in the data centers of 98 of the
Fortune 100 companies. Oracle is
the first software company to de-
velop and deploy 100 percent in-
ternet-enabled enterprise software
across its entire product line: data-
base, business applications, and
application development and deci-
sion support tools.
Then, on October 1, atten-
dees will have the pleasure of
learning about Arizona Governor
Janet Napolitano’s technology
agenda from keynote speaker,
Chris Cummiskey. Cummiskey’s
remarks will highlight several Ari-
zona government technology proj-
ects and their impact on tribal
lands including:
•Arizona Health-e Connection
•Arizona 2-1-1
•E-Government Development
•Electronic Mapping
Governor Napolitano has made
government innovation a corner-
stone of her administration. Serv-
ing in the dual role of State CIO
and Director of the Government In-
formation Technology Agency,
Cummiskey serves as a key
change agent for the Governor to
advance her agenda of govern-
ment innovation and transforma-
tion through technology.
Technology can have a power-
ful and positive impact on the lives
of Arizonans and the achieve-
ments of the State can serve as
best practices for tribal govern-
ments. During his tenure as State
CIO, Cummiskey has formed pow-
erful coalitions of business, educa-
tion, non-profit, government and
community stakeholders to swiftly
transform government service de-
livery and implement technology
innovation.
In addition to these inform-
ative keynote presentations that
will kick off each day of sessions,
attendees can choose from sev-
eral breakout and roundtables ses-
sions tailored specifically to their
position in technology and tribal or-
ganizations. Over 60 key technol-
ogy vendors will be available for
one on one meeting to see first
hand the emerging technologies
specific to the tribal industry at a
two-day tradeshow.
Two bookends of the con-
ference include value added train-
ing courses hosted by IBM and
Microsoft available to all confer-
ence attendees. An AS/400 full
day certification program for the
gaming industry will be offered on
Monday September 29 by IBM and
a condensed version of Microsoft’s
SharePoint training course will
close the conference on Thursday
October 2.
The agenda and registra-
tion is available online at:
www.tribalnetonline.com. For
more information on the 2008 con-
ference, please contact info@trib-
alnetonline.com.
Mark Sunday and Chris Cummiskey announced as Keynote presen-ters at TribalNet 9
Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2008 Gila River Indian News Page 15
TITLE 16
CHAPTER 7
ANIMAL ORDINANCE
Enacted by Ordinance GR- -08
16.701 AUTHORITY; PURPOSE; APPLICABILITY
A. Authority. The Community enacts this Animal Ordinance under its inherent
civil, legislative, and regulatory authority. The Gila River Indian Community
Constitution and Bylaws (March 17, 1960) were adopted for the common welfare
of the Community and to provide structure for the Community to enact ordinances
governing conduct within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation.
B. Purpose. The purposes of the Animal Ordinance are to prevent and control the
spread of zoonotic diseases (dangerous, potentially fatal diseases including rabies
that can be spread from Domestic Animals to humans), to establish and enforce
standards for sanitation and safety, to prevent the cruelty and neglect of Animals,
and to preserve the Public’s peace, health and safety.
C. Applicability. This Ordinance shall apply to all Animals within the exterior
boundaries of the Reservation, except for those dogs utilized by the Gila River
Indian Community Police Department. Dogs utilized by the Gila River Indian
Community Police Department shall be subject only to Section 16.705 of this
Ordinance.
D. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be effective ________________, 2008.
16.702 DEFINITIONS
A. “Abandoned Animal” means any Animal left without provision of care or
control by the owner thereof.
B. “Animal” means any living animal, including Domestic Animals, but does not
include Livestock.
C. “Animal Control Officer” means any person designated by the Animal Control
Program to enforce this Ordinance.
D. “Animal Control Program” means the program responsible for enforcement of
this Ordinance.
E. “At Large” means any dog that is on or off the premises of its owner and is
neither confined by an enclosure nor physically restrained by any leash or tether.
F. “Community Council” means the Gila River Indian Community Council.
G. “Compendium” means Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control.
The National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc. (NASPHV)
has developed recommendations to serve as a basis for animal rabies prevention
and control programs throughout the United States and facilitate standardization
of procedures among jurisdictions. This document is reviewed annually and
revised as necessary. However, where any conflict exists between the
Compendium and the laws of the Community, the Compendium’s
recommendations do not supersede any Community laws or regulations.
H. “Court” means the Gila River Indian Community Court.
A copy of this proposed ordinance in its entirety is on file and available for review at
all District Service Center Co-ordinators’ offices and the Community Secretary’s
office.
**** Proposed Legislation ****
The Gila River Indian Community Council is considering revi-
sions to the Animal Ordinance.
A copy of the proposed revised ordinance in its entirety is avail-
able for review at all District Service Centers and the Community Coun-
cil Secretary’s Office.
Community members may comment on the proposed revised or-
dinance by contacting their Council member(s) and/or Terrance Evans,
the Chairperson of the Legislative Standing Committee.
Written comments may also be sent to: GRIC Law Office, c/o
Rebecca Hall, Post Office Box 97, Sacaton, AZ 85247.
Tribal LiaisonSalary Range: $43,239 $73,779
The Arizona Department of Housing is seeking a Tribal Liaison who will be responsible for theactivities of the tribal housing outreach project. This position will be involved in complexresearch, analysis and program recommendations regarding tribal housing policies andprograms that relate to housing development, rehabilitation and other housing related serviceson Native American reservations in Arizona. Project duties will include dissemination ofinformation on State efforts and available resources to tribes, response to technical assistancerequests, identification of partnership opportunities for State and private sector entities toincrease affordable housing opportunities on Tribal lands. Candidates must have knowledge ofresearch methods and data analysis techniques, housing development and housing servicerelated planning and policy as well as program development. Knowledge of American Indiantribes and tribal housing development and service delivery systems is required. For a completejob announcement, please visit www.housingaz.com. Interested candidates must submit aresume, list of references and letter of interest to: Lori Moreno, HR Administrator, ArizonaDepartment of Housing, 1110 W. Washington Street, Suite 310, Phoenix, Arizona 85007. NOPHONE CALLS.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
October
3 Opening Ceremony- 2008
Native American Recognition Days.
6:00pm -9:00pm. Salt River Community
Building, Longmore & McDowell. Free
Admission, Free Party, Fireworks. 480-
850-8061.
7 The Gila River Prevention
Coalition would like to invite you to their
October 7 meeting at D-5 Service
Center. 520-315-3441.
11 Native American Connections
Parade. Parade Route: Oak and 3rd St. to
Indian School Park in Phoenix. Begins at
9:00am. 602-254-3247.
18 Native American Farmers
Market. Pueblo Grande Museum. 4619 E.
Washington in Phoenix. 602-495-0901.
Free Event
22 10th Annual Native Ameri
can Women’s Health Expo. Held at PIMC
602-263-1602. Free event.
24 Gila Rivers “Annual Trail
of Doom Run” Sr Race, 2M walk, 5K
run. Volunteers needed. D-3 Wellness
Center 520-562-2025.
24-26 25th Anniversary Roy Track Me-
morial Mesa Powwow. Pioneer Park-
525 E. Main St, Mesa. 602-799-0260.
25 8th Annual AZPC of AISES
Golf Tournament. Wigwam Resort.602-
741-7791
Public Notice
Lace up your walking shoes and hit the road in the fi ght against diabetes by participating
in one of two fun fundraising walks on Saturday, September 27th. Gila River Casinos is proud
to once again team with the American Diabetes Association for Arizona’s premier walking
event to raise money to fi ght diabetes. Proceeds from this event will be used for research,
education, advocacy and ultimately fi nding a cure for this devastating disease.
For more information about diabetes or Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes,
please call 1-888-DIABETES (1-888-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org/stepout.
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