Thursday, February 11, 2010

Group says Greg Sarris, Chairman of Graton Rancheria, NOT an Indian

A group trying to stop a casino in Rohnert Park says the chairman of the local tribe has no Indian blood — and it wants the Bureau of Indian Affairs to remove him. Will the BIA step into this action? Is Sarris Native American? Is this a case of selective enforcement by the Bureau of Indian Affairs?

That leader, Greg Sarris, the chairman of the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria, has shot back with charges of politics and said the group has no legal leg to stand on. OP: But he didn't shoot back with, "YES, my ancestors are Indian,"

The dispute centers on the Graton Rancheria’s efforts to build an urban casino in Rohnert Park on the northern edge of the densely populated Bay Area. But it also touches on how casino politics in California are inextricably tied with racial politics, not only in the present but deep into the state’s past.

Read more: HERE and also at Stop the Casino 101 They have MORE to the story.

1 comment:

  1. Anybody remember this discussion?
    “Anonymous said...
    ...So why not a Las Vegas publication as a conduit to the world. After all, Las Vegas does have a major interest in Casino failure in Cali...you never know…’
    January 15, 2010 12:18 PM

    to which I mentioned

    “6.,Station Casinos was taken over in November for $5.4 billion. The Las Vegas-based company owns 17 casinos and resorts throughout Las Vegas and manages an American Indian casino in Northern California.”
    http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2008/10/14/news

    Guess who shows up in the thick of this conflict?

    “The tribe began working with Las Vegas-based Stations Casino in 2003 in an effort to get a gaming compact and build a casino in the area — a lucrative prospect, given that it would be one of a very few near the huge population centers of the Bay Area.” http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=ymfa5d7izjxlyd&xid=ymeu28afca9np1&done=.ymfa5d7izkhlyd
    And the summation is that someones tribal status is again threatened
    as a direct result of Casino interests in Indian Country.

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