A road name change stirred up a lot of past problems for a Banning developer.
Lloyd Fields fought for change with the Morongo Tribe for years. Now, it's finally happened, but not the one he wanted. Fields Road, named after his father, Harry, will soon become Malki Road.
A spokesman for the Morongo Tribe of Mission Indians tells News Channel 3: "Changing the name to Malki Road will minimize confusion and provide easier public access and visibility to the Malki Museum, which is located on that road."
The name change is only the beginning for Fields, though.
Fields owns 41 acres on the west side of Fields Road. He said he had wanted to develop the land, but in order for people to get to his property, they would need to go through this gate. The Morongo tribe doesn't let non-tribal members through.
The tribe says, "At the requst of the city of Banning, the Morongo Tribal Council is reviewing options regarding the gates, which could include voluntarily moving our guard station at the tribe's own expense to further accommodate our neighboring landowner, Mr. Fields. "
"That will determine if it is on public right of way or not. If it isn't, the tribe will not have to move it, if it is, the tribe has said that they will move it onto their reservation property," City Manager Andy Takata said.
"He said three months ago that they were going to do it then. They're stalling," Lloyd Fields said. "If they're going to add insult to injury, if they're going to take my name off Fields Road after they have in effect destroyed my property value, then I think that Banning has a duty."
"If it is on tribal property, there's nothing the city can do," Takata said.
Fields said there is something the city can do, and he's going to make sure it's done
4 comments:
Is he “Fields” the owner of the “Crazy Cyota” walk up restaurant next to the freeway entrance? It is unfortunate that even Morongo is not immune to the ways of our capitalistic society. I’ll bet that Pechanga will do the same thing to “Hunter Lane” once they see what Morongo is doing. We already know that Pechanga has attempted to rewrite history by taking Pablo Apis out of their history as tribal leader in the mid-1800s or the fact that under Fletcher’s tenure at the Riverside BIA office that enrollment documents and family histories were altered. This white attitude of property ownership has now become the Indian way. I want to know why the need for Guard Shacks in the first place. I go to Morongo for my health care, and it sickens me every time that I have to stop and wait for admittance. Although without contract care the service I get is minimal while those who are tribal as well as contract care get the better care. I am not sure but I would imagine at the expense of the tax payer. What ever happened to the people who would help out a fellow brother? Perhaps those are just stories that old women and men told about the people of the past.
Changing the name of Hunter Lane would be further evidence that the Pechanga Council cares nothing about their history.
This is true, for once upon a time the tribe lauded Pablo Apis and praised him on their web site, but once we were disenrolled it was not long after that the site was changed and never again has the tribe publicly mentioned him or his decedents. When Temecula dedicated a park in his name there was no official representative at the ceremony only those who share his bloodline, coincidently the park property was part of the Apis Rancheria. I would also remind those who know and tell those you do not that the casino sits on a corner of the original property as well. This is proof that Pechanga does not care for preserving the past they only pay lip service. What a disgrace to our ancestors.
Great Post! It's very nice to read this info from someone that actually knows what they are talking about.
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