Are the Chukchansi Tribes Feuding Again
Power Struggle Over Indian Tribe Splinters Into Violence in California
COARSEGOLD, Calif. — For two months, after a disputed election, the fight for control of the Chukchansi Indian tribe was a standoff: two groups claimed to be the rightful tribal council, each holding separate meetings and appealing to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for official recognition. But the bureau said it was an internal tribal matter, and the two sides had to work it out on their own.
Here is what working it out on their own looked like: supporters of Morris Reid, who said he was elected the new tribal council chairman in December, cut locks and smashed a window to gain access to one of the tribal government offices early Monday morning.
Then late that night, across the street from the glittering Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, supporters of Reggie Lewis, the council chairman before the election, tried to smoke Mr. Reid out. Power to the building was cut. A window was broken. Bear spray was discharged into the building. A smoldering log was thrown inside. More windows were broken, and objects were thrown from the building.
The sheriff kept watch, but no arrests were made — on Indian land, he said he had no jurisdiction to deal with property damage.
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The standoff finally ended on Tuesday, after a melee outside the building involving at least 20 people from the opposing sides. One man was stabbed in the abdomen, though he was expected to live, while a security guard was bashed over the head, and two suspects were detained. Only then did the local sheriff's department come in from the sidelines, with more than 100 officers from multiple agencies, and begin clearing the premises. By day's end, neither faction had control of the building.
"The Bureau of Indian Affairs said it was an internal tribal matter and we had to resolve it through a tribal process," Mr. Reid said. "That means we had to take possession, and we tried to do that without breaking any laws."
The fight for control of the Chukchansi is only the latest — and among the ugliest — in a long string of power struggles in tribes across the country. Whereas courts swiftly step in to decide disputed elections in most of the country, federal courts have no jurisdiction over Indian tribal lands, which are considered sovereign nations, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the agency responsible for maintaining the relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes, is hesitant to intervene in tribal squabbles.
With no external government agency to enforce the law, tribal elections frequently resemble elections in developing countries — sitting chiefs refuse to give up power, struggles for control sometimes turn violent and possession is at least nine-tenths of the law.
"Power struggles seem to be more common than not in Indian country," said David Wilkins, a Lumbee Indian and professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota.
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The dispute between the two Chukchansi factions revolves around disenrollments, and the question of who is rightfully a Chukchansi. Mr. Lewis and his allies on the tribal council had expelled dozens of people from the tribe in recent months, ruling that they had never been Chukchansi. Mr. Reid and his supporters oppose the recent disenrollments, although Mr. Reid had supported some disenrollments in the past. He charged that the old leaders were trying to cut down on tribal membership so they would not have to share the casino profits with so many others.
In the Dec. 3 election, the sitting tribal council chairman, Mr. Lewis, was voted out, as was another member of council. But Mr. Lewis contested the results, claiming that one of the candidates who beat him should not have been eligible to run. The tribe's election committee — a panel appointed by the tribal council members themselves — sided with Mr. Lewis.
The two sides dispute just about every detail of what happened next, but this much is certain: the Dec. 26 tribal council meeting erupted into chaos, as supporters of Mr. Reid demanded that all the winning candidates be seated on the council. Mr. Lewis announced that no one would be seated, and he would remain chairman until a new election was held to fill the disputed seat.
Mr. Reid claims that amid the shouting, an election official did seat all the newly elected candidates, making him the new chairman.
Mr. Lewis, however, said the other group planned to create an uproar and illegally seize power. Afterward, he had the locks to the tribal government buildings changed, and maintained control of the tribe's assets until this week. He and his allies suspended about 30 members of the tribe — including Mr. Reid and his political allies — from tribal land for five years.
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Mr. Lewis said that in all this, he was simply following the tribe's own constitution, standing up to what he called an unlawful takeover.
"They forced us into doing what we did because we have to obey the law," he said. "Just because they won the election and got the most votes doesn't give them the right to break the law."
But unlike many other tribes, the Chukchansi have no tribal court to interpret their constitution, making it difficult to resolve constitutional disputes.
Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, insisted that the tribal members would have to resolve the issue themselves.
"We hope the tribe will work through their tribal government issues and come to their solution soon," she said.
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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/us/chukchansi-indian-tribe-dispute-heats-up-in-california.html
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