Wednesday, April 15, 2009

On Pechanga's Oral Tradition and Custom: Teetilawuncha's Blog

Our Cousins at Teetilawuncha's Blog have a fine post on some history of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Oral Custom and Tradition as it relates to the Paulina Hunter matter.

They also show some of the "inconsistencies" of how the Pechanga Enrollment Committee acted.

Most recently before his death, Antonio Ashman in a sworn affidavit said he knew Paulina as a member of the Band. He also swore that Paulina stayed at the home of Michelle and Salvador Quiliq and heard they were related.

He also stated Paulina was called Aunt by Martin Berdugo, another recognized member of Pechanga. This is recorded oral recognition that the CPP faction says Paulina Hunter did not have.

The enrollment committee also finds that Paulina was given a land allotment on the Pechanga reservation as a Temecula Indian. This confirms Paulina’s status as a Temecula Indian.

Please visit Teetilawuncha's Blog and add your comments here and there.

5 comments:

'aamokat said...

The CPP argued that oral recognition means the whole tribe has to recognize your family and since they, a faction of the tribe, now say that we have never been recgonized, that means it was correct to disenroll us.

Never mind that seven current elders have given notarized testimony that we are Pechanga verses only three, all from the CPP, who say we are not and never mind,as we have repeatledly posted, that elders from the historical period of the late 1800s, said we are Pechanga.

Well if the everyone in the tribe has to recognize a family line, that means that since Butch Murphy's family had about 16 votes against their membership back in 1986 after the enrollment committee had voted not to enroll them, verses 42 votes in their favor, that means Butch's family was not recognized by the entire tribe.

So according to the CPP's reasoning, Butch Murphy's family should be disenrolled.

I have a better idea, why doesn't the tribe do the right thing and let those of us who have been disernolled back in the tribe, and let those people who are stuck in the moratorium in the tribe, as well as let everyone else now in the tribe stay in the tribe.

After all, the majority of the tribe voted to end disenrollment as a part of tribal law in 2005.

Anonymous said...

Fat chance, too many evil greedy pompous heartless mean members holding the "POWER" in the tribe. You dare speak against their views & you will be joining the Hunters on the outside. Truth, Facts, Tradition, Documents, Constitution, By-Laws, Expert Findings, Indian Civil Rights Act, "ALL MEANS ALL", & Voice of the People(majority of tribes votes) were ALL ignored in Disenrolling "True Pechanga People", the Hunters with hear-say as evidence! The Current state of The Pechanga Tribe is a Gorilla Nation run by Bullying Thugs!

Anonymous said...

The Gorillas will soon be locked up in cages where they belong. Unfortunately, the droppings that they leave behind will be expensive, and difficult to clean up.

'aamokat said...

What was ironic about our disenrollment was that while the CPP said that only oral recognition can prove membership, the Pechanga tribe has codfied written requirments.

The the biased CPP heavy enrollment committee then asked the Hunters to turn in certified and notarized documents which they chose to ingore.

Which they tried to pass off as due process but in reality the slight majority on the committee had their minds made up against the Hunters before the process even started.

I would like to ask our anonymous tribal hack who always says that we the disenrolled were afforded due process of law the following:

1. First of all other families reference the San Luis Rey tribe in their family histories, not just us, the Hunters, so why were other families cleared from disenrollment with the same information that was given as a reason for disenrolling us?

Also, how did we receive fair hearings when we didn't even find out that the enrollment committee considered the San Luis Rey Tribe reference as evidence showing, in their opinion, we are not Pechanga, until the Record of Decision informing us we were kicked out of the tribe?

So a major part of the case against us was never presented to us until after our disenrollment and it was too late for us to respond.

The disenrollment precedures stated that the enrollment committee at the intitial meeting with us regarding our disenrollment case had to specifically say why the documentation that was used to enroll us was lacking in proving tribal membership.

We were never told why we were being disenrolled until after we were disenrolled but even then the committee's reasons were vague.

All we were given was a list of documents to turn in during a 30 day period, which we did, and some letters and statements by members of the CPP saying we have never been recognized as Pechanga people but without facts to back up their statements, just their opinions, pure hearsay.

But even so the disenrollment procedures didn't even exist as a part of tribal law at the time we were disenrolled, as shown below.

3. How could it be legal to proceed against us for disenrollment after the petition to end disenrollment as a part of tribal law stated that the disenrollment procedures no longer existed as of June 19, 2005?

For people that don't know, we were disenrolled on March 16, 2006 despite the fact that disenrollment was outlawed the previous year.

The tribal council maintained in its March 14, 2005 letter, just two days before our disenrollment, that the petition to end disenrollments didn't cover a previous case, namely the Hunters.

However, again, the petition did specifically say that the disenrollment procedures didn't exist as of June 19, 2005.

Note: the tribal council's letter to the General Membership stating that our family wasn't covered by the petition to end disnenrollment was just two days before our disenrollment. Obviously timed so that we couldn't respond to their bogus decision.

P.S. I know that the powers that be in the tribe, at this point, aren't likely going to do anything to right the wrongs that have been done to us.

But maybe by continuing to post what happened to us, someone will help us but regardless I am going to keep doing what I have been doing.

We only truly lose if we stop fighting.

Anonymous said...

Never say Never, The Lord has moved many an impossible mountain. You are right as tiring as it is posting this unjustice again and again will start to move those mountains. I bet Butch feels the rumbles, it is only a matter of time before he will feel the pain we have felt. But in his case justice will be served. Butch white man Murphy your days are numbered in the tribe.