What's good for the goose, isn't good for the gander at Pechanga. The Pechanga Constitution and Bylaws were not applied evenly in two family's who were disenrolled nor were they followed by Mark Macarro and his cohorts. Follow the logic here:
The baptism of Candelaria, daughter of Juana Apis, in some San Diego records.
On 26 August 1853, a priest named Holbein (sp.?) baptized a number of people at San Luis Rey, including many from Temecula. The fifth person was:
Ma Candelaria, nacida in Temecula, de edad de 10 meses, hija de MaJuana Apis, y fueron madrina Ma I. la Concepcion, india. [The plural fueron was used by this priest, probably out of habit because usually the child had a godmother and godfather. For child number 4, Pablo Apis (would have been Pablito) was the only godparent, but the priest also used the plural fueron in that record.]
Maria Candelaria, born in Temecula, at the age of 10 months, daughter of Maria Juana Apis and the godmother was Maria I. la Concepcion, Indian.
What is interesting is that there is no mention of Anselmo Nesicat or any father. Juana is listed under Anselmo Borrego (assumed to be same as Anselmo Nesicat by many) in the 1852 census on October 13, 1852. Candelaria would have been born about the same time as this census was taken or shortly afterwards.
Finding a baptismal record without mention of a father and in the absence of much other solid evidence makes it difficult to support a claim that a specific person was one’s ancestor. OP: In the Paulina Hunter case, there was both a FATHER and MOTHER, see HERE
In other words, with no mention of a father, how can Candelaria Flores' ancestors lay claim to lineal descent solely through Juana Apis, the daughter of Pablo Apis. The Enrollment Committee, including Frances Miranda, concluded that lineal descent from Pablo Apis did not meet the enrollment requirements. OP: Then WHY is Frances Miranda and her relatives STILL IN THE TRIBE? What makes a PECHANGA INDIAN?
Showing posts with label Frances Miranda; ; Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians; lawsuit; disenrollment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frances Miranda; ; Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians; lawsuit; disenrollment. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
WHY It's Right For Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro To Not Represent Tribes with President Obama
Hunter cousin A'amokat had this in the comment section and we thought it deserved to be promoted to a full post.
Thank you to the Obama administration for not allowing people like Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro to represent Indian country today in Washington DC.
Why, do you say, is this important to us?
Chairman Macarro presided over denying us due process of law when we were disenrolled from the Pechanga tribe in 2006 (OP: We were the second large family to be disenrolled) so he doesn't deserve to represent Indian country to the administration in any way, shape, or form.
Imagine for a moment that your citizenship in your nation was being questioned and you are summoned in front of a government committee, in this case the enrollment committee of your tribe, who had among the panel sitting in judgment of your fate individuals who had filed the initial challenge of your citizenship in the first place.
This first challenge was disallowed for obvious reasons but after this close family members and the friends of those same committee members submitted statements against your citizenship. (OP: Think of it as the relatives of Justice Clarence Thomas, Scalia, Breyer, Ginsburg providing statements demanding the Supreme Court act. Do the words recusal and improper come to mind?)
This time the challenge is allowed and even though you request to Chairman Macarro that those committee members with a clear conflict of interest be made to be recused from ruling on your case, they are allowed to sit in judgement of you and your family's fate. (OP: For good measure, a tribal council members's MOTHER and AUNT are on the committee)
At the initial hearing in front of the government committee questioning your citizenship in your nation you are not allowed to have an attorney present to represent you and you are not allowed to have any copies of the transcripts of the proceedings so even though the committee left out key steps of the procedures in place, you cannot document this without official transcripts so it is your word against the committee's word. (NO representation, no discover, no right to confront accusers, no writing implements, and NO responses from the committee)
Not surprisingly the committee rules against you keeping your citizenship in your nation by a slim one vote margin. (OP: and that one vote was "bought" by enrolling that voter's family, even though a moratorium has kept other family's members OUT of the tribe for a decade.)
The committee consisted of six members who sat in judgement of your keeping your citizenship or not and the committee members with the clear conflict of interest were three of the committee members, all of the votes against your family, with the chair not voting as the chair only would have voted in the event of a tie.
You appeal your case to the executive branch of your government, in this case the tribal council, where one of the councilman is the son of a committee member, the nephew of another committee member, and a close relative of people who submitted statements against your citizenship so he should have been made to be recused from ruling on your appeal but he is also allowed anyway to sit in judgement of your family's fate.
Once again not surprisingly you lose the appeal of the decision to take away your citizenship by one vote.
At this appeal hearing in front of the tribal council you again were not allowed to have an attorney present with you but not only that, you were not allowed to ask any questions or to even to take any notes as note taking instruments of any kind are not allowed in the hearing room per a letter you received from the tribal council prior to the appeal hearing.
The equal protection clause of the Temecula Band of Luiseno Mission Indians' constitution and bylaws under Article V, sometimes referred to as the Pechanga Band of Missions Indians, says the following:
"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 government officials, as you are looking into this blog, our tribe's own constitution was violated when we were disenrolled for, among others, the above reasons.
But if a tribe doesn't follow their own rules, who can make them do so? So we need enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA).
Thank you to the Obama administration for not allowing people like Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro to represent Indian country today in Washington DC.
Why, do you say, is this important to us?
Chairman Macarro presided over denying us due process of law when we were disenrolled from the Pechanga tribe in 2006 (OP: We were the second large family to be disenrolled) so he doesn't deserve to represent Indian country to the administration in any way, shape, or form.
Imagine for a moment that your citizenship in your nation was being questioned and you are summoned in front of a government committee, in this case the enrollment committee of your tribe, who had among the panel sitting in judgment of your fate individuals who had filed the initial challenge of your citizenship in the first place.
This first challenge was disallowed for obvious reasons but after this close family members and the friends of those same committee members submitted statements against your citizenship. (OP: Think of it as the relatives of Justice Clarence Thomas, Scalia, Breyer, Ginsburg providing statements demanding the Supreme Court act. Do the words recusal and improper come to mind?)
This time the challenge is allowed and even though you request to Chairman Macarro that those committee members with a clear conflict of interest be made to be recused from ruling on your case, they are allowed to sit in judgement of you and your family's fate. (OP: For good measure, a tribal council members's MOTHER and AUNT are on the committee)
At the initial hearing in front of the government committee questioning your citizenship in your nation you are not allowed to have an attorney present to represent you and you are not allowed to have any copies of the transcripts of the proceedings so even though the committee left out key steps of the procedures in place, you cannot document this without official transcripts so it is your word against the committee's word. (NO representation, no discover, no right to confront accusers, no writing implements, and NO responses from the committee)
Not surprisingly the committee rules against you keeping your citizenship in your nation by a slim one vote margin. (OP: and that one vote was "bought" by enrolling that voter's family, even though a moratorium has kept other family's members OUT of the tribe for a decade.)
The committee consisted of six members who sat in judgement of your keeping your citizenship or not and the committee members with the clear conflict of interest were three of the committee members, all of the votes against your family, with the chair not voting as the chair only would have voted in the event of a tie.
You appeal your case to the executive branch of your government, in this case the tribal council, where one of the councilman is the son of a committee member, the nephew of another committee member, and a close relative of people who submitted statements against your citizenship so he should have been made to be recused from ruling on your appeal but he is also allowed anyway to sit in judgement of your family's fate.
Once again not surprisingly you lose the appeal of the decision to take away your citizenship by one vote.
At this appeal hearing in front of the tribal council you again were not allowed to have an attorney present with you but not only that, you were not allowed to ask any questions or to even to take any notes as note taking instruments of any kind are not allowed in the hearing room per a letter you received from the tribal council prior to the appeal hearing.
The equal protection clause of the Temecula Band of Luiseno Mission Indians' constitution and bylaws under Article V, sometimes referred to as the Pechanga Band of Missions Indians, says the following:
"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 government officials, as you are looking into this blog, our tribe's own constitution was violated when we were disenrolled for, among others, the above reasons.
But if a tribe doesn't follow their own rules, who can make them do so? So we need enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA).
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving to All Original Pechanga's Blog Readers
We at Original Pechanga's Blog would like to wish all of our readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.
We are thankful that we have our family growing and healthy for the most part. We are thankful that more friends are coming here to find out about our struggles to gain back what is ours. Have a great day with family everyone.
We hope that Frances Miranda, Ihrene Scearce and Ruth Masiel are thankful that they have destroyed the happiness of hundreds of Pechanga/Temecula Indians. Will they tell the stories to their young ones, that they have harmed more Indians than the white man this century? Frances, are you happy for what you have done to your OWN Family? Your cousins that YOU have helped send back into poverty? Ruth, you are the eldest, do you have any recollection as to what you have wrought on the descendents of the tribal ancestor that your own expert said had more evidence of being Pechanga that ANY OTHER PEOPLE of the tribe? Ihrene, do you realize what you have done? Do you think this is the legacy that you will be known for?
We'll detail more of what Frances Miranda, Ihrene Scearce and Ruth Masiel have done in upcoming posts.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Felipe Cuevas: Decorated Military Veteran Ousted Posthumously from Pechanga
We at Original Pechanga's Blog would like to thank all our veterans for their sacrifices. Thought they are offering free meals to veterans today, what they really want is for them to spend their retirement pay on their slot machines. Vets would do better by taking a baggie of shrimp home from the buffet.
Here is an appreciation of a father, by his son, ME that we wrote for last year's Veteran's Day.
On this Veteran’s Day, I want to remember my father, Felipe Cuevas, born July 13, 1928. He was the son of Phillip and Olive Cuevas. Olive was the daughter of Mary Ann Miller, who, in turn, was the daughter of Paulina Hunter of Pechanga. Paulina was the matriarch of the Hunter Clan who was given her 20 acres of land on the Pechanga Reservation as the head of the Family.
My father grew up in Los Angeles, a graduate of Roosevelt High School and the oldest of five children, all of whom served in our military. He entered the U.S. Army in 1948 and served in many capacities, primarily as a drill instructor. He was stationed in Germany, where his wife Alice bore a son, as well as Korea, Ft. Ord, CA, Ft. Lewis, WA where I was born, and Ft. Benning, GA. At all of these posts he trained young men to serve our country. He served two tours in Vietnam, once an advisor with a South Vietnamese Army Battalion, both tours were near the end of his career.
He always taught us about our family roots at Pechanga, having helped to build the cabin on Hunter Lane in 1957 with his cousins and uncles. My first time on the reservation was when he served his first tour in Vietnam in 1966. My Aunt Tillie and Uncle Bars took my brother and me to spend time at the cabin. That was when you could still hunt on the rez, for rabbit and dove. He was proud to be Pechanga and he was happy that family members were able to bring us to the reservation while he was in Southeast Asia.
As it is Veteran’s Day, I’m proud to write about one of his achievements. This Pechanga warrior was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device (valor). Since my scanner is down, I’ll re-type the citation here, but will have a copy linked as soon as I can, so there can be no "Rathergate" claims. Here's what the citation says:
Date action: 3 July 1967
Theater: Republic of Vietnam
Reason:
For heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force: Sergeant First Class Cuevas distinguished himself by heroic action on 3 July 1967 while serving as Light Weapons Infantry Advisor to the 1st Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment, Army of the Republic of Vietnam. On that date, the Viet Cong opened fire on the battalion headquarters compound with machinegun, small arms and 82mm mortar fire. Eight Vietnamese soldiers and dependents were seriously wounded during the initial phase of the attack and an aerial evacuation was requested. Sergeant Cuevas voluntarily proceeded to the helicopter landing area. Sergeant Cuevas remained in the exposed area assisting in sorting the wounded and determining priority for evacuation. Only when all wounded personnel were safely aboard an aircraft and airborne did Sergeant Cuevas return to a safe position. As result of Sergeant Cuevas’s prompt and courageous efforts, the rapid and efficient evacuation of all wounded was accomplished. Sergeant First Class Cuevas’ heroic actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.
NEIL N. SNYDER, JR.
Colonel, USA
Adjutant General
My father was also awarded the Bronze Star. You don’t “win” these by the way. But he was proud of his service, proud that he was able to make young men ready to defend themselves and our country. He served 23 years in the Army.
Sadly, he was never able to enjoy the largesse that came with the successful opening of the Pechanga Resort and Casino, which brought much needed funds to the reservation and our people. Conversely, he also was never able to feel the sting of seeing his birthright ripped from his family, which now includes five grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren by a "disenrollment" committee that included: Ruth Masiel, Ihrene Scearce, Frances Miranda and Bobbi LeMere. Pechanga proudly displays his name as a Pechanga Veteran on their website, along with his brother and sisters, yet now, they also say, HE IS NOT PECHANGA. On July 13, 2006, on what would have been his 78th birthday, the Pechanga Tribal Council heard our family’s appeal of our unconstitutional disenrollment and later did not allow our appeal. Much of that story is written here on this blog.
My father always encouraged my brother and me to do our best, to do what is right and THAT is why we continue to fight for our rights and against the evil that has been done to our family.
Dad, thank you for all that you gave to your family and to your country. I am proud to be your son. It is shameful that Pechanga doesn't reward your memory by following the rule of law and the will of the people. Even more scurrilous, the Pechanga Tribal Council has seen fit to remove it's page honoring tribal veterans.
Here is an appreciation of a father, by his son, ME that we wrote for last year's Veteran's Day.
On this Veteran’s Day, I want to remember my father, Felipe Cuevas, born July 13, 1928. He was the son of Phillip and Olive Cuevas. Olive was the daughter of Mary Ann Miller, who, in turn, was the daughter of Paulina Hunter of Pechanga. Paulina was the matriarch of the Hunter Clan who was given her 20 acres of land on the Pechanga Reservation as the head of the Family.
My father grew up in Los Angeles, a graduate of Roosevelt High School and the oldest of five children, all of whom served in our military. He entered the U.S. Army in 1948 and served in many capacities, primarily as a drill instructor. He was stationed in Germany, where his wife Alice bore a son, as well as Korea, Ft. Ord, CA, Ft. Lewis, WA where I was born, and Ft. Benning, GA. At all of these posts he trained young men to serve our country. He served two tours in Vietnam, once an advisor with a South Vietnamese Army Battalion, both tours were near the end of his career.
He always taught us about our family roots at Pechanga, having helped to build the cabin on Hunter Lane in 1957 with his cousins and uncles. My first time on the reservation was when he served his first tour in Vietnam in 1966. My Aunt Tillie and Uncle Bars took my brother and me to spend time at the cabin. That was when you could still hunt on the rez, for rabbit and dove. He was proud to be Pechanga and he was happy that family members were able to bring us to the reservation while he was in Southeast Asia.
As it is Veteran’s Day, I’m proud to write about one of his achievements. This Pechanga warrior was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device (valor). Since my scanner is down, I’ll re-type the citation here, but will have a copy linked as soon as I can, so there can be no "Rathergate" claims. Here's what the citation says:
Date action: 3 July 1967
Theater: Republic of Vietnam
Reason:
For heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force: Sergeant First Class Cuevas distinguished himself by heroic action on 3 July 1967 while serving as Light Weapons Infantry Advisor to the 1st Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment, Army of the Republic of Vietnam. On that date, the Viet Cong opened fire on the battalion headquarters compound with machinegun, small arms and 82mm mortar fire. Eight Vietnamese soldiers and dependents were seriously wounded during the initial phase of the attack and an aerial evacuation was requested. Sergeant Cuevas voluntarily proceeded to the helicopter landing area. Sergeant Cuevas remained in the exposed area assisting in sorting the wounded and determining priority for evacuation. Only when all wounded personnel were safely aboard an aircraft and airborne did Sergeant Cuevas return to a safe position. As result of Sergeant Cuevas’s prompt and courageous efforts, the rapid and efficient evacuation of all wounded was accomplished. Sergeant First Class Cuevas’ heroic actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.
NEIL N. SNYDER, JR.
Colonel, USA
Adjutant General
My father was also awarded the Bronze Star. You don’t “win” these by the way. But he was proud of his service, proud that he was able to make young men ready to defend themselves and our country. He served 23 years in the Army.
Sadly, he was never able to enjoy the largesse that came with the successful opening of the Pechanga Resort and Casino, which brought much needed funds to the reservation and our people. Conversely, he also was never able to feel the sting of seeing his birthright ripped from his family, which now includes five grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren by a "disenrollment" committee that included: Ruth Masiel, Ihrene Scearce, Frances Miranda and Bobbi LeMere. Pechanga proudly displays his name as a Pechanga Veteran on their website, along with his brother and sisters, yet now, they also say, HE IS NOT PECHANGA. On July 13, 2006, on what would have been his 78th birthday, the Pechanga Tribal Council heard our family’s appeal of our unconstitutional disenrollment and later did not allow our appeal. Much of that story is written here on this blog.
My father always encouraged my brother and me to do our best, to do what is right and THAT is why we continue to fight for our rights and against the evil that has been done to our family.
Dad, thank you for all that you gave to your family and to your country. I am proud to be your son. It is shameful that Pechanga doesn't reward your memory by following the rule of law and the will of the people. Even more scurrilous, the Pechanga Tribal Council has seen fit to remove it's page honoring tribal veterans.
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