The battle of cash creek

On one side are the mostly white, middle-class farming families who at first welcomed an Indian tribe’s attempts to cash in on the American dream. After all, through the centuries the white man has devastated the tribes and pushed them off their ancestral home. For most caring people, a little payback to the Indians seemed in order.

And on the other side is the Rumsey Band of the Wintun, who were once poor but are now smartly flexing their economic muscle and cashing in on their Cache Creek casino income, building a community with homes and schools.

It is ironic that the mostly white, liberal-leaning organic farmers who welcomed the Wintun are now pitted against the Native Americans who have learned to buy political power and push their capitalistic expansion plans through.

It seems the tables have turned on the white man.

Can the high-rise, full-speed-ahead, free-enterprise mentality of the newly wealthy Wintun learn to live with the once laid-back, newly politicized organic farmers? Read our cover story (“Native American Gothic,” page 20) and see where the cultures collide.

There have been some strong words exchanged in the valley over public safety and environmental concerns. The Wintun’s plans for a mega-expansion of the Cache Creek casino are not going over too well with the farmers. The tribe’s good-neighbor policy will be put to the test.