Cabazon Indian leader who pursued gaming rights dies

By Julia Glick
The Press-Enterprise

Art Welmas, who led the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians when the tribe won a watershed Supreme Court verdict affirming Indian gaming rights, has died.

Mr. Welmas died Dec. 17 at an Escondido hospital near his home on the Rincon Indian Reservation, said his wife, Elma. A wake and funeral services were held on the La Jolla Indian Reservation where Mr. Welmas had a family plot, she said.

When Mr. Welmas took over as Cabazon tribal chairman, the small tribe near Indio had few economic prospects and many members lived in poverty. Under Mr. Welmas' leadership, the tribe opened a poker room with 25 tables in 1980. Local authorities soon raided it, claiming the tribe was breaking state law.

The Cabazon Band believed it had the sovereign right to regulate gambling on Indian land and took the case to the Supreme Court and won in 1987.

"Art was a strong tribal leader, and when he believed that a decision was right and that his tribe had the right to do something, he went ahead with it," said Glenn Feldman, the tribe's attorney in the Supreme Court case and in the decades since then.

The high court decision prompted Congress in 1988 to pass the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which laid the groundwork for today's Indian casinos.

"His main goal was to get that casino going and give people jobs," Elma Welmas said of her husband. "That was the thing, to help not just Cabazon but all the reservations all over."

Elma Welmas said her husband was 76 when he died, but his death certificate reported his age as 77, she said.

The tribe now runs $200 million Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and plans to add a golf course.

Feldman said tribes around the country recognize Mr. Welmas' important role in solidifying Indian gaming rights.

Richard M. Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs, said Mr. Welmas will be missed.

"He worked hard for his tribe and for Indian Country," Milanovich said. "We are thankful that he refused to give in when it came to taking care of his people."

Mr. Welmas' niece, Stephanie Spencer, said her uncle inspired her to become a tribal councilwoman for the Rincon Nation of Luiseño Indians. He gave her a copy of "Robert's Rules of Order" when she was in her 20s, so she would know how to conduct tribal meetings one day, she said.

Mr. Welmas loved to ride through the mountains of the Inland region traveling among the different reservations and telling her stories about them, she said.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Welmas is survived by his son, Virgil Osuna of the Santa Ysabel reservation; daughters Treasure, Elisa and Tamara Welmas of Valley Center; daughter Prairie Welmas of La Quinta; and daughter Linda Golding of the Mesa Grande Reservation.