East County News Service

Photo: Chairman Bo Mazzetti, courtesy of the Rincon band of  Luiseño Indians 

May 15, 2025 (Valley Center, CA) –Bo Mazzetti, Chairman of the Rincon band of Luiseño Indians for over 16 years, passed away on May 1 at age 77 after battling cancer.  A leading voice for Native Americans statewide over several decades, he was a founding member and President of the Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association, also serving on the statewide Tribal Chairman’s Association.

"Mr. Mazzetti was a driving force behind the establishment of the CTCA and uniting a majority of Northern, Central, and Southern California indigenous tribal members and their Indian reservations into a unified voice," according to the SCTCA website.

The SCTCA site quotes Mazzetti's words:  As my father taught me, it is our responsibility to pave the pathway for future generations and to pursue a path that younger tribal leaders can follow, like our tribal elders did for us."

He  held numerous other influential positions during his lifetime of service, including in federal, state and local government as well as tribal offices.

February 20, 2015 (Valley Center)-- Bo Mazzetti, chairman of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, was presented with the Fifth Annual Anna Sandoval Leadership Award at the Western Indian Gaming Conference’s Tribal Leaders’ luncheon, February 11, 2015, at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, in Valley Center, Ca.