San Manuel Custom Book

EDITORIAL ‘We are rebuilding a community’ HENRY DURO I recall growing up on the San Manuel reservation 40, 50 years ago – when there was nothing but apricot orchards, trailers and rock homes – and I have to say I enjoyed it back then; in some ways more than I do today. We had very little. I grew up in a shack. But we didn’t know we were poor. We were rich in our spirit and our way of life. Our community was different back then. It was not developed. Most of our people were unemployed. But we could hunt on the reservation. Now we have to go way back, in the canyons. There were orange trees all around us. But housing and development kept spreading until it reached our borders. And one day all the orange trees were gone. I first served as chairman when I was 19. My people – the Yuhaviatam (“People of the Pines”) clan of Serrano Indians – have lived in the San Bernardino Mountains and valleys since time immemorial. Centuries ago the Serrano was a largely peaceful and prosperous Indian nation. The Yuhaviatam government is older than the United States. But when I was young and first serving as chairman our annual budget was something like $300. We held bake sales to pay the bills. former chairman, San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians We could not provide services to our people. It was very hard. Of course, much has changed in just the past 20 years. We built a bingo hall in 1986 and later expanded it into a successful gaming enterprise. BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE SOCIAL CULTURAL GOVERNANCE LAND BASE SOVEREIGNTY Business (Operations) Economics (Stability) Political (External/Internal) Governance (Policy) Social (Interaction) Cultural (Omniscient) Fluidity CREATION PRACTICE FUTURE San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians 4

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of San Manuel Custom Book

San Manuel Custom Book Contents Editorial Chapter One: A Tribe with a World View Three Fires Make History with Sacramento Marriott San Manuel Village Nears Completion Giving is the Serrano Way Chapter Two: San Manuel Firefighters Prove Their Mettle A Day at the Office Chapter Three: San Manuel Outreach Cal State University at San Bernardino Operation Phoenix Loma Linda University Medical Center Chapter Four: Building a Tribal Government on San Manuel Behind the Scenes Frances 'Tu Tu' Morongo

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