REGION: Mediator sought to resolve tribal dispute
San Pasqual officials say casino and services operating as normal
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | ∞
VALLEY CENTER ---- A federal mediator has been asked to help the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians' governing board repair a rift centered on the disputed lineage of about 80 tribal members.
Without a settlement that restores stability to the five-member governing council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs says continued management of the tribe's Valley View Casino and other operations are subject to federal intervention.
The council split last month when one tribal group voted to have the 80 people removed, contending they are descendants of a man they said did not have San Pasqual blood.
That disputed finding then led to separate factions claiming tribal leadership.
Jim Fletcher, the bureau's Southern California superintendent, said Tuesday that he received the written request for mediation services from tribal Chairman Allen Lawson.
"I got a letter from the chairman on Monday asking to reinstitute mediation between the two groups," Fletcher said during a telephone interview from his Riverside office.
Fletcher said he was considering a response that would bring in a Justice Department mediator if he determines "the request is serious." Past efforts by a mediator to resolve the fight have failed.
Lawson declined comment on the mediation request.
Last week, Fletcher sent a letter to tribal officials saying his agency no longer recognizes a functioning tribal government because of the split and the tribe's apparent inability to convene a quorum of tribal leaders.
The letter stressed that federal law forbids tribes from operating businesses or programs in the absence of a functioning government.
Ron Mast, who said he was recently elected tribal vice chairman and has pressed the ancestry issue, said that none of the tribe's operations was being shut down.
"We are not closing down anything," he said.
The council, elected by adults among the approximately 300-member tribe, has been split by the debate surrounding the lineage of a man named Marcos Alto Sr., who died in 1988.
In 1994, the Bureau of Indian Affairs attempted to settle the matter by ruling Alto's descendants were tribal members.
The issue continued to simmer, however, and reached the boiling point last month when tribal members aligned with Mast voted to "disenroll" the 80 members whose heritage was questioned.
The vote came after Mast last year filed a challenge to the 1994 ruling, basing his argument on an anthropologist's report that concluded Alto was not a member of the tribe and therefore his descendants could not claim tribal membership.
About 50 of those people were suspended from their jobs at Valley View Casino in the wake of the vote. Their monthly casino profit, estimated at $4,000, also was suspended pending resolution of the enrollment issue.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has not determined if it will accept the disenrollment vote. Alto's descendants sent a challenge to the bureau Friday, Fletcher said.
The bureau eventually will rule on whether the vote should be upheld. At each step of that process, the differing sides will be allowed to comment, he added.
As the controversy continues, Joe Navarro, a tribal member who is president of its casino development group, issued a written statement Monday saying the gambling facility continues normal operations. A scheduled groundbreaking to add a hotel remains on track, he said.
"The San Pasqual Casino Development Group is 100 percent confident that the San Pasqual Band will resolve their internal differences amicably," he wrote. "Valley View Casino will continue to thrive as it has been and we look forward to the groundbreaking of our Four Diamond resort hotel on Aug. 25."
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
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if they.... wrote on Aug 6, 2008 12:56 AM:can't bring about a little harmony between "official" tribe members, and the decendents of the "adopted" tribe members, the other Casinos are going to have 1 less competitive forum to worry about, always thought if you adopted someone, they were family, no questions asked, bet the origional San Pasqual family that adopted Marcos Alto never gave it any thought, so why does that tribe now have a problem with it..???
OOOOOHHHH YEAH......less members....bigger slice of the pie from revenues from the casino operations...this has all the signs of the greedy trying to push out anyone else in efforts to gain more for themselves
Was Not An Issue wrote on Aug 6, 2008 7:38 AM:Tribal lineage was not nearly the issue when members were seeking money from the government and there were no casinos. Also, gambling is gambling. A destructive habit that feeds on avarice and greed. Something for nothing. For every winner, there are more losers. I think they call it the house odds.
intetrnalaffairs wrote on Aug 6, 2008 7:56 AM:Now Lawson wants to mediate, it looks like hes giving in, i thought he said everything was fine and the tribe can do waht ever it wants. Him adn Salgado from Saboboa must be brothers
ndngrrl wrote on Aug 6, 2008 9:37 AM:I'm American Indian and my feeling on these disenrollment issues is that Tribes should have to repay the US government any all monies they received on behalf of the tribal members they are now disenrolling. Tribes have always recieved funds from Government agencies based on their enrollment. So going back 20 years it would appear that they need to repay all that money they received on behalf of these members their saying aren't really members after all. I think that's reasonable. Yes, I'm an enrolled member of a tribe that receives a hefty distribution but I also know the difference between between an Indian and greed.
not again wrote on Aug 6, 2008 10:49 AM:I'm also proud to be an American Indian and it's of this tribe. It's sad that this is about greed from Allen and his three gals. What they did is wrong and the BIA & NICG has told Mr. Lawson so. Despite that, if this is not corrected the casino will close. Over 1,200 employees from the casino alone will lose their job because of four greedy people. No casino no per cap. I feel sorry for the people with no other income, but the casino.
Welcome to reality 101.
Concerned wrote on Aug 6, 2008 1:19 PM:Mediation was happening but Alan Lawson & Dave Toler refused to follow through. Now in the threat of closing down the casino by BIA & NIGC he is acting like it was not his fault. Alan Lawson Has been saying that everything is fine.He knew what was going on but he doesnt care about the tribal members Its all about GREED GREED GREED!
By the way MARCOS ALTO SR. was FULL BLOODED SAN PASQUAL INDIAN
Whats up wrote on Aug 6, 2008 3:41 PM:I notice that you, NCTIMES, only post the negative comments and one side comments against the tribe and what's really going on. How wrong is that???
proud to be me wrote on Aug 7, 2008 12:56 PM:one that knows that marcus alto sr. was a full blooded indian. very proud and a humble man to all who knew him. sad that
the new generation didn't know mr. alto like the old generation of indian people
did. i am talking about the fifties.
Its all about Greed wrote on Aug 7, 2008 11:33 PM:Yes it is all about greed. Greed because all the old people in the tribe always knew Mr. Alto was adopted, which was why he wasn't enrolled by his own parents and wasn't a member during his lifetime. This was known as far back as the 1950s. But years after he was dead, once the casino was coming online, then suddenly his relatives wanted membership and the financial benefits that would eventually come. Meanwhile legitimate descendants who don't have enough 'blood' get nothing, while these group with no 'blood' get payoffs.
I'm not sad for these people at all. The real members ALWAYS known that he was adopted. Too bad the BIA accepted their word in the first place. Hopefully they will actually review the evidence this time.
PediGREED wrote on Aug 8, 2008 4:44 AM:At least the DAR doesn't exist for $. Be honest, do the research. Where is the pride in falsification of your bloodlines? If you want in, do the research and prove it. If you want to join the club, you need to pay your dues. Discrimination in its finest form. LOL.
Proven wrote on Aug 20, 2008 3:05 PM:I put in all the hours of research and submitted (going on 4 years) ALL the needed docs which PROVE that I am indeed (without a doubt)a descendant, meanwhile, these docs sit on someone's desk collecting dust. My thought is, my native ancestors who grew up with Mr. Alto would be mighty furious & embarassed by the stand in which these people have taken, claiming Mr. Alto was adopted, therefore he is not family, come on, give me a break! I bet when Mr. Alto & his family were "helping" in whatever way they could, not ONE of them claimed "he wasn't family so he should not pitch in." WE ought to be ashamed of ourselves!
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