Tribe losing time in fight for casinos

The 86-year-old chairwoman of an Indian tribe seeking to build a casino in Barstow parked herself outside the office of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez on Monday as the weeklong campaign to get a gaming compact ratified continued.

She did not get to see the speaker.

The legislative session ends Thursday and the tribe has pledged to keep trying until the last minute.

The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians is trying to pressure lawmakers to reconsider a gaming pact that was rejected by a key Assembly committee in June.

The tribe, based in rural San Diego County, has teamed with the Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe of Humboldt County in an effort to build a two-casino resort complex near Barstow's outlet malls.

The campaign has included a fast by some tribal members and a news conference last week that featured several environmental groups who spoke in favor of the project.

The Big Lagoon tribe could build a casino on a pristine stretch of coastline, but that land would be preserved if the tribe could instead build in Barstow.

The two tribes reached gaming compacts last year with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the combined project in job-hungry Barstow.

They have been trying to get the Assembly to reconsider the compact before the legislators head home, arguing that the casino project is the best way to lift themselves out of continuing poverty.

By mid-afternoon, Chairwoman Catherine Siva Saubel had moved to the hallway outside the speaker's office as she continued to hope for a meeting. Eventually, she joined those on the fast outside.

The Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon tribes have alleged that the compact is being blocked by rich gaming tribes, including the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, who run a large casino in the foothills above San Bernardino.

"I will not let this deter me from my goal of providing economic self-sufficiency for my people," Saubel stated in a press release. "I will continue to seek an opportunity to explain to the speaker why our compacts should be ratified."

The gaming tribes have said they oppose the deal because it involves building casinos far from the tribes' reservations.

The two tribes are competing with the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of San Bernardino County which also hopes to build a casino in Barstow. The Chemehuevis, who operate a small casino on the California side of Lake Havasu, do not have a compact for their Barstow proposal.