In the 13-page memo, he wrote that “under the plain language of the Tribe’s Constitution, the descendants of Petitioners are eligible for tribal membership,” and that the constitution states enrolled petitioners “shall be accepted as a tribal member with all rights and responsibilities of membership,” meaning they “shall be treated as Tribal Members with equal rights.” Ludwick declined to comment for this story. The document was shared with The Bee by a Chukchansi member. The tribe’s former general counsel, Brendan Ludwick, affirmed that the descendants of “petitioners” are eligible for membership under the Chukchansi Constitution in a legal memo he wrote in April to the Tribal Council, Tribal Administrator Michael Wynn, and another attorney.

While many now in question are descendants of the first petitioners, at least one person facing a disenrollment is reportedly on the tribe’s original membership list, created during a two-year enrollment window after the Chukchansi Constitution was adopted in 1988.

The latest fight about tribal membership appears to center on whether or not the descendants of all enrolled Chukchansi members should remain in the tribe.ĭescendants of those enrolled at the tribe’s founding by simply proving they are Chukchansi and have a special relationship to the tribe - often described as “petitioners” - have faced more difficulties than those admitted as descendants of two families who helped reorganize the tribe in the 1980s, known as “distributees,” or the descendants of Chukchansi people who received public land under the General Allotment Act of 1887, known as “allottees.” All three pathways to membership are provided for in the Chukchansi Constitution. Latest Chukchansi dispute is about enrolling descendants

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