Jennie Stockle: Justice for victims of Cedarville mass shooting

Like many small and even large tribal nation communities, most of the people at Cedarville Rancheria were related to one another. And somehow that connection seemed to become the focus of reports coming out of the region following the devastating event. As with many mass shootings, people seemed most interested in what motivated a crazed person to grab some guns and keep shooting until all the bullets were gone. Media outlets didn’t focus much attention on the beautiful and innocent human beings who were killed, but instead focused on trying to find motivations that could explain what can essentially never be explained in a way that makes sense of a senseless tragedy.

President Obama wrote letters of condolence to the families in Cedarville Rancheria who had lost their loved ones. Most of the people who received his letter were there when the shooting happened.

The tribal nation had about 35 citizens, and was part of a small community, with the nearest two towns comprising only 3,500 people. The townspeople knew of the Native Americans and what had happened to their people during the shooting. The alleged shooter, Cherie Rhoades, was in the community’s jail, and the State of California had taken over criminal jurisdiction in the case. However, the town or county responsible for seeking justice on behalf of the Native Americans did little to make a gesture toward the victims’ families, according to a local source. And, despite initial reports, it seems the townspeople fell back into resenting the local Indigenous people. California Gov. Jerry Brown did not write, and seems to have no intention of writing, a letter of condolence.

It seems odd to Natives in Indian Country that local townspeople and even the state’s governor failed to show them the kind of support non-Native American communities seem to receive when one of their own is shot. Is there any reason good enough for their behavior to be acceptable?