By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Ozzie Monge

September 1,2016 (San Diego’s East County) –  Native Americans held a protest Wednesday outside theNavy’s new SEAL training center on Coronado over desecration of  an area  where  ancient Indian remains were found. 

The 12 tribes of the Kumeyaay Nation have asked the Navy to move the construction boundary to preserve the site where tribal members believe more remains are likely located, but so far the Navy has refused. 

“To us, the sight of those machines brutally ripping our ancestors from the ground is no different than it would be for those very same Navy personnel to watch bulldozers rip through Arlington National Cemetery, scattering the bodies of fallen soldiers carelessly under the metal treads,” Cynthia Parada, Councilwoman of the La Posta Band of Mission Indians, wrote on a Facebook page for the Save Our Ancestors from Desecration event.

East County News Service

August 20, 2016 (El Cajon) - This Halloween, come to a party like no other at Sycuan Golf Resort.  Stoney's Boo Bash is on Thursday, October 27 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

East County News Service

August 4, 2016 – Today, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed a tribal-state Gaming Compact between the State of California and the Jamul Indian Village of California. This compact affirms JIV’s partnership and government-to-government relationship with the State.

East County News Service

July 7, 2016 (Alpine) - You're invited to spend the weekend under the stars at Viejas Summer Nights in Viejas Casino Resort in Alpine July 9 to September 4.

East County News Service

Photo: Falina R. of Chula Vista hit a $1.22 million jackpot on Sycuan Casino’s lucky Buffalo Grand slot machine on Wednesday.

June 3, 2016 (El Cajon) -- On Wednesday,  May 27, Chula Vista resident Falina R. turned pennies into $1.22 million while playing on Sycuan Casino’s Buffalo Grand slot machine. Unlike the popular theory that you have to play big to win big, Falina’s fortune was a result of a small bet on the lucky machine, which then hit the game’s huge progressive jackpot payout.

By Leon Thompson, Tribal Beat

May 15, 2016 (Pine Ridge, Sd.) – When Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke in San Diego, he said, among other others, “This campaign is about the Native Americans.“  I don’t think I’ve ever heard a politician even talk about Indians let alone include them in his race for President.  Should I be happy that someone is at least talking about the 566 tribes?   We are a mere 1.6 % of the voting population.  Of course, we know that only a third of all Indians live on reservations.  We are many urban Indians.  And we vote. 

By Leon Thompson

April 22, 2016 (Jamul) - The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has voted to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jamul Indian Village of California.  The agreement will memorialize negotiations regarding the construction and operation of the tribes Hollywood Casino Jamul set to open this summer.  The agreement passed on a 3-1 vote, with Vice Chairwoman Dianne Jacob opposed and Supervisor Greg Cox absent.

East County News Service

April 18, 2016 (Lakeside) – Barona Museum invites children to a cultural story and art activity on the last Saturday of each month starting April 30^th and running through October.  The events will be held from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the community center meeting room.

Part of expanded efforts to increase conservation, reclamation, reuse and education

East County News Service

April 3, 2016 (Sycuan Reservation) –The Sycuan Tribe completed a major reduction in overall water usage through an aggressive conservation program that includes retrofitting irrigation equipment, removing and replacing water-dependent landscaping and increasing awareness around the importance of water conservation. 

East County News Service

March 18, 2016 (El Cajon) - NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton will be at Sycuan Casino this weekend accepting a $50,000 donation from Sycuan Casino on behalf of the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The donation is a part of the casino’s promise to the organization to donate at least 5% of its GameDay Sports Bar & Grill’s annual sales.

By Stephen Fox



March 4, 2016 (Oak Flat, Az.) -- Tribes nation-wide and other Americans across the country deeply appreciate Senator Bernie Sanders' efforts in the U.S. Senate to protect tribal sacred land in Arizona known as Oak Flat, located on U.S. Forest Service land, from destruction by foreign-owned mining conglomerates Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton through their U.S. limited liability company Resolution Copper Mining.

By Leon Thompson

January 20, 2016 (Jamul) – The Jamul Indian Village (JIV) of California announced the first ever Tony Gwynn Sports Pub will open in its Hollywood Casino Jamul slated for completion this summer.  Tony Gwynn’s Sports Pub will feature an unprecedented collection of memorabilia from the greatest athlete in San Diego’s history.

By Leon Thompson, Tribal Beat reporter, East County Magazine

December 17, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --  Erica Pinto (photo, left) and the Jamul Indian Village hosted the premier showing of  A Thousand Voices, a documentary film from Silver Bullet Productions an educational filmmaking program for rural and tribal communities.

This is the story of Native American women in New Mexico from the Pueblo, the Dine’ and the Apache nations.  A common thread is that all are accomplished women leaders held in esteem as keepers of the culture.  Matriarchal in many ways, men and women are equal in the creation stories of indigenous people from the beginning of time.

View the Trailer here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXfEpcGTe9A (Scroll down or hit "read more" for our review)

By Dan Bacher

Reprinted from EcoReport; originally published at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/12/10/18780871.php

Photo: Indigenous leaders challenged California Governor Jerry Brown's support of pollution trading and fracking after he spoke at Paris Climate Summit on December 8. Photo courtesy of Rae Breaux.

December 14, 2015 (Paris)--"REDD is a carbon offset mechanism which privatizes the air that we breathe and uses forests, agriculture and water ecosystems in the Global South as sponges for industrialized countries pollution, instead of cutting emissions at source," said Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. "REDD brings trees, soil, and nature into a commodity trading system that may result in the largest land grab in history. It steals your future, lets polluters off the hook and is a new form of colonialism. NO to Privatization of Nature!”

At the end of his keynote address at the World Climate Summit in Paris on Tuesday, December 8, Indigenous leaders heckled Governor Jerry Brown, challenging him on his support of controversial carbon trading polices that represent “a new form of colonialism” that could potentially cause genocide.