While some say the odds of keeping all Indian gaming out of San
Benito County are not good, casino opponents say there is a chance
locals can stop tribes from
”
reservation shopping
”
for casino sites in the county.
Hollister – While some say the odds of keeping all Indian gaming out of San Benito County are not good, casino opponents say there is a chance locals can stop tribes from “reservation shopping” for casino sites in the county.
Through the process of reservation shopping, tribes without land or tribes not satisfied with their indigenous land go hunting for sites near urban centers that might be conducive to casinos. Local opponents, including the Amah Mutsun tribe of Indians, say this is exactly what the California Valley Miwoks, who are proposing a casino on Highway 25 near the Santa Clara County border, are doing.
“I think that’s definitely what they’re doing. They’re just looking for a community that is going to make them a hell of a lot of money,” said Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun tribe, which he said has more historical documentation than any other tribe, but is not federally recognized.
If the Miwoks are indeed reservation shopping, it would give locals a fighting chance to stop them, according to Valerie Brown, the Sonoma County supervisor who spoke at last week’s informational casino meeting in Hollister.
Philip Thompson, the attorney representing the Miwoks, denies that the tribe is reservation shopping.
“The California Valley Miwok is a federally recognized tribe. There are no other federally recognized tribes in San Benito County, so there is no question of a conflict on that score,” Thompson said.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has said that he will not allow reservation shopping without strong support from the community surrounding a proposed casino. In a letter to Dan Logue of the Yuba County board of supervisors, Schwarzenegger’s legal affairs secretary Peter Siggins said, “As a general rule, the governor does not intend to negotiate with tribes that do not have land eligible for a gaming establishment. One exception to the rule, however, is where both a tribe and surrounding local community support a casino in their area.”
If the California Valley Miwoks are not indigenous to the area and if locals stir up enough objection to their proposed casino, San Benito County may be able to stop the project from happening, opponents of the casino say.
Thompson has said he plans to prove his clients have local roots. In documents released by Miwok tribe spokeswoman Nicole Ratcliff, Supervisor Brown is accused of being biased against casino projects by Indian tribes. In addition to being a county supervisor, Brown is a lobbyist for California card houses, which were instrumental in putting a proposition to end tribal gaming’s monopoly on slot machines on next month’s ballot, according to the documents. The materials also include articles from Sonoma County’s Santa Rosa Press Democrat in which Brown denies the allegations of bias.
If the Miwoks are unable to show proof they’re indigenous to the area, said Steve Merrell, the head of Casinos Represent a Poor Solution (CRAPS), it would be a clear-cut case of reservation shopping.
“They are an existing tribe that has existing land (elsewhere),” said Merrell. “There is strong public sentiment against the rapid expansion of tribal gaming in the state, and the governor is very understanding of that. In the entire universe of tribal gaming, reservation shopping is the one issue in which average citizens have huge input.”
Brown said a similar instance of reservation shopping in Southern California was eventually shot down about three years ago by locals and city officials.
The Maidu Tribe, according to Brown, had hooked up with Paragon Gaming of Las Vegas and was shopping for a piece of land in Ventura County to build a casino on. However, Brown said, the Maidu tribe is indigenous to Butte county in Northern California, and was met with strong opposition from not only local citizens and officials, but from the indigenous Chumash Indians as well. The community won, and the Maidu were not permitted to build their casino in Ventura County, Brown said.
The Ventura County situation is similar to the process San Benito County is going through. Just as Ventura County had the indigenous Chumash Indians opposing reservation shopping by a foreign tribe, San Benito County has an indigenous Indian tribe, the Amah Mutsun tribal band, that is opposed to the idea of a Miwok casino. However, while a Maidu tribe in Ventura County would have been in direct competition with the pre-existing Chumash casino, there is no Amah Mutsun casino in San Benito County for the proposed Miwok casino to compete with. Instead, the Amah Mutsuns are concerned with keeping the Miwoks off of territory they say is rightfully theirs. However, the Miwoks are federally recognized while the Amah Mutsuns are not.
In a statement distributed at last week’s casino meeting, Lopez wrote, “We want all legitimate California Indian tribes to succeed. However, all tribes must adhere to Indian laws that have been in place for thousands of years. If the Valley Miwoks were to settle on land within our tribe’s territory it would be a horrible violation of Indian law.”
Merrell of CRAPS agrees.
“I think it’s an offense and an affront to our local indigenous people…. I think we can stand united with our local indigenous people in opposing the California Valley Miwok invasion,” he said.
But Miwok tribe attorney Thompson said San Benito County was once populated by Miwoks.
“That is a matter of long-established historical fact which has been formally affirmed by the State of California as well as the Encyclopedia of the North American Indian,” Thompson said.
Either way, local opposition should figure heavily into the end-result of the proposed casino. While local opponents like Merrell are urging people to speak up, Thompson said the Miwoks are ready to listen.
“Our entire effort is centered on working with the community to develop a project that will benefit everyone,” he said.
Jessica Quandt is a staff writer for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at
jq*****@fr***********.com
.
