Arizona Tribes Build 'Posh' Resorts
Casinos are not the sole draw anymore in Arizona. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation opened a 247 room Radisson Resort on November 29th, 05 next to its casino.
It is the latest example of Arizona tribes expanding their lucrative casino properties with resorts, amusement parks and golf courses. Prop 202 passed in ‘02 prevents tribes near the metro Phoenix area from building more casinos so the tribes are finding ways to expand on the resources they already have.
The Radisson is expected to lure large groups that want a taste of the Wild West and something fun to do in between conference meetings. The budget resort will charge $175 to $200 for rooms during the high season January through April and in the low $100s during the area’s hot months.
Suites include flat screen TVs and Sleep Number Beds, conference rooms offer Internet-based video conferencing and forward calls to guest’s cell phones. Instead of towels there are extra large bath sheets and crisp white duvet covers stand in for comforters.
The Nation’s president, Raphael Bear, said the resort will help turn the reservation into a true destination for business and leisure travelers not to mention area residents who want to get away without going out of town.
The hotel is expected to bring in money for the 938 member Yavapai community through bookings and the business it will feed to the casino. It also created some 300 jobs with about 30 percent of those jobs going to tribal members.
Bear added that the resort means two things for the community, “ Self-determination and self- sufficiency. There’s a lot in those two words.”
Native American culture is a drawing card for national and world-wide tourism so the Radisson incorporates the Yavapai tradition of basket weaving into the operation. An outdoor fire pit shaped like a basket marks the entryway. The building’s windows are arranged in a way that makes them appear to be woven, and that pattern is repeated inside. Drawings by tribal children were turned into glass mosaics to decorate the restaurant.
The Gila River Indian Community took a similar approach with its Wild Horse Pass casino south of Phoenix. It built the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa three years ago and Rawhide Wild West reopened at the end of ‘05 after moving from Scottsdale.
The Pimas of the Gila Reservation have incorporated another cultural trait at their Sheraton Resort and Spa. During the winter season, Tim Terry tells traditional Pima stories like his ancestors have done for hundreds of years around a fire pit. These stories give guests a glimpse into how the tribe explained nature and demonstrated moral lessons.
Terry explains that some stores are hundreds of years old while others are only decades old. They change with the times. He adapts them to young people from learning stories from his Grandfather when he was six years of age. As a result of hearing his stories, resort guests may never look at a rattlesnake, dog or cloud in the same way again.
Before Terry tells a story, he asks someone in the audience, usually a child, to select an illustrated disk from his medicine basket. Whatever is selected determines the story.
He always ends his tales with a moral lesson. A baby cloud that wandered from is parents and got snagged on the Estrella Mountains learned to tell his parents where he was going. A rabbit that pestered a snake learned to stop calling other creatures names.
After telling the Pima version of creation. Terry adds, “The creator never makes a mistake. You are not a mistake, You should never feel that way.“
Resort concierge, Ginger Sunbird Martin, came up with the idea of featuring storytellers after the resort renovated its fire pit. “Oral history is a big part of who we are. That’s how stories were told,” she said. “All stories depict the basic human elements such as love, jealousy, vanity, heroism and faith. They all have meanings. They are meant to be a teaching tool.”
Shelia Morago, executive director of the Arizona Gaming Association agrees with the improvements made by the Yavapais and Pimas. “The casinos are doing well. They are stable but there are huge advantages and opportunities with things like resort hotels, entertainment centers and golf courses.”
This column has been edited for content and length from feature stories in The Arizona Republic bylined Stephanie Paterik, November 25th and Betty Beard, December 8th.
Native American High Schoolers Wanted For Newspaper Career Workshop
Submitted by NAJA
VERMILLION, S.D.--Organizers of the Native American Journalism Career Conference are accepting applications from Native American high school groups for the 7th annual workshop at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.
Teachers and advisers interested in organizing student groups to attend the conference April 18-20, 2006, must register by April 1.
Native students will be introduced to the basics of journalism by more than 20 experienced NAJA members and other Native and non-Native journalists from around the country. Lodging, meals and conference participation are free to students and their teachers and advisers.
More than 600 high school and college students have attended the conference, sponsored by NAJA, the Freedom Forum, the South Dakota Newspaper Association, Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, and the journalism departments of South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota.
Al Neuharth, South Dakota native and founder of USA Today and the Freedom Forum, will speak on April 18.
"Native Americans are the most underrepresented group in newspaper newsrooms. We are working to change that by inviting Native students to consider journalism careers," said Jack Marsh, executive director of the Freedom Forum's Al Neuharth Media Center, one of the conference sponsors. "Improving employment diversity is a priority of the Freedom Forum. News coverage will be fairer and richer with the addition of these new voices."
For more information, contact Janine Harris at the Freedom Forum at 605-677-5424 or jharris@freedomforum.org.
More information can also be seen at http://www.crazyhorse.org/.--
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
For news and information on Native American and First Nations actors, go to Annie's site at www.NativeCelebs.com and follow the threads.
It is the latest example of Arizona tribes expanding their lucrative casino properties with resorts, amusement parks and golf courses. Prop 202 passed in ‘02 prevents tribes near the metro Phoenix area from building more casinos so the tribes are finding ways to expand on the resources they already have.
The Radisson is expected to lure large groups that want a taste of the Wild West and something fun to do in between conference meetings. The budget resort will charge $175 to $200 for rooms during the high season January through April and in the low $100s during the area’s hot months.
Suites include flat screen TVs and Sleep Number Beds, conference rooms offer Internet-based video conferencing and forward calls to guest’s cell phones. Instead of towels there are extra large bath sheets and crisp white duvet covers stand in for comforters.
The Nation’s president, Raphael Bear, said the resort will help turn the reservation into a true destination for business and leisure travelers not to mention area residents who want to get away without going out of town.
The hotel is expected to bring in money for the 938 member Yavapai community through bookings and the business it will feed to the casino. It also created some 300 jobs with about 30 percent of those jobs going to tribal members.
Bear added that the resort means two things for the community, “ Self-determination and self- sufficiency. There’s a lot in those two words.”
Native American culture is a drawing card for national and world-wide tourism so the Radisson incorporates the Yavapai tradition of basket weaving into the operation. An outdoor fire pit shaped like a basket marks the entryway. The building’s windows are arranged in a way that makes them appear to be woven, and that pattern is repeated inside. Drawings by tribal children were turned into glass mosaics to decorate the restaurant.
The Gila River Indian Community took a similar approach with its Wild Horse Pass casino south of Phoenix. It built the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa three years ago and Rawhide Wild West reopened at the end of ‘05 after moving from Scottsdale.
The Pimas of the Gila Reservation have incorporated another cultural trait at their Sheraton Resort and Spa. During the winter season, Tim Terry tells traditional Pima stories like his ancestors have done for hundreds of years around a fire pit. These stories give guests a glimpse into how the tribe explained nature and demonstrated moral lessons.
Terry explains that some stores are hundreds of years old while others are only decades old. They change with the times. He adapts them to young people from learning stories from his Grandfather when he was six years of age. As a result of hearing his stories, resort guests may never look at a rattlesnake, dog or cloud in the same way again.
Before Terry tells a story, he asks someone in the audience, usually a child, to select an illustrated disk from his medicine basket. Whatever is selected determines the story.
He always ends his tales with a moral lesson. A baby cloud that wandered from is parents and got snagged on the Estrella Mountains learned to tell his parents where he was going. A rabbit that pestered a snake learned to stop calling other creatures names.
After telling the Pima version of creation. Terry adds, “The creator never makes a mistake. You are not a mistake, You should never feel that way.“
Resort concierge, Ginger Sunbird Martin, came up with the idea of featuring storytellers after the resort renovated its fire pit. “Oral history is a big part of who we are. That’s how stories were told,” she said. “All stories depict the basic human elements such as love, jealousy, vanity, heroism and faith. They all have meanings. They are meant to be a teaching tool.”
Shelia Morago, executive director of the Arizona Gaming Association agrees with the improvements made by the Yavapais and Pimas. “The casinos are doing well. They are stable but there are huge advantages and opportunities with things like resort hotels, entertainment centers and golf courses.”
This column has been edited for content and length from feature stories in The Arizona Republic bylined Stephanie Paterik, November 25th and Betty Beard, December 8th.
Native American High Schoolers Wanted For Newspaper Career Workshop
Submitted by NAJA
VERMILLION, S.D.--Organizers of the Native American Journalism Career Conference are accepting applications from Native American high school groups for the 7th annual workshop at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.
Teachers and advisers interested in organizing student groups to attend the conference April 18-20, 2006, must register by April 1.
Native students will be introduced to the basics of journalism by more than 20 experienced NAJA members and other Native and non-Native journalists from around the country. Lodging, meals and conference participation are free to students and their teachers and advisers.
More than 600 high school and college students have attended the conference, sponsored by NAJA, the Freedom Forum, the South Dakota Newspaper Association, Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, and the journalism departments of South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota.
Al Neuharth, South Dakota native and founder of USA Today and the Freedom Forum, will speak on April 18.
"Native Americans are the most underrepresented group in newspaper newsrooms. We are working to change that by inviting Native students to consider journalism careers," said Jack Marsh, executive director of the Freedom Forum's Al Neuharth Media Center, one of the conference sponsors. "Improving employment diversity is a priority of the Freedom Forum. News coverage will be fairer and richer with the addition of these new voices."
For more information, contact Janine Harris at the Freedom Forum at 605-677-5424 or jharris@freedomforum.org.
More information can also be seen at http://www.crazyhorse.org/.--
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
For news and information on Native American and First Nations actors, go to Annie's site at www.NativeCelebs.com and follow the threads.
posted by Bobbie Hart O'Neill @ 4:34 PM
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