Nine years ago, 64 percent of the California electorate voted to give American Indians a monopoly on casino-style gambling. It was an effort to help lift California Indians out of poverty – all 32,000 enrolled tribal members. The public was assured by state officials that tribal gaming would occur only on established reservations.

The promise of permitting gambling only on Indian lands has been kept. However, the public was not made privy to, and lawmakers did not consider, the complex federal laws restoring Indian groups from a half-century or more ago permitting the creation of Indian lands for gaming.

The Wilton Miwok of Sacramento County is California's latest restored tribe. Not surprisingly, restored tribes are often sponsored by out-of-state or off-the-continent gaming investors. Restored tribes are an exception for gaming that circumvents the intended two-part determination process that empowers a state to manage the location and growth of gambling.

California has more restored tribes and more applications for new lands for gaming than any other state. Controversial casino projects based on claims of restored tribes and lands include Guidiville and Scotts Valley in Contra Costa County, the North Fork in Madera County, the Mechoopda in Butte County, Ione and Buena Vista in Amador County, and the Graton and Cloverdale in Sonoma County – all in or near urban areas.

Gaming investors are exploiting Californians' concern for our state's American Indians. Newly restored tribes and federal laws allowing exceptions for restored lands have created a political vacuum where there is ambiguity and confusion. The profiteers have created or manipulated newly developed Indian tribes to promote gaming in areas that would never have supported gaming expansion.

Negotiations between the Wilton Miwok and longtime bureaucrats of the Bureau of Indian Affairs were so secret that all other stakeholders, the state of California, Sacramento County, the surrounding community of citizens, other tribes and employees of the BIA appear to have been intentionally kept in the dark.

At the recent press event announcing the Wilton restoration, consultants and attorneys cautiously avoided mention of the C-word. The Wilton Miwok is a tribal group that voluntarily terminated its former rancheria a half-century ago. The former lands are 20 miles south of the 1.5 million people living in Sacramento and are easily reached by Interstate 5 and Highway 99. Gaming investors can't deny it is a marketable location for a modern-day gold mine.

The Wilton Rancheria asserts that the federal government's actions were illegal in dropping the rancheria's tribal status. What did Congress terminate in 1958 – tribes or land titles? There were numerous tribal groups, most identified in congressional legislation or Indian commissioner reports as "Indians of California" or "non-reservation Indians." These groups, often collections of families or racially mixed individuals of similar ancestry, were administratively joined by the BIA and provided lands called rancherias to live upon.

The rancherias were purchased with federal funds appropriated for "homeless Indians of California," not tribes of one affiliation or nation. The California State Association of Counties has clearly stated that, "No congressional tribal recognition was extended to most of these groups." Rancheria groups were offered – not forced – the opportunity to voluntarily participate in the "Rancheria Termination Act." The act terminated the United States' fee-title to the land. The act provided that either the Indians who held informal assignments or occupied each rancheria would be compensated.

The Wilton Rancheria Indians were fairly compensated on March 30, 1961, when 14 adult members identified as distributees of the Wilton Rancheria were individually deeded in fee the informal assignments of land their family had been living upon. In 1958, out of the approximate 60 rancheria groups, 23 freely choose not to participate in the Rancheria Termination Act.

The secretary of the interior clearly lacks the authority to restore a tribe terminated by a congressional act. The Department of the Interior, in the spirit of fairness, objectivity and transparency, should at least consult with all stakeholders that are significantly impacted. Failing this consultation, federal officials have missed significant evidence in state records that confirms that the termination of the Wilton Rancheria lands was legally and properly completed.

This recent action sets a political and legal precedent affecting all communities and stakeholders in California affected by restoration of a tribe without regulatory process or congressional action. This is intentional to camouflage and weaken legal arguments to regulate and manage the location of a future casino enterprise.

It is time for California's constitutional officers to stand on the rule of law and defend our state from overreaching federal actions influenced by gaming profiteers.

Cheryl Schmit is director of Stand Up for California, a grassroots group that favors increased government regulation of tribal gaming (www.standupca.org).