Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

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Title: Various California Indian or Nisenan Newspaper Clippings Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection # of Pages: 7 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-09-03 22:03:43 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 05:54:08 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 05:54:08

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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Patrons crowd the gam tribe to help us,” said Tavares, who was tribal chairwoman from 1996 to 2010. She said dissident members are being punished for making their grievances public. A Tavares-led faction said Nov. 7 thatit had gathered signatures from 75 of 186 adult tribal members to force a vote on removing the tribal council. But the tribe’s election ommittee rejected the petiions, claiming some signaures Were invalid and docunents "were improperiy pre= ared under tribal rules. The tribal council next oted unanimously to deny caIno payments to members ading the recall bid for “Teeatedly libeling and slanderig the tribe and its agents,” Tavares said tribal memTs pushing thé recall were bling tables at Thunder V dispute between the tribe's governing council and exercising their constitutional rights. “And now that we've exercised them, we’re banished?” she asked. The tribal council’s ire extends to two Sacramento political consultants, Steve MaViglio and Brian Brokaw, who worked with the rival faction. An attorney for the tribe, K. Greg Peterson, senta letter accusing the consultants of making “defamatory allegations” and “malicious lies” and said “the tribe is considering filing a libelrand" slander action against both of you.” Hiestand, an attorney for Tavares and the consultants, fired back with a scolding letter, saying: “You appear unaware that governmentsand the Tribal Council is indisputably a government cannot be libeled” under the Constitution. Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling at the University of Nevada, said the fight reflects divisions that can envelop tribes as immense profits magnify differences among members and generations of families. He likened the feud toa rift that led the wealthy Penchanga tribe of Southern California to expel scores of members. “When tribes were impoverished; they had alotot Politics butlittle to politic about,” Eadington said. “All of a sudden, they become very rich and politics becomes very dramatic. In Indian tribal councils, polities is often a blood sport and can be very divisive and very devastating.” Among the divisive issues Taised in United Auburn’s Case are payments to Dickstein. The tribe’s longtime attorney declined to comment through an associate. The faction led by Tavares, who agreed to Dickstein’s fee atrangements while tribal chairwoman, assailed thelawyer for taking in $26 million in fees between 2003 and 2009. Documents obtained by The Bee, including a 2008 legal services agreement between Dickstein’s law firm and the tribe andaledgertist= ing tribal payments to Dick° Stein, said $23 million of that money came from an agreement to pay him 2 percent of net monthly casino revenues, While tribes rigidly protect disclosure of earnings, the payments suggest that Thunder Valley took in net casino profRandall Benton Bee file, 2010 alley Casino, Revenue from the operation has enriched the United Auburn Indian Community and raised the stakes ina a group seeking to have council members recalled, k its of $1.15 billion over a fiveyear, seven-month period. The resort added a,300-room hotel resort with aspaand amphitheater in 2010, Eadington estimates that Thunder Valley may have annual gross revenues of $400 Million to $500 million, likely outperforming “even the best properties” in Las Vegas. Hiestand said tribal members receive monthly casino Payments of $30,000, with higher payments going to tribal-council: members OF members of other government committees. Members may also receive bonus checks of tens of thousands of dollars based on the casino’s performance, he said. Ee ee Call The Bee’s Peter Hecht, (916) 326-5539,