Pechanga Tribe's Incestuous Lobbying Relationship with IETAN and Sen. Dianne Feinstein EXPOSED

INDIANZ.COM has the story of how the lobbying firm IETAN CONSULTING has been working with Sen. Dianne Feinstein to help keep NEW GAMING tribes from opening casino on new trust lands.  Pechanga's chairman Mark Macarro's wife HOLLY MACARRO is a principal with IETAN.

Ietan's Holly Macarro and Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro

The Ietan Consulting lobbying firm has long been at the center of controversy over failed efforts to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.

Although Indian Country has repeatedly called for a "clean" fix to the decision, Ietan has faced criticism from other Indian lobbyists for seemingly circumventing efforts to secure passage of one. Larry Rosenthal, the firm's non-Indian co-founder, has repeatedly said a clean fix won't succeed on Capitol Hill.

"All of my clients support a clean Carcieri fix,” Rosenthal told Dave Palermo for a story in Global Gaming Magazine, echoing remarks he made a year earlier. “The problem is after four years there hasn’t been a road map on how to get there. Do the math. There simply are not enough vote."
Rosenthal is again confirming suspicions about some of the firm's clients, who are calling themselves the Aboriginal Lands Coalition. They met with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), who is attempting to limit new tribal casinos by amending the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, an effort that has hindered a clean Carcieri fix, Politico reported. 

and more:

Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro has repeatedly slammed "reservation shopping" and testified in support of a different Feinstein bill that would have limited another tribe from from expanding its casino on newly acquired trust lands even though the two are separated by hundreds of miles. The Pechanga Band was a top client of Ietan, which counts the chairman's wife, Holly Cook Macarro, as a partner.

In June, Original Pechanga, a blog run by a disenrolled tribal member, calculated that Ietan received $1.2 million from the Pechanga Band from 2010 through 2014. Holly Cook is now helping Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with outreach in Indian Country.

SPOTLIGHTS are the BEST disenfectant.

ELECTION COMMITTEE UPHOLDS CHUKCHANSI ELECTIONS

The Chukchansi tribal council election has been upheld after appeals were filed by four candidates who were not among those who will be seated.

While some on a losing side vow to keep appealing the results, one Chukchansi leader says it is time to move forward so the tribe’s casino in Coarsegold can reopen. It has been closed for more than a year after an armed takeover attempt led authorities to shutter the facility.

The Oct. 3 election favored seven candidates from the Morris Reid faction. Three of those elected were on the federally recognized “interim council” from 2010, which was named by the federal government to oversee council business since earlier this year.

American Indian Physicians Publish a Resolution AGAINST Tribal Disenrollment

First the attorneys came out against tribal disenrollment, then National Congress of American Indians went silent, and voted in the chairman of the disenrolling Redding Rancheria. NOW, The Association of American Indians Physicians have reached THIS CONCLUSION:

 Historically, our Native nations were inclusive communities with clear cultural and spiritual identities. We incorporated other individuals and families into our community in order to gain in numbers and function. This openness is evidence of our cultural confidence and generosity that is the hallmark of all Native people. That history is now challenged by decisions to remove longstanding members with kinship bonds tied deeply into other tribal families. This inconsistency cannot be overlooked. Please reconsider your vote of disenrollment and bring your families together. We are convinced it is for the better mental health of your Indian Tribes and Nations and will serve as a distinct and hopeful model for all Indian Nations.  

SEE THE FULL RESOLUTION HERE

And read more on disenrollment at these links:

Gaming Revenue Blamed for Disenrollment
disenrollment is paper Genocide
CA Tribal Cleansing
Tribal terrorism
TRIBAL TERRORISM includes Banishment
Nooksack Disenrollment

Cupa Newsletter: The HISTORY of The Pala Reservation

Cupa News #5

Cupangawicitum 

(People Who Sleep in the Water)

This letter newsletter will be about history of the Pala Reservation.  Hope the young people become more interested in how Pala became the new home of their grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents.



On April 12, 1895 the Secretary of the Interior approved an allotment roll for the Luiseño Band for a small reservation on the south side of the San Luis Rey River which was about 350 acres.  One allottee was Maria Sal, she had four children: Ramona Scott, Adelina Giddens, Albert Golsh and Sebastian Salazar.  All their descendants would be members of this reservation.  None of these descendants would be from Warner’s Ranch area.  How and when did they become enrolled in PBMI?

When the people moved to Pala from the Warner Ranch Area (Kupa, San Felipe and Puerta La Cruz), the Pala Reservation was established for them and covered about 1,100 acres.

These two Bands were separate Bands.  The Luiseño band never voted at the Cupa meetings or even attended those meetings.  This band was never part of the Kupa, San Felipe, and Puerta La Cruz.   Now Robert claims you can’t belong to two reservation/tribes.  It seems, in light of Robert’s claims that the Luiseño Band attending and voting at our meetings belong to two different reservations/tribes.
According to our Articles of Association you must be a descendant of those moved from Warner’s to be a member and vote!  How many attending our meetings and voting can show that they are a descendant from Warner’s?

Is Robert slowly disenrolling descendants?  Slowly kicking them off of the rolls for what reason?


In 1955, in testimony before the California Senate Interim Committee on California Indian Affairs, Robert Ardillo gave the following testimony on behalf of Old Pala:

Does The BIA have to Support FAKE INDIANS to Maintain Its OWN Credibility? Is Supporting FAKES a Feature of the BIA, or a BUG?

We've posted before about fake Indians, from the famous  Iron Eyes Cody to the recently exposed academic Andrea Smith also a fake.  These masquerades, harm Native people who struggle with their heritage being marginalized.    Fakes get news media attention, that attention promotes fakery and it begets more fakery.    NOW, we have our own federal government, in the form of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in the position of supporting fakes, and keeping real Natives from their rightful heritage.

Does the fact that the BIA stands by while Native Americans have their citizenship terminated absolve them of their responsibility to natives?  .........  OR is the NEW MOTTO of the BIA:

The ONLY GOOD INDIAN, is a DISENROLLED INDIAN?

In the case of the San Pasqual Tribe in San Diego County, a casino tribe, which operates Valley View Casino, it's curious that the BIA is helping the tribal council, most of whom descend from a white man who took over a reservation, keep true blood members OUT of the tribe.

Before you say, hey, the BIA can't get involved, know that the San Pasqual CONSTITUTION, allows them to be involved in membership.  That's why the TRIBE went to the BIA to help them get rid of the ALTO family.  In that case, a FAKE Indian tribal council got rid of another family...because they weren't INDIAN?  Rich isn't it?

And it's NOT like this is an isolated case, but it will be the most egregious.  The BIA, as evidence will show, screwed this tribe up SO badly, they don't thing FIXING the situation is the right thing to do. When is doing the right thing....a wrong thing?  When it interferes with MONEY coming in?

Pala Chairman ROBERT SMITH SUED for Breach of Fiduciary Duty in Hiring BIA Niece's Law Firm

We  wrote about this situation last month, in which an attorney, Sara Dutschke Setshwaelo, fired off a nasty cease and desist letter, followed by a reply by attorney Andrew Twietmeyer who asked for her credentials to act in Pala's interests as attorney of record.   Crickets chirped, which helped lead to this lawsuit

20: Plaintiff is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that Defendant Smith did
not seek or obtain the approval of the United States Secretary of the Interior to hire and pay Dentons
22) Plaintiff is further informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that most, if not
all of the attorneys fees paid to Dentons and/or DOES 11 through 20 were for legal services that
benefited Defendant Smith's individual interests in exacting retribution on PBMI political rivals;
intimidating would-be political rivals and the PBMI electorate;
23) Indeed, Mr. Pink is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that a substantial
portion of the attorneys fees Defendant Smith caused to be paid to Dentons and/or DOES 11-20
were for legal research, advice, and counsel to Defendant Smith on his retaliatory disenrollment of more that 160 members of the PBMI which disenrollment Defendant Smith purported to justify by brazenly and unilaterally changing a settled historical determination of the Cupeno Indian blood quantum of Margarita Britten (1856-1925).

Denton's attorney is the niece of BIA Director Amy Dutschke.... just sayin'

Here is the lawsuit:

Pala Band of Mission Indians Chairman Robert Smith SUED for breach of fiduciary duty

NOTRE DAME Beats USC 41-31! Excellent Game in this Historic Rivalry

A terrific game to watch for a Notre Dame fan.  Well, except for a second quarter that let some wind out of the sails for a bit.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish pulled away from the Trojans with excellent defense that they must have hidden in the locker room to be used in the 2nd half, since their defense was almost non existent in the 2nd quarter.

Congratulations Notre Dame on a Terrific Game.

Thank You, BIA for Visiting this blog OFTEN, It takes Away the "We didn't KNOW" defense.

Over the past four weeks or so, I've been keeping track of the visits to this blog by the BIA.  NO, not the builders, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.

BIA
Not helpful to THOUSANDS of Native Americans

I'm PROUD to say that over 65 separate BIA computers have checked in on our blog here.  We've had some of my family and some San Pasqual people sending them emails about what's been going on here. 

Thankfully, they've pulled their heads out enough to take a look.  While FEW will do the right thing, for fear of losing a cushy government job, at least, when I testify before congress, I'll be able to show them that the BIA knows how tribes are acting outside their constitutions...and do not protect the rights of Native Americans, nor are they doing their fiduciary duty.

NO WONDER they have to pay big on Cobell...and the Navajo... what's NEXT?

Bree Black Horse: Recognize. Disenrolled Indians Acknowledged As Their Own Tribes

New addition to Native American Law Firm Galanda Broadman, attorney Bree Blackhorse has a new option on the table.  Recognition of DISENROLLED Natives of current recognized tribes.

Why shouldn't they be?  In my own tribe, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, my family was PROVEN to belong to the tribe by the TRIBE's own documents.   They disenrolled my family anyway, accepting testimony from an imprisoned child molester, vs. red-ribboned documents and their own hired expert's testimony. There are THOUSANDS who have been abused by their own tribes...

Here's Bree's blog post

It could happen.  In fact, the Federal Government is currently considering whether a band of disenrolled California Pomo Indians should be recognized as their own tribe.  Other tribes should be worried about the threat that disenrolling tribes may cause the inter-tribal status quo.

In 2005, the Pinoleville Pomo Nation disenrolled a portion of its membership as a result of internal division following Pinoleville’s reestablishment as a federally recognized tribe.  Some of the disenrolled Pinoleville Pomos now seek federal acknowledgement as the Ukiah Valley Pomo Indian Tribe.  The Bureau of Indian Affairs is in the process of reviewing the Ukiah Pomos’ application for federal acknowledgement.

The federal acknowledgment regulations do not foreclose the possibility of disenrolled Indians, such as the Ukiah Pomos, being recognized as their own tribe.  A federally recognized tribe must be comprised of a “unique membership,” including that “comprised principally of persons who are not members of any federally recognized Indian tribe.”  

CALIFORNIA BANS REDSKINS AS TEAM NAME: Thank YOU Governor Brown, Now, Let Move on to SERIOUS MATTERS

Amid national debate about the use of a term many critics call outdated and offensive, Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed legislation banning the use of “Redskins” as a school mascot or team name.

While offensive to some, it seems too coincidental that politicians focus with laser intensity on this issue, while blithely ignoring the real issues in Indian Country:  Tribal abuses of their own people. This year marks a full decade of civil rights violations primarily by Native American tribes with casinos.

Today, we urge you to be more serious about issues that matter in Indian County. Those issues include:

Denial of due process: Tribal leaders have routinely committed acts to deny Indian individuals due process; equal protection of tribal, state, and federal laws; property interest rights; and voting rights. These actions have been carried out in gross violation of tribal and federal laws, such as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, which were specifically enacted to guarantee and protect the rights of the individual Indian.

BIA Called OUT for its DELIBERATE Violations of THEIR TRUST RESPONSIBILITIES

A must read letter, from Native American Activist and research expert Emilio Reyes to Amy Dutschke, Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

He exposes the BIA's inaction and their deliberate violations of their trust responsibility to Native Americans of San Pasqual descent.

When asked WHY he is so involved, his response:

Today, in honor of my ancestors, my cousins at the San Pasqual Reservation, and the friends I have made from this tribe, I have given the privilege to be part of a challenge, a challenge that no one has been able to complete since the year 1909. With the help of attorney , Alexandra McIntosh, and the support of family and friends I will help them fight until we win. So here I am, because I stand for what is right. Because green federal dollars will not control our traditional ways, and because sovereignty can only be use as a nation to protect our people and not to abuse our people.

UPDATE:  THERE IS A SCRIPT YOU CAN USE to contact YOUR SENATOR, in the comment section below.  PLEASE feel free to modify it.

HOW can YOU help?  By sending a link of this blog post to YOUR representatives in CONGRESS.

BIA LETTER REGARDING THE TRASK FAMILY by TWOLFSPIRIT

Embattled San Pasqual Tribe, LOSES Damages Suit Against Californians.

The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians cannot seek $315 million in damages from the state of California, an appeals court ruled on Monday.

For seven years, the state denied the tribe, who is led by a non San Pasqual blood chairman, the ability to offer 2,000 slot machines as promised by the Class III gaming compact. But the agreement specifically prevents both parties from seeking monetary damages for breaches, the court wrote in the unpublished opinion.

"Giving the damage waiver provision a fair reading, we find it to be an unambiguous bilateral provision, applicable when either party resorts to a judicial forum for resolving any dispute arising under the compact," Beth Grimes, an Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Eight, wrote in the decision.

The tribe was finally able to operate 2,000 slot machines at the Valley View Casino in October 2009 after requests going back to 2002 were rejected by the state. 

Between those years, the tribe contended that it lost out on $315 million in profits

NCAI Has PLAN on Tribal Disenrollment: National Congress of American Indians Will Introduce ....

After more than a DECADE of sitting on the sidelines, as tribal disenrollment ravages Native Americans throughout the country, the National Congress of American Indians has a strategy.

We think it's coded named   WRAPS

Watching, while elders die without justice, and children are stripped of their heritage.
Refusing to speak out, while falling into "safe issues" traps like nicknames and global warming
Appeasing those Tribal Leaders who abuse their own people, their own families, their history.
Prevaricate when asked about the issue; say Tribal Sovereignty  numerous times.
Sidestepping the difficult topic of tribal genocide; not on next meeting agenda



**yes..it's satire...

Cherokee Freedmen Meeting at Dept. of Interior Mysteriously CANCELLED? Is there NO Depth to Which Corrupt People Will Sink?

From our friend Marilyn Vann's Facebook Page, their trip to DC  was disrupted by a cancellation of a meeting 

Someone mysteriously cancelled the DC Department of Interior meeting for Marilyn Vann and Leetta Osborne-Sampson last week
The appointment (requested by Seminole Nation councilwoman Osborne-Sampson) was difficult to get and was gotten with the help of the Oklahoma delegation.
We arrived early for the meeting but the person who we were to meet with was a no show. Other people began arriving at the room for a different meeting; -our meeting room had been given to another group!

Seeing there was confusion; a lady who had arrived for the other meeting went to get him and when he arrived he said that "Councilwoman Osborne-Sampson had cancelled the meeting"!. The person we were to meet with took us to his office for a very short meeting as he had booked another meeting.

My belief is that person(s) from Oklahoma told the DOI NOT to meet with us and then someone pretended to be her.  After fighting so hard to get a meeting in the first place, why would the meeting just be arbitrarily cancelled right after agreeing to accept the appointment time and date?

Terrible how those who hate the Freedmen boss Federal agencies around !! But we freedmen tribal members will NOT be silent and we will NOT stop fighting for enforcement of our rights!!

SHAMEFUL..

Chukchansi Tribal Elections: Disenfranchisement the ORDER of the DAY.

The Fresno Bee has the story of how some families at Chukchansi were turned away from voting.  So the NEWEST election results, can't be trusted.  This shows that Chukchansi, again cheats it's OWN people.   Who still thinks their casino should re-open? If they will  cheat their own, they will cheat their customers.

The embattled Chukchansi tribe held an election Saturday for a new tribal council, but some families said they were excluded from voting.

Kelly Graef said that she, her son and her daughter were turned away – ballots in hand – when they attempted to vote at polls, which were set up at the Chukchansi Inc. offices at 8080 N. Palm Ave. in northwest Fresno. Her uncle and his two children shared the same fate earlier that morning.

Graef said that Mark Thompson, the election administrator, informed them they had been removed from the latest tribal roster.

Thompson allegedly told her that he had been given a new roster by the tribal administrator for the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, and the Graefs were not on it.

“As far as I know, we were on the roster as recently as early last week,” Graef said.

Thompson could not be reached for comment. Officials at the polling place refused to answer questions.

A Chukchansi official said Sunday that Graef was denied by officials overseeing the election because she was disenrolled in 2006 in a situation that did not relate to current issues. A tribal official said Graef was told earlier in the week she could not vote and that the voting papers sent to her were an oversight by the company running the election.

The election had some setbacks. One-fourth of the candidates withdrew their names from the ballot, while other tribal members say they won’t recognize the election, have established their own councils and, in the case of one faction, plan to hold their own election in December.

Many hoped the election of a new council would satisfy the National Indian Gaming Commission, which closed Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold after a violent altercation between tribal factions forced the evacuation of employees and guests a year ago. The casino and hotel have remained closed since then.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article37668192.html#storylink=cpy

Ramona Band's Leader Joseph Hamilton Speaking AGAINST Tribal Disenrollment

Ramona Band of Cahuilla Chairman Joseph Hamilton speaks out about disenrollment. I have added some commentary and links.  Thank you for standing up, Mr. Chairman.

Lately, I’ve become concerned that another unhealthy legacy of federal Indian policy is becoming “tradition” in Indian Country.

I’m talking about disenrollment.

In Southern California, where my tribe calls home, disenrollment is common, in part because of big gaming revenues and internal power struggles. It is also a symptom of the breakdown of traditional tribal power structures.  Simply put, some tribal leaders listen to lawyers instead of elders.  OP: At  Pechanga, some of the corrupt splinter group leaders threatened to dig up our elders...

PIcayune Rancheria's ELECTIONS UNLIKELY to Create UNITY

The FRESNO BEE has the story of the corruption... Villain's GOT to VILL...

Saturday’s tribal elections for the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians were supposed to mark another step forward toward tribal unity sought by state and federal regulators. But political wrangling has intensified, driving wedges even deeper between battling factions and likely further delaying the reopening of the tribe’s casino.

One-fourth of the candidates have withdrawn their names from Saturday’s election, while other tribal members say they won’t recognize the election, have established their own councils, and in the case of one faction, plan to hold their own election in December.

Bickering within the interim council triggered a meeting last week between tribal leaders and the National Indian Gaming Commission, which shuttered Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino a year ago. The federal commission and state Attorney General ordered the closure after a gaming office raid resulted in violent encounters leading to the evacuation of patrons and employees.

“Government stability is one of the significant factors in our decision-making process as to whether or not to enter into a settlement agreement for reopening the casino,” Michael Odle, a National Indian Gaming Commission spokesman in Washington, D.C., said last month. “We are looking for assurances that the gaming operation and tribal property can be safe from further conflict.”

The commission’s Sept. 17 letter and meeting came after the tribe’s three gaming commissioners and gaming commission executive director resigned over what was described as violations of the tribe’s gaming ordinance governing hiring and firing.

“The tribal council’s willingness to violate its own tribal gaming laws, particularly while negotiating the settlement of existing (gaming commission) enforcement actions, is alarming,” the commission letter said. “These concerns have a direct impact on the Division of Compliance’s recommendation to the chairman on whether a settlement agreement should be entered into with the tribe.”

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article37279311.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: San Pasqual Tribe's ALTO FAMILY DESCENDANTS lose in Federal Court

We've written about the Alto family case numerous times, now, the Federal Court has ruled.

The Marcus Alto descendants were enrolled based on information subsequently determined to be inaccurate and, as a result, their names must be deleted from the Band's roll.

THIS "Case is  closed."

The Trask family should be concerned, as they are even less San Pasqual...

UPDATE:  I have a statement on the ALTO CASE:  ON TO THE 9th Circuit!

 The Alto Family will be appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal. The district court agreed with Echo Hawk, but there are substantial grounds to appeal the district court's decision to the 9th Circuit.  
In fact, Regional sided with the Alto's evidence as did District Court Judge Irma Gonzales who found a likelihood that the Alto family would prevail on the merits when the preliminary injunction was issued. The Altos' fight is with the BIA and they look forward to Ninth Circuit review of Echo hawk's decision and clearing up this dispute.  

Read More about the case:

San Pasqual's Alto Family SUES BIA
9th Circuit Rules IN FAVOR OF ALTO FAMILY
Larry Echo Hawk Overturns his own BIA in Alto Family Ruling
BIA Ruling Reinstates Alto Family

We'll have more as we get it...and..WE GOT IT:

ALTO v SALLY JEWELL and Department of Interior