Monday, April 19, 2010

Hunter Family Gathers on the Temecula Indian Reservation (Pechanga) to Share Food and Stories

Many members of the Hunter family came to our elder Lawrence Madariaga's home to spend time with he was was once honored by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

Now in his 90's Lawrence welcomed young and old as we sat beneath the trees and share stories of the good times on the reservation, when dove hunting and rabbit hunting brought food to our tables.

It's been over four years now, that the Hunter clan was unconstitutionally terminated from the tribe, led by the disgraceful Mark Macarro. The fight to reclaim what is rightfully ours continues, but the day was meant to honor our ancestors by being together.

Thank you, for bringing is together.

7 comments:

'aamokat said...

And we had some good exchanges on some issues near and dear to our hearts and even though there was some disagreement on some points, all and all their was unity of thought.

It wasn't a big group, maybe about 20 of our relatives joing in, but all and all it was a postive experience and I hope more of our family members take part in future get togethers.

Anonymous said...

I am happy to hear your family can get together on the reservation and talk about old times not being banished must be great to be able to have a home and your elders and family making you welcome to bad that they must live in fear of oppression maybe more hunters should think about that

'aamokat said...

The thing is at any point the tribe could decide to banish us from the land that our family has legally owned for over 100 years for any reason they concoct.

A lot of us live in fear of that as basically even land owners on the reservation could have their use of the tribal roads denied them at any point.

I am sure if they knew for sure who I am because of the things I write on these pages, even though I state the truth, I could lose my privledge of going on the reservation at any time because they probably consider me an enemy of the tribe just because I stand up for my and my family's rights.

Guess what?

They thought we would just go away but that is far from the case!

OPechanga said...

Yes, it is great to have land on the reservation and family that have been on the reservation for centuries.

And the major thoughts included our ties to the land, our rights to be in the tribe and how strong family ties are needed.

Anonymous said...

how is that possible. You were given legal ownership of your property. The GOVERNMENT gave it to you. All persons with land and homes are entitled to granted access. FACT!!

If that were ever to happen, maybe then the US would protect its citizen rights.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't count of our U.S. Government to protect the landowner's rights on the Rez. They are conveniently absent when it comes to disputes ... just look at the "hot potato" in our federal courts over membership rights.

Living on our Rez is akin to living in a 3rd world country run by a dictator. There is no terms to the office of Chairman and the Constitution is a joke. Any person who runs against Macarro is subject to incrimination.

The general membership has been allowed to "vote" on moritoriam issues, when clearly the law indicates that it is the Membership Committee who holds this sole responsibility. I understand that they are afraid for their lives. So when the "people" vote down members, then the Enrollment Committee can say, "Look it was the People," and not us.

The Tribe should be very afraid to have a Federal Tribal court system because they daily abuse individual rights under their cloak of sovereignty. Many point to the Federal Government as their enemy, which in actuality, they are destroying themselves and their future.

Anonymous said...

Yea for a federal Tribal court system. Atleast then, everyone who has their heritage removed or stuck in a filing cabinet will get a fairer chance than what is happening on the rez