Indian Gaming

Last year’s decision by the people of California to permit Indian gaming also limited those activities to existing, recognized reservations. Except in the very rare cases of a landless tribe, Indian gaming was approved only for ancestral lands federally recognized at the time of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

Recently, a Las Vegas consortium, Paragon Gaming, proposed to the city of Oxnard its plan to bring an Indian casino to the city. Paragon had partnered with the Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians from Northern California, contending that land could be taken into trust for future casino development. Naturally this proposal concerned our tribe, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, since Oxnard is in the middle of ancestral Chumash lands. These coastal lands were never indigenous to the Maidu.

We commend the elected officials of Oxnard who saw beyond the proposal and its promises and voted against it. Their decision was made in the best interest of the community and the people of California. These council members acknowledged that Oxnard was never home to the Maidu people, reaffirmed the intentions of the people of California to keep Indian gaming on existing reservations and kept another Las Vegas interest out of California.

Our sympathies go to the tribal members of the Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians. Their hope was only to bring new opportunities to their tribal members. It is a shame that Paragon Gaming misled the tribe into believing that it was possible for this deal to happen.

Our best wishes and hopes for the future are with the tribal members of the Greenville Rancheria.

Vincent Armenta

Tribal chairman, Santa Ynez Band

of Chumash Indians

Santa Ynez