A prominent tribe with powerful connections has taken the unusual step of denouncing an educator and scholar who has long identified herself as a descendant of the community.

In an August 15 statement that was first shared on social media, leaders of the Pechanga Band of Indians said Dr. Joely Proudfit lacks ties to their tribe, based in southern California. The wording in the document leaves no doubt about the tribal council’s stance.

“For the record, Joely De La Torre Proudfit is not an enrolled member at Pechanga, has never been enrolled at Pechanga, and has never been recognized as a member of the Pechanga Band of Indians,” the statement on official tribal letterhead reads.

https://twitter.com/alitheia1491/status/1577412960837836801

But the statement goes even further. According to the tribal council, Proudfit is not a “descendent” of the Pechanga Band either — a direct refutation of the claim she has long made as she has risen to notable positions in education, politics and, more recently, film and television.

“When questioned by those outside of our tribal community, Ms. Proudfit claims she is eligible for enrollment but due to Pechanga’s moratorium on enrollment, she is not able to be enrolled,” the council states. “This claim is false and completely without merit.”

“Ms. Proudfit is not a descendent of the Pechanga Band of Indians, nor were her forebears tribal members of the Pechanga Band of Indians,” the statement reads.

Proudfit, who is a tenured professor in the California State University system, has been active in Indian affairs in the state for more than 20 years. Some of her first major efforts included serving as a spokesperson for two landmark tribal gaming initiatives that the Pechanga Band — most notably its longtime chairman Mark Macarro — worked strongly to secure passage of, back in 1998 and 2000.

But Pechanga leaders never felt the need to speak out until now. The statement asserts that their “silence” may have in fact benefited Proudfit as she built her storied career, one that led her just recently to weigh in on yet another tribal gaming initiative on the upcoming ballot in California.

“Our silence over the years has allowed her false claim to stand,” the tribal council states. “But Ms. Proudfit’s appointment to a position meant for a Native American woman in the State of California, in combination with similar appointments, and her continued public assertions of being a descendent of the Pechanga Band have compelled us to correct the record.”

“Her false claim to Native American heritage is not only self-serving, but also one that harms and misrepresents the Pechanga Payómkawichum culture and history,” the council concluded, using the Payómkawichum term that the tribe uses for itself.

Despite the strong words from the council, Proudfit is defending her identity as a Payómkawichum woman. In a statement to Indianz.Com, she insisted that she does qualify for enrollment in the Pechanga Band — but for the moratorium mentioned by the tribe.

“I am not an anomaly; I am one of many Pechanga descendants who has been excluded from the tribe without due process,” Proudfit said. “I did once qualify for enrollment according to the tribe’s lineal descent criteria. I applied for membership when my mother and grandmother were both alive.”

On Native American Day, Governor Newsom signs some good bills and I’m so happy about AB2022. No more S-word. Thank you @AsmJamesRamos. And always respect to Suzan Shown Harjo for inspiring us to stay the course and fight for change. ❤️🪶 https://t.co/nt7hwjOeZ7

— Joely Proudfit, Ph.D. (@Nativeprof) September 24, 2022

Proudfit also said Macarro, who has served as chairman since 1995, helped her with the enrollment process. The pair once worked side-by-side during the campaigns for Proposition 1A and Proposition 5, the ballot initiatives that paved the way for the Pechanga Band to operate one of the most successful Indian gaming enterprises in California.

“I even received handwritten genealogy assistance from Mark Macarro to support my enrollment,” Proudfit told Indianz.Com.

But in a nod to Macarro’s role as leader of the tribe, she added: “Then came the enrollment moratorium he imposed at Pechanga.”

“My mother and grandmother have since walked on, which further disqualifies me for Pechanga enrollment,” she said.

Separate from her tribal membership efforts, Proudfit said the Bureau of Indian Affairs has “documented my ancestors as being from Pechanga.” The BIA, a federal agency, can fulfill requests for people who want to document their American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry — based on information provided by the applicant.

“I also possess a federal Certificate of Indian Blood that identifies me as of Pechanga lineage,” Proudfit stated.

At the same time, Proudfit challenged the tribe to dispute her ancestry: “If Pechanga officials or individuals have any evidence to the contrary, I welcome an analysis.”

“For years I have supported Pechanga and other California tribal nations in many capacities,” she added. “That includes serving, at Pechanga’s request, as a campaign spokesperson in television ads for both the Proposition 1A and 5 ballot initiatives that secured tribal nations’ right to engage in government gaming in California.”

“It, therefore, stuns me that Pechanga would now attack my identity and ancestry in an attempt to malign me professionally,” Dr. Proudfit said in the statement to Indianz.Com.

“While Pechanga has the power to determine membership, no tribal politician can erase my California Indian heritage, or the historical significance of my ancestors to Pechanga, to me, and to my family’s future generations,” she concluded.

For Rick Cuevas, a former citizen of the Pechanga Band, the statement against Proudfit represents a long-running effort by tribal politicians to exert power and stay in power. In an interview, he agreed with the sentiment that lack of membership does not refute someone’s ancestry or heritage.

“I’m not a Pechanga member anymore, either,” Cuevas said in reference to his disenrollment from the tribe, which he has been documenting for years on originalpechanga.com.

“But are you telling me that I’m not Pechanga when your guy proved I was?” he told Indianz.Com. According to Cuevas, an expert hired by the tribe confirmed his ancestry but the information was rejected.

National Congress of American Indians VP Mark Macarro, Violator of The Civil and Human Rights of HUNDREDS of American Indians. Runs Apartheid system in Temecula.https://t.co/G7O00Kn7aS@CForeman31 @indianz @NCAI1944 @SecDebHaaland

— Original Pechanga (@opechanga) October 6, 2022

So when it comes to the determination that Proudfit is not a “descendent” of Payómkawichum, he believes the tribe’s statement falls short.

“You notice how Pechanga put that information out there, but they didn’t prove it,” Cuevas said. “They didn’t offer any proof that she wasn’t.”

Further, he said the reason Proudfit’s “forebears” were not enrolled, as noted in the statement, is not based on ancestry but largely on timing. The Pechanga Band’s enrollment process formally began in the late 1970s and some parents, grandparents, cousins and other relatives have been left out.

“Those kind of word salad statements never, you know, they don’t really jibe with the truth,” Cuevas said in the interview.

According to Cuevas, the Pechanga Band’s enrollment matters, which have been covered frequently by the Native and mainstream media, affect the tribe’s future in significant ways. If the tribe were to lift the moratorium, address the mass disenrollments and welcome all Payómkawichum, he said the politicians currently in power would face a reckoning.

“It’s to control power,” Cuevas said of the tribe’s enrollment decisions.

“Imagine what would happen, or the chaos that would happen, if they did the right thing and brought us back where we belong,” he continued. “The voting power would change, the family dynamics would change.”

“My family has 140 adults now,” Cuevas added, though many like him have been removed from the rolls. “That would change a lot of the vote — the way voting goes, the discussions at the tribal meetings and general council meetings.”

But another person who has worked in Indian issues in California for more than 25 years believes the statement about Proudfit, with its direct wording, is less about internal matters than about external ones. The tribe appears to be tired of seeing people profit off its name, according to the source.

“The tribal statement will chase away the Hollywood jobs,” the person said.

As the founder of Native Media Strategies, Proudfit has used her considerable background and knowledge to help bring stories about Native people to light in television and film. She served as a consultant on Hostiles, the 2018 film that won praise for its depiction of tribal people during a critical time in U.S. history and policy in the late 1800s.

Proudfit, who has held a number of appointed Indian affairs positions in state and federal government, also helps stories told directly by Native people come to life. She recently worked as a consultant on Spirit Rangers, an animated show on Netflix that debuts next week — on Indigenous Peoples’s Day on October 10 to be exact.

This show and this image is everything. I am so thrilled for Karissa Valencia, Chumash creator and the amazing talented writers, actors, musicians, artists involved, its been a delight to work with so many talented folks @netflix Let's Go Spirit Rangers!! https://t.co/HlmLUjjtUw

— Joely Proudfit, Ph.D. (@Nativeprof) June 14, 2022

Spirit Rangers, which is designed with young audiences in mind, showcases the work of Karissa Valencia, who hails from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. According to Netflix, she is the “first California Native American showrunner” on the streaming service.

“When I was home on the reservation going to bear ceremonies, powwows, or working as a camp counselor for Camp Kalawashaq’, I was constantly inspired by my culture,” Valencia said. She collaborated with the Santa Ynez Band’s Culture Department to help tell the stories of her community.

“With the Elders’ support, and in partnership with the Culture Department, we’ve created an authentic modern show that I wish I had growing up,” Valencia added. “You’ll see clapper sticks, hear the beautiful voices of our community Samala singers in the underscore and meet characters inspired by our California wildlife.”

Despite widespread media coverage of disenrollment issues, the Pechanga Band has long shied from speaking about its decisions and decision making processes. Whether it’s a California outlet or a national one, Chairman Macarro’s has often described such matters as internal and private.

The tribe, however, confirmed the very public statement about Proudfit as legitimate when asked by Indianz.Com on Wednesday. According to a person knowledgeable of the way the Pechanga council works, Macarro himself would have had to give final approval to the document before it was disseminated.

“The tribe defines its membership, not public opinion,” said the person, who otherwise did not know what circumstances led the Pechanga Band to speak out.

In addition to leading the Pechanga Band, Macarro serves as vice president of the National Congress of American Indians, the largest inter-tribal advocacy organization in the U.S. He joined the NCAI executive board a year ago after winning election during the group’s annual convention, which took place virtually due to COVID-19.

Earlier in 2021, during another NCAI virtual meeting, he helped lead a discussion with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She has described Macarro as a friend and has sent well-wishes to his family during public speeches.

This year’s NCAI annual convention takes place in person in Sacramento, Macarro’s and Pelosi’s home state. Additionally, the Sovereignty Run, which the organization is leading to raise awareness of attacks on tribal sovereignty, is crossing a wide portion of the state in the last couple of weeks of October — with participants headed toward the California capital for the meeting, which runs October 31 through November 4.

Before Macarro came on board, NCAI approved the establishment of a Tribal Citizenship Policy and Protection Task Force during its 2020 convention. Attorney Gabe Galanda, a citizen of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, pushed for the task force in order to address attacks on tribal sovereignty, such as the contentious Indian Child Welfare Act case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next month.

United States House of Representatives @SpeakerPelosi speaks with NCAI @PresFawnSharp, Chairman Macarro, and attendees on urgent tribal legislative priorities, including the #COVID19 recovery package. #NCAIECWS2021 pic.twitter.com/QyDF14B2g4

— National Congress of American Indians (@NCAI1944) February 23, 2021

But Galanda, whose law firm represents people who have been disenrolled from their tribes, also sought to ensure that human rights of Native people are respected by all governments, including tribal ones. However, amid leadership changes that have occurred at NCAI over the past two years, he described the task force as all but “dead.”

Proudfit’s statement about the Pechanga Band and her heritage follows.

As a Payómkawichum woman, I understand that sovereign tribal nations like the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians enjoy the right to determine their own membership.

I am not enrolled Pechanga, nor have I ever claimed Pechanga membership.

Like many California Indians, I descend from multiple tribal groups in today’s Southern California, including Pechanga. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has documented my ancestors as being from Pechanga. I also possess a federal Certificate of Indian Blood that identifies me as of Pechanga lineage.

If Pechanga officials or individuals have any evidence to the contrary, I welcome an analysis.

I am not an anomaly; I am one of many Pechanga descendants who has been excluded from the tribe without due process. I did once qualify for enrollment according to the tribe’s lineal descent criteria. I applied for membership when my mother and grandmother were both alive. I even received handwritten genealogy assistance from Mark Macarro to support my enrollment. Then came the enrollment moratorium he imposed at Pechanga.

My mother and grandmother have since walked on, which further disqualifies me for Pechanga enrollment. For years I have supported Pechanga and other California tribal nations in many capacities. That includes serving, at Pechanga’s request, as a campaign spokesperson in television ads for both the Proposition 1A and 5 ballot initiatives that secured tribal nations’ right to engage in government gaming in California. It, therefore, stuns me that Pechanga would now attack my identity and ancestry in an attempt to malign me professionally. While Pechanga has the power to determine membership, no tribal politician can erase my California Indian heritage, or the historical significance of my ancestors to Pechanga, to me, and to my family’s future generations.