LAKE COUNTY — Labeled “dissidents” in media and by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo tribal leaders, Scotts Valley Pomos Les Miller, formal tribal Chairman, and Steve Elliott were the main engineers behind getting federal recognition for the tribe, which became legally recognized in 1999. Now they feel the desire for money and a profitable casino in the Bay Area is pulling the family apart.
“Money has really changed the family. If you get money ? you go berserk, now we”re like strangers,” Elliott said.
The 109- adult member tribe, with 110 minors, is based in Lakeport with a main office there, with roots in Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma county, and some members argue, Richmond.
But Miller, Elliott and at least one ethnohistorian say that”s a stretch. Reaching out to claim historic ties to land for the purposes of building a casino is an effort commonly labeled “reservation shopping.”
The tribe is in the process of proving a connection to land more than 200 miles south of Lakeport in unincorporated Contra Costa County near North Richmond, where plans for a Las Vegas-style casino are under way. And Miller, Elliott and some other members don”t agree with the plan.
Current tribal Chairman Don Arnold told the Record-Bee in a previous interview he is not sure the casino plans will be approved. At the end of April, a 30-day period for the public to weigh in on a final environmental impact statement [EIS] from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs closed.
The next step will be a federal decision on whether the Bay Area site qualifies as “restored land,” which Arnold and tribal leaders have tried for years to prove. Arnold said about half of the members live in the Richmond area, which is part of the requirement to prove ties to the land. The other half live in Lakeport.
The other requirement to build a casino there is to prove historical ties to the land. Arnold said ancestors did live, trade and migrate through the area, and historically were not just isolated to Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
Alan Leventhal, Lecturer of Anthropology and Urban Planning at San Jose State University, said in an e-mail to the Record-Bee no such ties exist for the Scotts Valley tribe to Richmond.
“As the Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Ethnohistorian ? since 1980 ? I gave testimony along with Tribal Chairwoman Rosemary Cambra at the March 2006 scoping session in Richmond. We submitted historical and legal documentation about the fact that Richmond falls within the historic Huichun Ohlone Territory and that Scotts Valley Tribe has no aboriginal or historical ties to this area. Interestingly, although our testimonial transcription appears in the ?Final” EIS report, none of our submitted documentation was published as part of the administrative record,” Leventhal said.
“What we know is we”re from here. If we don”t agree, then we”re the bad guys. I”ve had death threats against me. These things are taking place in the name of the almighty dollar. We”re the trouble makers, we”re the dissidents ? because we”re telling the truth,” Miller said.
He said the tribe has wasted money and energy hiring enthnohistorians and anthropologists to make the case it is tied to Richmond for a casino he thinks will never be approved.
“Why not do it the easy way? Why not put a casino in the area where you”ve already been pre-approved for? If you want to help our community and our schools and all the things we can do in our own community,” Miller said. And a casino is not the answer, he added. Miller said he would like to see other types of industry, such as a hotel in Lake County.
In a petition completed last fall in an attempt to recall Arnold and council members, Miller, Elliot and 31 other members alleged voter fraud and payoffs to illegally registered tribal members ? what they say are 10 persons registered with two different tribes at the same time. Under the tribe”s constitution, a petition would require a recall vote, they claimed. But Arnold and other tribal members said it was not valid.
Miller and Elliott let the BIA know about the recall, but have not heard anything back.
“I know the wheel of justice is slow, but my grandmother is faster than that and she”s been dead for ten years,” Elliott said.
“All the Pomos are from Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties. It wasn”t our band that was down there,” Miller said.
“I”ve hated Richmond ever since I first drove through there. I don”t want to be shot in the head when I get my check,” Elliott said, speaking of the $400 check members receive per month.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
