One Little Indian Reports

Story on Pechanga Airs Tomorrow

News coverage concerning the Pechanga Tribe and their enrollment policies will be airing tomorrow on KNBC in Los Angeles (click here to go to their web page). 

The Pechanga Tribe is once again being focused upon for their enrollment policies. As usual, they did not have any comment on the matter and where well aware of the fact that a  producer and reporter had been working on this story for nearly 4 months.  During that time, they had made several attempts to get an interview with somebody at Pechanga  but they were always denied.  That all changed after the promos for the story started to hit the airwaves. Pechanga notified KNBC on Friday that someone would meet with and interview with the reporter prior to the story being aired.

The interview took place today at Pechanga.  The interview ended several hours ago, and I was told it was a “nothing” interview.  Pechanga claimed it was an internal matter, they would not answer questions regarding the John Johnson report, and eventually asked the reporter and producer to leave when they began to ask questions that Pechanga did not want to answer.

If you are unable to watch the program directly, go to the KNBC web site.  You should be able to view the story from their.

Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Workers

In a ruling that is certainly going to upset Tribal officials, the Federal Appeals Court has ruled that Tribe's are not entitled to special treatment when it comes to labor laws.  Judge Janice Brown wrote that, "tribal sovereignty is not absolute autonomy, permitting a tribe to operate in a commercial capacity without legal constraint."

This ruling was given in the case between the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.  HERE was being denied access to organizing the employees of the casino operated by the Tribe, which they did not deny.  The Tribe simply maintained that they were not subject to National Labor Relations Board laws concerning the rules of unionization.

The NLRB became involved after HERE filed a complaint with them to force the Tribe into compliance.  The Tribe also claimed immunity from the legal jurisdiction of the NLRB, which they contested.

In ruling that the NLRB has jurisdiction over working conditions at Indian casinos, Brown stated "Operation of a casino is not a traditional attribute of self-government. Rather, the casino at issue here is virtually identical to scores of purely commercial casinos across the country. ... The vast majority of the Casino's employees and customers are not members of the tribe and they live off the reservation. For these reasons, the Tribe is not simply engaged in internal governance of its territory and members, and its sovereignty over such matters is not called into question."

This ruling may lead to others that will eventually allow Casino workers to sue when they are discriminated against or harassed, which is also a violation of federal and civil labor laws.

Global Warming and Indian Nations

The facts are in.  The arguments are over.  Global warming is going to hurt everyone in its path.  The argument over whether its too late to stop the melt down of Antarctica and Greenland seems to be the only real debate occurring anymore.  Now, that too is moot.  The latest scientific findings support the conclusions that these two locations are going to be completely melted by as early as 2050.  That's 50 years sooner than was originally projected and it has a lot of people scared about what happens then.

The reality of the situation must be very severe if even George Bush was forced to mention Global Warming during his State of the Union address.  He must have been given the real scenario about what's coming if he felt the necessity to mention it!  There have been several good documentaries on the subject, including one on the Discovery channel.  This brings forward the question, "What has Indian Country started doing to prepare for the inevitable rise in sea levels and the inward migration of millions of displaced people from coastal regions?"

I went to Geography.com and discovered something that should alarm and empower the Tribes to take some immediate actions now.  The most alarming piece of information is just how much of the United States is under the projected 300 foot rise in sea levels as the Antarctic shelf and Greenland slides into the sea.  This rise will completely cover Florida and it will also cover virtually the entire Gulf Coast region.  Every other major city along the coast will also be wiped out.  The residents of these cities are going to be looking at reservation areas as havens away from the water.  That will mean the Indians are going to be fighting once again for their land, their way of life and even their very survival.

The Tribes need to start preparing today for something that the rest of America won't do until the last possible minute-preparations for the influx of millions of weather refugees.  It will be too late to start these plans 20-30 years from now.  The effects of Global Warming may accelerate faster than projected, so Tribal governments need to start getting ready for the inevitable.