Michigan State University Press has published our edited collection, “Facing the Future: The Indian Child Welfare Act at 30.” The press website is here. The book is also available at amazon.
Michigan Indian
Sixth Circuit Oral Argument on Michigan Affirmative Action Ban
From the LSJ:
LANSING — A federal appeals court
is about to consider a lawsuit challenging Michigan’s ban against racial preferences in public university admissions and government hiring.
Civil rights groups and University of Michigan students, faculty and applicants say the 2006 ballot measure approved by voters is unconstitutional.
Critics say the constitutional amendment has created an unfair process where universities give weight to geographical diversity and legacy status but not racial identity.
Supporters say the law reflects the will of the people.
Arguments will be held Tuesday morning at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. A district judge dismissed a challenge to the law last year.
MSU NALSA Tribal Court Event TOMORROW (Veterans Day)
Indian Heritage Month Talks at GVSU This Week
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Loosemore Auditorium
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Special Guest: Dennis Banks
Movie: We Shall Remain: Episode V – Wounded Knee followed by a firsthand discussion with Dennis Banks.
Dennis Banks (Ojibwe) is one of the co-founders of the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM began in Minneapolis in 1968 to prevent police brutality against urban Indians. It grew rapidly during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Banks took a leading role in the decisions leading to the takeovers of Alcatraz Island and Bureau of Indian Affairs Office in Washington D.C., to bring attention to the poor living conditions American Indians endured throughout the United States. In 2004, he authored Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement.
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
L.V. Eberhard Center, 2nd Floor, Auditorium
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Movie: The Business of Fancydancing (Written & directed by Sherman Alexie)
Special Guests: Paul Collins, Jennifer Gauthier, Shannon Martin
Friday, November 13th, 2009
L.V. Eberhard Center, 2nd Floor
5:15 p.m.: Traditional Native American Ceremony
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.: Journey to Forgiveness: Implications for Social Change
Special Guests: Hunter Genia, George Martin, Shannon Martin
7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Seating is first come/first serve – overflow seating in the Eberhard Auditorium and DeVos Center)
Special Guest: Sherman Alexie
Prepared Testimony of Federal Recognition Hearing Witnesses
From the SCIA:
Panel 1
MR. GEORGE SKIBINE
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC
Accompanied: MR. R. LEE FLEMING, Director, Office of Federal
Acknowledgement U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC
Panel 2
MR. FRANK ETTAWAGESHIK
Chair, Federal Acknowledgment Task Force, National Congress of American Indians, Washington, DC
THE HONORABLE JOHN SINCLAIR
President, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Havre, Montana
THE HONORABLE ANNE D. TUCKER
Chairperson, Muscogee Nation of Florida, Bruce, FL
MS. PATTY FERGUSON -BOHNEE
Director, Indian Legal Clinic, Tempe, Arizona
Prepared Testimony of Carcieri Hearing Witnesses
From the House Resources Page:
Witnesses:
Panel 1
The Honorable Michael Arcuri
U.S. House of Representatives, 24th District (D – NY)
Panel 2
Mr. Donald Laverdure
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.
Panel 3
The Honorable Bill Iyall
Chairman
Cowlitz Indian Tribe
Longview, Washington
The Honorable Janice Mabee
Chairman
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe
Darrington, Washington
The Honorable Sandra Klineburger (Attachment)
Chairwoman
Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians
Arlington, Washington
The Honorable Richard Blumenthal
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Hartford, Connecticut
Mr. Steven Woodside (Attachment 1) (Attachment 2) (Attachment 3)
Sonoma County Counsel
On behalf of the California State Association of Counties
Sacramento, California
Mr. Riyaz Kanji
Kanji & Katzen, P.L.L.C.
On behalf of The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Greektown Hearings to Begin
From the Freep:
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Walter Shapero has scheduled four days of hearing time during which the plan’s proponents and objectors are to call more than 20 witnesses and present 539 exhibits to prove their cases, according to a procedural order filed with the court.
At dispute is how Greektown Casino, the smallest by revenue of Detroit’s three casinos, was valued. The higher the value, the more creditors have to share. As it stands now, the pre-petition lenders, led by Merrill Lynch Capital Corp., put the value at $540 million and would own the casino after it emerges from bankruptcy.
Negotiations were ongoing over the weekend to deal with a potential wrinkle after the attorney for one creditor said he might offer a competing plan for reorganization. This plan would ensure bondholders, owed about $185 million, would get something out of the process.
“All of the parties continue to negotiate,” said Chuck Moore, a turnaround expert for the casino’s estate. “At this point, there is no plan other than to move forward with the confirmation hearings.”
Senate Hearing on Federal Recognition Witness List
From the SCIA:
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, announced Tuesday the panel will hold a congressional oversight hearing at 2:15 PM on Wednesday, November 4. The hearing will examine Department of Interior efforts to repair the federal acknowledgement process for Indian tribes. It will also review proposals for improving the system.
Securing formal, federal tribal recognition is vital. It establishes a formal government-to-government relationship between the tribe and the U.S. government. Once federally recognized, a tribe has access to federal benefits and programs.
Yet, the acknowledgement process is broken and has been since it was established in 1978. Tribes routinely wait decades without getting a decision. Some tribes, including one tribe which will present testimony at the hearing, have been stuck in the federal acknowledgment process since 1978 with no decision. The prolonged process cost tribes funds urgently needed elsewhere, and denies tribes that are eventually recognized access to benefits and programs, often for decades.
Details follow:
WHO: U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Byron Dorgan, Chairman; Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Vice Chairman, and other members of the committee.
WITNESSES: George Skibine, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of Interior; Frank Ettawageshik, Chair, Federal Acknowledgement Task Force, National Congress of American Indians; John Sinclair, President, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Havre, Montana; Ann D. Tucker, Tribal Chairperson, Muscogee Nation of Florida, Bruce, Florida; and Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, Director, Indian Legal Clinic, Tempe, Arizona.
WHAT: Congressional oversight hearing
WHEN: 2:15 PM, Wednesday, November 4, 2009
WHERE: 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
WHY: To review Department of Interior efforts to repair the federal acknowledgement process for granting formal recognition to Indian tribes.
House Hearing on Carcieri Fix Witness List
From the House Resources Committee:
The House Natural Resources Committee, led by Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
- H.R. 3742 (Kildee): To amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian tribes.
- H.R. 3697 (Cole): To amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian tribes.
Subject:
House Natural Resources Committee
Full Committee Legislative Hearing on H.R. 3742 and H.R. 3697
When:
Wednesday, November 4, 2009, at 10:00 a.m.
Where:
Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building
Witnesses:
Panel 1
The Honorable Michael Arcuri
U.S. House of Representatives, 24th District (D – NY)
Panel 2
Mr. Donald Laverdure
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.
Continue reading
NALSA Panel Event: Tribal Judges
MSU NALSA is hosting a panel of tribal judges on Wednesday, November 11 at 4:30 pm in the Castle Board Room. Hon. Michael Petsokey, Hon. Holly Thompson and Hon. Matthew Fletcher will be talking.
Food and drink will be served.
Turtle Talk 
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