Press Release
October 3, 2000
EAGLE PASS, TX -- The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas broke ground Oct. 1 at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino
outside Eagle Pass.
The historic groundbreaking signifies not only the start of an enormous expansion of the casino, but also better
economic times for the tribe, for Eagle Pass, for the area along the Rio Grande on both sides of the Texas-Mexico
border and eventually for the state.
Four years ago, living conditions for the 500-member tribe improved substantially with the opening of the Kickapoo
Lucky Eagle Casino, one of only two gaming casinos in the entire state of Texas. The casino currently provides
employment for about 125 people.
Before that time, life was grim for members of the tribe, who worked mainly as migrant farm laborers. Director
of the reservation's Head Start preschool program estimated in 1996 that most of the families subsisted on about
$7,000 a year, and some survived on as little as $1,700 annually.
Just 18 years ago, the tribe, which had no land of its own in Texas, lived in a primitive makeshift village under
and around the U.S./Mexico International Bridge. The sole water source for all of the several hundred members of
the tribe was a single water spigot.
Then-Eagle Pass City Manager Isidro Garza, his wife Martha and other residents of Eagle Pass came to the aid of
the impoverished and homeless Kickapoo, assisting them in getting the U.S. Congress officially to recognize their
status as the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas.
Garza, a professional engineer, currently serves as the tribe's official representative.
The core group of people touched by the plight of the tribe, along with churches and charitable organizations,
helped the tribe acquire 125 acres 12 miles southeast of Eagle Pass.
Building the casino, whose stock in trade is poker and high-stakes bingo, gave the tribe a foothold on the first
rung of the ladder to financial security. The expansion will give them a substantial leg up -- to better job and
educational opportunities and a decent living standard.
Construction will begin soon on a new road that will lead to the planned 100,000-square-foot casino and auditorium,
luxury hotel with 75 to 150 units, and 18-hole golf course.
The expansion and added amenities bode well to make Eagle Pass and the reservation of the Kickapoo Traditional
Tribe of Texas a prime tourist destination for the 4.7 million people who live within a 200-mile radius in the
United States and Mexico.
Makateonenodua, chief of the tribe, said, ``All the tribal members express their most sincere appreciation for
the embracement of their efforts and have committed to operate this enterprise in a responsible and respectable
manner, as we have done so far.''
Note to Editors: B-Roll Available Upon Request
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Contact:
Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino
830/758-1936
or
Alice Guerra, 210/732-8111 or 210/710-5869 (cell)