mr. gabaldon, given your experience as a tribal leader, what recommendations do you have for us to improve the process? >> only one. i guess the only one would be hurry up because we're having elders die, and it's sad to see a lot of these elders that are dying and waiting their whole life to be part of something they once were part of. i guess the bureau of indian affairs needs to really consider what they are doing when they drag their feet. they -- they think that by slowing down these tribes they will run out of money. this is, i'm assuming, i don't know, but it's happening around the country. tribes aren't rich. we don't -- we don't have endless amount of funds to pursue courts. it's expensive. >> let me ask you another question. what part do you think the -- the local community has in the decision like this? do you think that this is strictly a federal government issue along with the tribe, or do you think the local community has any, you know, like the county government or the state government? do you think they have input to this? >> no, and i'm actually surprised the county offici

mr. gabaldon, is it your assertion that you feel that your tribe was never terminated? >> no. we believe we were terminated in 1959, but it was by a non-wappo indian. >> i appreciate that very much. thank you very much, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> mr. denham. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me first start by saying it is very disappointing to see that secretary salazar and the bureau of indian affairs has not engaged this committee on this important issue. this is -- i mean, this is and always has been an act of congress under the constitution, but without the administration working with congress, it makes it tremendously difficult to create an even playing field and certainly to move forward on this matter. so i -- i would continue to press the bia and secretary salazar to engage this committee so we can come to resolution on some of these issues. first, chairman gabaldon, i want to understand your issue of termination. more specifically, you were -- you were terminated through an act of congress? >> we were terminated by the california ranch act as 41 other tribes were in

mr. gabaldon, the -- one of the criteria of 25 cfr-83, 83.7g. it states that the petitioner demonstrates that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of a congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the federal relationship. >> i'm sorry. i didn't hear the question. >> section g states that the -- if you don't meet this criteria, there's no administrative relief. you don't have the opportunity to pursue something administratively. what this states is the criteria is the petitioner demonstrates that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressed -- that has expressly terminated or forbidden the federal relationship. would your tribe fall into that? you wouldn't meet that criteria? >> we don't meet the criteria because of the g. that's why we weren't able to use the petition process. >> i think that's important to note as we talk about this. some of the aspects associated with judicial i think recommendations from former assistant secretary and your pur

mr. gabaldon. given your experience as a tribal leader, what recommendations do you have for us that improve the process? >> i guess the only one who would be hurry up. because we are having elders died, and it's sad to see a lot of these elders that are dying, waiting their whole life to be part of something they once were part of. i guess that bureau of indian affairs needs to really consider what they are doing it, when they drag their feet, they think that by slowing down these tribes they will run out of money. this is i'm assuming, i assuming, i don't know, but it's happening around the country. tribes are not rich. we don't have endless amount of funds to pursue courts. it's expensive. >> let me ask you another question. what part do you think the local community has been a decision like this? do you think that this is strictly a federal government issue, along with the tribe, or do you think the local community has any, like the county government or the state government, do you think that i

mr. scott gabaldon. from alexander valley. you're up. >> good afternoon, chairman young and members of the subcommittee. my name is scott gabaldon. i am an indian. i'm the elected chairman of the tribe of alexander valley. i would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to represent my people. let me be crystal clear. our tribe was wrongly terminated and deserves its status restored. that is a fact and only focus right now. our history, the napa valley was inhabited solely by the indians until 1823 with 10,000 years of ancestry. we lived peacefully utilizing the resources from the abundant land, rivers and streams. the name, napa valley itself is derived from our language, meaning land of plenty. although the county of napa boasts the indians as part of its cultural heritage, there are those who do not want us to be more than a memory. people like dan dillon who had our district since 1983. the inconvenient truth of opposition to what is clearly an injustice done to our people is that those who oppose us are rich, win