Great Lakes

Justice Weaver to Resign

Kate Fort

The Traverse City Record Eagle broke the news this morning.  H/T Michigan Legal Blog, which also notes the replacement is likely to be Court of Appeals Judge Alton T. Davis:

WEAVER TO RESIGN

Justice ends 16 years on Supreme Court

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Justice Elizabeth Weaver, of Glen Arbor, whose frequent battles with fellow Republican justices over the past decade exposed deep political and personal rifts on the Michigan Supreme Court, plans to resign today.

Weaver, 69, decided to step down after she secured Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s promise to appoint a northern Michigan jurist to replace her on the state’s highest court.

“I have done all that I can do as a justice and now believe that I can be of most use as a citizen in helping further the critically needed reforms of the judicial system,” Weaver said in an exclusive interview with the Record-Eagle. “Now I will be able to work and speak freely.”

Weaver said she would not have resigned without Granholm’s agreement to select a northern Michigan replacement. A justice from northern Michigan brings independence and a different perspective to a court currently dominated by justices from the Detroit to Lansing beltway, she said.

“I think I’m proof of the pudding; I’m independent,” she said. “That independent-thinking judge is not agenda-driven and does not hold to political party lines.”
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Highly Recommended New Book: “North Country: The Making of Minnesota”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From Indianz:

“Mary Lethert Wingerd’s “North Country: The Making of Minnesota” is a history of the Indian experience in Minnesota, from the first encounters with Europeans to the removal of tribes in the aftermath of the Sioux Uprising. This era is unfurled with exacting detail and personal attention to the feelings and actions of the principal characters. It is a well-done and fascinating tale.

While it is, indeed, a history of the making of Minnesota and a good tale, “North Country” is a select tale. Perhaps expectations could be served with a change in title: “The Native Minnesotans: Politics and Culture Leading to the Sioux Uprising.” For that is what it covers, and there it ends. This book does not tell much about any group except as they relate to the Indians.

We get all the familiar names: Du Luth, Le Sueur, Sibley and Rice (the Henrys), and Alexander Ramsey. And others, not so famous: Joe Brown, Hastings and Prescott. There is no mention, though, of luminaries such as James J. Hill or John Ireland until the very last pages. This is not their story.

The evolution of the intricate and delicate relationship between the Indians and the traders is expressly laid out. We learn of the métis, part Native and part French, who declare themselves gens libre, free people. They all — Indians, traders, French and métis — were inhabitants of a northern multicultural borderland society, which, due to its location in an inaccessible interior wilderness, was largely left alone until the advent of the steamship.”

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Asian Carp Coverage from the UK

Kate Fort

From the Guardian:

‘Terminator’ carp threatens Great Lakes

Environmentalists say Asian carp, an invasive species of food-guzzling fish, could cause an ecological disaster if it enters Lake Michigan

Ed Pilkington, Chicago

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 23 February 2010 18.36 GMT

Two Asian carp are displayed on Capitol Hill in Washington
Asian carp, an invasive aquatic species threatening the Great Lakes. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

The fight looks utterly unequal. In the red corner: the combined might of North America, including the US and Canadian governments, the US army, the governors of eight American states, two Senate c­ommittees and the supreme court. In the blue corner: one fish.

The way things are looking, the fish is winning.

At stake is the health of the Great Lakes, the world’s largest body of fresh water. Environmentalists warn of ecological disaster, courtesy of Asian carp, an invasive species of food-guzzling fish that is within miles of entering Lake Michigan.

If they do, they would have the ­potential to spread throughout the lakes, wreaking havoc to their ecosystem and with it the $7bn (£4.7bn) fishing and recreation industries on which millions of jobs depend. “This is an intense threat, and people are just waking up to how big the danger is,” said David Ullrich of the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities Initiative, which represents 70 waterfront cities in the US and Canada with a joint population of 13 million.

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Michigan Indian Legal Services Newsletter

Kate Fort

Here is a copy of the Fall 2009 MILS newsletter:

MILS_Newsletter_Fall_2009

Call for Papers: Great Lakes History Conference

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Indigenous Peoples of the Globe:
Colonization and Adaptation

Call for Papers: Great Lakes History Conference
November 13 & 14, 2009

The 34th annual Great Lakes History Conference, sponsored by Grand Valley State University’s History Department, will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 13 & 14, 2009. The theme is “Indigenous Peoples of the Globe: Colonization and Adaptation.”  Along with exchanging ideas and research, we also desire panels on innovative ways of teaching this year?s topic to students at every level.

We are pleased to welcome Sherman Alexie and Amy Lonetree (Ho-Chunk) as our keynote speakers.

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“Unusual Fishing Activities”

Kate Fort

By Christina Rohn News-Review Staff Writer

Thursday, April 2, 2009 8:38 AM EDT

The Department of Natural Resources wants to remind Michigan residents that this spring, they may observe unusual fishing activities by tribal members. As part of the 1836 Treaty of Washington — established by the federal government, the state of Michigan and five Michigan tribes — fishing opportunities, as well as hunting and gathering activities, for tribal members are different than those allowed for state-licensed recreational anglers under Michigan law. As established by the 2007 Inland Consent Decree, tribal members from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, are allowed to use spears or conventional tackle to take walleye and steelhead in state waters covered by the 1836 Treaty of Washington which are, at the time, closed to state-licensed anglers. “We haven’t been receiving any complaints, we’re just trying to be proactive to let anglers know … they might see it happening,” said Mary Dettloff, press spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “If you see spearing of walleye and steelhead, do not be alarmed and think it’s illegal … it’s a fairly new thing.” The area tribal members can use under the 1836 Treaty of Washington includes the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula and a majority of northern lower Michigan, which accounts for 13,837,207 acres of land and inland waters.

Under the 2007 Inland Consent Decree, tribal members will have seasons, as well as bag limits that differ slightly from state regulations.

Tribal fishing and hunting will be for personal subsistence use only, so according to the federal and state government, it should have limited effect on the state’s natural resources.

For more information about the 1836 Treaty of Washington, or the 2007 Inland Consent Decree, visit www.michigan.gov/dnr.

To report a suspected violation of state law, call the Department of Natural Resources’ Report All Poaching line (800) 292-7800.

Spring Speakers Series Finalized

Kate Fort

The final dates and speakers for our Spring Speakers Series has been finalized.  The Indigenous Law and Policy Center at MSU College of Law will be hosting four events this spring, and all of the details can be found at our Spring Speakers Series, 2009 page.

2009 Speaker Series

Kate Fort

We’ve added our 2009 Speaker Series page to the blog.  Speakers this year include Justin Richland, Stuart Banner and Robert Dale Parker.  Click here for more information abou the speakers, their books and the tentative dates of the events.

More Info on Mother Earth Water Walk

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Our previous post is here.

And here is the Mother Earth Walk poster.

Mother Earth Water Walk

ilpc1 Comment

Two Anishinawbe Grandmothers, and a group of Anishinawbe Women and Men have taken action regarding the water issue by walking the perimeter of the Great Lakes.

Along with a group of Anishinabe-que and supports, they walked around Lake Superior in Spring 2003, around Lake Michigan in 2004, Lake Huron in 2005, Lake Ontario in 2006 and Lake Erie in 2007.

This year they are walking around Lake Michigan again, with the send off on April 26th in Manistee, Michigan.  For more information about the walk, click here.