From Indianz:
Bailey defeated incumbent chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum in a second matchup that was ordered by the tribal court. He won by 70 votes, after losing by 23 votes in a disputed election in May. At 35, Bailey will be the youngest person to serve as chair. The term lasts four years.
Get the Story:
Challenger elected tribal chairperson (The Traverse City Record-Eagle 9/26)
Tribal Court Decision:
Bailey v. GTB Election Board (August 8, 2008)
From SCIA:
Witnesses
THE HONORABLE TIMOTHY M. KAINE
Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, VA
THE HONORABLE JIM WEBB
United States Senate, Washington, DC
THE HONORABLE JAMES P. MORAN
United States Congressman
Panel 1
MR. LEE FLEMING
Director, Office of Federal Acknowledgment, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC
THE HONORABLE ANNE TUCKER
Chairwoman, Muscogee Nation of Florida, Bruce, FL
THE HONORABLE JOHN SINCLAIR
President, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, Great Falls, MT
THE HONORABLE RON YOB
Chairman, Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians, Grand Rapids, MI
DR. HELEN C. ROUNTREE
Professor Emeritus, Old Dominion University, Hampton, VA
Ugghhh. I wish we just had one election, instead of two or more every time….
From the Record-Eagle (H/T Indianz):
PESHAWBESTOWN — Members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians will have another shot at selecting a tribal chairman today.
A tribal court in August ruled the band’s election board improperly censured candidate Derek Bailey shortly before the initial vote in May. A new election was ordered, and polls will be open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Peshawbestown, East Jordan, Traverse City and Benzonia.
Bailey lost by 23 votes to two-term incumbent chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum in the regularly scheduled May 21 election. But Bailey challenged the results because the band’s election board issued an e-mail censuring him for using a tribal computer to visit his campaign Web site.
The mass e-mail was sent less than 24 hours before the election to all tribal gambling and government employees. A tribal appeals court eventually ruled the action was “far outside the scope of the authority granted to the election board under the Constitution.”
Bailey, who served as a tribal councilman before running for chairman, is pleased to see the new election.
Here is the cert petition.
And here and here are links to our previous post, with the D.C. Circuit’s opinion and other materials.
The editors complain about everything, and then assert whole states and localities should be allowed to vote on whether Indian gaming can come to the community. But the first two comments on the website have powerful responses.
From the TC Record-Eagle:
TRAVERSE CITY — Some Michigan politicians want to lift a ban on using bait to lure deer during hunting season in lower Michigan.
State officials banned baiting over fears it could help spread a deadly deer disease, but politicians who oppose the restriction said those who grow and sell bait crops could suffer financially.
State Sen. James Barcia, D-Bay City, plus state Reps. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, and Jeff Mayes, D-Bay City, sponsored similar resolutions in the Michigan legislature this week to urge state officials to rescind a ban enacted after a deer at a private ranch in Kent County tested positive last month for chronic wasting disease.
The politicians contend state officials overreacted.
***
Not everyone agrees.
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians supports the baiting ban. Michigan’s wild deer herd is a valuable natural resource for the public and the tribe, said Hank Bailey, a tribal fish and wildlife technician and elder tribe member.
“If they bow to this, they are jeopardizing that resource,” Bailey said, adding he fully expected politicians to meddle in the decision.
I understand the Michigan State Bar Indian Law Section will be awarding its Tecumseh Award to Bruce Greene today at the state bar meeting at 2 PM.
Bruce was lead counsel in the famous trial of the century (in Michigan Indian law anyway) — United States v. Michigan in the 1978. He also was lead counsel for the consortium of tribes that negotiated the 2002 Michigan tribal-state tax agreements.
As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Robert Traver’s Anatomy of a Murder, I will be giving a presentation on Traver’s novel, “Laughing Whitefish,” which is based on the three Michigan Supreme Court cases involving Marji Kobogum’s daughter Charlotte, aka Laughing Whitefish.
The presentation is at the Library of Michigan, on Sept. 27, 2008:
11:10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Session A: Laughing Whitefish
Forum Auditorium
John D. Voelker’s courtroom drama Laughing Whitefish tells the story of a young Chippewa woman’s struggle to collect a debt owed to her father by the Jackson Ore Company. It is based on a case that went before the Michigan Supreme Court three times in the 1880s before it was resolved. This session will discuss the book, the actual Kawbawgam case and their impact on Michigan Native Americans.
Here are the legal materials in the case:
The details of the case are recounted here.
The case is here, and captioned Empson-LaViolette v. Crago, and involves Pokagon Band Potawatomi tribal members.
Turtle Talk 
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