Dear Chairman Smith, You and the other members of the Enrollment Committee have determined that we are

disenrolled as members of the Pala Band. Through this action you have denied our heritage, our ancestry, our land, and our blood, and have done so without just cause. We are the descendents of Margarita Brittain, who was an original allottee from the 1913 Pala Allotment roll, and are rightful members of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. Our Great-Great Grandmother was born and raised in Cupa, and rode the Trail of Tears to the San Antonio de Pala Assistencia. She was a full blood Cupeno, a skilled basket weaver and wise in the ancient ways. Now you dishonor her, her legacy and the people by saying we dont belong. We have not broken any law, transgressed any rule, or committed any crime, and yet we stand accused, tried, and convicted. Convicted of what offense we do not know, because you have not had the courage to tell us. You point to some evidence, some erroneous documents you think support your lies, but you say you dont have to show it because you are a sovereign Indian tribe. It is obvious that you have confused yourself with the Tribe. The Tribe is a sovereign nation, but you are an elected official, an employee of the Tribe at large. It is your job to uphold the Tribal Constitution, but it is obvious that you forgot to review it before you acted against us. Check our Tribal Constitution. It guarantees due process, as does the Indian Civil Rights Act, and so you are required to present the evidence to those you accuse, to allow them to present a defense, and to conduct a fair hearing before their peers. We have been denied all of this. Your actions are unconstitutional, and a violation of our Civil Rights, and yet you are intractable, resolute in your mission to destroy the people you are supposed to lead. Even worse you defy the Bureau of Indian Affairs final decision that Margarita Brittain was full blood, and a subsequent decision on the appeal of the original eight disenrollees. How would it harm the leader of a sovereign nation to uphold the Constitution and notify the accused of their alleged offense? How does the denial of our right to a defense serve the Tribe? How does your refusal to conduct a fair hearing before our peers prove that right is right and wrong is wrong, as you said in a KCBS television interview? We submit that you acted out of a desire to harm us and to get revenge for some imagined wrong you suffered in the past. We submit that you intimidated or lied to the other members of the tribe to cooperate with your capricious and despicable decision. We submit that you disenrolled us to eliminate opposition to your failed leadership. Never has it been more evident that you have failed miserably as a leader. You have failed to bring the people together, and instead have split us apart into the haves and have-nots. You

have failed to act wisely, and instead have foolishly pursued your own interests to the detriment of the Tribe. You have failed in your duty to protect and preserve the culture, tradition and heritage of the people by casting out descendents of an original allottee. You have failed to uphold the Constitution, and to treat all the members of the tribe equally. You have ignored the superior evidence of the BIA, and rejected the truth in favor of your manufactured lies. You are a massive failure, with nothing to support your position but your claim of sovereignty. We too are resolute and defiant. We will not cease to speak out against you and your failed leadership. We will continue to show the evidence of our right to belong; we will uncover the collusion between the parties that led you to believe that you could get away with this illegal action. We will use the lawyers, the courts, the press, and public opinion to make our case. We have joined together in this fight, and will not go out quietly. We will prevail because there is justice and fairness for the persistent and you will fail because you know not justice. Signed, Margaritas Children

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