Blood fight splits tribe

Greg Tuttle

Saturday, Sept. 2, 2000 | 3:49 a.m.

As a child, Debra Faria didn't know she was poor. The wooden shack without plumbing or electricity that she shared with her elderly grandmother and four brothers was no different than the wooden hovels her neighbors called home.

There was meat when the hunters came down from the mountains. And pine nuts in the fall.

Sharing was a way of life for those who had barely enough to get by themselves.

For the Las Vegas Paiutes, poverty was a heritage born of a harsh land.

"In those days, it wasn't a proud thing to be an Indian," Faria said. "I was never ashamed of it, but it was how people perceived us that made us ashamed."

Faria's fortunes changed, as did those of her tribal neighbors, when a tax-free smoke shop was erected on the tiny tribe's 10-acre reservation near downtown Las Vegas in 1978. The shop has brought millions of dollars to the once destitute people, as well as some problems.

Tribal members each receive about $100,000 a year in disbursements of the profits from the smoke shop and other enterprises. In 1987 the tribe opened a vocational school to teach job-skills to Indian students.

A posh resort has sprouted on the tribe's ancestral land north of Las Vegas. The 3,800 acres of desert land was deeded to the tribe by the federal government in the 1980s. When completed, the development project calls for four world-class golf courses wrapped around a hotel, casino and upscale shopping center. Plans also call for time-share condos aimed at attracting those who want to escape the glitter of the Strip and the congestion of the city.

But the tribe's financial success has come with a price.

In July of last year the seven-member Las Vegas Paiute Tribal Council voted to remove 14 people from the tribal membership rolls, nearly a quarter of the tribe's adult population of 54.

Tribal officials told Faria and the others that records of their ancestry could not be found or were insufficient to qualify them as tribal members. Those who have been disenrolled claim the tribal council doctored documents and passed new enrollment laws just before taking the action.

The council's action has caused a rift among tribal members as the group known as the "disenrolled" fights for reinstatement. The group has formed an ad hoc committee and hired an attorney to battle the action it says has robbed members of their heritage and financial security.

Protests in front of federal buildings in Las Vegas are being planned, and several lawsuits have been filed in tribal court alleging misconduct by tribal officials.

The case could also become a landmark in the evolving arena of American Indian law as tribes across the country gain more wealth and political influence, due largely to the success of Indian gaming.

For Faria, the issue is more personal and strikes to the core of her identity.

"I am willing to fight for my heritage for the rest of my life if I have to," said Faria, who along with her four brothers were among those kicked out of the tribe last year. "I don't know if they realize, or maybe they do, the severity of what they've done."

"I've lost my home and I've lost my truck," said Sheila Shearer, also among the 14 disenrolled Paiutes. "The whole thing is over money, greed and hate."

Another of the disenrolled, Tilford Landis Jr., said he is most angry that his two young children will not reap the financial benefits and cultural connection of being members of the tribe.

"It was a shock," Landis said of learning he had been kicked out of the tribe. "It hurt in the heart. Nobody has the right to tamper with my family's heritage."

Tribal council officials declined an interview request from the Sun. But the tribe's attorney, David Colvin, issued a written statement on behalf of the council.

"All actions taken by the Tribal Council relative to disenrollments were in accordance with the Tribal Constitution and the Tribe's Law and Order Code. In each instance, the Bureau of Indian Affairs assisted in the process. Further discussion of the matter would not be in the best interest of any of the parties involved. Accordingly, the Tribe will make no further comment at this time."

At issue is the requirement that tribal members have at least one quarter blood heritage traceable to the original Las Vegas Paiute members. The tribe was established in 1940 based on that year's census, which identified about 15 people as Las Vegas Paiutes.

Faria said her grandfather, Manuel Lopez, is listed on that census. Tribal officials, however, told her they cannot confirm he was a Paiute and therefore his grandchildren do not qualify for enrollment.

Faria stiffens at the suggestion she is not a Paiute. Many of her family members are buried in the tribal cemetery, she said, and one of her brothers served as the tribal council chairman in the 1980s.

Shearer also has relatives buried in the tribal cemetery and her mother has served on the tribal council.

Tribal officials, however, said her grandmother, Juanita Weed Wilson Lee, was not a member of a federally recognized tribe and therefore could not meet new standards necessary for enrollment as a Las Vegas Paiute. Those new enrollment standards were passed by the tribal council last year just prior to the disenrollments.

"Our family has resided in the Las Vegas Valley since 1828," Shearer said.

Shearer's aunt, Marie Wilson, also bristles at the claim that her family doesn't belong to the Paiute tribe. Wilson's two sons were among those disenrolled because they lost the necessary one-quarter blood quantum when their grandmother was removed from the membership roll.

"We're part of the history of this Las Vegas Valley," she said. "My grandfather fed cattle to the (Hoover) Dam" construction workers.

Las Vegas attorney Mike Stuhff, who was hired by some of the disenrolled members, said he believes the issue boils down to an attempt by the tribal leadership to consolidate their power and reduce the number of tribal members who are eligible to share in the tribe's wealth.

"What they are doing is establishing a dynasty where they're going to pass it on among themselves," he said.

Regardless, the disenrollments have opened old wounds from decades-long family feuds and sparked an FBI investigation into a number of anonymous letters critical of the tribal council. One of the letters threatened the life of the tribal police chief.

"It's scary. Someone's going to get hurt," said Gloria Shearer, Sheila Shearer's mother. She said some tribal members believe the threatening letter was actually written by a tribal official as a ruse to silence the anonymous letter campaign against the council.

Meanwhile, the tribal council has consolidated its political base and pushed forward with development of the second phase of the Las Vegas Paiute Resort, a $170 million project that includes construction of the hotel-casino.

An election held in July -- seen by many tribal members as a referendum on the leaders responsible for the disenrollments -- sent a majority of the tribal council members back into office, including Chairman Curtis Anderson. Tonia Carter-Means, the tribal police chief, also retained her seat on the tribal council.

Stuhff said the situation is more than a political fight for control of the tribe and highlights a void in the law when tribal sovereignty clashes with the civil rights guaranteed to all American citizens, including American Indians.

The Paiutes who have been disenrolled must seek relief through tribal court, Stuhff said, because federal courts have no jurisdiction in cases involving Indian civil rights claims against their tribal government. While recognized as legitimate, tribal courts can be more susceptible to political influences, and there is no avenue for an appeal, he said.

Stuhff said the Indian Civil Rights Act, passed by Congress in 1968, was intended to provide American Indians the same constitutional rights as all American citizens. Many tribes, including the Las Vegas Paiutes, adopted the act when organizing tribal governments.

The disenrollments and other actions recently taken by Paiute tribal officials indicate the Indian Civil Rights Act "is not working and people are being grievously abused," Stuhff said. He hopes the Paiute case and similar cases around the country get the attention of Congress and result in new laws governing civil rights claims by Native Americans.

Stuhff points to two specific incidents to make his point: a search conducted by Paiute tribal police at the home of a tribal member and the seizure of a home on reservation land owned by one of the disenrolled tribal members.

The search occurred earlier this year when tribal officers went to the home of Benjamin and Kara Segmiller on the tribe's reservation land located about 20 miles north of Las Vegas off U.S. 95. Armed with a search warrant issued by a tribal judge, the officers confiscated computer equipment looking for evidence of anonymous letters critical of the tribal council.

To date, no one has been charged but tribal officials have yet to return the Segmillers' property, Stuhff said.

The other incident occurred last year when Sheila Shearer was ordered to vacate her home within weeks after she was disenrolled. She said she has not been compensated for the $40,000 in equity she had in the home.

Both cases appear to violate constitutional rights against unlawful search and seizure and the guarantee of due process, Stuhff said.

"I think it's going to be a big surprise that hundreds of thousands of (Indian) people can't go to federal court when they have a problem with their government," Stuhff said.

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