Two Southern California tribes have sought for over twenty years to build an Indian gaming casino in Barstow California.
Both tribes are federally recognized and both claim ancestral ties to the Barstow area. The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians have a reservation in Warner Springs and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe's reservation is in Lake Havasu.
A Barstow casino requires federal approval for either tribe. Since neither has reservation land in Barstow, the federal government considers Barstow an "off-reservation" casino. If approved, the U.S. Department of Interior will transfer the Barstow casino land into federal trust for the tribe as an addition to the reservation.