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Calif. tribe threatens suit over 'retaliation'
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2002

The California Valley Miwok Tribe has demanded Secretary of Interior Gale Norton intervene on its behalf to prevent continued "prejudice and retaliation" from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' second-in-command.

In a letter sent to Norton on Monday, chairperson Silvia Burley renewed a request to have Wayne Smith recused from issues related to her tribe. "We do not believe that any matter involving our tribe can go through the Assistant Secretary's Office without being impacted by Mr. Smith's prejudice and retaliation," she wrote.

Unless Smith is removed, "we will be forced to seek a legal resolution of this matter," she warned.

Burley also said the top aide to Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb must "publicly apologize" for statements reported by Indian Country Today. According to an April 27 interview with the paper, Smith claimed that Hurley's tribe was not federally recognized.

"They might as well ask me to make them the Pope," ICT quoted Smith as saying.

However, the Miwoks are indeed acknowledged by the BIA. Formerly known as the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California, the tribe officially changed its name last year.

Deputy Commissioner for Indian Affairs Sharon Blackwell approved the modification. "The tribe's new name has been included on the tribal entities list," she wrote on June 7.

A list of tribes the BIA publishes every year includes the new information. The tribal government specialist at the Internal Revenue Service also took notice.

According to BIA spokesperson Nedra Darling, the comments reported by ICT were merely an oversight. Due to the recent name change, aides inadvertently told Smith the Miwok Tribe was not recognized, she said.

Hurley, however, is taking the slip as another slight. "Besides being dismayed at Mr. Smith's comments, we are totally perplexed as how the individual assigned to run the primary agency in charge of providing services to federally recognized Native American tribes does not know whom he [is] supposed to be providing services for," she wrote.

Smith has come under scrutiny for solicitations a former business partner sent to Hurley's tribe and the Chinook Nation of Washington, whose federal status is pending. In separate letters, Phil Bersinger told the tribes he had "tremendous access and influence" at the BIA and suggested he be retained to lobby on their behalf.

In response, Smith has asked the department's inspector general to investigate. He has also asked federal and state officials in Louisiana to look into a reportedly fake letter send to the Coushatta Tribe.

Get the ICT report:
Wayne Smith replies to accusations (Indian Country Today 4/27)

Relevant Links:
California Valley Miwok Tribe - http://www.calvalleymiwoktribe.com