Jeffredo

I. BACKGROUND

The Pechanga Tribe is a federally-recognized Indian tribe. 72 Fed. Reg. 13648, 13650 (Mar. 22, 2007). The Tribe’s ulti- mate governing authority consists of all of the adult members of the Tribe (“General Membership”). On December 10, 1978, the Pechanga Tribe adopted the Constitution and Bylaws of the Temecula Tribe of Luisenño Mission Indians (“Pechanga Constitution”). Article II of the Pechanga Consti- tution provides: 16704 JEFFREDO v. MACARRO Membership is an enrolled member documented in the Band’s Official Enrollment Book of 1979.

Qualifications for membership of the Temecula Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Are:

A. Applicant must show proof of Lineal Descent from original Pechanga Temecula people.

B. Adopted people, family or Band, and non-indians cannot be enrolled. Excep- tion: People who were accepted in the Indian Way prior to 1928 will be accepted.

C. If you have ever been enrolled or rec- ognized in any other reservation you cannot enroll in Pechanga.

At issue here is subsection A, requiring applicants to “show proof of Lineal Descent from original Pechanga Temecula people.” In late 2002 and early 2003, the Enrollment Commit-…