A California gaming tribe with a recent history of violence has kicked 60 members off the rolls who were added less than two years ago.
The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, which operates the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino near Coarsegold in central California, voted last week to cut off the new members from their share of casino profits and other benefits of membership.
According to the Fresno Bee, Tribal Chairman Jennifer Ruiz said in a statement, “It was determined that these individuals do not meet the requirements for Tribal enrollment and it was necessary to suspend their memberships as part of a formal review and disenrollment hearing.”
She added, “These individuals were enrolled in 2017 under the Tribe’s previous council leadership. Since then, the Tribe has formed an enrollment committee to review all membership eligibility based on its long-established legal constitution.”
According to Ruiz, the enrollment disputes derive from “ambiguous language in the Tribal constitution that has been interpreted by leadership in different ways.” She continued, “The Tribe’s current leadership has created a committee of Tribal members to explore constitutional amendments in a way to clarify the language and create stability.”
This episode is one of several such disenrollment that have occurred in recent years. In 2014 one faction of the tribe tried to take control of the tribal government and casino at gunpoint. This led to the National Indian Gaming Commission shutting down the casino for 14 months.
Two years ago, a disenrollment took aim at families who help found the tribe at the beginning of the previous century.
Cathy Cory, whose family was disenrolled in 2006, told the Bee: “It’s generational trauma for the Indian people of California. To have your birthright stolen by your own tribe is hurtful, ridiculous and unnecessary.”
When members are disenrolled they cannot receive health care, housing or distributions from the casino. The disenrollment affects all descendants of affected members.
The vote comes after about two years of relative stability. Some critics blame the constant jockeying for power on greed to corner an ever larger share of casino revenues.
One critic, Gabriel Galanda, a Seattle attorney who specializes in disenrollment issues, estimates that the Chukchansi have expelled about 1,000 people over the years. He believes that last week’s action actually affects 125 members, rather than the 60 acknowledged by Ruiz’s statement.
Tribes are not required to say how much money their casinos make. However, since the Chukchansi Gold Casino opened in 2003 it has paid more than $41.6 million to a tribal revenue sharing trust fund, which is the sixth largest total contribution among the 62 gaming tribes that have compacts with the state.
