Casino Group Challenges Sarris–Not Indian!
Tired of stories about the proposed Dutra Asphalt plant?
Need a change of pace?
Well, the Rohnert Park Casino story is back in the news again with a new twist.
The Stop The Casino Coalition sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs dated February 8, 2010 asking the Bureau to decertify Greg Sarris as Chairman of the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria…
…we submit this letter to formally request that the Bureau of Indian Affaits (‘BIA”) review the information in this mailing, and if applicable, de-certify Mr. Greg Sarris as Chairman of the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria (‘FIGR”). Mr. Sarris possesses no Native American blood, and specifically, no Coast Miwok and/or Southern Pomo blood, and thus is not qualified to be a member of the FIGR.
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The full text of the six page letter is available by clicking here
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The Capitol Weekly in Sacramento is out with the story today in a report by Malcolm Maclachlan – Anti-casino group says leader of rival tribe not Indian. The article also references the current contest between Petaluma’s Mike Healy and Pamela Torliatt for County Supervisor.
Things are getting interesting in Ole Petaluma…
The truth will out! The census and other records are now available on our web site now. Just click on “Greg Sarris’ Ancestry” on the Navigation Bar. LINK http://www.stopthecasino101.com/id137.html
Thanks for the mention! I tweeted it and put on facebook.
by Marilee Montgomery
While I find it interesting that the newest thrust of attack is directly at Mr. Sarris, regarldess of who the leader is the tribe still has the “power” to do a casino deal.
Not sure how purging him out of the tribe, should it happen, is going to change that.
by The Big Dog
[...] the Petaluma Spectator blog of Frank Simpson coincidently posted information on February 11th that the Stop the Casino 101 Coalition has clearly [...]
by Anti-Casino Group Now Anti-Tribe – California Commons - The Press Democrat - Santa Rosa, CA - Archive
When I used to read some of Greg Sarris “stories” that he wrote always seemed contrived to me. I am a California Native and I always thought his biography sounded fishy.
There is not even any proof that Emlio Hilario is his father. Many adopted people in the 80s always claimed to have an Indian ancestor and went to extremes to make one up. In Indian Country we call them “Wannabees” and they can be very destructive in the Native Communities.
Great detective work, and I believe it.
by California Indian
The following is a response I made on Dec. 2, 2008 to a blog entitled, “The Biography of Greg Sarris which was authored by “Graton Rancheria” and tried to prove he was not the son of Emeliano Hilario and rather the son of the “Mexican stable boy” who had an affair with Bunny Hartman. I am a pro-Indian gaming person and was a HUGE fan of Greg Sarris. I don’t agree with Stop the Casino 101, but, unfortunately, Montgomery’s got it dead on. Whether Sarris realizes it or not, he’s a poser and he’s a sad example of identity politics in academia!
“You don’t have to doubt Sarris’s connection to Emiliano Hilario to find something is off about his story. I innocently researched Hilario’s line to see how he was related to Tom Smith and was absolutely shocked to find no evidence of a connection! I believed him, but now I don’t know what to believe.
Sarris claims his grandmother, who married Emiliano Hilario, Sr., was Evelyn Sarragossa and that Evelyn’s mother was named “Reinette,” and was the daughter of Tom Smith and Emily Stewart. Census records show that Evelyn was the daughter of Reinette and Joseph Sarragossa, a mulatto cigar maker, who sometimes “passed” as white and sometimes did not. The Sarragossa family appears to have been a free black family from New Orleans. Cigar makers there often passed as white to find employment.
Evelyn’s mother was indeed Reinette Stewart, the daughter of Emily B. (maiden name unknown), a mulatto woman born in Maine. Her parents may have been from Canada. Reinette’s father, however, was NOT Tom Smith, but was a mulatto barber, born in Pennsylvania, named Joseph P. Stewart. Sometimes the Stewart family passed as white, which was quite usual, and probably of necessity, for the times. If Reinette had American Indian ancestry, it was certainly not Pomo or Miwok or any other people of California. Perhaps the Sarragossa were a Creole family, and/or the Stewarts from the east were of mixed ancestry. Also there is no evidence, as far as I can tell, that Tom Smith married an Emily Stewart.
Joseph and Emily lived in Alameda Co. in 1870, having moved there from Nevada, where their first children were born–and perhaps where they met. They then lived in Eureka, CA. in 1880 (the “up north” place that Emiliano Sr. might have pointed to when he described it to Sarris). Sometime before 1890 the Stewart family moved to Los Angeles. And sometime between 1890 and 1900 Emily B. became widowed.
Sarris claims his grandmother, Evelyn Sarragossa, was born in Marin or Sonoma Co. and came to Los Angeles to stay with her sister. In fact, records show she was born in Los Angeles and that her mother, Reinette Stewart, came to Los Angeles to live with her sister, Amanda, who had married a black man, named William Strange. Everyone in the household in 1900, including Reinette and her other sister, Alice, are listed as black on the census.
It is highly unlikely that people of Native American ancestry passed as “black,” but much more usual for people with African American ancestry to pass as “Indian.” Somebody didn’t tell Sarris the truth about his father, or somebody did and he bent the truth to make it fit his needs. If you read the parts about his ancestry in Keeping Slugwoman Alive very carefully, you’ll see that his story is full of holes and he actually lets the reader see some of them, if they dare to look.
Signed,
A Concerned (and duped) Ex-Fan”
by chris
This wasn’t about a casino. This was an expose of a elected government official who lied to his constituents, to UCLA, to Marymount. to Sonoma State, and to his publishers and fans and who profited by it.
If Sarris is was a mayor or congressman, no one would be so sanctimoniously outraged.
by Allen
GRATON TRIBAL MEMBERS, HEADS UP!
I realize that most people won’t take the time to look over the census records on our web site, but this information may be more important than you think.
Greg Sarris claims Indian ancestry through the woman he believes to be his paternal grandmother, Evelyn Sarrgossa Hilario. He says that Evelyn’s mother was a non-English speaking Indian woman named “Nettie Smith” . But “Nettie Smith” is not connected in any way, shape or form to the Stewart/Sarrgossa family.
A quick look at the 1920 census on our web site at http://www.stopthecasino101.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/1920evelyncensus.pdf proves this beyond a doubt.
In the 1920 census, you see the three children, Juanita, Albert and Evelyn Sarrgossa,,along with their father Arthur and their mother Reinette Stewart Sarrgossa. Reinette states that her parents were from Pennsylvania and Maine, not Marin or Sonoma county. Reinette’s mother, Emily B. Stewart is also shown living with the family. She gives her birthplace as “Maine”.
You can follow Emily B. Stewart back to the 1910 census, where she is living with the Sarrgossa’s, and then further back to 1900, 1880 (the 1890 census records were destroyed in a fire), and 1870, when she an her husband Joseph P. Stewart came to California via Nevada, where several of their children were born. Throughout the decades, this family information – names, birthplaces, ages – remains consistent, and the language spoken is always “English”.
Greg Sarris has attempted to make Reinette Stewart Sarrgossa, who apparently was African-American, into “Nettie Smith” the Indian woman from Marin County who didn’t speak any English. This would mean that Reinette’s parents from the East Coast spoke English, but she didn’t. How can anyone believe that?
In trying to place this “Nettie Smith” into the Stewart/Sarrgossa family tree so, he has pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes.
Sometimes it’s hard to face facts when you’ve believed in and trusted someone for so many years. But at some point, you have to face facts. Native American tribal governments want to be treated like any other government. Part of that is going to be public scrutiny.
When Greg Sarris presented his genealogical information to the federal government in the mid- to late- 1990’s, he had no way of knowing that the Internet would expand as it has, and that so much information would be available online. He got caught in a lie, “lying on his resume”, if you will. He’s not an Indian, no matter how much he or others may wish he were.
Greg Sarris’ lineage DOES matter. That’s been pointed out to me by some attornies. Here’s why: In California, casino gambling is reserved for Native American tribes. Should tribes begin to grant membership to non-Natives, it could pose a serious threat to the monopoly tribes currently enjoy on casino gambling by opening up an legal avenue to challenge that monopoly. Lawyers love this kind of stuff.
A tribe headed up by a guy who isn’t an Indian has the potential to adversely affect plans for that tribe’s casino, and for tribal casino gambling in general.
If anyone has any questions about the reocrds we found, please email me at info@stopthecasino101.com
by M. Montgomery