The Bureau of Indian Affairs has intervened to force a new tribal council on the troubled Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, whose infighting an inability to sweet a tribal council that can actually govern the tribe has caused it to miss several bond payments for its Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in recent months.
The BIA ruled that the last council that was able to govern was the one that was seated in 2010. That was the last time that a council election did not involve three factions that refuse to work together.
The regional director of the BIA, Amy Dutschke, wrote, “The situation at the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians has deteriorated to a point that recognition of a government is essential for the purpose of contracting … and to prevent any further hiatus of this government-to-government relationship with the tribe.”
One of the factions that control the casino has vowed to appeal the decision.
The factional split that has led to several violent confrontations involves differences over disenrollment of some tribal members. In one clash one faction took over the tribe’s business complex, forcing Sheriff’s deputies to intervene.
Because of the inability to identify who legally controls the tribe’s bank accounts, a judge in New York froze the tribe’s assets, putting the tribe in danger of defaulting on its bond payments on loans that funded the casino resort.
The BIA’s action in seating a new council has led the federal government to unfreeze some housing funds that it has held in abeyance for several months.
