SHADES OF THINGS TO COME FOR HAWAIIANS THROUGH US FEDERAL RECOGNITION ! -
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Interior Department and Congress' General Accounting Office said Tuesday they are launching probes into alleged conflicts of interest involving officials of the regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Interior Department investigators hope to fly from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to begin interviews and gathering documents, after The Associated Press disclosed that regional bureau officials padded the membership roll of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians and authorized a new leadership election.
As a result, original tribal members have no representatives among the tribe's new leadership, which now is seeking to build a $100 million, 2,000-slot machine casino in Plymouth, in one of California's fast-growing wine regions.
The Interior Department's inspector general conducted no significant review of similar allegations raised by four congressmen two years ago.
But the office is acting now because of the weekend AP story; a congressman's subsequent call Monday for a renewed probe; and a citizen's complaint, said Steve Hardgrove, director of the program integrity division.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf said the General Accounting Office told him Tuesday it would open a probe at his request. Wolf, a Virginia Republican whose subcommittee oversees the budgets of the FBI and Justice Department, called Monday for investigations by the inspector general, FBI and GAO.
Acting against the wishes of original tribal members, the regional Bureau of Indian Affairs office opened the tribe's membership rolls. The then-acting regional director who approved the tribal election was then added to the tribal roll along with 68 relatives, including an uncle and a niece who also work for the bureau. A different bureau official who oversaw the election had three relatives added to the tribe.
Meanwhile, after more than a year, the FBI has assigned a new agent to review allegations of alleged bureau conflicts involving a nearby but unrelated Amador County tribe that also is seeking a casino.
The inspector general's office conducted its investigation of the Buena Vista Me-Wuk band about the same time congressmen raised questions about the bureau's involvement with the Ione band, but says completion of that probe has been stalled by the FBI's review.
