 |
| Cathy Cory |
Simply walking through wooden doors to the meeting with her held held high, can inspire many disenfranchised natives, from the dozens of tribes in California that have had their citizenship terminated.
Her adventure at today's tribal meeting was described this way:
Normally we must go through a metal detector ,have our purses searched, be wanded and show our Tribal card just to get in the door. I don't why it wasn't like that today. Cathy came on in. Said hello to friend and family and was welcomed with hugs from many. Cathy took a seat. She stayed the entire meeting. She even visited with people afterwards. Cathy KNOWS she's a Tribal member and obviously God does too cuz' He was with her today.
Apparently, there were no tribal members to speak out against her. She was the Rosa Parks of the Chukchansi disenrolled today.
Disenrolled for over 10 years, Cathy Cory has kept the struggle for her rights and the rights of nearly 1,000 disenrolled Chukchansi people going, while many others have stood back and watched from the sidelines. She is the right woman to lead this fight, through her grace and fighting spirit.
Cathy commented on her Facebook page:
Today I want to thank all of you from Picayune who welcomed me to the quarterly general council meeting...only with that coming together, and that love for ALL Chukchansi will our tribe move forward...as you know, the "quorum" was not reached, and the meeting opened for public comment/questions.
The most encouraging element of this meeting, besides the beautiful welcoming given by our Chukchansi people?
The fact that someone actually stood, respectfully with full heart, and asked the PRCI "council" just WHEN they would address the real issue at Picayune--the disenrollment of our people--and stated that other tribes, such as that recently in Washington state, were banishing disenrollment and making that a part of their governing documents, stating that Picayune needs to do so as well.
THAT is brave, truthful, and the way to a future for our people. I hope that this person, as well as others of the same heart and mind, will find a place on a newly, and fairly, elected council that wants to solve the true issues at picayune, and NOT just focus on opening of the casino.
And if just one more person attends these future meetings because of my presence there, or speaks out for what is right and juste for our people, that is truly a gift like no other...be there, and participate, in returning our tribe to what the ancestors cry for us to be...a tribe, a PEOPLE, united for the lives of our future generations and our elders, respectful of our culture and values, and inclusive of ALL our Chukchansi people in order to ensure just that...again, love to all our people...
a 'ho
I first met Cathy online and exchanged numerous texts and emails, as she shared the stories. I met her in person, fittingly enough at a protest in Sacramento, at the State capitol building. And spoke even more with her, later that day as I went to a lawyer's office to drop some paperwork off, protesting their work to disenroll Native Americans. Who was sitting in the front, contemplating her next move? That's right, Cathy Cory.
CHUKCHANSI'S SHAMEFUL HISTORY
Over 200 people were disenrolled from the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians in 1999, another 500-600 in 2006-2007, 57 in 2011, and around 70 in 2012 with another 200 pending...OVER ONE THOUSAND CHUKCHANSI PEOPLE--ELDERS AND FUTURE GENERATIONS--HAVE BEEN DISMEMBERED OR ARE PENDING DISENROLLMENT AS OF TODAY (significantly, in a tribe that had 1073 members in 1998 "pre-Chukchansi Gold Casino"--NEARLY 2/3 OF THE TRIBE)
Look at the stories of Chukchansi linked below:
Chukchansi Council Dispute
Morris Reid inducted into Native American Hall of SHAME
Editorial in the Fresno Bee on Chukchansi
Read Story for BIA quote here on Chukchansi
REGGIE LEWIS
Cathy Cory's courage is an example for all of us to follow. She's has continued over the years to fight the fight for all of us. Her actions today do not surprise me one bit. I've seen Cathy in action in her quiet and persistent way of taking the bull by the horns. I'm certain that the current members of the Chukchansi tribe present at that meeting today could not help but admire her courage and regret their actions. Kudos to you Cathy Cory from Robert Edwards and the Indians of Enterprise No.1.
ReplyDeleteShe had a special strength today. I'm very proud of her.
ReplyDeleteThis should be a lesson for ALL who have been harmed via disenrollment.
ReplyDeleteHave we all been so weak that we don't stand up?
Pechanga disenrolled should walk into meeting with moratorium people ...fuck it
ReplyDeleteOther NDNs need to stand with Pechanga and make a big day. A day of reckoning.
ReplyDeleteOn September 26, 2005 my daughter and I attended our PRCI council meeting. Joyce Burel, the chairwoman told us, “There’s the door – Leave!” They called the Madera County Sheriff office. Two officers arrived with a canine unit. We were handcuffed and led out – stripped of our civil rights – banished. My father passed away last year. He was the best of the Chukchansi and the weak ones summarily disenrolled our family after the construction of the casino. Greed is a strange and sad thing. Misplaced values destroyed the continuance of what used to be good.
ReplyDeleteNo shame in her game, or anyone that stands for what is right. The shame lies with those who believe being Native is something they can take.
ReplyDeleteJust terminate this tribe's federal recognition already and done with it.
ReplyDeleteIf we tried that at Pechanga you know we would not make it past the guard shack. If we were lucky enough to do that and make it to the front doors of the government center we would be arrested and changed with trespassing on federal land. That is a felony. If I did that would you come visit me or put money on my books. I would be branded as a felon. When I got out of prison would you give me a job knowing I was a felon? I know some people will not even talk to someone if they think they are criminal.
ReplyDeleteIts not a felony to go to the pechanga meeting ...simple trespass.
ReplyDeleteCathy Cory has balls ,pechanga disenrolled make up excuses ( shame on you a woman can do it ) but not you?
ReplyDeleteMy dog ate my homework, or I would do it!
ReplyDeleteJennifer is a union member who participated in a lawful peaceful protest against her employer for failure to pay wages and overtime. Jennifer and several other union employees assembled on the employer’s property. Jennifer is not guilty of criminal trespass, because as a union employee who lawfully engaged in a union organizing activity, she is allowed to engage in such an activity.
ReplyDeleteEven if the court finds that she was not lawfully on the premises, the fact that she was peaceably assembling on the employer’s property to express her opinion about the employer’s unlawful labor practices, her conduct is protected by the constitutional right of freedom of expression
I am a Chukchansi. Cathy Cory, I sent you a friend request. Are you accepting friends on facebook? Theresa Brown Crane
ReplyDeletemorning...theresa...i looked through my friend requests, but didn't see it there...was it sent recently? please resend! i was at the meeting in 2005 when either you and/or your family members were not allowed to enter via joyce burel, and escorted away by the sheriff...i remember it well...also, i believe some of the crane family members (you?) were at a meeting for those from many tribes being disenrolled several years back, either in san diego or in sacramento...
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy. Yes, we were there! We are Chukchansi - There were so many hurtful people at the last council meeting we attended :( I realize now that the factions can only agree on two things: Staking their claims on 1) money and 2) power. My ancestors' histories did not include these vices in their standards because they knew, and we know what makes a tribe valuable -- Claiming their people!
ReplyDeleteTheresa Brown Crane, Member of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians
Enrollment No. A0078
Well if Reggie and morris were legit councils with power to re enroll anybody that would mean something. But as of now they are just playing house with the lives of all these people. Here they are holding job fairs for the casino when they don't even have the ability to really reopen again. They were denied their court preliminary in august which would have allowed them MAYBE to open. Which means they opened their mouths and put in their foot. Once again the tribe as well as 1300 hundred others lied to and let down. Good job 2010, your all morons
ReplyDeleteEverybody should just pull out all their paperwork and prove to all how they fit in constitutionally into the tribe, and their historical documents proving they are from the picayune, that way all questions would be answered once and for all. I have my documentation ready dating back, if you can prove it you've nothing to hide right????? I always hear talk of where people claim to be from but don't see any hard evidence. I know my history my family lineage, where we came from and where we are today.... The question for every enrolled or disenrolled do you know and can you prove you know where you came from?
ReplyDeleteI know the circumstances are different for this tribe as they are for us who have been harmed by Pechanga. We had evidence, we had two binders full of historical documents, blue ribbon documents, and numerous federal archived documents that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were who we said we were. We even had the document to show that the land the casino sits on was once a part of my ancestors Rancheria. This did not matter we still go treated badly and we had/have no legal way to make Pechanga undo the wrongs they have done to our family. Our only option is to work within the system and get the laws changed so that protections can be insured for others who face the same treatment and to insure our decedents have a culture and way of life that is connected with the past.
ReplyDeleteThe circumstances are different because 90% of the tribe at the moment have unfinished enrollments. Some are missing more than others, some just as little as a copy of a live birth certificate. But none have stepped forward to finish their enrollment process according to the constitution. Many come from a different band as the chukchansi and mono tribes had different bands and today have different casinos as well. They speak different dialects of chukchansi or mono. I personally don't care if the casino opens or not, things on the rez have been peacful since the closing and these criminals have been kept away. I do care about my culture and heritage. And my tribe needs to fix the things that were broken in the beginning. I believe the first step in doing that is going back to the beginning (original founders of the constitution) and finish or fix enrollments. None of the 2010 council have the ability to do that it has to start from the beginning again. We need to stop worrying about the casino and money for a minute and get back to the root of things. The Tillie hardwick case gave us the inherent sovereign right to self governance, we need the dictators out (these people have been causing chaos since before 2010) and stop thinking greed and money and think as a whole.
ReplyDeleteOur only option ( blanket statement) I object to that comment.
ReplyDelete