Soboba Indian Reservation is Being Attacked by Sheriff’s

After reading about the issues plaguing the Soboba Indian Reservation, I had to take a minute and ask myself what year it is: 2008. The conflict between the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Soboba Indian Reservation looks strikingly similar to the Indian Wars of the 18th century. So much so, I am alarmed and saddened that amidst all of the social and economic problems plaguing Indian Reservations today, they still must face police brutality and outright racism.

Essentially, a wild gun battle between Riverside County sheriff’s deputies and a pair of suspects on the Soboba Indian Reservation left two people dead and tribal members frustrated and demanding answers Tuesday.

“There are better ways to solve these problems than by bringing in the 7th Cavalry and wiping them out. I would say we are in a war right now,” said Robert Salgado, Soboba tribal chairman and a cousin of those killed. Chairman Soboba was refused entry into the crime seen by Riverside County Sheriff’s intensifying the disrespect felt by this community, on top of the mourning of two of their peers. In response to the Sheriff’s, Soboba states ”See why I’m angry? You see what I’m talking about?” he asked as he drove off. “If I was the mayor of L.A. and I was visiting a crime scene, they would have said, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ but they treat me with no respect. Do we look like gangsters?”

Moreover, after the land, natural resources, and livelihood was taken away by European settlers and their descendants, Native Americans have had few resources to deal with the isolation that their newfound ‘reservations’ provided them. They face issues of alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and depression. Common issues plaguing today’s inner cities, but in this case they are socially isolated and all but forgotten, if it wasn’t for the creation of Indain casinos.

Salgado said he believes some of the tension stems from 2006, when he canceled a contract with the Sheriff’s Department that paid for deputies to patrol the reservation.

“We paid $400,000 and we didn’t see the benefits, so we did away with the contract,” he said. This explanation makes total sense: the sheriff’s department is pissed off they lost easy money for no work and have decided to harass the community in response to the loss of their contract. Are there no rules to regulate unprompted retalialtion and civil rights abuses?

The notion that these blatantly racist and discriminatory public officials can harrass, threaten, and even harm members of this community is beyond my own comprehension. Yet, I must remember this is the same country and same people that have colonized native people into laborers under harsh public policies that favor the rich and beat down on the poor. Now, two members of the Soboba Tribe have died, and tension is only escalating. Seems like the traditions of the wild west are still alive and well in the racist Inland Empire.