A California "watch dog group"(that apparently consists of one
person) has put on hold the Pamunkey Indians' quest for recognition by the United States Government. Stand Up for California, is an organization concerned with the growth of Indian reservation gambling. It
made a last minute appeal to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals
the "appellate review body that exercises the delegated authority of the
Secretary of the Interior to issue final decisions . . .involving Indian
matters."
Apparently the Federal recognition of the
Pamunkey has become caught in the crossfire over the little known
issues(at least for people on the East Coast) of “off-reservation casinos" and gambling on "tribal trust lands."
"Stand
Up for California's request to the IBIA for reconsideration is
unfounded, meritless, and unsupported by evidence, . . .The Tribe's sovereign
strength, which traces back well before the arrival of the earliest
colonists to Virginia, will see it through this frivolous attack as it
has seen it through so many other thoughtless, mean-spirited attacks in
the past," said Mark C. Tilden, attorney for the tribe and longtime legal advocate for tribes across the United States.
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