Second Pechanga family faces ouster

[blackcrowheart]

Second Pechanga family faces ouster
FINANCIAL BLOW: Critics say casino profits are the issue; tribal leaders
reject accusations of greed.
02:11 AM PST on Tuesday, March 21, 2006
By TIM O'LEARY and MICHELLE DeARMOND / The Press-Enterprise
TEMECULA - Marking the second such action in two years, a Temecula-area
Indian gaming tribe has kicked out another large family, current and
former tribal members said Monday.
The Pechanga tribe's ejection of the descendents of Paulina Hunter,
whose family numbers more than 90 adults, surfaced days after the first
disenrolled family asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider landmark
litigation filed more than two years ago. The move brings the total
number of people kicked out to more than 220.
News of a disenrollment letter sent by the tribe's enrollment committee
began circulating verbally Friday. On Monday, a leader of the first
family ejected from the tribe, descendants of Manuela Miranda, issued a
news release detailing the expulsion.
The disenrollments can be appealed to the Tribal Council within 60 days.
Stakes are high, with disenrolled members losing their vote on tribal
matters and their share of casino profits, which can total thousands of
dollars per month. Health and life insurance benefits are gone, and if
the disenrollees have reservation property that, too, may be in
question.
The prominent, wealthy tribe, which runs the Pechanga Resort & Casino,
is one of many tribes embroiled in highly publicized disenrollment
disputes in recent years. Critics deride the moves as the products of
greed and have called on courts and lawmakers to intervene, while tribal
leaders take issue with outsiders critiquing their internal affairs.
John Gomez Jr., a well-known ex-tribal member and part of the Miranda
family, said the latest ejection, like the one affecting his family,
comes just months before key Pechanga government elections and that the
action financially benefits those who ejected the family.
Pechanga tribal members receive monthly gaming profit checks, and
disenrolled families say tribal leaders are trying to whittle the rolls
so there are larger checks left for the remaining members.
In a telephone interview Monday afternoon, Gomez said Paulina Hunter and
her family were one of the original families to be granted reservation
land in the "allotment" process in the 1800s.
"It's a slap in the face for generations of the (Hunter) family," said
Gomez, who has launched an Internet site on disenrollments and emerged
as a statewide leader on the subject. Gomez worked on legal and cultural
affairs for the tribe before getting kicked out and fired.
Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro issued a three-paragraph statement
Monday, rejecting accusations of greed and defending the tribe's
decision.
"Tribal nations have sole jurisdiction and authority to establish and
enforce procedures to determine their own tribal citizenship. The courts
have consistently upheld this tribal right because of more than 200
years of legal precedent," he said.
"Disenrollment actions occurred at Pechanga before we ever had a casino
as well as after, quite independent of our gaming activities," he said.
"Contrary to the allegations of a few, this matter has nothing to do
with politics or profits."
A member of the Hunter family spoke by telephone Monday morning under
the condition of anonymity. The family member declined to answer
questions, provide a copy of the disenrollment letter or be identified
by name because the process is still unfolding.
"This is a very sad time for our family," the member said. "We're trying
to find out what is going on and it's unfortunate that people are
speaking for the Hunter family and not allowing them to handle their own
tribal business."
The member said Gomez's news release was premature because it's possible
the Tribal Council might not enforce the enrollment committee's
decision.
Another tribal member who spoke on condition of anonymity defended his
tribal government's decision. He said Hunter never was a Pechanga Indian
and simply was allotted land because she was living on the reservation
and may have had family ties to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"The disenrollment of the Hunter family has resolved lingering questions
about this family's membership credentials," said the tribal member, who
is not on the enrollment committee or council. "We should have done it a
long time ago. It's dirty work."
A Murrieta woman who has done extensive research on the tribe and its
descendants, said she has come across Hunter on American Indian census
rolls from the 1800s and has seen references to some of her children.
"I have no reason to believe that she was not a native Indian woman from
this area," Anne J. Miller said. "It certainly fits together."
A vocal critic of disenrollments across the country also spoke out
Monday, saying the only reason tribes take this step is to increase the
monthly gaming-profit checks they disburse to members.
Laura Wass, executive director of the American Indian Legacy Center,
criticized the disenrollments as destructive and contrary to the "Indian
way."
"This goes way beyond anything that's human and way beyond anything
that's truly traditionally Indian," said Wass, whose Fresno-based
organization works with American Indians affected by disenrollment and
other problems. "They better learn their history."
Casino-profit checks averaged about $120,000 per year per adult when the
Miranda family was disenrolled, according to the Miranda family's
lawsuit, initially filed in Riverside County Superior Court.
Gomez and some other ejected members also lost casino or tribal
government jobs.
Following their March 2004 disenrollment, members of the Gomez family
and other Miranda descendants have held a garage sale, sold homes, moved
and taken other steps aimed at helping them make financial ends meet.
Reach Michelle DeArmond at [phone] or [e-mail]
Reach Tim O'Leary at [phone] or [e-mail]