Amador Group File Suit- Claim the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians Aren’t Legit

Friends of Amador County filed suit in the California Eastern District federal court in Sacramento last week claiming the 67-acre site near Ione intended for a 950-slot machine tribal casino isn't legitimate tribal land and that the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians who once lived there were never a tribe with a common language and history.

The tribe, pointing out that the federal government has recognized them since 1985,issued a written statement last Thursday afternoon criticizing the Friends of Amador County as a small group opposed to economic growth in the county.

Construction of the casino has not yet begun, though the project cleared a major hurdle in June when an arbitrator ruled that the casino will pay Amador County $8 million a year, as well as about $16.5 million up front to compensate for impacts including increased traffic and crime.

Jerry Cassesi, president of Friends of Amador County, said it has taken his group ten years to do the research necessary to bring the lawsuit, including searching federal archives for documents that prove that those who lived on the federally purchased land at Buena Vista were the scattered remnants of many tribes, not local Me-Wuks.

But in 2005 a National Indian Gaming Commission attorney issued an opinion that Me-Wuks had lived on the site since at least 1817 and that the land is suitable for a tribal casino.

The suit alleges that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to investigate whether the Buena Vista Rancheria was a legitimate tribe and that he also failed when negotiating a gaming compact with the Buena Vista Rancheria to adequately consider all the negative impacts the casino would have on the area.

But Schwarzenegger spokesman Jeff Macedo believes the governor did a complete evaluation of the impacts via a Tribal Environmental Impact Report saying,"We believe that it complies with the compact requirements.”