William Dotinga of Courthouse News Service has the story of the Picayune Rancheria Dispute now going after the Sheriff.
A rural Central California county with a lucrative Indian casino is beset by a skirmish between three tribal factions, one of which set up a "purported" court which took action against the sheriff, the sheriff claims in court.
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson sued the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, Chukchansi Economic Development Authority and Chukchansi Indian Housing Authority in Federal Court.
Also sued are "Lewis faction" leaders Jack Duran Jr., Donna Howard, Reggie Lewis, Chance Alberta, Carl Bushman, Irene Waltz, Lynn Chenot, David Castillo and Melvin Espe, all sued "in (their) purported official capacities."
Lead defendant Duran, for example, is sued "in his purported official capacity as judge of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians Tribal Court."
According to the sheriff's lawsuit, the history of bad blood in the Picayune Rancheria goes back to 1983 and the resolution of a class action challenge to the California Rancheria Act of 1958.
That act terminated dozens of Indian tribes and stripped members of their Native American status - including the Picayune Rancheria.
After a federal judge restored the rancheria's status, the Bureau of Indian Affairs worked with two families - the Ramirezes and the Wyatts - to create a tribal government. Ultimately, the Wyatt descendants gained control of tribal leadership and adopted a constitution in 1988.
But the power struggle continues.
Madera County and the Picayune Rancheria clashed in 2003, after the tribe finished building the Chukchansi casino and the county reassessed the land for property taxes. In 2007, a federal judge declared the rancheria sovereign Native American land, but gave the Madera County Sheriff's Department limited access to it for law enforcement purposes.
Showing posts with label Picayune Rancheria; Chukchansi;. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Picayune Rancheria; Chukchansi;. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
The Chukchansi Lament: What Has Tribal Gaming Wrought? Disenrollment, Elder Abuse and Human Rights Violations.
From the Facebook page of Chukchansi Prci. Disenrollments, Violence, Elder Abuse and Civil and Human Rights abuses from corrupt Tribal Councils. Certainly NOT the Indian Way.
Sometimes it is hard to understand what is going on with our Tribe. (Greed), Rightful members,
Kick them Out, Allotment’s, Distributes, Special Relations, Petitioners, They don’t know us, wrong color of skin, hair etc., DNA, Banned, sanctioned, sanctioned for 100 years, banned for life, on the wrong side of the hill, the fence and it goes on and on.
It was not this way, until the casino was standing!
Late 2002, we started taking applications for the casino. At that time there were close to 18 Tribal Members working for a company called (Cascade Entertainment), they were to see over “our tribe’s” big adventure, (ChukchansiGold) and Resort.
The times were good, and then one day, we got a check for close to $8,000.00 dollars. I remembered it well, I ran through the house screaming, I bought all of the things I thought I needed, and bought everyone that was close to nice stuff.
Then we had big parties for Christmas, Easter, even Thanksgiving. I had a nice job, I was married, had a car, even two now, and rented a condo in a gated community.
Then “we” started receiving monthly checks, they would just show up in our accounts like magic, they got bigger, and sometimes if we would meet with the tribe, they would give us more monies.
We got money for just being a direct descendent of a great, great, great grandfather, or grandmother. Our constitution said “even if we were “lineal descendant”, meaning, and forever great’s.
Today, we stand so far from one another though. I do not care if it were greed, power, and fear. Just the fact is we do not stand for much other than a tribe of fools. Do not perceive this wrong; we all want what is best for the tribe as a whole…right? In our case there are too many Chiefs and we are killing our own Indians, so we don’t even have enough Indians. Do you feel Indians today, is it when you look in the mirror and see, dark hair, dark eyes, a tattoo saying you are, bead work, a tribal card, one card from the Bureau Of Indian Affair’s, you know the ones that gave us land that they took away.
Told us where to stand and for how long.
There… now follow me; This war is not about who looks Indian, speaks Indian. No this war started the day “they stepped on our shores, and if you listen with your ears to the ground, they are here to get gold, and that they do. They have taught us many things, and most of it is of the bad world.
They taught us to love money, they taught us to colonize, become civilized, don’t use a knife to kill, use this Atomic bomb. They taught us to hate one another; they poisoned our food, our minds our animals our birds of the sky, our hearts and souls. It is just not the white man, first we fought off many, different lands other than where the white man comes from.
Our ignorance of listing to the wind, calling upon the Creator, has dissipated like dew from the tall lilies in the fields. We are no longer, we do not know who we are anymore, some say, his tongue is sick, yes this person who speaks these things does not know my heart. Then I ask you to stop and ask yourself, how does your soul feel right now? Did you really think? If you heard, I do not feel well, you are on the red road to recovering our souls back, and then the trek starts.
See you in a while, I will fix this
Cordially Yours, Bridge Walker
READ MORE ON CHUKCHANSI ABUSES:
Picayune Rancheria
Sometimes it is hard to understand what is going on with our Tribe. (Greed), Rightful members,
Kick them Out, Allotment’s, Distributes, Special Relations, Petitioners, They don’t know us, wrong color of skin, hair etc., DNA, Banned, sanctioned, sanctioned for 100 years, banned for life, on the wrong side of the hill, the fence and it goes on and on.
It was not this way, until the casino was standing!
Late 2002, we started taking applications for the casino. At that time there were close to 18 Tribal Members working for a company called (Cascade Entertainment), they were to see over “our tribe’s” big adventure, (ChukchansiGold) and Resort.
The times were good, and then one day, we got a check for close to $8,000.00 dollars. I remembered it well, I ran through the house screaming, I bought all of the things I thought I needed, and bought everyone that was close to nice stuff.
Then we had big parties for Christmas, Easter, even Thanksgiving. I had a nice job, I was married, had a car, even two now, and rented a condo in a gated community.
Then “we” started receiving monthly checks, they would just show up in our accounts like magic, they got bigger, and sometimes if we would meet with the tribe, they would give us more monies.
We got money for just being a direct descendent of a great, great, great grandfather, or grandmother. Our constitution said “even if we were “lineal descendant”, meaning, and forever great’s.
Today, we stand so far from one another though. I do not care if it were greed, power, and fear. Just the fact is we do not stand for much other than a tribe of fools. Do not perceive this wrong; we all want what is best for the tribe as a whole…right? In our case there are too many Chiefs and we are killing our own Indians, so we don’t even have enough Indians. Do you feel Indians today, is it when you look in the mirror and see, dark hair, dark eyes, a tattoo saying you are, bead work, a tribal card, one card from the Bureau Of Indian Affair’s, you know the ones that gave us land that they took away.
Told us where to stand and for how long.
There… now follow me; This war is not about who looks Indian, speaks Indian. No this war started the day “they stepped on our shores, and if you listen with your ears to the ground, they are here to get gold, and that they do. They have taught us many things, and most of it is of the bad world.
They taught us to love money, they taught us to colonize, become civilized, don’t use a knife to kill, use this Atomic bomb. They taught us to hate one another; they poisoned our food, our minds our animals our birds of the sky, our hearts and souls. It is just not the white man, first we fought off many, different lands other than where the white man comes from.
Our ignorance of listing to the wind, calling upon the Creator, has dissipated like dew from the tall lilies in the fields. We are no longer, we do not know who we are anymore, some say, his tongue is sick, yes this person who speaks these things does not know my heart. Then I ask you to stop and ask yourself, how does your soul feel right now? Did you really think? If you heard, I do not feel well, you are on the red road to recovering our souls back, and then the trek starts.
See you in a while, I will fix this
Cordially Yours, Bridge Walker
READ MORE ON CHUKCHANSI ABUSES:
Picayune Rancheria
Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians
Friday, March 30, 2012
Chukchansi Tribal Council Seats Still Vacant; Congressman Jeff Denham Afraid To Stand Up
UPDATE: Congressman Jeff Denham has taken over $70,000 from Indian Casino interests this past election cycle: See Jeff Denham’s contributors HERE
As of Tuesday, the fate of three Chukchansi tribal council seats remained in question after a meeting to swear in council members was canceled Monday night.
Reggie Lewis, chairman of the group that has remained in charge of the tribe's operations at the rancheria, issued a statement Monday that, "based on credible information forwarded to public safety officials and the history of past actions of a small number of agitators, the council determined out of abundance of caution that safety should rule the day. Later this week, the meeting will be rescheduled for a new date and time."
Madera County Sheriff's Office Spokesperson Erica Stuart said the department was only told that the meeting would not take place.
The group headed by Morris Reid -- four top-vote getters in the Dec. 3 tribal council election who have not been recognized by Lewis' group as new council members -- were holding their regular meeting with tribal members in Oakhurst at the same time Monday night and said they had no plans to protest the meeting.
Tribal member Nicolette Griffith said she and some Chukchansi members had planned to peacefully protest the swearing-in from Picayune Road (417) by holding signs because they heard Reid, Dora Jones and Dixie Jackson were not going to be sworn in.
Reid's group said they don't expect to be sworn in by Lewis' group.
Their seats may be filled through another election or by appointments.
March 26 was the new date for swearing-in the tribal council, rescheduled from Dec. 26 by Lewis' group until a new election could be held for Harold Hammond's seat. Hammond, the top vote-getter of the Dec. 3 election, was found to be ineligible to serve on council due to allegedly wearing his expired council badge to get into sensitive casino areas.
Members of Reid's group recently received new letters signed by Lewis and Jennifer Stanley stating they were found to be guilty of violating the tribe's non-violence ordinance Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.
Amidst the heated Dec. 26 tribal council meeting, with protests raised by tribal members that the new council should be seated as scheduled, the four newly-elected were sworn in. The Lewis group did not recognize this action.
Madera County Sheriff's Office officials were present at that meeting at request to ensure the peace was kept. Sheriff John Anderson wrote a statement after the meeting that no record of assaultive, aggressive or violent behavior had been reported to the department about the three leaders who now await word about whether or not they will be seated with Lewis' group.
"We are going to keep up our fight," Jones said. "We are still holding meetings and meeting with the BIA and that type of thing. I met with Congressman Jeff Denham a couple weeks back and he is basically not interested in getting involved.
As of Tuesday, the fate of three Chukchansi tribal council seats remained in question after a meeting to swear in council members was canceled Monday night.
Reggie Lewis, chairman of the group that has remained in charge of the tribe's operations at the rancheria, issued a statement Monday that, "based on credible information forwarded to public safety officials and the history of past actions of a small number of agitators, the council determined out of abundance of caution that safety should rule the day. Later this week, the meeting will be rescheduled for a new date and time."
Madera County Sheriff's Office Spokesperson Erica Stuart said the department was only told that the meeting would not take place.
The group headed by Morris Reid -- four top-vote getters in the Dec. 3 tribal council election who have not been recognized by Lewis' group as new council members -- were holding their regular meeting with tribal members in Oakhurst at the same time Monday night and said they had no plans to protest the meeting.
Tribal member Nicolette Griffith said she and some Chukchansi members had planned to peacefully protest the swearing-in from Picayune Road (417) by holding signs because they heard Reid, Dora Jones and Dixie Jackson were not going to be sworn in.
Reid's group said they don't expect to be sworn in by Lewis' group.
Their seats may be filled through another election or by appointments.
March 26 was the new date for swearing-in the tribal council, rescheduled from Dec. 26 by Lewis' group until a new election could be held for Harold Hammond's seat. Hammond, the top vote-getter of the Dec. 3 election, was found to be ineligible to serve on council due to allegedly wearing his expired council badge to get into sensitive casino areas.
Members of Reid's group recently received new letters signed by Lewis and Jennifer Stanley stating they were found to be guilty of violating the tribe's non-violence ordinance Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.
Amidst the heated Dec. 26 tribal council meeting, with protests raised by tribal members that the new council should be seated as scheduled, the four newly-elected were sworn in. The Lewis group did not recognize this action.
Madera County Sheriff's Office officials were present at that meeting at request to ensure the peace was kept. Sheriff John Anderson wrote a statement after the meeting that no record of assaultive, aggressive or violent behavior had been reported to the department about the three leaders who now await word about whether or not they will be seated with Lewis' group.
"We are going to keep up our fight," Jones said. "We are still holding meetings and meeting with the BIA and that type of thing. I met with Congressman Jeff Denham a couple weeks back and he is basically not interested in getting involved.
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