Several tribes in California’s Central Valley area are anticipating new proposed federal rules that will make it easier for tribes to get federal recognition.
Critics of the new rules warn that this will open the floodgates to more Indian gaming in a state that already has more than 71 casinos. Since the state has 109 recognized tribes, more casinos are always a possibility. And if more tribes gaining federal recognition that possibility becomes a near certainty.
Currently there are 68 tribes in the Golden State that have petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs for recognition. Many of them are in the Central Valley, including seven in Fresno County, four in Kern County, and a handful in the other counties of the huge valley that runs down the middle of the state.
Under the new proposed rules, first unveiled in May, tribes that showed they have existed since the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 could be granted recognition and allowed to reconstitute reservations that have been lost. Currently tribes have to show that they have existed since 1789.
The streamlining process was introduced at the request of many of the tribes that have awaited recognition for many years, said Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who issued this statement recently: “Tribal leaders have told us that the current process can be inconsistent, cost millions of dollars and take decades to complete,” she said, adding, “Our proposed rules maintain the rigorous integrity needed, but allows that process to be conducted in a timely, efficient and transparent manner.”
Although critics fear a new flood of casinos once the rules are adopted, some tribes say they want the status in order to apply for housing grants and federal subsidies, and educational programs.
One such tribe is the Traditional Choinumni Tribe of Pine Flat Lake. The 225-member tribe claims to be able to show that it has lived in the area for 6,000 years. The tribal chairman, David Alvarez says that a reservation would be used to help its members. . “Some people can’t pay their bills and buy food. We would like to help the people with housing and transportation to get them to the doctor or to a store to buy food,” he told the Fresno Bee last week.
The 600-member Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation of Mariposa County has applied for recognition since the early 1980s. It doesn’t seek recognition to introduce gaming, but rather to offer health care and education to members, according to a spokesman.
The Dunlap Band, which has 200 members and 200 acres in trust, seeks recognition for housing grants and grants to build some commercial development, such as a market.
For all the tribes that have no intention of pursuing gaming, obviously many tribes in the Golden State have done so. The most recent tribe to achieve recognition was the Tejon Tribe, recognized three years ago. It is partnering with Cannery Casino Resorts to seek the right to build a casino.
According to attorney Jenny Kim, who represents the tribe, eliminating the current onerous process won’t create a flood of new casinos. “It will still be a challenge to put together a professional petition,” she told the Bee. “Reforming the regulations makes what was virtually impossible to prove to start with potentially more feasible.”
Organizations such as gaming watchdog Stand up for California, which sponsored a statewide referendum to repeal a gaming compact for two off-reservation casinos, estimate that nearly two-dozen new casinos will result in California if the federal rules are eased. The land will also be taken off of local and county tax rolls.
Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand Up, told the Sacramento Bee, “Clearly the incentive for federal recognition is gaming expansion. These new tribes will be shopped by gaming investors” seeking access to California. “What do they care about the state’s gaming policies?”
The measure backed by Stand Up addresses the North fork Mono Rancheria, which wants to build a casino near Madera, 36 miles from its tribal homeland. Critics of such actions disparagingly call it “reservation shopping.”
Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt told the Bee, Our county has always been opposed to gaming. We think there are many other economic development ideas that could be successful.”
Because some gaming experts warn that the state is nearing saturation, tribes that do achieve recognition may have trouble getting the financing.
