Tribal Leader Roundtable

The Pueblo of Sandia remains deeply committed to the health, well-being, and future of our tribal members. In a major step forward, we recently opened a state-of-the-art Fire Station and Emergency Medical Services facility, providing 24/7 protection and care for our community.

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its aftermath, our tribe and casino continue to be successful in addressing the needs and desires of our customer base on a day-to-day basis. As a result, we have been able to navigate the first four months of 2021 successfully.

Oneida Nation, through the decades, has created a broad system of checks and balances, which requires accountability and communication to our citizens.

Our goal is to generate revenue through gaming enterprises to support tribal growth, create job opportunities, and improve the overall economic well-being of tribal communities. We also plan to support and create educational initiatives, scholarships, and vocational training programs for tribal members.

We believe that we must stay focused on the tribal business arm of our government to provide for our needs. Jamestown, like many of our sister tribes, is continuing to diversify our economic portfolio.

Our gaming enterprises make up a large component of the economic future for our community. Our community has been diligent about expansion of our gaming facilities, and the games that we are able to offer ensure we are able to compete in the marketplace.

We are a small community with a membership of a little over 1,300. We’ve had a number of members who have tested positive for the virus. Per capita-wise, we did encounter a high rate of the virus.

This month we spoke with five tribal leaders about current issues and opportunities, lessons from previous years that will help their respective operations going...

We are located in California and are still trying to go through the compacting process for our gaming facility. It's been a lengthy process with the state.

Although the Fort Belknap Casino does not issue per capita or payouts to tribal members like larger casino tribes do, the casino revenue has attributed to sustaining the gaming operations, sustaining employment/jobs for tribal members locally on the reservation, and for charitable purposes such as traditional powwows, Natives in various athletic events, health and educational community events, and entertainment.