News article here, via Pechanga.
Materials:
Michigan Indian
Brian Upton Letter re: John Petoskey
From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
Attorney was valued
I was disappointed that the Grand Traverse Band let go its general counsel, John Petoskey.
It is hard not to believe that this will have negative repercussions for the band. As John Wernet, Gov. Granholm’s deputy legal counsel, recently stated, John Petoskey is a highly regarded attorney.
Under his legal guidance, the band developed a productive and progressive government overseeing crucial economic development initiatives (crucial, since GTB has little land and thus no tax base with which to fund public services).
Having been lucky enough to work closely with John for five years, and having many good friends in the Grand Traverse Band community, I hope that circumstances arise so the band does not lose the resource it has in John.
His ethics and ability to combine street smarts with larger policy considerations, and community realities with the dictates of law, could be why Vine Deloria Jr., one of this country’s pre-eminent (American) Indian scholars, valued his personal and professional relationship with John.
Vine saw something in John that many others of us have also recognized — quality.
I hope the next chapter in this story recaptures the band’s decades-long history of a highly successful relationship with John. Both parties deserve nothing less.
Brian Upton
Missoula, Mont.
Michigan Bar Journal Special Indian Law Issue — UPDATED!
Here:
State Court Administrative Office – Court Improvement Program: Indian Child Welfare Act Forum Remarks, October 6, 2008
by Justice Michael F. Cavanagh
Indian Children and Termination of Parental Rights: Michigan Supreme Court Takes a Step in the Right Direction in In Re Lee
by Angel Sorrells, Cami Fraser, Thomas Myers, and Aaron Allen
Proceed with Prudence: Advising Clients Doing Business in Indian Country
by R. Lance Boldrey and Jason Hanselman
Indian Gaming and Tribal Self-Determination: Reconsidering the 1993 Tribal-State Gaming Compacts
by Zeke Fletcher
Indian Country Law Enforcement and Cooperative Public Safety Agreements
by Matthew L. M. Fletcher, Kathryn E. Fort, and Wenona T. Singel
And I completely missed this article in the same issue (many apologies to the authors!):
In the Law: Keeping Current with American Indian Legal Resources
by Jan Bissett and Margi Heinen
Saginaw Chippewa v. Granholm Update — Court Order on Experts
SCIT Order on Michigan Experts
An excerpt:
Legal scholars have suggested a variety of solutions to the problems associated with evaluating historical testimony, including the use of neutral, court-appointed experts; requiring the judge, or a special master, to evaluate the primary source data personally; and eliminating the “reliability” prong of the Daubert test. See Maxine D. Goodman,Slipping Through the Gate: Trusting Daubert and Trial Procedures to Reveal the ‘Pseudo-Historian’ Expert Witness and to Enable the Reliable Historian Expert Witness–Troubling Lessons from Holocaust-Related Trials, 60 Baylor L. Rev. 824, 861-73 (2008). Perhaps some of those solutions would provide for more nuanced and reliable historical testimony. In this case, however, a neutral expert was not requested or appointed, the demands of the Court’s docket make independent primary-source research impracticable, and development of a new test for admissibility of historical testimony seems unnecessary. More importantly, the expert opinions provided, while perhaps flawed in some respects, are reasonably reliable and will be helpful in determining the ultimate issue in this case. Consequently, they are admissible under Rule 702, and will be considered and weighed appropriately.
Additional News Coverage on John Petoskey from Leelanau Enterprise
Thanks to W. for sending the pdf.
Leelanau Enterprise Article on JP
Again, very nicely done by Eric Carlson.
Michigan Supreme Court Incorporates Key ICWA Provisions into Michigan Court Rules
Here is the order.
An important day for Michigan Indian people. Congrats to Bill Brooks and the rest of the American Indian Law Standing Committee.
Gun Lake Casino Construction Update
From Indianz:
The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, held a topping out ceremony for the $157 million Gun Lake Casino last week.
The tribe began work on the 83,000-square-foot facility last fall. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of the summer.
The casino is located off a major interstate in Wayland Township, Michigan. Continue reading
GTB Eliminates General Counsel Position
We agree with John Wernet.
From the Record-Eagle:
Published: February 03, 2010 08:05 am
Longtime GT Band attorney let go
By BILL O’BRIEN
bobrien@record-eagle.com
SUTTONS BAY — The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians cut ties with longtime legal counsel John Petoskey.
The band’s Tribal Council on Monday voted to “restructure” its legal department and make its general counsel a contracted position. The move effectively ended Petoskey’s 23-year tenure with the band.
“They said it was a restructuring, but in my view it wasn’t a restructuring,” Petoskey said Tuesday. “They wanted to get rid of me.”
The move was approved with votes from tribal councilors Sandra Witherspoon, David Arroyo and Rebecca Woods. Councilor Sandy Anderson abstained, and council members Brian Napont and Connie TwoCrow were absent.
Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey only votes to break a tie on the council, and declined comment Tuesday on the council’s decision.
“For me, the vote has been made,” Bailey said. “The action has been put in place.”
Petoskey said the decision was discussed in a closed session Monday that he did not attend. He informed other tribal staff of the move in an e-mail Monday afternoon.
“I have been dismissed by the Council with notice that my last day is Feb. 28,” Petoskey said in the brief note. He asked for any pending legal matters to be forwarded to the band’s legal department to assure a “smooth transition” to a new staff.
Petoskey described a deteriorating relationship with the tribal council in recent months. He would not cite specifics because of his attorney-client relationship with the council, but said he witnessed an increasing number of closed sessions on various topics. He said he urged officials to be more open and transparent.
“We had real differences of opinion on how the council elected to do things … it was not advice that was accepted,” Petoskey said. “As far as I know, it’s not an example of (me) doing something wrong.”
Petoskey said his annual salary is just over $100,000, but doubts the band will realize any cost savings by shifting to contracted legal help.
“A contract attorney is going to cost much more than the work that I do,” he said.
John Wernet, deputy legal counsel for Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her liaison to Michigan’s Indian tribes, described Petoskey as “one of the most-respected tribal attorneys in the country.”
“I have the utmost respect for his knowledge, ability and integrity,” Wernet said.
Petoskey said he enjoyed his career working for the band. It evolved from a small Indian tribe that operated on a shoestring budget for years after its federal recognition in 1980 to a major economic powerhouse and employer in northern Michigan that runs two casinos and the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa.
“It’s certainly been rewarding,” Petoskey said. “I’m from here, I spent my whole life working here.
“Years ago the band was nothing. Now it’s something,” he said.
Michigan Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Indian Parent’s Rights
Here is the opinion in In re Miller.
An excerpt:
Respondent was a member of an Indian tribe, and before termination of her parental rights could be ordered, the court was required to find evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that continued custody of the child by respondent was likely to result in serious emotional or physical harm to the child under the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 USC 1912(f). Expert testimony was presented that respondent’s conduct violated the norms and customs of the Chippewa Tribe and that continued custody was likely to result in serious emotional harm to the child. Accordingly, the court did not clearly err in finding that termination was in the best interest of the child.
Turtle Talk 
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