NBA BANS Sterling for Life, but Takes NO ACTION on SPONSOR That Practices APARTHEID: PECHANGA

The NBA stood up today and fined NBA CLIPPERS owner Donald Sterling $2.5 Million and banned him for life.   Now, he will be forced to sell the team and make $700 Million and live out the rest of his life in luxury.

Left unresolved is the NBA's inaction on taking sponsorships from Indian tribes, particularly Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, from Temecula, that sponsors the Los Angeles Lakers, the "other" NBA franchise.   They also sponsor the Angels.

Now the NBA has been informed about the Apartheid that Pechanga practices on Indian people on their reservation.   We detail that here: Pechanga’s Apartheid Reservation. We wrote to then NBA Commissioner David Stern and Laker's owner, Jerry Buss about this sponsor in 2008:

Dear Commissioner Stern and Dr. Buss,

During the past 60 years, the National Basketball Association has built itself into one of the premier leagues in professional sports. From the first championships in the late 1940’s, through the George Mikan’s Lakers teams to the dynasty of the Celtics and the rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers and through the Michael Jordan years, the NBA has stood for fairness, and purity of sports.

Sadly the NBA finds itself sullied by gambling scandals. The publicity of the Donaghy incident has shaken the foundation of the game. Now, we find that NBA analyst and former superstar Charles Barkley has a $400,000 unpaid gambling debt and Sir Charles has admitted to spending $10 million gambling, but to him, “it’s not a problem”.Our concern is your sponsorships from Indian Casinos. How can you decry gambling on one hand, yet on the other, take millions of dollars in advertising and sponsorships from gambling enterprises. Your flagship team, the Los Angeles Lakers has a partnership with the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.
Throughout Indian Country, thousands of native Americans have had their cultural heritage stripped from them, primarily by tribes in pursuit of gaming compacts. The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, of Temecula CA, is one of the most egregious civil rights violators in Indian Country.

The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and KNBC News have done numerous stories detailing the activities of the tribe, including “Tribal Flush: Pechanga People Disenrolled En Masse.” and “Without a Tribe” reported by Colleen Williams of KNBC. 
- The Pechanga Band has eliminated 25% of its citizenship and denied them due process, equal protection under tribal and federal laws, in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act.
- The tribe stripped elders of their health care benefits and access to the tribal clinic.
- Forcibly removed the children of some members from the tribal school.
- The most recent disenrollment of 100+ adults and children was especially egregious as the General Membership, the Tribe's governing body, had previously passed a law which (1) repealed the Tribe's disenrollment procedures and (2) made it illegal for the Enrollment Committee to disenroll members. In violation of its own Constitution and the ICRA, Pechanga tribal officials breeched their duty.
We question the wisdom of accepting money from a gambling enterprise that is a known civil rights violator. We are asking that you sever your ties to Pechanga and investigate the issues detailed above and determine whether sponsorship from gambling casinos is in the best interests of the National Basketball Association.

Now the NBA, allowed Donald Sterling to go unimpeded after being fined for not renting/selling to Blacks and Latino for YEARS.   This is NOT news.  Is the crime racism, or embarrassing the league?    Remember, Donald Sterling was going to get a LIFETIME achievement award from the NAACP...or more correctly, a SECOND award.    Was it the money?    What do you think?

Should the NBA look into their sponsors?  Should they eliminate one which is a civil rights violator, practices APARTHEID and abuses their people?

Yes, Clipper's Owner Donald Sterling is a Racist, YES NAACP was going to Give Him an Award. SHOW THEM THE MONEY..

Clipper's owner Donald Sterling was caught on tape (illegally) discussing some things with his "girlfriend".    Yes, the were racist, but then, we already KNEW Sterling was racists.   Why are we getting so bent out of what he SAID, versus what he DID?

And the NAACP?  They only care about the MONEY...

We wrote this in 2008:

The president of the California NAACP has been paid more than $40,000 in consulting fees – and the organization itself has received $60,000 – from a coalition of Indian tribes at the same time the civil rights group has endorsed four ballot measures pushed by its tribal benefactors. 

The payments to Alice Huffman, who has served as president of the state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1999, continue a three-year pattern in which Huffman's political firm has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by special interest groups. Those same interests, including tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, have also donated tens of thousands of dollars directly to the state NAACP while receiving the organization's backing.

 Remember when we wrote Alice Huffman, NAACP CA President asking her to pull support from Pechanga's expanded gaming proposition?

Dear President Huffman:

I submit this letter as a formal request to the California State Conference of the NAACP to revoke its support of Proposition 94 and return any donation and/or fees received from the Pechanga Band.

Over the last 4 years, Pechanga tribal officials have been responsible for the mass disenfranchisement of over 300 tribal citizens. The actions to remove these citizens from the tribal roles, and deny hundreds more their citizenship, have been characterized by lack of due process and equal protection of existing tribal and federal laws.

Specifically, laws enacted to protect Indian individuals from arbitrary and capricious acts of tribal officials, such as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, were largely ignored. Targeted individuals were not only denied minimum due process standards, the most recent mass disenfranchisement was approved by Pechanga tribal officials after the tribe’s governing body had passed a law prohibiting such action.

This “cultural genocide” now finds hundreds of Pechanga tribal members and thousands more California Indians cut-off from much needed health care services, senior services, education assistance and child development programs.

Read the letter here:  http://www.originalpechanga.com/2008/01/letter-to-naacp-to-withdraw-endorsement.html

CAN'T WAIT to hear what the NAACP says this week.   Their comment this week was that they were looking in to it...

Accused Cedarville Rancheria SHOOTER, Cherie Lash Back in Court.

Cherie Lash was led into a Modoc County courtroom in shackles. She was transported there from a Lassen County jail cell, where she’s currently being held.

Lash gave a nod and acknowledged someone sitting in the courtroom as she was led to the defense’s table.

The purple dye in her hair has faded significantly since she was booked on four counts of murder and two counts of premeditated murder, more than two months ago.

Lash was ousted as Cedarville Ranchera tribal chairwoman prior to allegedly shooting to death her brother, Rurik Davis, niece Angel Penn, nephew Glenn Calonico and Sheila Russo.

Shelia’s husband was in court Wednesday. Outside he made a short statement, promising to be in the courtroom every day Lash is required to be there. He wants Lash to see his face and know that his wife, Sheila, is still there in spirit. He also stated that’s something Lash can never take away from him. One of the surviving victims, Melissa Davis, was also in court - to face Lash. Davis, who was in a wheelchair, was shot and then stabbed with a butcher knife during the February attack. Today she was surrounded and comforted by loved ones and supporters.

Jamul Tribe, Which EVICTED Residents for Casino and Demolished their home, UPSET at Being Called Desecrators

Jamul Action Committee attorney Patrick Webb says his clients, Walter Rosales and Karen Toggery, have cremated family remains that were interred on the portion of the cemetery property owned by the federal government, then excavated and taken to Caltrans land at state Route 125 and Interstate 905. Webb said Toggery is the half sister of Hunter.

  Saying members of the Jamul Indian Village are offended, emotionally hurt and “outraged by accusations” made public and in court by a group looking to stop the building of a casino, Jamul Indian Village Chairman Raymond Hunter said the tribe plans to keep working on the site. Hunter, Jamul Indian Village council member Richard Tellow and tribe legal counsel Anna Kimber on Tuesday morning spoke next to the cemetery, adjacent to a new community center and an administration building, about the casino, burial grounds and the lawsuit.

 “The legal documents filed on behalf of his clients Karen Toggery, who is my sister, along with Walter Rosales are completely without basis,” Hunter said. “The Jamul Indian Village has been the caretaker of our lands for thousands of years, including the cemetery where many of our own family members have been laid to rest. This includes my own mother, Marie Toggery.” Webb said that Toggery and Hunter’s mother as well as Toggery’s son, Matthew Tinaojheda, are buried in the Catholic portion of the cemetery.

 “However, the tribe ignores their own heritage and culture, which buries the families’ funerary objects, grave goods and items associated with the burial near their houses on the cemetery property where they lived, which is now owned by the United States,” Webb said. He said the tribe is also negating Department of Health documents filed with the court that show the state of California “was well aware of the interment at the houses on the cemetery property showing the exact address at 14191 Highway 94." Tellow said that for the past 16 years, the Jamul Indian Village has conducted cultural resource surveys “as part of the development of our gaming projects.”

He said that in 1998, a survey by the tribe’s project manager “did not reveal any cultural resources or artifacts on the reservation that would qualify as potentially significant resources under the National Historic Preservation Act.” Tellow said no signs of human remains were found on the reservation. Kimber called the latest lawsuit “abusive and frivolous” and said it is “intended to harass the tribe and interfere with its economic development plans on its reservation.” READ about the EVICTION: Tribal officials had the homes of three evicted Jamul I ndian Reservation residents demolished to make way for a casino, despite a promise from one official to hold off on the destruction, it was reported Tuesday. http://jacjamul.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2007KGTV0313.pdf

Madera County Gets Blood Money From Chukchansi Tribe, Abusers of Civil and Human Rights

Civil Rights abusing tribe, the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, looks to shore up its weak public image by dispersing almost $1 MILLION dollars that they had delayed giving out earlier this year as groups fighting over leadership kept finanicial matters is flux. 

About 30 nonprofit groups are getting checks nearly $1 million from the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians under the tribe's agreement with Madera County.

The grants were held up earlier this year by ongoing legal wrangling between two tribal factions, but the money was distributed last week, officials with the Coarsegold-based group said.

This year's recipients include schools, animal welfare agencies, tribal organizations, churches and veterans groups.

Under a contract with the county, the tribe is obligated to donate $1 million annually to local groups.

Since the opening of Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, "Our tribe is proud to have provided millions of dollars in help to deserving organizations all across Madera County," Tex McDonald, chairman of the Coarsegold-based group, said in a prepared statement. "We know what this year's nearly $1 million in grants will mean to the recipients. We look forward to working with the county to ensure that this program continues to benefit the residents of Madera County

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/04/18/3884519/chukchansi-tribe-hands-out-checks.html#storylink=cpy

Civil Rights Abusing Tribe, Redding Rancheria, Want New Casino. In Court To Get It

The Redding Rancheria of California, which disenrolled their first chairman, Robert Foreman and his family,  went to court last week to argue for the opportunity to open a new casino.

The tribe acquired land in the hopes of moving the Win-River Casino to a bigger location. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, however, said the site didn't qualify under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Generally, IGRA bars gaming on land acquired after 1988. But Section 20 of the law allows an exception for tribes that were restored to federal recognition.

The Redding Rancheria was restored in 1983 as part of the Tillie Hardwick litigation. The BIA, however, said the exception doesn't apply because the tribe already operates a gaming facility.

"What's pulled out of thin air, that has no basis in case law or no basis in the history of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, is this numerical restriction that says you can't game on restored lands if you already have a gaming facility in place," attorney Scott Crowell told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals at a hearing on April 8.

The restriction that's being used against the tribe is not found in the text of IGRA. It was written by the BIA during the Bush administration when it implemented Section 20 regulations under pressure from members of Congress who were worried about the expansion of the tribal casino industry.

The tribe is now asking the 9th Circuit to invalidate the restriction. The tribe notes that its land-into-trust application for the new site was filed in 2003, five years before the regulations were finalized in May 2008.

JUST SAY NO to this disgraceful Tribe.  

Interior Board of Indian Appeals DELAYS BIA ruling on Chukchansi Leadership

The rightful leaders of the tribe that runs the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold is still in doubt pending an order today by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals to have an administrative judge weigh in on the years-long dispute.

The decision follows a letter by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in February stating that it would work with the tribal council elected in December 2010 to administer housing funds, operate federal service programs and carry out government relations with the tribe.

Reggie Lewis, chairman of that tribal council and current head of the Chukchansi Economic Development Authority tasked with overseeing the casino's finances, praised the position.

However, another faction led by Tex McDonald now running the day-to-day operations at the casino quickly sought to reverse the decision through the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, referencing the latest Dec. 7 election as its claim to tribal leadership.

The IBIA's order delays the immediate effect of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' February decision until an administrative judge sorts out the merits of each council and decides which group of the Chukchansi Tribe the federal government will conduct business with.

Leadership of the tribe has been in dispute since a December 2011 tribal election, leading to two factions laying claim as the rightful council.

Elizabeth "FAUXAHONTAS" Warren Decries Exposure of her Lies on Cherokee Ancestry

Democrat Senator Elizabeth "Fauxahontas" Warren writes in her new book that she was upset at being called out on her lies about her Cherokee Ancestors, and decried the work of Twila Barnes, called out as "some blogger" in exposing her.

See Twila Barnes EXTENSIVE work on Warren’s Ancentry Claims

What really threw me, though, were the constant attacks from the other side,” she writes about the 2012 Senate campaign. “I would almost persuade myself that I was starting to get the hang of full-throttle campaigning and then — bam! Out of left field, the state Republican Party, or the Brown campaign, or some blogger, (TWILA, is that YOU?) would launch a rocket at me.”

Perhaps the most hurtful and high-profile attack thrown against Warren by Brown had to do with her heritage.

At the height of the 2012 campaign, it was reported that Warren had listed herself as having Native American roots at Harvard University. Soon, there was a “full-blown campaign frenzy,” Warren recalls, with Republicans demanding that she prove her Native-American roots and accusing her of getting her job at the elite university by making false claims about her personal background.

Caught off-guard, Warren admits that she “fumbled” when reporters first asked her about the controversy.

Things only got worse when the Brown campaign asked whether her parents had lied to their children about her family. “He attacked my dead parents,” Warren writes. “I was hurt, and I was angry.”

Brown’s allegation that Warren had used her background to get ahead “simply wasn’t true,” she writes. “I was stunned by the attacks.”

Warren devotes a section of her book — called “Native American” — to this controversy, explaining that she had simply grown up learning about her Native American background from her family and that as a kid, she had never questioned her family’s stories or asked for documentation.

“Everyone on our mother’s side — aunts, uncles, and grandparents — talked openly about their Native American ancestry,” she wrote. “My brothers and I grew up on stories about our grandfather building one-room schoolhouses and about our grandparents’ courtship and their early lives together in Indian Territory.”

IRON EYES CODY wasn't an Indian either, he just played one in movies.  Maybe now she feels the pain of what ACTUAL Indians are going through, being stripped of their citizenship and heritage.   Could she become a champion of OUR cause?

Lynn Valbuena Elected CHAIRWOMAN of San Manuel Band

EXCELLENT news!   A fine leader and perfect for the tribe.  What a contrast to the leaders of local tribes Pechanga and Pala, Mark Macarro and Robert Smith, respectively.   

 The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians announced Tuesday that Lynn “Nay” Valbuena was elected the tribe’s chairwoman, a post she previously served two decades ago.

Valbuena served as chairwoman of San Manuel from 1994 to 1996. From 2008 to 2012, she served as vice chairwoman.

Valbuena has been active in state and national American Indian affairs throughout her public service career that began in 1974 with her first role as San Manuel’s housing commissioner providing oversight for the housing program on the reservation. For the past 19 years, she has served as chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN), a regional tribal organization in Southern California whose purpose is to advance tribal government issues with local, state and federal governments.

“I AM HUMBLED BY THIS ELECTION TO LEAD THE PEOPLE OF SAN MANUEL,” SAID CHAIRWOMAN VALBUENA. “THE FUTURE OF OUR TRIBE REQUIRES THAT WE CONTINUE THE WORK INITIATED BY OUR ANCESTORS GENERATIONS AGO TO ENSURE NOT ONLY OUR SURVIVAL, BUT ALSO TO MAINTAIN OUR CULTURAL STRENGTHS AS WELL AS A COMMITMENT TO PROGRESS IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX WORLD. I AM FIRMLY COMMITTED TO THESE PRINCIPLES.”

In addition to her work to benefit American Indians, Valbuena served the nearby city of San Bernardino through a 16-year career with the San Bernardino Police Department, where she utilized her many skills as a stenographer and court officer. She later successfully completed the basic training and self-defense programs necessary to work as a police assistant. After receiving additional training in public speaking and communications, she became the department’s public information officer.

Among her current affiliations, she serves on the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, as Trustee for the Autry National Center based in Los Angeles, is serving in her 23rd year as delegate to the National Congress of American Indians, and has been a member of the Advisory Council for the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California for 15 years.

Locally, Valbuena has served as a board member with the San Bernardino Valley Lighthouse for the Blind, Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, the Native American Advisory Committee – UC Riverside, and YMCA of San Bernardino.

She has received numerous distinctions throughout her career, including the San Bernardino County Safety Employee’s Benefit Association Distinguished Benefactor Honoree in 2011, California Assemblyman Bill Emmerson’s California Woman of Distinction in 2010, Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations (WEWIN) Honoree and the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) Chairman’s Leadership Award.

Is New Jamul Casino Construction Desecrating Burial Grounds?

A new lawsuit alleges that construction of Jamul’s new San Diego County casino desecrated Native American burial ground.The lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of two tribal members who say their ancestors were interred in unmarked gravesites on the property.

Construction of the $360 million Hollywood Casino Jamul off State Route 94 is still in the early stages, but the project has already spawned four lawsuits at both the state and federal levels. Jamul residents argue the casino would create major traffic problems and does not comply with state regulations.

San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacobs agrees.

"The lawsuit adds to what Jamul residents have been saying for years: A massive gaming complex does not fit with the character of the community and will add thousands of cars to a narrow, windy, two-lane highway," Jacobs said in a statement, adding she hasn't read the lawsuit yet.

Jacobs also said there are well-known burial grounds next to the casino site.

The latest lawsuit claims the ground was excavated and the contents were dumped at the freeway interchange project at State Routes 125 and 905 near the border.

The defendant in the case is CalTrans, which holds the encroach permit under which the casino developer is working. Opponents say the tribe and CalTrans are motivated by money and ignored warnings about the gravesites.

A spokeswoman for CalTrans said she could not comment on pending litigation. Both the casino developer and tribal leadership did not respond to NBC 7’s requests for comment.

A Superior Court Judge is expected to hear the first arguments in the burial site case Wednesday morning.

 

National Indian Gaming's Ernie Stevens Jr. Hates Mascots, OK with Abuse, Disenrollment, Civil Rights Violations.

Earning a "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" award, Ernie Stevens Jr. of the NIGA chooses the Indian Mascot issue to stand up against, ignoring the more hurtful and damaging acts of stripping citizenship and heritage from Native Americans BY Native Americans.    Why not stand up for the THOUSANDS of Indians who have been harmed, Ernie?   Here is his statement as to why they pulled their sponsorship of a ......wait for it..... golf tournament:

The National Indian Gaming Association has a long-standing history of opposition to ethnically damaging mascots. (OP:  But NO history of standing up for disenrolled Indians) We have signed on in partnership with tribes, organizations and associations who represent the interests of Indian people who are and will always be against stereotypical sports imagery. Further, we have partnered with national Civil Rights organizations who have joined Indian country in opposing culturally harmful caricatures.

Our mission is to uphold sovereignty and increase the self-reliance of our Native people.       ( OP: Self reliance to abuse elders, practice APARTHEID and segregation) We are an organization of 184 member tribes entrusted to ensure there is a strong tribal presence here in Washington, D. C. to protect the Indian Gaming Industry. We have a strong commitment to our tribes and will continue to do so.

This issue provides us with another opportunity to help educate America so that we can grow out of the negative stereotypes of the past. Being separate, diverse groups of people with beautiful cultural traditions and beliefs makes us unique and distinct from one another, in a very positive sense. It adds to the fabric of the creation, allowing honor and respect for all things. This is the kind of harmony and appreciation we need to strive for every day.

To ensure the integrity of our 30-year-old association and our tribal nations, we have pulled our sponsorship from this golf tournament, which has just recently announced a partnership with the newly created Washington football team's Original Americans Foundation. When we agreed to be a sponsor to benefit Native American College Scholarships and Youth there was no mention of the involvement of the Washington football team.

As Chairman of NIGA, I will stand by my previous statements on this issue. The team's name is offensive and is a racial slur. We will not associate with organizations who continue to perpetuate derogatory depictions and images of Native Americans in this way. We need to move positively into the 21st Century and respect one another. It is unfortunate that this Foundation was utilized to further divide our Country over an issue that is a basic humanitarian principle. All people should be treated with honor and respect regardless of race, gender, or religion.

San Pasqual Band (Valley View Casino Tribe) Denies Membership Because of Moratorium

Ed Sifuentes reports of the continuing battles at San Pasqual over membership. Does their chairman Allen Lawson even HAVE San Pasqual blood?

More than 100 people who say they’ve unfairly been denied membership in the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians are planning a protest Sunday on the Valley Center reservation, challenging the tribe’s enrollment policies.

The group will be joined by some San Pasqual members who support their claim and are pushing back against the tribe’s chairman, Allen Lawson, claiming he’s not a true San Pasqual descendant.

Membership holds deep significance in Native American communities and, in some tribes, comes with huge financial perks. Members of the San Pasqual band receive nearly $10,000 a month in stipends from the tribe’s gaming revenues.

San Pasqual — which has roughly 280 members — owns and operates the Valley View Casino & Hotel, one of the largest gaming centers in San Diego County.

Huumaay Quisquis, a tribal member helping organize Sunday’s protest, said the enrollment fight isn’t about money but about identity.

“When you’re here in Indian Country, knowing who you are is all that your ancestors left you,” Quisquis said.

Still, many of the protestors are working people, barely making enough money to get by, said Alexandra McIntosh, an attorney hired by the group two years ago. Having access to tribal benefits would make a big difference in their lives, she said.

Many in the group plan to gather about 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Canal Road and North Lake Wohlford Road for a short march to the tribal hall, where they will protest outside during the tribal council’s quarterly meeting.

McIntosh represents most of the 150 people seeking enrollment in the tribe. Known as “lineals,” they were born to San Pasqual members but have been prevented from enrolling because of questions about their blood lines or because of a moratorium enacted in 2009 on new membership and disenrollment proceedings.

Some of the lineals have been pursuing membership for years but had little access to records tracing their ancestral lines, Quiquis said. Many of them were briefly enrolled in 2005, but their membership was quickly rescinded when the tribe’s enrollment committee was disbanded and replaced by new committee members, Quisquis said.

Under San Pasqual rules, people must prove that they have at least one-eighth San Pasqual Indian blood to be enrolled. The lineals say that errors in the records have caused their blood status to be calculated incorrectly.

Joe Villalobos, 55, a San Pasqual descendant, said he has lived on the reservation most of his life, believing he didn’t qualify to be a member, even though his father was one. He has been trying to enroll for 16 years — about three years before the casino opened — after learning there was an error in calculating his bloodline.

“We believed that we weren’t supposed to be enrolled,” Villalobos said. “And it feels really degrading to have no say (in tribal affairs) and to be told, you’re just lucky to be here, you are guest on the reservation.”

McIntosh said the lineals share a common ancestor — Modesta Martinez Contreras — who was mistakenly listed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as having a lower San Pasqual blood quantum when she was actually a full blooded member of the tribe.

Termination of Pala's Executive Assistant Leads to Incriminations Robert Smith and Theresa Nieto Accused

WOW!  A letter regarding an employee termination leads to some nasty exposing of Pala Chairman Robert Smith and #2 Theresa Nieto.  

Read the full story at: PALA WATCH  which has a LOT of evidence that disenrollment was corrupt.

• Forcing assistant to use personal phone for tribal business
• Tiny raises after doing two jobs.  Smith a cheapskate
• Termination while out on Medical Leave for Breast Cancer

READ the link above for more.    Yes, I agree, Robert Smith is despicable....

Third Guilty Plea in 29 Palms Kickback Scheme

A Central California man who was hired to advise the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians has become the third person to plead guilty to participating in a kickback scheme that defrauded the Coachella Valley tribe.

        David Alan Heslop, 76, of Templeton, who was hired by the tribe to oversee some tribal business, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit bribery. Heslop admitted that he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to bribe Gary Edward Kovall, an attorney acting as general counsel for the tribe. 

        Kovall, 67, of Ely, Minnesota, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit bribery.

        A third defendant in the case – Paul Phillip Bardos, 58, a general contractor from Rancho Cucamonga – pleaded guilty last month to tax evasion.

        As outlined in a 20-page factual basis filed in relation to Heslop’s plea agreement, Kovall and Heslop formed companies, and Kovall convinced the tribe to award construction and consulting work to those companies. To disguise Kovall’s interest in those companies, Heslop paid Kovall’s share to Peggy Anne Shambaugh, who at the time was Kovall’s girlfriend (and is now his wife). Over of period of about 18 months that ended in mid-2008, the tribe paid these companies approximately $2.8 million. Heslop, in turn, paid Shambaugh approximately $300,000 to influence and reward Kovall.

         Bardos performed and subcontracted much of the work awarded by the tribe. He admitted to depositing income he earned into his personal checking account, concealing this money from his accountant, and not reporting it on his tax returns.  

        Heslop is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30 by United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald. At sentencing, Heslop faces up to five years in federal prison.

        Kovall and Bardos both are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Fitzgerald on September 29, at which time each defendant faces up to five years in prison.

        Shambaugh, who was also indicted in this case, is being evaluated for pretrial diversion. If found suitable for the diversion program, Shambaugh will be supervised by a court officer for a specific period of time. If she complies with the program, the charges against her will be dismissed.

Pechanga LOSES in Water Bill: NO CHANGE to ALLOTTEE Definition

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and it's portly Chairman Mark Macarro suffered a loss in their water bill written by their chief lobbyist/spouse Holly.....Macarro?  WTF?!?  So Mark gets his per capita, paycheck and then he pays his WIFE to lobby?   Suhweet...double dippers are for PIKERS when it's a triple...but I digress.....  

Their desired change, which would change the definition of reservation allottee to TRIBAL MEMBERS ONLY, was stricken from the bill.    Could it be because they would have had to put the allottee descendants BACK into the tribe for that to work out?   Or, maybe they thought we descendants would roll over and play dead.   NOPE, ain't gonna happen.   We will work to make sure it doesn't pass the HOUSE.

http://www.originalpechanga.com/2013/10/the-washington-dc-shooting-we-were.html   has the story of our visit to Washington DC and Capitol Hill.  Shining a spotlight on the corruption there seems to have the desired affect.

Next up:  Having the BIA or Department of Interior negotiate OUR rights to ANY water that flows on the reservation.

Did you KNOW that Chairman Macarro lives on land that's PURCHASED?  His family allotment was SOLD for taxes decades ago.   WE HUNTERS have had ours for 119 years..

Check out originalpechanga.com  for more on the corruption from your neighbor next door.

Picayune Rancheria Declares all Members as of 2010 Recognized. 600 still Disenrolled.

The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, which has shamed Indian Country for a decade, via disenrollments of up to 70% of their membership, placed a FULL PAGE ad proclaiming they will recognize ALL Chukchansi people who were members as of 2010, effective immediately.

This is a GOOD START, but there are still 600 Natives left out in the cold.  They are trying to remove some of the heat they've received in the past four years, which we've chronicled here.  CALL Chukchansi  and ask them to bring ALL the people home and show REAL LEADERSHIP.

NCAI's CLADOOSBY on WASHINGTON REDSKINS/SNYDER FOUNDATION. LOOK INWARD BRIAN

National Congress of American Indians President Brian Cladoosby has an article of the recent establishment of a charitible foundation by Washington Redskin's owner Snyder.   As if a mascot is MORE important than the abuse HIS MEMBER TRIBES are foisting on their own people.   Disenrollment, banishment, moratoriums, voting rights abuse, theft of per capita...  YOU CAN'T be SERIOUS, Brian.

Read the OP/ED here

My comment on NCAI President Brian Cladoosby's op/ed in the Washington POST:

Mr. Cladoosby's opinion on the Redskins and Snyder's Foundation shows the complete lack of seriousness of this matter compared to what is happening in INDIAN COUNTRY. While I do think the Redskin nickname has racist connotations, as a Native American, I think the NCAI and Mr. Cladoosby should be looking INWARD first. 

Indian Country is INFECTED with civil & human rights violations, tribal disenrollment, theft of per capita and APARTHEID. Compare that to a NAME, Mr. Cladoosby, and then you look foolish.

Ask Pechanga Band Chairman Mark Macarro why he keeps his own family out of the tribe and why his council did not follow TRIBAL LAW in ending ALL disenrollments from the tribe. 

Ask Pala Band Chair Robert Smith why he believes abusing 15% of his tribe is proper. 

Ask the 3 STOOGES of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians WHY they eliminated 70% of their tribe. THEN LOOK IN THE MIRROR and ask yourself why you aren't looking at THEM first. http://originalpechanga.com has MORE.

Takedown of Mark Macarro's Statement on Disenrollment at Pechanga

In 2006, following the termination of citizenship of an entire family line of Original Pechanga Allottee Paulina Hunter, who was disenrolled posthumously over 100 years after her death, Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro released a statement, which we take down here: 

Mark Macarro
Pechanga Chairman
Abuser of Native Americans.

"The right to determine our citizenship is central to Pechanga's identity as a distinct sovereign government.  
   
OP:  Violations of Pechanga’s Constititution notwithstanding?  The General Council (Tribal Members) is the final arbiter and in one of the largest turnouts in tribal history, voted overwhelmingly to STOP ALL DISENROLLMENTS.   The General Council voted to ADOPT Council Member Butch Murphy’s family heirs, even though provision in Pechanga’s constitution state ONLY Indians can be enrolled.

Tribal nations have sole jurisdiction and authority to establish and enforce procedures to determine their own tribal citizenship.

The courts have consistently upheld this tribal right because of more than 200 years of legal precedent."             

OP: Honorable tribal officials enforce procedures and Pechanga laws were not followed. If Mr. Macarro was looking to do the right thing, Pechanga Council Member Andrew Masiel should have recused himself for any appeals process, as his mother, Ruth Masiel and aunt Ihrene Scearse were on the enrollment committee. 

"The Pechanga Enrollment Committee is the Pechanga entity responsible for determining issues of enrollment and citizenship as established in our Tribal laws. This is accomplished through codified tribal processes with findings and due process requirements."               

OP: ALL findings were thrown out via a VOTE OF THE PECHANGA PEOPLE, who rule in all matters.  Additionally, not one member of the enrollment committee was qualified to, and did not write the record of decision.  There is no court that would rule that Ruth Masiel was competent to make a decision of this magnitude.

"Disenrollment actions occurred at Pechanga before we ever had a casino as well as after, quite independent of our gaming activities. Contrary to the allegations of a few, this matter has nothing to do with politics or profits."     

OP:  Few lies are as big as this one.  NO large family was ever disenrolled.   This was political, as Apis descendants are STILL in the tribe.  And the Hunter family still lives their original allotment, held IN TRUST by the Federal Government, unlike the Macarro Family, who is a re-purchaser of land.   If it had nothing to do with politics, WHY were both disenrollments, totaling 25% of eligible voters, done just prior to Pechanga elections.  Why did per capita payments go UP after both disenrollments?

The corrupt Macarro council did not follow the willl of the people.  His cabal overruled the General Council saying in fact that the tribe could vote to keep people out, as they did with the moratorium, but not keep them in.

Sen. Boxer and Feinstein Support Apartheid Tribal Nation in Stealing Water

WELCOME PATCH Readers.  Thank you for coming, take a look at the site, with lots of information about your tribal neighbor.

In disappointing news, we read that S. 1219, the Pechanga Water Rights Settlement Act has moved from committee.   The bill is co-sponsored by Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, Senator's from California.  We believe that no entity that participates in, supports, or otherwise partakes in human and/or civil rights violations should benefit from the public trust.  And this bill, as written certainly gives Pechanga benefits that we seem to be excluded from.

The two Democrats, are supporting a tribe that practices Apartheid on their reservation. Additionally, there have been civil rights abuse at Pechanga  It seems as though they talk one game, but practice another.   Both Senator's staffers for Native American affairs have been schooled on the issues.    There has been a change/substitution that remove the faulty definition of allottee from the bill.   That bit of camouflage is like putting lipstick on a pig.

We will continue to push the House to not take up the bill, as NO allottee of the Hunter family has been contacted by the BIA, nor responded to requests.   There should be NO water bill, with allottees of Temecula Indians, for whom the reservation was set aside, are included in the discussion.

STAY TUNED but be reminded that Regional Director Amy Dustschke wrote this during the FIRST attempt by Pechanga to steal our water:

The Department of the Interior recognizes that allottees have water rights on allotted lands and that the United States has a trust responsibility, independent of any responsibility to the Pechanga Band, to protect those interests.

The Department is currently reviewing the proposed settlement legislation and its effect on allottees within the Reservation.

We are STILL waiting, Madam Director.

Nooksack Tribe ENJOINED from Disenrolling Nooksack 306.

The Tribal court enjoined the Nooksack Tribe from disenrolling Nooksack 306 on procedural grounds.

That's why you stay in the fight.  JUSTICE can prevail.  Sadly too many have dropped out of the fight and allowed themselves to get screwed by tribes.

Letting someone else carry the water for you is not a good plan.....

Grand Ronde Disenrollment: Loss of Identity and Belonging

NPR does the story

In western Oregon, members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are engaged in a debate over what it means to belong.

The tribe's enrollment committee is considering kicking out an entire family that traces its lineage back to the funding of the modern tribe more than a century and a half ago. The family is related to Chief Tumulth, leader of the Watlala, a tribe that controlled river traffic along a key section of the Columbia River.

"If you search for 'Chief Tumulth,' you'll find that he's, as some people claim, the most famous Chinookan chief that there ever was," says Jade Unger, Tumulth's great, great, great, great grandson.

After Unger heard about Chief Tumulth as a teenager he began to study the tribal language, Chinuk Wawa, and learned the traditional methods of hunting and fishing. Studying his ancestors, he began to learn about himself.

Eventually, Unger was enrolled at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. In 1855, Tumulth played an early role in the confederation's founding by signing an important treaty with the U.S. government.

Unger says for nearly 30 years his family was embraced by the tribe, that is, until last September, when everything changed. The tribe's enrollment committee told Unger and 78 members of his family that a recently completed audit showed they were enrolled in error.

"I'm not worried about me. I know I'm fine economically," Unger says. "I'll make it. But there's people in my family that are going to be devastated by this, people that are dependent on their elders' pensions. There are people that are going to lose their homes."

Back in 1995, the tribe opened its Spirit Mountain Casino, and for the first time, members began to see a financial benefit. Within a few years, the tribe began to tighten its enrollment requirements. In fact, under the new standards, Unger's family wouldn't be let in today.

His ancestor may have signed a key treaty in the formation of the Grand Ronde, but Chief Tumulth was killed before the reservation was officially recognized in 1857. Unger says that information was well known to the committee members who approved their applications.

"There was no error," Unger says. "It was very deliberate and it was unanimously agreed upon that we had a background and we had a right to belong here in this tribe."

Tribal Council Chairman Reynold Leno wouldn't discuss pending cases. But he says the audit was needed to correct inconsistencies in the tribal record.

"Tribes are made up of families and families know their own history," Leno says. "And when you have people that don't kind of fit into that family-type scenario, it kind of draws a question. And I think that's what a lot of people wanted looked into."

While he says any disenrollments that result from the audit are unfortunate, he says the tribe has a constitution — and it's his job to uphold it.

"It was given to us by the Supreme Court to set standards and regulations for our enrollment, and I think people should respect that," Leno says.

But both in and outside of Oregon, disenrollments are raising questions. David Wilkins, a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Lumbee Nation, estimates that as many as 8,000 U.S. citizens have been cast out of native tribes over the last two decades. And Wilkins worries tribal disenrollments could be putting tribal autonomy in jeopardy.

"At some point there's going to be enough clamor raised by disenrollees that there is going to be a congressional hearing or there is going to be some presidential proclamation or there is going to be a Supreme Court decision that might seriously impinge on what is a true sine qua non of a sovereign nation, that is the power to decide who belongs," Wilkins says.

Grand Ronde is still reviewing the results of the audit, which means more disenrollment letters could go out.

Unger acknowledges he might lose his federally recognized status, but he says nobody can take away his identity as a native person.

"That's, hands down, way more important to me than any little chunk of money I might get in a per capita payment," Unger says. "I don't care about that. I care about my tribe. I feel like I belong. We belong."

And Unger says that's the one thing he wants to hold on to.