Arizona Indians Rally to Protest Gambling Raid
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PHOENIX — Hundreds of Indians and supporters converged on the state Capitol on Wednesday to protest a crackdown on reservation gambling that they say is drying up their tribes’ economic lifeblood.
“We’ve been oppressed and we won’t take it any more,” said Gilbert Jones, vice chairman of the Yavapai tribe at the Ft. McDowell reservation outside Phoenix.
Rallies at the Capitol and at the federal building climaxed a two-day march from Ft. McDowell, where Yavapais thwarted a May 12 federal raid on their casino.
Indians blockaded FBI agents in a casino parking lot in a tense standoff that ended when agents agreed to leave more than 300 seized video gambling machines behind in trucks. Another 750 machines at Ft. McDowell and four other reservations were removed.
The marchers criticized both the federal government and Gov. Fife Symington, who has refused to negotiate an agreement that would legalize the gambling machines on Arizona reservations.
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