Hoopa Valley Tribe excludes first member from its reservation

Thursday, November 1, 2012  

The Hoopa Valley Tribe of California has used its exclusion ordinance for the first time on one of its members.

Arthur Pliny Jones pleaded guilty to transportation and sales of a controlled substance. The tribe's court said the crime was grounds for "indefinite" banishment from the reservation.

"If he wasn’t doing what he was doing, there wouldn’t be concern. He’s a convicted drug dealer," Chairman Leonard Masten told The North Coast Journal.

Jones can petition the court to change the exclusion order but he is appealing, arguing that the exclusion ordinance was enacted in violation of the tribe's constitution.

Get the Story:
Banished (The North Coast Journal 11/)
Tribal Member Banished from Hoopa Reservation (The Two Rivers Tribune 10/31)