ERIC HOLDER to Resign This Year, Without Addressing CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS in Indian Country

We have been asking AG Holder to look into violations of civil and human rights for years now.  Looks like he will leave without addressing the issue.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will step down this year, he said in an interview with the New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin in the magazine’s Feb. 17 edition.

In a feature article, Mr. Holder said he plans on staying in his position “well into” the year.

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 Last November, Mr. Holder, the first black attorney general, told CBS News he didn’t have “any plans” to step down.

Mr. Holder has made voting rights the test case of his tenure, the New Yorker reported. He has been a vocal critic of the Supreme Court case that invalidated key parts of the Voting Rights Act and has supported Congressional action to renew and revise the law.

During his five years as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, Mr. Holder has also weighed in on other controversial Supreme Court decisions. Mr. Holder said he wouldn’t defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court and over the weekend announced the Department of Justice’s plans to give same-sex couples the same rights in the federal legal system as married heterosexual couples, regardless of whether a state recognizes same sex marriage.

Here is one of the letters sent to the Attorney General:

Dear Attorney General Holder:

I respectfully submit this letter urging the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to commence a full-scale investigation into the gross civil and human rights violations which have infected Indian Country.

Throughout Indian Country, tribal officials have taken actions which have denied and/or stripped thousands of individual Indians of their rights and privileges as tribal members and denied them access to federal benefits and programs in the areas of housing, education, health, voting and public works assistance.  Pechanga, Pala, Redding, Snoqualmie, Nooksack, Chukchansi, Enterprise, San Pascual are just a few who have terminated the rights of their people.

In some instances, the illegal actions occurred decades ago, however, there has been a marked increase since Indian Gaming has evolved into a multi-billion dollar business. Tribal leaders justify their right to systematically deny and/or strip basic rights and privilegesfrom their citizens under the guise of tribal sovereignty.   The time is right for your department to use it's full force on the corruption that has spread throughout Indian Country.

Tribal leaders have routinely committed acts to deny Indian individuals due process; equal protection of tribal, state, and federal laws; property interest rights; and voting rights. Theses actions have been carried out in gross violation of tribal and federal laws, such as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, which were specifically enacted to guarantee and protect the rights of the individual Indian.

Using sovereignty as a club to beat the weak and render them helpless is abhorrent.The federal government can no longer allow the offending tribes and tribal officials to claim that this is a sovereignty issue that rests solely within the domain of tribal courts and tribal law. Few Tribes actually have tribal courts.And, in most cases, the tribal government officials responsiblefor the violations of law are the very same people who pass judgment as to whether or not lawshave been violated - they are the judge, jury and alleged criminal all rolled into one
.
The United States has a trust responsibility to the thousands of individual Indians whose basic rights have been infringed upon. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has determined that their trust responsibility extends only to the tribal government and government officials and not to the thousands of individual Indian victims. Therefore, I believe that the DOJ has the legal and moral responsibility
to investigate and prosecute such violations of basic rights.

I urge you to direct the DOJ Civil Rights Division to initiate an investigation into the growing number of human and civil rights violations described above. In addition, I hope that any investigation would not be short-circuited by those who would claim tribal sovereignty as a justification for inaction.

Nor should justice be denied as a result of political wrangling by politicians fighting to protect their tribal “clients” who funnel millions of dollars into their campaign coffers.

 

Governor Brown Accepting Applications for Tribal Affairs Advocate

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed an executive order creating a position as Tribal Advisor Advocate which we wrote about here:   Governor gives Standing.....

The Governor's office is accepting nominations and applications for the position.  We need an advocate for ALL of Indian Country, not just the rich gaming tribes, many of which have violated the civil and basic human rights of their people.  In fact, those aggrieved Native Americans, if grouped together, would create the second largest tribe in California, with over 2,000 people harmed by their tribes.    In comparison, Picayune , once 1200 strong, now, because of disenrollment, only has 600 members, San Manuel, arguably the richest California tribe has less than 200 members.

The application can be found HERE     Perhaps a board member of the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization should be the advocate for all Indian Country.

Sad News from the AIRRO Family

Original Pechanga's Blog has heard that son of Helga Walston one of AIRRO's (American Indian Rights and Resources Organization) founding members has passes away suddenly.   Glenn Walston  succumbed to heart disease at 54.  Our condolences to Helga and family.

President Obama Announces Endorsement of UN Declaration; Will POTUS address issues of Human Rights Abuses in INDIAN COUNTRY?

It's a good move for our President to lend his endorsement, but will it be wind through rotted sails? We have so many human rights issues here in Indian Country that many tribal leaders should be EMBARRASSED.

During the second annual Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, DC this morning, President Obama announced that the United States will lend its support to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Prior to this morning's announcement, the United States had been the lone holdout of the original four nations to vote against the adoption of the Declaration by the UN General Assembly in 2007; the other three (Australia, New Zealand, and Canada) have all since reversed their position.

AIRRO held listening sessions on the abuses in Indian Country, that we wrote about in April:


Indians from various parts of Indian Country recently participated in several listening sessions hosted by the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization ("AIRRO"), a Native American civil rights group.

The sessions were held to allow individuals, groups and tribes an opportunity to testify regarding violations of basic human and civil rights in Indian Country. The testimony and recommendations given at each of the sessions will be used by AIRRO to prepare a report which will submitted to the United Nations for use in the Universal Periodic Review of rights issues within the United States.

"The sessions were important for the simple fact that they allowed individuals and groups the opportunity to provide information regarding an issue, that up till now, had gone unreported," stated AIRRO President John Gomez, Jr. "Many people are unaware that tribal officials have committed gross human rights violations against their own citizens. And many more would be surprised to hear that the United States government is largely responsible for allowing the violations to occur and continue."

Please see:   Apartheid at Pechanga    Genocide in Indian Country       Pechanga's ICRA Violations    Temecula Massacres

The United States has created an environment for human and civil rights abuses in Indian Country. As long as tribal officials can invoke immunity to escape prosecution and individuals are denied redress for violations of their rights, the number of human rights victims in Indian Country will continue to grow," added Gomez.


The attendees at each of the sessions provided recommendations to address the rights abuses in Indian Country. Well some stated that federal courts should have the authority to review tribal actions that allegedly violate the rights of individuals, most said that the federal government must provide meaningful enforcement of existing laws enacted to protect individuals from abuses by tribal officials.

American Indian Rights & Resource Organization (AIRRO) in United Nations Report

Good news from Geneva, Switzerland, in the Summary prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report to the United Nations, AIRRO is mentioned.

The American Indian Rights and Resources Organization (AIRRO) is a Native American rights organization which is dedicated to the protection, preservation, and enforcement of the human rights of individual Indians throughout United States Indian Country.

Please view AIRRO's website at http://www.airro.org/ and consider becoming a member.

Abuses by tribes such as the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, Redding Rancheria, Picayune Rancheria, Enterprise Rancheria, Snoqualmie (WA) have led to the growth of this organization.

AIRRO comments on Indian Country's Human Rights Abuses by..Indians

AIRRO spells out abuses by tribes against Indian people and the need for enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act.

The American Indian Rights and Resources Organization (AIRRO) is a Native American rights organization which is dedicated to the protection, preservation, and enforcement of the human rights of individual Indians through-out United States Indian Country.

Earlier this year, the AIRRO submitted information to the OHCHR for use in the Universal Periodic Review of the United States human rights record. AIRRO’s submission highlighted the trend of civil and human rights abuses indigenous people are being subjected to and the United State’s role in creating an environment for such injustices to occur. The AIRRO believes that both the UN and the United States should address the growing number of human and civil rights abuses in Indian Country and work towards the enforcement of previously enacted laws governing Indian civil and human rights.

The most egregious human rights issues that have gripped Indian Country over the last decade include the taking of ones citizenship; the denial of basic rights and freedoms; and the severing of spiritual and cultural ties to ones people and land. In place of actual physical genocide, acts such as disenrollment, banishment and the denial of citizenship are “killing off” generations of Indian people.

Disenrollment is the stripping of one’s citizenship in his or her tribe. Banishment is an act taken against individuals or groups whereby they are barred from entering and/or staying within their tribal reservation or other tribal lands. Denial of membership is an act to keep those eligible for tribal citizenship off the tribal rolls.

Disenrollment has been characterized as an act committed by tribal officials “without any concern for human rights, tribal traditions or due process… as a means to solidify their own economic and political bases and to winnow out opposition families who disapprove of the direction the tribal leadership is headed…(It) has tragically become almost commonplace in Indian country, leaving thousands of bona fide Native individuals without the benefits and protections of the nations they are biologically, culturally, and spiritually related to.”

The State is in large part responsible for the growing problem of human rights abuses in Indian Country. Its responsibility lies with the laws it has enacted and the failures of its agencies to carry out the trust responsibility due the individual Indian.

Of note, in 1968, after an investigation by the Constitutional Rights Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) was passed.

The ICRA was adopted to ensure that tribal governments respect the basic human and civil rights of individual Indians and non-Indians. The ICRA was intended to extend constitutional rights to individual Indians and thereby “protect individual Indians from arbitrary and unjust actions of tribal governments.” Under the ICRA tribal governments were prohibited from enacting or enforcing laws that violate certain individual rights.

Unfortunately, the ICRA failed to include an effective enforcement mechanism: save for a writ of habeas corpus, aggrieved individual(s) were barred from holding the offending tribal government or tribal official(s) accountable for violations of tribal and/or federal law.

The ICRA was further neutered in Martinez v. Santa Clara Pueblo which held that the ICRA, although a federal statute, was not enforceable in federal court. While the Martinez decision did allow for State intervention in limited instances, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), an agency within the Department of the Interior, has routinely declined to intervene.

The failures of the United States in regards to enforcement of the ICRA led William B. Allen, at the time, a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, to point out that no federal money had been spent on the enforcement of fundamental civil rights of American citizens (including the indigenous population) domiciled on reservations since the Martinez decision.

The United States’ failure to address the inherent problems in the ICRA and the additional problems created by Martinez has created an environment whereby tribal officials are allowed to violate the rights of their citizens by ignoring Federal, State and Tribal laws.

The United States can change the environment by providing an efficient enforcement mechanism for the redress of alleged violations of the ICRA and other tribal and/or federal laws enacted to protect and preserve the rights of the individual Indian.

Enforcement could include de novo review of tribal court actions by federal courts of issues involving alleged rights violations. And, in instances where there is no tribal court, individual(s) alleging violations of their human and civil rights could be allowed to file an action in federal court and the federal court shall have jurisdiction to hear the dispute.

Additionally and equally important, tribal and federal officials should not be allowed to invoke immunity from prosecution for alleged rights violations nor shall a tribe’s sovereignty shield its officers, employees, or agents.

The United States must be proactive in addressing the growing number of abuses committed against American Indians. The United States needs to address the policies, programs, and laws governing the rights of its indigenous people. The United States must also take action to change the current environment, an environment it created, which allows for and fosters the wholesale denial and abolishment of basic rights.

Indian Rights Forum to Be Held in Temecula, Chairman Mark Macarro Again LIES!

Mark Macarro is again pushing his lies about courts siding with Pechanga. Not ONE has "sided" with them. Many have refused to hear the cases, citing jurisdiction.

A disenrolled member of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians of Temecula is helping host a forum in Temecula on Saturday focusing on civil rights abuses by American Indian tribes.

Testimony at the forum sponsored by the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization will be sent to federal officials and the United Nations, which is examining the United States as part of a periodic review of member nations' human rights records.

The forum is open to the public and will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the organization's headquarters, 41801 Corte Valentine.

Organization president John Gomez Jr. said the forum will provide an opportunity to speak for those whose rights were violated by tribes.

A similar forum last Saturday in Sacramento drew 25 people, he said, adding that this marks the first time his organization has held such a forum. OP: Including those from out of state.

"We expect that these sessions will provide insight to the growing number of human and civil rights violations committed by tribal officials, as well as the United States' failure to uphold and enforce treaties and laws enacted to protect individual Indians from such gross and egregious acts," Gomez said in a statement.

In an interview, Gomez said that while attention has been focused on Indians whose rights were violated by governments, the actions of tribal officials also need scrutiny.

He said tribal members have been stripped of their citizenship and denied access to their homes, while the federal government failed to protect their rights.

Gomez was among 130 Pechanga members kicked out of the tribe in 2004 after tribal officials said they were not descendants of Pechanga Indians. Another 100 or so members were disenrolled in 2006. OP: Since then, more than 2 dozen new descendents have not had access to their tribal rights. Additionally, HUNDREDS more are caught in an unconstitutional moratorium.

MACARRO again lies:

Asked to comment on the forum, the tribe provided a written statement from Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro saying the disenrollments "were just, based on facts, proven through generational knowledge (OP: THIS GENERATION), and encouraged by federal laws that empower tribal governments to reverse the destruction that prior U.S. policies inflicted on American Indian tribes. Seven courts have agreed with our tribe."

Each member of the tribe gets a six-figure annual payment of profits from Pechanga Resort & Casino. Those who were disenrolled lost those payments as well as access to other benefits.

Read more of the article HERE


Here's a history of how the Pechanga Casino has brought corruption to a head:

1. In December 2001, Yolanda McCarter (niece of Irene Scearce and Ruth Masiel) submitted a letter to Enrollment Committee demanding the Committee research several families including ours. The request stated that "this (be) straightened up before the next election in July."

2. In June 2002, Enrollment Committee Chairperson Mary Magee, sister of Gloria Wright, is removed from the Committee for divulging confidential information. A petition is justified to amend the Disenrollment Procedures. A vote to approve or deny the petition is set for July 2002.
(Petition is not brought forth until February 2003.)

The newly built Pechanga Resort and Casino is opened. This is a permanent structure which replaced the original Casino structures which were in modular and sprung structure.

In October 2002, 2 new members are elected to Enrollment Committee to bring membership up to required 10 members. (A member retired from Committee in September 2002). Olivia Walls is elected Committee Chair, and we request an audit of Enrollment Committee activities for the previous years and advice from our legal counsel at California Indian Legal Services on how to address wrong-doings by Committee and Committee members. Our legal counsel is told by John Macarro (shorter, younger brother of Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro) not to take any action to assist the Committee or answer our questions regarding the wrong-doings.

3. November 12, 2002, members of the Enrollment Committee, acting without a quorum and outside the Committee's procedures, serve several other Committee members with disenrollment summonses. The Committee members who took the action were- Irene Scearce, Ruth Masiel, Frances Miranda, Margaret Duncan, and Bobbi Lamere. Those served include John Gomez, Theresa Spears, Olivia Walls, and Sandra Garbani.

4. On December 10, 2002, Concerned Pechanga People submit documents to the Enrollment Committee questioning the lineal descent of several families including the Manuela Miranda descendents, Paulina Hunter descendents, and Garbani descendents. This action was taken a month after the above action. The Concerned Pechanga people are immediate family and friends of Committee members who initiated the November 12, 2002 action. (See list of Pechanga Enrollment Committee members, Splinter Group and Concerned Pechanga people).

5. Between December 10, 2002 and February 23, 2003, Concerned Pechanga people make visits to Enrollment Committee and send out flyers to Tribal members urging disenrollment actions be taken against the 3 families they have targeted. The Enrollment Committee does not move forward due to a split as to how to proceed and what constitutes "factual" information related to enrollment.

6. The Concerned Pechanga people move to have Pechanga Development Corporation Elections post-poned until disenrollment occurs. After the PDC elections have been put off for over a month, elections are finally held and Jennie Miranda is voted out of office. She is replaced by a member of the Hunter family. She and members of her family make statements about getting revenge on the Hunters and Manuela people.

7. February 18, 2003, members of the Enrollment Committee, acting without a quorum and outside the Committee's procedures serve several other Committee members with disenrollment summonses. The Committee members who took the action were- Irene Scearce, Ruth Masiel, Frances Miranda, Margaret Duncan, and Bobbi Lamere. Those served include John Gomez, Theresa Spears, Olivia Walls, and Sandra Garbani.

8. From February 24, 2003 to March 18, 2003 Committee is locked out while the Tribal Council reviews actions and concerns of Enrollment Committee Chair.

9. March 7, 2003 letter from Tribal Council nullifying the February 18, 2003 action taken by Committee members to initiate the disenrollment process against several other Enrollment Committee members. Enrollment Committee members removed from committee and Enrollment Committee reconstituted.

10. March 18, 2003, Enrollment Committee now consisting of Bobbi Lamere, Margaret Duncan, and Lori Vasquez reconvene. Committee drafts letters of rescission and send to Committee members who were targeted by February 18, 2003 action.

11. Between March 18, 2003 and June 1, 2003, Concerned Pechanga people meet with the Enrollment Committee to provide additional information against the 3 families targeted and to push the Leyva/Basquez review before the review of any other family. The information questioning the Leyva/Basquez family (which includes Jennie Miranda, Irene Scearce, and Ruth Masiel) was received well after the information questioning the Manuela descendents and the other families. Procedurally, the Manuela descendents and other families should have been reviewed prior to the Leyva/Basquez family and/or the Candelaria Flores review. However, the Enrollment Committee consisted of members- Bobbi Lamere and Margaret Duncan- who acted with and for the Concerned Pechanga people. Even though the Manuela descendents provided information to the Enrollment Committee as early as December 17, 2003 refuting the allegations made by the Concerned Pechanga people, those working with, for, or were/are a part of the Concerned Pechanga people were pushed ahead of us in the review process. This was done to stack the Committee and guarantee our disenrollment.

Temecula Indians and AIRRO to Host Forum on Human and Civil Rights Issues in Indian Country

Temecula Indians and AIRRO to Host Forum
on Human and Civil Rights Issues

Temecula, CA- Temecula Indians and the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization ("AIRRO"), a Native American civil rights group, will host a forum regarding human and civil rights issues in Indian Country. The forum is scheduled for April 24, 2010 in Temecula, California.

The forum will include an open discussion on the growing number of human and civil rights violations that have impacted Indian Country within the last decade. Forum attendees will be invited to provide testimony regarding the impact such violations have had on their lives.
Those who testify will also be asked to provide feedback regarding the United States' handling of rights violations in Indian Country and offer recommendations as to what actions tribes and the federal government can take to protect individuals from further infringements on their rights and liberties.

"We expect that the Temecula forum will provide insight to the growing number of human and civil rights violations committed by tribal officials, as well as the United States' failure to uphold and enforce treaties and laws enacted to protect individual Indians from such gross and egregious acts," stated Temecula Indian and AIRRO President John Gomez, Jr.

The testimony and recommendations provided will be compiled for submission to the Department of State, the Department of Justice, the Interior Department and the United Nations Human Rights Council which has begun a year-long review of the United States’ human rights record, with particular attention to be paid to the United States' treatment of its indigenous American Indian population.

For more information on the April 24th forum, as well as the April 17th session in Sacramento, California, please visit www.airro.org or send an email to mail@airro.org .

You may also submit testimony or provide recommendations by sending an electronic version to mail@airro.org. Hard copies may be sent to the AIRRO address provided at the organizations website.

AIRRO to Host Sessions on Human and Civil Rights Violations in Indian Country

The number of California Indians whose civil and human rights have been violated would make them the second largest tribe in CALIFORNIA. The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians from Temecula, led by Mark Macarro and the Picayune Rancheria of Coarsegold, near Fresno, led by Morris Reid, are the two largest offenders. Here is an opportunity to BE HEARD.

EVENT ADVISORY

March 30, 2010

Contact Person: John Gomez, Jr.
9:58 pm (PST)

mail@airro.org

AIRRO to Host Sessions on Human and Civil Rights

Violations in Indian Country

Temecula, CA- The American Indian Rights and Resources Organization ("AIRRO"), a Native American civil rights group, will be hosting two sessions regarding human and civil rights violations in Indian Country. The sessions are scheduled for April 17, 2010 in Sacramento , California and April 24, 2010 in Temecula , California .


The focus of the sessions will be to provide individuals, groups and tribes with an opportunity to testify to violations of basic human and civil rights which they may have been subjected to or which have affected their lives and communities. Those who testify will also be asked to provide feedback regarding the United States ' handling of rights violations in Indian Country and offer recommendations on how the protection of basic rights can be improved.


"We expect that these sessions will provide insight to the growing number of human and civil rights violations committed by tribal officials, as well as the United States' failure to uphold and enforce treaties and laws enacted to protect individual Indians from such gross and egregious acts," stated AIRRO President John Gomez, Jr.


AIRRO will compile the testimony and recommendations given at each of the sessions and prepare a report which they will submit to the Department of State, the Department of Justice, the Interior Department and the UN Human Rights Council.


"It is our hope that the State Department will accept the testimony and recommendations we compile and include the information in the report it will prepare and submit to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the UPR process," said Gomez. "We believe that the information gathered from our sessions will be important to the UPR and will initiate dialogue, on a national and international level, to address rights violations in Indian Country."


If you cannot attend but wish to submit testimony or provide recommendations on how the protection of human and civil rights can be improved, please contact AIRRO at mail@airro.org


For more information about the UPR process, please visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRbodies/UPR/Pages/BasicFacts.aspx

For updated information regarding the AIRRO Sessions, please visit www.airro.org or email us at mail@airro.org

UPDATE: AIRRO is now on Facebook. Membership Meeting Scheduled in Sacramento

UPDATE: The location of the meeting has CHANGED!


ATTENTION:

Due to a scheduling conflict with the State capitol, the AIRRO meeting has been moved to a new venue. The meeting is still scheduled for Saturday, May 16th from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. A Special Thanks goes to Board Member Eric Enriquez, who found a new place in Sacramento.

The new meeting location is:

Sacramento Native American Health Center
2020 J Street - 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95811

Feel free to park in the parking lot spaces marked 'Indian Health' and enter through the Parking Lot side door. Here is a map: http://tinyurl.com/dygyfh


For those of you on Facebook, you can become a fan of AIRRO. Please check it out. Also, there is a membership meeting coming up in Sacramento, CA. Please try to join in and bring some friends.

American Indian Rights and Resources Organization

American Indian Rights and Resources Organization Meeting

The American Indian Rights and Resources Organization is working hard to ensure that YOUR voice is being heard and representated. For those in southern California, that haven't joined yet, here is your chance. AIRRO has spoken out on your behalf if your are San Pasqual, Robinson Rancheria, Dry Creek, Picayune, Pechanga, Redding...just to name a few. Help YOURSELVES by joining AIRRO.

Membership Meeting

Saturday, March 21, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

41801 Corte Valentine
Temecula, CA 92592

AGENDA

1. Opening Prayer

2. Welcome

3. Rights Issues in California and beyond

4. Civil Rights and the Obama Administration

5. Discussion on Amendments to Bylaws

6. Other Business

7. Closing Prayer/Adjournment

Please update membership information if needed.
Membership dues should be paid at this meeting if you have not already done so.
By previous vote of the AIRRO membership, yearly dues are $5 in cases of hardship.

Drinks and snacks will be provided by AIRRO.

My Civil Rights Were Violated by My Tribe! Won't Somebody Do Something?!

I've heard this a few times from many groups, Pechanga disenrolled, Freedmen, Picayune and Snoqualmie. They cry out in anguish, rightfully, about how they were mistreated, screwed, violated and hurt.

But the funny thing is, there are lots of questions like, WHY won't somebody DO something to help us?

Yet, many times, when requested to join in a local picket line, or to fax a letter or to make some calls, it's SILENCE. "uh, I can't make it." "I don't have anyone to watch the kids" "I don't have a fax" "I don't like to talk on the phone" "can't someone else do it?" "you have a blog, why don't you do it?" "I did work on some of the other stuff, I did my part, now it's someone elses turn." "I've given up, but call me if we get something ."

Pretty comical, that many want SOMEONE ELSE to do the lifting, but don't want to help anymore.

Think about this in just the case of Picayune Rancheria. There were 500 disenrolled people from that tribe. Is there a website for them? NO. Are they visiting THIS blog, where we have highlighted Chukchansi's issues? NO. Maybe 7 are COMMITTED (Hi Cathy!)to their struggle, but I'm sure all 500 would expect to get their rights back. Let's see, 500 letters or phone calls to congress or 7, which would have the most impact?

In our case, there are probably 30 active from two familes of about 300. 300 letters or 30? Which is greater? I can't decide... oh, maybe the 300. Imagine if their FRIENDS got involved!

800 letters or 37? It's estimated there are 10,000 Freedmen who are lacking their proper rights. 10,000 letters, or 100? ONLY ONE Creek Freedmen was at the Candlelight Vigil at Pechanga! ONE!

It's about IMPACT people and NOW, when we have a new administration in place, we need to increase the volume. That's what we have is numbers of PEOPLE. The tribes who don't care about your civil rights have MONEY, and we can't match that. It takes good, old fashioned W-O-R-K.

Visits to blogs regularly help drive up the ranks and make sure that those will be looking in know that people are watching. And this type of help can be done from the comfort of your own office. Not trudging uphill in the snow....

http://www.airro.org/
http://www.pechanga.info/
http://www.tribalcorruption.com/
http://www.teetilawuncha.blogspot.com/
http://www.stopwintufraud.com/
http://www.originalpechanga.blogspot.com/
http://www.thecreekfreedmen.com/

Time to get on the bandwagon....and build awareness. I await your comments.

The American Indian Rights and Resources Organization Works to Enforce the Government's Trust Responsibility

AIRRO is always looking to expand their membership. Please consider joining, to help defend the civil rights of the Individual Indian. Many tribes like the Cherokee, Pechanga, Picayune and Redding are stripping citizens of their basic civil and human rights. Help raise the volume by joining.

The American Indian Rights and Resources Organization was founded to educate and assist all individuals regarding basic human and civil rights issues throughout Indian Country.

AIRRO recognizes that there is a growing trend within Indian Country where many individual Indians and non-Indians alike are being denied or stripped of basic human and civil rights afforded to all United States citizens. As such, AIRRO’s goals are to educate the public about these injustices and effect change to provide all individuals with equal rights and protections .

AIRRO will serve as a resource for those seeking information or assistance regarding the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 and other laws which impact the human rights and civil liberties of Indians and non-Indian individuals.

AIRRO will work to assist individuals in order to protect, promote, and preserve the basic human rights and civil liberties of the individual as those rights are enumerated in applicable federal, state, tribal and international laws.

AIRRO will also work to enforce the U.S. Government's trust responsibility to the Indian individual and show that this trust responsibility is equally as important as the government-to-government relationship between Indian Tribes and the federal government.

AIRRO believes that victims whose human rights and/or civil liberties have been violated should be allowed to confront their oppressor in a fair, just, and unbiased forum.

AIRRO condemns any acts which violate the human rights and civil liberties of any person or persons, especially when the perpetrators claim immunity from prosecution based on their status as “tribal officials“.

You do not need to be an American Indian in order to be an AIRRO member. Membership in AIRRO is open to all who support the belief that basic human rights and civil liberties should be afforded to all people.

If you believe in equal rights and equal protection for all, we would love to have you as a member of AIRRO.

Please download and fill out the AIRRO Membership Application available here or contact AIRRO at mail@airro.org.