And now:Sonja Keohane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
A fairly long article, but it takes the time to explain this
"orphan band" of Navajo people and how they became located separately from
the larger reservation.
Aquote from the article:
"If it is rebuffed by the larger tribal government, Ca�oncito might
move to
separate from the Navajo Nation. It would be complicated and
painful, but
Ca�oncito people have already begun weighing the benefits of
independence
against the security of belonging to the nation's largest Indian
tribe."
<http://www.abqjournal.com/news/5news01-24.htm>
Sunday, January 24, 1999
Ca�oncito Navajos Want Casino on I-40
The little branch is bucking the big Navajo Nation's gambling ban
By Leslie Linthicum
Journal Staff Writer
CA�ONCITO -- Ca�oncito Navajos, an orphan band of Navajos who live more
than 150 miles from the reservation capital, are asking the Navajo tribe
for permission to open a casino 13 miles from Albuquerque's western city
limit.
Ca�oncito members have picked out a piece of reservation land overlooking
I-40 at the Rio Puerco interchange and have drawn up ambitious plans for a
truck stop and casino. Standing in their way is the Navajo Nation's
reservation-wide ban on gambling and two referendums in which the majority
of the Navajo people said they want to keep it that way.
A 50-year-old federal law that set aside Ca�oncito's reservation land in
trust, apart from the larger reservation, is at the core of little
Ca�oncito's fight against what they call "Big Navajo." "We're basically
saying, 'Navajo Nation, this is not your land. Don't tell us what to do
with it,' '' said Tony Secatero, president of the Ca�oncito Navajos. "We
have full authority over our land."
---end of excerpt---
