Original Pechanga Blog: #1 Post of 2020 on MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN

This post linked below on #MMIW and #MMIWG is the #1 post on Original Pechanga Blog for 2020.  It has over 827,000 page views, thanks to  many of you.  Your sharing means that the  disgrace of what's happened to our Sisters, Mothers, daughters, is being seen throughout  social media.

Pechanga Resort Casino Covid Super Spreader Event for Pechanga Club Members ONLY

 

No, really, there's a pandemic, so Pechanga Resort Casino near Temecula will close to the public starting at noon on New Year’s Eve. We reported earlier that the Pechanga Resort Casino cancelled its New Year's Eve entertainment

The resort announced the decision to close via its Facebook page, saying that it will give access only to Pechanga Club members and invited guests in an effort to reduce capacity amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.   After 8PM, Gold and above will receive priority access - Silver’s access will be granted based on occupancy levels at that time.

High Rollers will be able to take their chance with COVID 19 before all others.  Is that a WINNING COMBINATION?  Disregard for customer safety sends a message that tribal leaders don't care about the health of their community or the lives of their wealthiest patrons.  Unless keeping the riff raff penny slot players is the goal?

Christmas 16 WITHOUT A TRIBE for Pechanga Descendants of the Manuela Miranda Clan, 14 for Hunter Clan Descendants

Christmas 2020 marks the 16th Christmas without a tribe for many Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians descendants, including young children, now, not so young, and the newly born will only be able to hear about their heritage in oral history, since the Pechanga tribe erased their history, via disenrollment, which is the stripping of tribal citizenship.

Pechanga Flag Flown at Standing Rock,
 Upside Down Showing Tribe Under Distress

Mark Macarro, Andrew Masiel, Frances Miranda, Bobbi LeMere and the tribal council CAUSED our children and our elders to suffer for their greed and to hide their subterfuge.  

It's NEVER too late to open your hearts and for the  council to DO THE RIGHT thing for the Holidays.  

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Sponsors POWERFUL Message on Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women

 Please, watch, and share this commercial shown on local Los Angeles news today.  THANK YOU SAN MANUEL.

Read more on the #MMIW issue here

Please read the articles at the links below:
Kozee Decorah's MURDER by Boyfriend
Savanna's Act addresses the issue
MISSING/MURDERED
White Women in Jep  Gets all the media. No room for stories about Native women?
Nooksack Stalking of Native Woman  is how it starts
FOX NEWS leads with MISSING WHITE WOMAN
And take a look at this website:  Justice For Native Women

Department of Interior HAS EMAILS on NOOKSACK Election Putting Their THUMB on the Scales to Thwart Justice

 

When the agency in charge of Indian Affairs, tips the scales AWAY from Justice, can their really BE JUSTICE in Indian Country?

Law 360 has the story up (payvwall) but essentially, former candidates for Nooksack council told the 9th Circuit that the Dept. of Interior illegally recognized a disputed group of Nooksack leaders, we wrote about that HERE in Aug 2018

The tribe, based in Washington state, has spent more than five years trying to kick hundreds of people off its rolls. The efforts were slowed by litigation and by the refusal of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to recognize the Nooksack government as legitimate.

But the tribe has turned the situation around, according to its recently-elected leader. Chairman Ross Cline said the dismissal of the lawsuit last week puts an end to a controversy that has attracted widespread attention in Indian Country and in the national media.

“On behalf of the tribal council and the Nooksack people, I am glad to report the successful conclusion of this dispute over tribal enrollment," Cline said after the decision was handed down on July 31. "Our people will now move forward on our journey of self-government.”

Attorney for the Nooksack 306 Gabriel Galanda has more details on his twitter account @ndnlawyer :

@USIndianAffairs

]changed department policy regarding Nooksack elections 'to accommodate inappropriate influence by a lobbyist,' [according] to emails between a DOI lawyer and the lobbyist in early 2018. The corruption at Interior seems stronger than that at Nooksack  Stay Tuned

Rep. Deb Haaland is FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN Secretary of the Interior

CONGRATULATIONS to REp. Haaland!  MOMENTUOUS 

 

A member of Pueblo of Laguna, the 60 year-old Haaland would become the first descendant of the original people to populate North America to run the Interior Department. It marks a turning point for a 171-year-old institution that has often had a fraught relationship with 574 federally recognized tribes.

The first-term House member, who hails from a top oil- and gas-producing state, has pledged to transform the department from a champion of fossil fuel development into a promoter of renewable energy and policies to mitigate climate change.
Interior, which manages roughly one-fifth of land in the United States, will play a critical role in delivering on Biden’s vow to combat global warming. The former vice president has pledged to halt all new oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters, a daunting task that faces both legal and political obstacles. The extraction of oil, gas and coal in these areas account for nearly a quarter of the nation’s annual carbon output.

Rep. Deb Haaland Secretary of Interior Bid Lacking support by Freedmen of the Five Tribes

We wrote last week about Joe Biden balking at choosing Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico for Secretary of the Interior.  It's never easy, but any job with the responsibility for Native America absolutely shouldn't be  Our Freedmen of the Five Tribe friends has some issues with Rep. Deb Haaland and a petition is up here    There are 7,750 signatures already.  Read please.

 
We call on Representative Deb Haaland to publicly pledge her support for citizenship and equal rights for Freedmen of the Five Tribes in Indian Territory before being seriously considered for the position of Secretary of the Interior and to outline and commit to a plan for Freedmen integration and inclusion in Indian Territory. 

We demand accountability from Representative Debra “Deb” Haaland of New Mexico’s first Congressional district for her exclusion of legislative protections for Freedmen of the Five Slaveholding Tribes of Oklahoma while serving as New Mexico’s First Congressional District’s Representative.

Marilyn Vann Announces Candidacy for Cherokee Nation Tribal Council At Large Position

After leading the charge to victory for the Cherokee Freedmen in their landmark treaty rights case, Marilyn Vann has announce her candidacy for an AT LARGE Council position for the Cherokee Nation.

So happy to hear this news.  I've "known" Marilyn for over a decade online and I help support her fight for the rights of the Cherokee Freedmen.

Marilyn Vann  Cherokee

IF you are a Cherokee citizen and are NOT registered, there is still time, Registration closes in March. If you are a Freedmen descendant, is this NOT the perfect choice for you?

Stay Tuned for more information as it comes.

CALIF INDIAN LEGAL SERVICES (CILS) Has MAJOR POLICY SHIFT on Tribal Disenrollment

Gabriel Galanda has the GREAT NEWS on his blog that CILS (California Indian Legal Services) which has been little help for two decades to the THOUSANDS of CA Indians that have needed legal services regarding their disenrollment from primarily casino Indian Tribes, has a galactic policy shift.

Thank you to Chairman Mark Romero and his Board of Trustees at CILS for this major policy move.  Looking forward to seeing the press release on this and wondering if the FOUR disenrolling tribes  including Pechanga and Redding Rancheria will PULL THEIR SUPPORT.

On December 5, 2020, the California Indian Legal Services (CILS) Board of Trustees passed a new policy that forbids the organization from assisting tribal governments in disenrollment or similar scorched-earth controversies.

CILS has a longstanding police of assisting “people with enrollment in particular Indian tribes because of potential professional conflicts of interest,” but that did not prevent it from helping California Indian politicians and in-house lawyers disenroll countless tribal members over the last couple decades. CILS most recently counseled Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians politicians in regard to a disenrollment purge in 2019, and also afforded counsel to tribal politicians like Cayuga Chief Clint Halftown in internecine tribal controversies. 

This is big news, and hopefully the start of an avalanche.

NOT YOUR MASCOT Cleveland Indians to DROP Their Team Mascotry

Will they change their name to Honkeys?  That's not racist, right.  Or Overseers?

The New York Times:

PRESSURE WINS

After years of protests from fans and Native American groups, the Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name, moving away from a moniker that has long been criticized as racist, three people familiar with the decision said Sunday.

 The move follows a decision by the Washington Football Team of the N.F.L. in July to stop using a name long considered a racial slur, and is part of a larger national conversation about race that magnified this year amid protests of systemic racism and police violence.
 
Cleveland could announce its plans as soon as this week, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. It is not immediately clear what Cleveland’s exact steps will be beyond dropping the Indians name. The transition to a new name involves many logistical considerations, including work with uniform manufacturers and companies that produce other team equipment and stadium signage.

ABC's BIG SKY IGNORES #MMIW Issue Instead Choosing White woman in Jeopardy Theme

 White women in jeopardy makes for good television and good press.  But ABC misses the chance to tell the stories of the thousands of MISSING and MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN (#MMIW)  Wake Up Montana has the story   The passing of Savannah's Act, should have been a beacon on the issue of #MMIW

Native American groups urged ABC Studios executives to end their silence and engage with them in direct dialogue, cautioning against making token gestures to try to brush off how their program “Big Sky” miscasts the threat of violence against women in the region where the show is fictionally set.

Pala Chairman Smith: Violations of the 14th Amendment In Pala Disenrollments? Who NEEDS Equal Protection, Right?

We see this in a lot of tribes that are looking to get rid of families to control votes, increase per capita and to inhibit discovery of corruption.  Take a look at the examples of how PALA rules are applied to SOME, but not ALL.  

2012 29 Mar RSmith to All Adult Members of Pala Band of Mission Indians.

Why Won’t Robert Smith Examine the Rest of the 1928 California Indian Judgment Roll Applications to determine Degree of Indian Blood?

Here are a few examples of 1928 Apps. If Robert Smith was to use his policy of unknown as non-Indian then all of the descendants of these Applicants would have to have their blood degree adjusted with most of them being disenrolled. So why did Robert Smith choose to only examine the blood degree of Margarita Britten and no other families? Here is a sampling of 1928 Applications of Pala residents. Attached is Robert Smith’s policy so you be the judge. It would truly appear that Robert Smith willfully and with malice decided to attack the heritage of the Britten family while ignoring similar evidence of other families to include his own.

App. 1089 Celsa Moro Apapas - I do not know who my father’s parents were. Page 4. So her father has to be non-Indian and therefore Celsa Moro Apapas is ½ Indian. 1913 Allotment Roll listed as 4/4ths Indian Indian.
App. 1090 Claudia Apapas - Daughter of Celsa Moro Apapas. Record shows that her grandparents had the same mother different fathers but that they were brother and sister. Page 4. Grandparents were Cahuilla so total Cupeño blood is ¼. 1913 Allotment Roll listed as 4/4ths Indian.
App. 1091 George Apapas - Grandparents Cahuilla. Mother Celsa Moro Apapas so George Apapas is ¼ Cupeño. 1913 Allotment Roll listed as 4/4ths Indian.
App 1092 James Apapas - Same as Apps 1090 and 1091. ¼ Cupeño Indian. 1913 Allotment Roll listed as 4/4ths Indian.

WEEKS LATE, The Report to the President on LADY JUSTICE Has been Released After INDIANZ Questioned Its Whereabouts

 LADY JUSTICE REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT  was due Nov. 26 here it is. Is it just me, or does it seem like only.....FLUFF?

The Trump administration is holding an "off the record" call to discuss the Operation Lady Justice report that was due November 26. 

The call is taking place a day after Indianz asked about the missing #MMIW report, which has not been publicly released.

Dine Author Jacqueline Keeler's New Book STANDOFF Comparing the Standing Rock and Bundy Movements

 

We met Diné/Ihanktonwan Dakota author Jacqueline Keeler at a protest in Sacramento. 

She is a very interesting  person and I've learned a lot from her many columns and podcasts.   She has a new book coming out from Torrey House Press that is available for pre-order. Please support a strong Native woman and buy a couple as gifts.

Here are some links to Jacqueline's articles including one on #MeToo and Sherman Alexie

and
How Photography Shapes Our View of Native Americans

JOE BIDEN BALKING at Choosing Rep. Deb Haaland for Interior. Afraid She Might Go OFF THE RESERVATION?

                                    Rep. Deb Haaland (R) with NCAI
                                    President Fawn Sharp


According to this Huffpo article, some of Biden’s advisers have begun anonymously planting the idea in news stories that the Native American congresswoman, Deb Haaland, who chairs a House subcommittee with oversight of the Interior Department, is not qualified. (OP: Oh, like Xavier Becerra is qualified for HHS?)
What’s also puzzling is that these sources say a better candidate is a lesser-known man who is also Native, Michael Connor, despite dozens of tribal leaders telling Biden, publicly and privately, that they back Haaland.  Does Biden have "enough women" to satisfy his minority numbers?

We wrote about Rep. Haaland's support last month here   And as a site on tribal disenrollment, she's on record about the issue, thanks to Cam Foreman, a disenrolled Native American from the Redding Rancheria. 

HAS JOE Biden made ENOUGH HISTORY by choosing a Black woman as VP that he doesn't need to make more with a Native American woman in charge of Native American issues?   What do you think?

Meanwhile, groups in New Mexico are still sending letters to Biden backing Haaland. On Saturday, 50 Indigenous, environmental and social justice organizations in the state wrote to Biden saying Haaland is “uniquely qualified” to be interior secretary. This was a day after the All Pueblo Council of Governors formally urged Biden to nominate Haaland, and two weeks after the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council wrote a similar letter.

BOYD GAMING BUYS ELK GROVE "GHOST MALL" Property. Works With Corrupt Wilton Rancheria for Casino

 

Half of these Wilton Rancheria people
are disenrolled. Can you spot the difference?

Boyd Elk Grove LLC purchased the 64-acre site off Highway 99 and Kammerer Road on the southern fringe of the city from Texas-based Howard Hughes Development Corp. in a deal that effectively ended Hughes’ bid to turn the moribund mall project into reality.
Read the Full Article here

Wilton Rancheria is the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento County and has some 700 members. More than half are jobless, tribal officials told The Sacramento Bee in 2019.  

We've written about the Wilton Rancheria numerous times.  They have disenrolled their people and you can find those stories at these links.a

HRVMI Chairwoman Lisa Jimenez Speaks To City ON BIA Corruption and Wilton's Subterfuge

Wilton Rancheria Elk Grove Subterfuge

The Story of Disenrolled Longtime Members of Wilton Rancheria: ELK GROVE BLUE

Restorative Justice and Tribal Disenrollment: Bring the People Home, Give the Ancestors Peace, REPAIR the Injustice

Pechanga Elder Lawrence Madariaga
Died While Disenrolled - Too Late for Justice

Our Ancestors were disgraced by tribal disenrollment, our elders abused, lives ruined, our children separated from their history, their culture and our future generations wiped out, by simple paper transactions.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE is repairing the harm of unjust behavior.   Chairman Macarro, Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman Jack Potter we are speaking to YOU

Is restorative justice what's needed to heal the wounds, salve the pain and bring honor back to tribes that have harmed over 11,000 Native Americans over the last decade?

The theory of restorative justice is from the criminal arena.  While tribal disenrollment in many cases is not illegal, in some cases it runs contrary to tribal constitutions, or against tribal laws.

Truth & Healing Council: Mark Macarro and Calleen Audrey Sisk Speak at California Native American Heritage Commission

Interesting what came up at the 

Truth and Healing Conference on Thursday December 3. The 16 member Native American Heritage Council was set up to give Californian's a view of the historical wounds CA's Native Americans have experienced over the centuries.  

VIDEO:
   

The diversity of experiences of the "victim population" must include the victims of tribal disenrollment of THOUSANDS of Native Americans THIS CENTURY by tribes such as Redding, Chukchansi, Pechanga and Pala to name just a few. There are 50 links on tribal disenrollment here

Chief Caleen Sisk, WINNEMEM  Wintu near Shasta, CA activists gave the opening prayer for the meeting.   She also spoke on unrecognized Indians and disenrollment.  "There should be NO California Indian who fits into an

anunrecognized category" which is what disenrollment does, moves natives into an unrecognized category.  Macarro seems to be okay with his tribes actions.

Chief Sisk stated:"We shouldn't also  have disenrolled Indian tribal members"    We need to address that, she said.   The committee needs to work on the people for survival.    THANK YOU  Chief Sisk.

The topic of restorative justice came up. we wrote about Restorative Justice early last year.  Mark Macarro chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians from Temecula, CA and which, under his tribal leadership, unjustly disenrolled hundreds of California Native Americans from his tribe.   He admitted he was not a practitioner of restorative justice.  He should read the article on restorative justice linked above.  You, my readers can help others learn by sharing the article to your social meeting.   

Chief Sisk also says any landback restoration should promote TRIBALISM,  Her tribe lost their land when Shasta Dam went up and block the way home for the Salmon.  Now Natives can't go home due to disenrollment.

9th Circuit TOSSES 3 Tribe Lawsuit VIEJAS, SYCUAN and Yocha Dehe Wintun LOSERS vs Card Rooms

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a suit by three Native American tribes seeking to compel California to protect what they claim is their exclusive right to offer card games like blackjack and baccarat, saying the court couldn't make the state enforce its laws against nontribal card rooms.

Uh, CALIFORNIA is SOVEREIGN TOO... Too Bad, so SAD...


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