Clearing the Confusion

Opponents of the Chumash have continually said that it is not about the tribal members but it is about the Casino, yet as we have seen recently and in the past, they have singled out Mr. Armenta, a tribal member, and his family by publishing personal attacks on them….. making Mr. Armenta and his family out to be some sort of dictatorship where they run the tribe anyway they see fit, where if anyone disagrees with them they “neutralize” them. These groups and individuals use an anonymous source for their information and claim it as the truth.

Note I said, “Opponents of the Chumash” not to be confused with the Casino alone. They say they have no problem with the tribe yet attack them and Mr. Armenta on every level, then claim it is “not about the people”.

The Chumash Tribe, at the core, is an independent and sovereign nation. While they are a government, following their constitutional laws, they are also, in many ways, comparable to a corporation. They have a Business Committee (four elected members and an elected Tribal Chairman) which serve as the government leaders, yet also serve in a similar capacity as would a Board of Directors in a corporate setting. The Business Committee oversees the legal and business affairs of the tribe and makes recommendations for the overall good of the tribe. The tribal membership, like the shareholders of a corporation, vote on the recommendations made by the Business Committee.

Major decisions for the tribe are not made without a tribal membership vote. At the monthly general council meetings, motions are made on the floor, seconded, and a written ballot is mailed out to tribal membership within two weeks. All voting tribal members who are over the age of 21 are encouraged to cast their vote. The ballots are counted by the Ballot Committee and the general membership is notified of the outcome.

The tribal government of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is a democracy not a dictatorship. Every two years, tribal members of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians conduct elections, to select four Business Committee members and a Tribal Chairman.

Within the Chumash Tribe is the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, The Chumash Casino Resort and the Santa Ynez Tribal Health Clinic.

Charitable donations by the Chumash are decided by the Foundation which is made up of tribal members. Opponents have very recently criticized these very generous gifts by the Chumash calling them money to buy off the community. This is a direct attack on the members of the tribe… not the casino.

Another person recently attacked the Tribal Health Clinic saying that they get doctors and nurses to donate their time. The tribe pays doctors and nurses full salaries. This is an attack on the members of the tribe… not the casino.

POLO/POSY has attacked the commemorative signs that will be placed along Hwy 154 saying “Highway 154 has nothing to do with honoring the Chumash culture. This is about hijacking a name for marketing purposes”. Clearly, the naming of “the pass” is about honoring and recognizing the thousands of years the Chumash have trekked the route and has absolutely nothing to do with the casino. These remarks can only be viewed as direct attack on the members of the tribe.

In the October 5 Issue of the Santa Ynez Valley Journal, Nancy Crawford-Hall claims that “With the naming of Highway 154 the “Chumash Highway,” a huge amount of very ugly expressions have surfaced” and that “The naming of the highway was guaranteed, in the first place, to cause what little good will still existed toward the Casino, not to be confused with the tribal members, to be forever torn asunder”

Who is she speaking of? If she is referring to POLO/POSY then, yes, she is correct in stating that these groups have once again used “ugly expressions” and revealed their prejudice against the tribe by claiming the naming of the Chumash Hwy is a marketing ploy by the Chumash to drive more people to their doors instead of viewing the event as what it truly was….a recognition of their long cultural history along the Central Coast and to me there is no confusion. These “ugly expressions” are indeed directed at tribal members as explained above.

If she is speaking of any good will between POLO/POSY and the Chumash before this then she is wrong. There has been no good will at all between POLO/POSY and the Chumash for a long, long time, if ever. Her statement also indicates that, in her opinion, this is pretty much the last straw and that forever more there shall be no good will between POLO/POSY and the Chumash. As long as POLO/POSY attack the Chumash on just about every level of their existence as indicated in the above examples then yes, there will be no good will. How could there be? Yet I believe that it could be different.

The Chumash are not going away. The Casino is not going away. Will this be the modus operandi for POLO/POSY for the next 50 years? Will this still be going on when we are all 100 yrs old? Is this the legacy POLO/POSY wants to leave behind? That they antagonized the tribe for the better part of their lives? What a waste of time, energy and money.

Packing away their prejudice and speaking rationally about legitimate Indian gaming issues and sovereignty, focusing on these issues instead of attacking the tribe every time they sneeze would go along way to restoring the credibility POLO/POSY may have once had. It would also go along way in perhaps opening the door for some good will or at the very least establishing some mutual respect for both parties where rational dialog could occur. It could be different.

…….. To Be Continued