A very important opinion (h/t Indianz): Cal AG opinion.
In states like Michigan, tribal advocates have argued that state programs and laws designed to benefit Indian people are excluded from the application of the so-called Michigan “civil rights” amendment. This AG opinion approves of exactly the same argument.
From Indianz:
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of Michigan is reportedly considering a new open meetings policy.
The tribal council at one point barred non-members from council meetings. The policy changed and The Petoskey News-Review has been able to cover most of the meetings but the paper was recently barred from an election board meeting.
According to the the tribal code, the tribal council, by motion, can bar non-members from its meetings. However, the tribal constitution says the tribal cannot make any laws abridging the freedom of the press.
A draft statute of a new open meetings policy was discussed at a tribal council meeting on Sunday but the paper wasn’t present for that portion of the meeting.
Get the Story:
Tribe comes to aid of Bell’s; discusses open meetings statute (The Petoskey News-Review 3/9)
From Interlochen Public Radio:
Kennecott Minerals wants to change the way it releases treated wastewater at its Eagle Rock Mine near Marquette. Instead of covering filtration pipes with soil, Kennecott wants to use thick Styrofoam insulation around the pipes.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment calls it a minor modification, but it may mean the company won’t need a federal permit. If pipes are covered with soil the EPA considers that an underground injection system.
A spokeswoman for the National Wildlife Federation says a federal review would give more attention to tribal issues. Indian tribes maintain that blasting an opening for the mine will degrade a traditional sacred place at Eagle Rock. The state dismissed that argument in granting Kennecott a permit. The Wildlife Federation plans to appeal that decision in Circuit Court.
From the Petoskey News-Review via Pechanga:
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Election Board denied the Petoskey News-Review and other non-tribal members access to its meeting Tuesday at which it chose to certify petitions for a recall election of the tribal chairman and vice-chairman.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, election board chairwoman Denise Petoskey said a News-Review reporter would not be allowed to attend the meeting because the meeting would be closed to non-tribal members.
She said the board’s standard procedure is to exclude non-tribal members from its meetings.
Petoskey provided the News-Review with an opinion authored by tribal attorney James Bransky on Feb. 25 in which Bransky writes, “Election Board meetings, with the possible exception of ballot counting, are not open to non-LTBB citizens.”
In his opinion, Bransky points first to the tribal constitution’s open meetings provision that reads, “The Tribal Council shall adopt an Open Meetings Statute to ensure that all meetings of the Tribal Council … are open to Tribal members and Tribal members shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard, under such rules as the Council may prescribe in the Statute.” The wording cited does not discuss the openness of such meetings to non-tribal members except for language regarding tribal council meetings that reads, “The Tribal Council may by motion exclude non-LTBB members from all or part of a regular or special meeting.” Continue reading
From Indianz:
Recall petitions against the top two leaders of the the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of Michigan have been approved.
Chairman Ken Harrington and vice chairman Dexter McNamara will face a recall election within the next 90 days. But Harrington is apparently going to file a challenge in tribal court.
Harrington and McNamara are newcomers to the tribal council and have been in office for just six months. But in that short time, critics say Harrington has overstepped his authority numerous times.
Get the Story:
Tribal recall petitions approved (The Petoskey News-Review 3/3)
John Petoskey joined the Fredericks Peebles & Morgan firm today. Here is his profile if you need a lawyer.
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From the Battle Creek Enquirer (follow the link for pictures):
Funeral is a celebration of Laura Spurr’s life
Trace Christenson • The Enquirer • February 28, 2010
Amid eagle feathers and flowers, mourners celebrated the life Saturday of Laura Spurr.
Speaker after speaker described Spurr, the chairperson of the Tribal Council of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, as determined and blunt but fair and always trying to help members of the tribe.
“She demanded respect for her people but was unassuming in going about that,” said Frank Ettawageshik, former Chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. “Laura went out and changed the world and she came home and changed the world.”
Spurr, 64, died Feb. 19 after suffering a heart attack while attending a conference in California.
She had been active in tribal leadership since 1999 and served as council chair from 2000 to 2001 and from 2003 until her death. She was a driving force in the 10-year-long process of approval and construction by the tribe of FireKeepers Casino in Emmett Township.
From tv via A.K.:
ISHPEMING TWP. — Wednesday night, a public hearing was held at Westwood High School to discuss Kennecott’s Woodland Road Project. The road would connect Kennecott’s planned mine site to US-41.
The route is designed to avoid large population areas. Tonight’s public hearing was meant to be informative for both the community and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, or DNRE. With the Kennecott Mine being such a huge controversy in the U.P., giving the public an open microphone, led to an interesting evening.
Within minutes of the hearing, one environmental activist was escorted out of the auditorium for disruptive behavior. But the interruption didn’t stop the hearing. Only allotted three minutes to speak, community members made sure their opinions were heard. Continue reading
I just posted a draft of my paper, “‘Occupancy’ and ‘Settlement’: Anishinaabemowin and the Interpretation of Michigan Indian Treaties” on SSRN. Any constructive feedback would be helpful.
Here is the abstract:
The 2007 Consent Decree in United States v. Michigan, a major victory for the tribal interests, recognized that the lands in ownership by the state, federal, and tribal governments – vast swaths of Michigan – would stand in for the lands not yet “required for settlement.” The Michigan Indians’ “privilege” to continued “occupancy” acquired legal determinacy. This short essay examines how Michigan Indian treaty negotiators would have understood the meaning of the words “settlement” and “occupancy,” and how that understanding strongly influenced the land base in which Michigan Indians can continue to exercise their inland treaty rights in accordance with the 1836 Treaty.
From the Petoskey News-Review:
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2010 · Updated: Monday, February 22, 2010, 8:24 am
By Marci Singer News-Review Staff Writer
CROSS VILLAGE — It’s hard not to feel optimistic after speaking to Audrey Atkinson.
With sincere eyes and a warm smile, the 56-year-old Cross Village Rug Works weaver and dyer is focused on making choices and taking actions to create positive change — not just for herself but wherever she is involved.
“We really need to build community in our lives and focus on creating a positive outcome in everything we do,” Atkinson said. “We need to intend to make something of each day.”
The Harbor Springs mother and grandmother said one of the things she prays for daily is the will to do the work that is placed before her.
“Some days are not as good as others and life hands you all types of things,” she said. “I pray that I’m willing to do what needs to be done. We are really very powerful people when we make those choices for ourselves and how we expend our energy.”
While Atkinson has practiced professionally as a massage therapist and has also worked in tribal government for 27 years, she said weaving is truly her career. The Native American traditional weaver initially become involved with Rug Works a year ago, after having heard about it through classes at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. She said the organization now “consumes” her life “in a good way.”
“It was a great experience working for the tribes all those years but I got to a point in my life where I wanted something for me,” she said. “I had always wanted to go back to school to study art. Last year I thought, ‘I’m 55 and if I’m going to do this I need to take it seriously.’ So, I became a full-time starving artist, student.”
With both agricultural and educational components, Rug Works offers an apprenticeship program, of which Atkinson is a part, to unemployed or underemployed members of the community. The organization has also partnered with North Central Michigan College to offer a certificate of art degree, something Atkinson couldn’t be more excited about.
“The certificate really gives more validity to what we are doing with a formal educational component,” she said. “Students not only learn an art and craft that they can do wherever they are, different forms of the art can still be creating things and generating income through those means.”
One of the added benefits of her affiliation with the organization has been developing new relationships with people of all ages.
“I learn something from everybody. It’s interesting to have these kinds of relationships at this point in my life,” she said.
While she’s most proud of her family, Atkinson is also proud of something else — not being afraid to try something new.
“I like to try new things because I see myself gaining so much. I don’t know if proud is the right word but good is — that is my attitude about life now,” she said.
Looking forward, Atkinson is excited not just to help build the Cross Village Rug Works organization, but also about building a community by helping people who didn’t have jobs or the skill set to get a job in Northern Michigan.
“People really need to come and see what we are doing because they will be surprised at the quality of work both creatively and artistically,” she said. “This organization is really important to the community — a community where there’s very little economic base — by employing people in a part of the state that is very economically challenged. We are making beautiful things that will not only last a lifetime but will support members of our community. We are growing something together and it’s really wonderful.”
For more information about Cross Village Rug Works, visit www.crossvillagerugworks.com or call (231) 526-7849.
Marci Singer439-9348 – msinger@petoskeynews.com
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