Wayne Nelson
Wayne Nelson is our newest board member. Wayne was also appointed to the California Native American Heritage Commission. Nelson is an enrolled member of the Pala Band of Mission Indians and has been Culture Resource Manager at Native Ground Monitoring, Research and Consulting since 1999.
Robert Smith
Robert H. Smith serves as Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, a position he has held since 1990. Chairman Smith successfully negotiated the first Tribal-State compact in California with Governor Pete Wilson in 1996, and subsequently supervised the opening of Pala Casino, creating thousands of jobs for tribal members and area residents. Chairman Smith’s work for the Pala…
James Goodpasture
James is Cupeno and a member of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. James serves as the tribe’s Fleet Manager and often finds himself working on a wide variety of special projects around the reservation, utilizing his trade skills in mechanics, welding, and machinery. James is married to Season Goodpasture, and together they have four children (Harley, Huntley, Holley, and…