Carolyn Lubenau is a Snoqalmie Indian who was disenrolled from the Snoqualmie Tribe. We've document that history on Original Pechanga's Blog quite often. She and her family continue to fight for their rights and the rights of Native Americans who have been victims of their own tribes. Here's the story of her visit to Washington DC last week:
We had an amazing trip to Washington D.C. Because of a friend on Facebook who posted the information about the Community Leaders Briefing Series at the Whitehouse, and urged people to sign up so my cousin Marilee and I did. I really didn't expect anything from it, and to our total amazement we were invited to attend.
The Community Leaders Briefing Series is a project created from the newly appointed White House Office of Public Engagement. They are going to be hosting a series of briefings all through this summer every Friday. We had a "Listening Session" with Jon Carson who is the Deputy Assistant to the President & the Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement - I of course spoke about Indian Civil Rights and many of the people present were surprised and amazed that Native Americans only enjoy civil rights bestowed upon them by their tribal governments and that the Federal Government does not recognize, defend, or enforce our civil rights within our tribes, and that some of those tribal governments like mine (the Snoqualmie Tribe) are guilty of violating our civil rights without any penalty and have been found guilty in Federal Court but the courts do not have the authority to prosecute tribal governments for civil rights violations because the Indian Civil Rights Act does not have any enforcement mechanism.....it is just a suggestion to the tribes and they don't have to legally comply or even pay attention to it because no one will defend us....and certainly not the Department of the Interior or the BIA who just ignore it completely. OP: The Native American Rights Fund also refuse to help individual Indians in their struggle for their rights.
I had a dollar bill in my hand and I said the Federal Government spends billions of dollars defending and enforcing your civil rights (the audience) and yet they have not spent a single dollar to defend Native American Civil Rights........it really got their attention! I got business cards from people who came up to me to tell me to let them know how they could help. It was amazing and much more than I ever expected......truly worth going. We have to keep educating people and I met some really nice people who want to help. As a total surprise, President Obama arrived to speak to our group.....Marilee and I were 3 rows from the front and center and he was looking right at us - she even got video!
Every chance we get we have to educate, educate, educate......people just do not know that we do not enjoy the security and freedom of "enforceable" civil rights that everyone takes for granted - when my cousin gets banished for saying a prayer and we get banished for "treason" without any evidence or a trial or someone to defend us there is something very wrong......we will see a change and someday the last 1.5% of this Nations citizens will have enforceable and protected civil rights!
Pay attention tribal leaders - you need to recognize this epidemic of Native American Civil Rights abuses and be on the side finding a solution and not the side fighting this because we will never give up until this injustice is corrected. If you feel this is a threat to "sovereign immunity"....you should speak out against it and sanction those tribes who banish, disenroll and violate their citizens civil rights - that is not our way and you who do not speak out are part of the problem. I assure you we will be speaking out because you were not there to help and protect us.
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Showing posts with label civil rights; tribal sovereignty;disenrollment; Snoqualmie; Indian Civil Rights Act; Original Pechana's Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil rights; tribal sovereignty;disenrollment; Snoqualmie; Indian Civil Rights Act; Original Pechana's Blog. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Snoqualmie Tribal Chief Wants Elected Officials Thrown Out
It seems a tribe that doesn't follow our laws is having some trouble running their show:
Snoqualmie Tribe Chief Jerry Enick is calling on the tribe’s members to throw out most of their elected officials. The longtime chief has called for a meeting of the general membership Saturday, June 18 in Monroe.
The Tribal Council has done nothing wrong, and Enick is acting beyond his authority, says Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson.
The catalyst came when the Tribal Council voted in early May to postpone the tribe’s annual general elections until July, after an audit of the tribal membership is finished.
For several years, the Snoqualmie Tribe has been plagued by completing claims of who is and is not a member. At stake is control of the tribe’s casino proceeds. In an effort to quell the ongoing fights over membership, the Tribal Council voted in January to hire an outside genealogist to audit the member rolls using records from the tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
But the council cannot simply postpone the election, Enick says.
As the tribe’s head chief, it is his responsibility to act.
“I oversee what’s going on in my tribe. If I see something that’s going wrong, I attempt to take care of it,” he says.
Without an election, the Snoqualmies have no functioning government, because most council members’ terms expired on June 1, according to Enick. The lack of a legitimate government could threaten the tribe’s financing agreements for Snoqualmie Casino.
That concern is overblown, Mattson says.
The tribe hasn’t broken any parts of the loan agreements it has with the bondholders, who provided $330 million to start the casino, he says.
The ongoing political fights don’t hurt the tribal government’s ability to provide services to its members and Snoqualmie Valley residents, according to Mattson.
The tribe runs two medical clinics in the Valley. Together they handle more than 5,000 patient visits a year. It also runs a food clinic in Carnation, among myriad other social and cultural services it provides.
Snoqualmie Tribe Chief Jerry Enick is calling on the tribe’s members to throw out most of their elected officials. The longtime chief has called for a meeting of the general membership Saturday, June 18 in Monroe.
The Tribal Council has done nothing wrong, and Enick is acting beyond his authority, says Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson.
The catalyst came when the Tribal Council voted in early May to postpone the tribe’s annual general elections until July, after an audit of the tribal membership is finished.
For several years, the Snoqualmie Tribe has been plagued by completing claims of who is and is not a member. At stake is control of the tribe’s casino proceeds. In an effort to quell the ongoing fights over membership, the Tribal Council voted in January to hire an outside genealogist to audit the member rolls using records from the tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
But the council cannot simply postpone the election, Enick says.
As the tribe’s head chief, it is his responsibility to act.
“I oversee what’s going on in my tribe. If I see something that’s going wrong, I attempt to take care of it,” he says.
Without an election, the Snoqualmies have no functioning government, because most council members’ terms expired on June 1, according to Enick. The lack of a legitimate government could threaten the tribe’s financing agreements for Snoqualmie Casino.
That concern is overblown, Mattson says.
The tribe hasn’t broken any parts of the loan agreements it has with the bondholders, who provided $330 million to start the casino, he says.
The ongoing political fights don’t hurt the tribal government’s ability to provide services to its members and Snoqualmie Valley residents, according to Mattson.
The tribe runs two medical clinics in the Valley. Together they handle more than 5,000 patient visits a year. It also runs a food clinic in Carnation, among myriad other social and cultural services it provides.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Letters to Speakers Attending Conference in Apartheid-Practicing Tribal Nation of Pechanga: A Snoqualmie Story.
Letters are going out to speakers from the upcoming Tribal Leader's Conference at the Apartheid-practicing reservation of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. While these speakers are looking to get meaninful change in an unstable political environment, they should be looking within their own nations and other tribal nations such as Snoqualmie from Washington State., with their 'shadow government' which we have posted on before. Work on the corruption within Indian Country.
Here is a letter from the Snoqualmie 9, written by Carolyn Lubenau which details what happened to her family:
My name is Carolyn Lubenau and I have been enrolled since birth in the Snoqualmie Tribe in Washington State as was my Mother, my Grandmother, my Great-Grandmother up to the signing of the Pt. Elliott Treaty and beyond- we have always been Snoqualmie.
In 2008, myself and 8 other enrolled tribal members were illegally banished from the Snoqualmie Tribe. Three of the banished were our spiritual leaders – one a minister in the 1910 Indian Shaker Church – another spiritual worker was banished for saying a prayer the tribal council felt admonished their actions. My tribe did not have a tribal court and the story of our banishment was printed on the front page of the Seattle Times many times. Our banishment is a documented case of civil rights violations and the Federal Judge, James Robart overturned the banishment in the precedent setting case – Sweet vs Hinzman.
To this day, over three years later, we have not been allowed back into our tribe. We have a corrupt tribal council who violates the civil rights of all its citizens each day and despite being voting overwhelmingly by our tribal members to be reinstated many times without restriction, our corrupt tribal council will not reinstate us. This is a blatant civil rights violation. The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior all say this is an “inter-tribal” dispute and they will not get involved despite a Federal Judge’s order.
I have asked my Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell “who enforces a Federal Judge’s order?” Their response is they don’t know and although they have tried to find some answers, they have not been able to answer the question.
I’m asking you, who upholds the individual civil rights of tribal citizens? You speak of sovereignty but do you speak of the genocide of disenrolling and banishing tribal members to cover up lawlessness and corruption? Do you speak about the responsibility of sovereigns to their people.? Do you speak of honor and human rights? Will you speak of the violations to our human rights by being “arbitrarily exiled” from our own nations? We are exiled from the sacred grounds of our ancestors – what sovereign would do such a thing to their people?
The answer is no one will protect an individuals civil rights in corrupt tribes and tribal governments like Pechanga who exile their own people. I am respectfully requesting that you think about these questions and think about the thousands of Native Americans yet to have protected civil rights. I would ask that you support our protest at Pechanga over civil rights violations and if you are guided to still speak at this forum, I hope you speak of the dishonor of using sovereignty for greed and corruption – to hide behind sovereignty and dishonor your own people. I hope you speak of fairness, transparency and justice.
With a hopeful heart,
Carolyn Lubenau
Maple Valley, WA
Here is a letter from the Snoqualmie 9, written by Carolyn Lubenau which details what happened to her family:
My name is Carolyn Lubenau and I have been enrolled since birth in the Snoqualmie Tribe in Washington State as was my Mother, my Grandmother, my Great-Grandmother up to the signing of the Pt. Elliott Treaty and beyond- we have always been Snoqualmie.
In 2008, myself and 8 other enrolled tribal members were illegally banished from the Snoqualmie Tribe. Three of the banished were our spiritual leaders – one a minister in the 1910 Indian Shaker Church – another spiritual worker was banished for saying a prayer the tribal council felt admonished their actions. My tribe did not have a tribal court and the story of our banishment was printed on the front page of the Seattle Times many times. Our banishment is a documented case of civil rights violations and the Federal Judge, James Robart overturned the banishment in the precedent setting case – Sweet vs Hinzman.
To this day, over three years later, we have not been allowed back into our tribe. We have a corrupt tribal council who violates the civil rights of all its citizens each day and despite being voting overwhelmingly by our tribal members to be reinstated many times without restriction, our corrupt tribal council will not reinstate us. This is a blatant civil rights violation. The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior all say this is an “inter-tribal” dispute and they will not get involved despite a Federal Judge’s order.
I have asked my Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell “who enforces a Federal Judge’s order?” Their response is they don’t know and although they have tried to find some answers, they have not been able to answer the question.
I’m asking you, who upholds the individual civil rights of tribal citizens? You speak of sovereignty but do you speak of the genocide of disenrolling and banishing tribal members to cover up lawlessness and corruption? Do you speak about the responsibility of sovereigns to their people.? Do you speak of honor and human rights? Will you speak of the violations to our human rights by being “arbitrarily exiled” from our own nations? We are exiled from the sacred grounds of our ancestors – what sovereign would do such a thing to their people?
The answer is no one will protect an individuals civil rights in corrupt tribes and tribal governments like Pechanga who exile their own people. I am respectfully requesting that you think about these questions and think about the thousands of Native Americans yet to have protected civil rights. I would ask that you support our protest at Pechanga over civil rights violations and if you are guided to still speak at this forum, I hope you speak of the dishonor of using sovereignty for greed and corruption – to hide behind sovereignty and dishonor your own people. I hope you speak of fairness, transparency and justice.
With a hopeful heart,
Carolyn Lubenau
Maple Valley, WA
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Snoqualmie Tribe Pays CEO $14 Million To Leave. Outside their Authority,
We have written about the Snoqualmie tribe's ineptitude before and other issues HERE and HERE. And their despicable actions to disenroll members HERE
Apologies to our friends at the Snow Valley Star for forgetting to link to their story, which has ALL the details.
The SNOW VALLEY STAR has the story on the Snoqualmie squabble:
A fight in the Snoqualmie Tribal Council prompted an unexpected $14 million buyout of the Snoqualmie Casino’s CEO, but doesn’t threaten the casino’s viability in the short-term.
The decision caught many members off guard because it came only two months after the council had voted to maintain casino CEO Mike Barozzi’s contract. The experienced casino manager had been an integral part of the tribe’s pitch to investors when they put together the casino’s financing.
Losing Barozzi could affect the interest rate the tribe gets when it has to refinance the casino’s debt in a couple years.
The controversy is the latest episode in a long series of internal troubles for the insular, tight-lipped tribe.
The council didn’t offer any explanation for its Feb. 13 vote.
The decision to buyout Barozzi, which passed 4-3, was a compromise between council members who “wanted to run him off so the tribe could get more control, operationally (and specifically over hiring and firing decisions related to native employees) and some on the council that wanted to support Mr. Barozzi unequivocally,” Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson wrote in an e-mail to the Star.
However, Councilwoman Maryann Hinzman offered a different view.
“It was his decision to leave,” she said. OP: Then why pay him $14 MILLION? I'd leave to if that was my goodbye present.
Some tribal members filed an emergency injunction in tribal court following the vote, claiming that the council couldn’t spend more than $2 million without approval from the general membership.
Mattson said he could not comment on ongoing litigation.
Barozzi had originally asked for $19.5 million, which the council decided was too much at a Dec. 19 meeting.
However, at least one councilman — Ray Mullen — was absent from the meeting and brought the matter up again at the February meeting.
This time around, Barozzi and the council settled on $14 million.
The motion was introduced in council by Hinzman and Mullen. Their council seats are up for election this year, and they have come under criticism in recent months from many in the general membership.
Both members declined to comment on the matter.
Apologies to our friends at the Snow Valley Star for forgetting to link to their story, which has ALL the details.
The SNOW VALLEY STAR has the story on the Snoqualmie squabble:
A fight in the Snoqualmie Tribal Council prompted an unexpected $14 million buyout of the Snoqualmie Casino’s CEO, but doesn’t threaten the casino’s viability in the short-term.
The decision caught many members off guard because it came only two months after the council had voted to maintain casino CEO Mike Barozzi’s contract. The experienced casino manager had been an integral part of the tribe’s pitch to investors when they put together the casino’s financing.
Losing Barozzi could affect the interest rate the tribe gets when it has to refinance the casino’s debt in a couple years.
The controversy is the latest episode in a long series of internal troubles for the insular, tight-lipped tribe.
The council didn’t offer any explanation for its Feb. 13 vote.
The decision to buyout Barozzi, which passed 4-3, was a compromise between council members who “wanted to run him off so the tribe could get more control, operationally (and specifically over hiring and firing decisions related to native employees) and some on the council that wanted to support Mr. Barozzi unequivocally,” Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson wrote in an e-mail to the Star.
However, Councilwoman Maryann Hinzman offered a different view.
“It was his decision to leave,” she said. OP: Then why pay him $14 MILLION? I'd leave to if that was my goodbye present.
Some tribal members filed an emergency injunction in tribal court following the vote, claiming that the council couldn’t spend more than $2 million without approval from the general membership.
Mattson said he could not comment on ongoing litigation.
Barozzi had originally asked for $19.5 million, which the council decided was too much at a Dec. 19 meeting.
However, at least one councilman — Ray Mullen — was absent from the meeting and brought the matter up again at the February meeting.
This time around, Barozzi and the council settled on $14 million.
The motion was introduced in council by Hinzman and Mullen. Their council seats are up for election this year, and they have come under criticism in recent months from many in the general membership.
Both members declined to comment on the matter.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Petition Requesting Oversight Hearing on ICRA
We now have a link to a petition requesting Rep. Nick Rahall hold an oversight hearing on the Indian Civil Rights Act. Please sign it and ask your friends and family to do the same. Individual Indians need protection to and we can't buy it like the rich casino tribes. Our voices are needed to combat their money.
THE LINK is on the left sidebar, Please sign
Follow us on twitter: @opechanga
THE LINK is on the left sidebar, Please sign
Follow us on twitter: @opechanga
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Snoqualmie Banished Members to Court
A federal judge might be the last hope for banished members of the Snoqualmie Tribe who appeared in court Tuesday in their effort to regain tribal membership.
U.S. District Court Judge James L. Robart said he would issue a written ruling later as to whether the case is even properly before him or should be dismissed.
Only then — if he rules in favor of the banished members — would he get to the merits of the case.
Nine former tribal members, including five former tribal-council members filed the lawsuit in May, arguing their civil rights were violated when they were banished by the tribe, which accused them of running an illegal shadow government, treason and other crimes.
The banishment came on the heels of months of internal dispute in which dueling tribal-council leaders accused each other of running an illegal government that seized power on the strength of illegal elections.
The feud boiled over last spring when the eventually ousted council members went public, declaring the Snoqualmie tribal government in crisis. The tribe held elections in June to replace the ousted members and choose new officers.
The dispute has roiled the tribe as it prepares to open in November what could become the most profitable tribal casino in Washington state, in part because of its prime location, only 26 miles from downtown Seattle, just off Interstate 90. OP: MEANING: The state government won't stand up for what is right, but for what is PROFITABLE.
It's not the first time the tribe has been torn apart by banishment.
A similar fight erupted in the mid-1990s. Then, as now, dueling council leaders claimed legitimacy, and each side accused the other of hijacking the government with a flawed election. The losers were banished by the winners — ultimately determined in King County Superior Court.
And a fight for eventual control of a tribal casino — hoped for even then, when the tribe was still fighting for federal recognition — was alleged to be at the bottom of the battle.
"It's sad," said Pete Connick, attorney for the tribal council in that dispute as well as this one.
"It's the same thing all over again," he said after Tuesday's hearing. "What they want is to govern," he said of the ousted council members, "and they are not going to."
Connick argued before the judge that the case should be dismissed because it doesn't belong in federal court. But Rob Roy Smith, attorney for the banished members, argued they are entitled under the Indian Civil Rights Act to due process like anyone else.
He said the tribal council banished them without exexplanation or giving the accused an opportunity to defend themselves.
The Snoqualmies have no tribal court, so federal court is the only place they can turn for help, Smith argued. Former chairman Bill Sweet agreed, saying after the hearing, "I don't think in any society they ought to be able to just throw people out."
Please FEEL FREE to add your comments. Snoqualmie disenrolled, you should be directing your email lists HERE, unless you have your own website.
U.S. District Court Judge James L. Robart said he would issue a written ruling later as to whether the case is even properly before him or should be dismissed.
Only then — if he rules in favor of the banished members — would he get to the merits of the case.
Nine former tribal members, including five former tribal-council members filed the lawsuit in May, arguing their civil rights were violated when they were banished by the tribe, which accused them of running an illegal shadow government, treason and other crimes.
The banishment came on the heels of months of internal dispute in which dueling tribal-council leaders accused each other of running an illegal government that seized power on the strength of illegal elections.
The feud boiled over last spring when the eventually ousted council members went public, declaring the Snoqualmie tribal government in crisis. The tribe held elections in June to replace the ousted members and choose new officers.
The dispute has roiled the tribe as it prepares to open in November what could become the most profitable tribal casino in Washington state, in part because of its prime location, only 26 miles from downtown Seattle, just off Interstate 90. OP: MEANING: The state government won't stand up for what is right, but for what is PROFITABLE.
It's not the first time the tribe has been torn apart by banishment.
A similar fight erupted in the mid-1990s. Then, as now, dueling council leaders claimed legitimacy, and each side accused the other of hijacking the government with a flawed election. The losers were banished by the winners — ultimately determined in King County Superior Court.
And a fight for eventual control of a tribal casino — hoped for even then, when the tribe was still fighting for federal recognition — was alleged to be at the bottom of the battle.
"It's sad," said Pete Connick, attorney for the tribal council in that dispute as well as this one.
"It's the same thing all over again," he said after Tuesday's hearing. "What they want is to govern," he said of the ousted council members, "and they are not going to."
Connick argued before the judge that the case should be dismissed because it doesn't belong in federal court. But Rob Roy Smith, attorney for the banished members, argued they are entitled under the Indian Civil Rights Act to due process like anyone else.
He said the tribal council banished them without exexplanation or giving the accused an opportunity to defend themselves.
The Snoqualmies have no tribal court, so federal court is the only place they can turn for help, Smith argued. Former chairman Bill Sweet agreed, saying after the hearing, "I don't think in any society they ought to be able to just throw people out."
Please FEEL FREE to add your comments. Snoqualmie disenrolled, you should be directing your email lists HERE, unless you have your own website.
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