It was reported this week that California's Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed a new compact with the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed tribal-state gaming compacts between the State of California and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians and 3 other tribes....
Amazing how Democrats pay lip service to civil and human rights abuse, but when confronted with it, they simply do not care.
The Temecula reservation and allotments were set aside for the Temecula Band and village of Indians not just Pechanga, the self described subset, which now includes people with NO Temecula Indian blood, much like the Boers of South Africa.
Pechanga now has a group living on the reservation that have:
• Lost the right to vote
• Lost their rights to healthcare provided by the government.
• Their children can no longer attend tribal schools
• They can no longer be buried in the reservation cemetery with their relatives.
• Have no access to tribal health center
• Are not protected by the Tribal Rangers.
Additionally, those who have had their citizenship stripped, but have lived their entire lives on the reservation, must come through a separate entrance, are not allowed to use the park, playground, water fountain and toilets without a member present, subject to banishment from their homes.
Seems like the republicans pay the same lip service. As I remember both Davies and the Schwarzenegger acted in bad faith when it came the the needs of the disenrolled and the people of CA. I know this is your site OP and you write/report what you want, but it seems that you are one sided when it comes to placing blame on who has done what. There is evidence to show that neither side will lift a finger to help us as there is no vested interest/incentive, money, to make them do anything different. To be taken seriously you might consider reporting both sides of the story. If the republicans are so great, then report what they have done to help our cause they do have the majority in congress. As you know it is at the federal level that Indian policy gets written not at the state level. In essence this article does not have as much influence on our issue since the compact is between the state and the tribe. Yes it would be nice to see a compact held due to civil rights issues, yet you know that is not how the system works. If the CA government held talks on the compact they would be breaking the federal law that mandates that the state negotiate in good faith on such items. It would be nice if there was language that stated the state could suspend talks if there were issues/complaints that the tribe is a pile of crap and they were violating human rights/civil rights, gut where is not, sot the states hands are tied. I hesitate to say this because I am sure somewhere deep down you know this. My point is the state is obligated by law to negotiate with the tribes regardless of the the tribes civil rights abuses. That is why we should be concentrating on convincing the federal legislator to change the rules and language on such laws that govern what the state is allowed to do when it comes to the actions of the tribe in that state.
ReplyDeleteAgree that we need Congress to step up and make some changes, but also agree with OP. The Republican leaders to not promise to help the little people, they are guilty of not doing anything but they do not stand on that platform. The democratic leaders are suppose to be the party for all rights, and all races, ha, from the emails it looks like they are racists, bigots, and murderers. No offense, but it won;t matter anyway because it is fixed for Hillary to win, our evil leaders are like her, they get away with evil because everyone believes their lies and many are scared of them. I am not a Trump lover either, but at least he does not hide his true feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe IGRA requires that State Compacts be approved by the Governor if the Tribe complies with regulatory requirements. There would have to be a specific violation of the IGRA for the Governor to withhold approval.
ReplyDeleteI was not talking about the upcoming election. I was talking about current roles our leaders have. The fact that congress makes the rules is what I was speaking to. Whether you like one side or the other is not important to me. I am also not going to tell you one side is better than the other. Also name calling and pointing fingers about what one person said or did not say is not going to solve the problem when we see that both sides are not doing a thing to help the individual. I hope to see post about what you think we should do to help our cause. And yes I do write letters to both parties. I also writhe to the media, and other Indian civil rights groups like ARROW. Last, Reinstatement_Restitution that is exactly my point, so instead of demonizing the powers that be. I feel my efforts are better served to educate and make informed suggestions to such committees that write Indian policy.
ReplyDeleteWhite Buffalo, I know you are speaking from a non-partisan standpoint. As sovereign nations, tribes should not support one party or another in an election. Think of how Russia is being lambasted for using hacked emails to influence the election. IMHO Indians have a duty to their own governments first, and then to the US to abide by federal laws since we are dependent sovereigns.
ReplyDeletePlaying the partisan game in order curry support for Indian policies is ineffective because Indians are not one homogeneous group, but instead are many distinct and different peoples with different needs. What is happening now is that gaming tribes can afford lobbyists and pay for influence. They work for policies that extend their sovereign immunities and privileges. Other less fortunate tribes try to gain influence through numbers and activism to promote policies that act like social welfare programs to provide aid for the poor, education for the ignorant, health care for the sick, and so on.
I don't know if there will ever be any kind of consensus as to what benefits all Indians, and the organizations that claim to represent Indians appear to be more worried about mascots and names that denigrate the image of Indians rather than to work for positive change. It is a conundrum to be sure, but the current legal framework will operate to the benefit of tribes that create sound governing documents with balance between the branches of government to prevent rogue leaders from interfering with the benefits of individual Indians.
If there is any real "cause" out there it should be to petition Congress to put teeth into the ICRA, and recognize only those tribes that respect the rights of their members. How quickly would that turn the situation around?
Or make it so that tribal leaders cannot claim sovereignty against their own members or maybe the individual Indian, that way the Individual Indian has a fighting chance and can approach the whole tribe and not just the leaders.
ReplyDeleteThe disenrolled need to band together, right now we are Individual Indians or small separate groups that are trying to fight the system from with in and the system is so messed up with so many departments handling so many different things and each one has its own guidelines that really do not apply for the disenrolled. Maybe class action suit to get them to at least really notice. It seems to be that politicians could care less if they receive mail from certain natives over and over again, because evil tribal leaders are whispering in their ears that "all letter writers are trouble makers that are just mad because they are not getting their per-cap anymore". This is the problem. We need to wake them up to the idea of what disenrollment really is, like a video or power point presentation showing the true heartbreak and destruction of disenrollment around the country. We should get billboards that show different tribes in the area that have disenrolled with a caption to boycott the tribes who commit tribal genocide. And maybe we should celebrate those who do not disenroll, and let the public know those tribes, It is hard to get things done without a lobbyist, can we write an amendment to the ICRA and submit it? If the right person pushed it forward we could win over more members of Congress. It is hard because the Government is so bad and corrupt, as long as those leaders get away with their corruption so to will the tribal leaders, because there is no one left to check them.
How can a court hear a case where tribal members wish to sue tribal leaders for breaking tribal law? Federal Courts cannot interpret tribal law because of the decision in Santa Clara Pueblos v. Martinez. Also tribal law is specific to a tribe. Although federal judges are skilled jurists, it is unreasonable to expect them to be learned in a specific tribe's laws. Also tribes are protected by sovereign immunity and cannot be sued in federal court. This is not a case of tribal leaders using sovereignty against their own members. It really is internal matters that should be resolved within the tribe.
ReplyDeleteBut we all know that many tribal leaders have perverted their laws, misinterpret their laws, or flagrantly violate their laws. If the ICRA were amended with provision for enforcement of civil rights violations as federal offenses with recourse for individuals to pursue remedy in court then many of the offenses arising from disenrollment could be addressed. Tribal leaders could be sued for violating rights to due process and equal protection and that would undermine their ability to disenroll.
A widespread public outcry against disenrollment might make bring attention to the plight of disenrollees. The access to Congress is a numbers game. The numbers either have dollar signs in front of them, or exceed the millions to get their attention. Indians are such a small minority in the US that other groups outnumber us and get the attention instead. We would have to do some really loud spear rattling to succeed with this kind of activism.
The justice at PRC is the rampant theft by employees. making those remaining tribal member's per capita less; so take heart dis-enrolled, what comes around goes around.
ReplyDelete