On Saturday, February 21st, the family of Sophia Madariaga celebrated her life. Pechanga provided a problem for the family, one more time.
As Sophia lived on the reservation, continually for over 40 years and her husband, Hunter family ELDER Lawrence Madariaga, still does. The family was looking to have their memorial at the Pechanga Senior Center. A deposit was placed but the family was turned down by the Silver Feathers, one final insult to the woman who fed, and diapered many of those people's children when they needed it.
Congratulations to Pechanga, for providing the disrepect, that people come to expect.
19 comments:
I AM OUTRAGED! What a SLAP in the face!
That is terrible...I just hope that this bad economy will finally cripple the Pechanga Casino..it has to start hurting them in the pocket book as well...with less income they wont be able to pay off all of the politicians that are helping them out.(Not to mention decreasing their per capita each month.) i hope!!
The Stae of California should go after them for all of the medical issues involved in the horrible second-hand smoke issues at the Casino...since many employees have no insurance you know its the taxpayers that are paying for medical treatment for the many asthma, bronchial infections and sinus problems associated with smoke.
The State won't touch us. We are a sovereign nation and we can have smoking if we want.
Deal with it. We pay enough taxes and we don't need more.
Quit crying.
The tribal council is disgusting and by the previous comment so are the "current" members.
To Anonymous, you say "Quit crying". Well we're Not crying but, you just might be!!!
What goes around comes around foe!
We give the customers what they want. If they want to smoke, they can smoke in the casino.
If you don't like the smoke, don't go to the casino, or stay in the non smoking parts.
You all are just trying to discriminate against smokers. We pay taxes too.
Discriminate!!! Did I actually see you write the word discriminate? The way you have discriminated within your own people; I cannot believe you have the audacity to even write the word!
You people are either completely blind, deaf, or just plain dumb. Open your eyes, ears, and mind. YOU ARE WRONG! If the general council won’t hear us out, let’s bring it to the people. Do you want to know the truth?? Ask the questions that the general council failed to convey to you. If you have heard wrongly, get it straight; we are here. Stop making ignorant statements without validation. We are not whining, we are SHOUTING the truth!!!
To the family of Sophia Madariaga my deepest sorrow and regret to all who are further hurt from the insulting manor that your family has been made to endure. Truly the "Silver Feathers" and for that matter the rest of the people who are involved with such shameful acts are not people of spirit. I council to Hunter descendants and others who suffer the injustice of the "Casino Indians" those of our families that have crossed the river and now celebrate in the dance of the spirit have learned that money and wealth are but a stone that cannot be carried with them when the crossing takes place. Celebrate your ancestors memory with good deed and courage this the elders would council. In time of war, for we are at war, seek to do battle without hate in your eyes. Our enemy knows that hate blinds the righteous and weakens the warrior. I am glad that your mother is well remembered and represented by good people. I will remember always the day I walked the land and she gave me a drink and directions that hot summer day that many years ago. She stirs a pot waiting for her family to join her and share the fire at night. My friendship and brotherhood to all the hunter family.
What disrespect by the tribe, if you can call them that. Generations ago when people banded together to survive the influx of settlers on indian lands, they loved and respected eachother. It seems like today RESPECT is not in the tribal leaders vocabulary. Its a personal vendetta and hate for certain people that fuel this inhumane nature.
But forgive them i know its hard but you will live a better life then them. I know for them its hard to sleep, hard to breathe with the guilt and hatred that fills their hearts day in and day out. They live life with constant looks around and behind them fearing a "custom and traditional" fate for such a disrespectful act.
What goes around comes around and we will have our day. And those who live with hatred and no morals will ultimately reach their demise.
The only way to lose is by giving up. Failure is not an option and one day everyone will have an opportunity to free themselves from opression.
Sophia Madariaga, rest in peace, and i know you will be there when our cause has its victory.
As an employee of The casino, I have to say that I don't know of anyone that does not have health insurance. I have had to use mine twice in the last year, and it is a great policy. I did not have to pay anything out of pocket other that a few $10 copays.
So, the state does not have to pay for smoking related problems.
Yumankind, you are so right and in fact the Madariagas have for years opened up their home for all who needed help, including those who ended up turning on them.
Lawerence M was instrumental in maintaining the water system at Pechanga, for the betterment of the community.
Often spending his own money back before anybody had ever heard of per capita payments and he helped build the very senior center building they wouldn't let his family use for his wife's memorial.
I know the Hunters and Madariagas are no longer official members of the Pechanga tribe but consider that they have lived there for over sixty (not forty) years and I am sure that if other non tribal member residents of the reservation had requested the use of the center that they would have been granted its use.
It is only because the Madariagas are from the Hunter family and they have gone public with the fact that we were railroaded out of the tribe that they were denied use of the building.
It is like they did something wrong in standing up for themselves after their tribe had allowed them to be "railroaded" out of the tribe in the kangaroo court disenrollment proceedings.
Some may believe that they let the tribe down by going public but it is the other way around because with very few exceptions, even among those who know that what the tribe did was wrong, nobody in the tribe has lifted a finger to help them one bit.
Yes, many think that the Hunters and the Manuela Mirandas are doing something wrong in bringing what Pechanga has done to light.
Family secret my ass.
These people need to be called out
Anonymous of 2/24, 9:13 AM, I am not sure what you mean by family secret.
I hope you mean the tribe because the M. Mirandas and the Hunters have done nothing wrong.
But in kind of a reversal of right and wrong, they, the victims, are blamed by some for not silently going away.
Why should the victims be blindly loyal to people who have shown no loyality to them?
To current tribal members, a lot of you know that injustice has been done to the M. Mirandas and the Hunters but, again, what have most of you done to stand up for what is right?
Answer, nothing!
I know many people in the Casino have no health insurance or cant afford to pay for it.
And are smokers the only ones with rights?..you say stay out of the Casino...so a smoker can smoke and bother a non-smoker and thats ok?..but if a non-smoker gets bothered by a smoker..thats too bad?..what kind of logic is that?...
My condolences to the Madariaga family during their time of sorrow...I'll remember her as strong, dedicated to her family first and foremost, and always there to help someone when in need...a true matriarch.
To the anonymous poster who said, "quit crying"...I say "you're f***ing stupid" and make the rest of us look bad by comments like that...you can see all the generalizing now, can't you??? Thanks, but I can fight my own fights!!
Anonymous of Feb. 25, 12:00AM said, "To the anonymous poster who said, "quit crying"...I say "you're f***ing stupid" and make the rest of us look bad by comments like that...you can see all the generalizing now, can't you??? Thanks, but I can fight my own fights!!"
What fights you referrring to?
Do you really think that what the Pechanga tribe did to the disenrollees was the right thing to do?
I really do think politics should be kept to a minimum, at least on this thread anyway, and I think well of you for offering your condolances, but if you think the tribe was right in kicking us out of the tribe, come to one of the other threads and defend the tribe's position but don't just use the sovereignty line, talk specifics.
I believe the facts are on our side and that an injustice was done to us, the disenrollees.
But as I said, we should keep politics to a minimun on this thread even though everyone knows it was because of politics that this family was denied the use of the center for their memorial.
What a shame to hear that the Silver Feathers would not allow the memorial to take place at the building that her husband built for the Pechanga people.
Their disgrace has no limits.
Its the attitude that some of these tribal members have ..
"The State wont touch us .we are a sovereign nation"...is just the kind of talk that is going to get the general public to Vote out the compacts in existance now and allow gambling to everyone in the State.
California voters thought that they would be helping out all tribal people and reservations...not making only certain members rich and greedy.
California gave it to you, BUT believe me..California can take it away from you as well.....and you will deserve losing it all.
Pechanga is an example of small minds in powerful positions.
Post a Comment