Changes of Pace

Fountain Hills, Arizona is one of those places that, according to my server at lunch, has really been designed to be a retirement community. I kind of figured that, having walked around last night after getting into the Comfort Inn. What I first noticed was the shortage of sidewalks--this is a driving community. Second was that by 10:00 everything seemed shut down. My hunger had reached an alerting enough level that I ate at McDonald's. Anybody who knows me could testify to how unusual that is. I was told that the mild, sunny weather here is winter. For summers I wouldn't want to be here. For as much as I love Oregon, there is something alluring about the desert. I can't explain it. Well, I can, but that is not the point of this blog...
The Comfort Inn at Fountain Hills was the only hotel I could get near the Ft. McDowell Casino, the main purpose of my journey. This is to be a very quick trip, not even spanning 48 hours between touching down in my plane and lifting off to go home. I met this afternoon with a number of Tribal leaders following a conference of Arizona tribes. We spoke about trends in Indian gaming and how those were growing to be the same everywhere, especially reservation-shopping. Elsewhere, as in Oregon, such practices are putting tribes at odds with one another. The biggest point of interest is how the Obama administration, with appointments and policies, will deal with a quietly emerging pattern in Indian gaming. We all had our opinions, but they are just guesses.
What comes of today's meeting will ultimately depend on follow-up, networking, and other tribes nationally coming to the same realization that we have. Indian gaming as a means of revitalizing tribal economies is getting a little stretched in terms of its original purpose. To sound like a broken record, I could be wrong, but time as usual gets the final say.
The Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation are like many tribes, at least in regards to their gaming operation. Tons of slot machines, themed food outlets, and a convention center that would make architect students and interior decorators smile. Like us, they are 30 miles from a small city (Scottsdale), and less than an hour from a major metropolitan area (Phoenix). Unlike us, there are a handful of other tribes close by. Phoenix, as Portland, is where a tribe would set their sights for a new casino.
Arizona has more tribes than Oregon, and infinitely more natives. I am not sure how that affects their intertribal politics, especially considering the Navajos number in the hundreds of thousands and their Reservation, which in turn encompasses other Reservations, would outsize a number of east coast states. How they deal with traditional territories must be very interesting. It goes to show that gaming is different for all tribes, and even then, for all states.

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