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SANTA YNEZ, CA — December 16, 2020 — The Chumash Casino Resort's annual concert to highlight the area's Toys For Tots campaign couldn't be held this year due to the pandemic, but the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is still playing a role in supplying toys to less-fortunate children this holiday season.
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The tribe is announcing it has donated $25,000 to this year's Central Coast Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots campaign, which serves families in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties through partnerships with local agencies, such as Unity Shoppe, People Helping People, the Salvation Army, Community Action Commission, Tribal TANF and the Boys & Girls Club.
'While we couldn't get together and enjoy a concert in celebration of the work Toys For Tots does for our community, we're proud to remain partners with an organization that provides such a positive impact on children in our area,' said Kenneth Kahn, Tribal Chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
Past Chumash Casino Resort concerts to benefit Toys For Tots have featured acts such as Melissa Etheridge, 98 Degrees, Clint Black, The Judds and even a young, up-and-coming Taylor Swift at the 2006 show. This year's donation brings the tribe's total contributions to Toys for Tots, since its first benefit concert in 2004, to $425,000.
'The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has been a crucial component of the Marines' annual campaign and the mission of the Toys For Tots program,' said 1st Sgt. (retired) Soledad Kennedy, the Marine Corps League 1340 Toys for Tots Coordinator for Santa Barbara County. 'These funds will assist our efforts to purchase toys and help economically disadvantaged children enjoy this Christmas.'
For more information on how to donate a toy or make a monetary donation, visit www.toysfortots.org.
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has donated more than $25 million to hundreds of groups, organizations and schools in the community and across the nation as part of the tribe's long-standing tradition of giving. To find out more about the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation and its giving programs, visit www.santaynezchumash.org.
An opposition group in California is suing the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and its leaders in hopes of stopping the tribe's $160 million casino expansion. The tribe will be adding a 12-story hotel tower with 215 rooms to the Chumash Casino Resort. There will also be 75,000 additional square-feet of gaming space, a 20,000 square-foot pool deck, new food and beverage venues and a parking garage with 584 spaces. Save the Valley, however, claims the casino site was never placed in trust for the tribe. As such, the group believes the tribe and its leaders cannot claim sovereign immunity for activities that occur on fee land. 'Contrary to defendants' assertion, the real property described here is not a federal Indian reservation, nor has it ever been a federal Indian reservation. No President, Congress, treaty, or Secretary of the Interior has even taken the real property 'into trust' for any Indian tribe,' the complaint that was filed on April 3 states. As such, the real property and project at issue here is not federally protected Indian trust land and is not immune from the law that applies to ordinary land owners. Specifically, the real property where the defendants are carrying out their project is not in trust for the defendants, Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians, or any Indian tribe.'
This artist's rendering shows the pool deck at the Chumash Casino Resort. Image from Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
The immunity issue is significant in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community. In June 2014, the justices held that tribes cannot be sued for activities that do not occur on 'Indian lands' as that term is defined by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. If the complaint is to be believed and the casino site is not 'Indian lands,' the tribe cannot be sued. Notably, the group does not make any reference to the Bay Mills case or to IGRA in its filing. According to the lawsuit, the federal government acquired the land in 1938. By that time, the tribe's reservation had already been established. Get the Story:
Chumash Santa Ynez Casino
Group Fights Indian Casino Expansion (Courthouse News Service 4/7) Opinion: Suckers help Chumash Tribe finance casino expansion (10/20)
'The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has been a crucial component of the Marines' annual campaign and the mission of the Toys For Tots program,' said 1st Sgt. (retired) Soledad Kennedy, the Marine Corps League 1340 Toys for Tots Coordinator for Santa Barbara County. 'These funds will assist our efforts to purchase toys and help economically disadvantaged children enjoy this Christmas.'
For more information on how to donate a toy or make a monetary donation, visit www.toysfortots.org.
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has donated more than $25 million to hundreds of groups, organizations and schools in the community and across the nation as part of the tribe's long-standing tradition of giving. To find out more about the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation and its giving programs, visit www.santaynezchumash.org.
An opposition group in California is suing the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and its leaders in hopes of stopping the tribe's $160 million casino expansion. The tribe will be adding a 12-story hotel tower with 215 rooms to the Chumash Casino Resort. There will also be 75,000 additional square-feet of gaming space, a 20,000 square-foot pool deck, new food and beverage venues and a parking garage with 584 spaces. Save the Valley, however, claims the casino site was never placed in trust for the tribe. As such, the group believes the tribe and its leaders cannot claim sovereign immunity for activities that occur on fee land. 'Contrary to defendants' assertion, the real property described here is not a federal Indian reservation, nor has it ever been a federal Indian reservation. No President, Congress, treaty, or Secretary of the Interior has even taken the real property 'into trust' for any Indian tribe,' the complaint that was filed on April 3 states. As such, the real property and project at issue here is not federally protected Indian trust land and is not immune from the law that applies to ordinary land owners. Specifically, the real property where the defendants are carrying out their project is not in trust for the defendants, Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians, or any Indian tribe.'
This artist's rendering shows the pool deck at the Chumash Casino Resort. Image from Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
The immunity issue is significant in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community. In June 2014, the justices held that tribes cannot be sued for activities that do not occur on 'Indian lands' as that term is defined by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. If the complaint is to be believed and the casino site is not 'Indian lands,' the tribe cannot be sued. Notably, the group does not make any reference to the Bay Mills case or to IGRA in its filing. According to the lawsuit, the federal government acquired the land in 1938. By that time, the tribe's reservation had already been established. Get the Story:
Chumash Santa Ynez Casino
Group Fights Indian Casino Expansion (Courthouse News Service 4/7) Opinion: Suckers help Chumash Tribe finance casino expansion (10/20)
Santa Ynez Casino Expansion Buffet
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