The Pala people are continuing their action against Robert Smith and the corrupt council. Please read more about the disenrollments at Pala at: PALA WATCH
Learn More on Disenrollment, Ethnic Cleansing in Indian Gaming Country at these Links:
Gaming Revenue Blamed for Disenrollment
37 comments:
This is one of the new developments that I spoke about. AS-IA Kevin Washburn has received final briefs and all the documents and arguments associated with the appeal of the disenrollments of 164 persons from the Pala Band of Mission Indians. He has announced that he will issue his decision on jurisdictional determination on May 28th. This is the Final Agency Action on the appeals filed.
Let everyone pray that this decision is a positive one for the Pala Disenrollees and for it to becomes a path set out for other disenrollees to follow.
This will be a test of several claims made by the appellants:
Is the Pala Constitution valid even though there is no record of the certification and there was an improper ratification vote?
Should the BIA continue to uphold Federal Approval of the Pala Constitution even though the Pala EC has added an Enrollment Ordinance that allows them to usurp powers of the General Council?
Will the BIA uphold a Federal Decision that was ordered after Santa Clara Pueblos vs. Martinez at a time when the Pala Articles of Association was the governing document and the power of decision on enrollment appeals was delegated to the BIA?
As you can see, the appellants have compiled a strong case for a jurisdictional determination. If the AS-IA fails to assume jurisdiction then he too is in violation of the 1989 Final Decision. This will be grounds to pursue futher legal action, and since the jurisdicitonal determination will be a Final Agency Action, the court will not be able to dismiss the case due to failure to exhaust administrative remedy.
Either way the time will come when the wrongdoing of the Pala EC will be exposed, and an outside authority will rule on the matter.
So what happens when you are ruled against? Another conspiracy? Probably the usual story that the EC bought off someone.
Nice job R&R, why not threaten Ken Washburn if he doesn't rule our way.
To Paul Johnson,
Your blog comment on Turtle Talk is interesting. Amusing but interesting. Just because the EC has not answered, they are guilty of the crimes you say they committed? Do you understand guilty before proven innocent, because that is what you are doing. I guess you do. What does that make you, a hate monger? Yes there have been rants and raves about crimes, put the proof on the table. Not just stories. I am sure the EC will hear true facts. If not, then take it to the proper authorities.
Your little soapbox rant has no value. Either you are R&R or related to him. Either way you talk down to everyone. Grow up and don't be so condecending.
@ 4:39pm.
I agree with you to a point. Paul Jonson point out all the suppose crimes and lets everyone believe they really happened. Maybe they did but he sounds like someone who was a member of the tribe but isn't now. He wants to turn the tribe on its leaders just to get back in.
I am not willing to hear his preaching to us about our tribe. I wonder if he even comes to the rez accept to spend a vacation. I don't know his name so I think he is only interrested in the money.
I dont want to talk to him.
4:39 pm
It's not accept,it's except.
It's so funny how these lame asses try to say the disenrolled are greedy,look in the mirror lame ass cause your in it for the money.Lame ass Smith ball lickers taking the Tribes jet to play golf in Monterey,Vivian banks granddaughters fighting to undo the the right that Vivian faught so hard for cause their in it for the money.Greedy lame asses!
Then you have the Lavato blood line,half the family doesn't belong because their Mexican Yaqui ,Oh yea their in it for the money!
Look at the Lugo blood line,they don't belong,oh yea their in it for the money! They need it to gamble it all away!
4:39 your in it for the money!
Anonymous said...
Nice job R&R, why not threaten Ken Washburn if he doesn't rule our way.
The point is that no matter which way Kevin Washburn rules, that the disenrollees now have a chance. The Final Agency Action means that administrative remedies will be exhausted. This is an important point in our pursuit of reinstatement. Would you rather have it otherwise? Are you satisfied with the rulings that have denied us our rightful place in our tribe so far? Do you enjoy the non-interference ploy, or the hiding behind Santa Clara Pueblos vs. Martinez?
I guess you can't please all the people all the time, but if you want to opt out of reinstatement because you are afraid of offending the BIA that can be arranged. Just stand up and be counted as opposed to suing the BIA if they determine no jurisdiction.
The Pala EC has not denied the crimes they are accused of. They use tribal sovereignty to cover their actions. They act as though it is tribal business to lie, cheat, and steal. I make no apologies for insinuating the worst about them.
Leroy Miranda is a drug addicted, cross dressing homosexual. Robert Smith is a power mad failure of a leader that bullies, threatens, bribes, uses tribal money for all sort of personal pursuits, has diverted money to offshore accounts, and more If you are defending him you will lose. There is no way he can cover up his wrongdoing once he loses his position and power.
Maybe the disenrollees will not prevail. Perhaps we won't get reinstated. The truth is that the disenrollees are not the ones in the wrong. They did not commit the crimes. They are justified in seeking reinstatement. The Pala EC usurped the power of the General Council. They put an illegal Enrollment Ordinance in the Constitution. They lied about Margarita Brittain's blood degree. The lied to the tribe about the evidence. They violated the 1984 General Council decision, the Savings Clause of the Pala Constitution, and the 1989 Final Decision.
All of this is a matter of record. My soapbox is a statement of truth. Who can refute these facts?
So R&R is still choosing to let everyone know whats next for the disenrolled.Why would you even talk about the decision until it has been made. all you are doing is giving a heads up to the enemy.
Just shut allready.
11:38pm--
you must really no R&R. he is only happy when he can preach to everyone. that way he feels superior and then he can talk down to those that listen. just ask him, he will tell you he is superior to everyone. just like the ec does.
just read what he writes. he is better then everyone else and if you ask him he knows more then everyone.
that feeds his ego, which is bigger than the cause. why do you think he paraphrases everyone?
so he can try to prove them wrong.
@ 6:58, R&R paraphrases everyone to let them know who the response is for. Just because R&R is intelligent and does extensive research he gets cut down. What, you think that natives can't be intelligent? How dare he have a brain. In fact most of the Brittain family is extremely intelligent, they have been doing a lot of investigating, that is how they have come up with so much information. It sounds weird or impossible to them too, but that is what they have discovered. (When people complained that the IRS were targeting political affiliations they were called conspiracy theorists, now look, the truth eventually comes out). It is amazing how many things people try to get away with, and the problem is, once they start trying to hide one crime or indecent activity they have to compile more lies to cover up the first one and so on as they continue their path of greed and crime. It happens and it is happening with the EC in Pala. At least R&R is brave enough to try to spell it out for people, knowing these types of hateful comments will be thrown at him.
Thanks 12:27pm for your kind comments. I just want to point out that I quote people instead of paraphrasing them. I just copy their exact words instead of trying to put their words into my own phrasing. Also some people might think it is condescending to speak intelligently, but I assume that people are intelligent until they prove otherwise.
The big problem right now is that the discussion seems to have turned away from our cause, and the cause is the most important thing to me. People have a right to voice their opinions on the statements I make, just as I have the right to try to convince people that there is substance in what I say, and dare them to disprove me. In the end I hope people are talking about the issues and could care less about me.
It is the people that matter, not me. So if I stay quiet for awhile consider it a good thing.
I hope the diss enrolled at Pala get their status back, along with the back per-cap they are owed. Pala is full of clever people, but short of wisdom in leadership. Being clever only leads to temporary success. I once had my right foot about two feet up Robert Smith's ass. That's what he needs- someone to but a boot up his ass again.
The only document that matters is the one Robert Smith says he has that trumps every other official BIA,federal, or census record stating margarita Brittain to be 4/4. What? Don't we all believe Robert has secret evidence he can't show anyone to justify the disenrolents?
I'm lost , are you guys at pala trying to appeal the ruling that ( The BIA can't get involved in enrollment at pala) ?
I agree with 10:10 pm.
Someone needs to kick smiths ass and his twin, macarro.
Yes we want the BIA to force their records/documents of our blood degree and status to be enrolled at Pala . The BIA says we meet the requirements to be enrolled and that Pala has not provided them with "ANY" evidence to prove otherwise. So now we want the BIA to step up and enforce the federal final decesion of 1989 that said we meet the enrollment requirements. There has been "NO NEW EVIDENCE" since then to dispute that ruling. Except now the supposed evidence Robert Smith claims to have that he won't show anybody the BIA, the disenrolled even the general council. Robert has the power to end all this by simply showing his supposed evidence. He could end the hate,lawsuits everything by providing one simply piece of paper. ASK YOURSELVES THEN WHY HASNE'T HE"???????
Isn't it obvious to anyone who's not a blind ignorant follower of Robert Smith. BECAUSE HE HAS NOTHING TO SHOW! It's been almost 2 years since the first disenrollments if he had the power to shut them all up and give them no chance he would have done it by now. He knows the disenrolled will never give up so why not show your evidence and end all the drama? Cause then it will be over for his lies and deceit. Oh ya and the money he is saving by not paying out to the disenrolled that isn't going to the rest of us remaining members. He was costing the tribe too much money and needed a new income stream so he disenrolled absorbed the minors accounts cut off payments to insurance and percap. What people don't realize is this charade can't last forever and it's actually gonna hurt the tribe when the wrongfully disenrolled are reinstated and the tribe has to pay them back for the money that was taken from them. I don't mind they deserve it, hey if it was me or you we would want the same thing whats rightfully ours. The money is extra as long as I can vote and participate in trying to save Pala and get rid of the people in power that are destroying everything we have been fortunate to have I'm good.
I'm sorry about your fight, but the legal argument is not all that ( robert smith stuff ).
Its if the BIA has the right to get involved per the tribe constitution. ( Thats the only argument).
All the ASIA needs to do is find Pala in violation of the 1989 final decesion and demand the tribe place all illegally disenrolled back on the rolls immediately. I don't see what else he could do unless he ranks out and tries to get out of getting involved which I don't see how he can do this when his office after extensive research and several years in the 80's already concluded their decesion and it's his job to uphold & enforce it. Hopefully the ASIA does the right thing.
So by Wednesday we should have a decision either way?
So what happened??
The decision was do about a wek ago? We deserve better than know answer.
How do we find out what the decison was?
No celebration must mean a bad answer.
Hour tribe must be gone.
sad, sad
I just wonder if it will ever change?
There are so many sour grapes in this issue; people who don't care about the facts. There is a whole group of people who grew up in and around Pala but who can't be enrolled because they truly do not meet the blood degree requirements. TO them it doesn't matter that the disenrollees really are eligible. If they can't be enrolled, they and their member parent, don't want others enrolled, even though it would be smarter to form an alliance and support the disenrollees who would then be in a position to help this other group. And, I am so sick of those people commenting on who did and did not grow up at Pala, as if that makes one more or less Indian. To that little group; not all of us were lucky enough to have a grandma or other relative to give our parents land so they could raise us on Pala. Some of us grew up on our other parent's rez. So, let's blog about the facts, not petty BS that shouldn't matter at all.
The AS-IA asked for more time to review the many documents and arguments presented. Last I heard he was supposed to issue his decision on June 7th.
Thanks R&R,
That only leaves doubt about either your membership in the tribe or whether the AS-IA can rule.
It's 6/7 and the decision time has gone by again. What more can he review?
Either he goes with the documents from the disenrolled or the tribe. Pretty simple. Or he rules, he can only recommend but he can not dictate on the enrollment. I think that is where he will side.
I am sure his question is, is the tribe right or the disenrolled right. Second question is, can I impose my will upon the tribe?
I believe soverignity will over ride his thought process.
I am disenrolled but not part of either lawsuit agianst the tribe. I just wan to get back in and bury mae and my family on the sacred ground.
Talk to R and R and see what he can do.
The lawsuit is not against the tribe. Look it up, it is a civil lawsuit, it is against the individuals who voted for the disenrollments. Civil means that the individuals should be paying out of their own pockets for defense, not the tribes pockets. Why would we do anything against the tribe when we consider ourselves to be part of it? It is Robert who chooses to use the tribes money for his defense and for the others. The tribe is not responsible since the general council did not vote on the disenrollments. Nor did Robert ever specify his exact reason for disenrolling, he and the other members of the Executive Committee just chose to vote disenrollment becasue they could and they knew they could use sovereignty as a basis for protection, but just remember that if they did it to our family they can do it to any family they choose and considering that the Casino is not doing as good as it should be, if the ruling is that ASIA can not get involved then Robert and the Executive Committee can easily add more families to their list. Proof of Family history obviously does not matter.
I think there are a number of issues here that the AS-IA has to review and determine whether or not his office has jurisdiction.
The disenrollees claim that the Pala Constitution is invalid because it wasn't properly ratified, the ratification wasn't properly certified by the BIA, the BIA has no documentary record to support the approval, and therefore the approval should not have been issued. The BIA says that there is a six year statute of limitation on appeals and that no one from Pala ever appealled the Constitution before, therefore it stands as is.
The disenrollees argue that the justification for the disenrollment, which is the reduction of Margarita Brittain's blood degree, is beyond the authority of the Pala EC. The BIA made a determination in 1989 that she was full blood, and handed that determination to the Pala EC. They have never appealled this ruling and it is far beyond the statute of limitation for appeals.
The disenrollees argue that the BIA ordered the enrollment of the lineal descendants of Margaritia Brittain who are 1/16th blood degree of more, and that the Pala EC does not have the authority to overturn a Federal order. They also argue that the AS-IA has full jurisdiction to enforce a BIA order.
The Pala EC argues that Santa Clara Pueblos vs. Martinez gives tribes the right to determine their own membership, and that Tribal officers acting in the official capacity cannot be sued for their actions on behalf of the tribe. Therefore the BIA cannot interfere with an internal tribal matter, and the Tribal officers are protected by sovereign immunity.
That is their only argument. They say they have reviewed the documents and decided that Margarita Brittain's father is unknown. Elsie Lucero, the BIA specialist who compiled the documents that support the determination of Margarita Brittain's blood degree says that Robert Smith and the Pala EC did not use proper procedures in declaring that Margarita Brittain's father is unknown. The Pala EC excluded important documents that identify her father as Pelegrino Ortega, a full blood Cupa Indian.
The Pala EC says the Constitution was ratified in 1997 by a vote of 27 in favor, 0 against. The BIA regulations state that over half the tribe must ratify the Constitution in order for it to be certified and receive Federal approval. The tribe had well over 400 voting members at the time of the ratification vote.
So the AS-IA has to make a determination. It seems obvious that he must enforce the order that issued from his own office lacking any evidence or reason to overturn it. However the Pala Constitution has been amended in such a way as to limit the power of the BIA in enrollment matters. A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturned a BIA order to reinstate disenrollees in a California tribe. The decision from the Ninth Circuit Court was based on the fact that there was no provision in the Tribe's Constitution that allowed the BIA to interfere with their membership determination.
So it goes back and forth. I think that if the AS-IA decides he does have jurisdiction it will be based on the 1989 Final Decision, If that is the case then it will affect all the disenrollees and not just those who filed appeals.
Hope that answers some questions. Keep thinking positive, because I do think that the Pala disenrollment is a special case because the disenrollees have already proven their right to belong long ago. The Pala EC is trying to avoid compliance with a Federal Order by concocting a end around scheme 22 years after the fact. We just need to get the powers that be to step in and help us a bit.
I have not been notified of the AS-IA decision by my attorney yet. I am hopeful that it will be favorable.
I am not sure what to say.
Based upon the strict word of the BIA everyone in your tribe had an opportunity to challenge the Constitution change when it happened. I am sure each and everyone of you received the documents. You had six+ years to question it. Not one person challenged until you lost your membership and percap. MONEY. Then it became up close and personal to each of you who lived high on the hog.
Well the statutes of limitation have come and gone, I guess greed blinds everyone not just the EC.
You wonder why the AS-IA ponders so long, it's because he questions whether the disenrollees are right or wrong by the law. If he thought you had a clear case or grounds to stand on with the tribe it would be done by now.
So don't rejoice with no announcement. That only means he questions further whether you really belong or whether he has no authority to rule.
I am not going to pretend to know the concerns of the AS-IA. I do know that the Pacific Regional Director of the BIA has already issued her recommendation that we be enrolled, and it is very unlikely that the AS-IA will overturn her recommendation.
So the issue is not whether or not we belong. We belong. Both the General Council of the tribe (by a majority vote in February 1984), and the BIA have affirmed our eligibility.
Now I am not sure why there is this persistent complaint that the disenrollees desire the benefits that go along with tribal citizenship. These attempts to make us appear to be greedy are tiresome. We did nothing to deserve disenrollment. We did not commit any acts against our tribe, and there is no proof or evidence against us. There is only this dispute about Margarita Brittain's blood degree that was supposed to have been settled once and for all in 1989.
In the meantime, I am not speaking ill of the people of Pala, only of the Executive Committee for their illegal tactics. You can judge for yourself if greed was the motivation for disenrollment. It certainly wasn't because it was something that all the people voted on and thought would be good for the tribe.
For everyone that receives per cap and thinks it is about the money, then why don't you deny your per cap, tell the EC that you want to stay a member but that you do not want your per cap ever again, tell them to keep it or give it to charity. You know you would never do that and they would definitely keep it. Now say it is about the money. And in the constitution changes they claim that they will not disenroll anyone who is already a member, which is what they did, so they went against their own constitution, and they had a over 20 years to complain about our enrollment, but they did not, Robert himself signed our cards, Robert told the Agua Caliente EC that Margarita's daughters were 1/2 Kupa, the evidence proves over and over again and even Robert saw it all and he knows we belong. Kilma relayed to us that The EC only voted against us out of Leroy's and Ropbert's dislike for certain family members. In fact if it was about blood he would have disenrolled everyone when he disenrolled Kings kids, instead he sent out letters telling us to keep King from asking questions about the Casino's finances or he would disenroll us too. Then he told certain relatives not to worry, the EC was not going to vote against us, and they did. We sent in all of our proof and they did not even look at it. They also sent us a notice of confirmation of disenrollment and that nothing was going to change their mind dated two days before the EC received the recommendation from the BIA claiming that we still belonged. He gave us no chance to talk with the general council and he bad mouthed our family, hired Yuma Indians to curse us, threatened to have certain family members beat up, and sent out a packet to all of the adult members of the tribe filled with crap about our family and with papers that had false signatures (proven by the people who supposedly signed them). If he was in the right there would be no need for him to do all of these evil things. Honesty speaks for itself, which is what we have relied on, our papers are in order, directly from Washington DC and the census over and over, years and years of them claim Margarita to be full blood and her children to all be 1/2. It is plain and simple, unless you have the power over the tribe, the money to pay the lawyers and politicians, and the lobbyist throwing their threats in DC to discontinue support for those who go against the EC. We are Pala, were born Pala, have always been Pala, and will die Pala, it is who we are and what we know, and it is not right that 5 people are trying to take that from us.
There is a reason for a constitution so things like this don't happen. Say in 10 years Robert dies the disenrolled are reinstated and we have a new chairman who hates your family and disenrolled them. Then 10 years after that another chairman from your family takes power reinstates your family then disenrolls the previous chairmans family. By allowing Robert and this EC to get away with this its what you are allowing to happen in the future allowing one man or a small group of people on the EC to do whatever they want with the tribe having to follow no rules but the ones they make. That's why we have a constitution just like the United States so no matter who is Chairman or President they have to follow certain rules and can't become dictators.
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