NICE – Dozens of Robinson Rancheria tribal members – those under threat of disenrollment and those who aren't – as well as nontribal members lined a short stretch of Highway 20 near the tribe's casino on Saturday, protesting the tribal council's action to remove at least 60 people from its rolls and to fire numerous people from jobs with the tribe.

 The disenrollment, which took place last month as Lake County News has reported, has deepened divisions in the tribe, according to those who marched and chanted Saturday.

 The Bureau of Indian Affairs must approve the action, according to the tribe's constitution. That agency has yet to do that, according to tribal members who appealed their disenrollment and await a decision.

 That disenrollment action was followed earlier this month by sudden firings for disenrollees and nontribal members working at California Tribal TANF, which offers social services to Indians, and the tribe's well-respected environmental program.

 Indian and non-Indians alike carried signs that read, “Corruption spoken here,” “Can you smell the greed,” “Justice for who? All,” “Did our ancestors die for injustice,” “All tribes united to fight tribal corruption,” “Honk for justice” and “Fairness and quality for all RR (Robinson Rancheria) Pomos.”

 About 50 people were engaged in the protest at any one time, with many people coming and going over five and a half hours. Drivers of dozens of cars honked and waved to the group.

 Clayton Duncan helped start the morning out with a brief smudging ceremony, burning sage and offering a blessing of the protest and its participants, who ranged from young children to elders.

 Clayton Duncan with a smudge stick, preparing to bless the protest area with the burning sage on Saturday, January 17, 2009, at Robinson Rancheria's entrance. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

Duncan expressed concern over what the disenrollment could mean for the tribe's future and its young people, some of whom also are proposed to be stricken from membership rolls.

“What about our children?” Duncan said. “They don't even think about our children.”

 Wanda Quitiquit, one of those targeted for disenrollment and a member of the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization (AIRRO), credited AIRRO – which cosponsored the protest – with being the only group to actively fight for Indian civil rights. 

“I'm not disenrolled as far as I'm concerned,” said Quitiquit, who called California “the home of disenrollment.”

She said AIRRO estimates that 3,000 California Indians have been disenrolled from their tribes. “There is something very bad going on in Indian land today.”

Wanda Quitiquit and her brother, Marion Quitiquit, have been part of AIRRO since it was founded several years ago with the help of the Foreman family of Redding Rancheria, who were themselves disenrolled.

Quitiquit said Indian gaming “is our downfall,” and said the present disenrollment crisis requires Indians to step up their political activism like they did in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

 Wanda Quitiquit, left, addresses the crowd of protesters on the morning of Saturday, January 17, 2009, in front of the Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino and the rancheria's tribal office. “We just can't stand for it anymore,” Quitiquit said of tribal disenrollments. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

She commended Duncan for his efforts to remind the community of Indians' history in Lake County, including the 1850 Bloody Island massacre, which took place not far from Robinson Rancheria.

“If we don't remember what happened here in Lake County, who in the hell is going to do it for us?” Quitiquit asked.

 Quitiquit added, “We have allowed ourselves to be oppressed by six people,” referring to the Robinson Rancheria Citizens Business Council, whose members include Tracey Avila, board chair; Curtis Anderson Jr., vice chair; Kim Fernandez, secretary/treasurer; and members-at-large Nicholas Medina, Stoney Timmons and Buffy Mitchell.

Avila did not return a call seeking comment Saturday. However, in previous interviews with Lake County News she has justified the disenrollment action, saying it was necessary to allow the tribe to focus its limited resources on helping its true members.

 Those disenrolled, she alleged, had their membership in question for some time, and the tribal council finally was getting around to addressing the issue.

 Despite strong words and calls to action, the event itself was nonconfrontational. Rival tribal members drove by, including Avila, who was in the front passenger seat of a black SUV, videotaping the protesters, who waved at her.

At the same time as the protest was taking place, a tribal election – originally scheduled for Jan. 3 – was being held at the tribe's environmental office about a quarter of a mile east on Highway 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The protest was located just down a hill from the tribal offices, which was to have been the location of the election. The decision was reportedly made Saturday morning due to “security concerns.”

EJ Crandell, who was elected tribal chair in an election last June, had his win decertified by an election committee composed largely of family members of Avila, who continues to hold her tribal chair position. He was later notified he was ineligible to run in this election.

 EJ Crandell (with bullhorn, center right) points up to the tribal office building where the tribe's election was to have taken place on Saturday, January 17, 2009. However, the election was moved down the highway to the tribe's environmental center. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

Crandell called the new election “a farce.” He alleged that moving the polling place on short notice violates the tribe's constitution – one of many election irregularities of which he said the tribe is guilty.

Robinson Rancheria elder Freeda Krukoff, 81, borrowed the event's bullhorn and spoke her mind to the group about the tribe's leadership.

She asked who has an election by running against themselves, an allusion to Avila and other tribal council members running unopposed because their challengers were invalidated.

Krukoff suggested that if President Bush refused to leave the White House at the end of his term, she would be getting on his case, too.

She was the casino's head of housekeeping, and was noted for her meticulous sense of order and cleanliness. However, other tribal members pointed out that she had been fired from her job by the tribal council.

Marion Quitiquit suggested many tribal members are scared to speak out about the situation with the tribal government due to intimidation.

Not letting their voices fade

Carla Foreman-Maslin, AIRRO's board chair, and her husband, Mark Maslin, traveled from Redding to support Robinson's embattled tribal members. Foreman-Maslin carried a sign that said, “Obama stop this drama.”

Saturday marked the fifth anniversary of the disenrollment of her father, Bob Foreman, Redding Rancheria's first tribal chair, and several other members of their family. She and the rest of the family were disenrolled on Jan. 27, 2004.

Foreman-Maslin said tribes that disenroll members hope those peoples' voices will fade, and so she encouraged people to keep speaking out.

Gesturing to fellow protesters, Foreman-Maslin said the way to change the situation facing disenrollees is to keep active and in public view.

The protest drew members of tribes from around Lake County and Northern California – from Scotts Valley, Big Valley and Elem, to Hopland, Guidiville, Cahto (Laytonville), Redding, Round Valley (Covelo), Pinoleville and the Yurok tribe.

One of those making the trip to Lake County was Ukiah resident Lynn Crabtree, who lives at the Pinoleville Rancheria despite the fact that her family was among more than 100 people disenrolled from the tribe in actions that began in the 1990s.

Crabtree is the granddaughter of the famed master Pomo basket weaver Elsie Allen, the namesake of a Santa Rosa high school.

Despite Pinoleville's actions, Crabtree said she never received an official letter telling her of her status.

An AIRRO member herself, Crabtree said being told by fellow tribal members that you're no longer an Indian is “the most difficult part of it.”

The group of protesters received a sign of hope in the form of an important symbol – a red-tailed hawk.

They gathered around tribal member Jolene Crawford, who cradled an injured hawk in her arms. A friend of Crawford's found the hawk, stunned after being hit by a car Friday night, and brought it to her.

 Crawford, who cared for the beautiful bird of prey, said he seemed OK and ready to return to the wild. She intended to take him up to a nearby hilltop Saturday night to release him.

 People moved forward to reverently touch the bird's fine, soft red feathers. Sitting in Crawford's arms, the hawk was quiet and allowed the careful touches.

Clint Duncan gently stroked the hawk and thanked it for coming, saying it was a symbol of strength and luck, and the mascot for the rancheria's youth sports teams.
Last month, Meyo Marrufo – along with her mother, Denise Quitiquit and numerous other family members – received a letter notifying her that she was no longer a member of the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomos.

 Then, earlier this month, she and several other staff members at the Robinson environmental office were put on administrative leave and her boss and aunt, Irenia Quitiquit, was suddenly fired after 13 years of service.

It's a strange situation, said Marrufo, considering that her family and the Andersons, the family to which Avila and other tribal council members belong, are so closely related. They're cousins, she said, explaining part of the tribe's family trees.

“This land is ours,” Marrufo said, adding that her grandmother fought to get her rightful place and recognition in the tribe.

“I don't need them to tell me I'm Indian,” said Marrufo. “I already knew that.”

 E-mail Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 



Protesters gathered near the entrance to Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on Highway 20 outside of Nice on Saturday, January 17, 2009. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.