Posted on 05/01/2006 7:54:21 AM PDT by SmithL
Eddie Vedolla is a Pomo, was raised on the Guidiville Rancheria by a grandfather who was a Pomo, and is so proud of his heritage that he served five years on the Guidiville tribal council.
But those who succeeded him on the council said he is not a Guidiville Pomo, and they simply expelled him from the tribe.
"We grew up on the Guidiville Rancheria. My grandfather raised us," he said. Being expelled is "incredibly devastating. It just devastated my whole family."
Vedolla, 66, is among a growing number of American Indians who say they've been banished from their tribes simply for opposing tribal leadership and policies. The issue has great financial implications, because, among other things, expelled members cannot receive shares of profits from Indian gaming. But perhaps more than that, their right to declare their heritage as Indians is at stake.
Frustrated and angry, Vedolla was among 40 people who demonstrated Friday at City Hall in Richmond, where the Guidiville Band wants to build a casino even though their proposal faces great hurdles.
Eager to publicize the issue and pressure tribal leaders, Vedolla and others plan to protest wherever tribes try to build casinos. Besides the Guidiville Band, the Scotts Valley Band of Pomos is interested in building a casino in Richmond. The Lytton Band of Pomos operates Casino San Pablo in nearby San Pablo. There are more than 50 Indian casinos in California.
"It's an important opportunity to use the leverage of the casino project to tell the cities and counties like Richmond who they're dealing with," said Eric Enriquez, 35, of Ukiah, who claims membership in the Pinoleville Rancheria but expects to be expelled for his views.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
To quote Navin Johnson, "Oh.....it's a money thing."
To quote Navin Johnson, "Oh.....it's a money thing."
To quote Navin Johnson, "Oh.....it's a money thing."
I swear the triple post was a "Freerepublic" thing......not a OLTG thing!
That's Crazy Talk......at least that's his tribal name.
This same thing happened at Prior Lake, Minnesota when non-friends of the chief's family were declaired "non-Indians" and thus not on the money list of $1 million/year.
I've decided to start my own tribe, with the goal of someday having our own Casino.
The Badonkadonk Tribe of Cupertino.
Wanna join? There's a small fee.
You're expelled.
Good bye.
I didn't know there were Pomo's in San Francisico.
To create more Pomo's, do they engage in Pomosexual relations?
If they are able to declare people "non-Indians", why is Ward Churchill still considered to be an "Indian"?????
The United States government has a history of mistakes.
We had the Jim Crowe laws which we abolished.
Now is the time to abolish the whole concept of "reservations".
We should declare the land to be part of the United States and all people within those lands to be US citizens, and then demand that they comply with our laws.
If they want to keep their little communes, that is fine, but they should be required to live by our laws.
Our constitutions says that you can not punish people because of their blood line, and for that reason you should not be able to give them advantages for their blood lines. The idea that someone is entitled to operate a casino because they are 1/8th indian is reprehensible. Imagine making a law that restricted someone from voting because they were 1/8th indian? We need to change this system.
Of course, it won't happen because the Mafia figured out how to use indian gaming years ago. Balleys (The corporate arm of the Cosa Nostra) is in so deep that we could never get the Congress (Reps or Dems) to act.
My whole universe is being uprooted here!
Not.
I was thinking the same thing. Its pretty sure the Indians dont have a democracy as to speak out means expulsion.
When you wanted out of the Mafia it meant death, I guess it isnt that bad yet.
Money and Power are corrupting influences and woe betides the one who interferes with either.
Awright already...I'll ask the question. When will the Gubmint realize that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has outlasted its usefulness? When will they finally stop recognizing Indian tribes officially? When will they start treating Indians as plain, ordinary folk like the rest of us? The Injun Wars were a loooong time ago. Best to let it rest. And that may help put an end to the money-grubbing, soul-stealing fiascos known as Indian casinos...SSZ
Exactly! I was thinking the same thing. Out at Mystic Lake Casino.
The people who were declared non-tribal members actually could prove their lineage - but the tribal leadership said that they (and they alone) were the arbiters who could be considered a tribal member or not.
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
OLTG....taking the short cut to the 10,000 post mark!
OLTG....taking the short cut to the 10,000 post mark!
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