By Karen Toggery

It has been five months since we were forcibly removed from our lifelong homes at the Jamul Indian Village. We were threatened by armed men with guns, pepper spray and batons who burst into our homes and dragged us out into the early morning light. Two days later, our homes were bulldozed to the ground.

Today, we ask what are the people who want to build a casino waiting for? Bill Mesa, who led the hired security guards against us that day and oversaw the destruction of our homes, said he was going to build a casino and no one was going to stop him. He cited sovereignty as justification for his actions.

Again we ask what are you waiting for? You dealt the hand!

When it came time to elect a new Jamul tribal chairman in June, Mesa was chosen. Tribal members ousted Leon Acebedo, the past chairman, who is now receiving the blame for anything that has or will go wrong.

Acebedo is the new tribal scapegoat. Mesa is reaping the rewards of the chairmanship, including a large salary. Mesa, with his new validation, will even be teaching the Kumeyaay language at the Barona Education Center. The sad part is Mesa does not know the true Kumeyaay language nor does he follow in the true Kumeyaay ways.

How sad these last five months have been for my cousin Walter Rosales, our elder aunt, Vivian Flores, my son, Louis, and me. We all enjoyed living at the Jamul Indian Village, close to our heritage and elders. Thanks to Bill Mesa and his hired squad of goons we have been totally deprived of our family lands. I say shame on you, the tribal chairman, the executive council and other silent tribal members.

Previously, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department had assured us that it would not let anyone remove us from our homes since there is a lawsuit about the ownership and there had been no legal California court eviction notice. Yet, on that Saturday morning sheriff’s deputies did nothing to stop Bill Mesa or the hired goon squad. Our civil rights were ignored entirely.

To settle the standoff that Saturday, we homeowners, the hired security, the sheriff’s personnel, the 70-plus Jamul community members who were supporting us and Chairman Acebedo brokered an agreement with a hand-written contract. The contract stated that he would not demolish the homes until the following Friday.

The purpose of the agreement was to allow our attorney to be able to go to court and argue for an order to protect our homes and ultimately return them to us. Sheriff’s Capt. Guy Chambers also signed the agreement to provide further credence and assurances.

With this agreement, we all dispersed thinking we had time to do the lawfully correct action and we would return to our homes. Wrong! On Monday, Acebedo and Mesa ordered the homes bulldozed. The irony is that the sheriff refused to stop the destruction. Yet, Capt. Chambers had assured us of his protection.

To add insult, Chambers attended the July tribal council meeting. According to those present, he expressing confidence in Mesa’s leadership and offered the support of the Sheriff’s Department, though he has since denied making such statements. Yet, why would Chambers come to Jamul on a Saturday, his normal day off, to speak to the tribe? The Sheriff’s Department employs outreach officers for just that purpose. Where has Chambers’ outreach been for us?

It weighs heavily on our hearts as to what will happen to our sacred sites. What will become of our traditional ways that we hold dear? We, the lineal descendants of our funerary objects, be they placed on the ground or buried beneath the earth, are sickened to see the damage that already has been done. The Jamul Indian Village has been stripped of all trees, plants, paths and walls that surround our homes. Mesa used heavy equipment to scrap the ground, loading it into dump trucks that hauled it away.

Amid that dirt and debris, we know there are sacred objects that have been dumped in a foreign place of unrest, never to be found or returned to their rightful resting place.

Have current tribal leaders no respect for the traditions of the Kumeyaay Indians? All this for what? A casino! Will they continue to strip away the respect and pride in being a Native American Indian until we no longer exist?

Will our voices be the last to be heard?

Toggery was one of a handful of Jamul Indians forcibly evicted from their lifelong homes on March 10.

© Copyright 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

Posted on August 23rd, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Gaming, Opinion