Anna Prieto Sandoval (May 14, 1934 — October 28, 2010) was an American leader of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation of southern California and a Native American gaming enterprises pioneer.[1] She is credited with lifting the Sycuan Band reservation, which was plagued by poverty and substandard housing, to self-sufficiency by pioneering casino gambling on the reservation.[1]
Contents |
Sandoval was born on May 14, 1934, on the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation reservation.[1] She grew up speaking the Kumeyaay language as her first language.[2] Her mother, Ada Prieto, was also born on the Sycuan reservation.[2] Sandoval attended Dehesa Elementary and Grossmont High School in El Cajon, California.[2]
Sandoval was married twice and raised five children.[1] Her first marriage, which occurred in 1953, ended in divorce.[2] She attended Grossmont College in El Cajon after raising her children.[1] Sandoval later taught the Kumeyaay language at San Diego State University.[1]
Sandoval became the chairwoman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in 1972.[2] In 1972, the year she took office, none of the eighty Sycuan members who resided on the reservation had full time employment.[1] The housing on the reservation lacked indoor plumbing, with a small meeting hall and a deteriorating one hundred year old Catholic Church.[1] Most structures were on the reservation were dilapidated.[1]
Sandoval spearheaded the Sycuan Band's transition from poverty after the state of California allowed Native American tribes to open gambling operations.[1] She initially resistance from the Sycuan tribal council regarding the idea of opening a bingo hall on reservation land.[2] Members were concerned about potential pollution and large numbers of people swamping the small reservation.[1] However, Sandoval was approached by Pan American International, which operated a Seminole bingo hall in Florida at the time, with a proposal to open a bingo hall on Sycuan land.[1]
Sandoval opened the Sycuan Bingo Palace in 1983 after several years of preparation and negotiations.[2] The new operation quickly grossed higher revenues and profits than initially expected.[1][2]
In 1987, Sandoval and the Sycuan Band broke away from Pan American International and began to run the Sycuan Bingo Palace independently.[1] Under Sandoval, the tribe constructed a new 68,000-square-foot (6,300 m2) casino, which opened to the public in 1990.[1] The Sycuan Band used the revenues from the casino to build new facilities on the reservation, including a new fire station, church and clinic.[1] Unemployment, which had been rampant on the reservation before gaming, became nonexistent and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation became one of the wealthiest tribes in the United States.[1] The Sycuan Band also became one of the largest employers in San Diego County.[1] Likewise, Sandoval became one of the wealthiest Native Americans in California due to the windfall from the casino.[1]
Despite the new prosperity, Sandoval alienated some Sycuan Band members during her tenure as chairwoman. In 1991, she lost her re-election by just three votes.[1] She later expressed regret that the increased prosperity had come at the expense of traditional Kumeyaay values and culture.[1][2]
Anna Prieto Sandoval died of complications of diabetes at her home on the Sycuan band reservation on October 28, 2010, at the age of 76.[1] She was survived by three sons, Joseph, Raymond and Orlando; fifteen grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.[1] She was predeceased by two daughters, Marquette Riberas and Cheryl Haywood.[2] Most of Sandoval's possessions and clothing were burned in accordance with Kumeyaay traditions.[2]