Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

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The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation is a minor tribal band of Mission Indians hailing from around the El Cajon, California area. The Sycuan band are a portion of the Kumeyaay, one of the four native San Diego-region tribes.

The Sycuan band opened a gambling facility on their reservation (located in the hills east of El Cajon, California) in 1983. As a direct evolution from that successful venture, they now run a profitable casino, as well as an off-reservation golf course (purchased from a previous owner) and hotel (new construction on the golf course site) on the southeastern outskirts of El Cajon, California, which itself is an eastern suburb of San Diego, California. The Sycuan band is the only San Diego-area band to operate significant commercial enterprises off-reservation.

The Sycuan band has also recently purchased the downtown San Diego landmark U. S. Grant Hotel. It also advertises heavily in relation to the San Diego Padres major-league baseball team (including both television and radio commercials during game broadcasts, and posted advertising at PETCO Park, the team's home field).

The band operates two waste water treatment plants, a sequencing batch reactor used for their casino, administrative buildings, and maintenance buildings. They also operate and own a modular treatment plant in a flood plain near one of their residential areas. The tribe operates a water treatment facility which controls their nitrate levels. Additionally, the tribe has and operates a small medical clinic, dental office, a fire department and a small tribal police force. In 2005, they eliminated their environmental department for political and economic reasons. In 2004, they installed a new air conditioning system, internal control systems, and a new parking lot.

The Sycuan band is known for its political activism, particularly in lobbying the State of California to relax size restrictions on tribal gambling facilities. A ballot proposition regarding this issue was on the statewide ballot during the March 2008 presidential primaries.