Anna Prieto Sandoval (May 14, 1934 – October 28, 2010) was an American leader of the

Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Mission Indians from Southern California, located in an unincorporated area of San Diego County just east of El Cajon. The Sycuan band are a Kumeyaay tribe, one of the fou ...

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and a

Native American gaming enterprises Native American gaming comprises casinos, bingo halls, and other gambling operations on Indian reservations or other tribal lands in the United States. Because these areas have tribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling th ...

pioneer. She is credited with lifting the Sycuan Band reservation, which was plagued by poverty and substandard housing, to self-sufficiency by pioneering

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

gambling on the

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

Background

Sandoval was born on May 14, 1934, on the Sycuan Band of the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

Nation reservation. She grew up speaking the

Kumeyaay language Kumeyaay (Kumiai), also known as Central Diegueño, Kamia, and Campo, is the Native American language spoken by the Kumeyaay people of southern San Diego County, California, San Diego and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Californ ...

as her

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

. Her mother, Ada Prieto, was also born on the Sycuan reservation. Sandoval attended Dehesa Elementary and Grossmont High School in

El Cajon, California El Cajon ( , ; Spanish: El Cajón, meaning "the box") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajón, which was in turn named for the box-like shape of the va ...

. Sandoval was married twice and raised five children. Her first marriage, which occurred in 1953, ended in divorce. She attended Grossmont College in El Cajon after raising her children. Sandoval later taught the Kumeyaay language at San Diego State University.

Leadership

Sandoval became the chairwoman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in 1972. In 1972, the year she took office, none of the eighty Sycuan members who resided on the reservation had full-time employment. The housing on the reservation lacked indoor plumbing, with a small meeting hall and a deteriorating one-hundred-year-old Catholic Church. Most structures were on the reservation were dilapidated. After the state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

allowed Native American tribes to open gambling operations, Sandoval was approached by Pan American International, which operated a Seminole bingo hall in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

at the time, with a proposal to open a bingo hall on Sycuan land. Sandoval then spearheaded the Sycuan Band's transition from

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

. She overcame initial resistance from the Sycuan tribal council regarding the idea of opening a bingo hall on reservation land. Members were concerned about potential pollution and large numbers of people swamping the small reservation. Sandoval opened the Sycuan Bingo Palace in 1983 after several years of preparation and negotiations. The new operation quickly grossed higher revenues and profits than initially expected. In 1987, Sandoval and the Sycuan Band broke away from Pan American International and began to run the Sycuan Bingo Palace independently. Under Sandoval, the tribe constructed a new casino, which opened to the public in 1990. The Sycuan Band used the revenues from the casino to build new facilities on the reservation, including a new fire station, church and clinic. 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. The Sycuan Band also became one of the largest employers in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

. Likewise, Sandoval became one of the wealthiest Native Americans in California due to the windfall from the casino.

Controversy

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. She later expressed regret that the increased prosperity had come at the expense of traditional Kumeyaay values and culture.

Death and legacy

Anna Prieto Sandoval died of complications of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

at her home on the Sycuan band reservation on October 28, 2010, at the age of 76. Most of Sandoval's possessions and clothing were burned in accordance with Kumeyaay traditions. She had three sons and two daughters.

Honor

Anna Prieto Sandoval was nominated and inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall Of Fame in 2010 hosted by

Women's Museum of California The Women's Museum of California (WMC) is a nonprofit museum located in San Diego, California and dedicated to women's history. It was first organized under the names the Women's History Reclamation Project and then the Women's History Museum and ...

, Commission on the Status of Women,

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

Women's Center, and San Diego State University Women's Studies.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandoval, Anna Prieto 1934 births 2010 deaths Female Native American leaders People of Kumeyaay descent 20th-century Native Americans San Diego State University faculty People from El Cajon, California Deaths from diabetes 20th-century Native American women