The California Valley Miwok Tribe’s lack of a federally-approved
tribal constitution and questions about its tribal leadership have
federal Indian authorities questioning the legitimacy of the tribe
that tried unsuccessfully to build a casino and hotel near
Hollister.
Hollister – The California Valley Miwok Tribe’s lack of a federally-approved tribal constitution and questions about its tribal leadership have federal Indian authorities questioning the legitimacy of the tribe that tried unsuccessfully to build a casino and hotel near Hollister.
“The federal government and state government are questioning the tribal leadership and legitimacy,” said Tom Saggau, who represents the investors who were going to provide financial backing for a casino in Hollister and then in Los Banos before pulling out of the project in November because of the concerns. Since then talks about building a casino in Los Banos have been on hold.
An attorney representing the tribe says, however, that the Miwoks don’t need a constitution and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is just trying to keep them from acquiring land and building a casino.
“The tribe has chosen not to organize under the requirements of the Indian Reorganization Act and therefore is not required to have a constitution approved by the BIA,” Phil Thompson, an attorney for the Miwoks wrote in an e-mail. “There are upwards of 50 tribes nationwide who have chosen not to organize under IRA. The government is attempting to manufacture some fiction that we have to follow those requirements and our hope is that the federal judge does not buy into their nonsense.”
Troy Burdick, BIA superintendent for the Central California Agency, declined to comment on the issue because it is an ongoing legal matter.
“It’s all part of the litigation,” he said.
In 2004, the tribe was interested in Hollister as the home for a casino and a hotel that investors said would bring 2,000 jobs to the area. But in May, after opposition from San Benito County Supervisors, local law enforcement and many residents, tribal representatives announced that they would give up on Hollister and head east to the city of Los Banos.
Los Banos Mayor Michael Amabile said discussions between his city and the tribe were progressing well until the Miwoks hit a snag late in November when their financial backers – a Santa Clara County-based group called Game Won – pulled away from the tribe because of its ongoing legal fight with the BIA.
Saggau said that the investors were concerned because the Miwoks don’t have a federally approved tribal constitution, precluding the tribe from being able to enter into an agreement to build a casino.
“Until a constitution is approved, they can’t cut a deal,” he said.
Based in Stockton, the landless California Valley Miwok Tribe has five members – Yakima Dixie, Silvia Burley, Burley’s two daughters and her granddaughter. Dixie has a criminal history and did time in prison for the second-degree murder of a relative and weapons charges.
Burley claims to be the tribal chairwoman, but Dixie – the tribe’s only official member until 1998, when he let Burley and her daughters in – claims Burley forged his signature on a 1999 document that relinquished his chairmanship to her.
In 2002, the Miwoks filed a lawsuit against the federal government to get land in California, according to Thompson. The tribe previously had land in Calaveras County, but the government took it in 1967, he said. Around the time that they filed the lawsuit, the BIA told the Miwoks that they must take other tribeless Indians into their tribe in order to have Burley recognized as the tribe’s leader, Thompson said.
The Miwoks made an effort to do that last year when they advertised in three California newspapers that they were accepting applications for tribal membership. They received three responses and are reviewing the applications, according to Thompson. The BIA was not satisfied, he said, adding that he thinks the agency wants to perpetuate the legal fight so the tribe cannot get land and build a casino.
“They don’t want it satisfied. They want the issue to continue to be contentious,” he said. “I personally think the fear is if the tribe gets land, it will get a casino.”
Thompson says the BIA has consistently backed Dixie’s claim as the tribe’s leader to keep the legal fight going and keep the Miwoks from getting a casino.
“The BIA has used Yakima (Dixie) as a straw man to attack,” he said.
Despite the legal trouble, Thompson said the tribe is pushing forward with plans to build a casino in Los Banos. Amabile said that he will likely meet with the tribe later this month to discuss the possibility.
Thompson said he doesn’t think getting new investors will be a problem.
“New investors are looking for us,” he said. “We’re not actually searching, but they’re finding us.”
Building a casino near Hollister had become a particularly divisive issue among county residents and officials, sparking several heated community meetings, the formation of anti-casino organization Casinos Represent A Poor Solution and strong opposition from Sheriff Curtis Hill. There were casino supporters, however, who said the project would bring much-needed jobs to the city.
Steve Merrell, who was chairman of the anti-casino group CRAPs, said he’s not at all surprised about the Miwok’s legal troubles.
“We knew about these problems. It was one of the real concerns we always had when we talked to the local leadership,” he said.
The casino would have sat on more than 200 acres off Highway 156 near the Hollister Municipal Airport. Investors hoped to eventually add a hotel, restaurants and several entertainment venues to the project, which could have been similar in size to Yolo County’s 66,000 square-foot, 2,000 slot machine Cache Creek casino.
In February, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to send a resolution opposing the casino to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The San Juan Bautista City Council and Hollister Downtown Association quickly followed the board’s decision and passed similar resolutions.
Concerns that a casino was the wrong kind of development for Hollister, and the belief the tribe was “reservation shopping” out of their indigenous area were some of the chief reasons for opposition cited in the resolutions.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
.
