Yakama Nation group back home after being stranded in Alabama

National

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A group of members of the Yakama Nation of Washington who were lured to the Gulf in hopes of gainful employment are back at home.

About 20 members drove to Alabama after a man named Christino Rosado came to the reservation and promised up to $40 an hour for jobs in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. But the work never came and the group reached out to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians for assistance.

"They came down and I guess they were more lost than anything and didn't know what to do," said Poarch Creek council member Robert McGhee told The Yakima Herald-Republic. "They were pretty much left stranded without the necessary funds to get back."

Some Yakamas gave up well-paying jobs and rented out their homes in hopes of working in the Gulf for a few months. The FBI is reportedly looking into the apparent scam.

"I think the worst part of it was we didn't know what was going on," Jessica Kishwalk, 35, who made the trip to Alabama, told the paper. "We didn't know if we had a room for the next day."

Get the Story:
Broken promises left job-seeking Yakamas stranded (The Yakima Herald-Republic 8/25)