Amelia Schafer
ICT
Indian Country has lost a legendary tribal leader, Arlan Melendez, who led the Reno Sparks Indian Colony for 32 consecutive years as chairman and an additional five as a tribal council member.
Melendez died on June 17 at age 77, surrounded by friends and family. In the weeks after, local and national leaders reflected on his legacy.
Melendez is considered to be the longest-serving tribal chairman in Nevada and one of the longest running in the United States.
It all started with a hot dog stand, the colony said.
In 1987, Melendez, a huge basketball fan, proposed that the colony hold a hot dog stand to raise money for his All-Indian Men’s Basketball team called “Nevada Spirit.” After the application was denied, Melendez decided he needed to run for tribal council.
In 1987, Melendez was elected as the colony’s treasurer, launching his 36-year career, and in 1991 he was elected chairman.
In the 32 years from 1991 to 2023 that Melendez served as the Reno Sparks Indian Colony chairman, he made a tremendous impact on the colony’s economic development and nation-to-nation relationship with the United States, and increased the colony’s presence in Indian Country.
“It’s a tremendous loss,” said Daryl Gardipe, Melendez’s successor and the colony’s current chairman. “He was a great friend of people and a mentor, so he’ll be missed quite a bit.”
The Reno Sparks Indian Colony is comprised of the Paiute, Shoshone and Washoe tribes and located in Reno, Nevada, a large city in western Nevada near the California border. The colony was created in the early 1900s when the U.S. government purchased land to set aside for “homeless Indians.”
As colony chairman and later as a tribal council member, Melendez made great strides toward economic diversification, expanding the tribe’s main revenue source from tobacco sales to a multitude of different avenues – one of which included the 2003 lease of tribal land to the Walmart Corporation to build a supercenter from which the tribe would collect sales tax.
This move was so successful that the tribe now shares similar programs with Mercedes Benz, Acura Reno, Three Nation Cannabis, and over 20 locally owned and operated businesses, current Chairman Daryl Gardipe said.
This revenue provides funds for the colony’s government, helping to provide essential services to tribal members, residents and other urban Natives, as well as other projects, including the 2006 construction of a 65,000-square-foot health center for the colony.
“His impact is unmatched,” Gardpie said. “The people have high respect for him just because of his leadership.”
Melendez spearheaded the Nevada Native Nations Land Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 7, 2016. The act transferred around 71,000 acres of land to six tribes in Nevada and allowed for the colony to build more housing units for tribal members in the Hungry Valley area north of Reno.
His leadership on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2005 helped Nevada tribes advocate on the federal, state and local levels, the colony said. In this role, he was the second Native American to ever serve on the commission since its founding in 1957.
Aside from his time with the commission, Melendez has held a number of other national and local leadership positions, including representing the Western Region for the National Congress of American Indians and serving as chair of the organization’s Taxation Subcommittee until his retirement.
“Chairman Arlan Melendez devoted his life to servant leadership grounded in humility, courage, and an unwavering commitment to tribal sovereignty,” said NCAI President Mark Macarro in a June 18 statement. “His example strengthened not only the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, but Tribal Nations across the United States. We mourn his loss and honor the legacy he leaves for future generations.”
This leadership hasn’t gone unrecognized: Melendez received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Native American Finance Officers Association and an American Indian Community Leader of the Year award from the Nevada Indian Commission. The National Indian Health Service also publicly honored Melendez for his contributions.
Melendez served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
“Nevada mourns the loss of Chairman Arlan D. Melendez – a Marine Corps veteran, a dedicated leader, and a trailblazer for tribal sovereignty and economic progress,” Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said in a June 25 statement. “For 32 years, Chairman Melendez faithfully led the (Reno Sparks Indian Colony), guiding his community with strength, vision and heart. His impact will be felt for generations. Donna and I extend our deepest condolences to his wife Joyce, his children and the entire (Reno Sparks Indian Colony) community.”
On June 26, the Reno Sparks Indian Colony held a celebration of life event for Melendez. The event was one of the largest in the colony’s history, Gardpie said, attended by more than 1,000 people.
The local Reno mayor, politicians, congressmen and other high-profile officials attended, Gardpie said.
“It was a very high profile celebration of life that we sent him away with,” he said.
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