Michigan Indian

Pointless Statistic of the Week: Michigan Indian Gaming Revenue by Slot Machine

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Well, pointless is a bit harsh, but this listing doesn’t take into account overall revenue, which is a more accurate indicator.

From the Kalamazoo Gazette, via Pechanga:

After reporting yesterday on slot machine revenue at FireKeepers Casino and Four Winds Casino, I thought it would interesting to see how Michigan’s 11 Native American tribal casino owners stack up in terms of revenue from slot machines.

Below is a ranking of casino-owning tribes by average revenue per slot machine per month.

Note that it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison because operators report slot machine revenue for the different time periods.

All data come from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

$8,638 per machine per month

$7,201

$5,393

$5,154

$4,028

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News Article on Saginaw Chippewa Membership Dispute in Tribal Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun, via Pechanga:

Mt. Pleasant attorney Paula Fisher says she is pleased with her victory in Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Appellate Court on Aug. 16.

The Tribe’s Court of Appeals reversed the decisions of past Tribal Councils, the Tribe’s Office of Administrative Hearings and the Tribe’s Community Court said Fisher.

“The Tribe had previously taken the position it would not honor its own Tribal blood quantum certifications,” said Fisher, attorney for Tappen and Ayling. “That resulted in Tribal applicants who were born to Tribal members who had at least one half degree Indian blood quantum, not being allowed to use their parents to prove their members (eligibility).

“The Tribe has taken the position for the last several years that one half of one half does not equal one quarter.”

Chief Judge Kevin K. Washburn, Associate Judges Robert Kittecon, and Dennis Peterson issued an opinion and an order that would allow Dennis Tappen, Angela Ayling and Skykur Graveratte “due process rights” with their applications for Tribal enrollment.

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Update on Asian Carp Suit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the CSM:

A judge on Monday scheduled hearings in an Asian carp case for September – a decision that will allow five Midwestern states to call on expert testimony. The five states are seeking to close two Chicago canals in a bid to stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. A federal judge has set Sept. 7, 2010 as the next hearing in a multistate lawsuit demanding tougher action to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes. The five Midwestern states suing to keep Asian carp – the behemoths that gorge on plankton and leap 10 feet in the air – out of the Great Lakes claimed to score a legal victory Monday.

On Monday, a federal judge held an initial hearing and scheduled more hearings for expert testimony in early September. The Michigan attorney general’s office heralded the decision, since it will be the first time the case is heard on its merits. The Supreme Court earlier this year declined to take up the case.

The goal of the lawsuit is to force Chicago to shut down two locks except in cases of emergency, preventing Asian carp from using the canals to reach the Great Lakes. That plan has met with with fierce resistance from barge and tour boat operators.

But with carp DNA showing up near Lake Michigan and a bighead carp found in June just six miles from the lake – and beyond the electronic barrier that is supposed to keep it out – a number of groups are calling for drastic action before the fish can infiltrate the Great Lakes with potentially dire consequences.

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Nottawaseppi Huron Pays Back Loan Early

Kate Fort

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Alex Nixon

EMMETT TOWNSHIP — The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, the Native American tribe that owns FireKeepers Casino, said today it paid off a $35 million loan four years earlier than its due date.

According to a press release, the loan was used to purchase FireKeepers’ 2,680 slot machines.

The tribe paid off the loan on Aug. 12, a year after the casino in Emmett Township opened its doors. The casino is located on Interstate 94, just east of Battle Creek.

“Paying off this loan four years in advance attests to the success of FireKeepers Casino,” Tribal Chairperson Homer A. Mandoka said in the release. “The Tribal Council accomplished this on behalf of its 1,146 tribal members.”

The $300 million casino employs 1,500 workers. It’s owned by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, but managed by a separate company, Gaming Entertainment Michigan LLC. Gaming Entertainment is a joint venture between Full House Resorts Inc.  and RAM Entertainment LLC, a privately owned investment company.

The tribe also contributed four percent of the casino’s slot revenues to the State of Michigan.

News Coverage of Sault Tribal Members’ Illegal Treaty Fishing

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Daily Press, via Pechanga:

MANISTIQUE – The tribal judge who sentenced three members of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe of Indians for violating their fishing rights, described Friday’s hearing as a “sad day” for the tribe.

Andrew, Kevin and John Schwartz, all brothers from Rapid River, were found in violation of the majority of 105 citations issued against them in connection with an illegal commercial fishing operation in early 2009. The Department of Natural Resources investigated the illegal dealings.

On Friday, the Honorable Chief Judge Jocelyn K. Fabry revoked each of the three defendants’ fishing privileges and ordered each pay thousands of dollars in fines, costs, and restitution. In her concluding statements, the judge commented on the damage done to the environment as well as the tribe’s reputation.

“The effect on the natural resources of the area may not ever be determined,” Fabry said, describing where the violations occurred as one of the best walleye fishing areas in the state.

“This is a sad day for the tribe,” she added. “It gives tribal members a black eye in the community.”

Following the sentencing at the tribal center in Manistique, Special Prosecutor Monica Lubiarz-Quigley, representing the tribe, agreed with the judge.

“I think the judge’s comments were very, very appropriate,” Lubiarz-Quigley said outside the court. “Her comments reflect the majority of the feelings of the tribe and the board. I think she was absolutely right.”

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Batchewana First Nation Remains Repatriated by Smithsonian

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Sault Star:

CLICK HERE to watch a video

The remains of six Batchewana First Nation ancestors returned home Thursday after a 135-year absence.

Chief Dean Sayers said the return of the remains from the United States marked a “moving forward,” for Batchewana.

“We want our kids to have good memories,” said Sayers. “This is one of those good memories that they’re going to be able to tell their children and their grandchildren and their grandchildren.”

A crowd lined the St. Mary’s River as a box containing the remains of three men and three women was paddled from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., to Bellevue Park in a 20-foot birch bark canoe. The remains were then loaded in a vehicle for transport to a traditional burial ground at Batchewana’s Goulais Mission reserve.

Thursday was the first time the Smithsonian Institution has been involved in transferring human remains back to Canada.

The unidentified Anishnabek as well as four associated funerary objects, had been unearthed from unknown cemetery sites at or near Sault Ste. Marie in 1875 by the U.S. Army surgeon at nearby Fort Brady for the purpose of scientific research.

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GTB Election Dispute Opinion from GTB Appellate Court — McClellan v. GTB Election Board

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: GTB Opinion.

Earlier materials in related matters are here.

Lawyer Ordered to Pay Restitution to Saginaw Chippewa Tribe

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

“A former Madison lawyer whose efforts to represent an Indian tribe from Michigan a decade ago led to professional misconduct complaints, got a public reprimand from the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The high court ordered Carol J. Brown (Wisconsin ’93) to also pay restitution of $36,680 to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. According to the state bar’s Web site, Brown’s law license is currently suspended. She lists an Arkansas address with the Wisconsin bar.

According to the court’s order, Brown’s problems all stemmed from her firm’s work with the tribe, which was plagued by infighting that helped put Brown in the situation that led the Office of Lawyer Regulation to file a seven-count complaint against her last year.”

Get the Story:

Proof and Hearsay: Lawyer reprimanded over dealings with tribe (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 8/18)

And a tidbit from years past that seems to be related are here — Brown & Lacounte v Westport Insurance Co. And here (Alysia La Counte’s reprimand).

ASIA Echohawk Letter to Michigan Gov. Granholm re: Kennecott Mine

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: DOI Letter re Kennecott Mine

Michigan COA Affirms Termination of Parental Rights Where Error Harmless

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the unpublished opinion in In re Planck.

Question here is whether the trial court failed to comply with ICWA because the parent didn’t notify the Luce County Circuit Court or some other reason, or whether the trial court just didn’t know about ICWA. Chicken and egg problem, nullified by the harmless error ruling.