Lytton Band questions poll that shows opposition to land-into-trust legislation

Monday, September 25, 2017

The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians is questioning the outcome of a poll that uncovered significant opposition to the tribe's land-into-trust bill.

The House passed H.R.597, the Lytton Rancheria Homelands Act, in July under a suspension of the rules. That means no lawmaker objected to the bill, which places about 940 acres in trust for the tribe, which lost all of its homelands in California after being terminated by Congress in the 1950s.

But a group called Citizens for Windsor says support for H.R.597 is far from unanimous. A poll released last week indicates 76 percent of respondents oppose the bill when told of its details.

The tribe's attorney, though, told The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat that the poll was slanted to favor a certain outcome. Even officials in Windsor questioned the viability of the survey, the paper said.

“The survey is contrived. The questions were seeking to elicit answers toward their perspective, therefore it’s not neutral,” one council member said at a public meeting last Wednesday, the paper reported.

The group hopes its poll will convince the Senate won't pass the bill. It has yet to see action in that chamber.

Read More on the Story:
Opponents of Lytton Pomos’ tribal project lobby Windsor council with new poll results (The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat September 21, 2017)