Thursday, June 16, 2011

Letter to Larry Echo Hawk: Requesting Status Review of IBIA 08-109-A

We have waited FIVE YEARS for a response.    We expect an answer


Larry Echo Hawk Via USPS and facsimile
Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW, Room 4160
Washington, DC 20240


Re: Status of Review of Docket No. IBIA 08-109-A

Dear Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk:
I submit this letter requesting the status of your review of the issue listed above. I am a party to the action, and I received a notice, dated August 12, 2010, from the IBIA that they were forwarding this issue to your office for review (see attached letter).
I and others submitted our original request for intervention to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in April 30 of 2006. We requested that the Bureau of Indian Affairs refuse to approve, recognize, and deem null and void the Pechanga Band’s upcoming tribal elections which are scheduled for July 15, 2006. We also request that the BIA intervene in this matter to ensure additional violations of tribal and federal law do not occur and to hold elections in which all members who were enrolled as of July 18, 2005 would be allowed to participate.
We based our request on the following: (1) the Pechanga Band’s Tribal Council denied members of due process in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act; (2) the Pechanga Band’s Tribal Council denied members of the equal protection of tribal laws in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act; (3) the Pechanga Band’s Tribal Council stripped members of certain rights, including the Constitutionally protected right to participate in tribal elections; (4) the Pechanga Band’s Tribal Council overrode the General Membership’s Constitutionally and Supreme Court sustained right to determine the Tribe’s membership; and (5) the Tribal Council's actions would taint the outcome of the tribal elections.

In support of our request to intervene, we submitted documentation supporting our claims of gross violations of tribal and federal laws, including the Indian Civil Rights Act, (“ICRA“), 25 U.S.C. Section 1302 et. seq, which stripped many of us of the rights and privileges provided to tribal citizens.

In our original request and subsequent filings with the BIA and IBIA, we referenced several IBIA decisions which provided for BIA intervention in situations which were similar to our own. Specifically,
1. In United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma v. Muskogee Area Director, 22 IBIA 75 (1992), the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (“IBIA”) affirmed the BIA's authority and right to decline to recognize tribal elections which are tainted by Indian Civil Rights Act ("ICRA") violations involving enrollment.

2. Greendeer v. Minneapolis Area Director, 22 IBIA 91 (1992) declared:

"Whatever accommodations must be made to arrive at a viable interpretation of the constitutional language, a short circuiting of the rights of the individuals (by the Tribe) cannot be one of them. As a matter of Federal law, i.e., the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) 25 U.S.C. Section 1302 (1968), Indian Tribes are required to afford their members due process."

3. Wells v. Acting Aberdeen Area Director, 24 IBIA 142, 145 (1993), the IBIA stated: “Both the Federal Courts and the Board have recognized that there are times when, despite the lack of specific statutory authority, the Bureau must make determinations concerning intra-tribal disputes, most often those disputes
involving tribal elections.”
We also referenced an action of the General Membership of the Tribe, the supreme governing authority, to determine its membership and halt disenrollment of tribal citizens enrolled as of the day of the legislations’ passage. The Tribal Council subsequently determined that the tribal law did not apply to all tribal citizens and approved actions to disenroll a large percentage of tribal members just prior to regularly scheduled elections for Tribal Council.
It has been nearly 5 years since our initial request to the BIA was filed. Since then we have waited patiently and submitted additional information as requested. We now respectfully request a status update on the IBIA’s action to forward this issue to your office for review.
We eagerly await your response to this request.

Respectfully,

11 comments:

Luiseno said...

If Larry Echo Hawk continues to ignore our requests to address these issues, then I think it is time to look into Echo Hawk's dealings with various Tribes for any improper receiving of gifts, gratuity or other benefactions (i.e. did he stay at the Pechanga Hotel, and was gifted his room).

Anonymous said...

Mr. Echo Hawk isn't doing his job! Investigate him!

Anonymous said...

People who tend to hide things, always want to sweep things under the rug. If Pechanga has nothing to hide then submit all individuals paper work of every Pechanga and have an outside source determine who is legit... oh wait they already did and the dis-enrollment board didnt like Dr.Johnson's Findings. Come on Mr. Echo Hawk do the right thing! No amount of money is worth the price of your soul!

Anonymous said...

Time to begin the push for sanctions against tribes that abuse their people. No more federal money, no more land into trust..

Anonymous said...

To mark ' s family and those people who Hide to cover the whole story and to put out Indian tribes ,everyone will always carry this guilt forever! you broke those laws! Please obey and honor our ancestors rights! That's the truth!

Anonymous said...

Mark et all laughing all the way to the bank at the lack of backbone of the US to look into these matters.... how you goanna spend our money in jail after your conviction? Criminal element hiding behind sovereignty, while innocent individuals continue to have civil rights violated through inaction of either government. History in the making Mark… this time the truth will be heard…. Where is the water bill? Who in congress is going to believe the Markster this time around?

smokeybear said...

QUESTION: DO YOU REALLY THINK ECHOHAWK GIVES A RATS A..? 5 YEARS HAVE PASSED AND HE HASN'T LIFTED A FINGER TO HELP, MUCH LESS EVEN ANSWER THE LETTERS SENT TO HIM FOR REVIEW? "OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND" IS HIS INTENSIONS. WHAT GOOD IS HE FOR INDIAN COUNTY ANYWAY? WHAT HAS HE EVEN DONE TO HELP THE BELEAGERED "NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN?" I DON'T THINK MUCH.

Anonymous said...

Oh, did anyone know mark 's wife holly cook used be work in white house she could do anything powerful to wipe the tribes nation ! This where he find her before save or lost tribes nation!

Anonymous said...

i need larry echohawks email address
my email is sivuatgci.net

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