A hateful message briefly defaced a billboard for the tribal Yamaava’ Resort and Casino at San Manuel on Interstate 10 the morning before Thanksgiving.
A photo posted on X by photographer Brandy Carlos showed a yellow writing and an American flag covering the casino’s billboard. The writing said, “America is not stolen land. Your ancestors were conquered. Happy Thanksgiving.”
The Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, which owns the casino, became aware of the vandalism the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 26, and moved to take it down quickly.
Tribal spokeswoman Robin Alcantara said the message had been removed as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tribal leadership had not yet released a statement on the billboard, she added.
The message may be the latest in a series of vulgar messages that have been posted along the highway in the Inland Empire, potentially by the same person.
It bore similarities to others that had been posted online, specifically the yellow lettering and font. In the past year, at least two posts on the Inland Empire subreddit have shown vandalized billboards in a similar manner.
However, the messages have not yet been definitively linked to a specific group.
Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Anti-Native message defaces tribal billboard on I-10 pre-Thanksgiving
Reporting by Sam Morgen, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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