Peaceful Protests Scheduled at San Pasqual and RIVERSIDE B.I.A. Against Tribal Corruption

Our friend Joe Villalobos, of San Pasqual has reminded us that there will be TWO peaceful protests shortly and your support is requested:

We peacefully protest, once again, Sunday, April 12, 2015, at the San Pasqual tribal hall starting at 9 a.m.  We need your support. 

If you are unable to attend Sunday, there is a peaceful protest at the BIA Riverside, Monday April 13, please be there by 8 a.m. when the BIA employees arrive. 

• 1451 Research Park Dr
• Riverside, California 92507

Please bring your family and your friends, the true San Pasqual will not stop until we are fully Federally recognized. If you are unable to attend, then please join the twitter storm. 

If you need to know how to do so, just let us know, it is easy and you CAN make an impact.

The last protest was well attended from members of many tribes, including Pechanga and Pala, in support of the San Pasqual people who are denied recognition.  Your presence will help show that this issue is growing, that your support for Native American rights is growing and that WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY.    

Roger Eben, of the Riverside BIA office is leaving, so this would be a great opportunity to say good riddance on a few signs.......   

HOPING SOMEONE ELSE WILL DO SOMETHING..... IS NOT A  GOOD PLAN....

SIGN UP HERE:   https://www.facebook.com/events/704247959696140/

Dennis Chappabitty: Surviving Racists "You Damn Redskin!" .

Our friend and attorney to disenrolled tribal members in California, Dennis Chappabitty has his story on actual racism and his survival when attacked by four white men...


Attorney Dennis G. Chappabitty, a member of the Comanche Nation, shares his encounter with hate and racism in Oklahoma:

I engaged in a pitched, life-and-death, brutal, bloody battle with four racist young white men on a lonely dark rural road in Creek County, Oklahoma in 1971. I was a 22-year-old college student and a citizen of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma.

Recent reports of racism rearing its hateful head out of the filthy muck in Rapid City, South Dakota; Ferguson, Missouri; and Norman, Oklahoma compel me to tell my personal story of survival against racists who were out to kill me while screaming, “You damn redskin, your kind of cowardly red trash needs to be beaten and killed!”

That night in September 1971, I was hitchhiking to Stillwater, Oklahoma from Chicago to attend my final year of college at Oklahoma State University. The trip was great with good folks sharing their food and company all the way to Tulsa from Chicago where I visited my Chiricahua Apache uncles who lived there.

I was on the outskirts of Tulsa very late at night with no cars stopping when a red Chevy Camaro quickly sped by, abruptly stopped, then backed up. I ran up to the car and asked, “Are you going to Stillwater?” They told me to get in. It was a tight fit in the small back seat with two guys while two others sat up front. They could have been frat boys. My pack was stashed in the trunk as we all sped down Highway 51 West.

Get the Story: "YOU DAMN REDSKIN"

OPEN LETTER TO PALA TRIBAL MEMBERS: LOOK WITHIN, WHAT IF IT WERE YOU?

Former Pala Chairman King Freemen has penned an open letter to the members of the Pala Band of Luiseno Indian, whose porcine leader The DESPICABLE ROBERT SMITH has overseen the disenrollment of 164 members of the tribe.

It describes the chicanery and tampering of government paperwork.  Hand written changes to the blood degree that...funny enough, didn't make it to the records housed in DC.  We, from Pechanga  know full well how this can affect others, as there were changes made to the Masiel Basquez Crime Family of Pechanga to ensure they met tribal standards.

This must be shared on twitter and Facebook to all the appropriate people and organizations.  And I URGE those who are under similar circumstances to write the same type of open letter, I WILL print it and those who have been disenrolled to share their stories in the comment sections...and visit OFTEN.

Pala Open Letter by OPechanga

Questions for Pechanga Chairman MARK MACARRO Part TWO Still Waiting for Answers to Part ONE

I've asked members of families terminated from Pechanga or those being kept out to ask some questions of Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Chairman Mark Macarro.  On March 17th, we published the first round of those questions.  We know Pechanga reads the blog, we'd appreciate ANSWERS.

What is the TRUE reason you have a moratorium on membership? Isn't two decades enough to "get your records straight"? Why won't you let the family of current members in?  Tosobols are IN the tribe, all members should be in.  

Why does the tribe keep extending the moratorium on new adult members for so long?

How did family members of former enrollment committee chairman Bobbi LeMere… get enrolled into the tribe, with a moratorium in place?

Why did you lie to Congress to get property that you claimed was sacred, and then put a golf course on it?

Why do you use tribal money to bring your little brother on business trips when he has no position of value to the tribe?

Why are you allowing a convicted felon, Raymond Basquez Jr. steal water from Native  American allottees using the water committee elected post?

If the disenrollment was just and followed the tribal constitution and by laws why not settle it once and for all and waive the sovereign immunity on the disenrollment instead of dragging it thought the mud along with Pechanga's name and settle it in front of the dept of interior.   

Federal Lawmakers Want to Delay NEW RULES on Federal Recognition; Who needs More Indians Right?

House Natural Resources committees want the BIA to take more time on their changing of the rules for Federal recognition...

“We are concerned that the Department’s proposed rules fail to address many of the issues that have been identified and could create new problems that lead to unintended and unjustifiable outcomes,” the lawmakers wrote.

One of the more controversial changes is a new requirement that tribes demonstrate political authority since 1934, where they previously had to show continuity from “historical times.”

Supporters of the rule change say it helps to remove unfair burdens. Advocates say that some tribes have been denied recognition because records were lost or burned over hundreds of years, and any tribe that was still together by 1934 had overcome histories of mistreatment.

The letter urges the Interior Department to hold off on putting out final regulations until issues with recognition can be evaluated more thoroughly. The other congressional members who signed the letter are Rep. Don Young, an Alaska Republican, and Rep. Mike Thompson, a California Democrat.

Gabrieleno-Kizh Chief Ernie Salas Named Senior Citizen of the Year in San Gabriel

The City of San Gabriel named Ernie Salas as the Senior Citizen of the Year for the city.

Salas, who is also the Chief of the Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians Kizh Nation, has been a resident of San Gabriel his entire life of 86 years. The city will recognize him at the April 21st City Council meeting where he will be given the award of Senior Citizen of the Year.

Chief Salas has long led the efforts of his Gabrieleno tribe in promoting their culture and heritage to the residents of San Gabriel and other San Gabriel Valley communities. He has maintained his own collection of native artifacts and other natural items to further educate the youth and local communities in and around San Gabriel.

Gabrieleno Kizh Chief Ernie Salas (R) pictured with Gabrieleno Elder Alex Motano
grandson of Felecitas, who decended from San Nicolas Island

He has also led the tribe’s efforts toward becoming federally recognized and as performed spiritual blessings at number of local public and private sites to further continue the time honored ways of his people. Chief Ernie and his lovely wife Virginia are the proud parents of six adult children with an abundant number of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Who is WORSE for Online POKER, The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians or Sheldon Adelson

Online poker site  POKERFUSE.COM  has this article on how Pechanga is behind the delay of online poker.  Funny, you won't read about it at Victor Rocha's (Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro's cousin) website on all things related to Indian Gaming.  REALLY VICTOR?  What a jerk.  THANK you POKERFUSE!

One man, billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, has vowed to “spend whatever it takes” to stop online gambling including online poker, and spend he has. Adelson donated nearly $100 million to political causes in the last presidential election year, and he has funded the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CGIG).

He has also backed the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, a bill introduced in 2014 and again in 2015 which seeks to strengthen the restrictions of the 1961 Wire Act to include activities other than sports wagering. RAWA would also roll back laws on the books in states that already allow online poker.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has even been accused of blocking PokerStars’ entry into the state regulated marketon the behalf of Adelson. And while we cannot attribute the failure of several online poker bills around the country directly to Adelson, it is not that far of a stretch to speculate that his support has seeped down to the state lawmaking level.

But, given all his spending and efforts, it is quite possible that Sheldon Adelson is not the biggest roadblock for online poker in the US.

The politically powerful Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians along with a handful of other tribes stand staunchly opposed to proposed legislation that would bring online poker to the state of California—an online poker market that on its own would be considered one of the largest in the world. And, if California were to share its player pool with other states, as Nevada and Delaware have agreed to do, one could argue that California is by far the most strategic cog in the future of online poker in the US.

California’s poker playing community is so large that it could entice other states—that may otherwise struggle on their own to maintain a viable player base—to become partners. We have seen combined efforts for lottery games such as Powerball where 44 states have banded together to increase lottery participation by offering larger and more attractive prize pools.

Now to be fair, Pechanga and its allies are supporting a bill to legalize online poker in California, but considering the unrealistic nature of the bill they support, one could argue that it is really not support for online poker at all, and that is merely a facade. After all, the bill would exclude participation in the online poker industry by the state’s racetracks—a deal-killer in the eyes of Governor Jerry Brown who has stated that any online poker bill must include the racetracks.

In addition, the coalition led by Pechanga has made little progress in the way of developing online poker software, or partnering with companies that could provide the platform needed to enter into the online poker market—indicating that there may be more to their intentions than they are letting on.

So as it stands, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, along with a small coalition of other tribes, hold enough power in California to block online poker legislation from passing, and in doing so they just might be doing more damage to online poker in the US than billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

San Nicolas Island and The Wrongful Removal of Remains: A History without Pechanga, Why Would They STEAL the BONES of Gabrieleno Ancestors?

I'm receiving more information on the history of San Nicolas Island, it's relationship to Gabrieleno and it's glaring LACK of any relationship to The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians which proved they don't care about certain sacred sites if you can put a golf course on it .

The tribe has taken control of the bones of Gabrieleno Ancestors.   We reported on that earlier. I've included some pictures of historical works describing the Gabrieleno's cultural ties to San Nicolas Island, click on them to enlarge:

Mishewal Wappo Tribe LOSES Federal Recognition Lawsuit: Judge Edward Davila Rules Tribe Waited TOO long.

United States District Court Judge Edward J. Davila issued the ruling. The judgment means that the U.S. Department of Interior will not have to recognize the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley.

Napa County officials, who have opposed having the tribe federally recognized, celebrated the judge's decision. If the Wappo had won, they had feared the tribe might then seek to have land held in trust by the federal government and try to build a casino in the county. Local land use laws would not apply in such a case.

“The end result of this ruling is very important because it ensures local lands continue to be protected and upholds the agricultural preserve and watershed lands that we hold so dearly,” Diane Dillon, chair of the Napa County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement. “It also makes certain that the voice of Napa County residents is heard and their years of efforts are not dismissed.”

The litigation stemmed from the 1959 termination of the Alexander Valley Rancheria, which was located in Sonoma County. A modern day group claiming to be descendants of Mishewal Wappo Indians of Alexander Valley sued the federal government in 2009 seeking status restoration and placement of unidentified Napa County lands into federal trust, exempting such lands from all local and state regulations.

U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila agreed with arguments previously made by Napa and Sonoma counties, and also advanced by the federal government, that the Wappos waited 40 years too late to bring its lawsuit when the statute of limitations is only six years, county officials said.   OP:  Too long for a tribe that's centuries old? 

But local officials already have another casino worry on their hands. They say the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians – a federally recognized tribe – has signed a preliminary agreement with a Las Vegas company to seek a casino in Napa County, Sonoma County or Solano County.

Pechanga Disenrollments: Nine Years of Abuse Sanctioned by BIA and Congress

That's nine years that Hunter descendents have been stripped of their tribal citizenship, due to unconstitutional actions by the corrupt Pechanga Tribal Council and by collusion with enrollment committee members, including Bobbi LeMere (who, in a quid pro quo, got her sisters enrolled in the tribe, even though scores of others were in the moratorium  READ Corruption Exposed… )  Ruth Masiel, matriarch of the crime family and mother of councilmember Andrew Masiel Sr. and Frances Miranda, who two years before, had seen to it that her OWN FAMILY members, the descendent of Manuela Miranda were also stripped of their citizenship.  Irhene Scearce received justice in death.


Concerning Disgraceful Actions by the Pechanga Tribal Council

In a notice dated August 7, 2006, the descendants of Paulina Hunter, an original allottee of the Pechanga Indian Reservation, were informed that the Pechanga Tribal Council and the Pechanga Enrollment Committee had denied their appeal to over-turn the Enrollment Committee’s earlier decision to disenroll the family.

The Hunter Family members were disenrolled in March of this year when the Enrollment Committee concluded that their ancestor, Paulina Hunter, was not a Temecula Indian.
Along with disenrollment notices from the Enrollment Committee, a memo from the Tribal Council explained that it had decided that a law passed by the Tribe’s governing body in July 2005 to bar future disenrollments applied to all tribal members except the Hunter Family.

The disenrollment of the Hunter family was initiated when several statements were presented to the Enrollment Committee claiming Paulina Hunter was non-Indian or not a member. One such letter came from a convicted felon serving time in the California State Prison system for child molestation.

EVEN the DEAD Can't Escape Disenrollment at Redding and Pechanga: Wilkins

Professor Wilkins discusses the horrible acts of disenrolling the dead.   Many Americans have remarked on the strangeness of the Mormon church baptizing the dead into their religion, but how is that different from dishonoring the dead?

Even the dead aren't spared as the disenrollment epidemic spreads in Indian Country, observes professor David Wilkins:

For Native peoples then, and now, those on the other side continue as vital members of our societies. Centered between us and the Great Mysterious, they are able to bridge the worlds. They are conduits, providing critical guidance necessary for our continuance as peoples.

This is why more than a century and a half after these words were spoken, actions taken by tribal leaders to purge their tribal rolls, not just of their living relatives, but even of the bones of their relatives on the other side inspires such instinctive disgust. The very fabric of the cosmos as we have always understood it is being assaulted in this macabre fashion through recent attempts, some successful, by several Native governments to engage in the loathsome practice of disenrollment of deceased tribal members. By doing so, current officials may then more easily wield the legal authority to disenroll descendants who are currently enrolled tribal citizens.

The actions are inhumane. In one California case, a revered grandmother’s body was exhumed so that a DNA test could be performed. Even when the test confirmed her as a genetically bone fide member, the tribal government still disenrolled this long-deceased woman and all her descendants from the tribe’s rolls.

The case above references the case of the Foreman Family of the Redding Rancheria.  They were forced to exhume their ancestor for a DNA test.  That's disturbing the dead in a way that's worse than what tribal monitors watch for during construction on native lands......right?   The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians also disenrolled the dead, Paulina Hunter, even though the overwhelming evidence, written and oral, in the Luiseno language by elders who knew Paulina when she was alive as PECHANGA.  The Pechanga Chairman, Mark Macarro has NO HONOR.

Cherokee Freedmen Descendents Hosting 4th Treaty Celebration Banquet

Press Release – For Immediate Release—March 21 2015                                                                                                                      

Contacts –

Reverend Everett Adair 918-336-6507 or 918-440-6099  everettadair49@gmail.com                  Mrs Ruth Nash  918-333-9683 or Mrs Marilyn Vann  405-227-9810  mkvann@hotmail.com      

 DESCENDANTS OF FREEDMEN OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES ASSOCIATION            AFRICAN INDIANS OF THE 5 CIVILIZED TRIBES  FOUNDATION CO HOST 4TH TREATY CELEBRATION BANQUET APRIL 17, 2015 BARTLESVILLE OKLAHOMA 

The Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association and the African Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes Foundation will co host the Fourth Treaty Celebration banquet on Friday April 17, 2015 in Bartlesville Oklahoma.  The Banquet will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, 205 SW Frank Phillips Blvd, Bartlesville, Oklahoma beginning at 6:30pm. 

 The freedmen and their descendants (former slaves of Indians or free mixed African Indians) received tribal citizenship rights through 1866  treaties signed  by tribal leaders and the US government .  The descendants of tribal freedmen now face discrimination in registering as tribal citizens, accessing benefits such as housing and education available to members of federally recognized Indian tribes, voting in tribal elections,  and also battle disenrollment movements led by tribal leaders.

 Featured speaker at the banquet is Attorney Jon Velie, who will speak on law and history of the freedmen.  The program will include musical entertainment & an update on new freedmen documentary “By Blood”   http://www.bybloodthefilm.com/

  

To obtain banquet tickets or to find out more about the program, please contact  Everett  Adair, Ruth Nash or Marilyn Vann at the contact information above.

Program information and ticket information is also on www.eventbrite.com

 https://eventbrite.com/event/15822298922/

 To learn more about the freedmen and their struggle for Civil Rights, please visit the Facebook Page: Descendants of the Freedmen of the Five Tribes or contact Descendants of Freedmen Assn Vice President Mrs Fannie Bates 405-642-3527   fannie_bates @yahoo.com.  The organization website is  www.freedmen.org   

Saginaw Chippewa Disenrollment Upheld

A decision has been made on late January's disenrollment appeal of several members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe

Chief Judge Patrick Shannon issued an opinion concurring with the disenrollment decision previously made by the Office of Administrative Hearings, Tribal attorney Paula Fisher said.


"I'm not surprised; that's the best way I could put it," she said. "I was hopeful... I had really hoped that he would give this careful consideration and render an opinion. That didn't happen."


Fisher said she is planning on appealing prior to the March 31 appeal deadline.


The families involved may be planning on organizing another protest to keep the movement going, she said.

One of those affected is disenrolled Tribal member Sharon Cole, 58.

Cole said 16 living family members, as well as two deceased, have been targeted for disenrollment.


"A lot of people are going to suffer if this isn't corrected," she said. "I's wrong. It's not traditional and it's surprising, because we have a traditional chief at the helm."

Cole said the case is unique because it was originally dismissed without prejudice, and there has never been a case like this before where it was reopened.


Last year, 234 members of the Tribe - 169 living and the rest deceased - received letters making them aware of the latest disenrollment proceedings.


Fisher said these are cases that were closed five years ago and dismissed by the tribe with prejudice.


The disenrollment notices targeted Tribal members tied to the Tribe through collateral descent - ancestry that can be traced back to a great-great uncle, aunt or cousin - rather than lineal descent - ancestry that can be traced back to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent.


This means that people like Cole and her affected family members will lose their membership.


Cole said this means that her disenrolled family members will also lose their health insurance.


"In our family group, the majority of our group are elders (with) varying degrees of physical disability," she explained. "We're in our 60's, approaching our 60's, and we have a lot of medical issues. It's very frightening."


Cole said she is hopeful for the appeal because she believes the appellate court offers "the most promise for justice."










Tribal Spokesperson Frank Cloutier said in October 2013 that the Tribe does not comment on matters of disenrollment.

Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians Decry Exclusion in National Monument Decision

In a secong glaring example of how the lack of Federal recognition affects state recognized tribes, here's a notice from the Kizh nation that show the lack of respect from the Obama administration with the exclusion of Gabrielenos.  Is it any wonder why Federally recognized tribes are usurping territories not their own?

Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians, 

Kizh Nation

Last year US Representative Judy Chu introduced a bill to establish the San Gabriel Mountains, the Rio Hondo/San Gabriel Rivers, and the Puente Hills area as a National Recreation Area.  The bill stalled in committee so Ms. Chu went to President Obama to declare the San Gabriel Mts. as a National Monument and it was proclaimed a Nat'l Monument on Oct. 10, 2014. 

        Throughout both initiatives, Ms. Chu and the proponents have never contacted the  KIZH GABRIELENOS, the indigenous Tribe of the Los Angles basin.  Measures of this propensity require Tribal input.  Now that the development of the Nat'l Monument has progressed, the National Forest Foundation and the National Forest Service have completely ignored the True Tribe of the Area, the Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians, KIZH Nation.  Instead, they have appointed the Chumash Indians (San Ynez), the Tejon Tribe (Grapevine area), and the San Manuel Indians ( San Bernardino County) as representatives to the NM. 

        The NM proclamation states: "To the maximum extent permitted by other applicable law and consistent with the purposes of the monument, the plan shall protect and preserve Indian sacred sites, as defined in section 1(b) of Executive Order 13007 of May 24, 1996, and access by Indian tribal members for traditional cultural, spiritual, and tree and forest product-, food-, and medicine-gathering purposes. Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to enlarge or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe as defined in section 1(b) of Executive Order 13007." 

        Executive order 13007 refers to Federally Recognized Tribes.  Even though the KIZH NATION is not Federally recognized, they are recognized by the State of

California, the Native American Heritage Commission, and by the California Environmental Quality Act.  The KIZH NATIONwas instrumental in the Passing of California Assembly Bill AB52, preserving tribal rights of all Tribes in California, Federally recognized or not. 

        To designate three Tribes that are far removed from the NM would be a disservice to the community and an insult to Tribes throughout the Nation.  These Tribes have no connection historically, geographically, or culturally.  These federally recognized tribes continue to disrespectfully infiltrate in our tribal territories such as San Nicolas Island, Burro Flats, and now The San Gabriel Mountains. Only the KIZH NATION have the pertinent information related to the NM.  It was the KIZH ancestors that protected and environmentally preserved the majesty of the San Gabriels.    

Join us on March 25 to hear our expert panel address these questions and more. The panel discussion will be moderated by Steve Scauzillo, award-winning San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter. Invited panelists include Daniel Lovato, Acting Supervisor of the Angeles National Forest; Belinda Faustinos, Vice-Chair of San Gabriel Mountains Forever; Tim Brick, Managing Director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, and Edward Belden, Southern California Program Associate, National Forest Foundation.

A social reception at 7 p.m. precedes the 7:30 program sponsored by the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter’s Forest Committee. The program is free and the public is welcome. For more information, email John Monsen at wildernessjfm@aol.com.