January 19, 2021
BROOKS, CA – All five members of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation Tribal Council will return for another term of service after being re-elected by their community at the Tribe’s annual Community Council meeting on Sunday, January 17. The members took their oaths of office this morning.
The members of the Yocha Dehe Tribal Council are:
- Anthony Roberts – Tribal Chairman. Serving his eighth term on Council, second term as Chairman.
- James Kinter – Tribal Secretary. Serving his fifth term on Council, fourth as Secretary.
- Matthew Lowell, Jr. – Tribal Treasurer. Serving his fourth term on Council, second as Treasurer.
- Mia Durham – Council Member. Serving her fifth term on Council.
- Diamond Lomeli – Council Member. Serving her second term on Council.
Under the Tribe’s constitution, Tribal Council members are chosen through open nominations and a popular vote by adult citizens of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. Council members are elected to serve for a term of three years.
As is often the case, the Tribal Council chose to comment as one, unanimously issuing the following statement on their re-elections:
“We are humbled to have the continued trust and confidence of our community and to have the opportunity to continue serving alongside such talented, dedicated colleagues,” the Tribal Council said. “Now, we will go right back to the difficult work of protecting and fostering our community through this extraordinarily challenging time.”
In its past term, the Tribal Council began the development of a unique health and community center for Yolo County’s Capay Valley, funded Solano County’s only First 5 early education center, renewed Yocha Dehe’s cooperative relationship with local, state and federal governments, created a scholarship program for Sacramento State students, helped build houses for working families, provided nutritional support to their neighbors experiencing crisis, saved a defunded after-school program for teens, and presided over a state-of-the art expansion of Cache Creek Casino Resort. They worked diligently to educate Californians about their history, to protect their cultural resources including their Patwin language, and to lead the charge against racist nicknames in sports.
The Tribal Council points to the effort to protect their community from COVID-19 as the most difficult and the most important work of the past term.
The Yocha Dehe Tribal Council is the governing body of the Tribe. It oversees all areas of the tribal government and its businesses, evaluating and making final decisions on the recommendations of all of the Tribe’s departments, committees and commissions.
Among them are:
- Governmental operations including education, health and wellness, fire and emergency services, gaming regulation and cultural resource programs;
- The Yocha Dehe Community Fund, the Tribe’s philanthropic branch, which, since 2000, has distributed more than $32 million in grants and sponsorships to nearly 390 organizations; and
- Tribal business interests and investments, including Cache Creek Casino Resort and Séka Hills olive oil, wine, and growing brand of premium agricultural products and tasting rooms.
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is an independent, self-governed nation that supports our people and the Capay Valley, CA community by strengthening our culture, stewarding our land and creating economic independence for future generations.
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