Archaeologists Oppose New Yuma Indian Casino

YUMA – The Quechan Indian Tribe are building a $200 million casino and resort outside Yuma, however many of their tribal members have opposed its location claiming it a cultural and religious site. They want the casino built on a new site.

Now two archaeologists with the Imperial Valley College Desert Museum Society near El Centro have found evidence that supports these concerns. They surveyed the building site in October and found a major, ancient tool-making site, as well as a campsite. It included a large piece of pottery measuring about a foot square and causing great excitement in the surveying group. The archaeologists said all these findings were within the construction zone.

One of the archaeologists, Jay von Werlhof, wrote the tribe informing them of the numerous cultural artifacts they found. He called it a significant cultural and religious site that would be destroyed if construction proceeds.

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