Crow Creek gains support of Calif. tribe

December 18, 2009
ArgusLeader

Crow Creek gains support of Calif. tribe
Miwoks face eviction from tribal land

By Peter Harriman
pharrima@argusleader.com


Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Chairman Brandon Sazue has received lots of support from other tribes for his protest of the IRS auctioning off 7,100 acres of his tribe's land, including from a small tribe in California trying desperately to hold on to a tiny parcel of land that is its only real estate.

The California Valley Miwok Tribe sent a letter to Sazue voicing their support for him and his tribe as its leaders prepare to barricade themselves for the second time on the tribe's only real estate, one-and-a-half acres housing the tribal office in Stockton, Calif., that is in a bank foreclosure.

"Please don't allow what is happening to us today to happen to you. Stay strong and fight for your land, your people and your future," the letter said.

Tribal Chairman Silvia Burley and consultant Tiger Paulk say the tribe of about 10 families is facing the equivalent of identity theft from a group trying to use the Miwoks status as a federally recognized tribe as the vehicle to build a casino.

The group is challenging the legitimacy of current tribal members and Burley's government.

As the battle over who really are Miwoks proceeds, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is withholding the tribe's revenue sources and the only money coming in to the tribe now is from members' unemployment checks, Paulk said.

It's not enough to pay the mortgage on the headquarters, which went into foreclosure 18 months ago.

From June through mid-August, tribal members barricaded themselves in the headquarters to fight eviction. They appeared to gain a reprieve when the BIA offered to mediate the case. But the discussion broke down, and Wednesday the tribe received a letter from the bank saying it would proceed with eviction Jan. 15, according to Paulk.

"We will go back into lockdown, and we will defend the property against the bank and anybody else the feds want to throw against us," Paulk said.

For the past 10 days, Sazue has been occupying a trailer on his tribe's auctioned land with the only harassment coming from cold weather.

"It's not very safe to have propane tanks in a small trailer. But I make do with what I've got," he said.

Sazue says an assistant to BIA Secretary Larry EchoHawk has told him the BIA will try to determine in January if the IRS has legal authority to sell the Crow Creek land to settle $3.1 million in federal back taxes, and the tribe has filed a lawsuit over the same issue, which is straining tribal resources, Sazue said.

There will be no attempt to transfer the property until the lawsuit is resolved.

Tribal police and first responders have been checking on his well being, and tribal members have joined him from time to time in solidarity with his protest.

With a cellphone and a laptop computer, he insists he is able to stay on top of his responsibilities as chairman, although he acknowledges he has not been in contact with tribal council members.

"I remember what I was elected for," Sazue said. "I was elected to serve the people, by the people. I will not sit in a warm house ... while this is going on."

Sazue also is able to plead Crow Creek's case widely. Thursday morning alone he said he was interviewed on six radio shows, and a photographer from Colorado is coming to Crow Creek on Sunday. The main thrust of his message is "this sets precedent for all tribes. If they can do it to us, they can do it to them also."

Sazue is mindful of the iconic Native American occupation at Wounded Knee in winter and spring 1973. While it drew worldwide attention to longstanding Indian grievances with the federal government, two people died and a third was paralyzed in gun battles between Indians and law enforcement officials during the 71-day siege.

Sazue doesn't want anything like that to occur at Crow Creek.

"My intention is not to do an uprising," he says. "I want to show what is going on with indigenous people as a whole and stand up for them."

Reach Peter Harriman at 575-3615.

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