This week, an article authored by Vince Armenta,
chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians,
appeared in Capitol Weekly, a Sacramento-based publication. The article focused
on Nancy Crawford-Hall, The Valley Journal, and the members of the No More
Slots organization.
In the article, Armenta degrades
the members of No More Slots, stating:
“The tribal opponents established a web site, collected
signatures, had a town meeting, donned T-shirts with ‘No More Slots’ slogans
and marched around Sacramento carrying a Tupperware container filled with
scraps of paper. Their campaign fizzled after much fanfare and, as we said all
along, we didn’t bring 5,000 more slots to the Valley.”
The members of No More Slots are good community people who
want to protect their families and friends from the undisputed harms of
potential expanded gambling in the Santa Ynez Valley.
They are smart, articulate and caring citizens who traveled
to Sacramento on their own time to present what Armenta
labels “a Tupperware container filled with scraps of paper,” which were
actually signed petitions from thousands of Santa Barbara County residents who
also oppose the expansion of gambling — which, by the way, has absolutely
nothing to do with disrespecting Native Americans or the Chumash people. The No
More Slots group participated in the public comments to the
senate government organization committee during the hearings about
ratification of gaming compacts of six of Southern California’s mightiest Indian
gaming tribes seeking to dramatically expand their gambling operations.
Also in the Capitol Weekly article, Armenta
attacks the character of Nancy Crawford-Hall and the content of the Valley
Journal.
“It’s no secret that Nancy Crawford-Hall, the new owner of
the Santa Ynez Valley Journal, is a longtime foe of
our tribe, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
She has attended Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meetings to speak
out against our tribe, participated with anti-Chumash hate groups in the
community and has written many angry columns in her publication accusing the
tribe of everything from paying off politicians to being parasites.”
Crawford- Hall is past president of the Cattleman’s
Association and recipient of both the
Livestock Producer of the Year award and the Santa Barbara County Women of the
Year award — just to name a few of her honors. She is also responsible for the
10,000 acres of pristine cattle ranch that everyone enjoys as they enter and
exit the Santa Ynez Valley on Hwy. 154. She is a real
steward of the land and one of the most highly respected members of this
community.
Disagreeing with and challenging the content of the Valley
Journal is one thing; unprovoked personal attacks on Crawford-Hall are
something else altogether, and I would like Armenta
to share with all of us which issue of the Valley Journal and on what page
Crawford-Hall accused the tribe of being parasites. I have never seen it.
Just to set the record straight, I am not paid by this paper
or by anyone else, and I write of my own free will to share factual information
with the public. One of my best friends is Native American (a mix of Chumash, Oholone and Zapotec), and his son
is one of my son’s best friends. I only bring this up in case there was any
notion that I may be racist or prejudiced. My remarks are directed only to Armenta and his leadership style, not the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians nor the Native American
people.
I think it is time for the leadership of both the tribe and
the County of Santa Barbara to stop fueling this negative and harmful
propaganda in an attempt to ignite a war between the Native American and
non-Native American people who live here. By not resolving real issues and real
concerns in an open and transparent fashion, with, and on behalf of the very
people they represent, the tribal and county leadership is going down a
destructive path at the expense of all of us while satisfying only their own
self-interests. If they cannot — or will not — provide open, authentic and
meaningful leadership, then they should step down for the good of us all.
What
do you think?
The article referred to in this column can be found in its
entirety in the Capitol Weekly, published Nov. 1, 2007.