Pechanga, What's in a Name?

From Orion the Hunter at: Pechanga.Info

Temecula Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Pechanga Indian Reservation est. 1882

Exva Temeeku-Pechaangayam-Payomkawichum

PREAMBLE We, the members of the Pechanga Indian Reservation, and Temecula Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, sometimes referred to as the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians, hereinafter referred to as "The Band", in order to promote and protect our customs, rights, interest, and common welfare, do hereby adopt this Constitution and Bylaws. This Constitution and Bylaws will supersede any Bylaws and Constitution written in the past.

Above I have copied word for word the title page of the constitution and bylaws and the introduction to this constitution which clearly shows that Temecula and Pechanga are and always have been used interchangably. Luiseno means the Indians of the San Luis Rey Mission and all true Pechanga people are Temecula (Pechanga) and Luiseno (San Luis Rey). The Luiseno can also be from tribes such as Rincon, Pauma, Soboba, La Jolla, Pala, and San Luis Rey (which isn't federally recognized). Plus in the first censuses of the reservation taken in the 1890's the reservation is called "The Temecula reservation,"
The Temecula reservation-San Luis Rey Tribe, or The Pechanga reservation; depending on what year the census was taken and names such as Macarro, Pico, Kengnish, Magee, Hunter, and many others are on all of these records. It sounds like the tribe is trying to rationlize more disenrollments as in both our disenrollment Record of Decision and in the Record of Decision against the Manuela Mirandas the disenrollment committee said that being of the Temecula Band is not good enough that Pechanga was a subset of Temecula. The constitution and bylaws says, "Applicant must show proof of Lineal Descent from origninal Pechanga Temecula people," but it there is no mention of about Pechanga being a subset of Temecula. This is just something concocted by the committee to try to justify their misdeeds. Ironically people from the same family lines put Temecula, Pechanga, or San Luis Rey on 1928 applications. In our case the disenrollment committee said that because a relative of ours put San Luis Rey on his 1928 application, that meant our true tribal affliation is San Luis Rey even though a lot of our other relatives put Pechanga or Temecula on their 1928 applications. The true irony of it all is that family members of enrollment committee members Ihrene Scerce, Ruth Masiel, Francis Miranda, and Bobbie Lemere put Luiseno or San Luiseno and ancestors of the Macarros put Temecula on 1928 applicaitons (not Pechanga).
The problem is they had and have the votes on the committee and the tribal council and I doubt if they are going to vote themselves out! The reasoning for kicking us out in 2006 even though a law to outlaw disenrollment was passed in 2005 was that the new law didn't change the enrollment requirements so I can see how they can keep people out with the same reasoning and kick more people out for the same reason.

It looks like they could actually kick out or keep out one family member and they could keep in another member of the same family line because one put Temecula or San Luis Rey and the other put Pechanga on 1928 applications.
But again, are committee members or tribal council members going to kick themselves out because of what someone put on a 1928 application or are they just going to pick on people who are not in power? I guess they could go back to those census records from the 1890's and kick out everyone who's ancestors were on records that say Temecula or San Luis Rey but that would mean the whole tribe would be disenrolled including themselves.

If the Temecula Band doesn't even follow their OWN constitution, why would the care about due process, civil rights or the US Constitution.

Picayune Rancheria

The Picayune Tribe has disenrolled half their membership so they could enrich themselves with their casino cash. KARMA, baby, if the casino is approved as it's on the more highly traveled Hwy.99. How many people do you think will be sympathetic to you PICAYUNE? You are hateful, greedy people and have destroyed much of your own heritage.

Tribe opposes new Central Valley casino complex
COARSEGOLD April 29, 2008 6:43pm
• Expects it will be shot down by Department of the Interior
• ‘This violates everything we promised California voters’ The leaders of an Indian tribe in the Central Valley that operates its own casino say they are opposed to plans by two other tribes and the state for a massive gambling hall complex north of Madera along Highway 99.
The Picayune Rancheria, based in Oakhurst, says it expects the Department of the Interior to squash the plans because the site is well away from the tribes’ lands.
The Interior Department last year rejected a similar compact that the governor signed with Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes to put land near Barstow – hundreds of miles away from their respective tribal lands – into federal trust for the purposes of gaming.
“We fully expect the federal government to do the same in the case of the North Fork Casino because of the negative impacts it will have on the local community and the terrible precedent it sets for the state,” says Morris Reid, chairman of Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians.
The tribe operates an existing casino, the Chukchansi Gold Casino & Resort, located in Coarsegold.
The rival casino would be about 34 miles away and on one of the Central Valley’s major freeways, Highway 99.

Rest of story HERE

BIA's Carl Artman Resigns Amid Controversy: Cherokee Freedmen, Snoqualmie Pechanga, Picayune.

Artman had done NOTHING for the individual Indian in this country. He was terrible. Good to see him go.

BIA leader resigns amid controversy

By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau 4/29/2008
His 13 months in office were marked by the Cherokee freedmen dispute.

WASHINGTON -- Bureau of Indian Affairs leader Carl Artman, a major player in the ongoing freedmen controversy with the Cherokee Nation, is leaving office, U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Monday. Artman, 41, was confirmed to his position 13 months ago.

His entire term in office has been marked by the Cherokee freedmen descendants controversy, which has drawn the interest of Congress. He said last year that an 1866 treaty that the Cherokee Nation signed with the United States affirmed the citizenship rights of the descendants of former slaves and that the federal government would consider taking the tribe to court to enforce that agreement. That was not enough for members of Congress who believed that the BIA should be doing more. OP: The BIA has done NOTHING to help the THOUSANDS of Indians terminated from tribes like Pechanga, which acted UNConstitutionally to disenroll Hundreds of members (Pechanga's OWN Constitution)

In March, four key lawmakers, including two House committee chairmen, met with Artman requesting further clarification. Others recently warned that the controversy could put all legislation supported by tribes across the nation at risk. Cherokee Nation members voted in March 2007 to remove freedmen descendants from tribal rolls. A member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, Artman had been the Interior Department's associate solicitor for Indian affairs before being tapped for the BIA post, which carries the title of assistant secretary. Artman wrote in a resignation letter to Kempthorne, "I believe at the end of this administration, the work we have done within Indian Affairs will leave not just a legacy, but an infrastructure upon which American Indian and Alaska Natives can build to secure their governmental, cultural and economic futures."
In his own letter, Kempthorne expressed appreciation for Artman's insight on important issues. "The Indian Modernization Initiative, developed and launched under Carl's leadership, has upgraded communications between tribal leaders and the department on a number of priority issues," he wrote. Artman is scheduled to leave May 23.

Jim Myers (202) 484-1424 jim.myers@tulsaworld.com

Shunned Tribal Members Claim Civil Right Violations

OP: More evidence that some tribes in Indian Country are so out of control, that they will end up hurting all tribes.

Shunned tribal members claim civil rights violations
By Stephanie Vosk also by George Brennan April 29, 2008 6:00 AM

Amelia and Steven Bingham, shunned by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in December 2006, yesterday filed a civil suit against tribal council leaders in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston. They are asking a jury to overturn the tribal council's sanctions as a violation their of civil rights. The suit also seeks unspecified financial compensation.
Michael Altman, a high-profile Boston lawyer specializing in civil rights cases, is representing the mother and son. The Binghams are arguing that the tribal council violated their civil rights by banning them from tribal activities and benefits for seven years after they filed a separate suit in Barnstable Superior Court, along with tribe members Stephanie Tobey-Roderick and Michelle Fernandes. That action seeks access to the tribe's financial information. "We would hope that the Massachusetts court system would not tolerate any group that seeks to silence people because they're saying things that others don't want to hear," Altman said yesterday.

The tribal leadership remains unruffled. "The Binghams continue to be obsessed with trying to force the commonwealth to impose its laws on our sovereign nation," tribal council Chairman Shawn Hendricks said through a spokesman. "They have failed repeatedly in those efforts." The shunning hasn't stopped the Binghams from speaking out against the tribe's leaders and their deals with casino investors. The pair also cooperated with investigators who launched a probe of tribe finances in September.
In the suit, the Binghams also claim the tribal council violated their civil rights by barring them from the tribe's annual powwow last July. Police were called to the public celebration to enforce a no-trespass order requested by the tribal council earlier that day. "The use of police officers to deny plaintiffs access to a public event constitutes threats, intimidation and coercion," the suit states. With the annual event slated for this July, the Binghams are seeking a court injunction that will allow them to attend.
In a telephone interview, Amelia Bingham said they filed suit after exhausting other attempts to have the shunning lifted. That includes an overwhelming vote by tribe members in January to reverse the shunning order. "We have to do something to stop these people," she said. "They've hurt me to the core by discriminating against me and they're going to have to pay for that."

Full Article HERE

OP: OH, and the shadow Snoqualmie government that is abetted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has resulted in this mess:

Snoqualmie Tribe banishes banish 8 members, disenrolls 60
LYNDA V. MAPES MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE UPDATEED AT 6:27 A.M. SEATTLE --

Members of the Snoqualmie Tribe banished eight tribal members Sunday, and more than 60 others have received letters informing them they have been disenrolled from the tribe. A selected group of Snoqualmies designated "preferred voters" (uh, PREFERRED VOTERS?)by honorary(meaning NOT-ELECTED) chief Jerry Enick and tribal council members gathered in an all-day, closed-door meeting Sunday at the Issaquah Hilton to consider punishment of the tribal chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and two council members. They were accused of operating an "illegal, shadow government" after being suspended by Enick (who has NO power to suspend)last fall, when he asserted control of the tribal government.

The banished maintain they are the rightful, duly elected leaders of the tribe. A tribal spiritual leader and a minister of the Indian Shaker church were also banished, along with the chairman's brother. Sunday's events were the latest in a long-running dispute between battling factions in the tribe. At stake are control of the tribal government and what promises to be one of the most lucrative casinos in the state, scheduled to open in November. Today, two councils claim to be the legitimate leaders of the Snoqualmies -- one composed of now-banished members who've gathered regularly in a private home and the other that continues to meet in the tribe's administrative offices.

The accusations against the banished members range from treason to saying a prayer, according to tribal resolutions of discipline issued this month. Banishment is the most extreme punishment in Indian Country, usually reserved for capital crimes such as murder, or drug dealing. The banished lose all right to be on tribal land, claim tribal benefits or even claim Indian identity.

OP: THIS has to be addressed. Some jerk like Enick is saying now that these people are no longer Indians and POOF, the Feds will agree?

Cherokee Nations Boat of Federal Funds: Is Diane Watson Exercising the Moral Outrage that Other Tribes Should be doing?

Tribes like the Cherokee, Pechanga, Picayune, Redding, Enterprise, Snoqualmie are threatening sovereignty by wielding it like a club. If Congress reacts to this, Indian Country, they could also very well OVER-React. Is this what you are willing to gamble? Express your MORAL OUTRAGE at these tribes by refusing to do business with tribes that violate the civil rights of their people. I believe this is what the CBC is doing right now.

Opinion: Cherokee Nation's boat of federal funds
Friday, April 25, 2008 Filed Under: Opinion

The following is the opinion of Steve Osburn, a Cherokee/Delaware from Oklahoma.

When it comes to the Freedmen, Cherokee Nation Chief Chad Smith keeps saying "Let the courts decide this case," when they already have. The Cherokee Supreme Court ruled that the Freedmen are Cherokee citizens. But he ignored that decision because it didn't go the way he thought it would.

Smith strips other tribes of their federal funding and recognition, like he did to the Delaware Tribe. So what's the big deal -- are Indian leaders only outraged when it happens to the Cherokee Nation? They never stood up and scolded Smith for doing for doing this to the Delawares.

Smith doesn't care if another tribe's federal funds or recognition are taken away but he expects everyone to jump up and down and throw a fit when it's happening to his tribe because he doesn't want the federal government to cut off his flow of money.

He's already ruined the Shawnee Tribe when they separated from the Cherokee Nation, and he's attempting to do even more damage to the Delawares with promises of regaining our federal recognition if he can control all of our federal funding. We said "NO!" to that idea.

Other tribal leaders are jumping on Smith's bandwagon because he's using scare tactics and telling them similar legislation will be attached to everything Congress does in the future for all Indian tribes. The bill sponsored by Rep. Diane Watson (D-California) does not even mention terminating the Cherokee Nation -- it only threatens to cut federal funding to the Cherokee Nation.

Smith is afraid of being in the very same boat he put the Delawares in. A boat with no federal funds!

OP: Cherokee made $110 MILLION in profits last year, why are they getting FEDERAL FUNDS anyway?

http://www.tribalcorruption.com/
www.pechanga.info/forum

ALSO

http://64.62.196.98/News/2008/008375.asp

Cherokee Freedmen dispute threatens NAHASDAThursday, April 24, 2008
Filed Under: Politics

The Cherokee Freedmen dispute could derail the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act, the nation's largest Indian housing organization warns.
NAHASDA, first passed in 1996, is set to expire unless it is reauthorized. The House has already passed its version of the bill and the Senate is set to take action within the coming weeks.
But unless the status of the Freedmen within the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma comes to a "creative, equitable resolution," the bill won't become law this year, the National American Indian Housing Council fears. An April 18 letter urges tribal leaders to lobby Congress to address the controversy.
"The NAIHC is very concerned that the Freedmen matter might upend not only the pending NAHASDA reauthorization but the passage of all Indian tribal legislation in this and possibly future congresses," Chairman Marty Shuravloff wrote. "This would be an unfortunate outcome for the hundreds of thousands of American Indian and Alaska Native low income families that would be unwitting victims in a controversy involving one Indian Tribe."
Last September, the House included a provision in H.R.2786 that bars the Cherokees from receiving housing funds unless the Freedmen, who are the descendants of former African slaves, are restored to citizenship

OP: So then the correct headlines could be:

Cherokee Nation THREATENS Hundreds of Thousands' tribal housing because of their actions against their own tribal members.

or

Cherokee causes damage to tribal sovereignty, erodes it for all tribes.

Pechanga's Drinking Policies Hurt Sales

Now that Pechanga has had to shut down their high value nightclubs, it looks like they have come to an agreement with the ABC and are limiting their much fewer patrons to ONE DRINK AT A TIME. Since they are losing close to $100,000 a night that the clubs aren't open, NOW, they are limiting their alcohol profits. THAT'S Going to LEAVE a Mark on their profits. What was that FINE they were charged for underage drinking?

The FOIA requests for U.S. government activities at Pechanga are underway. Included is the tax reports for uh, how would you call him..?.. That "punk assed bitch" who sucker-punched a Hunter then went running to the rez govt. office for protection. How did he earn those millions?

So, the tribe didn't get the raise in per capita they were promised either. Question to you, readers is: WHICH FAMILY is NEXT to exit, to that those who remain can get more?

UPDATE: Casinos NOT recession proof: Article HERE Apparently, Pechanga didn't want to say how the current recession is affecting them. Of course, they shot themselves in the foot with their youth's thuggish behavior.

SNOQUALMIE: A Tribe Divided

Indian Country continues to decimate their own people. You've read about the California tribes such as Pechanga and now, the Snoqualmie story is blowing wide open. These tribes will be responsible for the eroding of tribal sovereignty in the U.S.

Please share this blog with your friends.

View rest of Article: HERE

A tribe divided: Snoqualmie members fight for control of government, casino
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter
MAPLE VALLEY —
A bedsheet covers a window to provide a makeshift screen for PowerPoint presentations. Boxes crammed with files cover the kitchen counter and dining-room table. A safe in the living room holds sensitive documents. This is the war room of the government in exile of the Snoqualmie Tribe, decamped to the home of one of its council members.
Finally recognized by the federal government in 1999, the tribe's fledgling government faces a showdown: As many as 60 members are threatened with disenrollment, and some, including its chairman, may be banished. Tribal members will vote on their fate Sunday.
Bill Sweet, elected tribal chairman last May, says the feud pits family against family and threatens the golden goose that started it all: a casino under construction, just a half-hour from Seattle. To pay for it, the tribe borrowed $330 million from investors who likely know little of the drama unfolding.
The stakes are high: control of this tiny tribe of 637 members, and their casino just off Interstate 90, which promises to capture a lucrative share of the Seattle market. The venture could catapult the tribe into the ranks of some of the wealthiest tribes in the region.
Conflicting claims
Two tribal councils each claim to be the only legitimate government of the tribe. Each has issued proclamations declaring itself to be the only body that can sign checks, contracts and transact official business.
Both bodies continue to meet. Sweet and ousted council members meet in the Maple Valley home of tribal Vice Chairman Carolyn Lubenau. The others meet in the tribe's administrative offices, where the locks have been changed, barring Sweet and others ousted in September. Each side claims the others' elections were invalid.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has so far declined to arbitrate the dispute but has cut off further funding to the tribe. Stanley Speaks, the BIA's regional director in Portland, said it's up to Sweet to exert his authority as chairman.
"If he is the chairman he just needs to stand up and take charge and conduct business," Speaks said.
Such tribal infighting has become common in California, where tribes (OP: Such as, Pechanga, Picayune, Redding, Enterprise)new to casino wealth have been disenrolling members in droves, in part to save a larger share of gambling largesse for the members who survive the purges.
As tribal casinos have become a $1.3 billion business in Washington state, several Puget Sound tribes have restricted enrollment. The Puyallups have even shut out new members, other than by birth.

Some Snoqualmie tribal members who trace their genealogy back six generations say they are astonished to find their membership at risk.

As for banishment, it is the most devastating blow a tribe can strike. It eliminates tribal members' ability to vote and enjoy government benefits, including health care and housing. But it goes much further, barring members from their tribal land and expunging their very tribal identity.

"It's as if you are erased, like you never existed," said Vice Chairwoman Lubenau, who faces banishment Sunday.

COMMENTS Are OPEN

Right now, I have an open comment policy. Please feel free to comment. They are moderated, but I try to get to them right away. Feel free to add your comments. BE NICE.

Snoqualmie Tribal Members who were disenrolled, feel free to use this blog, we will have as much news as we can here. TELL YOUR story. Tell your friends about this.

Casino Revenue Causes Tribal Squabbles Over Membership at Redding Rancheria - Picayune- Pechanga

Some California members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Diane Watson and Maxine Waters are working hard on the Cherokee of Oklahoma issue. While Pechanga has some disenrolled members in Oklahoma, it's time they started looking in California for our problems.

ARTICLE

Now that Indian casinos dot the U.S. countryside from Atlantic to Pacific, one would assume that the economic and social plight of Native Americans would be assuaged by the wealth pouring into the tribes' coffers. While the massive revenues have definitiely helped, they have also caused greed and selfishness to divide tribal members amongst themselves.

In California, where some of the nation's richest tribes run hugely profitable casinos, some 5000 Indians have been disenrolled; that is, effectively removed from status as a tribal member. Many of the changes have alledgedly been made to keep monies in smaller circles, and to disown activists who wish a more public accounting of the dispersal of funds.

Because of the sovereign nation status of tribes, there is virtually no oversight nor legal recourse regarding tribal council actions. Those disenrolled have no appeal except to those who made the decision. No explanation of how revenue is allocated is required.

Some of the disenrollments resist all logic. The members of the Foreman family, 76 in number, were disenrolled from the Redding Rancheria because the council decided the family was not descended from a tribal founder as had been believed. The Foremans used DNA testing with the founder's remains to prove its relationship... and the council stood by its decision. OP: Yes, why let FACTS get in the way?

Why aren't those affected by Tribal Disenrollments Working together

Paulina Hunter's Blog wants to know

http://paulinahunterofpechanga.blogspot.com/


Is it because some want to claim credit for "saving" those Indians who won't stand up for themselves?

Do our families really not care enough to do ANYTHING?

The History of the Cherokee Freedmen - John Cornsilk

To help you understand more about the Cherokee Freedmen and what some on the Cherokee Council have perpetrated on their people.

http://www.pechanga.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1974

The Cherokee Freedmen Story as an article was submitted by email to American Chronicle as a response to an article on the issue, but it was never published so today I resubmit it via the process.

The Cherokee Freedmen are the descendants of African slaves who played an integral role in the Cherokee Culture during the 1700's and1800's. Many of the Cherokee Freedmen Descendants of today are Cherokee by blood, many with actually more than the Thin bloods White Cherokee that are trying to eliminate them from the Membership of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO).

However, the Freedmen were listed on the Dawes Commission Rolls during the enumeration of the Cherokee Nation by the Dawes Commission by an Act of Congress in 1893 and ending and the final Roll Closed by the U.S. Congress in 1906, in a Section called the Freedmen Roll that did not classify them as Cherokee by Blood, BUT, simply because their features displayed characheristics of African traits, i.e. black skin and nappy hair...it must be noted they were NOT classed any less Cherokee than any of the other entinicities or classes of Cherokee on the other sections of the Rolls, which has led to modern controversies, or it should be said the outright lie and fabrication of misinformation by Chad Smith and cohorts, as to whether or not the Freedmen can claim they are Cherokee.

Please click the link above for the rest of the article. AND, please look at this page of support from ELI GRAYSON:

One thing is becoming clear, that this is not a Indian issue but aCherokee issue along with a few other OK tribes, and Congress isbeginning to understand that the Lakota, Navaho and the other 500 plusfederally recognized tribes have NOTHING to do with this...everycongressional staff person or every Congressmen that I spoke with were shocked to even learn of slavery of among these particular Oklahoma tribes. The fact that the Cherokees are hypocritically screaming termination while terminating their very own slave descendants is laughing stock to the congressional members. Privately, even Indianpeople from other tribes are telling congressional members thatCherokees are not really Indians but just white folks with a Indianancestor five hundred years ago.....this whole thing has gone down adangerous path for the Cherokee Nation.....

Yuba County Supervisors voice concerns over HUGE Enterprise Rancheria Casino that Voters DO NOT WANT

Yuba supervisors voice concerns about casino

Lack of adequate wastewater treatment and an increase in traffic are two major concerns Yuba County supervisors have about a proposed Indian casino.

The county plans to express those concerns to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which last month released the draft environmental impact statement for the Enterprise Rancheria hotel-casino.
The project would include a 207,760-square- foot gambling facility (As big as the BIGGEST Wal-Marts!)with a casino floor and food and beverage area. It would also feature a 107,125-square- foot hotel with 170 rooms on eight floors.

County voters rejected the project 52.1 percent to 47.9 percent in a 2005 nonbinding measure. Read rest of the article HERE