Tuesday, January 23, 2018

HISTORY OF INDIANS IN THE PALA VALLEY

I was sent an article for consideration and asked if I would post it to the blog.  I decided I would.

The views, facts, and opinions expressed in the article below are strictly the views of  the [ANONYMOUS] author.  The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the [ANONYMOUS]  author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pala Watch.

HISTORY OF INDIANS IN THE PALA VALLEY

*** By Anonymous ***

     On January 5, 1852, the United States took over California from the Spaniards and the
Temecula Treaty was signed by Indians in Southern California creating a government to
government relationship.

     The Treaty was signed separately by Palino Coo-hac-ish (for Old Pala) and Jose Noca
Chan-gah-lang-ish (for Agua Caliente).

     On December 27, 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant created, by executive order, 320
acres, located on the south side of the San Luis Rey River, for a reservation for the Old Pala
Luiseno tribe. At the same time he also created 960 acres for a reservation in Warner Springs for
the Agua Caliente tribe. This would become their ancestral homeland. Both reservations were
intended for permanent use and occupancy.

PEOPLE FROM OLD PALA

     Between 1891 and 1895, Old Pala made/gave allotments to its 15 adult members. Their
children were never allotted land but were still considered members of Old Pala.

     Old Pala is referred to as the Luiseno Band of Mission Indians. The Luiseno Band is
NOT a tribe. This name only recognizes them as Indians in the San Luis Rey Mission District.
They may be a band from the Kumeyaay.

     Old Pala is a reservation that never had any form of government or a tribal committee.
Robert Ardilla would act as Captain or Spokesman.

     After the 1903 arrival of Agua Caliente (Cupa) to the Pala Valley, many problems arose
between them and Old Pala.

     Shortly after their (Agua Caliente) arrival there was a death within their tribe. Old Pala
would not allow Agua Caliente (Cupa) to bury the dead in the cemetery next to the Old Pala
Mission. This prompted the Agua Caliente (Cupa) tribe to create their own cemetery called the
Cupa Cemetery.

     Another problem arose when members from Old Pala would deliberately let their
livestock destroy the crops of the Agua Caliente (Cupa) tribe. There was also an irrigation
schedule which allowed a specified amount oftime and water to be given to each crop grower.
Members from Old Pala would open the water valves at any time. This would limit the water
given to next crop grower cutting their time/water short and created a domino effect down the
line.

     In 1934, a secretarial election was held in Pala Valley with the purpose of joining Old
Pala and Agua Caliente (Cupa). This was voted down by both sides, leaving each one
independent from the other.

     In a letter to the BIA, dated March 4, 1940, Marion Scott requested to become a member
of the Rincon Reservation. She was denied because of her membership to Old Pala.
Sometime in the late 1940's or early l 950's, she (Marion Scott) requested to be enrolled
in the Agua Caliente (Cupa) rolls. The Cupa members did not want to let her in. But, after the
third request she was voted in, along with her whole family which would include Robert Ardilla.

     This should have never taken place and it was wrong for the Chairman to allow it. There
was no way for Marion to show she was a direct descendant of Cupa (Agua Caliente) and
according to the Articles of Association (for Agua Caliente) this was a requirement to be enrolled.

     BIA records from March 7, 1940 show that Marion Scott is an enrolled from Old Pala.
Since members cannot be enrolled in two different places does this mean she and Robert Ardilla
must relinquish their allotments to the Agua Caliente (Cupa) tribe? And, if so, would Agua
Caliente (Cupa) then have complete control of their allotments?

PEOPLE FROM AGUA CALIENTE (CUPENO/CUPA)

     On January 5, 1852, Jose Noca Chan-gah-lang-ish signed the Temecula Treaty. This created a
government to government relationship between the Agua Caliente (Cupa) Tribe and the United States.

     On December 27, 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant created, by executive order, 960 acres for a
reservation for the Agua Caliente tribe to live on as their ancestral homeland.

     Long before their removal to Pala, the Agua Caliente (Cupa) people have existed since prehistory
as an historic tribe and are not Mission Indians. They occupied their traditional homeland at Warner
Springs since the time of their creation.

     Five years after President Grant set aside their reservation lands at Warner Springs, President
Rutherford B. Hayes revoked this. This land revocation lead to the removal from Warner's Ranch.

     There were many sites considered when deciding where to send the Agua Caliente (Cupa) tribe: Rancho Santa Margarita (Camp Pendleton), Panky Ranch and Pala. Because Pala had a mission and the Agua Caliente Tribe had a small chapel near Warner's, Pala Valley was chosen.

     Over 700 acres were purchased from ranchers in the Pala Valley for the removal and placement
of the Agua Caliente tribe.

     When the Agua Caliente (Cupa) tribe arrived in Pala in 1903 they were put in tents until the prefabricated homes would arrive. These homes came from New York, traveling around the Cape to San Diego and eventually make their way by wagon to Pala.

     Pala was set up like the village at Warner Springs. The head of each household was given an allotment for a home, 1.75-2 acres on the irrigation system, and 5-6 acres of land for dry farming.

     One question arises: Why did their (Agua Caliente) tribal name not come with them? They
became referred to as Pala Band, Pala Band of Mission Indians or Pala Band of Luiseno Indians.

     Why are we referred to as Pala Band of Mission Indians (PBMI)? If Robert Smith can make this
change, why not change it to Agua Caliente Indian Reservation like it was when they were moved from Warners? And furthermore, why is Robert being referred to as Chairman of the Luiseno Band of Mission Indians? He has no authority to be their spokesman.

     Remember, Agua Caliente was a recognized tribe, not a band. How do they lose their tribal name
simply from moving from one location to another? If it's that simple to rename the tribe PBMI it should be just as simple to give them their correct name back. Pala Band of Mission Indians is not a tribe.

     About two weeks after Agua Caliente's arrival, the people from Puerta la Cruz and San Felipe,
who had originally refused to leave the Warner Springs area, were moved to Pala by way of horse and
wagon owned by Remijio Lugo.

     Remijio Lugo was also put on the Cupa rolls. This would also be a mistake. He claims he was
born in Sulfer Springs, Cahuilla and is a member of Morongo. He would also not be able to show his
direct descent from Agua Caliente (Cupa), which is a requirement for enrollment with them.

     This brief history explains why we all hear that this family or that family do not belong on the
rolls.

     There are many members that serve the tribe that need to understand their history. It may upset a
lot of people but it is something that should be known.

32 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Word

Anonymous said...

More people have died in Pala under Robert Smith Chairmanship than any other Reservation in Indian Country.
Just in the last year or so there has been approx. 10-12.
That's about an average of 1 per month.
At that rate there will be less and less members in 5 years.
Do you think that Robert Smith is some how connected to any of these deaths? Fuck yes he is connected to some of them in one way or another.
Why do you people put up with this kind of shit from someone that is supposed to protect all members and treat all members equally?
Instead he does as he wants with no check and balances for any of his actions.
And look in the mirror and point your finger at the guilty ones letting him get away with it and your finger will point right back at you.

Anonymous said...

Is the Agua caliente tribe still a federally recognized tribe today?

Anonymous said...

Depends on who you ask.

Anonymous said...

Do members get to count his blood?

Anonymous said...

Not only the Leaders of the band are at fault.
The BIA is the main party at fault.
They should have never approved these people to be placed on the Pala rolls.
The Band should correct this problem no matter who gets mad.
Didn't Chairman once state that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong.
Well Mr. Smith fix this before it gets shoved so far up your ass that your smile will really look like shit.

Anonymous said...

Do you really think Smith is going to review Lugo PBMI blood degree? Highly unlikely to say the least.

Here is the real problem. PBMI is an association. The Association consists of Luiseno, Cupeno, Digueno, Cahuilla and others the BIA enrolled. That means that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PALA BLOOD DEGREE. Blood of the Pala Band is a fiction concocted by the BIA to cover up the mistake they made in saying PBMI and the Pala Band of Luiseno Indians are the same Indian entity.

Good luck getting that mistake fixed. Especially since Robert Smith went along with the BIA so he could get control of the Casino money.

Anonymous said...

Well of course Robert won’t look into Remijo Lugo enrollment because that’s T. Nieto, Dion Perez and well H. Maxcy who Robert did turn on and have taken out as vice chair. I don’t believe Cahuilla/morongo was one of the original peoples allowed to be enrolled in Pala, they were from a different area. Remijio snuck on the rolls to get free land an allotment. He was one of the wagon drivers that the BIA used to bring down the Cupa from Warner Springs to Pala. So that family nieto and Perez should never have tried to go after another family “Brittains” and claim they don’t have the blood when their own family can be called into question. Who knows in 2-5 years when we have other people on the EC and they decide to look more into Remijio Lugo and disenroll that family they will have no one to blame but nieto and Perez for opening this can of rooms and starting the disenrollments with lies and revenge. If the Brittain family is ever looked into really then they will be reinstated because everyone knows they were only disenrolled because Robert had hatred for King and Willy and wanted to hurt them and get rid of votes. Be careful who you hurt in Pala cause your children or children’s children may pay the price. People do not forget so easily. Robert didn’t seem to forget for his mother being kicked out of office and banned from ever running again for her conduct on council. Soon the same thing may happen to him. People don’t forget but they do forgive and move on if things are made right.

Anonymous said...

BEWARE ALL YOU FAKE CUPENO'S, ROBERT WILL NOT LIVE FOREVER AND NIETHER WILL THE REST OF THE EC MEMBERS THAT HAVE CHOOSEN THEIR PATH OF LIES AND CORUPTION.
SOON THE ROLLS WILL BE FIXED AND YOU FAKES WILL BE LEFT OFF THE ROLLS.
THEN LETS SEE WHO CRIES LIKE A BUNCH OF LITTLE BITCHES.
FIRST TO GO WILL BE THE SMITHS. THEN THE NIETOS WILL BE OUT AND THEIR ENTIRE FAKE FAMILY MEMBERS.
JUST WATCH AND SEE, IT'S ALREADY IN THE WORKS.

Anonymous said...

Good, its about time to rid pala of all the lugo descendent fakes, and rid the rolls of the people who belong to old pala also

Anonymous said...

Has anyone actually done a family tree ? To see who they really are ? I mean really go down each side of your family to great grandparents and great great grandparents and even more back ? And i don't mean find one page from one census year i mean do a real search . Find some facts and compare. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ! YES IT MIGHT COST A COUPLE OF BUCKS ANS ALOT OF TIME But ITS SO WAY WORTH It. All or most of this who belongs where would probably stop. Everyone needs to just get along. Life's to short to be wasting it on bitching.

Anonymous said...

Its obvious the FBI has been lying to everyone about needing just enough evidence to make a case, all they were doing was shutting up anyone trying to get justice by taking all the evidence and not doing anything with it. Robert is lining their pockets. Maybe they will be discovered as fraudulent now that there is a huge shake up with in the FBI. If we knew the actual Agents names involved, maybe we could get them investigated. They should have made a move by now.

Anonymous said...

Just call their Carlsbad office and ask for the Agent in charge of the Pala complaints and you will be connected to him.
Or just ask for the name of the Agent in charge of the Pala complaints.

Anonymous said...

Why weren't the Trujillo Members that were disenrolled able to use their Grandfathers Luiseno blood if Cupeno and the Luiseno are considered one people?
There Grandfather is listed as over 3/4 Luiseno.

Anonymous said...

Good question 6:04 pm.

Anonymous said...

PBMI enrollment is based on descent from allottees, not on Luiseno or Cupeno blood degree. The BIA created a membership roll based on the 1913 and 1895 allotment rolls then added blood degrees of Pala Band to the roll. The blood degrees of the allottees were all either 1 half or more because the law stated the only half breeds or more could be allotted.

So Pala Band blood degree was made up by the BIA. After PBMI was created, the policy of termination shifted to self determination so the government pretended that the tribe made the decisions.

Then the BIA decided that PBMI was a Luiseno tribe so that they could cover up the fact that they interfered without legal authority. They threw the mess in PBMI's lap, and instead of fixing it helped PBMI get tribal gaming. That way all the agency errors would remain in place.

Anonymous said...

How does that explain a certain Morongo Person being put on the roll?

Anonymous said...

Is that where the lugos get their blood ? Or think they got it from ?

Anonymous said...

@9:07pm

That is the farthest from the truth. According to you the BIA rules over everything. The BIA does not have that authority over the Pala Band back then or now. Your history less is off and makes our ancestors look stupid, or like they just did whatever they were told.

Had to know said...

@ 6:51
I spoke with someone at the FBI this morning and was told that they are still investigating.
They could not give me anymore info because it is an ongoing investigation.

Anonymous said...

Remijio Lugo was allotted land at Pala and appears on the 1913 Pala Allotment Roll as a full blood Indian. His descendants were enrolled at Pala based on the 1913 Pala Allotment roll, and their Pala blood degree was calculated starting with Remijio Lugo as a full blood Indian. He was a Cahuilla Indian from Morongo/Banning, and the BIA rewarded him for being a progressive Indian who helped move the Cupeno Indians from Kupa Village by giving him land at Pala.

Now who says the BIA wasn't in charge of everything at Pala and that it makes our ancestors look stupid? Didn't you read the history? The BIA made all the decisions. They told the Indians what to do, from digging the irrigation ditches, to when and where they could have fiesta. They decided who got land and how much, who was part of the Band and who wasn't, who got trader's licenses, how much wood they could cut, who was the Policeman, who was the Captain, and how justice was to be served in the case of crimes.

If you don't know this about the Band then you are ignorant and need some education.

Anonymous said...

Wrong

Anonymous said...

So what is right? BIA no authority? Remijio Lugo not Cahuilla, not full blood? PBMI blood degree not based on the Allotment Rolls? You tell me.

Anonymous said...

Robert amended the Constitution to take away the BIA's authority and give it to him and his EC, and Remijo is Morongo and took advantage of the Cupeno and made money getting them to move. If you look through some of the articles on here you can read more on this. And enrollment was based on 1913 rolls, but Robert and the EC are using the 1928 Census for who they decide they want out, because those rolls are not true blood degree, they were not meant for that, they were just a census and back in those days many Indians were fearful of the government and were not sure what to answer on their blood degree. The Enrollment Committee, which is also the Executive Committee, makes the decisions now and falsifies papers for those they want in and those they want out.

Anonymous said...

PBMI Constitution calls for Secretarial approval. The BIA ruled that PBMI is not organized under the ICRA so Secretarial approval was not required. It was the Enrollment Ordinance and the Gaming Ordinance that gave all the power to the EC. The Gaming Ordinance gave the EC control of the money. The Enrollment Ordinance gave the EC power to disenroll.

Anonymous said...

So what this means is that the only way to get the Pala Band back to where it should be is to get rid of Smith and Nieto.
They are the evil that is infecting the people of Pala.
They are the 2 main corrupt ones that have taken our Tribes customs and traditions and flushed them down the toilet.
Custom and tradition mean nothing to them.
The only that matters to them is stealing the people money and not getting caught.
They do not care about the tribe or it's members and no one cares.
So the next time you look in the mirror remember that the reflection that you see is one of the people that also does not care about the Pala Band of Mission Indians.

Anonymous said...

So if Marion Scott was adopted into the Tribe how is it that her daughter and her grand kids enrolled in Pala and getting new homes built across the river on there inherited property from Marion Scott.

Anonymous said...

And being built (funded) by the Tribe.

Anonymous said...

I just confirmed that the posting above are true.
There are a couple of new home being built for Marion's daughter and Grandkid across the river on Marion's old allotment from the Luiseno
side.
Smith you are a blue ribbon ass kisser.
We, you and I have talked before about how much you hated that family
and now you are kissing their asses for the votes to keep you in power next election.
But I am willing to bet that it won't work.
You just got punched in the nuts you punk.

Anonymous said...

We all know that no one will do anything about it, because they are too scared of Robert's retaliation, but one day he will be gone and then those people will be ousted, so he better just pay for the whole house now, they won't be able to make their payments if the money is no longer coming in. The people of Pala like being played for fools, as long as that money keeps coming in, when the money stops coming in, then they will raise hell, lol, which will be too late. Stupid is as stupid does. They disenrolled the smart ones, because they knew that family could run the Rez better than Robert anyday and all of the members would benefit more than they are right now, and they would diversify so that when Casino revenues slow down or stop, the tribe would not be on trouble.

Anonymous said...

More rumors in Pala are that Howard Maxcey and family are pissed off at Smith for allowing Tony Ravago to win the election for vice chairman and are going to vote against Smith for chairman this next election.
Oh well NINO you asked for it.