Lawsuit Against Disreputable Chukchani Tribe, DISMISSED in Federal Court, REFILED in State Court

THE TRIBE NEED THEIR HELP, PROMISED TO PAY and then DON'T? WHO could have foreseen this?

A $21 million lawsuit from a group that claims it was instrumental in getting Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino reopened in 2015 has been dismissed from federal court, but was refiled at the state level shortly after that ruling.

The lawsuit, filed by Osceola Blackwood Ivory Gaming Group (OBIG) of Florida in March, contends tribal officials in the summer of 2015 agreed to pay the company 30 percent of net revenues for seven years, allowable under National Indian Gaming Commission rules. The numbers were later negotiated to 25 percent over five years.

BIA: Chukchansi tribal council reset to 2010 election winners

Marc Benjamin of the Fresno Bee has the details of the BIA actually DOING SOMETHING in the Chukchansi matter.  

The federal government has turned the clock back on Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians' tribal council elections.

In a letter sent Tuesday to tribal, local, state and federal officials, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reset the tribal council to the 2010 election, the last year there was not a politically charged council election.

"The situation at the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians has deteriorated to a point that recognition of a government is essential for the purpose of contracting... and to prevent any further hiatus of this government-to-government relationship with the (tribe)."

The letter added: "The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pacific Region, will conduct business, on an interim basis, with the last uncontested Tribal Council elected December 2010."

The council elected in that election included Chance Alberta, Nancy Ayala, Nokomis Hernandez, Dora Jones, Reggie Lewis, Morris Reid and Jennifer Stanley.

Members of that group later split off into three separate factions that led to politically charged elections and a near-riot at the business complex two years ago after Reid, Jones and their faction holed up in the business complex.

Reid, Jones and a third member were suspended from the tribal council.

That was followed last February by a referendum from the Ayala group, which led to members of Lewis' group being removed from the council.

HOW WILL CHUKCHANSI handle itself NOW??

Read the REST OF THE STORY

OP/Ed: Bring ALL the Chukchansi People Home

Cathy Cory has been fighting to have her rights restored in the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians. The most recent plague of tribal disenrollment at that reservation has led to some interesting developments over who as "for disenrollment, before he was against it" The Sierra Star News has been generous in their reporting, and granting space for opinion on disenrollment. Here's part of that editorial:

I do find interesting the statements of newly elected tribal council member Harrold Hammond who I am related to as our great-great grandmothers were sisters down the Hawa lineage of the tribe. He has referred to recent disenrollments as "treason against your own people." This is a great contrast to his words in 2008 when he was on the council as quoted by journalist Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle.

"We didn't disenroll anybody. We just corrected our paperwork," he said referring to the 600 people who are no longer members.

Quite a leap in philosophy, wouldn't you say?

I respect Harrold Hammond as an elder and a spiritual leader of our Chukchansi people. I love him as my blood, as my relation and as a survivor of what has been propagated against our people since the arrival of the Europeans on Turtle Island so long ago.

However, he as well as current tribal council members Morris Reid and Dora Jones, and additional in-coming tribal council member Dixie Jackson, must take responsibility for what has happened and is continuing to happen within our tribe in regard to disenrollment.

All were seated at council in 2006 when more than 500 of our people were dismembered.All have their signatures affixed to documents disenrolling these individuals.

If the 2006 council, including the individuals now crying "foul" had stood for all of the Chukchansi people at that time, what is occurring today would never have come to be. They are responsible ... just as responsible as Reggie Lewis, Jennifer Stanley, Chance Alberta and Nancy Ayala are today. It began with the councils of 2005-2006, of which they were a part.

I also see parallels in what is occurring in regards to documents possibly being taken from the Picayune tribal offices by Reggie Lewis, Chase Alberta and Jennifer Stanley. Indeed, documents were taken by the Wyatt Ramirez families in the early 1990s and this did result in missing documentation which the 2006 council utilized to remove the 500 members of the tribe without regard to the fact it was impossible to recreate the files.

As Harrold said back then to the Chronicle, they "corrected their paperwork"... knowing full well that many stolen and missing records of legitimate tribal people could never be restored.

Read the full opinion at: Sierra Star News

Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians to Strip More of their Tribal Citizenship?

Received this from a terminated member. There will be a bigger story out on Thursday by Carmen George of Sierra Star News.


The Tribal Council of Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians--which disenrolled 50 tribal members six weeks ago, has disenrolled almost 800 tribal members total since 1999, and is alleged to have plans to disenroll another 200-400 tribal members in the next 90 days, has called a special meeting for 9:00 a.m. TOMORROW, November 16, 2011.   (OP:  Are mid week meetings the norm?)

The meeting is for the general council members and will be held at the Butler Building at Picayune. The agenda is unknown, but it is certain that any tribal member not living near Picayune will likely not be aware of this meeting, and for what reason? I urge all Indian People with relations or other connections to Picayune to call or e-mail these people IMMEDIATELY!!! I also urge all those remaining enrolled at Picayune to attend this meeting, as very important aspects of the future of Picayune will undoubtedly be discussed and decisions made!!!

Indian vs. Indian: The Despicable Picayune Rancheria OPPOSES New Casino for their Neighboring Tribe. Says EchoHawk Lies.

Lest our readers falsely believe that all Native American Tribes want their brother and sister tribes to succeed, we have this news:

The owners of Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino plan to fight a recent federal approval of a proposed Indian casino off of Highway 99 north of Madera.

Picayune is a tribe that decimated their membership, in a genocide-like move eliminating 50% of their tribe.  In a statement, Reggie Lewis, tribal chairman of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, said the decision by the Interior Department last week opens the doors to "unrestricted off-reservation gaming across the United States."  TRANSLATION:  Wah!  That would mean the casino is closer to Fresno, and would take customers away from us!!

The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians has been working since 2005 to build the casino on 305 acres located about 40 miles from its foothill home near North Fork. It would include a 200-room hotel and up to 2,500 slot machines.

The North Fork Rancheria maintains the land between Avenues 17 and 18 is part of the tribe's "historical area." Assistant Interior Secretary Larry Echo Hawk announced the decision Friday.

“For years, this project has been vehemently opposed by local, state and federal officials and Mr. Echo Hawk has received dozens of letters from elected officials to that effect," Lewis said in his statement. "For Mr. Echo Hawk to now claim that North Fork has ‘historical connections’ to the proposed gaming site is just not true — and he knows that.”

The state must now sign off on the casino plans.

“We strongly urge Governor Brown to reject this ill-conceived project,” Lewis said, adding that the Picayune Rancheria will continue fighting the project "through all means available to our tribe

Original Pechanga's Blog strongly urges the people of California to AVOID the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino.

Ignorance and Apathy From Picayune Rancheria? OR I don't know and I don't Care

The Picayune Rancheria in Coarsegold could only attract 38 Tribal Members to their quarterly general council meeting, sources said.   That doesn't appear to be enough for a quorum needed to conduct tribal business.

The Picayune Rancheria runs the Chuckchansi Casino and is well know for terminating 500 Indians from their membership rolls.

It's easy to control the tribe when nobody shows up.  And THIS is an example of the tribes that politicians are kowtowing to?  Remember when CA politicians couldn't pass a budget but could PARTY AT CHUKCHANSI?

Chukchansi Casino: Jeff Livingston Indictments Increased In Casino Thefts

We've told you about this case that was deadlocked in April.   The Picayune Rancheria, the most egregious of California Tribes that had terminated 50% of their tribe, cheating their people out of per capita and other benefits, don't like it when THEY get cheated.

Fresno BEE

A federal jury in April deadlocked on charges that a former Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino general manager used a corporate credit card to steal from the casino.

Now, the federal government has upped the stakes against Jeff Livingston.

A federal grand jury has handed up a new indictment against the 50-year-old Fresno resident that is much more detailed and includes nine counts. Six of the counts are on mail fraud. The remaining three are on theft by officers or employees of gaming establishments on Indian lands.

Livingston went to trial in April on a two-count indictment. Both counts -- which are also in the new indictment -- were on theft by officers or employees of gaming establishments on Indian lands.

In those counts, authorities alleged that in June and July 2007, Livingston used a Chukchansi corporate credit card for down payments on personal vehicles and also to pay for a Hawaiian vacation package in May 2007.

State investigators at the time said Livingston made a $20,000 down payment on a new Ford Mustang Shelby; a $5,000 down payment on a new Ford Fusion for the casino's former vice president of marketing; and a $7,000 PGA National Golf Championship package in Maui, Hawaii.

He then allegedly tried to conceal the down payments by making it appear as if they were part of a 10-car purchase he made for a casino giveaway.

After a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill, a jury deadlocked 11-1. O'Neill declared a mistrial and, during a later hearing, set a new trial for Sept. 27.

Instead, the grand jury handed up the new indictment.