For the second time in three years, the Navajo Tribe has said "no" to gaming.
The measure, which would have allowed up to five casinos in Arizona and New Mexico, was rejected by 18,087 voters or 54 percent of the 33,392 votes cast.Edison Wauneka, a member of one of the groups opposing gaming, said he hopes that the tribal government has finally learned that tribal members don't want gaming.
"They said this in 1994 and they're saying this in 1997," he said.
In 1994, 55 percent of Navajo voters cast ballots against gaming, while 45 percent voted in favor. But tribal officials were hoping it would be different this time.
Spurred by the tribe's economic development committee, which said the tribe needed the millions of dollars in extra revenue because of declining mineral royalties and increasing unemployment, the tribe held public hearings throughout the sprawling reservation to educate voters about the pros and cons of gaming.
But traditional Navajos, who had voted overwhelmingly against gaming in 1994, left the hearings with their minds unchanged.
Many argued that allowing gaming on the reservation would cause more problems than it would solve. These critics feared the tribe would end up seeing more members addicted to gambling, aggravating social problems on a reservation already witnessing sharp increases in youth gangs, domestic violence and other crimes.
Navajo Nation President Albert Hale campaigned against gaming in the past few months, saying that the tribe would have to give up some of its sovereign immunity to the states, which by federal law must approve gaming compacts with tribes.
Hale added that he doubted predictions by gaming supporters that introducing casinos into the reservation economy would generate millions of dollars in profits. He said the tribe's real opportunity to get into gaming occurred several years ago. If gaming were approved now, Hale warned, there was too great a chance that the casinos would lose money because the reservation was not near any large urban center.