United Auburn Indian Community

The United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) is a Native American tribe comprised mostly of Miwok and Maidu Indians indigenous to the Sacramento Valley region. The historic Auburn Rancheria is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Auburn, California.

UAIC owns and operates Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California which includes over 2,700 state-of-the-art slot machines and over 98 gaming tables.(1)

The Tribe

Total tribal membership of UAIC is approximately 322, with 15 members residing on the Auburn Rancheria.Fact|date=January 2007 The Tribe is governed by its tribal council, which consists of the chairperson, vice-chairperson, treasurer, secretary and council member at large. (2)

History

The UAIC is the successor to the Auburn Band, largely Maidu and Miwok Indians. These indigenous communities of California Indians resided near Auburn, California and survived the depredations of the 19th century as one cohesive band.

This territory offered UAIC ancestors abundant year-round food sources. Food gathering was based on seasonal ripening, but hunting, gathering and fishing went on all year, with the greatest activity in late summer and early fall.

Seasonal harvests were both communal and personal property and much activity and social behavior centered on them. Status, sharing, trading, ceremonies and disagreements were important adjuncts to the gathering and distribution of food. Grasses, herbs, and rushes provided food and material for clothing and baskets. Seeds were gathered by the use of a seed beater and tray. They were then parched, steamed, dried, cooked into a mush or dried for storage.

Bear hunts were ceremonial. Black bears were usually hunted in winter, where lighted poles were used to drive them from their dens. Grizzlies that lived on the valley floor were greatly feared and rarely hunted.

The social-political organization of the Auburn Band was headed by a chief, who saw to the welfare of his people by restraining them from trespassing, arbitrating disputes and serving as official host at ceremonial gatherings. The division of labor was such that men hunted and fished, built houses and made weapons and traps and performed ceremonies. Women gathered plant food, prepared and cooked all food, prepared animal hides and made clothing, baskets and cared for the young. Children were separated by sex and trained in their respective roles at the age of eight.Fact|date=January 2007

The historic existence of the Auburn Indian Community is documented in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' correspondence dating back to the early 1900s. In 1917, the United States acquired 20 acres of land in trust for the Auburn Band near the City of Auburn and formally established a reservation, known as the Auburn Rancheria.Fact|date=January 2007

However, with the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (“IRA”), 25 U.S.C. § 671 et seq., in 1934, a dramatic shift in Federal Indian policy occurred, whereby Congress moved away from the assimilation of Indian peoples toward support for tribal self-government.Fact|date=January 2007 As part of the IRA’s mandate, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) conducted elections among Indian tribes to allow each tribe to accept or reject the tribal reorganization provisions of the IRA. In 1935, by a vote of 16 “for” and 5 “against,” and with a voting population of 36 adult members, the Auburn Band rejected the IRA.Fact|date=January 2007

By 1958, the United States Congress enacted the Rancheria Act, authorizing the termination of federal trust responsibilities to a number of California Indian tribes, including the Auburn Band. With the exception of a convert|2.8|acre|m2|sing=on parcel containing a church and park, the government sold the land comprising the Auburn Rancheria. The United States terminated federal recognition of the Auburn Band in 1967.Fact|date=January 2007

Finally, in 1970, President Nixon declared the policy of termination a failure.Fact|date=January 2007 Eight years later, during the 100th United States Congress, both the United States Senate and House of Representatives expressly repudiated this policy in favor of a new federal policy entitled Indian Self-Determination.

On July 20, 1991, descendants of the historic Auburn Band reorganized their tribal government and adopted the Constitution of the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC), which they presented to the BIA on August 30, 1991 with a request that the Bureau “formally recognize the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria.”Fact|date=January 2007 An Act of Congress passed the Auburn Indian Restoration Act, which restored the Tribe's federal recognition in 1994. The Act provided that the Tribe may acquire land in Placer County to establish a new reservation.

Following a federal appeals decision in September 2002, the U.S. Department of the Interior took into trust the 49 acre parcel of property that the Thunder Valley Casino is built on today.Fact|date=January 2007

Programs

The UAIC Community Giving Program, a philanthropic branch of tribal government established by the Tribe in March 2004, has provided over $4.6 million USD to nonprofit organizations supporting needs in education, health, arts and humanities, environment, community development and social services. (1)

UAIC has also established its own Education Department as a means to provide tribal members with educational programs, activities and services and maintains an Environmental Protection Office to address tribal environmental issues. (1)

Thunder Valley Casino

The Tribe owns the Thunder Valley Casino, located near the northwest corner of Athens and Industrial Avenues, in the Sunset Industrial Area of unincorporated Placer County. The convert|200000|sqft|m2|sing=on facility, which opened in June 2003, offers a variety of entertainment including slot machines, video gaming, and various table games. Guests can also dine in an array of restaurants and bars.

UAIC entered into a Tribal-State Gaming Compact with the State of California in September 1999 in order to conduct Class III gaming on trust land. This Compact was later successfully renegotiated with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004.

In an unprecedented approach, the UAIC worked closely with Placer County, neighboring cities, and citizens that resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding to mitigate any potential impacts of the proposed development. (1)The Tribe's Thunder Valley Casino opened in June 2003, and continues to draw unprecedented crowds. The facility is considered one of the most successful casino operations in the world.

References

1. http://www.auburnrancheria.com/news

External links

* [http://www.auburnrancheria.com/ United Auburn Indian Community (http://www.auburnrancheria.com/)]
* [http://www.thundervalleyresort.com Thunder Valley Casino (http://www.thundervalleyresort.com/)]
* [http://www.caltba.org California Tribal Business Alliance (http://www.caltba.org/)]