Native Americans Stranded Following Shows in Greece

A group of 52 Native American performers from throughout Southern California, including at least four from the San Fernando Valley, have been left stranded in Athens, Greece, after the promoter of an event where they were hired to perform reportedly disappeared without paying them.

“We’ve been left here holding the bag. We’re in chaos,” said Richard Angulo, president of the Thousand Oaks-based California Indian Council Foundation.

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Since last week, the group had performed Native American songs and dances as part of a worldwide cultural festival called Athens Millennium 2000, sponsored by an Athenian promoting company called Soulmates Productions.

After funding suddenly collapsed, closing the festival Thursday, the Americans learned that the promoter had not fulfilled their contract, apparently failing to pay their bill for hotel and dinner accommodations, which Angulo says has run to $32,000. The group also has not been paid the $59,000 promised to it at the close of the festival, he said.

All 52 members have prepaid, nontransferable return tickets to the United States, good for Wednesday, but they do not have the thousands of dollars needed to cover airline penalties to fly home early.

Meanwhile, Angulo, 56, fears the group may be left out on the street because they lack money for lodging.

“We’re trying to come up with money to pay for some of the rooms, at least to stay another night so we can buy time to figure something out,” he said. “Some people had to leave and go to people’s houses here in Athens.”

Soulmates Productions could not be reached for comment Friday.

But a desk clerk at the Hotel Attalos in Athens confirmed that there was a billing dispute with 52 Americans staying at the hotel.

“We’re reasonable people, but we want our money,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

Angulo said several group members had met with a representative from the U.S. Embassy in Athens but were told that although the embassy could help group members phone relatives in America for money, they had no funding to pay for the outstanding bills.

“Our own embassy has told us they cannot help us,” Angulo said, speaking from a pay phone in the hotel lobby. “So we’re left with no money for food or hotel. We’re on our own.”

A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Athens said he had not heard of the group.

Member Bryan Brightcloud appeared Friday on an Athens radio station to make a plea for help from local residents. “We got offers from five different hotels, so things are looking up,” he said. “But we’re not out of the dark yet.”

Brightcloud said he appeared on several Greek television shows when the group arrived and offered a gift to the Athens mayor. But when trouble arose, no officials came to their aid, he said.

“This was the first time that Native Americans were invited to Greece. It was a great honor for us to perform. We never expected this,” he said.

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Group members, ranging in age from 13 to 56, represent such tribes as the Apache, Sioux, Cheyenne, Cherokee and Chumash, and hail from communities throughout Southern California, from Pacoima to San Pedro, Angulo said.

Angulo said the group had been contacted in April to appear in the festival and had negotiated by mail to perform eight hours a day and to staff vending booths at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

But on Thursday evening, three days before the festival’s formal close, the electricity was suddenly shut off when performers learned that the promoters had not kept up with payments to stadium officials.

“It’s a mess,” said Angulo of Thousand Oaks. Until now, we were really enjoying ourselves, doing some sightseeing. But this definitely leaves a bad taste in our mouths.”