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Gun Lake Band Groundbreaking Ceremony
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Michigan Indian
Online Materials for Michigan State Bar American Indian Law Section Meeting
Here are material to supplement today’s MSB American Indian Law Section program on the Indian Child Welfare Act:
In re J.L. opinion (Mich. S. Ct.)
American Indian Law Section amicus brief in In re J.L.
Michigan Court Improvement Program — ICWA Resource Guide
Facing the Future: The Indian Child Welfare Act at 30 (MSU Press)
ILPC Occasional Paper 2009-04 The Origins of the Indian Child Welfare Act: A Survey of the Legislative History (or here)
ILPC Occasional Paper 2009-05 The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Case Update (August 2008-August 2009) (or here)
LTBB Chairman Faces Criticism
From Indianz:
The new leader of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of Michigan is facing criticism from tribal elders after less than a month on the job.
At a tribal council meeting on Sunday, one elder said Chairman Ken Harrington violated tribal employment laws in the hiring of two top financial officials. Another elder said Harrington has created an “atmosphere of fear among tribal employees.”
Harrington, who was sworn into office on August 23, denied the accusations. He said it was natural for critics to question his performance.
“I will just move forward, I can’t let a few negative people hold down the greater good with my job … I’m a dedicated person; I’m working hard,” Harrington told The Petoskey News-Review.
The newspaper said its writer was forced to leave the tribal council meeting after the two elders spoke.
Huron Nottawaseppi Negotiates for Lower Revenue Sharing Rate with State
From Indianz:
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians Indians signed an amended Class III gaming compact with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D).
The new agreement lowers the tribe’s revenue-sharing rate. In 2009 and 2010, the tribe will share 4 percent of slot machine profits from the FireKeepers Casino with the state, down from 8 percent in the original compact.
In 2011, the tribe will share 4 percent of slot profits under $100 million and 6 percent of slot profits over $100 million. Starting in 2012, the rate will based on a sliding scale, with payments not to exceed 8 percent of slot profits.
Despite the lower rate, the tribe will continue to share 2 percent with local communities. The amended compact restructures the Local Revenue Sharing Board, expanding it from three to six members.
“The amended compact will help create new jobs, new economic opportunities and new revenues for the tribe, local community and the state,” Chairwoman Laura Spurr said in a press release.
The tribe and the state already submitted the amended compact to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They said the agreement was approved and will become effective once a notice is published in the Federal Register.
The changes bring the Nottawaseppi Huron agreement in line with other tribal-state gaming compacts.
Michigan State Bar Indian Law Section Agenda — Thursday, Sept. 17
1:00 Business Meeting
1:40 Presentation of Tecumseh Peacekeeping Award to John Wernet
2:00 Program – Implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act in Michigan
Presenters:
Maribeth Preston – SCAO, ICWA resource guide
Matthew Fletcher – Case updates
Angela Sherigan – Benefits of transfers to Tribal Court
Union Organizing at Soaring Eagle?
From Indianz:
Two employees of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan want to organize a union at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.
Peter Gallinat and Dawaine Penney recently contacted the United Auto Workers. The employees don’t have any complaints but they want to be able to negotiate with Saginaw Chippewa management.
“We just want a voice and a say in the contract. And to be treated with dignity and respect,” Penney, a table games dealer, told The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun.
Two prior union efforts at Soaring Eagle failed. The UAW is organizing among card dealers at the casino owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut.
Get the Story:
Two Soaring Eagle workers contact UAW (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 9/12)
Univ. of Michigan to Remove American Indian Diorama
From ICT:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Something has long seemed amiss in the spacious halls of the University of Michigan’s Exhibit Museum of Natural History.
Nestled among exhibits of ancient dinosaur bones, prehistoric fossils and avian taxidermy, miniature 3-D scenes depicting Native Americans have been on display for decades.
Indian faculty members, students and others who visit have often felt the dioramas were out of place in the museum. Soon, to many Natives’ delight, they will be taken out.
“We are living, breathing, contemporary human beings,” said Margaret Noori, a professor of Ojibwe language and literature at the University of Michigan. “Many of us felt it was wrong that we had been represented so long as little dolls in the context of a natural history museum.”
Materials from GLIFWC’s Treaty Symposium — Minwaajimo (Telling a Good Story)
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission hosted a major treaty rights symposium on July 28-30, 2009, featuring many of the stars of Indian law — Kathryn Tierney, Marc Slonim, Henry Buffalo, Jr., Bruce Greene, and others. The symposium website is here.
Webcasts of many of the speeches are here at IndianCountryTV.com.
Written materials are linked here:
Gun Lake Band Casino Plans
From mlive via Pechanga.net:
Rendering courtesy Gun Lake TribeThe exterior of the new Gun Lake Casino in Wayland
After repeated roadblocks that delayed the Gun Lake Casino from becoming a reality, plans for construction of the project finally are in motion, albeit on a smaller scale initially.
“Everything’s a go,” said John Shagonaby, CEO of MBPI Inc., the economic development corporation of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians.
The federal government in August officially declared the casino site in Wayland a reservation, and a federal judge dismissed the final lawsuit to stop it.
A ground breaking is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 17.
Michigan Court Improvement Program Publishes ICWA Resource Guide for Mich. Judges and Practitioners
From the CIP website:
- Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Committee
Child Welfare Services staff liaisons: Angel Sorrells, Maribeth Preston, and Bayo Callender
The Court Improvement Program created a special workgroup which met four times from September, 2008, to May, 2009, and authored an ICWA Court Resource Guide. The guide, published in September of 2009, contains best practice tips for courts on how to implement the ICWA. The workgroup consisted of representatives from circuit and probate court judges associations, probate registers, court administrators, the Department of Human Services, prosecutors, and the federally recognized tribes in Michigan.
Turtle Talk 
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