Temecula would get at least $42 million over the next two decades to cover the impact Pechanga Resort & Casino has on roads and public services, according to a draft agreement between the Pechanga tribe and the city.In addition, the agreement calls for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians to give $10 million for improvements at the Interstate 15/Highway 79 South intersection and for an in-depth environmental review if the tribe wants more than 5,000 gaming machines.

The City Council tonight will consider a resolution approving the agreement . The 7 p.m. meeting is at City Hall, 43200 Business Park Drive.

The tribe has been in the Temecula Valley for more than 10,000 years. Its reservation established in 1882 borders Temecula on the city’s southern end.

The agreement stems from an amendment to the tribe’s gaming compact with California that allowed the tribe to add up to 7,500 gaming machines. The tribe has 4,200 machines now, in a 200,000-square-foot casino as well as a 522-room hotel and related operations.

When voters okayed the additional machines, they also required tribes to reach an accord with local governments to address the impact of their operations. Under the prospective agreement under consideration by Temecula

The agreement ending on Dec. 31, 2030 limits the tribe to a maximum of 5,000 machines.

If the tribe wanted to add machines or expand the casino or hotel, an environmental impact report would be needed. The tribe and city would also have to determine whether the current mitigation fees are enough to cover additional traffic and other consequences of expansion.

Under the proposal, Temecula would receive $2 million annually for the first five fiscal years of the agreement. After that, the $2 million payment would be adjusted for inflation. The tribe’s payment could be lower if the city receives money from a special state fund.

The tribe would also agree to spend $10 million on I- 15/79 South interchange improvements. The amount could be less if the tribe secures state or federal grants for the project.

The city would agree to cover public safety calls at the hotel and casino. There would also be a study at the start of the agreement to determine the baseline level of hotel and casino traffic.

Reach Jeff Horseman at 951-375-3727 or jhorseman@PE.com
© 2010 Press-Enterprise Company

SCAIR Soaring Eagle workshop, March 2, 2010, had an outstanding response by students, mentors and parent. Great songs filled the hall and allowed SCAIR American Indian dance instructor Chuck Cadotte to focus on personal instruction in a performance segment called the Sioux Gourd Dance. He called for previous performance specialties and the various traditional categories. Chuck repeated, “We need to be prepared to dance what is called for at the pow wows and keep our positive attitude.”

Some of the Soaring Eagle parents met in another room to discuss regalia, material and the resources necessary to complete the children’s dance regalia for the events and pow wows this spring. The children are literally growing out of their outfits!

With the increased visibility and popularity of the program, we have been attracting new families to the American Indian workshop. This is a good time to remind all the participants that the Soaring Eagle program is an intertribal pow wow regalia focus. If the parents and family desire to represent specific tribal regalia, well, that is all good. However much of the advice, finance and design will be the responsibility of the Childs’ parents and family. It was a good gathering with comfortable evening weather. This SCAIR sponsored workshop is still the best San Diego inter-tribal gathering to attend with our American Indian community for a sober, clean, positive, educational and cultural experience.

People came to enjoy and participate in the SCAIR sponsored potluck and laugh, talk, and see the children dance and have a great time again this evening.

All will continue to be good at this SCAIR sponsored American Indian Dance workshop if we honor our traditions and respect every thing and each other. We always need to keep in it mind, that it is always about the Indian children. The children’s trust, commitment and self esteem empowerment.

Soaring Eagle Pow wow opportunities:

US Census Pow wow
March 20, 2010
Barrio Station Hall
TBA

Women - Man Wellness Conference
March 28-April 1, 2010
Mini Pow wow
Town & Country Resort, San Diego, CA
University of Oklahoma
TBA

Grossmont Pow wow
April 24, 2010
TBA

IHRC Culture Days
Mothers Day Weekend
May 8-9 2010
Balboa Park
TBA

San Diego State University
Memorial Day weekend
May 29-30, 2010
TBA

Soaring Eagle Pow wow
June 26-27, 2010
Ballard Parent Center
Old Town San Diego
TBA

The Skeletal remains of 14 year old Amber Dubois, missing over a year, have been found in a remote area of the Pala Indian Reservation, home of the Pala Casino Resort & Spaand the The Pala Band of Mission Indians. The reservation is located Pala, California, in North San Diego County.

At a news conference today by Police Chief Jim Maher of Escondido, California, said at a news did not take questions said “Any detail, no matter how slight, would be inappropriate at this time,” he said.

“We’d like to thank everybody involved in the search for Amber… and above all, our huge volunteer corps,” her father, Moe DuBios, said. “They are the most dedicated people you can ever imagine. Without them we cannot have done anything,”

It is interesting to note: the confessed killer of 17 yr old Chelsea King, registered sex offender John Albert Gardner who was arrested on Feb 28th has been considered a suspect by policy in Amber’s case as well. But no information is forth coming at this time about the connection from authorities.

The following is from the FBI missing person bulletin:.

February 13, 2009, Amber Dubois (age 14) disappeared while walking from her home in Escondido, California, to her nearby high school. At approximately 7:10 a.m., someone saw Amber walking hurriedly toward her school in the direction of the school’s athletic practice field. Shortly thereafter, Amber was seen walking about a block further at a normal pace. She was in the company of an unknown male. It is possible that this male may have been the last person to see Amber before her disappearance.

Additionally, there was a red pickup truck that pulled into a parking lot on the school grounds near where Amber was last seen. This truck was parked only for several minutes before leaving the area. Law enforcement is interested in interviewing the driver of the truck.

The truck is described as a newer model, possibly a Ford, GMC, or Toyota, with chrome both above and below the grill. The vehicle is a full size, four-door crew cab pickup truck, red or maroon in color. The truck has chrome wheels and running boards and may be equipped with chrome rails or caps along top of the bed sides. The truck may also have a fifth-wheel trailer hitch

Search Web Site: http://www.amberleeannedubois.com/

Copyright © 2010 Gather Inc.

USK, Wash. - For the first time in a couple generations, young people are speaking ancient words of hope for Native Americans on the brink of losing the first language of the Inland Northwest. Thanks to an innovative language acquisition program, Salish is being spoken on the Kalispel Indian Reservation in northeastern Washington, not just by a dwindling number of tribal elders but by their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“Our language is what holds us. It is a part of who we are. This is what my father told me,” said Dakota Littlecrow, who - at 17 years old - is well on her way to becoming fluent in Kalispel Salish.

The Kalispel and several other Interior Salish-speaking tribes from throughout the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada will share the lessons they have learned at the Inter-tribal Native Language Conference this week at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

Efforts to preserve Interior Salish - once spoken from Vernon, B.C., to Vantage, Wash., and from Wenatchee to Montana’s Bitterroot Valley - have become more critical as tribal elders grow fewer.

The Kalispel Tribe of about 400 people has lost 10 or 15 native Salish speakers in the past 10 years.

“Our elders are passing on,” said Francis Cullooyah, a Kalispel elder who is one of perhaps four surviving native speakers of Kalispel Salish in Washington state. “Those who knew the language really well are mostly gone today.”

Kalispel, Pend Oreille and Bitterroot Salish are considered one language, of which there are believed to be 52 surviving native speakers on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation, according to the Center for Interior Salish. Spokane Salish, a closely related dialect, has only a handful of native speakers remaining.

There are an estimated 175 native speakers of Colville-Okanogan in British Columbia and 25 in the United States.

Wenatchee-Moses Columbian is spoken fluently by perhaps five people, making it one of the most endangered languages in the world. More endangered is Coeur d’Alene, with only one or two native speakers remaining.

Although the Salish-speaking tribes have struggled for years to save their dialects, the separate efforts have achieved varying degrees of success, according to those involved in language preservation.

“We were spinning our wheels for a number of years,” Cullooyah said. “Fortunately, the Kalispel Tribe, through the efforts of some of our young people and elders are at the point we are today.”

J.R. Bluff, 44, assistant director of culture for the Kalispel Tribe and the son of a native Salish speaker, has worked for nearly eight years to learn and teach his father’s language.

“In the past, there were many attempts to get the language going,” Bluff said. “Ever since I was a kid it was important to my parents and my grandparents. I tried different things without much success.”

Bluff mentioned his struggle to a member of his drum circle, LaRae Wiley of the Colville Confederated Tribes, who also had tried to learn and teach Salish.

Wiley asked her husband, Chris Parkin, then a Spanish teacher at Gonzaga Prep, how he was able to teach his students to speak a second language. So he observed her course of study with another local tribe.

“She brought me in and I saw,” Parkin said. “They were inventing everything the day of (the lesson).”

What Wiley needed was a curriculum and prepared materials to allow a sequenced and efficient plan of instruction, Parkin believed.

Wiley and Parkin sold their home in Chewelah and moved to the Ashnola Indian Reserve in British Columbia, where they studied Colville- Okanogan Salish for a year under the tutelage of Sarah Peterson of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band.

They returned to Washington with a comprehensive curriculum, including texts and computer software. Together they founded the nonprofit Center for Interior Salish dedicated to preserving and revitalizing the language.

At the center’s direction, the Kalispel language program is focusing its efforts on transmitting the knowledge of the few surviving native speakers to a group of new, fluent speakers. Those new speakers in turn will pass the language on to children in the Cusick, Wash., public schools.

For now, the Kalispel language program has suspended its instruction in kindergarten through junior high while the staff members learn the new curriculum and immerse themselves in conversational Salish with native speakers.

These speakers include Bertha Covington, 72, a Sanpoil from the Colville Confederated Tribes; Johnny Arlee, 69, of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana; Louise Bowman, 80, and Stan Bluff, 67, both of the Kalispel Tribe.

Meanwhile, some of these elders are translating Kalispel stories - collected in English in the 1930s by Washington State University cultural anthropologist Allan Smith - back into Kalispel Salish. These stories are then illustrated by tribal artists and used to teach Salish in school.

One morning last week, these elders exchanged stories in Salish with new speakers from the Kalispel Tribe - including Jessie Fountain, 22, and Victoria Bowman, 45.

In the afternoon, Fountain and Bowman taught at Cusick High, where Littlecrow thumbed through illustrations of “Mosquito’s Story” while she told the story in Salish.

“Mosquito had five brothers,” she spoke in the language of her ancestors. “His brothers were very mean … .”

J.R. Bluff said his goal is to have 30 new Kalispel Salish speakers within five years. The $500,000-a-year language program is made possible because of revenue generated by the tribe’s Northern Quest Resort and Casino in Airway Heights.

“We’ve all been taught how important this is to our people, so it’s not much of a sale,” Bluff said. “Our language is our connection to those who walked this path before.”

© Copyright 2010, The Spokesman-Review

One person was killed and another was injured in a two- vehicle crash near the Barona Resort & Casino Sunday, the California Highway Patrol said.

The collision between a pickup truck and SUV happened around 12:20 p.m. on Wildcat Canyon Road near Muth Valley Road, just south of the Barona Indian Reservation, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Both directions of Wildcat Canyon Road were closed, the CHP reported. One person was pronounced dead at the scene and at least one other was taken to a hospital, a Heartland Fire dispatcher said.

Copyright © 2010 San Diego News Network, LLC

Heretofore the history of the United States has been largely treated as the story of a process, rather than the complete history of a land “from sea to shining sea.” And this process always begins either in Europe or on the Atlantic Coast of North America.

Allow me to contrast the history of England with the history of the United States. In the history of England one finds that a “land”, i.e., England is the focus, and events tend to be portrayed from earliest times to the present even though sources might be archaeological, geological, paleontological, or literary. Thus, the story of England is not the story of the Celtic migrations, the Roman conquest, or of the Germanic migrations, or the Danish invasion, or the Norman French conquest. Rather it is the story of the land and its peoples regardless of race, culture, languages, or origin.

These different peoples may settle in England from various directions, arriving on a variety of coast lines.
But United States history and regional histories, (such as the history of “the west” or ‘the south”) are virtually always focused on the westward movement of the British or English peoples across the Atlantic and then the subsequent growth and expansion of the area of British control. This is followed by the British colonial rebellion against Britain, the development of the United States of North America, soon to be called the United States of America, and the expansion and growth of the dominant white population of the United States and their culture, literature, and institutions.

Significantly, the growth and decline of the Spanish and French empires in North America and the adjacent Caribbean receive scant attention usually. Thus, for example, the establishment of Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 is given great attention “as the birthplace of America” while the Spanish settlements of St. Augustine (1565) and Santa Fe (ca. 1598-1610) are often ignored.

Once British North America (Canada) has made it clear that it will not join the USA, its history is dropped except for brief mention of the effort to conquer it in the War of 1812. Similarly the other British colonies that remained with Britain, such as Barbados, Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Bahamas, cease to be areas of U.S. history interest, in spite of the fact, I might add, that Native American captives (slaves) from the mainland were often sold to those islands. But then, the entire subject of the enslavement of the First Americans is very lightly treated, and usually not at all.

Since there commonly is no attempt whatsoever to tell the story of the settlement of the Americas by Native Americans, except perhaps for a very brief reference to the Bering Straight theory; and certainly no attempt to reconstruct the history of the First Americans, we are presented with the fact that United States history is not the history of the land called variously North America, “America,” or the United States. Instead it is a racially focused history telling the story of only one great people and their institutions.

It is an “east coast history” which subordinates the continent’s story to an ethnocentric and geocentric distortion.

It is my argument that US history, constructed in such a fashion, is inherently biased. It also deprives us and our youth of a deep and full understanding of the story of our land, a story which must begin when North and South America broke loose from their ancient connections with Europe and Africa and moved across the Earth’s surface to their present location, a movement which eventually sees North and South America combining to form the continent called America, joining together where Panama and Colombia meet.

Needless to state, the history of the various climatic ages and of the Ancient Americans, with their epochal migrations and colonizing of every section of the hemisphere, forms a fascinating and essential part of the history of our land; but one which is ignored, in spite of the fact that a significant percentage of our population (all who are of Mexican, Central-South American, Puerto Rican, and American Indian ancestry), have direct ties to that marvelous story. Large numbers of African-Americans also had ancestors who were ancient pioneers of the Americas.

Thus I call upon educators and upon the public to demand history texts and curricula, which are free of racial preferencing and of ardent imperialism and which, instead, tell the incredibly rich and beautiful history of all of our peoples. We can start our American history from the west, from the north, from the south, from the east. California, or Alaska, or Oregon, or Mexico can begin our story. California does not have to wait until 1848 to become part of our land. It was a part of our “country” long before Columbus, and long before Jamestown or Plymouth Rock.

In short, we must try to persuade our European-American fellow-citizens to stop their fascination with the triumphs and adventures of their European ancestors and ask them to come home to America, the real land, and its entire history.

[Jack Forbes has been writing about the history of our land since the 1950s. His most recent effort to awaken interest in Ancient American History is his book "The American Discovery of Europe," about Indians crossing the Atlantic to Europe and elsewhere long before Columbus' voyage,]

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Viejas Casino hosts the world’s top women billiard players at the 14th annual Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) Classic Tour March 11-14.

The San Diego Classic at Viejas Casino will feature 64 women, including the nine women who recently earned their qualifications at the WPBA Regional Tour Championship and the 2009 Champion, Monica Webb. Webb returns to defend her title but many players hope to stand in her way. Among the top contenders are Austrian Champion Jasmin Ouschan and the #1 ranked player in the world, Ga-Young Kim.

The semi-final and championship rounds at Viejas Casino will be filmed for later broadcast on ESPN.

A WPBA merchandise booth will be open for the duration of the tournament and signed photos, posters and other merchandise will be available for purchase.

The event schedule and ticket prices are as follows:

Thursday & Friday, March 11th & 12th -
Day Play 10am - 5pm $8, Evening Play 6pm - 12am $10

Saturday, March 13th -
Day Play 11am - 4:30pm $8, Evening Play 5:30pm - 12am $10

Sunday, March 14th -
Championship 1pm - 6pm $20

Four Day Pass - Thursday thru Sunday - $60 (day, evening, & championship)

For more information, CLICK HERE. Tickets are available at the V Shop at the Viejas Casino and on line at frontgatetickets.com.

In addition to the scheduled tournament play, Viejas Casino is hosting a Charity Pro-Am beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10. Space is still available and the entry fee is $50. For information about the Pro/Am event, please contact Sandra Barrett-Pfitzenreuter at Sandra@viejasproduction.com.

About Viejas Casino

Viejas Casino has been voted San Diego’s “Best Casino” for ten years in a row.

Located directly off I-8 just 35 miles east of San Diego, Viejas Casino features thousands of slot machines; over 50 table games; a Poker Room; an off-track betting facility; bingo hall; and a wide variety of restaurants including the award-winning Grove Steakhouse and the Harvest Buffet. For more information, CLICK HERE or call 1-800-847-6537.

“I apologize for the release of these materials without getting anyone’s approval,” reads the site. “But I believe the cause needs to be heard and I trust you will remember why you chose to take place in this benefit 16 years past.”

Check out the lost album’s tracklist below and head to the Exiled in the Land of the Free site for more info and to download. But since none of this seems to be authorized, don’t be surprised if the music disappears soon.

Exiled in the Land of the Free:

01 The Goats: “Leonard Peltier in a Cage”
02 New Bomb Turks: “Stick It Out”
03 Rage Against the Machine: “Wake Up (Live)”
04 Corrosion of Conformity: “Land of the Free Disease”
05 Chavez: “I Saw It Move”
06 Josh Homme: “If Only” (demo)
07 Beaver Chef: “Long Ago”
08 Superchunk: “I Can Still Feed Myself Thanks”
09 Helmet: “Just a Patsy”
10 Bad Religion: “Atomic Garden”
11 Silica Gel: “Punishment”
12 Giant Sand: “Spirits”
13 The Goats: “¿Do the Digs Dug?”
14 Quicksand: “Clean Slate” (live)
15 Beastie Boys: “(R)Evolution Time”
16 Biohazard: “Scumbag”
17 Brother Sun: “Redman”
18 Mike Watt: “Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing” (live)
19 Zack De La Rocha and Corrosion of Conformity: “The Punchline”
20 Leonard Peltier: “Greetings from Leonard Peltier”

© 2010 Pitchfork Media Inc.

SALT LAKE CITY - Despite the suicide death of the government’s main witness, prosecutors say they plan to proceed with the criminal cases against those accused of stealing Native American artifacts.

But a former prosecutor says the death may cause problems for the government’s case.

Twenty-two people still face federal charges from the sting. Initially, 26 people were charged with taking artifacts from public lands and locations revered by Native Americans as sacred burial grounds.

Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney for Utah, said prosecutors could not comment on the strengths or weaknesses of their case, but said the government is moving forward in spite of the death.

“There is a status conference Monday and we believe the case will go forward from there,” she said. “We’ll just be asking for trial dates.”

Ted Gardiner, who prosecutors refer to as “The Source” and their main witness, worked with the FBI and Bureau of Land Management in their 2  1/2 year investigation in the Four Corners area. He purchased approximately 256 archeological artifacts totaling $335,685 at the direction of the FBI. Many of these transactions were recorded.

Gardiner, however, shot and killed himself Monday during a confrontation with police, making him the third person involved in the sting to take his own life since the case unfolded in June. The others were defendants James Redd, a Blanding physician, and Steven Shrader, of New Mexico. James Redd’s wife, Jeanne, and daughter, Jericca, have both settled their cases through plea deals that led to probation.

Gardiner’s son said he had a history of mental health issues and substance abuse problems, which had been “aggravated” by his involvement with the artifacts cases.

Last month, defense attorneys said discrediting Gardiner would be crucial to the defense strategy because the information he provided is the bulk of the government’s case.

“Everyone is going to have to stand back and evaluate what this really means to the government’s ability to put on its case,” defense attorney Wally Bugden said after Gardiner’s death. “I don’t know how this will impact the case … whether they’ll be able to go forward.”

Although not involved in the artifacts cases, attorney Greg Skordas said Friday one of the main issues prosecutors may now face is the issue of hearsay. Under the sixth amendment, the former prosecutor said, defendants have a right to confront their accusers and subject them to cross-examination, with some exceptions.

“They’re going to have to look at the rules of evidence … and ask if there’s anything he said that’s still going to be admissible. You have to regroup and say, ‘What do we have without this evidence?’ And if that evidence led to other things, that’s fine, you can use other things,” said Skordas.

The only information provided by Gardiner that could absolutely be used would be anything he said while under oath after cross-examination by defense attorneys, Skordas believes. And in the federal system, that is hard to come by, because Gardiner most likely provided the evidence for the charges to a grand jury and no defense attorneys would have been present to question him, potentially making the testimony inadmissible in court.

“I’m sure the government is going to have to scramble to see if they can still proceed with the case without that witness or if there’s statements that he made that may still be admissible,” Skordas said.

Gardiner had been paid by investigators for his work for the past two years and was still being paid to help agents prepare for court cases.

In addition to Monday’s hearing when trial dates may be set, another hearing is scheduled for March 25 before U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart to determine whether to admit an audiovisual recording taped by Gardiner. Prosecutors want to use the recording in their case against Brandon Laws.

The video, filmed March 25, 2008, at the home of co-defendant Joseph Smith, is part of the government’s case against Law, who has been indicted for stealing and selling “two bone beads, a shell necklace with clay pendant, two drills and other pendants which were excavated or removed from Indian lands.”

Laws is arguing that the evidence be suppressed because while the recording, which took place in a private home, was lawful under federal law, it was not legal under Utah law. The motion states that the “more stringent protection” offered under state law should be applied in Laws’ case because “its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.”

The government responded, asserting its stance that as long as one of the people involved was aware of the recording, as Gardiner was, it was lawful under both state and federal law.

e-mail: emorgan@desnews.com
deseretnews.com

In January 2009, the tribe blocked the descendants of the late Marcus R. Alto Sr. from participating in an election. About 60 to 80 people — around a third of the tribal membership — are affected.

In November 2009, the acting director for the Pacific Region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs said the tribe violated its own laws and declared the election invalid.

The tribal council that was elected in January 2009 filed an appeal and Echo Hawk said he will make a decision on the matter after receiving briefs from all of the parties involved. Until then, the BIA continues to recognize the tribal council that was elected in January 2007 as the valid San Pasqual government.

Copyright © Indianz.Com