Indian Child Welfare Act Doesn't Protect Indian Children From Tribes That Terminate Them.

Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn released the Revised Guidelines to Ensure that Native Children and Families Receive the Full Protection of the Indian Child Welfare Act which is designed to "...provide better clarity so that the courts can carry out Congress’ intent to protect tribal families, preserve tribal communities, and promote tribal continuity now and into the future.” That's an important goal.  It does bring to mind another question:

WHO protects the welfare of Indian Children that have had their heritage ripped from them, by their own tribal government.   In the case of Pechanga, a rich casino tribe in California, over 200 children were summarily removed from the tribe.  Where was the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the National Congress of American Indians, or the Native American Rights funds, when Indian Children were being stripped of their citizenship?

In the case of Pechanga, whose enrollment committee included a relative of the family they disenrolled, sharing the same common ancestor, destroyed the welfare of a hundred Indian children.   Where were the protections for their welfare?   Why would the BIA refuse to get involved?   They may claim they were powerless, but they certainly could have issued guidance.    WHO protects the Native American child, when it's a Native American tribe that's harming them?

In the case of two large families from Pechanga , the Manuela Miranda and the Paulina Hunter descendants, the tribe voted to end all disenrollments, even though the tribal members knew it meant foregoing the resulting significant increase in their own per capita

The tribal enrollment committee consisting of less than a quorum and including members who had NO Indian heritage, voted to disenroll Paulina Hunter posthumously by a single vote.  That single vote, from a non-Indian has harmed the welfare of 200 Indian Children.  Non Indians taking the rights of Indians, while claiming those same rights for themselves.

In the recent ICWA revision press release, it states:

Several long-term studies have been conducted of Native American adult adoptees. Despite socioeconomic advantages that many of them received by virtue of their adoption, long term studies reflect that these adoptees experienced increased rates of depression, low self-esteem, and suicide. In addition, many adult adoptees continue to struggle with their identities and have reported feelings of loneliness and isolation. Today, the number of Native American children in foster care alone is still alarmingly high, and they are still more than twice as likely to be placed in foster care overall.

Is it time for a study on the experiences of depression, low esteem and suicide on children who have been discarded, sometimes by non-Indian leaders?  Think about this:

The news release continues: Protecting Indian children reflects the highest ideals of the trust responsibility to Indian tribes and the guidelines issued today are a part of this Administration’s broader approach to ensuring compliance with ICWA.     This statement begs the question: 

State Absorbs Costs After Chukchansi Casino Failure; Corruption As It's Done Due to Tribal Disernollments

Remember when TRIBES promised casino gaming would be a boon for all Native's in California?  The darker side is that the STATE is left holding the bag when the corruption shuts down the casino.  IS THAT the reason they turn a blind eye to the civil and human rights violations in Casino Indian Country?


Workers who lost their jobs when Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino was shut down last October due to an armed takeover will be beneficiaries of a $500,000 grant from the California Employment Development Department.    GREAT FOR THEM, not so good for the taxpayers of CA.

     The EDD is providing the Madera County Workforce Investment Board with the grant to assist workers who were laid off after the casino was forced to shut down due to violence by one of three feuding tribal factions.

     One of the factions executed a takeover of the casino in Coarsegold - 40 miles northeast of Fresno - using firearms and Tasers on Oct. 9, 2014. More than 15 people were arrested after the takeover and are awaiting trial.

     The casino was shut down by order of the California Attorney General Kamala Harris' Office and the National Indian Gaming Commission, causing enormous losses in profits.

     "The sudden closure of this important local business severely impacted more than 1,000 people who are suddenly without work, and many others whose jobs were dependent on the casino," said EDD Director Patrick W. Henning, Jr.
     Approximately 600 of the workers who lost their jobs are residents of Madera County.

     The $500,000 grant will "provide needed employment resources, such as retraining, resume-writing classes, interview preparation, and job search services that will help them secure new jobs as quickly as possible," Henning said.    THIS IS SOMETHING CHUKCHANSI should be paying for, or should REPAY the citizens of CALIFORNIA.

Chukchansi "Unification" Council Rebuffed By Indian Affairs

Things at the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians are still in disarray.

On January 24th, the Tribe's General Council voted to recognize that the six tribal leaders who make up the Unification Council – Chance Alberta, Nancy Ayala, Nokomis Hernandez, Tracey Hopkins, Reggie Lewis and Karen Wynn – have the Tribe's constitutional authority to act as the Tribe's interim governing body until an election for all seven Tribal Council seats is conducted, and to use the membership list as it existed at the time of the December 2012 Tribal Council elections.

There was a subsequent meeting this past Monday. Here's a result of that meeting

Karen Wynn and Tracy Hopkins refused to step down so the 2010 council can form. Nancy and Jennifer back Karen and Tracy. They are going to BIA tomorrow trying to get government to government started, using the unification council.  Morris took his seat but Dora refused to seat with unification. 
A vote by the 7 2010 council members to pass a resolution (to place the unification in power) was made. 4 no 3 yes. You should have seen Tracy's face when Chance Alberta voted no.  Chance tells Tracy that he knows that BIA will not accept using 2 council. Most of the time general council just verbally abuses the tribal council, which was the best part of the meeting."

On Wednesday Feb. 25th the unification council met with the BIA, with protesters gathered outside.  The determination is that tribal members DO NOT have to join with the unification council to have an election.  There will be a meeting today, Thursday 2/26.

Ruling on Federal Recognition of Mishewal Wappo Tribe Due by March 31

A federal judge appears close to ruling on a local Indian tribe’s efforts to seek federal recognition, with potential future implications for Napa Valley land use.

The Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley sued the U.S. Department of Interior to have its tribal recognition restored. Napa County officials fear such status might someday give the tribe the ability to build a casino locally, should it choose to pursue this course.

Both sides filed motions for summary judgment in their favor. U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Davila took the Mishewal Wappo case under submission in July 2013, beginning the wait for a decision.

In a recently filed document, Davila said he will issue an order addressing the motions by roughly March 31.

Disenrolled SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP Their Fight For THEIR RIGHTS or They'll NEVER GET THEM BACK

I was sent an article entitled 22 Reasons to Never Give UP by my cousin Russ, at a point where I was feeling a bit low about working the blog and the fact that a number of our people, and MY OWN family have dropped out.   But, I’ve read it a few times and now I’m going to adapt some of it where it would pertain to those of us that have been harmed by their tribes.  Because if we don't work as hard for OUR RIGHTS, we won't regain them, as this picture illustrates:

Spread the word about Original Pechanga's Blog blog to others. Snoqualmie took back their tribe, Laytonville put some people back into the tribe. Grand Ronde reinstated 100 disenrolled, Enteprise Rancheria brought people home as has the Robinson Rancheria. We have done good, more people know, we've gotten TV interviews, radio, print, but YOUR help is needed.  YOUR letter could be the one that breaks the camel’s back!  These are simple tasks that can be done EVERY DAY.   Join twitter, join Native American FB groups, GOOGLE PLUS stories.   

Nooksack 306 Survive Battle Due to Kelly Faction Premature Ejac... Uh Incompetence In Rushing Disenrollment Hearings

 Plans to strip membership from roughly 300 members of the Nooksack Indian Tribe must wait until the disenrollment process has final federal approval, according to a tribal court judge.

In a hearing Monday afternoon, Feb. 23, Nooksack Tribal Court Judge pro tem Randy Doucet held with the court’s previous rulings: Until tribal council has final word from the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, they may not disenroll anyone, said lawyers for the affected members. A reporter was not allowed in the courtroom as only five people for each side were admitted.

The ruling came as a relief for members of three affected families, who call themselves the “Nooksack 306.”

Dozens of the 306 gathered outside the small tribal court building in Deming Monday afternoon, separated from the building by caution tape, cones, and a handful of tribal police officers. While waiting for news, they and their supporters prayed, sang songs and beat drums.

“I have faith that no matter what happens, Creator’s going to be watching over us,” said Arsenio Lopez III, who is facing disenrollment, while waiting outside of the court. “I never question my Nooksack blood. I have faith that justice will prevail.”

Within an hour, the Nooksack 306 had their answer as their lawyer Gabe Galanda walked out of the building, hand held high in the air with a big thumbs up and a smile on his face.

The hearing dealt in part with the group’s recent appeal of a decision by the Secretary of the Interior.

In mid-January, the tribe was notified the Secretary of the Interior had ruled a September 2014 tribal ordinance that details a disenrollment process is legal under the tribe’s constitution.

The ordinance in question was set up by Chairman Bob Kelly and his supporters on the tribal council. It spells out a process that requires each of the affected members to compile legal documentation of their lineage and schedule a time to have a 10-minute teleconference with the council.

The council attempted to start expelling members with a similar process in 2013, but the Nooksack Tribal Court issued an injunction as that process was not sent to the Interior Secretary for approval when it was first put in place.

Upon getting the Secretary’s approval of the process in January, the council started sending notices to affected elders informing them of “involuntary disenrollment meetings” starting March 4.

The 306 appealed the Secretary’s decision. Their lawyers Galanda and Ryan Dreveskracht argued that federal law dictates the Secretary’s decision is of no legal effect until the appeal has been decided through a federal administrative process.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/02/23/4148988/judge-nooksack-tribe-must-hold.html#storylink=cpy

DEVASTATING Video Of the NOOKSACK 306 Abuse by Bob Kelly Please WATCH and SHARE

This is so well produced, dealing with the anguish caused by the Nooksack Tribe, and it's chairman, adopted tribal member Robert Kelly and it's abuse of tribal citizens.   It's important that you WATCH and share with all your contacts.  SOVEREIGNTY was NOT meant to be wielded like a CLUB, to beat the weak and helpless

STAND AGAINST HATE, STAND with the NOOKSACK 306

Paskenta Band Sues Former F.B.I Agent For Stealing $838,000. Pechanga Disenrolled Say: Pikers, Pechanga has Stolen 3 times as Much from Each Of US

A northern California tribe that the State tried to shut their casino down for corruption claims in court that its former economic development director swiped $838,000 to buy himself a house.  Seems lie a lot, but it's about a third of what Pechanga has stolen from one of 230 tribal members they disenrolled.


     The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians sued John Crosby, his wife, Cornerstone Community Bank and Quicken Loans, on Feb. 11 in Shasta County Court.

     The tribe, whose land is in Tehama and Glenn counties, sought venue in Shasta County because the property in dispute is there. The tribe of roughly 240 members operates the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning.
     It claims that while working as economic development director in January 2012, Crosby withdrew $838,434.14 in cash from a tribal account at Cornerstone Community Bank, bought a cashier's check for that amount, and used it to buy a house in his and his wife's names.
     The Crosbys then borrowed money against the house - $417,000 from Quicken Loans and a revolving loan of $190,650 from Cornerstone Community Bank, according to the complaint.
     "Plaintiff only became aware of Mr. Crosby's actions following his termination in April 2014 and after conducting a months-long investigation into the unlawful dealings of Mr. Crosby and others," the complaint states.

     The property is listed for sale with an asking price of $1.3 million, the tribe says. It claims it is the rightful owner of the property because Crosby bought it with tribal money.

     It seeks a judicial determination of the parties' rights and obligations, an injunction preventing sale, and quiet title against any claims by the Crosbys or the lenders.

     "Unless and until they are enjoined and restrained by this Court, the Crosby defendants' continued possession of the subject property and their efforts to sell it will cause great and irreparable injury to plaintiff in that the subject property could be sold without plaintiff's knowledge and permission, and the proceeds from any such sale, which rightfully belong to plaintiff, could be placed in accounts inaccessible to plaintiff," the complaint states.

     On June 3, 2014 the tribe said in a statement that an internal audit of its business accounts had revealed embezzlement by John Crosby and others. The statement said Crosby is a former FBI agent . The tribe alleged that Crosby and the tribe's former treasurer's husband set up an account with themselves as signatories and wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of checks to each other.

     "Crosby wrote over $600,000 in checks for home improvement, including landscaping, a tennis court, pool construction and an outdoor kitchen," the tribe said.
      
     In June last year, during a tribal dispute, California sued the tribe to enjoin the factions from carrying firearms, deploying tribal police or trying to take over the casino 

UPDATE: NOOKSACK CORRUPTION: If it Looks Corrupt, Acts Corrupt, Sounds Corrupt, Probably CORRUPT?

Our friends in the struggle for human and civil rights, the NOOKSACK 306 are fighting the corrupt and racist Nooksack tribal leaders AND the Department of Interior:

Two members of the “Nooksack 306” – Nooksack Indian Tribe citizens who are fighting disenrollment – are awaiting an appeals court ruling on a case involving their alleged unconstitutional removal from the tribal council.

Council members Michelle Roberts and Rudy St. Germaine, along with more than 270 of the members targeted for disenrollment, filed a motion in Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals February 18 seeking an emergency review of a February 7 order by Nooksack Tribal Court Chief Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis, denying an injunction to stop Council Chairman Robert Kelly and other defendants from removing Roberts and St. Germaine from the council and reinstate them to their elected positions. Montoya-Lewis said the council had the power to remove them and that the court did not have the power to deal with the political aspects of the events.

According to the court documents, Kelly called three emergency meetings over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, effectively blocked Roberts and St. Germaine from attending the meeting via teleconference and, at the last meeting, led the council in removing them from office for missing three meetings.

The motion to the Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals asking for a review of Montoya-Lewis’s order is the latest action in a long series of legal moves that have taken place since February 2013, when the tribal council under Kelly’s direction passed Resolution 13-02: Initiating Involuntary Disenrollment for Certain Descendants of Annie James (George).

The common thread among the 306 members facing disenrollment is their mixed Filipino and American Indian heritage. Moreno Peralta, spokesman for the families, told Indian Country Today Media Network that the families believe they are being dispossessed of their Nooksack identity because of their mixed Nooksack and Filipino ancestry.

Read more at At Indian Country

UPDATE THERE HAS BEEN A STAY IN THE DECISION UNTIL THE INTERIOR SECRETARY DECISION CAN BE PUBLISHED

Some Chumash are MORE EQUAL than Others, Though They May Be LESS Indian

Santa Barbara Independent opinionist Mike Brady has a piece on how 150 Chumash are enjoying largesse, while THOUSANDS of other Chumash are locked out.  It's good to see someone else seeing with open eyes.

 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has about 150 enrolled members. They receive all the money from the casino. The thousands of other Chumash descendants, some with more Chumash DNA than the enrolled tribal members, are locked out, receiving no benefit from the Tribe’s fortune.

The state grants this gambling monopoly. The federal government removes enrolled members’ land from a taxable status (fee) into a “sovereign nation” (trust). The reason we did this is to appease our guilt and “make it right” for the Native Americans.

Does it correct our wrong to give a small minority huge wealth while leaving the remaining thousands of Chumash descendants out of the money?

The Santa Ynez Chumash Tribe asserts it has the legal basis to exclude the other Chumash. Does the legal right to do so make it right?

Laws have made it legal to:

• Put Japanese Americans in relocation camps and strip them of land and possessions.

• Enslave Africans and African Americans.

• Keep African Americans second-class citizens without basic rights through the Jim Crow laws and the “separate but equal” determination by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Was Frank Trask San Pasqual Indian "ancestor" What Al Sharpton Would Call a "White Interloper"?

We had a post on the family history of current on San Pasqual's Lawson Family which included a link to the history of their ancestor Frank Trask who they claim lineage from.  Here's a picture of that "Indian" man.   While determining ancestry from a picture is not possible, was wavy hair a norm from Native men?  This picture was around the early 1900's.

Frank Trask

Here's a picture of Kumeyaay men from 1920, looking quite....dissimilar

Information from the BIA shows that  Allan Lawson Sr is from Mesa Grande, not San Pasqual. It's on a request for surplus demountable housing.  That in order to receive the house, it was accepted that he's from Mesa Grande.

Frank Trask was a judge appointed on the San Pasqual Reservation and was always mentioned as a "white caretaker" of the reservation.      The BIA relied on a 1910 "San Pasqual Census" to make this man 1/2 Indian. In 1910 this man was listed as an "Indian" in Mesa Grande and again in a township in "Escondido." The only reason he is listed as "indian" is because he married an Indian from Mesa Grande. Not only that, the own mother in a letter dated in 1920 wrote to the BIA and told them Frank Trask was not Indian nor any of the immediate ancestors.The BIA has known about this error since early 1900's, and until this day they refuse to fix it. In the meantime, the real descendants of the band are being keep out of their own REZ!
 

Why are Native American's SHILLING for Tribal Abusers? Is it Willful Blindness to the Corruption?

I've had some discussion lately with prominent Native Americans who disagree with what they perceive as my negative actions towards tribes.  Ya THINK?  I recently posted on my inductees to the Native American Hall of Shame  one of the inductees was NCAI President Brian Cladoosby, who has not addressed the scourge of disenrollment.

Here's a message I got back from the moderator of a prominent Native American group on Google+

Please stop all of the negative speech +O Pechanga Brian Claddosby (sp?) works his tail off for the good of Indian people.

Here was MY response.

Thank you, V, for speaking on Brian's behalf.    I am working my tail off for the good of Indian people too.  
I'm POSITIVE that I am doing the right thing, as I'm speaking for the thousands of Native Americans that have been harmed by negative speech, including baseless claims against their ancestors.

As I asked Congress staffers of my own two Senator's, if YOU won't look out for us, who will?

I am shining a spotlight on the corruption of some tribes and organizations who are using sovereignty as a club, to beat the weak and helpless, including elders and children.

NCAI and Brian Cladoosby won't help, even in the smallest amount, which would include speaking out against the tribal leaders who are harming ..ACTUALLY harming Native Americans, rather than using a nickname they don't like (that is a racist one). 

Native American Rights Fund won't do "Indian vs. Indian" and have on their board, a tribal chairman that runs an apartheid reservation, who overturned the will of the people by refusing to follow the law and customs.

I came here because you have a council of 5,000 who can be informed of what is happening, so that it may NOT BE SAID, "I didn't know".  Instead of shutting me up, I'd prefer that you argue the points and share my posts so that there can be a learning, an enlightening.   

PLEASE, V, help us.  I'm not asking that you agree that violations of human and civil rights are wrong, that elder abuse is wrong, that theft of property is wrong,  but I AM asking that you allow the freedom of speech to discuss it.

DIRTY LAUNDRY needs to be aired.  We can't be silent and HOPE the issue fades.  We must be active, as that is the only way to combat the deep pockets and political friendships that tribal money creates.     What do YOU THINK?   If Negative ads weren't effective, politicians wouldn't use them.  If we don't show the negatives, would anyone know there's a problem?

Eric Holder Legacy: Pinoleville Pomos Evicting Residents To Build POT FARM

Who said Marijuana isn't harmful?

The Pinoleville Pomo Nation in California is trying to remove people from several residences on the reservation, apparently to make way for a medical marijuana farm.

Melody Marshall has lived on the reservation for 20 years and was offered $3,000 to move. A tribal attorney apparently told her the land is needed to build structures for the $10 million marijuana farm.

“They want that land so bad they can taste it,” Marshall told The Ukiah Daily Journal.

Marshall said the tribe is also looking at eight to nine other residences. But the Journal wasn't able to secure a comment or confirmation from the attorney.

Marshall is a member of the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians. She is not a member of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation and doesn't own the land where the house is located -- she leases it from the tribe and was told eviction proceedings would begin if she didn't accept the $3,000 offer.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. But the Department of Justice issued a policy late last year that could allow for legal marijuana in Indian Country.

The Pinoleville Pomo Nation is working with Foxbarry Companies, a firm with experience in Indian Country, and another partner on the medical marijuana project.

Native American HALL OF SHAME Inductees PART TWO

Last week, we inducted three into the Native American Hall of Shame and this week we have more inductees.

KEVIN WASHBURN - Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs

 “I think the question is, should tribes always be sovereign and self-governing? Or are there times when the United States should trample over their sovereignty and self-governance for some other purpose – the principle of justice or equity or something like that?”  

Tribes give up portions of sovereignty all the time, for gambling casinos and building permits. Was Secretary Washburn a supporter of South African sovereignty, or was he a supporter of divestment?   South Africa had a SOVEREIGN RIGHT to practice APARTHEID in their country, didn't they?    NOW, under his watch, tribes like the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and their "chief" Mark Macarro practice APARTHEID on their reservations.

Washburn stumbled in Senate hearings over the BIAs duty to protect the water rights of allottees. To this day, he has not met with or used emissaries to discuss water rights with Pechanga allottees.

Washburn also has not communicated with San Pasqual descendants in their quest for justice from what Al Sharpton would call "white interlopers" who took over the reservation and is keeping true San Pasqual people from their rightful place.


TEX MCDONALD - Picayune Rancheria of Chukchanski Indians

This criminal led a charge of armed men to invade the Chukchansi casino and the threatened violent act led to the closure of the casino, forcing 1,000 people out of work and onto the unemployment line. 

Tex is in 'bad company' and many Chukchanski leaders are also in the HALL of Shame. The PRCI is one of the most egregious of those tribes who have disenrolled their own people.

Cedric Sunray: Tribes Turn a Blind Eye to Racism

Cedric Sunray looks into the enrollment policies of the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana:

Census records of Chitimacha Indians clearly identify the ancestors of today’s black Chitimacha families. One such person, Edolie Darden, is listed on the 1900 Census, as are two of her children. She is a direct blood relative of the current seated chairman of the tribe, John Paul Darden, as well as councilman Toby Darden. When I spoke with Edolie Darden’s great-grandson, Chester Collins, he said, “The Chitimacha Tribe's current membership process unfairly discriminates and denies tribal membership to the Darden/Collins/Popleon family, the direct lineal descendants of Frederick and Marie Darden, Alfred Darden, and Edolie Darden. Our aunt Augustine Collins Hines applied for membership in 2001 to no avail as the current enrollment process bars our family and other mixed-Black Chitimacha descendants.”

A look at the historical record would lead any rational person to believe this statement is accurate. On July 30, 2014 a letter of redress was received by the Chitimacha Tribal Council from the descendants of Edolie Darden requesting a change in the current membership process. Included in this letter were historical documents that unequivocally proved the Darden/Collins/Popleon family legitimacy as the descendants of Chitimacha Indians.

An August 27, 2014 response letter from Chairman John Paul Darden offered no change in their current membership policy. He instead chose to evoke the BIA as well as the Interior Department in his response when he pointed out, “We will address those applications in accordance with our BIA approved enrollment ordinance.” In effect, “sovereign immunity” was being used to end any legal contestation. This exclusion ran contrary to a 2009 Constitutional amendment by the Chitimacha to reduce their enrollment criteria from 1/16 Chitimacha blood ancestry to that of lineal descent. Nearly 200 individuals of mixed-white ancestry joined the ranks of the tribe at that time.

One has to go back to the years between 1903 and 1918 to understand the situation fully. During this time, mixed-black members of the Chitimacha tribe were ushered off the tribe’s reservation, and in 1919, those who remained were party to an annuity roll. “Black” Chitimacha names no longer appeared, despite much prior documentation attesting to their inclusion within the tribe. Another annuity roll was crafted in 1926 that continued this legal disassociation. This last annuity roll, coupled with the revised Census Roll of 1959, is now used as the official documentation needed to gain membership into the tribe.


See the full article

Request For Native American Comedian Tatanka Means to NOT PERFORM at Pechanga, an APARTHEID Reservation.

Please help in a request for comedian Tatanka Means to not perform at The Pechanga Resort & Casino. Send a copy to the email below or contact page or his FB page.

Tatanka Means

booking@tatankameans.com

www.tatankameans.com

Dear Mr. Means:

Please accept this letter as a request that you decline to perform at the Pechanga Resort and Casino, which is owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, on April 11, 2015.

Over the past 10 years, Pechanga Tribal Officials have denied and/or stripped tribal members of their basic human and civil rights and eventually stripped of the members of their tribal citizenship. Even though such actions violate tribal and federal laws established to protect individuals from "arbitrary and capricious" acts of government officials, Pechanga tribal officials have escaped prosecution by claiming immunity from suit, using sovereignty as a CLUB to beat the weak.

As a result, nearly 400 tribal citizens have been stripped of the rights and privileges other tribal members currently enjoy. Elders and children have been cut-off from programs, health insurance and medical care have been denied, education benefits have been cut, and per capita payments have been stopped. In addition, tribal members are no longer eligible to receive federal assistance since their status as a federally recognized Indian has been taken from them.  Are these the actions of an honest tribe? 

Pechanga is not the only place where such actions are occurring. Sadly, California Indian Country has been over-run by gross human and civil rights violations and thousands of individual Indians have been victimized. Pechanga has most recently been surpassed by the Picayune Rancheria (Chukchansi) near Fresno , California. The Chukchansi Band reportedly rid itself off half its membership, 600 in all, with threats of more terminations to follow, leading to closure of their casino.

In response to what is happening at Chukchansi, Bill Cosby cancelled his Labor Day weekend appearance at the Chukchansi Gold Casino in 2007

Please read the stories at Original Pechanga's Blog  http://originalpechanga.com  regarding the actions taken by Pechanga Tribal Officials to victimize their own members. These acts have been compared to cultural genocide as hundreds of Indians are being "killed-off" so that others may benefit.

If tribes like Pechanga will cheat their OWN people, won't they cheat YOU?  Help lead the way to justice.

San Pasqual's LAWSON FAMILY Ancestors Potentially EXPOSED as Frauds: BIA in receipt of Detailed History

Current chairman of the San Pasqual Band in Valley Center, CA has been under fire.  The claims are that his white descendants stole the San Pasqual Reservation and claimed Indian Blood from another tribe to keep their descendants on the REZ.

At this link, is a detailed history of the family of San Pasqual Tribal Chairman Allen Lawson:

Trask-La Chappa-Lawson

Please take a look.  The information is devastating. So much so, that the BIA is scrambling to delay and obfuscate on FOIA  (Freedom of Information Act) requests.

Daughters of Trasks

Native American Hall Of SHAME Inductees ARE Part ONE....

Since 2009, we periodically induct tribal "leaders" into our NATIVE AMERICAN HALL OF SHAME
This crop of inductees have earned their enshrinement by the actions taken against their own people. Feel free to tweet this out and share on Facebook.

BOB KELLY - NOOKSACK TRIBE     



Kelly has been relentless is his attempts to exterminate his tribal members.  The Nooksack Disenrollment seems like the wrong way to make your tribe famous.  What tribe becomes stronger by eliminating their size?   Kelly has even gone so far as to amend their constitution to now subject the Nooksack 306 to ex post facto laws.   Elders and children have NO worth to this despicable man.

Bob Kelly Seeking to Exterminate 300 Natives

ALLEN LAWSON - SAN PASQUAL TRIBE

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma APARTHEID: Votes to EXCLUDE BLACK Freedmen Tribal Members from Per Capita Distribution

Marilyn Vann, Freedmen advocate from the Cherokee reports that the Seminole nation council votes to exclude Black Seminole Indian Freedmen tribal members from receiving one time $600 per cap

From the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

On Saturday, January 31, 2015, the General Council of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma approved Tribal Resolution 2015-06 which directs the Office of Special Trustee to disburse
settlement proceeds ($12,500,000) held in Trust account number JA7061693 to all Seminoles
by blood born on or prior to May 6, 2013 in the amount of $600 each.

Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro HATES New IPoker Recommendations. Reason enough to Support it?

Shouldn't the PEOPLE of California decide what THEY want in internet gaming?  Why are tribes that are shrinking their membership to steal their money get a say on how CA should benefit from Internet Poker?

Dave Palermo's blog says: Three politically powerful California tribes and 24 card rooms are recommending to state Assembly sponsors of Internet poker bills that “bad actor” language should be softened and website licensing eligibility be extended to horse racing associations.

The recommendations were outlined in a Feb. 10 letter to Assemblymen Reginald Jones-Sawyer and Mike Gatto signed by chairmen of the Rincon and Pala bands of Luiseño Indians and United Auburn Indian Community. The card rooms were not identified.  OP:  But, Pala is a scumbag organization,with their chairman, the DESPICABLE ROBERT SMITH, destroyer of heritage of his people.

Judge Say Chukchansi Scum Acted in BAD FAITH, Finds NO Contempt

A federal judge in Fresno says that one faction of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians disobeyed an order he issued after Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino was closed in October, but he did not find the group in contempt.

In an order issued Tuesday, Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill said decisions by the Reggie Lewis-Nancy Ayala faction not to send stipends to 2010 tribe members who were later disenrolled and to distribute nearly $1 million to tribe members for a general council meeting last month were a “bad-faith response to this court’s order” in October.

But he stopped short of charging the group with contempt, because the issues do “not fall squarely within this court’s jurisdiction.”

The federal court’s actions are limited because of tribal nation sovereignty, O’Neill said. “This court was forced to put its toe in the door when presented with an emergency situation,” he said, referring to the Oct. 10 closure order for Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. “But it will not swing the door wide open and walk into an area where it is not permitted to tread.”

Lawyers for the Morris Reid faction said the Lewis-Ayala faction’s failure to send stipend checks was a violation of the judge’s order and constituted contempt.

On Sovereignty Issue, Santa Barbara Supervisor Peter Adam Responds

Santa Barbara County Supervisor Peter Adam responds to the overblown accusations that he hates Natives and wants to end sovereignty.  Remember that led to a letter from that blowhard Luis Alejo, who demanded and apology, without a discussion with Adam.

What about tribal sovereignty? Since federal Indian policy, including the existing reservation system, is a creation of Congress, perhaps, as we decide what instructions to provide our lobbyists, we should discuss the ramifications of our current policies.

Maybe we should seek limitation on tribal expansion and privileges? Maybe they should be subject to California’s environmental rules? Maybe there should be a means test? Maybe their business should be subject to income and sales tax?

Maybe, if we had the discussion in open session and had the public — including the tribe — comment on these ideas and others, we’d come to different conclusions.

I want all of the residents of Santa Barbara County to be successful, including the tribe. For the record, I did not suggest removing the existing casino from tax-free reservation status, and I have not made up my mind on this issue. I want to make sure we ask the right questions and have a vigorous debate before we do anything, particularly when instructing lobbyists what they should work toward on our behalf.

Read the rest of his response: Sovereignty and The Legislative Platform  

Pechanga Documents Prove Mark Macarro Lied on Hunters Not Belonging. NO EVIDENCE OF MACARROS on Pechanga Census

Many of our readers have seen the video of Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Chairman Mark Macarro claiming that Hunters came out when "they might have something".SEE: KNBC’s Without A Tribe

Well, here's a bit of proof, via Pechanga's OWN paperwork that shows that we've had a presence for over 120 years.

This is a document from Pechanga Chairman at the time (prior to his imprisonment for child molestation) Vince Ibanez to the BIA.   This is a census that shows people living on the reservation and it's clearly marked WHO is an Indian and who is not.   Our family, the HUNTERS are represented by the Madariaga's and the Judkins (line items 29-34) representing 8% of the Native American population of the reservation. Our numbers have grown since then as permanent members of the reservation.

As a reminder to "CORNY" Mark Macarro, where the F**K are you, or your father, or grandfather.  Oh, yeah, they SOLD their land on the reservation, they cared so much.  Ours is STILL in our hands, 120 years later.

CONSPICUOUS by their ABSENCE is ...wait for it.... ANY MACARRO family!  WTF?!?  Mark, have YOU NO SHAME?    Victor Rocha, where are YOUR family members?   WE were there before YOU, you lying pieces of shit.  And hey, there's no representation of the RUSSELL MURPHY family either?  
Yet, the Hunters who lived on the reservation when there was NOTHING, gets disenrolled?

Looks like Macarro should be apologizing, and making sure that the membership rolls are corrected and as the tribe wanted, Hunters to be in their rightful place in the tribe.

Pechanga Census 1975 by OPechanga

Win River Casino Ignores Health Concerns to bring SMOKING back.

The tribe that doesn't care about their own people, disenrolling their first Tribal chairman, Robert Foreman and family, now show their disdain for the health of their customers.

Win River Casino became the first casino in California to ban smoking last March, but on Monday management announced a few changes to the policy.

Citing customer feedback Win River management told Action News Now they have decided to allow smoking on about 30 percent of the gaming floor. The poker rooms, event centers, eateries and the hotel will remain smoke free.

Casino officials say the decision to allow smoking was strictly business based.

Last March, the casino said a study determined that only 10 percent of their clientele smoked on the gaming floor.

interior to Recognize 2010 Chukchansi "Leaders" Will People agree?

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- 

There is breaking news tonight related to the shutdown of Chukchansi Casino. The federal government has decided to recognize one of the feuding leadership councils of the Chukchansi tribe.

In a decision issued today, the Interior Department ruled the faction consisting of Reggie Lewis, Nancy Ayala, and others who were elected to the tribal council in 2010 are the legal representatives of the tribe.

Lewis told Action News this is a momentous decision for the tribe. He says it will enable his group to begin negotiating with the federal government to reopen the casino which was shut down four months ago.

Halbritter's Oneida Tribe; No to Redskins Nickname, YES to Casino Paying Homage to Genocide Advocate, OZ's Frank L. Baum

Are you scratching your head over this one?

The Native American tribe leading the movement to change the name of the Washington Redskins plans to open a $20 million casino that pays homage to the work of L. Frank Baum, who was born in this village outside Syracuse and later wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

Just one problem with the Oneida Indian Nation’s Yellow Brick Road Casino: A decade before Baum wrote one of this country’s most celebrated children’s tales, he campaigned for a Native American genocide.

Tribal Casino Crimewatch: 3 Charged with POISONING and ROBBING Patrons at San Manuel Casino

Three people have been charged with poisoning and robbing patrons at the San Manuel casino near Highland, authorities said.

Esperanza Maldonado, 52, of Hesperia, and Cameron Dollar, 27, of Rancho Cucamonga, have pleaded not guilty, San Bernardino County court records show. Eddie Lee Chapman, 41, of Hesperia, has not yet been arraigned.

On Nov. 8, security at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino found 48-year-old George Edginton unconscious on the casino floor, San Bernardino County sheriff's officials said in a news release. Edginton was unsure what had happened to him, but he remembered talking with Maldonado and having a beer with her. Edginton told authorities he thought the beer tasted different after he left it with Maldonado while he went to the restroom. After a few sips, he lost conscious playing a slot machine.

Edginton reported the incident to security and, because he was no longer feeling the effects of the unknown substance he believed he consumed, drove home, sheriff's officials said. But Edginton lost consciousness while driving on the freeway and struck a concrete barrier. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

With the help of casino security, Edginton contacted the Sheriff's Department to report what had happened.

Interior Approves Destruction of Natives with Amended Nooksack "1-800" Disenrollment Procedures

Interior Approves Amended Nooksack “1-800” Disenrollment Procedures; Tribal Council Faction Immediately Recommences Disenrollment of the Nooksack 306

From the Nooksack 306 Facebook page just now: 

On January 13, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary communicated her approval of a new version of the Nooksack Tribe’s “Enrollment” Ordinance to the Nooksack Tribal Council faction lead by Tribal Chairman Bob Kelly.   Within two weeks, the Nooksack Tribal Council faction recommenced disenrollment of the Nooksack 306.

According to Interior, the Ordinance “incorporates additional procedures related to disenrollment and addresses due process issues raised by the Nooksack Tribal Court.” The federally approved tribal law allows a Nooksack member “a maximum of ten minutes,” to “telephonically via conference call,” make his or her case against disenrollment to the Nooksack Tribal Council faction.

“It is laughable that the United States, our trustee, would say that a Nooksack elder is given due process when she is only allowed to speak out against her disenrollment through a 1-800 number, and for only ten minutes,” said Nooksack 306 spokesman Ron Miguel. “We are people of oral tradition. We at least deserve the courtesy of speaking our piece to our accusers face to face. This ‘process’ is a farce.”

The process recommenced almost two years to the day from when the Nooksack 306 disenrollment process started. On February 12, 2013, the family first received notices of their proposed disenrollment. The family has succeeded in fending off their disenrollment for the last two years through a series of Nooksack Tribal Court lawsuits and successful appeals to the Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals.

In March of 2014, the Tribal Court issued a permanent injunction against the Nooksack Tribal Council faction because its disenrollment procedures had not been approved the Secretary of the Department of Interior. Yesterday, the Tribe notified the Tribal Court of Interior’s approval. In turn, the Nooksack 306 initiated a federal administrative appeal of the Secretary’s recent approval of the Nooksack “Enrollment” Ordinance, which stays the legal effect of her approval.

Meanwhile, the Nooksack Tribal Council faction has not convened the constitutionally required monthly public meeting of the entire Tribal membership since late 2012. Also, the National Indian Gaming Commission continues to investigate a series of illegal Tribal Council faction distributions of gaming per capita monies to all Tribal members except the Nooksack 306, in recent years. And, the Nooksack 306 estimate on their Facebook page that over 50 family members, or supporters like tribal language teacher George Adams (who challenged Kelly for the Chairmanship last March), have been fired from employment by the faction since the disenrollment controversy started.

The “Enrollment” Ordinance was passed at the behest of Kelly, who was adopted into the Tribe without any Nooksack blood or lineage. 

It also includes an indefinite moratorium on adoption of new Nooksack members, which is in addition to a Tribe-wide moratorium on enrollment passed by the Tribal Council faction in early 2013.

“The Bob Kelly faction is ruining our Tribe and severing the next Nooksack generations in unimaginable ways,” continued Miguel. “If they are allowed to continue their fascist behavior, there will soon be no Nooksack Tribe to speak of.”

Pechanga Casino CRIMEWATCH: Hey it's OUR CAR,

Oh how embarrassing......

A man who led police on an hour-long chase from Temecula in a stolen Cadillac Escalade belonging to the Pechanga Resort & Casino was captured in Corona, a police spokesman said.

The chase started about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, when CHP officers spotted the vehicle -- which had the casino's emblem on the sides -- in the Temecula area, said Officer Travis Monks.

Mark Macarro's Pechanga Spends $2.3 MIllion to Keep North Fork Rancheria From Getting Casino

Total spending by tribes to keep another tribe from benefitting from gaming was $18 million. Pechanga, which cut per capita from all time highs, spent $2.3 million.
The LATIMES has the story

Rival Native American casino interests spent $18 million last year to defeat Proposition 48, which would have given permission for two other tribes to build a new casino near Madera, just north of Fresno, according to records filed by the campaigns. Another group, including the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, formed a second committee that spent $2.3 million to oppose the ballot measure.

Now that tribes have enriched themselves, they don't want other tribes to benefit.  Simply don't want to lose market share, help to Natives be damned.

Pechanga has stolen nearly $600 million in per capita from over 220 tribal members they exterminated and dismembered from their tribe.

BIA ERROR: Documents EXPOSE Trask Family as NOT Being San Pasqual Indians.

At the recent protest as the San Pasqual Indian reservation in Valley Center, CA, the recurring theme was that the TRASK family did NOT belong.  And true San Pasqual people were being kept from their rightful place in the tribe.

Now, Documents up at Scribd layout the evidence that the Trask family has NO blood of the band and the BIA erred in letting them into the tribe.

Were they just awarded rights for being caretakers?  From REZTALK on Facebook:

Does this make them San Pasqual Indians or any of their descendants San Pasqual Indians because they and their family's were placed here and allowed to lived here as renters and caretakers of the reserve, That don't make you a San Pasqual Indian because your Trask family was the caretakers in 1910 who happen to have their names added to a census record in 1910 with the San Pasqual Indians

Take a look at the evidence at the link above.   JOIN in the fight with YOUR continued visits to this blog and SHARE on FB and Twitter.