Sen. John Barrasso PLEASE Hold Hearings In Feinstein/Boxer Country. They Won't Help Natives Harmed by Tribes. Step Up to Protect the Individual Indian.

A revised letter to send to both the Indian Affairs Committee  AND to YOUR local representavive and your Senators.


Senate Indian Affairs Committee
838 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington , D.C. 20510

(202)228-2589 fax


Re: Request for Committee and field hearings on civil rights violations in Indian Country

Dear Chairman Barrasso and Honorable Committee Members:

I respectfully submit this letter as a request to your Committee to hold field hearings on the growing number of civil rights abuses occurring in Indian Country. Your recent hearings at the Wind River Reservation shows your commitment to finding the issues that are critical in Indian Country. We have critical issues here in California

The number of civil rights violations in Indian Country has reached epidemic proportions. Thousands upon thousands have been stripped or denied the basic due process and equal protection rights provided for in the United States Constitution, the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (“ICRA”), and tribal laws.

We who have been harmed by tribes such as Pechanga, Pala, San Pasqual, Chukchansi, Redding, Grand Ronde and Nooksack to name just a few, would appreciate the opportunity to enlighten your committee on the issues.

The responsibility to address this issue does not lie with the Interior Secretary alone. Even the appelate court in CA erupted in derisive laughter in the recent Pala disenrollment hearing when it was stated that it was up to Congress to act. The number of civil rights violations in Indian Country will continue to grow unless Congress once again takes action, just as it did in enacting the ICRA, to further protect individuals from the “arbitrary and capricious” actions of tribal governments.  The recent CA appeals court determined For sovereign immunity to bar claims against tribal officials, the claims must be based on actions the officials took in their official capacity and within the scope of their official authority. An official’s actions that exceed the scope of his or her authority are not protected.  Tribes are acting outside the scope of authority without concern for the law, or tribal law.   

Considering the current situation and an environment which rewards the villain and punishes the victim, I ask you, “How do you plan to address this problem?”

I believe that hearings on the current civil rights situation in Indian Country are not only warranted, they are long overdue. Therefore, I respectfully request that your Committee hold hearings as an initial step to further action that will uphold and enforce the rights of those who, to date, have been stripped of or denied the basic rights guaranteed by law.

I trust you will thoughtfully consider my request, and I will eagerly await your response.

Respectfully submitted,

The THIEF OF PECHANGA, Jennie Miranda...... She's BAAAACK

Yes, folks, the elderly Jennie Miranda , the woman who was disenfranchised for stealing from the tribe, banished for 30 years, has been holding court at the mailboxes...  Is she planning a return?

The CPP accused  Jennie Miranda (former spokeperson for Pechanga and mother of thief Larry Miranda, also banished) of "being unfair to people" and telling "lies" and wanting to bulldoze sensitive sites and burial grounds.   She's not supposed to be on the rez, yet has been seen at the park.

Why does the tribe allow this criminal element to remain?

Word is that there will be a QUID PRO QUO attempt, to allow Jennie back into  the tribe if Macarro's little brother John is protected.

Allowing a thief back in to protect ANOTHER THIEF?

JOHN MACARRO is Gone as Pechanga's Tribal Attorney. Is his Chairman brother Mark, PROTECTING him from Disenrollment ?

The diminuitive brother of the portly Mark Macarro, John, who once proclaimed the land they promised Congress to not build upon.... a zoning change is GONE from Pechanga.   His $300K+ salary, 'earned' while never passing the California BAR GONE.

Word from the REZ is that little John Macarro was fired for stealing from the tribe.  Using a tribal credit card for personal trips.... AGAIN.

Thank goodness he was caught, essentially stealing.    Makes you wonder why HE wasn't disenfranchised from the tribe like Jennie Miranda and others were when THEY stole from the tribe.

Could it be that Mark has been delaying or cancelling meetings so the question never comes up?  Protecting John's per capita, while accepting the theft?

Could Pechanga sink ANY LOWER?      Yes, they could put a Basquez on the council

COMMENTS ARE OPEN,  what do you say?

Another FAUXAHONTAS: Conservative Ellie Reynolds has NO Membership in Tribe

Just like liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren was outed as a FAKE CHEROKEE, NOW THIS.

Conservative blogger Ellie Reynolds claims to be Oglala Lakota. She has appeared several times onFox News Insider, leaning on her alleged heritage to speak in favor of Native American mascots.

But on Thursday, the Oglala Lakota government in Pine Ridge, South Dakota rejected her claim that she is a citizen of their nation.

Kevin Steele, a spokesman for the Oglala Lakota, toldICTMNthat their enrollment office had investigated Reynold’s claim and said she is not on record as having any lineage to their people.

"I believe it's a fraud," Steele said about Reynolds. He said she cannot claim to be Oglala Lakota because "she has to be enrolled" in order to do so.

Reynolds, who refers to herself onTwitter as a “Native American advocate” is, by profession, a tracker for the Republican Party in Colorado, State House Representative Joe Salazar told ICTMN.

Salazar said Reynolds is paid by the GOP to follow him and other Democrats in the state and to record their comments at committees and town hall meetings.

On her website, Reynolds claims she is “an Oglala Sioux Native American” whose passion is about “giving a voice to Native American conservatives.”

In March, Reynolds was present at the Colorado State Capitol to hear Salazar’s anti-Native American mascot legislation. The bill would have regulated the use of Indian mascots at schools throughout the state. She had told Salazar she would testify against the bill, but remained silent throughout the hearing. The Indian mascot bill passed the House, but later died in the Senate.

For the record, Steele said, the Oglala Lakota have always been opposed to the name of the Washington football team as well as any and all Native American mascots.

How Low Can Mark Macarro Let The Pechanga Tribe Sink? The STINK of Corruption is Shaming Indian Country

The answer is:  As low as the Pechanga Tribe will allow.  For decades, Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians chairman Mark Macarro has ruled Pechanga. This blog  was created to draw attention the the civil and human rights abuses that Macarro and his cronies perpetrated on the tribal citizens of Pechanga.

Since he and his brother John Macarro, the unaccomplished "attorney", have overseen the extermination of two large families, and their voting blocs, Pechanga continues to sink into a morass of corruption. Macarro even accept the word of a child molesterin the Hunter disenrollment.

We've written about the corruption of Pechanga's tribal council before.  We've written about how the former chairwoman of the tribe, Jennie Miranda and her son Larry Miranda were able to get away with theft for so long.  She was disenfranchised and 'banished" for 30 years..but she's baaack on the reservation.

We also wrote how Macarro worked hard to keep Californians from voting on expanding gaming. And Mark Macarro was subject of a recall attempt for installing his wife's lobbying company in tribal affairs, spending a quarter million a year.

Holly and Mark Macarro

This latest episode, of the Pechanga Tribe using sovereignty like a club, to beat a helpless employee  Benedict Cosentino, has exposed more criminal activity.  As stated here:  Specifically, Cosentino presented evidence that he served as confidential informant and provided information that led to several criminal convictions for illegal activities at the Pechanga Casino.

Here is what Cosentino reported: Shortly after he started work at the Pechanga Casino, Cosentino began to witness rampant criminal activity at the Pechanga Casino including an illegal online casino being operated from the floor of the Pechanga Casino; loan sharking; extortion and bribery; rampant employee theft; and collusion between corrupt dealers, supervisors and players.

This begs the question, WHY wasn't Macarro working to ferret out the corruption?  Why was a WHISTLEBLOWER attacked?   WHO were they protecting?  

Find the Original briefs here on the Cosentino matter.

PECHANGA FIRED Whistleblower and LOSES as Appeals Court REVERSES Lower Court Ruling on Sovereignty

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians LOSE in appeals court.  They unlawfully fired an employee for blowing the LID off corruption.

The Pechanga Gaming Commission, whose members are:   Stella Fuller, John R. Magee, Jason P. Maldonado, William R. Ramos, and Robert B. Vargas tried to say SOVEREIGNTY protected their firing of a whistleblower.   The lower court ruled that sovereignty applied.    NO, I GUESS NOT!  In a 3-0 decision, the Appeals Court REVERSES!

READ ON:


Shortly after he began working at the casino, Cosentino observed ongoing criminal activity on the casino floor. Based on his observations, Cosentino became a confidential informant for the California Department of Justice and the information he provided lead to several criminal convictions. 

Defendants later sought to learn what information Cosentino provided the Department of Justice, but he followed the Department’s instructions and declined to divulge the information. When Cosentino balked, Defendants revoked his gaming license and the casino terminated his employment because he could not work at the casino without a valid license. 

APPEALS COURT:
We reverse. For sovereign immunity to bar claims against tribal officials, the claims must be based on actions the officials took in their official capacity and within the scope of their official authority. An official’s actions that exceed the scope of his or her authority are not protected. 

Although the parties do not dispute that as members of the tribe’s gaming commission Defendants had the authority to revoke a gaming license if they received reliable information the licensee no longer satisfied the requirements for 3 obtaining a license or had engaged in conduct that reflected poorly upon the tribe or its gaming activities, the record lacks evidence showing Defendants received any such information about Cosentino or explaining why they revoked his gaming license. Cosentino, however, presented evidence supporting his claim Defendants exceeded the scope of their authority by revoking his license without cause in retaliation against him. 

Sovereign immunity prevents us from inquiring into the reliability of information Defendants may have relied upon in revoking Cosentino’s license or any other errors they may have made, but it does not prevent inquiry into whether Defendants exceeded their authority by using their official position to intentionally harm Cosentino.

AND:   

Native Americans MUST Exercise COMPUTER ACTIVISM. Help San Pasqual People Restore Their Rights

The TRUE San Pasqual people have been a petition to demand action from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs on the return of the rightful San Pasqual tribal members to their position in the tribe. This is NOT a "membership issue", this is a restoration of their rights, they are entitled to, which were usurped by what Al Sharpton would call "white interlopers".

By signing this petition, you will have exercised COMPUTER ACTIVISM, something we can all do from the comfort of our own homes.    Your signature on this petition will make a statement, one that will be received by Kevin Washburn.   DON'T let this opportunity be wasted.    Sign now, get your spouse to sign and any kid that has an email.

SIGN THIS PETITION to Give San PASQUAL DUE PROCESS

Take a look at these articles about San Pasqual:

San Pasqual Lawsuit
San Pasqual Split
San Pasqual Must Lose Right to Run Valley View
San Pasqual Members DENIED their Civil Rights says BIA

Exposing Disenrollment to College Campuses: How Our Young People Can Help Spread The Word About Disenrollment and Corruption

I was proud to hear last week that  our cousin, Uvina Camacho, a descendant of Original Pechanga Paulina Hunter, brought the disenrollment story to her college speech class.

This is a perfect example of how our younger generation can help.  We talk about the fact that we must continue to shine the spotlight on the corruption.  We've seen what that can do, with the shutting down of the Chukchansi Gold Casino.

Here is another outlet, one that can be done for both college and high school classes.  This outline, from Uvina, can be used to tailor the story for any tribal disenrollment story.  Spreading the word, even if it's only 30 students and a teacher at a time.   At the end of the presentation, ask your classmates for their help in spreading the word.   Using social media as only they know how, can be our greatest asset.  

I'm optimistic that once people learn about the corruption, the abuse of civil rights, they will react with the same disgust that the students and teacher did in this class.  Politicians should take note that questions the students asked, included "WHY ISN'T the government doing anything?"

I'm also glad that the teacher still had questions after this presentation, as Uvina relayed them:   

My teacher said right away that he had a lot of questions. 
He couldn't believe that this was happening. He had no idea what disenrollment was. He didn't think it was fair for the enrollment committee to disenroll a family, the way they did to us without giving our family due process. 
At the end he said he knows the federal government will have to fix what the enrollment committee has done because this isn't right. 
He believes not all governments are corrupt. He believes that we will find are way back into the tribe & that someone will end up stepping in to help us.

Think he won't be talking about this to his counterparts?    That's how we use our own networks to help us.  This is what I've been asking for, this is what our young can do to honor their ancestors and family.   This is how all of us, who are  disenrolled, can win our battle.  Shame is a powerful tool, one we've let slip away.

I know it's nearly the end of the school year, but file this for next year.  And please, use social media to get this out. There are buttons on the bottom of the post that will help you. Have your young ones show you.....

Name: Uvina Camacho

Date: May 19, 2015

Course: Effective Speaking

Speech Title: "Corruption in American Indian Society"

Specific Purpose Statement:  “I’m going to inform my audience about my heritage, being Pechanga ‘Luiseno’ Indian and what my family had to go through almost 10 years ago.”

Thesis Statement: “Disenrollment is an abuse of sovereignty.”

Ask Question: What first pops in your head when you think about Indians? Do any of you know about tribal disenrollment and sovereignty?

I.  INTRODUCTION

A.    Gaining the Audience's Attention: I will talk about the corruption with Native American tribes and the disenrollment that has been going on for years now all over greed and power. In addition, I will explain how Native Americans are sovereign so that means only the federal government can do anything. However, sense tribes with casinos have lots of money that means they have power and can bribe and pay off congress.

A.    Preview of Main Points - (1) What was taken away from my family and many other natives; (2) how tribes are corrupt (3) how tribal disenrollment is happening all over the U.S.; and what people are doing to change it.

II. MAIN BODY

A.    First Point: What my family and I were stripped of from our own people.

1.      I am no longer federally recognized from a tribe which makes me ineligible for tribal benefits. So I can’t apply to a lot of Native American Scholarships and other stuff because they took away are papers to even say I am Pechanga Indian.

2.      Not being able to participate with tribal activities and meetings. Basically started treating us like second-class citizens. Like how African Americans were segregated from general society back in the day.

3.      Education rights and benefits. My little sister had to leave the school on the rez because we were not allowed to attend anymore. I had to leave the private school I had attended K-6^th grade because they stopped paying my tuition to attend.

4.      No longer receive medical benefits and per-cap, which is a huge change impact on our life.

5.      Allotted land give to eligible Indians by president of the U.S. They are starting to try and take away, and water. When my family has been on that rez before there was even a casino.

6.      Mail delivery has now stopped after almost 100 years of receiving mail, which now makes us unable to verify we live on Indian land. Which also takes away our tax benefits.

A.    Second Point: How they are corrupt.

1.      Since Pechanga is one of the most successful California Indian casino they pay off congress to ignore the fact they did not go through the right steps.

2.      Disenrollment is happening all over the nation due to rising casinos, large per capita checks, and sovereignty. Fewer tribe members means a bigger share for those remaining on the rolls, attorneys say.

3.      Sovereignty means a self-governing state.

4.      Their own hired expert researcher John Johnson called out Pechanga Tribe’s termination committee.

5.      They ignored the BIA “Bureau of Indian Affairs” when they did research back to my families’ ancestry to see if we are from there and they found several ties to how my family is one of the firsts Pechanga Indians and that we have more blood and lineage than other families. But still disenrolled my family.

6.      Didn’t follow their own bylaws. Skipped many steps in the disenrollment laws to kick us out as soon as possible. Which is against their own laws they set for a reason.

7.      There is no third-party intervention when it comes to tribes not following DUE PROCESS.

8.      Due Process is an order of steps which must be carried out in the exact order the bylaws were made.

A.    Third Point: How it’s happening all over the U.S. with other tribes and how we are fighting to make it right.

1.      Here are some tribes that have disenrollment issues in California; Pechanga, Pala, San Pasqual, Robinson Rancheria, The Grand Ronde, Chukchansi and many other Indian tribes across the country.

2.      Have went to the White House and Sacramento and have had meetings with people from the senate and congress.

3.      Had a News special a couple years back, shown two consecutive nights.

4.      My family and many other families from Indian tribes have protested in Sacramento, in front of Pechanga other casinos and reservations, and recently in front of the BIA office.

III. CONCLUSION

A.    Main points summarized. So I informed you guys about how my family got stripped away our rights as Native Americans, why Indian tribes have become so corrupt they choose money and power over their own family, also how Natives all over the U.S. are fighting for their rights to become federally recognized.

I feel like this topic is informative because most people don’t really know about Indian tribes and what really goes on with all the corruption. Also, people always assume we are fighting for our rights back just because of the money but its way more than that when that’s all your family knows from decades of living on the rez and being involved with the tribe and your family, until it all gets taken away. My family is continuing to fight for our rights as Native Americans and to bring awareness to the issue that needs more light shine upon. We do believe in time we will become reunited with are tribe

Treating the Disenrollment Epidemic. Symptoms First, Then The Cure, or Tough Sanctions?

Tribal disenrollment has been in the news quite a bit lately, thanks to terrific work from both the Galanda Broadman Law Firm with their efforts on behalf of the Nooksack 306, and Dr. David Wilkins, whose continued writing on the issue has been printed on a regular basis.

This blog has worked to keep the issues out front, in our 8th year now.
 
The U.S. Government, in the form of the Senate, the House, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Departments of Interior and Justice are all regular readers of this site.  For that we're thankful, yet the lack of action leaves us unfulfilled. It seems like the only thing they know is Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez and are unwilling to do their duty to the individual Indian .

What can be done by those in power?  We've written about it before and thanks to Sheryl Lightfoot, some of the ways are CLEAR as she wrote about expressing moral outrage:

In order to be sovereign nations, we must act like sovereign nations. But that does not mean that in order to support self-determination in principle, we need to agree with every decision of other sovereign nations. When a nation-state, a group of nation-states, or private citizens of other nation-states disagree with the internal actions of another nation-state, there are a number of possible avenues of action.

First, sovereign nation-states can register a diplomatic complaint with the government of the offending nation-state. This is done all the time in the international system. The U.S. Department of State often drafts and delivers letters of protest to the diplomats and officials of other governments over areas of disagreement. Likewise, the executives of our indigenous nations have the right, if not the moral responsibility, to send letters and make phone calls of complaint directly to the executives of the Cherokee Nation or Pechanga, or San Pasqual, expressing their concern over the disenrollment decision. This can be done while supporting the inherent right of an indigenous nation to determine its own membership.  OP:  WE must have tribal nations STAND UP for their Native brothers against corruption.  Judge the bad tribes on their own merit, or lack of them.

Another tactic which can be employed by other indigenous nations or the private citizens of other nations is the art of moral persuasion, or ''moral suasion,'' as it has also been termed. This involves a campaign of exposure and embarrassment.  
This tactic has most often been employed in international human rights campaigns, with the purpose being to expose the immoral government action in the media and open up international discussion in order to embarrass the target government into changing its policy to better conform to international norms.
(OP: This is what we've been pursuing for 9 years now, and what we did against the SOVEREIGN nation of South Africa)

Frankly, economic sanctions of another nation, plus public embarrassment may be the only course of action that is effective. For instance, in South Africa, it was their SOVEREIGN RIGHT as a free nation to impose apartheid on their country, yet, thankfully, at the urging of the Congressional Black Caucus, we stood up for black South Africans.

What recourse did civilized countries use to bring down this hateful policy? Economic sanctions and world ridicule of the policy. No trade, no travel, no money. Final result, end of apartheid and a welcome back to South Africa into the world community.

Similarly, citizens of the United States can impose their own economic sanctions on the Tribal Nations of Pechanga, Pala, Redding, Chukchansi by boycotting their nation's commercial enterprises, primarily TRIBAL CASINOS.

Stop patronizing their casinos, hotel, restaurants and their powwows. Let them know that we do not agree with their system of denying civil rights to their people and until they follow their own tribal law, citizens of our country will NOT support their nation, but will patronize   In other words, support tribal gaming elsewhere, at their competitor nations.

Also, letting state and federal representatives know that we expect them not to support a nation that would treat its citizens this way, especially NOT to allow them increased monetary benefits by expanding their casino slot machines. BIA? HELLO? ANYONE THERE? Kevin Washburn, your righteousness is calling, it misses you.

The SYMPTOMS, violations of civil rights, abuse of elders and children can be treated by staying away.  Refusing to attend functions for Native events.  THIS is the action we should demand of our politicians.  STAY away from casino tribes that harm their people.  There HAS to be a point where our elected officials will do what is right, rather than do what  pays.

Pechanga is a tribe that has harmed their people, plain and simple, taken their identity and trashed it. Forced an Apartheid system on the reservation and is NOW attempting to steal water rights from the very Indians for whom they were intended.

San Pasqual is run by NON natives, descended from whites.  WHY are they treated like Native Americans from the BIA?

Redding Rancheria desecrated the ancestor of their first tribal chairman, Robert Foreman, exhuming the body for a DNA test that PROVED their right to belong, and then not using the results.

The STORIES are all on the blog and can be found in the archives or the search bar.  Let's give some casino tribes their OWN symptoms of their disenrollment epidemic: LOST BUSINESS, Bad Press, and Government action, icluding loss of recognition for those tribes that have harmed Native Americans.

Galanda: Congress Foretells Return to TERMINATION for Native Americans

Gabe Galanda has a RED ALERT on the possibility of and END to self-determination. This is an issue to stay in front of.  These are the people that we need to HELP us, not throw an anchor at us when we are sinking...

Five years ago, Drs. Stephen Cornell and Joseph Kalt cited a Republican-fueled “trend away from the Indian self-government movement” and predicted that a GOP-controlled Congress might well put “an end to policies of self-determination.” That possibility could not be more real that it is today.

That possibility was made plainly obvious after two completely bizarre hearings of the Republican-controlled House Natural Resource Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs, regarding federal recognition and trust land acquisition.

More precisely, Indian Country should now worry about a return to federal Indian termination policy. That will be particularly true if the White House turns Republican in 2016.

The House GOP first threw down the gauntlet by claiming in a hearing memo that the Interior Department has “create[d] tribes, not recognize[d] them.” In turn, it was suggested that all Secretarially-recognized “tribes should be stripped of federal recognition as their recognized status lack any legal merit.”

Then, House Subcommittee staff issued a second memo that describes the Dawes/General Allotment Act as “humane.” That is most certainly not be the word to describe the law that allowed the taking of 90 million acres of tribal trust land over a 50 year period, which rendered countless Indians homeless. The memo should be withdrawn for this reason alone.

Of even more concern is the Subcommittee’s assertion that the Interior Secretary lacks authority to take land into trust pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act; and its calling into “question the validity of the trust status” of lands acquired prior to Carcieri, for tribes affected by that decision.

Subcommittee Chairman Don Young openly threatened to amend Section 5 of the IRA, by which Congress delegated trust land acquisition power to the Interior Secretary. Such an amendment would certainly only make it harder, if not impossible, for all tribes to reacquire trust lands.

Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn powerfully fought back, telling the Subcommittee: “If you take this path against the people of Indian Country, the Obama Administration will be standing shoulder to shoulder with tribes as they fight you on this.” Again, however, if the GOP wins back the White House next year, that righteous threat will ring hollow.

In all, Indian Country must hope for the best from Capitol Hill, but now brace for the worst: a return to federal Indian termination policy.

Kamala Harris Under Fire From Pechanga Crime Family Scion Masiel and Others

It's getting harder for the corrupt tribal leaders of Pechanga to find a Senate candidate they can manipulate like they do Barbara Boxer.  Scion of the Masiel Basquez crime family of Pechanga  now has issues with Kamala Harris.    Even adopted tribal members have standards?

The American Indian group also aired a grievance it has with Attorney General Kamala Harris, the other Democrat in the race, for her office’s position in a long-running dispute over the boundaries of a reservation.

“We believe they both display a lack of understanding and sensitivity to Native American tribal issues and individual Indian issues,” caucus Chairwoman Mary Ann Andreas, of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, said in an interview. In a statement with Andrew Masiel, of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, she added that “their comments and actions provide little assurance that they grasp the government-to-government relationship guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”

Read more on Andrew Masiels... FAMILY:

Francisca Leivas & Masiel-Basquez Crime Family
Masiel Crime Family Arrest
Enrollment Committee members from Masiel Family Conspire To Eliminate members
Pechanga's Crime Family at it AGAIN
Andrew Masiel
Jennie Masiel Miranda in TROUBLE

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article21335559.html#storylink=cpy

Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro, Who Practices Apartheid, Stripped Citzenship from Tribal Members, Stole Per Capita, Denied Health Care, Abused Elders and Childred Disappointed in Loretta Sanchez's Gaffe

No joke, Apartheid at Pechanga, Elders Abused at Pechanga, Voting Rights Stripped, Health Care Gone, Children forcibly removed from Tribal School, and Macarro is "disappointed in Loretta Sanchez.  It doesn't get much richer than this folks:

Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro,  hinted Sunday that Sanchez's remark had harmed her longstanding ties with Native Americans, a major source of money in state and federal campaigns.

"She knows better, and we are very disappointed," he said in an emailed statement to the LA Times.

Read More about:

Pechanga's culture of corruption and Former members threatened with trespassing charges by Macarro Council and Mark Macarro subject of recall effort for hiring wife's lobbying firm

UPDATE: Why Is It STILL OKAY to Disparage Native Americans? Loretta Sanchez is Just The Latest. Do we NEED her as SENATOR?

Whether it's tomahawk chops, mascots named Redskins, or caricatures, WHY is it still okay to make Native Americans the butt of jokes?

Yesterday's episode with Democrat Senate hopeful LORETTA SANCHEZ, keeps the issue out front.  Her simple-minded thinking, that she has to use a 'war whoop' to help her constituents understand the difference between an "Indian American" and the other kind.    Should we take some solace that she didn't insult the other group by saying...you know the RED DOT Indians?

I'm reminded of the issue a few years back when KFI radio's Bill Handel came out and stated that it was only ONE DRUNK INDIAN against expanded gaming.  His refusal to understand the issue then resulted in his true feelings for Natives.

Do we need a person like Loretta Sanchez as one of our 100 Senators in Congress.   I think NOT.  What do you think?

UPDATE:   Loretta has apologized... some of her best friends are Native Americans.  During her apology Sunday, Representative Sanchez claimed to have Native American ancestry on her mother’s side.

“They know my record,” she said, referring to Native Americans. “They know how much I have spent – the time that I have spent with them at their tribal councils, listening to them, advocating for them. They know that I have always had their backs. And they know what many of you don’t know – that like so many Mexican Americans, I am proudly Native American on my mother’s side.

 

Guilty Pleas EXPECTED in CHUKCHANSI CASINO TAKEOVER; Reduced to Trespassing; False Imprisonment

The Fresno Bee has the story

Several Chukchansi tribal police officers are expected to plead guilty Friday to a trespassing charge, but some may decide to have their cases go to a preliminary hearing.

One of those men, John Cayanne, said the officers who had 29 felony counts filed against them in October would not have their arrest records expunged if they take a plea agreement. Their arrest record will show those counts even if they are converted into one misdemeanor trespassing stemming from the Oct. 9 Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino office raid.

“Some of us have spent $75,000 in bail and legal fees, were taken away from our families and are losingour homes,” he said. “That should be enough when all they are going to get us on is a trespassing charge that is going away and doesn’t have a fine at all.”

Cayanne, a police officer for the Tex McDonald faction, said he and his fellow tribal police officers rely on their reputations and security clearances to get work.
“That arrest will be on our record even if we are found not guilty,” he said.

One other defendant, former McDonald tribal council treasurer Vernon King, also wants a preliminary
hearing. He isn’t scheduled to return to court until May 29, when a preliminary hearing will be scheduled.
The casino office raid took three minutes, Cayanne said. Several security guards for the Reggie Lewis Nancy Ayala faction opposed them and were detained in handcuffs.

The Lewis­ Ayala faction took control of the casino at the end of August. The McDonald officers went into the gaming office to retrieve audit information for two years of financial reports that were overdue to the federal government.

Two weeks ago, four men pleaded guilty to trespassing and a fifth man had charges dismissed. McDonald pleaded guilty to one count of false imprisonment. He is expected to be released after he is sentenced in July.

Mark Coleman, lawyer for the eight tribal police officers, said he had received most of the signed plea
agreements by Thursday, but he suggested that some of the men could still change their minds.
Madera County District Attorney David Linn said he was hopeful that all the men, including King, would seriously consider his offer. Linn said King’s plea deal involved a false imprisonment count, similar to one McDonald pleaded guilty to two weeks ago. But, Linn said, his office may be willing to reduce the count to trespassing.

Linn said he heard Thursday that three tribal police officers, plus King, were going to fight the charges.
He said expunging arrest records is not within the district attorney’s jurisdiction

Democrat Loretta Sanchez disparages Native Americans. Not THAT KIND OF INDIAN

Well, at least she didn't say Redskins.

Two days after entering the race for the U.S. Senate, Rep. Loretta Sanchez met with an Indian American group on Saturday and mimicked a racial stereotype of American Indians.

In a video shown to The Sacramento Bee and posted online shortly after, Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, describes a pending meeting she had with an East Indian.

“I am going to his office, thinking that I am going to meet with a,” she said, holding her hand in front of her mouth and making an echo sound. “Right? ... because he said Indian American.

“And I go in there and it was great. It was just great because he said ‘I want to get my community involved.’ Involved. And that was the first time that we saw the Indian American community really come. ...”

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article21200154.html#storylink=cpy

JOHN McCAIN Works to Keep Tribe from Opening Casino. Can you say LOBBYING MONEY, a la Abramoff?

 Why is Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) pushing legislation to prevent the Tohono O'odham Nation from using its trust land for a casino?  How can those who seek justice, expect Senator McCain to give a fair hearing?   

Is doing what is right a laughable expectation from our elected officials, or just Senator McCain?


From 2004 to 2006, Washington was transfixed by the revelations that several Indian tribes had paid exorbitant fees to then-uber lobbyist Jack Abramoff to stop other tribes from opening casinos that might siphon gamblers away from their own operations.

Ten years and little has changed. Since 2009, the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) in Arizona has spent nearly $11 million on lobbying Congress to pass legislation that would prevent the Tohono O’odham Nation from opening a competing casino. A sister tribe, the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, also with casinos in the Phoenix area, has dropped a couple million dollars more on the fight.

That’s a lot of money spent in service of an issue that most Americans care nothing about. Two Arizona members of Congress, Rep. Paul Gosar and Sen. John McCain, keep the issue bubbling. The question is why.

McCain’s support of anti-Tohono legislation is more puzzling. According to local officials in Phoenix, he vowed several years ago not to take sides in the squabble.

Sen. McCain has decried the “grinding poverty” that suffuses many reservations and, partnering with his mentor, Rep. Mo Udall, wrote the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 after the Supreme Court held states can’t control gambling on reservations. Although he claimed to have qualms about the development of Indian casinos, he acknowledged that when tribes “are faced with only one option for economic development, and that is to set up gambling on their reservations, then I cannot disapprove.”

Once sympathetic to the Tohono’s plight, McCain’s tune has changed. After long refraining from taking a position on the matter, last August he introduced legislation to kill the Tohono casino. This year, he’s back with another bill.

EXPOSE: A Mother KNOWS: Trask Family NOT Blood of San Pasqual Band. BIA MUST intervene.

Genealogist Lorraine Escobar has released her exhaustive study on the ancestry of San Pasqual's Trask Family.  The determination:  They are NOT of California Native American Heritage.  Current San Pasqual chairman Allen Lawson is descended from this group of white people.   Lawson keeps real San Pasqual Natives from their rightful place in the tribe.

Will the BIA correct this historical wrong?   Should they suspend Federal recognition?

In a 1920 letter, Frank Trask's mother had this to say:

"In reply to your letter asking information about my son, will say, first, FRANK TRASK was not a San Pasqual Indian himself, nor were his immediate ancestors.

BOOM

Read please and share: 

San Pasqual Tribes "Royal Family" proven NOT Blood of the Band.

Tribal Disenrollments are an ABUSE of SOVEREIGNTY Says Professor David Wilkins

BOOM!  Dr. Wilkins nails it here.   A reminder, SOUTH AFRICA's apartheid was LEGAL under that SOVEREIGN NATION'S laws.   We stood up against it (after much pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus) there, yet still accept it HERE.

David E. Wilkins

Tribes that are disenrolling their own citizens are abusing their sovereignty, argues professor David Wilkins:

Tribal politicians and jurists who work to disenroll legitimate Native citizens justify their perverted behavior by wrapping themselves in the cloak of sovereign power, often described as sovereign immunity, and then declare that this protects them from their own people. They equate criticism of their leadership with an attack on sovereignty, itself. Like European kings of old, they place themselves above their “subjects,” beyond the reach of traditional and common law.

But as political scientist Louis Henkin has said: “sovereignty as a right to do as one pleases is part of the concept, but not sovereignty as anarchy, not sovereignty as resistance to cooperation. And not sovereignty as immunity.” This term, he noted, was wrongly used to excuse “immunity from law, immunity from scrutiny, immunity from justice.” Sovereignty does not mean that leaders are above the people. Sovereignty means leaders have a profound responsibility to the people. It is up to the people to hold their leader accountable for their words and deeds.

In the history of Native nations in North America, no single individual or group of individuals would have been allowed to wield the kind of abusive and absolute control we increasingly see today. The clan and kinship system dictated accountable, not autocratic behavior. In fact, many nations, such as the Cheyenne, have traditional protections to prevent political tyranny. Some have forgotten these safeguards or have not considered how they might incorporate them into their modern governmental practices.

A corrupted kind of sovereignty is now increasingly being used as a weapon against Native people and as a shield by those thieves, robbers, and charlatans Sam Deloria so clearly envisioned. It has taken us hostage through the idea that criticism of abusive leadership is criticism of our own powers as nations. This twisted logic has paralyzed many of our responsible Native leaders.

Curing the Tribal Disenrollment Epidemic: In Search of a Remedy: Galanda Dreveskracht's

A MUST READ for all of Indian Country and our  politicians.

The editors of Arizona Law Review are pleased to announce the publication of Issue 57:1 which features the article “Curing the Tribal Disenrollment Epidemic: In Search of a Remedy” by Gabriel S. Galanda and Ryan D. Dreveskracht.

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of tribal membership, and the divestment thereof— commonly known as “disenrollment.” Chiefly caused by the proliferation of Indian gaming revenue distributions to tribal members over the last 25 years, the rate of tribal disenrollment has spiked to epidemic proportions and is without a remedy.

The article, using historic and contemporary case studies, details the federal government’s role in promoting disenrollment and describes how disenrollment operates in ways that are antithetical to tribal sovereignty and self- determination. In concludes with potential solutions to cure the tribal disenrollment epidemic.

“This article is the most important, and most thoroughly researched and argued treatment of the tribal disenrollment available in literature,” says Professor Robert A. Williams, Jr., Co-Chair of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program at the University of Arizona. He adds, “It is a must read for all of Indian country.”

Galanda is a 2000 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, and is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. He is a founding partner of the law firm Galanda Broadman, PLLC, in Seattle; his firm represents tribal governments, businesses and members in all varieties of dispute resolution and business matters.

Galanda also serves on the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy’s International Advisory Council. Galanda recently served as the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, lecturing on issues such as disenrollment and working with students.

Co-author Ryan D. Dreveskracht is a 2009 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. At Galanda Broadman, PLLC, his practice focuses on representing businesses and tribal governments in public affairs, gaming, taxation, and energy development.

Dreveskracht writes prolifically about matters critical to Indian country, and has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and law reviews. In 2013, he was named a “Rising Star” by the Super Lawyers rating service and Seattle Met Magazine.

Pinoleville Reservation People Want to Become a RECOGNIZED TRIBE.

 If harmed by disenrollment, there are other options.  

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is asking the public about the organization of a new tribe in California.

The Pinoleville Pomo Nation is already on the list of federally-recognized tribes. But a group of people on the reservation want to organize under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act.

"The BIA Pacific Regional Director has received a request for an administrative determination as to whether the requesting group of people is eligible to organize as a tribe under IRA," the agency said in a notice that will be published in the Federal Register on Thursday.

Tribes can secure federal recognition in a number of ways -- the BIA's administrative process or an act of Congress have been the most common methods in the last 40 years. But the IRA, which became law in 1934, also authorizes a process for groups of people of at least "one-half or more" Indian blood to organize as a tribe.

The Tejon Tribe and the Jamul Indian Village, both in California, each organized as a "community of half-bloods" by citing the law. The Tejon Tribe was placed on the list of federally-recognized entities by the Obama administration while the Jamul Indian Village organized in 1981.

Sovereignty Leads To Corruption Says Chippewa Cree Chairman Ken St. Marks

This video and post should be sent to every one of our Congresspeople and committee staffers. Looks what happened when rights were violated, a position taken away when corruption exposed.

Ken St. Marks spells it out.   Watch and share

Two Strike Felon, Tex McDonald Expected to Take GUILTY PLEA DEAL in Chukchansi Raid.

The Fresno Bee's Marc Benjamin has the details on a plea deal that would keep felon Tex McDonald from becoming a 3rd strike felon.  Lucky Tex.

Tex McDonald, the former chairman of Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, is expected to take a plea deal Friday in Madera County Superior Court that allows him to avoid a possible third strike for his involvement in the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino office raid in October.

McDonald’s lawyer, Antonio Alvarez, said his client intends to plead to a “non-strike felony” that will let him out of jail within a few months. “I think we are going to resolve,” said Alvarez. “We have a framework in place, we just have to iron out the details.”

Other participants in the raid that led to the casino and hotel closure may have their cases resolved Friday, too, lawyers in the case said.

But some of the men who served as “tribal police” in the raid said they will not take a plea bargain offered by Madera County District Attorney David Linn, because it will affect their abilities to get jobs in the future.

I POKER BILL Advances in CA: Online Gaming Moves Forward as Pechanga BACKS DOWN

The Assembly Governmental Organization Committee voted unanimously this week in favor of advancing AB 431. The positive vote marks the first time that the legislature has moved a digital gambling bill towards a floor vote that could allow widespread sponsorship by Native American casinos, horse tracks and poker of online gambling.

With roughly 160 casinos and card rooms combined, 6 horse tracks and more than 21,000 lottery retail locations, California’s gambling industry generates more revenue than just about any state in the country.

There are no written laws in the State of California that prohibit, ban, or regulate online gambling. This means that online gambling in California is not a crime and residents cannot be arrested or prosecuted for gambling online. The only requirement related in California is the age of the participant. Residents must be 18 years old to play the lottery and 21 years old to play in online casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms, and bingo halls.