I’ve been asked to post the following press release:
TEMECULA, Calif.- On June 2, 2011 in front of the Pechanga Resort & Casino in the 4500 block of Pechanga Parkway, protestors will rally to bring attention to the civil rights violations happening throughout Indian Country. The start time is scheduled for 4 p.m. although there will be representation beginning at 8 a.m.
Pechanga Resort & Casino was chosen for this protest location because it is the site of the Tribal Leader’s Conference, where many of the nation’s tribal leaders will be listening to speakers including Larry Echo hawk, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. The forum is an opportune time to ask the elected tribal leaders in attendance what they plan on doing about the ever growing population of Indian individuals who have been subjected to and tormented by the unjust actions of tribal officials.
There is a growing concern regarding the bad governance practices of tribal officials which, to date, have victimized thousands of individuals. The bad governance practices include; violations of laws committed in order to strip or deny individuals and targeted groups of the basic rights and privileges enumerated and guaranteed by tribal, state, and/or federal statutes. In most instances, the victims of these bad governance practices are denied recourse against the tribal official perpetrators due to the fact that the officials invoke tribal sovereignty to escape prosecution. To wield sovereignty like a club on their own people, then use it as a shield to protect themselves is immoral and unethical.
There are tribes across our country, including the hosting nation, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians that have terminated a significant portion of their tribal citizens. In California alone, nearly 2500 Indian people have been stripped of their tribal citizenship since the approval and expansion of Indian Gaming in 2000, stripping them of the right to vote, representation for their allotted tribal lands and both health care and per capita. The total of per capita theft in California is nearing the $500 million dollar mark after just six years. By the end of the first compacts, the total lost will top $1.2 billion dollars.
At the rally will be representatives from numerous tribes who have victimized their people. Tribes such as the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington State, the Jamul Indian Village, the Redding Rancheria, the Enterprise Rancheria, and others including the Cherokee Nation of OK, which once owned slaves, have found it fitting to deny or strip its members of their basic rights.
These acts have violated the United States and Tribal Constitutions; the Bill of Rights; the Indian Civil Rights Act; and tribal laws which were specifically enacted to protect the basic rights of the Indian individual. An oversight hearing into the enforcement of ICRA has been requested.
However, tribes and tribal officials have, as a matter of course, invoked the tribes’ sovereign immunity to escape prosecution for their actions in State or Federal Courts. As a result, the Courts have routinely dismissed the actions for lack of jurisdiction, and the victims of this “tribal abuse” find themselves with no recourse with which to hold tribal officials accountable for their corrupt acts and abuse of power.
We ask that you publicize the protest in your outlets.
Media Contact: NANCY RIOS: 951-655-0598 lorene20@verizon.net
For More Background Information: http://originalpechanga.com or http://airro.org or http://tribalcorruption.com
