Pechanga tribe's ousters bring protests, lawsuits

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 2, 2007

By MICHELLE DeARMOND and BEN GOAD
The Press-Enterprise

More than three years after the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians began kicking out members, the ousted clans and their backers are emerging as leaders in the growing national movement against tribal disenrollment.

They have lobbied Congress and state lawmakers, held protests, filed lawsuits and joined forces with ejected members from tribes across the country.

They are pushing for October meetings with members of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's staff, filing documents in a federal case this week and speaking out against a bill by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, to expand the Pechanga tribe's Temecula-area reservation.

The tribe, one of the most prominent in the state, stopped monthly casino-profit checks to the ousted members -- estimated at $10,000 to $20,000 -- terminated their health insurance, laid off members who worked for the tribe and kicked children out of the Pechanga school, former members say.

The tribe in the past has defended its right to determine its membership, and some supporters of the action have said the disenrollees' ancestors were not Pechanga Indians and never should have been enrolled in the first place. The tribe did not respond to a request for an interview for this article.

The estimated 230 ousted members argue that greed and politics are behind the ousters and are trying to draw attention to their case.

"I think that they have done a great job as far as bringing this to the forefront," said Laura Wass, an activist with the American Indian Movement. "It brings the attention that's needed so that people can see how dynamic the atrocity is."

Wass, who is based in Fresno, has worked with former tribe members from across the country, including the Pechanga tribe, to fight disenrollments.

Federal Case

The most recent family to be ousted, more than 100 descendants of Paulina Hunter, has taken its battle to court. The family, which was kicked out in 2006, filed a federal case in March against individual tribal members. The family's attorneys this week are filing a motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to declare he has jurisdiction and rule on the case, said Patrick Romero Guillory, a San Francisco attorney for the family members.

The ousted members argue that their civil rights were violated and they were not given due process during the disenrollment. They say the tribal members in charge of enrollment operate in secrecy, and the former members want a chance to confront the witnesses and analyze the documents used against them.

Rumors had circulated for a few years that the descendants of Hunter, who was allotted land on the reservation in its early days in the 1800s, were being targeted for ouster, but former members say they were shocked.

"It was just out of the blue, and we have all the papers to prove" lineage, said Lawrence Madariaga, a 90-year-old descendant who still lives on the reservation. "We've got more papers proving that we belong here than half the people."

Madariaga said he helped bring water, septic tanks and a health clinic to the rustic reservation decades ago. He said he served in several elected positions and even helped write the tribe's bylaws. He and his wife, Sophie, still live in the 1,900-square-foot home he built by hand before the reservation had power, he said.

The family's attorneys hope to prove that the former tribal members' rights under the Indian Civil Rights Act were violated and give them a chance to make their case for reinstatement.

Their approach differs from that of the Manuela Miranda family, who failed to get the U.S. Supreme Court last year to answer the question of whether California law allows state courts to hear civil suits between Indians on issues that arise in Indian Country. That family originally sought to prevent the disenrollment and later sued again, seeking damages from tribal members who ousted members said acted illegally.

"The courts have to take some remedial steps to stop this epidemic of members being kicked out without due process," said Paul Harris, another San Francisco attorney handling the case for the Madariaga's and other Hunter descendants. "This is a cutting-edge-of-the-law case. There's no question about that."

Lobby Efforts

In addition to seeking help from the courts, ousted members also hope Congress will find a way to help them.

Disenrolled Pechanga members and others like them have been writing members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, California's Democratic Sens. Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and other members of Congress, said John Gomez Jr., a former Pechanga member whose family of 130 members was kicked out in 2004.

They hope to meet with representatives of Feinstein's California offices in October, although her staff could not confirm any meetings are scheduled yet.

"We're hitting Congress pretty hard on the letter-writing campaign," said Gomez, who launched a Web site, www.pechanga.info, dedicated to disenrollment issues in 2005. "They're starting to listen."

Gomez and others also have spoken out against a bill that would add three parcels of land to the Pechanga reservation, saying they fear they will no longer be allowed on the land once the tribe is in control of it. They say they have historical and personal ties to the land, which is Bureau of Land Management property now.

In January, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, introduced a new version of a previously submitted bill that would transfer 1,178 acres of land in Riverside and San Diego counties to the Pechanga tribe.

In a July letter to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, the group contended the bill would allow the tribe to "deny access to individuals who have undisputed cultural and lineal ties to the sacred sites but who are not considered Pechanga members."

Issa said he was "incredulous" over the argument. Access hasn't been a problem following past land transfer legislation involving tribes, he said.

Issa said the legislation helps both the tribe, which wants the land, and the government, which will no longer have the responsibility of maintaining the property.

Issa said he had not taken sides in the larger debate of disenrollment. He said the disagreement is based on money.

"Unfortunately, if Pechanga were poor, this fight would not be happening," he said.

The former members have caught the attention of Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles. Watson has been among the most outspoken members of Congress to support disenrolled members of various tribes.

On Friday in Washington, she convened a panel on the plight of the Cherokee freedmen, descendants of slaves of the tribe who were granted status as members in an 1866 treaty but kicked out earlier this year.

She said the Cherokee and Pechanga cases were closely linked in that both, at their roots, were about people being denied deserved status.

Watson, who has introduced a bill that would sever ties between the Cherokee tribe and the United States and cut off federal funding for the tribe, said it has become necessary for lawmakers to intervene in issues of tribal membership.

"I stand for justice, fairness and the rule of law," she said. "We need to bring focus to the fact that discrimination continues."

Reach Michelle DeArmond at 951-368-9441 or mdearmond@PE.com.

Reach Ben Goad at 202-661-8422 or bgoad@PE.com.