A 320-acre ranch that was once a reservation for a member of the Kwaaymii Tribe was recently hit by wildfire.
Thomas Lucas was born on the Laguna Reservation in 1903. In the 1950s, he successfully petitioned to have the federal government relinquish the land to him, fearing the Bureau of Indian Affairs was going to take it away.
The former reservation is now in the hands of his daughter, Carmen Lucas, and her sister.
Lucas, 69, built a cabin on the land but it was destroyed by the recent Cedar Fire. Her father's cabin survived.
The fire has Lucas, a retired Marine, mulling what she will do with the ranch. She wants it preserved but doesn't have all the necessary resources. A lawyer working for her says the Kwaaymii Tribe was never terminated.
Get the Story:
Laguna land and legacy
(The San Diego Union-Tribune 3/14)
Relevant Links:
Mission Indian Federation - http://missionindianfederation.com
Woman mulls fate of former reservation in Calif.
Monday, March 15, 2004
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