By Erica Laster
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CALIFORNIA, United States – On August 15, 2010, the Native American Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon in Southern California filed an amended complaint objecting to a statement in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) of Kern County which indicates that “the property owner (who is also the owner of the remains), and of any associated archaeological materials.”

The EIR was made by the Defendants, Tejon Ranch Corporation and County of Kern, pursuant to a project proposing to build Tejon Mountain Village (TMV), a 26 thousand acre resort.  The proposal includes 750 lodging units, 3400 homes, a 160,000 square foot shopping center and golf courses.   The resort falls within Indian Country and the over 50 pre-historic village sites of the Kawaiisu people, an ancient Great Basin Shoshone Paiute Tribe.  Before European encroachment, the Kawaiisu’s territory extended from Utah to the Pacific Ocean.

The Kawaiisu tribe calls attention to the Administrative Procedure Act, the federal acknowledgement process and the Native American Repatriation of remains.  David Laughing Horse Robinson, Chairman of the Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon claims the statement proclaims TMV ownership of Kawaiisu ancestor remains and sacred objects.

He argues that despite the land being set aside in Federal Reservations for Native Americans, “the unborn and our ancestors are made into slaves and property by that statement.”  Robinson argues that California Native Americans are receiving unequal treatment from those of European descent.   The threat by various corporations to bulldoze the Kawaiisu Tribe’s land represents a serious infringement on humanitarian rights.   Robinson further contends that the Kawaiisu tribe was illegally dropped from the list of recognized tribes on the federal register with an allocation of land under federal treaty in 1853.  He will defend his right to represent Kawaiisu tribe in the proceeding before a Judge in Federal Court until an attorney can be located.

The Defendants, the U.S. Department of Interior, Kern County and Tejon Mountain Village Corporation, were first sued November 10, 2009 in Federal Court in Fresno with the Kawaiisu arguing that the Defendant’s ignored Native American rights to historical sites and burial remains.  Both Kern County and Tejon Mountain Village have filed motions to dismiss the complaint.

For More Information Please See:

The Mountain Enterprise-Second Lawsuit Seeks Injunction…for Kiwaiisu Tribe of Tejon – 13 November 2009

Indigenous People’s Issues and Resources-Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon in Emergency Battle – 23 February 2010

Indigenous People’s Issues and Resources-Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon Lawsuit Amended Complaint Filed – 28 August 2010