The Nooksack Tribe of Washington is currently involved in a bitter battle over the disenrollment of 306 tribal members. The lawyers for the potential disenrollees claim it is an act of “cultural genocide.”
Disenrollment from a tribe is not just about identity. It can mean the loss of healthcare, jobs, and family land. But determining tribal membership is the sovereign right of each tribe. Is disenrollment a question of cultural genocide or correcting mistakes of past enrollment?
Here is the website for that show which is on at 1 EASTERN 10 Pacific airing locally on:
http://www.nativeamericacalling.com/ram/2013/sep/090913.m3u
It's sad that Native America Calling is still having to do stories on disenrollment.
ReplyDeleteTribes like the Nooksack are an embarrassment to natives.
Its an embarrassment that victims don't protest or do anything?
ReplyDeleteMexicans from across the border get arrested ,go to jail , go on hunger strikes ?
You guys eat peanuts and drink beer. Fucking real sad.
Dear Esther, we have protested, gone to court, knocked on congress's doors, etc., etc., etc. The answer is always the same, Tribal gov. is a sovereign nation. No one wants to help the poor Indian. Sorry but giving up peanuts & beer just won't help.
ReplyDeleteHey, I rarely, if ever, even drink beer but I do eat peanuts and drink Coke or Pepsi. Does that count?
ReplyDeleteI guess he must be speaking about me, I have maybe 3-4 beers a year, and mooch on peanuts whenever some one else else provides them. Although I do protest, write to TV and radio shows, write to congress, and even write to the President (I'm sure ignored). I have a below poverty level income now which is about $3600 a year income).
ReplyDeleteDenial :
ReplyDeletea (1) : refusal to admit the truth or reality.
323 461 Phil (Doctor Phil)
Hey Esther,
ReplyDeleteDo you even know what you are talking about are involved in anything having to do with Native Americans, do you have any idea what these people have gone through with going to court or writing letters fighting with the so called tribal leaders i don't think so if you did you would'nt be so mean or whatever it is that you are, so i think you should keep your comments to yourself. THANK YOU
Mrs. Esther, I think your view of the disenrolled is uninformed, for I remember when we were disenrolled we individually spent thousands of dollars on lawyer's and court cost just so that we could get our grievances heard by an unbiased public forum. Unfortunately the tribe out spent us and we were unable to get the US Supreme Court to hear our motion. We have picketed and had bottles and other hurtful things thrown at us by our own people. It will be 10 years that we have been fighting the corrupt counsel of Pechanga. We have written letters, set fax, emails, as well as, attempt to petition our representatives personally. I have been to Sacramento 4 times to speak to our Assembly member only to be told that this is a congressional matter, so I am still working to raise enough funds to go to Washington DC in the hope of presenting information to the Congressional Native American Caucus. It is not nice to say things you do not know about, and you owe those who fight an apology. Last as for reality, we we wronged, we have proof that we were wronged. As of today that proof has never been heard by an independent body. Pechanga lied, broke provisions of Pechanga's constitution and bylaws. Pechanga hides to this day behind Sovereign Immunity. and last I do not need your approval for what I do, for I still believe in what I fight for. I think I will have a beer and some of the fancy nuts that come in the can called Deluxe.
ReplyDeleteYou can't win because the crime leaders of your tribe have the money to spread around to political leaders to keep them from looking into it. Newspapers and TV stations are afraid to lose the money the tribes pay as sponsors...which is why the tribes do it. Now Pechanga is rebuilding the Hotel entrance and restaurants at a cost of millions, yet they kick out people that are really tribal, but have pissed Marky or Raymond or one of the other idiots off. Karma will hit them hard.
ReplyDeleteHope so.
ReplyDeleteWe win by honoring our ancestors by continuing to fight for THEIR rights. Our Hunter ancestor was an ORIGINAL allottee of the reservation, unlike many in the tribe now, who cannot meet that standard, such as Butch Murphy.
ReplyDeleteIt took DECADES for tribes to get gaming and it will take time for justice to come to all of us.
We can shorten that time by staying involved. WHY should ANY politician invest capital when we can't get enough of US to stay in the fray.
We had success yesterday with a quick twitter bombing of Chairman Cantwell and Minority Member Barrasso of the Indian Affairs committee. They responded by asking Mark Macarro about allottee's rights in the Pechanga Water Bill. Sen. Cantwell DID NOT ASK ANY of the other tribes about allottees, so that means they are LOOKING out for us.
Keep pressure on, by sending letters, commenting on TEMECULA PATCH blog posts and by TWEETING to @USIndianAffairs and @IndianCommittee
We don't have the funds Pechanga does, but their lawyers and lobbyists time is VERY expensive, let's make sure they have to spend money ON THEM, so they can't enjoy the per capita fruits of their corruption.
President Obama was also tweeted several times and asked ?
ReplyDelete(1) Is a praying a Civil right or a constitutional right ?
He was also sent a blog story about Mark Macarro.
There were 10 congress people sent the same story.
Esther Lopez ( Twitter Activist D.C Watchdog)
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete"You can't win because the crime leaders of your tribe have the money to spread around to political leaders to keep them from looking into it. Newspapers and TV stations are afraid to lose the money the tribes pay as sponsors..."
What you say about the money and influence of the tribe, and yes it has been and will continue to be an obstacle. For those of us who believe in fighting social injustice these are obstacles' we face everyday. Perhaps this is why I go my degree in Social Work. The points you make are nothing new. I do not know how much money the tribe has had to spend to stop our court action or the publicity to counter what we say in the papers and other new sources, and then there is their lobbying cost in both Sacramento and Washington. U an sure it is quite a bundle. Take for example when Holland and Knight was retained by Pechanga the first year alone the tribe spent over 250,000 just to keep us out of court. I know that it took more than two years for our case to reach the Supreme Court. It is important to for me to keep up what I do to stop those who purposefully hurt my family. I look at it this way, life is full of challenges and fighting the corruption within my family's tribe is a worthy thing regardless of the obstacles'. this is why I disagree with your statement that we can not win.
Why can't casino tribes just throw the money in the bank or invest it as a tribe instead of trying to solely maximize individual percap? First of all, none of you casino disenrollment tribes will ever catch up to other more successful tribes' percap numbers (it seems like that's your main goal). The main reason being location. Most of your casinos are in the middle of freakin nowhere. With what you do make, you people could easily reclaim what was once yours and then some. Instead, you're going to end up disenrolling yourselves into oblivion and compromise what's left of tribal sovereignty for the remaining tribes. Sad!
ReplyDeleteTribes disenroll for 3 reasons:
ReplyDelete-maximize per capita
-hide councils over spending
- get rid of opposition to ruling councils
Plain and simple that's the truth no matter what the councils spokesman try to say "Doug elements"