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A Sacramento judge on April 3 allowed a lawsuit challenging the inclusion of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band on the state’s list of Native American tribes to move forward. The Amah Mutsun identifies as descendants of the Indigenous people who once lived in what today is San Benito County.
Disputes over tribal recognition are happening across the country. The Duwamish in Washington have spent decades in federal court looking to be recognized as a Native American tribe. In Northern California, the Wintu are pushing back against proposed state regulations that could remove them from the tribal consultation list.
In August, the California Indian Nation, a group that also claims to be descendants of the Indigenous peoples in the area, sued the State of California Native American Heritage Commission seeking to be added to the state’s list of Native American tribes and have the Amah Mutsun removed.
In response, the commission and the Amah Mutsun asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the commission has no obligation to maintain that list.
Superior Court judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang rejected that argument, calling it “specious.” Chang found that, though the process of maintaining the list is not explicitly among the commission’s powers and duties, the commission does still have to maintain it. Being on the list, she wrote, provides tribes with “statutory privileges which are not available to tribal organizations that are not on the contact list.”
The commission’s own website says that the list is used to “determine” which tribes can take part in consultations with local governments on planning decisions.
“The Court finds that the Commission has a mandatory ministerial duty to ‘maintain’ the contact list,” the ruling states, “which includes the consideration of listing additional tribes, and may include the consideration of delisting tribes that do not meet the qualifications necessary to be identified as a California Native American tribe.”
The ruling does not force the commission to add the California Indian Nation to the list or remove the Amah Mutsun. It only means the case will proceed. The commission and the Amah Mutsun have 30 days to respond.
The lawsuit is tied to one of San Benito County’s most controversial projects: a proposed visitor center, fruit stand, gas station and motel on Betabel Road at Hwy 101.
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, along with Protect San Benito County and the Center for Biological Diversity, previously sued the county, alleging it violated state planning and zoning laws by not consulting with the tribe. To be considered for consultation, a tribe must be on the commission’s list. If the Amah Mutsun are ultimately delisted, it could invalidate their claim that they were not properly consulted by the proponents of the Betabel Road Project.
Lawyers representing the California Indian Nation are from the same firm representing Ryder and Victoria McDowell, the property owners behind the Betabel Road project.
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