Some tribes split by membership disputes

Don Thompson

Thursday, July 15, 2004 | 8:49 a.m.

SACRAMENTO -- The split between the haves and the have-nots among California tribes widened Wednesday, when disenfranchised Indians formed a new organization and asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt casino negotiations until tribes create courts to resolve membership disputes.

Several hundred Indians gathered on the Capitol steps to begin collecting signatures for an appeal to Schwarzenegger, and for a petition asking Congress to hold a hearing on current law that gives tribal councils nearly unfettered freedom to decide who belongs to a tribe.

"As soon as they get casinos, they start looking to kick people out," said Eddie Vedolla Sr., formerly chairman of the Guidiville Rancheria of Pomo Indians near Ukiah. "We want some kind of protection from the wrongs that tribal councils are doing to members."

The demonstration came as leaders of gambling tribes and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association met behind closed doors, as negotiations with Schwarzenegger continue over tribal contributions to the state budget. No one from the tribes or association was available to comment, said a receptionist at the association.

Only about one in 10 Indians now profits from a tribal gambling initiative that was supposed to benefit all Indians, said Laura Wass, director of the Fresno chapter of the American Indian Movement.

Nearly a fifth of California's 61 gambling tribes are split by membership disputes. At least 1,160 people in 14 California tribes are fighting over tribal status, amounting to about three-quarters of all such fights nationwide, The Associated Press found this spring.

The problem is particularly acute because California tribes don't have their own courts, a holdover from an earlier federal policy targeting California. That's what the new organization, California Indians for Justice, wants to change.

Schwarzenegger should stop renegotiating existing casino agreements and halt new ones until tribes create internal courts to rule on membership disputes, plus an independent intertribal appeals court, the group contends. The group intends to ask the public to sign its petitions to Congress and the governor.

"The tribal leaders are all hiding behind sovereignty," with no meaningful outside review, said Mark Lucero of Riverside, formerly a member of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians.

About 130 members of his family were ejected in March from the tribe, where the remaining tribal members receive annual casino revenue payments of up to $120,000 each.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto said recognizing sovereign tribes, their members and their leaders are all federal responsibilities.

"The state has no role in these nation-to-nation matters," Sollitto said. "These aggrieved individuals can seek recourse from the federal government or through the federal court system."