The California Valley Miwok Tribe was formerly known as the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California. We have a resolution form of government. There are three Tribal Council Members; Silvia Burley, Chairperson, Anjelica Paulk, Vice Chairperson and Rashel Reznor, Secretary-Treasurer.

Resolution GC-98-01 was adopted and approved on November 5, 1998. On that date, there were three General Council Members; Yakima Dixie, Silvia Burley, and Rashel Reznor.

A special General Council Meeting was scheduled for April 20, 1999 in which Yakima Dixie resigned as the Chairperson. Yakima Dixie’s resignation was accepted and an election for Chairperson was scheduled to take place on the next General Council Meeting of May 8, 1999.

During the General Council Regular Meeting of May 8, 1999, Silvia Burley was elected as the new Chairperson of the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California by a vote of three (3) in favor.

Over the summer of 1999, unbeknownst to the Tribe, Yakima Dixie was contacted by Chadd Everone regarding a proposed casino development deal. They (Chadd Everone and his investors) were under the impression that Yakima Dixie was still the Chairperson.

When Chadd Everone found out that Silvia Burley was elected the Chairperson, he advised Yakima Dixie to contact the local (Central California Agency) Bureau of Indian Affairs and tell them that he did not resign as Chairperson. This is when the corruption began. From the summer of 1999, Chadd Everone started representing that they (he and his cohorts) were working for the Tribe and that Yakima Dixie was the hereditary Chief.

The local Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) began accepting meetings with this group of casino investors fraudulently purporting themselves to represent the Tribe under Vice Chairman Yakima Dixie. The corruption, illegal activities and intrusion/interference into tribal governmental affairs continues to this day. There have been four different groups of people put together under Chadd Everone who have falsely claimed to be the Tribe or members of the Tribe.

Under deposition, Yakima Dixie admitted that he did resign as Chairman, and that Silvia Burley was duly elected Chairperson in 1999. Even after the death of Yakima Dixie, Chadd Everone continued to interfere into tribal governmental affairs, all for the purpose to develop a casino so that he could make a profit.

Corruption within the Pacific Regional and Central Agency BIA Offices

The local BIA has illegally withheld funding from the California Valley Miwok Tribe since the beginning of FY 2008. In 2024, the local BIA illegally held a Secretarial Election with the votes of random people (strangers) who have never come to the Tribe to ask for an enrollment application. The Bureau of Indian Affairs does not have the authority to CREATE INDIANS… It is the sole right of the Tribe(s).

The California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) began illegally withholding the Tribe’s Revenue Sharing Trust Funds (RSTF) in 2005.

The California Valley Miwok Tribe legally changed its name from the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California in May, 2001. From that date forward, the name of the Tribe as the California Valley Miwok Tribe has been listed in the United States Federal Register. We are California Miwok Indians. We are not sheep on a ranch.

We are PROUD of who we are. Our people, our culture, our beliefs, and our language go back many centuries. We will not allow our Tribe to be stolen, abused, and misrepresented by FAKE groups purporting to be us. Nor will we give up our rights as a Federally Recognized Tribe that has never been terminated. We know who our Tribal Members are and we stand strong and firm to defend our Tribe.

In 2025, with the local BIA trying to starve our Tribe out by illegally withholding our grant funding, and the CGCC illegally withholding our RSTF monies, we now find ourselves having to fight against a new FAKE group of imposters, one of whom is married to an employee of the local BIA in Sacramento, and the FAKE group illegally received money that was being held for the Tribe. Now we have to fight against a FAKE group of people who are using our money against us to wipe us out of existence. They are trying to erase who we are.

It is the official public position of the General Council to the Tribe since at least 2014, restated to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in 2019, that the Tribe is against the distorting effects of gaming on our tribal families and the local community. As good neighbors, the prosperity of all can be bolstered by economic development efforts other than gaming. The fraudulent group is seeking gaming and offering it to the citizens of the central valley in our name, and the Tribe condemns these efforts.

Our struggles to survive have brought many tears and heartbreak, but from these struggles we have grown as a people, and we clearly see the importance to defend who we are, to trust each other, and to not allow phony people, corrupt local BIA officials in Sacramento, CA or FAKE groups of “Indians” created by the local BIA, to come in and try to massacre the memories of our Native peoples who have passed on before us. We are the legitimate, duly elected Tribal Council. We serve our legitimate Tribal Members. Our Tribal Elder Mildred Burley is the oldest living Miwok Indian in California that fluently speaks our native tongue.

We are the California Valley Miwok Tribe