Friday, November 26, 2010

Sen. Dianne Feinstein asks Dept. of Interior to Draft Language Keeping Gaming from Tribes Seeking Land into Trust.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein has received draft language from the Department of Interior, which will place requirements on certain lands to be used for the purposes of Indian gaming.  This will have a direct effect on some tribes gaining the self-reliance that the big gaming tribes received and implemented under Props. 1A and 5.

We have embedded communications, including a response to Rep. Tom Cole asking for information on the matter.

The money portion of the language Sen. Feinstein  is seeking:

gaming shall not be conducted on land taken into trust by the Federal Government after the date of enactment of this aAct, unless the Secretary of the Interior determines when taking into trust for gaming purposes that the Indian tribe demonstrates -

      1. A substantial direct modern connection to the land taken into trust; and
      2. a substantial direct aboriginal connection to the land taken into trust.

WHO benefits from language like this?   Certainly NOT tribes who would benefit from gaming?  Only those tribes that ALREADY have gaming would benefit for the lack of competition for gaming customers.    So is that who Sen. Dianne Feinstein is doing this for?   WHY Senator, would you jump through hoops for tribes that already have gaming, instead of working to HELP tribes that do not?    IF gaming is the engine for tribal self-reliance, wouldn't we want ALL tribes to benefit from Gaming.   Really, Senator, is it more important for tribes like Pechanga, which has stolen $300 million from rightful tribal people, or the Picayune Rancheria, which has eliminated 50% of their tribe to benefit?   Shouldn't you and Senator Barbara Boxer be working on enforcing the Indian Civil Rights Act instead?   Please Sen. Feinstein, don't say you "didn't know" what tribes have done.  We sent you hundreds of letters on Pechanga's Land Transfer.

Who is lobbying for this?  IETAN?

DoI Response to Rep. Cole 11-18-2010 and Sen. Feinstein 11-03-2010.[1]

Senator, please RETHINK this issue.

21 comments:

Injun Joe said...

Mark & Holly teaming together to block other Tribes from gaining Self-Reliance. You Got That Right. They are two of the Most Greedy People I have Ever Known! It has always been about $$$$ with them while they laugh all the way to the Bank. They have never cared about Native Americans Heritage.

Anonymous said...

What's the fastest thing on the reservation? The beer truck, Whats the second fastest thing? The Indian chasing it!

Anonymous said...

It's always entertaining when we get racist commenters here. Why do you let them stay?

Anonymous said...

Injun joe is a racist name! (like uncle tom) it should banned from this site ! you dis- honor indians and clown them with that name,change it!

Anonymous said...

Like when asians say to whites hey"joe" same thing!

T.J.G said...

I support Feinstein's bill. Tribes should not be allowed to obtain lands in trust which are outside their aboriginal territory.

Erick Rhoan said...

I do not support this bill. Indian gaming is one of the only means that Indians have of supporting themselves because it is the only proven method of making enough revenue to provide for basic services that has long been denied to Indian Country.

However, civil rights abuses must stop immediately and will frustrate self-reliance for the foreseeable future unless the Indian Civil Rights Act is amended to deal with this issue. Specifically, I mean the disenrollment of tribal members for the sake of greed.

Whether lands are within aboriginal territories is not within the scope of this bill, but rather the federal recognition procedures established by Congress and enforced through the Office of Federal Acknowledgment and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Thus, the issue is moot in the context of this bill.

'aamokat said...

Erick, how do you think the powers that be at Pechanga feel about amending the ICRA?

I am sure they would be against it as an attack on sovereignty but if they didn't violate people's rights, then why would they have to worry about sovereignty being eroded?

They can make 1,000 statements about how we got due process in our disenrollment cases but it still doesn't make it true.

T.J.G. said...

Erick,
Whether lands are within aboriginal territories is clearly within the scope of this bill: "gaming shall not be conducted on land taken into trust by the Federal Government after the date of enactment of this Act, unless the Secretary of the Interior determines when taking into trust for gaming purposes that the Indian tribe demonstrates -
1. A substantial direct modern connection to the land taken into trust; and
2. A SUBSTANTIAL DIRECT ABORIGINAL CONNECTION TO THE LAND TAKEN INTO TRUST".

Anonymous said...

WHAT???????? NO degree of indian blood by bia for paulina hunter?

Ammokatt,do you have a degree of indian of indian blood from the bia? or do the hunters or is this poster lying?

(this is from a below article can someone answer if the tribal hack is messing around)?

Anonymous said...

The tribal hack is messing around. All descendants for Paulina Hunter who have applied for this certificate have recieved one.

This is of no use though, other than being acknowledged by the Federal and State governments. In my opinion, CDIB cards are a plow by the governments to errode indian people, as is custom and tradition?

'aamokat said...

Yes, the Hunters have CDIB cards and my grandmother, whose probate for her share of the Hunter land allotment went through after we were disenrolled, is referred to as a Mission Indian, Pechanga Band in official United States Dept. of Interior probate records.

So clearly the U.S. government still considers us Pechanga Indians even if a slim majority of biased people on the enrollment commitee who had a conflict of interest in our case and who should have been made to step aside in sitting in judgement in our case, at this time does not.

We have answered these assertions by the tribal hack many times but he pops in every now and then to hit and run and says the same things over and over again and then he runs away and doesn't stick around to defend his statements.

'aamokat said...

Besides, why is the tribal hack even mentioning the BIA regarding internal membership issues anyway?

Because if we said let's get the the BIA involved in our disenrollment situation you better believe he would scream sovereignty and he wouldn't want them to intervene especially if it was in any way fair.

'aamokat said...

To show that the biased slim majority on the enrollment committee ignored evidence in our support can be seen by the fact that they listed tribal elders in the Record of Decision who were against us, all from the CPP faction of the tribe and some who were close relatives of the deciding votes on the committe, and other elders not from the CPP faction who contradicted them with statements in support of our tribal membership.

But the statement by vaunted elder Antonio Ashman is just referred to as concerning recognition and the ROD doesn't mention whether he was for us or against us.

Because if they had quoted what he had to say about our ancestor Paulina Hunter, that he remembered her as a member of the Band, it would have been against their foregone conclusion that we going to be disenrolled no matter what.

So what made the statements of the CPP more credible than other tribal elders not from the CPP?

What makes them the foremost experts on tribal history?

'aamokat said...

Do people realize that Frances Miranda, Ihrene Scearce, and Ruth Masiel while on the enrollment committee served a Hunter family member with disenrollment papers even before any evidence had been submitted to even warrant starting the disenrollmet procedures?

This first challenge against us was disallowd because no evidence had yet been submitted.

This is shown in about six letter to the tribal council and/or the enrollment committee as one of the reasons that those three women should not be allowed to rule on our disenrollment case.

After those first challenges, which by the way occured after those three women had been accused of not doing their jobs on the committee by our relative, is when a bunch of their relatives and friends submitted and/or signed statements against our tribal membership.

But those three women still were allowed to sit in judgement of us and rule on our case!

So tribal hack, how does this not violate the equal protection clause under Article V of the Band's constitution and bylaws?

Which states:

"IT SHALL BE THE DUTY OF ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS OF THE BAND TO UPHOLD AND ENFORCE THE CONSTITUTION, BYLAWS, AND ORDINANCES OF THE TEMECULA BAND OF LUISENO MISSION INDIANS; AND ALSO, TO UPHOLD THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OF EACH MEMBER WITHOUT MALICE OR PREJUDICE."

So how again did we get due process?

Are you going to anwser me this time?

Anonymous said...

Thats not true about the CIBS,try to go to the health clinic without one no chance, no dental,no BIA grants for college ,etc ,,,,,you don,t know what you got til its gone.Try to fricken say your indian on a job app? Not a chance without that degree of indian blood!

Injun Joe said...

It's obvious that this was a conspiracy by Mark & John Macarro and the Basquez/Masiel Family to disenroll the decendants of Paulina Hunter a 100% Temecula Tribal Indian by removing the majority of the enrollment committee to outnumber the votes, but there is really nothing the Tribe can do now as long a Mark remains chief along with his henchman Butch. That's why we are trying to vote them out so we can undo all the errors he has committed.

'aamokat said...

Regarding CDIBs, some Hunter family members never bothered to get them while others have them.

But I understand that anyone who gets one now it will probably state Temecula or San Luis Rey while the ones before we were disenrolled say Pechanga.

What gives the BIA or Pechanga the right to change historical documents?

Indian health will take roll numbers such as the California judgement roll of 1968 but I am not sure if it gives people full coverage.

As far as school assistance, that I don't know about but it could be we are out of luck on that one.

'aamokat said...

A person not from the Hunter family who is in the moratorium said that when she told someone from the Pechanga cultural center that she had a CDIB that said Pechanga that she was told by an official there, "no one who isn't a tribal member is supposed to get those anymore."

Someone tampering with history?

Anonymous said...

The BIA issues CDIB ,and it has nothing to do with being enrolled at pechanga? Its criminal and could led into a law suit for the BIA to hold out on a CDIB with malice. It would serve no purpose and pechanga cannot tell them not to issue it,example (what if the person is also half pauma)pechanga can,t tell the BIA to not issue?

Luiseno said...

I think the point someone is trying to make here, is that someone at the Riverside BIA is or has been altering records. Removing the Pechanga reference, and replacing with Temecula.

Some people have stated that there records at the BIA had once stated Pechanga, and now have Temecula Indian instead. They reportedly have copies of the original records, showing that they indeed have been altered.