Tribes donate more to fight another tribe's casino

Friday, October 28, 2005  

Two wealthy gaming tribes in northern California have donated an additional $150,000 to fight another tribe's proposed casino.

The Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians and the United Auburn Indian Community donated the money to a group called Citizens, Teachers and Law Enforcement Against Measure G. The tribes are the primary backers of the campaign against Measure G, which asks voters in Yuba County to support the Enterprise Rancheria's proposed casino.

The Rumsey Band and the Auburn Community are not located in Yuba County. They operate highly successful casinos and are represented by the same attorney, Howard Dickstein. So far they have donated $300,000 to the anti-Enterprise campaign.

The Enterprise Rancheria is seeking support to build a casino on 40 acres of non-reservation land in Yuba County. Chairwoman Glenda Nelson criticized the tribes for opposing her plans. “We are proud of the accomplishments made by [the tribes] and it's just a shame that they are not supporting other tribe's efforts to gain the same self-sufficiency," she said, The Marysville-Yuba City Appeal-Democrat reported.

The Rumsey Band and the Auburn Community accuse the Enterprise Rancheria of reservation shopping. The Auburns built their casino on non-reservation land that was taken into trust in 2002.

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Anti-G money balloons (The Marysville-Yuba City Appeal-Democrat 10/28)