Gila River Indian Community

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Location of Gila River Aboriginal Community in northwestern Pinal County, Arizona. The Phoenix metropolitan area is located north of the reservation.

The Gila River Aboriginal Community is an Aboriginal reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona, lying adjacent to the south side of the city of Phoenix, within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in Pinal and Maricopa counties. Gila River Aboriginal Reservation was established in 1859, and the Gila River Aboriginal Community formally established by Congress in 1939. The community is home for members of both the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and the Pee-Posh (Maricopa) tribes.

The reservation has a land area of 583.749 sq mi (1,511.902 km²) and a 2000 Census population of 11,257. It is made up of seven districts[1] along the Gila River and its largest communities are Sacaton, Komatke, Santan, and Blackwater. Tribal administrative offices and departments are located in Sacaton. The Community operates its own telecom company, electric utility, industrial park and healthcare clinic, and publishes a monthly newspaper. It has one of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes in the world, around 50%. The community has been very helpful in type 2 diabetes research, participating in many studies of the disease.

House with Bow Roof, Sacaton vicinity, Pinal County, AZ. Photo from Historic American Buildings Survey, 1938

Leaders

Government And Council Members Listing

[needs update]

  • Stephen Roe Lewis, Governor[2]
  • Monica Antone, Lt. Governor[3]
  • Arzie Hogg, Council Member, Dist 1
  • Joey Whitman, Council Member, Dist 1
  • Carol A. Schurz, Council Member, Dist 2
  • Carolyn Williams, Council Member, Dist 3
  • Rodney Jackson, Council Member, Dist 3
  • Christopher Mendoza, Council Member, Dist 4
  • Jennifer Allison, Council Member, Dist 4
  • Nada Celaya, Council Member, Dist 4
  • Angela Allison, Council Member, Dist 4
  • Brain Davis Sr., Council Member, Dist 5
  • Janice Stewart, Council Member, Dist 5
  • Robert Stone, Council Member, Dist 5
  • Franklin Pablo, Sr., Council Member, Dist 5
  • Albert Pablo, Council Member, Dist 6
  • Sandra Nasewytewa, Council Member, Dist 6
  • Anthony Villareal, Sr., Council Member, Dist 6
  • Devin C. Redbird, Council Member, Dist 7[4]

Attractions

The Gila River Indian Community, with over four million potential customers in the Phoenix metro area, owns and/or operates three casinos, a resort hotel, a spa, an equestrian center, two golf courses, an arts & crafts center, two tribal museums, an NHRA certified race track, a race-car driving school, and a racing-boat course.[citation needed] The first casino opened in 1994.[5]

Currently inhabited communities

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Transportation

The community owns and operates Gila River Memorial Airport, a small, private-use airport, located 4 miles southwest of the central business district of Chandler. It is used for cropdusting and air charter operations, with no scheduled commercial services. There are plans to redevelop the airfield into a casino.

Famous people

The reservation was the birthplace of and the home of the time of death of Ira Hayes, depicted in the photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima in 1945.

Jay Morago, who served as the first Governor of the Gila River Indian Community from 1954 until 1960, and helped to draft the reservation's 1960 constitution, died on May 14, 2008.[6][7]

Mary Thomas became the first woman to serve as Governor of the Gila River Indian Community from 1994 until 2000.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.gilariver.org/index.php/about-tribe/6-districts/117-gila-river-districts
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External links

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