Vice President Joe Biden: You Were Here First.... to Hispanics

Yes, they told us if we voted for McCain we'd have a fool for Vice President...
Vice President Joe Biden compared Irish immigration the United States to Hispanic immigration -- but noted Hispanics were here first.
Biden on Thursday hosted the annual Hispanic Heritage Month reception at the Naval Observatory. Guests included about 100 Hispanic veterans, active duty service members, elected officials and others. The music was classical Mexican.

"You all were here before us," Biden said, according to a pool report.

No wonder the Obama Administration turns a blind eye to civil rights violations in Indian Country.

Federal Court Rules AGAINST Laytonville Rancheria Disenrollment: Sloan/Hacker Family WINS!

The BIA stood up for one family of disenrolled, (while leaving thousands undefended) but even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then. Congratulations to the Sloan/Hacker family for winning.

Gene Sloan speaking at "Indian Day" Civil Rights Rally
2005
http://tribalcorruption.com/

Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria (the “Tribe”) seeks an order under the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) vacating and reversing the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (“BIA”) administrative decision that ordered the Tribe to re-enroll twenty-two members of the Sloan/Hecker family who were disenrolled by the Tribe in 1995. A hearing on the pending cross motions for summary judgment was held on May 23,
2011. For the reasons stated below,

Plaintiff’s motion for summary udgment is denied, Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted,and the BIA’s decision is affirmed.

This has been a 16 year struggle.   DO NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT for YOUR RIGHTS.   And Amy Deutschke, stand up for the rest of disenfranchised people in Indian Country.

Sierra Star News: Chukchansi Issues Disenrollment Letters; Tribal Incompetence Shown, BIA Ineffective

Carmen George of the Sierra Star News has an excellent article up detail the latest round of disenrollments at the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians.

When 87-year-old Ruby "Roan" Cordero of Oakhurst received a letter a few weeks ago stating she would be disenrolled as a member of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, she couldn't understand the piece of paper.
Cordero only speaks a little English. Her Alzheimer's Disease has pulled her mind back to an earlier time, family members say, to childhood when she still spoke in her native language -- Chukchansi Indian    OP:  Yes, that's right, the tribe is going to eliminate one who spoke the language.  One who could use the help of her tribe.

The Roan descendants were given 15 minutes before the session began, as stated in their letters, to view evidence presented against them at their disenrollment hearings this week.

Opponents say certain families are being targeted, with disenrollments rooted in greed over casino profits, old grudges between individuals, and because many live in neighboring Mountain Area towns, like Mariposa, away from the rancheria   OP:  15 minutes!  To view the evidence against them AT THE HEARINGS!  Not weeks ahead of time to prepare their defense.   Lack of due process anyone?  Anyone?

Tribal Council Chairman Reggie Lewis, showing his incompetence couldn't even put a proper total on how many his tribe has stripped citizenship from:  While Lewis estimated total disenrollments for the tribe since its inception between 400 and 500, Laura Wass, Central California director for the American Indian Movement and a leading advocate for disenrolled Indians, said the real number is estimated at 800, the majority of disenrollments since the tribe opened Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino in 2003.

OP:  The BIA shows it's unecessary: A disenrollment means tribal members lose monthly stipends, currently about $280 a month from the rancheria's multi-million dollar casino revenues, and benefits for housing, education, medical, and elder and child services.

"We're no longer a direct service provider," said Troy Burdick, superintendent of Central California Bureau of Indian Affairs with 55 tribes beneath him. "I can't think of anything my agency would provide as a direct benefit to them if they are not a member of a federally recognized tribe    OP:  THEN WHY DO WE NEED YOU, TROY??

Read the Rest of the story

Sycuan, Which Lied to People of California on Gaming Compacts NOW want more Land

Remember when Sycuan promised they'd help balance our state budget if ONLY we'd give them more slots, only to find out they hadn't even approved the move through their own tribe?  We wrote about it Sycuan Bails On Gaming Compact

Blaming a punishing economy, the Sycuan band of El Cajon on Thursday walked away from a multibillion-dollar gambling agreement that it had pursued for years and spent $6 million to defend.



The deal authorized an expansion from 2,000 slots the tribe now operates to as many as 5,000 machines plus an option for a second, off-reservation casino on newly acquired lands that include the former Singing Hills Country Club.
The agreement, or compact, was signed more than two years ago by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sycuan Chairman Daniel Tucker. But it was never ratified by the tribe's 78 adult members, as required by a little-noticed clause.


The decision ultimately could cost both the tribe and the state billions of dollars

NOW, Sycuan wants CA to give them more land.
The Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians wants to expand their reservation, but county supervisor Dianne Jacob says she is against the idea which would put more land into the tribe's federal trust.

Jacob is concerned the quality of the tribe's Environmental Assessment is poor. She says the report fails to look at the possible resort and casino related projects that could be built on the property after it becomes part of the tribe's trust.

“A project of this scope and undertaking justifies a more detailed evaluation of the environmental consequences and alternatives than is provided in the Environmental Assessment," Jacob said in a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The tribe says they are only trying to annex property they already own, property which they say was originally part of the reservation, said tribe spokesperson Adam Day.
The tribe wants to place an equestrian center, a RV park, and a facility for their annual Pow Wow on the new property. The annexed land would also include the Sycuan Resort, also known as the Singing Hills Country Club.

Read the Rest of the story

Governor Brown Accepting Applications for Tribal Affairs Advocate

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed an executive order creating a position as Tribal Advisor Advocate which we wrote about here:   Governor gives Standing.....

The Governor's office is accepting nominations and applications for the position.  We need an advocate for ALL of Indian Country, not just the rich gaming tribes, many of which have violated the civil and basic human rights of their people.  In fact, those aggrieved Native Americans, if grouped together, would create the second largest tribe in California, with over 2,000 people harmed by their tribes.    In comparison, Picayune , once 1200 strong, now, because of disenrollment, only has 600 members, San Manuel, arguably the richest California tribe has less than 200 members.

The application can be found HERE     Perhaps a board member of the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization should be the advocate for all Indian Country.

Jeff Livingston, Former Chukchansi GM Sentenced to 2 years for Stealing $50,000. Tribal Council, gets nothing for taking MILLIONS from Disenrollees.

A former general manager of the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino was sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison for embezzling more than $50,000 from the Madera County gambling operation.
Jeff Livingston, 51, also was ordered to pay $52,400 in restitution to the casino and serve three years of probation after his release.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill, who handed down the sentence, ordered Livingston to start serving his term by Oct. 31.
"I did wrong," Livingston said to O'Neill. "I'm here in court because a jury of my peers found I did wrong."
Still, Livingston – a former Fresno resident who now lives in Las Vegas – asked for probation instead of prison. His attorney, federal defender Marc Days, said his client's actions were an "aberration" and not part of his overall character.

"The question is, is prison necessary for Mr. Livingston?" Days asked.

O'Neill left no question that the answer was "yes." He noted that Livingston currently is employed, but has not paid any restitution to Chukchansi. He also said Livingston has yet to admit wrongdoing.

Livingston – a former deputy sheriff in Broward County, Fla., who was named the casino's general manager in 2005 – was convicted by a federal jury in June on six counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment on Indian land.

During a five-day trial, prosecutors Ian Garriques and Kirk Sherriff contended that Livingston used a corporate credit card to embezzle at least $48,500 from the casino between October 2006 and January 2008.

Read more at FRESNO BEE:

Cherokee Nation in CONTEMPT of Court. FAIL to get ballots to Freedmen. Corruption or Incompetence?

TULSA, Okla. — A federal judge on Monday found the Cherokee Nation in contempt of court for missing a deadline to notify roughly 1,200 descendants of black slaves once owned by the Oklahoma tribe’s members that they could vote in a special election for their chief.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy already allowed attorneys for the tribe and the black descendants, known as freedmen, to hatch a deal in Washington D.C. last week to extend balloting for Saturday’s special election until Oct. 8 so that those qualified to vote can be notified and participate.

But on Monday, Jon Velie, an attorney for the freedmen, explained to the judge that the tribe not only missed Thursday’s deadline to notify the 1,200 registered freedmen voters, it also missed a Saturday deadline to get absentee ballots to roughly 350 freedmen voters who had requested them. The election began Saturday and ends Oct. 8.

Susan Plumb, the chairwoman of the Cherokee Nation Election Commission, said a mechanical problem during printing delayed the mailing and that all of the letters were sent by Thursday.

Cherokee Voter Turnout is HIGHER Than Last Disputed Election

All Cherokee Freedmen need to exercise their voting rights.

Released late Saturday night, unofficial returns show 8,787 people cast ballots at the 38 precincts across the tribe's 14-county jurisdiction.

Of the 15,000 votes cast in the June 25 general election, about 8,000 votes were cast in person.

Along with the 8,787 votes cast at precincts, preliminary figures show more than 1,100 votes were cast during early walk-in voting, an increase of about 100 votes.

Two additional walk-in voting days are scheduled for Thursday and Oct. 6 for freedmen voters only.

The election commission did not announce how many of the almost 12,000 absentee ballots requested were returned.

Non-freedmen voters were required to turn in their ballots by yesterday, while freedmen absentee voters have until Oct. 8.

In accordance with a federal district court order, the Cherokee Nation Election Commission will not count any ballots in the race between former chief Chad Smith and Tribal Councilor Bill John Baker until Oct. 8.

The ballots, ballot boxes and voting machines are locked in the commission's vault in the interim. Results from the original election, held in June, were called into question by both campaigns, with each candidate named the winner at least once.

The tribe's Supreme Court ultimately invalidated the June election, ruling that the results could not be verified with mathematical certainty.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20110926_12_A8_TAHLEQ890370

Sierra Star News: Picayune Rancheria to Begin Disenrollment Process; Who Massacres More Indians Than Picayune?

Apparently, terminating 50% of their tribal citizens wasn't enough for the despicable Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians.

The Sierra Star News says: In next week's edition:   Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians begin tribal disenrollment process.

Read about stripping Indians of their citizenship     It looks like Picayune may be the biggest defiler of Indians

Saginaw Chippewa's Told They Can't Terminate Citizenship of Anna Bell Atwell

A tribal hearing officer has ruled that the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe cannot revoke the membership of an 87-year-old elder, despite the fact that she is not directly descended from a person listed on one of the Tribe’s base rolls.  OP:  See articles by Susan Bradford on Saginaw Tribe HERE  and some drug running accusations here 

But the disenrollment case of Anna Bell Atwell may not be over, according to her attorney.

“Tribal government officials, both certifiers and enrollment department staff, had a policy that collateral tracing to a constitutional base roll was sufficient to satisfy the tracing requirement for membership eligibility for enrollment,” said a ruling from the Tribe’s Office of Administrative Hearings.

Atwell became a member of the Tribe in 1988 during the Tribe’s open enrollment period, a time when the Tribe reached out to Natives who might qualify to become members. She is a direct descendant of a man named Edmund Chatfield; his brother, the name of his brother Lyman Chatfield, appears on an 1885 list of Natives who received land allotments from the federal government and serves as a Tribal base roll.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled with this decision if I had written it myself,” said Paula Fisher, Atwell’s attorney. “It is written in a way that will be helpful for other families that descend collaterally from constitutional base rolls.”

The Tribe’s constitution specifies that Tribal members must be at least one-quarter Indian and descended from someone listed either on a base roll compiled in 1982, or from one of several lists compiled during the 19th century.

The Tribe’s enrollment ordinance now specifies that members must be direct descendants, but at the time Atwell became a member, it said only “descended.” That was interpreted to mean that descent from siblings of people named on the base rolls also counted.

The decision noted that numerous people with “collateral descent” are members of the Tribe in good standing, and Atwell’s case is no different.   Read the full article here

Read about Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indian Disenrollment HERE     and more from Susan Bradford HERE

Schwarzenegger a Political Blackmailer Says Rincon's Bo Mazzetti

Rincon Tribal Chairman Bo Mazzetti has an article up in Indian Country Today:


States and governors just can’t seem to control themselves; they cannot keep their hands out of tribal pockets. The concept that tribal governments have rights and financial needs has eluded them for so long they have become accustomed to ignoring them.

But occasionally a governor gets a hand slap for reaching too far into tribal pockets and breaching our sovereignty. An example is the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians’ legal victory over former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for illegal taxation and bad faith in renegotiating Rincon’s gaming compact.

The case affirms that occasionally tribes have the power to tip the imbalance of power states enjoy.

Schwarzenegger was a political blackmailer from the outset of his career as a California politician. He used tribes and gaming income as a wedge issue in his run for governor. It may not have been “playing the race card,” but it was a none-too-subtle “us versus them” strategy.

In an expensive television campaign, he asserted that the former governor’s deal with the gaming tribes had been too favorable to California Indians. He vowed that he make tribes pay their “fair share.” The backdrop for the campaign was the state’s continuing budget deficits and the voters’ “no new taxes” mentality.

Schwarzenegger found a painless solution for California voters: Tax the rich gaming Indians. It didn’t matter that most California tribes are far from rich—they’re actually closer to destitute—and only a few tribes earn big bucks through gaming.  OP:  That's because they try to keep tribes from getting casino's and becoming competitive.

Schwarzenegger carried out his promise to make tribes pay more. He accomplished that by renegotiating compacts or approving new compacts with tribes only when they agreed to be taxed at 15 percent and up to 25 percent of net win. Since there was no consideration of overhead and deductions for operations, a net win for the Rincon Band, asking to renegotiate to add 900 new slot machines, would have actually been a 30 to 40 percent tax.

The Cherokee Freedmen Issue: A History YOU Should Know

Our Friend Marilyn Van put together a history of the Cherokee Freedmen, whose ancestors were dragged as property on the infamous "Trail of Tears".  You've heard the story of the Cherokee forced to leave their homes...but have you heard the story of their slaves?     Here it is

Cherokee people with African blood have been members of the Cherokee nation on some basis since the first people with African blood came into the Cherokee areas of the SE United States. The majority of the people with African blood living in the Cherokee nation prior to the Civil war lived there as slaves of Cherokee citizens or as free black non citizens, usually the descendants of Cherokee men and women with African blood. (Children of Cherokee women tribal members were tribal citizens regardless of race of the father – This is clear in the Cherokee constitution of 1827 and 1839).

In 1863, the Cherokee government outlawed slavery through acts of the tribal council. In 1866 , a treaty was signed with the US government in which the Cherokee government agreed to give citizenship to those people with African blood living in the Cherokee nations who were not already citizens. (see 14 Stat. L. 799). The 1839 constitution was amended by the national council on November 28, 1866 so that its provisions would be in line with the 1866 treaty. Between 1866 until the end of the end of tribal government, about 1907, African Cherokee people participated as full citizens of that nation, holding office, voting, running businesses, etc. This time of tribal peace and harmony began to come to an end, however when the Dawes Commission, under Acts of Congress came to the Cherokee nation and registered almost all of the people with African blood as “Freedmen tribal members”; not recording “blood quantum’s” for African Cherokee people .
The tribal citizens could not decide how they were to be classified – such classification was the prerogative of the Dawes commission. (It must be emphasized that even the blood quantums of non freedmen citizens were mere guesses and were only meant to be used for land restrictions; ie whether or not a tribal member could sell his allotment without government approval. Rolls of citizens prepared by the tribes prior to the 1890s had no “blood quantums”). In 1907, “Jim Crow Laws” were passed by the white majority in the state of Oklahoma, which created legal distance between the Freedmen tribal members and the rest of the tribe. Between 1907 and 1975, the Cherokee Freedmen tribal members received the same per capita payments as other tribal members and intermittently accessed benefits as tribal members. Under Title 25 section 991, members of the Cherokee nation listed on the “final rolls” of the Dawes Commission. were entitled to receive a Judgement fund payment during the early 1960s. CHEROKEE FREEDMEN AS TRIBAL MEMBERS RECEIVED THIS PAYMENT. In 1907, Freedmen represented about 10 to 12% of the tribe, according to US government records.

In 1971, the Federal government authorized the Cherokee nation (CNO) to once again establish its own government. Cherokee Freedmen voted in elections in 1971, 1975, and 1979. A constitution was voted on by the Cherokee people, including some freedmen in 1975 which indicated that Dawes enrollees and their descendants were entitled to membership in the Cherokee nation. The constitution made the tribe subject to all of the laws of the United States and required that the tribe receive the permission of the President or his designee before adopting new constitutions or constitutional amendments. However, the Cherokee Freedmen were blocked at the polls, beginning in 1983 under the orders of Chief Swimmer (now special trustee appointed by President George W. Bush who also served as BIA head during the 1980s under President Reagan) because they supported a rival candidate for Chief , Perry Wheeler who was Deputy Chief at that point.

Subsequently, the tribal council, under the direction of chief Wilma Mankiller, later passed an Act requiring that all tribal members be able to provide a Certificate of Indian blood Card (CDIB), based strictly on the Degree of blood listed on the Dawes Rolls for themselves or their ancestor. Since that roll did not list a degree of blood for Freedmen tribal members, this effectively removed all Freedmen and their descendants from tribal membership, even though a large number if not the majority could provide a degree of Indian blood from their Dawes testimony, Guion Miller payment roll testimony, Henderson payment Roll, death and heir ship documents of the US government , etc. This action of blocking the freedmen from tribal membership was not done under the direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), for BIA Muskogee officials Dennis Springwater and Joe Parker had met with tribal officials in 1983, and emphasized that the Cherokee constitution as well as the treaty of 1866 granted citizenship to the Cherokee Freedmen and their Descendants. The tribe was told the Freedmen should be allowed to vote. Affidavits of the longstanding BIA position are a part of the Nero case file. See also: BIA’s Solicitor’s Opinion, October 1, 1941, 1 Op. Sol. On Indian Affairs 1076 (U.S.D.I. 1979), where the BIA reaffirmed that the Cherokee Freedmen voting and membership rights were fixed by treaty and formal tribal actions .

The press took note of these matters, especially when a Reverend Nero and several other Freedmen filed a lawsuit against the Cherokee nation and the BIA in 1984. Then Chief Swimmer stated in the Oklahoma Eagle newspaper that it was “easier for the registration department to process tribal memberships of people with CDIB cards (at that time, the tribe did not have a contract with the BIA to process CDIB cards), which must raise the question of why Cherokee citizens must be deprived of their rights in order to make the job of registration easier for tribal employees on salary. The Baltimore son reported on July 29, 1984 that then Deputy Chief Wilma Mankiller told the Baltimore Sun that Cherokee Freedmen should not have tribal membership since such membership should be for “people with Cherokee blood”- words which must clearly be seen as an effort to prejudice the Cherokee people as well as the general American people that people with African blood cannot document Cherokee blood and are not Cherokee Indian people, and perpetrating those old “one drop of blood” standards that people with African blood have no other blood and must be kept as a people completely apart unlike any other people. Cherokee nation attorney Wilcoxen during the Nero case appears to have clearly attempted to prejudice the judge against the Cherokee freedmen plaintiffs by wrongly proclaiming that the “Freedmen did not have Cherokee blood”, and that the 1975 constitution only allowed “Cherokees, Delaware, and Shawnee” to be tribal members”; although the Constitution does not say that. (Bands of Delaware and Shawnee Indians were adopted into the Cherokee nation after 1866, whose individuals are not required to also have “Cherokee blood” to be Cherokee citizens). The Nero lawsuit was dismissed by the judge in 1989 over jurisdictional issues; that for example the case should have been tried in the court of claims due to the amount of dollars the plaintiffs were requesting.

In 1998, the Cherokee nation justices heard a citizenship case by a descendant of Cherokee Freedmen, Bernice Riggs . (Bernice Riggs Versus Lela Ummerteskee, Acting Registrar of the Cheorkee Nation (JAT 97-03-K) In 2001, The tribal justices ruled that the testimony and records provided that Mrs Riggs indeed had Cherokee blood. However, they held that this Cherokee ancestor, a man named Rogers was deceased at the time of the Dawes enrollment; - had he been alive at the time of the Dawes enrollment, she would have been able to become a Cherokee citizen based on his degree of Cherokee blood but that since his descendents were listed as Freedmen by the Dawes Commission, she did not have an ancestor with a Dawes Final Roll number from whom she could obtain a CDIB card. The tribal justices determined that the Cherokee nation is a sovereign nation and could grant membership to whomever they wished. (It must be noted that individuals with Caucasian mothers and dead Cherokee fathers were not excluded from being enrolled as “citizens by blood by the Dawes Commission” and that the descendants of such individuals are not barred from Cherokee membership today.).

In 1999, the Cherokee nation prepared a new constitution to submit for BIA approval. The BIA, under Kevin Gover, rejected the new constitution, partially under the grounds that the Cherokee nation would not allow Cherokee Freedmen to vote on it, and that the new constitution would not allow Cherokee freedmen to hold office. According to the official Cherokee Phoenix tribal newspaper (Spring 2001), the CNO attempted to take the new constitution directly to president Clinton, but he would not sign it either. According to the tribal newspaper, they determined to request instead that the BIA agree to remove requirements of federal government approval of constitutional amendments and new constitutions. A decision was made to wait for a “friendlier administration”, in the words of the Cherokee Phoenix tribal newspaper. The same tribal newspaper article also carried a statement from Attorney And Cherokee citizen Ralph Keen, that it is not the tribal constitution which bars freedmen and their descendants from voting on the constitution but a tribal statute.

In 2002, BIA head Neal McCaleb was approached with a request to allow a referendum by Cherokee voters on a constitutional amendment removing federal approval. Neal McCaleb wrote a letter in March 2002, stating that the Freedmen must be allowed to vote on the amendment and that no amendment of the Constitution could eliminate the Freedmen from tribal membership. In April 2002, another letter, with Neal McCalebs signature said he did not write the first letter; the second letter did not say anything about the Freedmen being required to vote on the constitutional amendment. Note that this second letter was completely opposite of all BIA policy since the 1940s. The Cherokee nation government, under Chief Smith, held various meetings around the Cherokee nation, encouraging people to approve the referendum and also the proposed constitution, which has no provision for federal approval of constitutional amendments and did not make the Cherokee nation government subject to US law.

In May 2003, a referendum was held regarding the constitutional amendment, and a vote was held in July 2003 on the proposed new constitution. Both were passed by those individuals who were allowed to vote. Descendants of Cherokee freedmen who tried to participate as voters were not given voting cards, or absentee ballots, and were given “challenged ballots” at the polls if they tried to vote in person.

In June, 2003; several descendants of Cherokee Freedmen, through the law firm Velie and Velie; contacted the Department of the Interior, challenging the 2003 elections, based on the rights of the freedmen in the 1866 treaty, the 1975 constitution, and the Seminole nation versus Norton cases of 2001 and 2002 where Judge Kolar Kotelly had upheld the treaties of 1866 for the Seminole freedmen and their voting and membership rights in the Seminole nation. Several prominent Cherokee nation individuals such as then Deputy Chief Hastings Shade also sent a letter to the BIA questioning the validity of an election when the Cherokee freedmen were not allowed to vote. Various letters went from Chief Smith to the BIA accusing the BIA officials of “having a bias against the self government rights of the Cherokee nation”.