Mitakuye Oyasin,
Joe Q.
Two Crows
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TOXIC DOLLARS FUEL NEAR-CIVIL WAR IN CAHUILLA
By Jeff Armstrong
[Reprinted (w/o permission) from the May issue of The Circle, 1530
E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404 ($15/year, $25/2 years)]
A dispute over an illegal private waste dump on the Cahuilla
reservation in southern California is rapidly becoming one of the
fiercest and most significant environmental battles in North
America. In defiance of repeated orders by the tribal council,
the BIA, and the courts to cease operations, the Candelaria
Environmental Company - backed by a heavily armed security force
- continues to haul in shipments of contaminated soil from
throughout the U.S. to its plant, where it separates the
chemicals from the soil and sprays them on reservation roads.
The company was founded and managed by Jerry Perrault, a
white man described by Marina Ortega of California Indians for
Cultural and Environmental Protection as "responsible for a
significant degree of the dumping that's going on on
reservations." It is owned by Lois Candelaria, who opened up her
BIA-assigned land to the dumpers. According to Ortega, the
company has purchased the loyalty of a small segment of the
Cahuilla and used force and intimidation against the rest of the
band. "People who have been fighting the waste project have been
attacked, shot at, houses have been burned, so it's a real
volatile situation," Ortega said.
The company has also taken advantage of the lack of defined
boundaries and written laws to seize neighboring land in its
continuing expansion of the 500 acre facility, and has fired upon
sheriff's deputies called out to intercede in the conflict.
In March, a pro-dumping faction of tribal council members
voted to impeach Chairperson Rose Ann Hamilton at an unauthorized
meeting and proceeded to change the locks on Cahuilla government
offices. Michelle Salgado named herself acting chairperson with
the support of two other council members. Hamilton said her
removal has no legal standing under either tribal or federal law.
Although the Cahuilla band is a "custom and tradition tribe,"
governed by cultural norms more than formal codes, Hamilton said
there are clearly established electoral laws, none of which allow
for the removal of a sitting council member. Hamilton said the
three council members attempting to oust her are relatives and
beneficiaries of the Candelaria company family who have staged a
coup with the support of the Southern California Agency of the
BIA. The agency recently severed relations with Hamilton and is
treating Salgado as the legitimate government leader.
But the Bureau has apparently stopped short of an outright
recognition of Hamilton's ouster. Nancy Rosales of the Southern
California Agency said, "From what I understand, Michelle Salgado
is the tribal chair right now." Rosales said the BIA did not
recognize the Cahuilla electoral laws because they were not
officially sanctioned by the BIA. "They do not have any bureau-
approved documents. When there aren't any bureau-approved
documents, it's kind of irregular."
At the federal and area level, however, BIA representatives
said Hamilton is listed as "spokesman" for the Cahuilla band,
although her title is chairperson. No other tribal
representative was listed. A California Area Tribal Operations
representative, Silas Ortley, said his office has received no
notice of a change of leadership or of any new elections. Ortley
said such notification would be expected if official recognition
of the new leadership had occurred. The National Congress of
American Indians, an assembly of BIA-recognized tribal leaders,
also had Hamilton listed as the Cahuilla leader. A spokesperson
acknowledged, however, that the list is subject to change,
possibly before an April 29 meeting with President Clinton. At
the leadership summit with the 500-plus recognized tribes,
Hamilton hopes to press her demands for a U.S. investigation of
the Cahuilla crisis.
Ortega said the pro-dump faction held a show election with
about 30 supporters they were able to round up. "They held a
selected vote of their people and they said they won. And
(Southern California Agency Director) Virgil Townsend said,
'O.K., we recognize you,'And this was one week after he sent a
letter to Rose Ann Hamilton as the recognized chairperson," said
Ortega. "It seems to me to be some sort of conspiracy on the
part of the Bureau." Spokespersons for the Southern California
Agency said the office was in possession of new election results,
but that they were not immediately accessible.
"These other three women here have overrun the tribal
council hall," said Hamilton. "I've been locked out of there for
weeks." According to Hamilton, her opponents "even approached my
own family and told them they'd give them anything they want if
they'd vote against me. They'll go to any length to keep their
profits and it's just destroying this whole tribe."
Bradley Angel, an activist with the environmental
organization Greenpeace said, "The BIA is has clearly been
bending over backwards in support of the dumpers. It's shocking
to see how the federal government has been shamefully promoting
the waste industry on tribal lands."
"This is going to be one of the most pivotal waste disposal
battles in Indian Country," said Angel.
Angel, who participated in a March 17 blockade which shut
down traffic to and from the plant for eight hours, described the
experience as the most harrowing in his many years of direct
action activities. "It was the first time I ever hoped that the
sheriffs would show up at a demonstration," Angel said.
BIA Natural Resources Officer Gil Stuart defended the
agency's performance. "We've really made an effort (to enforce
the cease and desist orders) We've gone out and posted the
property and 10 minutes later they've torn them down," said
Stuart. The Southern California Agency has "been advised by the
Solicitor's Office not to issue any further cease and desist
orders because of possible personal liability" to the agency
superintendent, Stuart said.
He said he does not believe the recommendation applies
retroactively to prior orders to stop waste operations, the most
recent of which was issued March 17 of this year. On that date,
the Bureau warned Candelaria General Manager Perrault that "your
involvement with this illegal operation makes you a potential
responsible party." Stuart said the agency, however, is awaiting
a formal ruling on whether and how to proceed with the
enforcement of tribal and BIA regulations. "We're in the process
of working with the Solicitor's Office to determine the best
course of action," said Stuart.
According to Stuart, the agency has been unable to prevent
the company's land grabs because the BIA has no records of its
land assignments, and it does not recognize the assignments as
anything other than tribal land. Personal land rights are
acknowledged only in the case of individual allotments, Stuart
said. "I guess the assignments are where people recollect they
are. It seems a little vague to me."
Even if the BIA succeeds in its apparent intention to keep
tribal power in the hands of waste dump supporters, tribal law
specifies that resolutions can only be overturned by a 3/4 vote
of the Cahuilla membership. In 1990, the tribe as a whole voted
overwhelmingly against allowing the dump. That resolution has
since been reinforced several times by the tribal council.
According to Ortega, the 1990 vote was initiated by dump owner
Lois Candelaria when she held a seat on the council. After
losing the vote, Candelaria sued the tribe and lost, but
continued with the project. The tribe then took Candelaria to
court and won. A March, 1992 ruling held that the tribe
maintained its sovereign right to regulate all reservation lands
and that the dumping business must halt. Again the order was
ignored.
The BIA, which even in its cease and desist orders displayed
far more concern for its own power over tribal affairs than for
tribal sovereignty, may well choose, however, to discount tribal
law in the matter and grant the company its long-sought status as
a tribal enterprise. Hamilton said she has observed sealed
tankers carrying unknown substances to the plant site, prompting
concerns that the company may be branching out to accept even
more toxic wastes.
For her part, the locked-out tribal chairperson holds little
confidence in the colonial system. "These businesses are
operating on land that doesn't belong to them. These people have
broken every law - tribal laws, federal laws. And the government
lets them get away with it," Hamilton said.
Two photographs:
Man holding sign reading "DON'T DUMP YOUR SLUDGE ON INDIAN LAND";
Caption: "Ramona Reservation Chairman Manuel Hamilton
supports Cahuilla tribe."
Several people standing in a road with signs, blocking a dump
truck.
Caption: "March 17 blockade enforces Cahuilla law for a day."