Two bills now under consideration in Congress would create a reservation for the Lytton Rancheria near Windsor, California in Sonoma County.
The bill, being carried by Republican Jeff Denham, is virtually identical to a bill sponsored two years ago by Jared Huffman, a Bay Area Democrat. For political reasons that have to do with the fact that the Republicans control the House, the tribe has asked Denham, a member of House Natural Resources Committee, to sponsor the bill in this session.
One obvious reason is that the Lytton tribe, which operates the San Pablo Casino on a tiny 10-acre reservation near San Francisco has donated more than $68,000 to Denham’s PAC. The Lytton Rancheria Homeland Act would create a reservation with more than 500 acres near the town of Windsor. The tribe owns the land. For years, the tribe has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put 124 acres of this land into trust. So far the BIA has not acted on that request.
The tribe says Denham is “familiar with Indian issues throughout the state,” and that he took a special interest in the tribe’s plight. Huffman blames the “partisan nature of the House,” for his bill not moving two years ago. He still supports the bill but is disassociating himself from it so that it has a better chance of passage.
Eric Wee, founder of Citizens for Windsor, a group opposed to the Lytton reservation being put there said last week, “Why is a congressman 150 miles away from Windsor putting in land-use legislation that doesn’t affect his district?” said Eric Wee, a founder of Citizens for Windsor, which adamantly opposes the Lytton project. “The simple answer is money. He is doing whatever he can to get money from Indian tribes.”
A spokesman for Denham disputes that. Communications Director Jessica McFaul told the Press-Democrat. “Rep. Denham has a long history of supporting California tribes seeking to improve their self-determination and bettering their homelands.”
Federal records indicate that Denham’s PAC received 10 donations of $5,000 apiece from various Indian tribes. One of them was the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians based near Santa Barbara. Denham sponsored a bill to add 1,400 acres to the tribe’s reservation. The bill did not pass.
