Mary Ann Green

Green was born Mary Ann Martin in 1964, years after members of the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians had abandoned their reservation and traditional lands surrounding Coachella.[2][4] (There were only 11 living members of the Augustine Band in 1951, thirteen years before Green's birth). She was raised by her non-Cahuilla grandmother, who was African-American.[4] Green was reportedly unaware of her Native American heritage during her childhood and early adulthood.[4]

In 1981, an executive order recognized and established the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians as a federally recognized tribe. However, in 1986, Roberta Augustine, the last living member of the Augustine Band, as well as Green's other grandmother, died.[4] Green discovered her previously unknown Cahuilla heritage following her grandmother's death.[4] She eventually decided to move with her children to the Coachella Valley surrounding the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation a few years after the death of her grandmother.[4] Green also gained custody of four of her nieces and nephews following the murder of both her brothers in a gang shooting in Los Angeles.[4] Together, Green, her children, and her extended family comprised the entire Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians.[4]

Mary Ann Green became tribal Chairperson in 1988, a position she held until 2016.[1][2][4] Under Green, the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians established a tribal government in 1994.[2] Two years later, Green and her family resettled the Augustine Band's reservation in Coachella in 1996.[2]

During the 1990s, Green and her government began to explore the possibility of opening a tribal-owned casino in an effort to establish a long-term source of income, economic development, and stable employment for its members.[2] Funds from the casino would also be utilized to preserve traditional Cahuilla culture.[2] Green, who lacked the expertise to open a casino, contracted with Paragon Gaming to establish and temporarily operate the proposed casino for its first five years.[4] The Augustine tribal government and Paragon Gaming funded the construction of the $16 million casino entirely through loans offered by Centaur, a finance company based in Indiana.[4]

Due in large part to the casino, the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians is now one of the largest employers in the Coachella Valley.[3]

In addition to the casino, Green also oversaw the creation of other programs designed to provide long-term, economic stability for the small tribe and its members.[3] Her initiatives included the establishment of an organic farm and a 3-megawatt renewable energy project located on the reservation.[3]

On July 18, 2002, the eight member Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, led by Green, opened its casino in Coachella, California.[4] The $16 million casino included 349 slot machines and only 10 card tables at the time of 2002 opening, less than the original plans had called for.[4] Dignitaries in attendance included the leaders of several California tribes, as well as Tony Andreas, a traditional Cahuilla bird song singer who had been raised on the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation during the 1930s and 1940s before its abandonment.[4]

Green died on January 8, 2017, at her home in Coachella, California, following a long illness.[1][3] She was survived by her three children, Amanda Vance, who succeeded her as the Chairperson of the Augustine Band, Ronnie and William Vance, and three grandchildren.[1][3] Her funeral, an all-night wake, was held at the Torres-Martinez Great Hall and Gymnasium in Thermal, California, on January 20, 2017, with burial at the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians' Tribal Cemetery in Coachella.[1][3]