Deputies patrol around site of Calif. tribal fight
Mar 1, 2012, 3:31 AM
COARSEGOLD, Calif. (AP) – Sheriff’s deputies and private security guards patrolled an Indian tribe’s government center Wednesday to make sure both sides of a leadership dispute that led to a violent skirmish a day earlier complied with a stay-away order so tempers could cool.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs said federal representatives in California were in touch with the two factions of the Chukchansi tribe and hoped to mediate a peaceful resolution.
Tuesday’s fight in the parking lot of the tribal compound, which a sheriff’s spokeswoman described as “absolute pandemonium,” was between supporters of the tribe’s sitting council and a group whose leaders claim they were denied their rightful place in tribal government after a disputed December election.
The tribe owns the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino in the Sierra foothills near Yosemite National Park.
Supporters of the rival group say their candidates would overturn the tribe’s recent decisions to expel dozens of members. The expulsions cut tribal members from a share of casino profits that can amount to $1,000 a month.
Critics say the thinning of membership ranks is motivated by greed, a charge that tribal officials vehemently denied.
Many expulsions have occurred around the country, but they are particularly numerous in California, where many tribes reconstituted over the last several decades then entered the casino business, advocates say. With the tribes claiming sovereign status, experts say people have little recourse to challenge tribes’ enrollment decisions in courts.
But representatives of the sitting council say the disenrollment issue is a red herring. They say the disputed election involves one of the four people elected in December, who was disqualified after he used an invalid tribal badge in the casino, the Fresno Bee (
http://bit.ly/wFGI3d) reported.
The skirmish came after the rival group took over the tribal office Monday. About 20 people clashed Tuesday outside the tribe’s government center campus in Coarsegold, about 200 miles southeast of San Francisco, according to Madera County sheriff’s officials.
A total of about 100 sheriff’s deputies and other local authorities responded to the scene, which sheriff’s spokeswoman Erica Stuart described as “absolute pandemonium.”
Two people were hospitalized but expected to recover from injuries that included a stab wound. Stuart said two people from the brawl were detained.
A day after the fight, deputies patrolled the area as security guards hired by both sides remained on the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians.
The rival factions voluntarily left and agreed to stay away for 48 hours to give the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs time to intervene, according to sheriff’s officials.
Nedra Darling, a BIA spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that bureau representatives in California had “reached out to the parties and we are supporting the tribe’s efforts to reach a peaceful resolution.”
The leader of one of the factions objected to the sheriff’s decision to move in to end the standoff, calling it a violation of tribal sovereignty. Sheriff John Anderson had threatened to arrest anyone who did not leave the government compound.
Stuart said the sheriff’s office has jurisdiction when a crime occurs.
Other casino-owning tribes in the state that have kicked out members include the Pala Band of Mission Indians in northern San Diego County. That tribe owns the Pala Resort and Casino and expelled more than 150 people earlier this month.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
