Andrea Hoch, Governor Schwarzenegger’s legal affairs secretary needn’t depend on Detroit-based casino developer Barwest nor what she hears from San Bernardino County tribes to get an understanding of ancestral claims and historical territories related to greater Barstow. Local, state and federal agencies in the Mohave Desert region are frequently involved in CEQA and NEPA activities that include cultural resources elements and consultations with tribes they have acknowledged as having historical ties to the area.
There are volumes and volumes of such documentation readily available in this electronic age. A quick review of the numerous studies and undertakings by such agencies will bring some independent clarity to Ms. Hoch and provide her with a more objective understanding of these matters.
For starters, the Barstow General Plan specifically identifies four Native American groups, recognized by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with ancestral claims to the Barstow area: Chemehuevi, Fort Mojave, Kawaiisu and Serrano. It was in fact, when the City of Barstow caucused with the Chemehuevi Tribe on such matters in the mid 1990s that the parties began to explore joint opportunities for economic development including a casino in Barstow.
Second, in developing the latest comprehensive land management plans --updates to the California Desert Protection Act -- for both the Western Mohave (WEMO, 2006) and the North & Eastern Mohave Desert Regions (NEMO, 2002) the Department of Interior acknowledged and consulted with the representatives of the following federally recognized Native American Reservations respectively:
| Consulted with leaders of these reservations:
| Consulted with leaders of these reservations:
|
Those examples are representative of dozens more.
For decades, when agencies based in the greater Mohave Desert (e.g. Fort Irwin, Edwards Air Force Base, the BLM, various offices of the National Park Service and the City of Barstow) were either required to contact, or desired to contact and consult with recognized Native American interests, they did not seek out representatives of the Los Coyotes Band (northeastern San Diego County) nor the Big Lagoon Rancheria (Humboldt County, 50+ miles south of the Oregon border); and conversely no representatives of either of those Reservations have previously asserted their own interests or involvement in such greater Mohave Desert matters.
Sovereign tribes within the Mohave Desert/San Bernardino region must be shown the same deference local and state governments would expect if the tables were turned; and the needs and desires of local tribes should be heard addressed with the same importance, respect and priority that local government leaders have come to expect.
Ignoring the concerns of these sovereign communities or simply “blowing them off” is not the right thing to do. Long after the Detroit developer feeding you one-sided half-true information has gone back to Michigan to count the money, tribes of San Bernardino County will still be here; and local and state governments will need to work together with the tribes for the protection and benefit of all Californians.
You may want to review these related posts as well:
- Schwarzenegger aide Andrea Hoch doesn’t have a clue!
- Detroit-based Barwest Gaming taught Schwarzenegger aide Andrea Hoch all she needs to know on Native American history of the Great Mohave Desert
- Casino developer’s representations biased; consultants “specialization” challenged
1 Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation (CRIT) is a collection of Native American people whose ancestral heritage is tied to the various tribes that made their homes along the Colorado River including Mojave and Chemehuevi people.
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