Michigan Indian

ICT on MichGO’s Ongoing Legal Wrangling

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From ICT:

WAYLAND COUNTY, Mich. – In an effort to take advantage of every possible opportunity to delay the Gun Lake Tribe’s casino, the anti-Indian casino group Michigan Gambling Opposition – MichGO – has asked a court to stop all further action while the group files a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.

MichGO’s latest tactic followed a July 25 ruling by the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denying the group’s request for a full panel, or en banc, rehearing of the court’s 2 – 1 decision in April upholding a district court decision to allow the Interior Department to take 147 acres of land into trust for the tribe’s proposed $200 million casino.

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Book Reading at Everybody Reads (Lansing) — October 25

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

I’ll be reading from my book “American Indian Education: Counternarratives in Racism, Struggle, and the Law” at Everybody Reads, located at 2019 E. Michigan, Lansing, Michigan. The reading and book signing will take place at October 25, 2008, from 1-3 PM.

More details here.

LRB Member Recalls Mt. Pleasant Indian School in the 1920s

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From the Morning Sun:

John Crampton, member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, still remembers the days when he attended the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School at age 6.

Eighty-three years later, as he walked the grounds of the former school, he reminisced about the fond memories of his childhood.

“That was the big boy’s dormitory,” Crampton said. “Over there was a deer pen.

“The buildings for the teachers and staff was over there.”

The Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School was in operation from 1893 to 1933.

An excerpt from an Oct. 1, 1889 report from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shows what the U.S. government’s mindset was like at the time: “The Indians must conform to the ‘white man’s ways,’ peaceably if they will, forcibly if they must,” the report stated.

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MACPRA News Coverage

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Petoskey News-Review:

The Little Traverse Bay Bands (LTBB) of Odawa Indians, along with 11 other federally recognized tribes and two state recognized tribes in Michigan which form the Michigan Anishnaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA), are currently seeking the return of about 60 Native American remains from the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills.

The remains, which scientists believe belonged to Native Americans who hunted and fished in what is now Oakland County hundreds of years before European arrival, have spent several decades in the back rooms of Cranbrook — unaffiliated with any specific tribe.

According to U.S. law — the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) — requires federally funded institutions such as Cranbrook to return Native American bones that are found with artifacts affiliating them with a specific tribe, if that tribe requests it.

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Soo Tribe Layoffs

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians plans to lay off about two percent of its workforce.

Chairman Joe McCoy said the tribe’s financial situation forced the reduction. “Unfortunately, over the years, millions in tribal reserves has been dwindled down to nothing. According to financial analysts, if changes are not made, the tribe will not recover,” he said in a press release. The layoffs affect employees of Kewadin Casinos and employees of the tribal government. Based on recent figures, it looks like about 80 people will lose their jobs. The tribe already laid off 89 people at the Greektown Casino in Detroit. The tribe has a majority stake in the commercial casino, which is undergoing a restructuring in federal bankruptcy court.

Get the Story:
Press Release: Soo Tribe and Kewadin Casino to restructure (SooToday 7/30)

GTB Revenue Sharing for the 1st Half of 2008

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the press release — 2-first-half-2008-press-release-07-30-08

D.C. Circuit Denies Petition for Rehearing in MichGo v. Kempthorne

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order — michgo-rehearing-denial

Three judges (Sentelle, Griffith, and Rogers) voted to rehear the case en banc, three short of the necessary votes. Of course, that semi-near miss gives the attorneys for MichGO fodder for making noise about a cert petition (see news report here).

I really have to think that this case is getting so much attention — not because of the merits of the case — but because these same lawyers have been working on three cases so far (TOMAC, CETAC, and now MichGO) and this is finally the end. It bears repeating that these three cases were all carbon-copy cases, with little to differentiate them at all. They have almost no merit whatsoever, and even the D.C. Circuit all but labeled them frivolous in the CETAC opinion. The Gun Lake case is no different than the previous cases, except it is the last one.

Fruitport Backs LRB Off-Reservation Casino Proposal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians won support for its off-reservation casino in Muskegon, Michigan.

The Fruitport Township Board voted 4-3 on a resolution in favor of the casino at the defunct Great Lakes Downs. Residents said they welcomed the jobs the facility would create. The tribe operates the Little River Casino on its reservation, about 80 miles from the proposed gaming site.

Get the Story:
Divided Fruitport Township Board supports casino (The Muskegon Chronicle 7/29)

Call for Proposals: Critical Issues Conference

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Native American Critical Issues Conference

Call for Workshops

“Visioning Our Future, Celebrating Our Traditions”

The Michigan Indian Education Council invites you to submit workshop proposals on issues related to Native American education.

Selected proposals will be invited to present at the Critical Issues Conference on March 12-14, 2009.

We invite you to share your programs and perspectives on American Indian issues.

Workshop Proposal forms may be downloaded at our web site , which is http://www.miec.org.

Please submit one copy of the proposal form by
November 1, 2008 to:
MIEC
PO Box 378
Haslett, MI 48840

Notification of acceptance will be made by January 2009

Cranbrook Institute to Return Remains to LTBB

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From AP:

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (AP) — It’s a matter of “doing the right thing,” according to the director of the Cranbrook Institute of Science, which plans to turn over the remains of about 60 Native Americans to the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians.

The bones have spent decades in the back rooms of the suburban Detroit museum, part of its vast collection of artifacts from cultures around the world. They belong to people who hunted and fished in what is now Oakland County hundreds of years before the first Europeans arrived.

This fall, Cranbrook expects to surrender the remains after publication of a notice in the Federal Register to alert other tribes that might want to claim the bones.

“This is a very emotionally and in some respects a politically charged issue,” institute director Mike Stafford told the Detroit Free Press. “We feel we’re doing the right thing. And I hope it inspires other institutions to do the same.”

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