Cocopah identity and cultural survival: Indian gaming and the political ecology of the lower Colorado River delta, 1850-1996 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Tisdale, Shelby Jo-Anne, 1950- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 16:53:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/282348 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fi-om the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be fi-om any type of computer printer. 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Mgher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Infonnation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Artwr MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 COCOPAH [DENTITY AND CULTURAL SURVIVAL; INDIAN GAMING AND THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER DELTA, 1850-1996 by Shelby Jo-Anne Tisdale Copyright © Shelby Jo-Anne Tisdale 1997 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 9 7 UMI Number: 9729530 Copyright 1997 by Tisdale, Shelby Jo-Axme All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9729530 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 0 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Shelby Jo-Anne Tisdale entitled Cocopah Identity and Cultural Survival: Indian Gaming and the Political Ecology of the Lower Colorado River Delta, 1850 to 1996 and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Phi losophy f 1 Jane H. Hill - Date Nancy j'. f>arezo Date f. s 3 //y Thomas E. Sheridan Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ^ ') • / 7 ri Dissertation Director Jane H. Hill Date STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Anzona and is deposited in the University Librarv' to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissenation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in pan may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first and greatest debt is to the Cocopah People whose desire for a tribal museum made this dissertation possible. Through the ongoing efforts of the Cocopah tribal elders, the support of tribal leaders, and a shared vision, the Cocopahs now have a state-of-the-art museum and cultural center complex on the West Cocopah Reservation in southwestern Arizona. I particularly want to thank the members of the museum planning committee who volunteered numerous hours on this project. The museum would not have been completed without the support of the Tribal Council. I wish to thank Peter Soto and Dale Phillips who both served as chairmen throughout the planning and early construction phases. Sherry Cordova who saw the project through to completion, and council members Paulene Allen who assisted me with the paper trail and Will Ortega who provided much insight into Cocopah history and traditions. My most heart-felt thanks go to my Cocopah consultants who were willing to participate in this project and permitted me to record their life histones. Without their participation the Cocopah story might have been told in a very different way Yet, as they read this they will detect many of my misinterpretations, omissions and rough edges This is not meant to be the whole story of the Cocopah, however it is intended to fill in some of the gaps in Cocopah ethnography and history. The encouragement to do this study came from Robert Netting who guided me in the direction of cultural ecology and political ecology as important fields of study in anthropology. As I recall the many discussions I had with Dr. Netting, both in his office and by phone from the field, I realized that he was seeing the identity issues surtacing long before I did. I had not put these two ideas together, political ecology and ethnicity, until after his untimely death two weeks after 1 returned from the field. I will be forever indebted to Jane Hill, who was willing to take on the responsibility of directing this dissertation. It was with her guidance that I was able to develop these ideas with all of their complexit\' into a workable framework for my analysis. I wish to thank Nancy Parezo for her friendship, guidance and suppon throughout my graduate career at the University of Arizona and her suggestions on the museum section, and Tom Shendan for his sage advice on the handling of the ethnohistorical information. Many thanks to Gordon Krutz for introducing me to the Cocopahs, Alan Ferg for assistance with the William H. Kelly papers at the Arizona State Museum, Carol Brooks at the Yuma Anzona Historical Society, Jean Schoen at the Fon Yuma Bureau of Indian Affairs Office, Anita Alvarez de Williams who welcomed me into her home in Mexicali and shared much her knowledge about the Cocopahs with me, Susan Jorstad for redrafting some of the maps, and Laura Stuckey for proof reading and copy editing Lastly, I want to thank my parents, George and Edith Tisdale, for their encouragement and financial assistance when there seemed to be no end to this work. My fieldwork was primarily sponsored by the Cocopah Tribal Council and funded by my consulting fees. Financial suppon for one month in the field was provided by small grants from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Anzona and the Arizona Archaeological and Histoncal Society. Dedicated to the Memorv' of Robert McC. Netting and Peter Soto, both mentors and friends. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9 LIST OF TABLES 10 ABSTRACT 11 1. INTRODUCTION: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRAXIS AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION 12 The Study Area 16 Research Methods 19 Ethnographic Studies 34 Political Ecology and Ethnicity Theory as a Framework of Analysis for Culture Change 36 2. THE COCOPAH IDENTITY CONFIGURATION AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY IN THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER; A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS 40 Cocopah Identity Configuration 44 Anthropological Models of Ethnicity 49 Native Amencans as Persistent Peoples 57 Models in Political Ecology 62 Persistent Identity as a Political Ecological Process 67 3. COCOPAH ETHNOGRAPHY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 70 Introduction 70 Cocopah Origins 71 Cocopah Cultural Ecology in the Early Nineteenth Century 74 Cocopah Settlement Pattern and Socio-Political Organization. Prior to 1850 81 Amencan Exploration and Commercial Development on the Colorado River; 1850-1900 89 The River Economy and the Cocopahs 94 The Cocopahs at the Turn of the Century 98 4. COMMODITIZATION OF THE COLORADO RIVER AND COCOPAH WATER RIGHTS 101 Introduction 101 Changing the Course of the Colorado River to the Impenal Valley 103 Imgation Development in the Yuma Valley 109 Land and Water; Cocopah Coping Strategies 112 TTie Cocopah Water Situation in the 1990s 125 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued 5. COCOPAH IDENTITY IN THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDERLANDS 134 Introduction 134 The Transbcundary Cocopahs 137 Cocopah Status in the Borderlands 139 Tribal Enrollment 143 The Great Depression and Cocopah Deportation 150 Cocopahs and the Bracero Program 154 The Cocopahs in Mexico 161 Tribal Membership and Cocopah Identity 165 Cocopah Tribal Membership Today 168 Present Status of Cocopah Identity in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands 172 6, IN SEARCH OF A PERMANENT HOME; THE RESERVATION AND SOCIO-POLITICAL CHANGE:1917-1996 177 Establishment of the Cocopah Reservation 179 West Cocopah Reservation 185 East Cocopah Reservation 190 North Cocopah Reservation 194 Constitutional Form of Government 203 A Time of Transition on the Reservation 215 Modem Housing and Infrastructure in the Cocopah Reservation 219 Summary 231 7 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INDIAN GAMING. AND SELF- DETERMINATION ON THE COCOPAH RESERVATION 234 Economic Development in Indian Reservations 234 Economic Enterpnses in the Cocopah Reservation in the 1980s 240 Indian Gaming; A New Reservation Economy 244 The Cocopahs and the Status of Indian Gaming in Anzona 250 The Cocopah Casino; New Opportunities and Problems 268 Economic and Cultural Impact of Indian Gaming on the Cocopah Tribe 278 Summary 282 8.