Feds or State Justice DO not enforce the rules in CA Indian Country.

The last in a series of articles by Jim Marino. It qualified for a Moron Alert on the website of Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro's COUSIN. That usually means it touched a nerve.

The DOJ needs to take a closer look at California.

I thought it was an opportune time to talk about its origins, the failures and inadequacy of Congress in enacting the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act in 1988, and the political process and corruption involved in the negotiation and execution of the 59 original compacts, negotiated in California by now deposed governor Gray Davis who received massive contributions for his 1998 election from the illegal Indian casinos operating here before March 2000.

Once Indian gambling was introduced into California I went on to discuss the impacts on communities where they are located and some of the irony of tiny recognized “tribes” of one or two people, or perhaps a handful of members, often tracing only fractional descent [if any] to a real California Native Indian Band and claiming they were sovereign governments because they have been “recognized” by bureaucrats in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These tiny “sovereign governments” pay no taxes and provide no services or infrastructure to their “tribe”. Rather they depend on the public services and infrastructure paid for by non-Indian taxpayers and the federal government for their welfare. I discussed how these claims of “sovereignty” were not only used to evade paying the taxes needed to fund local public services and infrastructure, but also used to evade all the many laws enacted for the protection of the public, customers in Indian casinos and businesses, their workers and the environment and quality of life in the host communities. I discussed the false economy of Indian gambling casinos that promise “jobs” and claim to be a destination “resort” bringing in tourist dollars when, in actuality these are unprotected, transient and generally low paying “jobs” that are created. This job creation is far-outweighed by the fact that the many gamblers losing money at an Indian casino, come from nearby communities where they are not spending those discretionary dollars in non-Indian businesses. These nearby non-Indian businesses often cannot compete with an Indian casino or business that pays no taxes, operates above the laws and which cannot be sued by customers, workers (or anyone else) for their misdeeds because of an outdated court-created legal doctrine giving Indian tribes, their casinos, businesses, agents and employees complete immunity from lawsuit no matter how outrageous their actions or conduct may be.

That in addition to siphoning millions of dollars in discretionary money from gamblers drawn to these casinos from nearby communities these patrons are gambling with money they often cannot afford to lose. That produces increases in crimes of theft, robbery and embezzlement, divorce and family neglect, financial problems, foreclosures and bankruptcies, gambling addictions, substance abuses, even increased suicides that are an inevitable result of the introduction of Indian casino gambling. I quoted Warren Buffet who astutely pointed out a few years ago that there has always been gambling activities. The problem with Indian gambling casinos is that they have made gambling much more convenient so those losing vast amounts of money do not have to travel great distances to places like Las Vegas to do READ MORE

Tribal Casino Takes Back Car Won in Drawing: On a Technicality

Sounds like they need a new PR person. Announcing a winner, then taking away the prize? Over THIS?

Linda Marasti nearly fainted when she heard her name announced as the winner of a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu in a casino drawing.

"My legs were weak. I was pale," she said.

But Marasti's euphoria quickly turned to bitter disappointment Sunday evening when she was told by managers at the Chicken Ranch casino that she would not get the car after all because she could not produce an original Social Security card.

Ironically, Marasti, 65, had always carried the card with her until she lost her wallet last month. When a new card was issued May 4, it came with the following warning from the Social Security Administration in capital letters: DO NOT CARRY THIS CARD WITH YOU.

"The woman at the Social Security office told me not to carry it in my wallet. She said to make a copy of it and carry that with you instead," Marasti recalled.

Marasti presented her driver's license and a photocopy of her Social Security card when she went up to claim the car, but after a brief discussion, she was told she was being disqualified because of the photocopy

Department of Justice Creates 30 new Prosecutors to Indian Country, OMITS California, where crime runs RAMPANT

The U.S. Department of Justice is dispatching 30 new prosecutors to jurisdictions that serve Indian Country. The new hires represent the department's first specific increase in Indian Country prosecutors in almost a decade, and they will target violent crime.

Smith is hopeful it will pay off.

"This is a big improvement, and if they follow through, it will be even better," he said. "A lot of times they say they're going to do things and they don't. This time it looks like they're really serious."

In announcing the $6 million initiative, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said that violent crimes, particularly against women and children, continue to devastate tribal communities at rates much higher than the national average.

The new prosecutors, along with a law enforcement grant program and the promise of an even bigger effort in fiscal 2011, are seen as a part of a new government commitment to fulfilling trust responsibility to the tribes.

Pine Ridge will also benefit from a pilot program pairing prosecutors with a victims' advocate. The Navajo Nation in New Mexico and the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin are also getting the new two-person teams.

South Dakota U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson said his office wants to work more closely with tribal prosecutors, and has offered technical assistance to the Oglala Sioux to ease the overburdened court system.

"They have such a high volume of cases," he said. "Obviously at the tribal court level, if you're not addressing the simple assaults the concern is that, over time, those simple assaults become aggravated assaults."

Smith said that with gangs, officers often concentrate on minor crimes and aren't able to keep repeat and violent offenders off the street.

"We can't keep records on them, (so) we can't get the more serious crimes prosecuted," said Smith, estimating the tribe's police department is at least 25 years behind others in the country.

Arizona received the highest number of the 30 new prosecutors with five, followed by Montana with three, and New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota with two. Sixteen other districts (Alaska, Colorado, eastern Michigan, western Michigan, Minnesota, southern Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, northern New York, North Dakota, northern Oklahoma, western Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, eastern Washington and western Washington) received one prosecutor each.

The Justice Department's 2011 budget request includes an additional $22 million for a grant program to be used to hire and train tribal police officers, and purchase equipment.

Dry Creek Rancheria Votes to OUST Harvey Hopkins Due to Disenrollment of True Members. IS Pechanga's Macarro NEXT?

Members of the Dry Creek Rancheria voted Saturday to recall Council Chairman Harvey Hopkins, a move that would strip him of his leadership role in the tribal government as well as its profitable River Rock Casino.

We discussed the disenrollment issues that Dry Creek had in 2009 and look what's happened. The tribe was able to muster enough votes to oust Harvey. A difference with Pechanga, is that the tribal council, led my Mark "El Corrupto" Macarro, is that they were able to eliminate enough votes to remain safely ensconsed in power. Imagine that, you'd think it was by design, wouldn't you.


But she said the major reason was Hopkins’ repeated challenges to individuals and their tribal membership despite an audit of tribal rolls completed last year. The issue was particularly important when it came to those nominated to serve on various government committees, Nojima said.

“People are scared to run for office or scared to speak up in a meeting, because who knows if their membership is going to be questioned? That was one of the reasons why we did the recall,” Nojima said.

“The numbers kind of speak for themselves,” Pina said. “However, there’s also a number of people who have voted three different times to elect him chairman.”

Death at Pechanga Hotel Kept Quiet for Two Weeks.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the death of a Wildomar man who was found in a stairwell at the Pechanga Hotel in Temecula, but a spokesman said Friday the initial information indicates he died from an accident. Interesting that it's been TWO WEEKS and there was NO news coming from the Riverside Press Enterprise on this matter. Do they not scan the emergency frequencies?

Christopher P. Olsen, 24, was pronounced dead at the Rancho Springs Medical Center about 3:45 a.m. May 10, according to a coroner’s report. He died about 90 minutes after he arrived at the Murrieta hospital.

According to the report, Olsen was found unresponsive in stairwell of hotel and was transported to the hospital. An autopsy was performed and determined cause of death to be multiple blunt force traumatic injuries and the manner of death is pending further investigation, the report states.

Sgt. Joe Borja said the initial information indicated that Olsen death was an accident and that he had fallen down some stairs at the hotel. He was with a group of friends at the hotel, Borja said, but apparently alone at the time he fell. At this point, Borja said, the investigation is not considered a criminal case.

No, of course not. Would it be considered criminal if it were at Soboba?

Borja said he did know why the report of the death was announced Friday, two weeks after the incident.

Letter To Department of Justice in Opposition to Glenda Nelson and Jack Potter Jr. for Tribal Nations Leadership Council

Department of Justice Via USPS and email: Tracy.Toulou@usdoj.gov

Office of Tribal Justice
Tracy Toulou, Director
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington , DC 20530


Re: Candidates to the Tribal Nations Leadership Council


Dear Director Toulou:

As a United States citizen, a registered voter, and a person concerned about the growing problem of civil rights violations in Indian Country, I am submitting this letter regarding several tribal leaders nominated to sit on the Tribal Nations Leadership Council.

I am especially outraged that Glenda Nelson of Enterprise and Jack Potter Jr. of Redding Rancheria have been nominated to the Tribal Nations Leadership Council, and I urge you to refuse to sit them as members of the Council.

Throughout California Indian Country, tribal officials such as Ms. Nelson and Mr. Potter have taken actions which have denied and/or stripped thousands of California Indians of the basic rights guaranteed by tribal and federal laws. These very same tribal leaders have escaped prosecution for their gross violations by invoking tribal sovereignty.

If it is the intent of the Department to gain perspective and develop policy regarding tribal justice issues such as civil rights, the Department would be better served by meeting with those who have been victims of the arbitrary and capricious acts of tribal officials.

Moreover, it would be the height of hypocrisy to allow either Ms. Nelson or Mr. Potter to sit on the Council and influence Department policy regarding tribal justice issues when they themselves continue to prosper or retain power as a direct result of actions which have victimized the citizens of Enterprise and Redding Rancheria.

I urge you to deny Ms. Nelson and Mr. Potter’s nomination to the Council and respectfully request that you revise the manner in which the Department will interact with Indian Country to include consultations with those who have had their rights violated and/or stripped by tribal leaders.



Respectfully submitted:







Cc: Gaye.Tenoso Gaye.Tenoso2@usdoj.gov

Schwarzenegger FINALLY wins One Against 29 Palms Tribe

Well, what do you know? After a string of losses in cases against tribes. The Governator finally won one. Of course, that was already settled law, but a win is a win. It answers the question YES, tribal members that DO NOT live on the reservation DO HAVE TO PAY TAXES. Something that we have all known for quite a while. The 29 Palms tribal members were trying to get away with not paying.

Here is the ruling:

Pursuant to the Order filed herewith, IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiff’s Third Amended Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The Court orders that such judgment be entered.

See the judgement HERE

H/T to Stand up For California

Corruption of California's Government by Indian Gaming Dollars

Jim Marino has a five part series on Indian Gaming in CA. This weeks entry was stinging enough to give him a 'moron-alert' status on a tribal gaming website operated by the cousin of the corrupt Pechanga Band of Lusieno Indians' Chairman, Mark Macarro, last's week it must have missed the mark. This series points out the need for oversight hearings, which have been requested by Rep. Mike Thompson to Rep. Nick Rahall.

In a 5-part series, I outlined what led up to the advent of the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act of 1988. How Congress engaged in a feeble attempt to wean Indian tribes from total federal dependence and at the same time clarify the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cabazon Tribe versus California. How Congress completely failed to take into account the complex and confusing body of Indian law, including the court-created doctrine of Indian tribal immunity from lawsuit.

Then I discussed the tortured history of how Indian gambling found its way into California illegally and the attempts to legalize it by corrupt politicians and Gov. Gray Davis, who executed 59 tribal-state compacts for casinos with several tiny bands of questionable Indian descent, and who had no legally eligible lands on which to build and operate a gambling casino and even allow questionable “tribes” to purchase land near perceived gambling markets in a practice that came to be known as “reservation shopping.”

These often ridiculous policies and events led to the rapid expansion of Indian gambling casinos all over California being thrust into many communities who didn’t want them and which provided no benefit despite the creation of “jobs.” That was because of the many negative impacts of such a casino and the demands placed on public services and infrastructure, which the Indian casinos and businesses used regularly while paying no taxes.

This continuing article is to demonstrate how pervasive the corruption from Indian gambling dollars has become. Although there are many examples, this limited space only allows for the recounting of some of the typical and more outrageous examples of it.

As set out in the earlier series, Gov. Davis owed his election to the massive contributions from Indian casinos operating illegally in California at the time and the massive campaign instituted by those tribes, many of which had only a handful of members, and fractional and often questionable claims to being “Indian” at all. A campaign to enact a tribal initiative to amend the California Government Code known as Proposition 5 was circulated in an attempt to legalize the illegal Indian gambling casinos operating in California at the time.

To repay this largesse, once elected, Gov. Davis negotiated 59 tribal-state compacts through the summer of 1999 with these illegal existing casino tribes and many other questionable groups, several with no eligible land upon which gambling would be allowed under federal law. These compacts had been negotiated behind closed doors under the authority of Proposition 5 enacted in November 1998 at the same time Davis was elected.

These secretive negotiations took place behind closed doors, away from all of the major public forces that usually shape laws, such as city and county governments, unions, law enforcement, women’s rights groups, environmental protection groups, local and consumer rights groups and lawyers’ organizations. Even though the California Supreme Court had struck down Proposition 5 in August 1999, undaunted, Gov. Davis executed these give-away “sweetheart” compacts in September 1999 and had the democratically controlled legislature approve them in October 1999. To overcome the fact there was no statutory authority to execute and approve those compacts after the August 1999 Supreme Court decision, Gov. Davis and the Legislature put a “legislative initiative” on the March 2000 ballot called Proposition 1A. Although this initiative amended the State Constitution to authorize the Governor to negotiate future tribal-state compacts, it was, in effect, an initiative designed to retroactively ratify the 59 compacts signed earlier without lawful authority and without informing the voters.

As if this corrupted set of events was not enough, it was but the opening bell in a bruising round of corrupt practices that followed at both the state and federal level.

Proposition 1A established two funds: The Revenue Sharing Trust Fund and the Special Distribution Fund. The former was a fund established by the state into which those tribes with casinos would pay money. That fund would then make annual payments to “Indian tribes” in California that did not have casinos, or had casinos with fewer than 300 slot machines. Each “tribe” would receive an annual distribution of $1,100,000 over and above the hundreds of thousands they receive in federal welfare and grant monies.

Some of these “tribes” had only one or two members, like the Valley Miwoks and the Buena Vista MeWuks and Mary Ann Martin’s Augustine Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians. She was the only member of that “tribe” and not only entitled to receive a $1.1 million dollar distribution but also hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in federal welfare and grant money for “tribal government,” “tribal economic development,” “tribal housing,” and so forth. Many other bands or tribes had perhaps a handful of members.

The first thing that happened once Indian gambling became openly legal was that these casino tribes began contributing monies large and small to various politicians at the state and local level.

Many of you may recall how Jack Abramoff, (OP: whom Mark Macarro and his wife had dinner with.) the now imprisoned and disgraced lobbyist, got $80 million from one “poor” Indian tribe in Alabama with orders to spread it around Washington politicians, in order to block another Indian tribe’s attempt to open a competing casino. When the scandal finally broke, the Indian tribal governments and liberal media castigated Abramoff and his partner Scanlon for his activities, but carefully concealed the fact it was the Indian tribal governments, lawyers and lobbyists that furnished the tribal ‘pay-off” monies and that Abramoff was just the bag man delivering the tribal gambling monies to the many corrupt politicians he knew and who willingly took it.

One tribal government operating a gambling casino near Palm Springs gave Abramoff $10 million and then later refused to disclose what it was for, even to the tribal membership. State Senator Jim Battin from Palm Springs received tens of thousands of dollars in Indian casino contributions deposited into committees mostly called “The Friends of Jim Battin.” These committees were very generous in handing out tens of thousands of those casino dollars to other Sacramento politicians, lending a new meaning to the expression “it pays to have friends.” When he finally got in trouble with the state F.P.P.C. and they filed complaints against him, he and these Indian casinos set up the “Jim Battin Defense Fund.”

Senator Battin, (now termed out), was a champion of Indian gambling causes of all kinds. A year or two ago, the former chairman of the Indian Gaming Commission, Phillip Hogen, had been trying to change the federal rules defining more clearly what a slot machine was. Casino Indians and slot machine manufacturers had designed machines they called Bingo machines. Bingo under the IGRA is a class II gambling game that can be operated by a tribe without needing a tribal-state compact. Such a tribal-state compact is required for class III casino gambling, including the use of slot machines.

The compact requirement is the only way states can require tribes to pay money for all of the public services and infrastructure they use at the taxpayers’ expense. The compacts are also the way states can impose rules and regulations on gambling tribes. Commissioner Hogen had been trying to change the rules for years and reclassify these “Bingo machines” as facsimile slot machines subject to state control and the tribal-state compact requirements.

Sen. Battin wrote a letter, at the time, to Commissioner Hogen urging him not to change the rule, and he had 20 other Senators sign it. So, here we have fully one-half of our state’s Senators opposing a federal rule change that would be a direct benefit to the State of California, the state that they are supposed to be representing.

As I wrote in an article last year for this Valley Journal titled “Pay to Play,” this Indian casino corruption is rampant. Locally the Chumash and other tribes pushed for a bill early on in the gambling casino saga. They urged adoption of a bill in the Legislature that required local communities to come hat in hand for monies from the special distribution fund that were paid into it by gambling tribes. This money was originally intended to mitigate the negative impacts of casinos on local communities. That bill established local committees, controlled by the very Indian tribes causing the negative impacts who would then either approve or disprove any requests for grants by local governments to be made from the monies that were originally in that fund to mitigate those impacts.

On another occasion when the IRS refused to allow Indian tribes to issue tax-free bonds for gambling casino construction, arguing that such bonds were for public works projects, the tribes went to their friends in Sacramento – and introduced a bill to have the State of California issue tax-free bonds on their behalf.

When the gambling tribes wanted to eliminate any competition, they went to Sacramento again and had a bill introduced to place a long moratorium on the issuance of any more private non-Indian card room licenses that is still in effect. In fact, they just got their buddies in the Legislature to extend it.

When they wanted to eliminate competition from charities conducting Bingo games for charitable purposes, they got their Legislative friends to pass a bill banning the use of these Bingo machines by charities. You remember, the same machines they argued to the federal government were not slot machines at all, but then when they wanted to block their use by charities in California, they claimed that the state should not allow this use because it infringed on their exclusive right to operate “slot machines,” as provided for in the tribal-state compacts and in Art. 4, section 19 of the State Constitution.

Even locally, you may recall, when the Chumash wanted to rename San Marcos Pass/Highway 154 “The Chumash Highway,” they went to another friend of the Indian casino tribes, Assemblyman Coto, who has taken thousand of dollars from casino tribes and is now doing so for a run for the State Senate. Assemblyman Coto represents a San Jose District some 300 miles from here.

After receiving a generous political contribution of several thousand dollars from the Chumash, he introduced a resolution to rename Highway 154 as the Chumash Highway.

This was done without any local notice or knowledge and/or a resolution from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, which resolution was required by a section of the California Streets and Highways Code. It was then shepherded quietly through the legislature by a number of elected officials in record time, many of whom had received thousands of dollars from the Chumash and tens of thousands from other casino tribes. The community only learned of the resolution when the tribe issued a press release after the fact.

Read the remainder of the article HERE

Snoqualmie Tribal Council Snuffs Recall Call. Fights to Hold Power

Some 50 members of the Snoqualmie Tribe called for a recall of nearly half of the tribal council in a general meeting that staff and other council members say was improperly noticed and therefore invalid.

The Snoqualmie Tribal Council had ordered and then canceled a general meeting of tribal membership on Saturday, May 8, but about 50 voting members showed up anyway at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds longhouse in Monroe. Sub-chief Nathan Barker opened the meeting, and chairwoman-elect Shelley Burch, Barker’s sister, presided.

At that meeting, attendees voted to recall six tribal council members, including MaryAnne Hinzman, Bobby Hinzman, Ray Mullen, Margaret Mullen, Kanium Ventura and Arlene Ventura, who did not attend the meeting. Recall letters stated that the recalled council members had 30 days to reply to the membership on their reasons for not attending.

The Tribal Council met five days later in a closed session Thursday, May 13, at the tribe’s Snoqualmie offices. That morning, a note from Tribe Administrator Matt Mattson posted on the door of the office stated that the general meeting was illegally held and that the council remained intact.

“Staff will continue to respond to the sitting tribal council and proceed with the understanding that Nina Repin has a renewed term and Jake Repin, Jolene Williams and Shelley Burch assume office on May 15,” Mattson’s letter stated.

According to a tribal official, the Snoqualmie Tribe’s constitution calls for the general meeting agenda to be sent to the Tribal Secretary at least 30 days prior to the meeting, and for a meeting notice to be published in a newspaper. Neither of those conditions were met.

Council members had been told days earlier that the meeting was improper, acting chairwoman MaryAnne Hinzman told the Valley Record.

The meeting was called off, she said, to avoid legal challenges.

"We didn't want to have to go to court again," Hinzman said.

While 50 votes are technically a quorum, the tribe' constitution states that recall requires a vote by at least one-third of the tribal membership, roughly 120 votes — double the number of votes tallied that Saturday.

The tribal council called for a fact-finding meeting on Wednesday, May 26, on events surrounding the meeting. Tribal officials said that no council members are being forced off the council, but some of the council members who took part in the meeting may be censured, or required to go before the membership to explain their decision.

The council is also expected to set the agenda next week for a new general meeting. That meeting will come no less than 30 days from the date the agenda is set, according to officials.


Closed office

In the letter posted on the door of the tribal center, Mattson stated that his office had been inundated with rumors of the dismantling of the tribal council.

Then-current chairman Joe Mullen and Hinzman ordered him to close the tribal office to all but staff, council and those with appointments.

Chief Barker attended Thursday’s meeting and attempted to deliver the recall letters. Instead, council members sanctioned him.

Barker disagreed with the council’s decision not to attend the meeting.

“The rest of them chose not to face the people,” he said. “You’re elected by the people. You don’t go and hide from them.”

The tribal center was locked down in an election-related council dispute last fall. During mitigation hearings between council members that followed, Barker remembers being asked by a negotiator what he wanted. His answer: a general membership meeting.

“Let the people decide what they want,” Barker said.

Are Glenda Nelson and Jack Potter Jr Appropriate Choices or the Tribal Nations Leadership Council?

Glenda Nelson of Enterprise Rancheria and Jack Potter Jr. from Redding Rancheria are not just appropriate choices to sit on the Tribal Nations Leadership Council, they may be the best qualified to sit on the Council.

"How can that be?" you ask. Well, as our friends have noted: Who better to provide insight to the Department of Justice on civil rights than the biggest violator's walking the planet. As a commenter put it, it's like having a child molester babysit.

Quite simply, the U.S Department of Justice does not have the authority to enforce the Indian Civil Rights Act: http://www.justice.gov/otj/civilrights.htm

Thousands of Indians from throughout the United States understand all too well that the DOJ does not enforce the ICRA. And tribal leaders such as Nelson and Potter, as well as Mark Maccaro and Chad Smith, among others, know that the DOJ's failure to uphold federal law creates opportunities for them to violate the ICRA without fear of retribution. In Macarro's case, disenrollment of 25% of the tribe was worth more than $20,000 per month to him over the past four years! A $MILLION$ to him, his family and friends, EACH, is worth violating a few civil rights.

In fact, it might be said that some tribal leaders, Nelson and Potter included, have gained substantially both personally and politically due to the DOJ's failure to protect the citizens of the Enterprise and Redding Rancherias from the arbitrary and capricious acts which were outlawed by the ICRA. Power, money both influence corruption. And when you know Eric Holder won't do anything about it, why do what's right, when doing what's wrong is so much more lucrative.

All things considered, Nelson and Potter are perfect fits for a Department that has failed Indians and Indian Country time and time again. This particular Department of Justice has proven its incompetence time and again, such as not reading AZ's immigration law, denigrating it, while having a policy that supports it.

However, if you don't agree with this, and think that honor has a place in this committee, please feel free to express your concerns to the DOJ by contacting Tracy Toulou (Tracy.Toulou2@usdoj.gov) and Gaye Tenoso (Gaye.Tenoso2@usdoj.gov).

Breaking News: AG Holder's Tribal Nations Leadership Council has Nominees from Tribes That Have CRUSHED the Civil Rights of Members!

In a developing story, we just got information that the Department of Justice Office of Tribal Justice solicited tribal nominations from each BIA region for members to the Tribal Nations Leadership Council. The TNLC will meet with the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his senior staff to provide consultation on tribal justice issues.

Nominees made by Pechanga, Redding Rancheria and others included Chairwoman Glenda Nelson of the Enterprise and Jack Potter Jr from Redding Rancheria.

Concerns or support regarding the TNLC representatives should be made to Tracy Toulou (Tracy.Toulou2@usdoj.gov) and Gaye Tenoso (Gaye.Tenoso2@usdoj.gov) These two members of tribal councils that have crushed the civil and human rights of their people SHOULD NOT have the honor of sitting in meetings with the Attorney General. Certainly there are better choices in California's Indian Country. And Pechanga shouldn't be able to nominate ANYONE.

And are these two REALLY who should represent California's Indian Country?

Stay TUNED

BOYCOTT the LAKERS for ACCEPTING A Sponsor that Violates CIVIL RIGHTS and HUMAN RIGHTS: Yes Pechanga

The Los Angeles Lakers' website shows that the Pechanga Resort and Casino, operated by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, well know civil rights violators are SPONSORS.

It's funny that Mexican-American groups are calling for a protest over head coach Phil Jackson's comments to ESPN the other day, yet have NO PROBLEM supporting a sports team that takes MONEY from a tribe the actually HAS violated civil and human rights. What's UP WITH THAT?

In an interview with ESPN, Jackson spoke in support of SB 1070 saying, “Am I crazy, or am I the only one that heard [the legislature] say ‘we just took the United States immigration law and adapted it to our state.’” When sports reporter J.A. Adande remarked that SB 1070 actually represented “the usurping of federal law,” Jackson responded, “It’s not usurping…. they gave it some teeth to be able to enforce it.”
He then chided his upcoming playoff opponent, the Phoenix Suns, for coming out as a team—from owner to players—against the bill.

“I don’t think teams should get involved in the political stuff,” Jackson said. “If I heard it right the American people are really for stronger immigration laws, if I’m not mistaken. Where we stand as basketball teams, we should let that kind of play out and let the political end of that go where it’s going to go.”

altoarizona.com want has a petition out asking Jackson to stand with Los Angeles, you know, the city whose leader's haven't read the law and are only looking to get press coverage. Ed Reyes is a moron who doesn't know that the AZ law has the same law as our OWN California law, Janice Hahn..a political legacy and not worth much... direct your ire at PECHANGA