Congressional Black Caucus Makes Fools of Themselves With Tea Party Racism Issue, While Avoiding REAL Racism of Cherokee Nation

The Congressional Black Caucus has the opportunity to stand up for those who REALLY are the subjects of racism, the Cherokee Freedmen, descendents of the slaves who were owned by the Cherokee.   What do they do instead?  They make fools of themselves trying to cast the Tea Party as racists who want Blacks swing from trees.   

Stand UP FOR those who REALLY have had their civil rights violated.   Not just the Cherokee Freedmen, but those Native Americans who have been disenfranchised by their tribes.   Get to the REAL job of defending our civil rights, not a manufactured LIE.

Look into those tribes that practice APARTHEID here in California, CBC and quit being ignorant and vile.

Galanda: Indian Gaming is NOT FOREVER

Native American Tribal Attorney Gabe Galandan, an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California has an interesting blog post up

This syndicated opinion, “America’s gambling addiction threatens the nation’s soul,” which appears in newspapers across the country today, brings into stark focus why Indian gaming is not forever.


While Indian gaming, i.e. the tribal brick-and-mortar casino as we currently know it, has not outlasted its useful life, there will come a time when Indian gaming, or at least its $26 billion in annual gross revenues, will fall off, if not fade away.

That's something I told my children a decade ago.  Little did I know that our family's per capita would come to an abrupt end, after Pechanga's tribal council violated the tribal constitution and bylaws to cut hundreds off of per capita payments of over $265,000 per year.    All so that the remaining tribal members could take their per capita to over $325,000 per year.

Now, with the declining economy and in Pechanga's case, bad publicity, excess monies spent on ballot initiatives and to lobby Washington, the tribal per capita has diminished.   As Galandan points out in his post, states will see that tribes have had an advantage, and that advantage can no longer be supported at the expense of the state.

In California's case, courts have ruled that former Governor Shwarzenegger's (has a great sound to it, doesn't it?  FORMER Governor) attempt to strong arm tribes in getting them to pay more for extra slots was invalid.     That means that the promises tribes made to help balance our budget won't come to fruition.   It makes sense to open gaming establishments RUN BY THE STATE, so we can use that money to run our state.

Tribes like Pechanga, have proven untrustworthy.   Their council has lied, cheated, stolen from rightful Pechanga people and gaming has simply made some rich, but has not benefitted all tribes as we were told.   It's past time for the state of CA to legalize gaming so we can all benefit from those gaming dollars.   

After Decimating the Descendents of their Former Slaves, Cherokee Nation "Prepares for the Worst"

NOW, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is worried about possible repurcussions of their recent suspiciously timed ruling to terminate the membership of 2800 possible NO votes to Chad Smith.   The Talequah Daily Press has details:

The recent Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ruling that stripped citizenship status from about 2,800 Freedmen descendants has tribal officials “preparing for the worst.”
During her scheduled report at the tribe’s Rules Committee meeting Thursday, Attorney General Diane Hammons said two federal cases involving the Freedmen are in play in Washington, D.C., although no new litigation has been filed.

“We have some educated guesses about what will happen next,” said Hammons. “We have heard something will be filed in Washington, D.C., next week, but we don’t know specifically what it will be. The most positive thing I can report is that we’re trying to prepare for the worst.”

Hammons addressed questions from councilors on whether the Freedmen may ask for a stay on the upcoming special election for principal chief, and if the tribe risks losing its federal housing funding, as has been the case in the past.

“Let me say that, as of lunchtime, the Freedmen have not filed a stay on the election,” she said. “They’ve tried it before. I hope it’s not the case this time, but it is a possibility.”   OP:  In other words, they don't want the Freedmen to continue to fight for their rights.  They are hoping that they take their screwing by the Cherokee Tribe and go away.   Really?  Do they think that's IT?

More:   Councilor Tina Glory-Jordan said she’s concerned that in the past, when the court disenfranchised Freedmen, the federal government triggered an automatic stoppage of housing funds. 


“Could you please keep us apprised?” asked Jordan of Hammons. “That’s $30 million in funding and about 500 Cherokee jobs. If we don’t get our money, that will have an immediate effect.”    OP:  Please, don't let us lose any funding after outrageously gettng rid of THOUSANDS of Freedmen.... THOUSANDS of Men, Women an CHILDREN...

Read more about the Cherokee preparations HERE

We wrote about the Congressional Black Caucus and their promise to withhold Cherokee Housing funds HERE 

excerpt:  Since the flare-up over the Freedmen last year, the Cherokees have increasing come under pressure from CBC members. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would prohibit the distribution of federal funds to the tribe until it reverses its decision on the Freedmen. Watt has been tapped to lead a taskforce on the issue for the caucus.



In turn, the Cherokees have bulked up their lobbying presence here in Washington. The tribe has hired the Podesta Group (aren't they Hillary supporters?)and McBee Strategic Consulting to help sooth relations on Capitol Hill.


Congress has remained attentive to the issue, however. Before the Easter recess, Watson, Watt, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) met with Carl Artman of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to discuss the Cherokees.

OP:  Alas, with her retirement, Dianne Watson has had nobody step up to champion the Freedmen's just cause.   WHO will step up now?

Civil Rights Leader Lehman Brightman Suffers Stroke and Needs Your Help

Dr. Lehman Brightman, founder of the United Native Americans, Inc, and Civil Rights Leader for many Native Americans needs help to pay for his medical care.   His son, Quanah Parker Brightman, asks for you prayers as he was rushed into emergency surgery today.

Please Donate to the Lehman Brightman Healing Fund

 

As many of you are aware, Indigenous Scholar, Korean War Veteran, Professional Football Player, & Resistance Leader: Lehman L. Brightman suffered a stroke this past July 22, 2011 and is currently recovering in the hospital.

Dr. Brightman's bio:

Lehman L. Brightman is a Sioux and Creek Indian who was born on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Professor Brightman is the founder and National President of United Native Americans, Inc. an Indian organization formed in 1968, to promote the progress and general welfare of American Indians. In his capacity as President of UNA, Mr. Brightman has testified in two U.S Senate Hearings on the deplorable conditions of Indian boarding schools and hospitals on reservations. He led investigations of seven Indian boarding schools and three Indian hospitals due to the poor service and abusive treatment of Indian people. He is a former football and track star at Oklahoma State University where he earned a B.A. degree, and he has an M.A. degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Brightman is an ex-Marine and served one year in the Korean conflict where he was wounded in action. Professor Brightman established and coordinated the first Native American Studies Program in the United States at UC Berkeley in 1969, and has since taught at the University of California in San Diego, Sacramento State University, D-Q University, and Contra Costa College in San Pablo, California.   Brightman is the author of numerous articles on the history of Indian education and federal boarding schools.

He is the former editor of the first International Indian newspaper called Warpath, and was involved in the occupation of Alcatraz, and the takeover of Wounded Knee, and led the takeover and occupation of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota in 1970. He was one of the national coordinators of the Longest Walk in 1978, and the Long Walk for Survival in 1980. At the present time, Mr. Brightman is writing a book on the history of the Indian Civil Rights Movement from the 1960's to the present.

Dr. Brightman is in need of financial assistance in paying his medical expenses, back taxes, and his mortgage. Any monetary gift is generous and is greatly appreciated.


Kindly mail your donation to:

United Native Americans, Inc.
2434 Faria Avenue
Pinole, California 94564.
The entire U.N.A. family would like to personally thank you for assisting us in helping Lehman Brightman during this difficult time.

Your continued prayers for his health and welfare are greatly appreciated.

For more information, please contact unitednativeamericansinc@gmail.com or (510)672-7187

CA Senate PARKS Anti-Quarry Bill and Tells Pechanga Tribe and Quarry to DEAL

A bill to stop the proposed Liberty Quarry near Temecula cleared its first Senate committee Tuesday but will likely go no further for the remainder of the legislative year.

Members of the Senate Natural Resources Committee had a unanimous message to quarry developer Granite Construction and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, which sponsored the measure to protect what it considers to be its site of creation.

Make a deal.

"Don't get to the checkmate stage. You really have to get to the point where you...try and work this out," said state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, who had a similar, years-long dispute in her district. Otherwise, she said, "there is never an end to this."

Was Freedmen Decision Timed to Keep them From Voting in Special Election?

It's not difficult to believe that Chad Smith's hand-picked court would help their benefactor in an upcoming election, is it?   To disenfranchise just enough voters to make a difference?    Taking the vote away from members is an easy way to control power.   We saw it at Redding Rancheria, at the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and Snoqualmie Tribal Council has also acted against the will of their people.     Here's a story from NEWSOK where the Freedmen's attorney speaks:


The attorney representing freedmen in their case against the Cherokee Nation said Tuesday that he was shocked the tribe's Supreme Court ruled against the freedmen so close to the special election to pick a new chief.

Attorney Ralph Keen Jr., of Stilwell, said the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court's ruling, which was handed down on Monday, came a day before the tribe's election officials sent out absentee ballots for the election between Chad Smith and Bill John Baker.


The tribal court's decision means about 2,800 freedmen — the ancestors of slaves who had been owned by Cherokee members — won't be able to vote in the Sept. 24 election.

The tribal court's decision means about 2,800 freedmen — the ancestors of slaves who had been owned by Cherokee members — won't be able to vote in the Sept. 24 election.
Hall said the timing “shocked me … when you put it in the context of the special tribal election.''
The freedmen who have been fighting for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation consider Smith, the incumbent principal chief, one of their adversaries.
Marilyn Vann, who lost her citizenship because of Monday's ruling, said Tuesday, “It is obvious this decision is the tool (Smith) is using to regain his position as chief and deliver the blow to eliminate my citizenship and other Cherokees who have held this status since 1866.”
Vann is the lead plaintiff in a federal-court case that is still pending.

Freedmen contend that an 1866 treaty between the tribe and the U.S. government conferred citizenship on all former slaves who had been owned by tribal members, along with their descendants.

Read more at the link above.   Maybe Congresspeople like Maxine Waters should be looking at a REAL civil rights issue.

Cedric Sunray on The Cherokee Freemen Expulsion: Worse Than Jim Crow, in an Enlightened Age

Supposedly Enlightened to predjudice, racism and marginalization.  But CNO use of the words "them people" makes them ignorant of their own history.

From Cedric's H.E.L.P Newsletter:

Well, I said I would get back with the listserve if something big occurred. It doesn't get any bigger than this. The Removal of the Cherokee Freedmen cannot be likened to Jim Crow anymore. Jim Crow was a horrific experience for many including historic South and Eastern Indian communities.

However, when we attempt to view it through a contemporary lense it is difficult due to the time at which it occurred (and in some ways is still occurring). The removal of Cherokee Freedmen in 2011 is done in a time when people are more enlightened on the issues of prejudice and marginalization and so its occurrence could be argued as even more appalling.

 Not even the United States, who tribes have argued with generationally for the countries actions against indigenous people, stooped so low as to disenfranchise citizenship from former slaves and their descendants. As someone living in Tahlequah, OK (capitol of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), I was directly exposed to the racial hatred spewed by certain members of the CNO. John Ketcher, a former Deputy Chief and fixture in CNO politics, was caught on video saying, "Well you know how them people are." in reference to the Cherokee Freedmen.

If you are from a historic "non-federal" tribe in the South and East you know the term "them people" well. Our people have been called "them people" in various forms by racist white southerners for many, many generations. Of course we all know what "them people" in North Carolina, aka Lumbee, did to those KKK boys who liked using such terms. DISENROLLMENT is the work of immoral and unethical people and is a clear form of paper genocide. It is not "sovereignty". Sovereignty is a constantly renegotiated concept which is used by some Indian people today as a defense for negativity. Is Libya sovereign? Who controls their sovereignty? Is Haiti sovereign? Can sovereigns be completely dependent on their financial welfare from other sovereigns? These are all complex questions.

Sheryl Lightfoot does an incredible job of addressing such issues in her aricle. Going after the CNO is not an affront to sovereignty as she will explain when you read the attached article. Please see the three articles pasted below from various newspapers today. Here is a quote from Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma council member Cara Cowan-Watts from the July/August 2005 Manntaka, "I didn't hear of freedmen until this whole issue came up," she says. "I didn't hear of them or meet them." -Cara Cowan


Why would a racially white, non-traditionally raised, non-Cherokee Nation raised "council member" have heard of them.

Only actual Cherokees know Freedmen, have lived by them, intermarried with them, etc. for many generations. I have attached a copy of an email petition created and sent out by Cara Cowan in 2006, a copy of a Newsletter from the Descendants of the Freedman Association counteracting lies by the CNO, an incredible article written by Ojibwa Sheryl Lightfoot challenging the CNO's use of "sovereignty" as a cover up for immoral and unethical behavior, as well as an article showing the massive stimulus fund dollars paid out to the CNO. Funds which go into the war coffer they use against their own people and historic "non-federal" tribal communities.

Their (some CNO individuals/"leaders") hatred is not representative of all CNO citizens and that should be remembered by everyone. However, if CNO tribal members continue to not be critical of the racists in their midst, then their silence should be viewed as support.

Cherokee Nation Tribal Supreme Court Kicks Out Black Freedmen Tribal Members

The Cherokee Nation, who once dragged their slaves on the Trail of Tears as property, now a hand-selected Chad Smith court sends their descendents on their own trail of tears.


A Press Release from the Cherokee Freedmen:

On August 22, 2011, the Cherokee nation tribal Supreme Court ruled that changes to the tribal constitution which effectively removed tribal citizenship from Cherokee freedmen in 2007 were valid.

The Cherokee Supreme Court’s Decision to eliminate the Cherokee people who were granted freedom and citizenship under the Treaty of 1866 is bad law done for a bad reason and is being delivered to assist a former chief just beaten in an election, to eliminate most of the black people from voting in the new election, says Marilyn Vann, a Cherokee Freedmen, whose citizenship has just been terminated based on this ruling. Now, I, nor any Cherokee Freedmen can vote in the next chief election next month. This is timely for Chad Smith, who lost the election and the recount, but was granted a second chance for election by this same Supreme Court. It should also not be forgotten, that following the Cherokee Nation’s highest court, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal’s decision that the Freedmen were entitled to citizenship in 2006, Chad Smith, then Chief, dismantled the Court and established this Supreme Court in its place and selected new judges. It is obvious this decision is the tool he is using to regain his position as Chief and deliver the blow to eliminate my citizenship and other Cherokees who have held this status since 1866.” Despite Federal and Tribal Court rulings stating the Freedmen enjoy all the rights of Cherokee citizenship, The Smith administration has kept out 90% of the Freedmen. Only about 2,800 citizens have been holding on by a thread. As the tribal Court ordered principal chief election nears, the remainder of Freedmen, understandably not Smith supporters, have been stripped of citizenship and will not be able to vote and affects rights to services such as NAHASDA (Indian Housing) services under HR 2786 passed in 2008.

The most troubling statement in the Cherokee Court case, according to Jon Velie, attorney for the Freedmen in two still ongoing Federal lawsuits in Washington D.C , is the statement “the Cherokee Freedmen were never afforded citizenship in the Cherokee Nation by the Treaty of 1866.”   This language conflicts with the undisturbed line of Federal Court cases from 1895 through now. Velie represents Marilyn Vann and several other freedmen in one of the Federal court cases. In July 2008, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals held in Vann, “The Cherokee Nation simply has no interest in protecting sovereignty concerns that have been taken away by the United States..The Thirteenth Amendment and the 1866 Treaty whittled away the Tribe’s sovereignty with regard to slavery and left it powerless to discriminate against the Freedmen ……. “
Marilyn Vann added, Mr. Smith’s hand selected Courts decision to do whatever it takes to reinstall him as Chief is dangerous for all of Indian Country as it holds the people of a nation can simply vote the rights of a Treaty away. Does that mean US citizens could vote away our treaty rights or Oklahomans could vote Cherokees out of state citizenship rights?  My nation and the nation of my ancestors has expelled us on our trail of tears, over a century after our ancestors carried baggage on the original Trail. It is a dark day for Cherokee Nation, for Indian Country and for mankind. The freedmen will continue to fight for justice.

Emergency meeting for Cherokee freedmen and their supporters is set for Saturday August 27th, 2011 at the Martin Luther King Center, 627 N 3rd, Street, Muskogee, Okla. at 2pm.

Cherokee Freedmen and supporters will demonstrate outside the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building, Friday September 2, 2011, 3100 West Peak Boulevard, Muskogee, Okla. 2:30pm. Freedmen and supporters will also publicize their plight during the Cherokee Holiday on September 3rd during the morning parade.

Why Pechanga Chairman Macarro can't be believed on the Liberty Quarry issue

OP: Pechanga LIED when they told the Interior that they wanted 296 acres to maintain cultural significance to tribal life. There were very few tribal golfers back then, and fewer good ones. Article

Silver said tribes sometimes lose sight of that goal once a fee-to-trust transfer is approved. He cited the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians' application to transfer of 296 acres into fee-to-trust in Temecula as an example: According to its stated purpose at the time, the tribe wanted to maintain existing cultural resources and native vegetation of cultural significance to tribal life, Silver said. Pechanga asserted in its application that given the "vast occurrence of cultural resources found on the site, no development is proposed." Based on that assurance, the Bureau of Indian affairs concluded in March 2001 that the proposed annexation would not harm the environment.

By early 2007, however, the tribe was building a golf course on a portion of the land, Silver said. "This golf course development was especially troubling given the parcel's location within...the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan," Silver said. The majority of the 296.29 acres had been designated potentially sensitive habitat.

In response, Pechanga's General Counsel John Macarro, wrote, "Once the land is placed in trust, a tribe has complete zoning and planning authority over it and can change land uses just as a county or city can change or update its general plan or zoning designations." Meaning: Just because we said we wanted to maintain cultural sites and don't propose development if you just give us the land free, doesn't mean we can't put a golf course there.

Masiel Crime Family Of Pechanga At it Again?

It looks like the Masiel Crime Family Has struck again. Rita Basquez, 46 was arrested in connection with a methamphetamine bust last week. One ofher partners was amassing an armory. And to think, she's' making a quarter million a year.

Money Laundering at Pechanga? Why is the Dept. of Justice Looking?

Checking out the sitemeter for visitors to Original Pechanga's Blog, I was surprised to find the Department of Justice coming to the blog after doing a google search for PECHANGA MONEY LAUNDERING.   Here's how it looked from sitemeter, with extra cells taken out.

Domain Name usdoj.gov ? (U.S. Government)

IP Address 149.101.1.# (US Dept of Justice)
ISP US Dept of Justice
Location Continent : North America
Country : United States (Facts)

State : District of Columbia
City : Washington
Lat/Long : 38.9097, -77.0231 (Map)
Referring URL http://www.google.co...UGVnGMQG-QfDpCsrBlEW

Search Engine google.com
Search Words pechanga money laundering
Visit Entry Page http://www.originalp...ent-on-theft-no.html/

Now, what could that be about?   Is the investigation into corruption at Pechanga finally concluding?   Remember when there was an issue at Pechanga with many members claiming a false business through their tax preparer?   We asked a question about mailboxes on the rez a few months ago.....

Developing.......Question:   WHO will throw WHO under the bus?

Jerry Brown Signs Compact with Civil Rights Violating Tribe Pinoleville

Gov. Jerry Brown, who has taken nearly $1 MILLION from gaming tribes,  has signed a gambling compact with a Mendocino County Indian tribe allowing it to build a casino with 900 slot machines.

The governor's office announced the agreement Monday with the Pinoleville Pomo Nation for a casino near Ukiah, about 120 miles north of San Francisco.

It says that up to 15 percent of the casino's net earnings will be used for the community and on programs designed to address gambling addiction.

The agreement also includes steps the tribe must take to protect the environment during construction. A message left with the tribe at its office in Ukiah was not immediately returned.

Susan Bradford: Tribal Gaming Establishment Turns on Ietan’s Larry Rosenthal

Investigative reporter, and friend of Original Pechanga's Blog, Susan Bradford has the story on issues with IETAN, a lobbying firm of which Pechanga chairman mark macarro's wife Holly Macarro is a principal.  Be sure to check out Susan's book on Jack Abramoff titled  LYNCHED: The Shocking Story of How the Political Establishment Manufactured a Scandal to Have Republican Super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff Removed from Power

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little over a decade ago, the tribal gaming establishment turned on Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff by selling a false narrative to the American people that he was corrupt since he committed the cardinal sin of blocking the proliferation of tribal casinos in a multi-billion dollar market. Abramoff was retained by his tribal clients to engage in lawful lobbying activity in order to protect their market share and was rewarded handsomely for it.

Fast forward ahead a decade and the corrupt tribal gaming establishment is now turning its sabers on Larry Rosenthal of Ietan Consulting. There are many reasons to criticize Rosenthal, including his role (along with that of his chief legislative ally, Congressman Dale Kildee) in helping fictitious Indian flood tribal membership rolls and seize control of tribal governments, their businesses, and the mineral resources on their lands. He also schemed with other lobbyists, including Scott Reed, to set up Abramoff for criminal indictment on trumped up charges so that he and his allies could seize his rival’s business interests in Indian Country

Recently, reports smearing Ietan Consulting were released at two separate National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) conferences. Inside sources said that the reports were dropped on the door steps of the hotel rooms of participants in the interests of setting up Rosenthal for a fall by comparing him to Abramoff, while turning a blind eye to the pervasive fraud that is transpiring within Indian Country. It is worth repeating that the corrupt tribal gaming establishment devours its own and throws wayward professionals to the wolves.


READ MORE FROM Investigative Reporter Susan Bradford here.

Los Coyotes Tribal Member Arrested in $15 Million Dollar EAGLE FIRE

Two arrests were announced Thursday afternoon in connection with the arson investigation of last month's Eagle fire that burned more than 14,000 acres on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation.

Jeremy Ortiz, 23, a member of the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Indians, was arrested Thursday in a joint law enforcement operation on charges of aggravated arson and forest land arson, authorities said.

Jesse Durbin, 23, was already in the Vista jail on a vehicle theft charge. He also was charged with arson, according to Capt. Mike Mohler, a spokesman with the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection.


Read more:  NCTIMES

California Watch: Native American tribes shield parents from child support

California Watch has an interesting story that we've brought you before about tribes shielding their members (Viejas man who gets over $13,000 per MONTH, in per capita doesn't pay for his children) from child support payments.

Mothers around the state are finding it almost impossible to collect child support from some Native American fathers because tribal governments and businesses are shielding them from court-ordered payments, records and interviews show.

The number of tribes or tribal companies that do not honor state child support orders – by garnisheeing the income or bank accounts of delinquent parents – is murky. The California Department of Child Support Services does not systematically track which businesses, tribal or otherwise, honor support orders.

But Richard Blake, chief judge of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, acknowledged that the majority of tribal governments in the state do not have formal programs for child support enforcement. Blake said only about 20 of 103 federally recognized California tribes have official child support enforcement systems in place.

“Traditionally, Native people are taught that we take care of our children and our elders. Taking care of our children means child support,” Blake said. “These children deserve better than what we’re giving them at this point.”

Blake, who also is the chief judge for the Smith River Rancheria and Redding Rancheria tribal courts, said that while tribes should honor such orders, it is their right as sovereign nations to ignore California’s courts. He said of the 2,500 Hoopa Valley tribal members, up to 40 percent likely will have a child support case in his court.

Collecting child support from a delinquent parent is a difficult task no matter who owes the money. On average each year, the state does not collect about $1 billion in child support payments owed to parents around the state.

For some mothers, collecting child support from a tribal member or father who works for a Native American-owned casino can turn into a years-long losing battle. Although the number of women in this situation is a small percentage of those owed child support in California, interviews and court records reveal a persistent and rarely reported problem among Native American tribes       SEE THE LINK ABOVE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

OP:  One way to help, is to exercise your moral outrage, stop visiting tribal casinos of tribes that have no child enforcement plans.   Let the casino/tribe know WHY you are no longer going to come and spend your money there.

SERIOUSLY, Mr. Macarro? You believe in a Sacred Site? SERIOUSLY, have you NO SHAME?

Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro doesn't want a quarry to interfere with a Pechanga-run opportunity so he pulls out the "sacred site" card.  Macarro is UNTRUSTWORTHY.

Raise your hand if you don't believe that Mr. Macarro, of Pechanga, thinks of any site as sacred, other than his per capita generating casino.      Ted Hillock wrote about Pechanga caring more about BONES, than PEOPLE.

The tribe contends the open-pit quarry would desecrate a site that, to Pechanga, is analogous to the Garden of Eden, Jerusalem's Wailing Wall or the Sistine Chapel.

In a statement, Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro said: "It is not an option to tell our future generations that their place of creation, the basis of their history and their very identity, used to be here.     OP:  What about the generations of Pechanga people you WIPED OUT, Mr. Macarro?   You, sir, are despicable.   You send rightful members of the tribe out, try to steal their water and now engage members of Congress into your handiwork?

"As any other people would, we will bring to bear all of the resources at our disposal to protect this sacred area from the permanent destruction this massive mine would cause."

An 8,500-page environmental study of the quarry concluded its effect on cultural resources would be "less than significant," a finding Macarro called "disgraceful."     OP: Macarro doesn't even LIVE on the reservation.

"Because county planners have failed to honor the spirit of the law designed to protect such areas, we are forced to seek additional legislation to protect our place of creation from destruction," he said in the tribe's statement.   OP:  Mr. Macarro is concerned about the "spirit of the law"  yet, for his own tribe, he's not concerned about ACTUAL LAW?  Priceless.

In an interview with The Press-Enterprise editorial board Thursday, Granite executive Gary Johnson said the tribe never told Granite the site was sacred when tribal officials met with company representatives in May 2005, when the quarry was in the early stages of planning.

DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING MR. MACARRO SAYS

Should California Recognize Tribal Court Rulings?

Can some tribes be trusted to follow the law?  We know first hand that Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians doesn't even follow their own constitution.  Malcolm Maclachlan has the story in Capitol Weekly:

An initiative undertaken by George last year may lead California to formally recognize civil judgments from tribal courts.

Of the 109 federally recognized tribes in the state, nearly 20 operate their own court systems. Another dozen or so have started running limited court systems, or are actively exploring the idea. These courts oversee tribal members on tribal lands. Their authority rests on the limited sovereignty of Indian tribes, who operate as semi-autonomous nations within U.S. borders.

The proposed bill would use a lesser standard — comity. This means that non-tribal members could appeal judgments against them in state court on the grounds that they did not receive due process or that the court showed bias. This is the same system used in other courts that recognize tribal civil judgments, including Maine, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

“Due process questions can be reviewed by the state superior court in deciding whether to recognize the tribal court judgment,” Gede said. “This is reasonably well-written and well thought out, and provides pretty solid protections for a defendant in civil matters.”

The law would also recognize tribal courts from other states. There are about 650,000 American Indians living in California, and over half of them are members of tribes based in other states. In fact, the numbers of Cherokee and Navajo tribal members living in the state dwarfs the membership of many California tribes.


There is an existing state law that technically makes some monetary judgments in tribal courts enforceable on non-Indians. The Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgment Recognition Act covers only some types of judgments. It also flips the equation, forcing a tribe or individual Indian who has won a judgment to essentially litigate the case all over again in state courts, according to an AOC analysis.


“There’s a history here,” Edwards said. “The state courts didn’t trust tribal courts, traditionally. They didn’t think due process was going on there.”      OP:    Pechanga denied due process to both the Apis and Hunter Clan....

READ MORE AT CAPITOL WEEKLY

Sorrow and Poverty in the Cherokee Nation and Why Chad Smith Should Not Be Re-Elected

The US Department of Health and Human Services came to our blog looking for this story.  Since there is a new election for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, with Chad Smith STILL trying to be chief, I thought it would be a good time to see why it's well past time for a new chief:   This post was from December 2009

I wonder why the CNIGA would invite a leader of a tribe that has violated the civil rights and treaty rights of the Cherokee Freedmen? The Cherokee business model is not very good. Have ANY of their latest ventures been successful?


Was this a HOW NOT TO GO to BUSINESS speech? Do California's gaming tribes WANT to learn how to violate treaties?