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California Tribal Chair Defends Casinos

CALIFORNIA – As reported by the Hesperia Star: "The Barstow Casinos and Resort project does not infringe on the land of any existing Indian tribes, and critics in other tribes are simply trying to protect the profits of their existing casinos, according to the chairman of one of the two tribes building casinos in Barstow.

"Virgil Moorehead, chairman of the Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe in Humboldt County, was responding to remarks by the chairman of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians.

"In a column in Indian Country Today and excerpted in the October 18 issue of the Hesperia Star, Chairman Deron Marquez accused the Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes tribes of infringing on San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indian ancestral territory and of being the pawns of 'reservation shopping' developers.

"…Moorehead said Marquez, whom he labeled a "self-appointed expert," is wrong about the land being Serrano Mission Indian land.

"…He also disagreed that the Barstow Casinos and Resort project strays from the intention of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988…"

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