The behind-the-scenes story of Petition 120 before the federal
Bureau of Indian Affairs is a sad one indeed. The petition seeks
federal recognition of the Amah Mutsun Indians as a sovereign
nation.
The behind-the-scenes story of Petition 120 before the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is a sad one indeed. The petition seeks federal recognition of the Amah Mutsun Indians as a sovereign nation.
The tale is of a split tribe. There is a richer group – the San Juan Bautista Band – with money and power behind it, and another – the Amah Mutsun San Juan Band – a poorer group struggling to compete with the other band’s resources.
Both groups claim Petition 120 as their own – but the two bands have vastly different visions of what sovereign nation status should mean for the Amah Mutsun Indians.
For South Valley, it could mean the difference between development or preservation of Sargent Ranch, 6,500 wild acres near the southern border of Santa Clara County, west of U.S. 101.
The Amah Mutsun San Juan band wants to preserve the land in its undeveloped state and allow its use for Indian ceremonies. In partnership with Contra Costa County developer and landowner Wayne Pierce, development is the plan the San Juan Bautista Band has championed. Pierce has failed at least three times to gain county approval for his previous golf course and estate home development plans.
For Pierce, the San Juan Bautista Band as a sovereign nation represents a way to avoid local planning regulations and agencies. Pierce’s financial backing has enabled to the Amah Mutsun San Juan Band to accelerate its bid for federal recognition through lobbying and by allowing them to hire a historian to work on their petition.
The sad lesson, when the fate of Petition 120 is decided, will likely be that money talks, even if it means the disenfranchisement of half of Amah Mutsun Indians, even if it means development of pristine wilderness, even if it means circumventing local land use control.
But even without knowing how the tale of Petition 120 ends, we know this much: The quest for power and money has split a group of blood relations, the Amah Mutsun Indians, into a bitter rivalry that might never be healed.
