Michigan Indian

En Banc Petition in MichGO v. Kempthorne

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

We don’t have the petition yet, but here’s the D.C. Circuit clerk’s order and the article from ICT:

WASHINGTON – In what will likely be the last of its many legal challenges, an anti-Indian casino group has asked a federal appeals court to determine if a law that has been restoring swindled and expropriated indigenous land to Indians for almost 75 years is constitutional.

Michigan Gambling Opposition, or MichGO, petitioned the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia May 10 for an en banc court rehearing of its 2 – 1 panel decision to allow the Interior Department to take 147 acres of land into trust for the Gun Lake Tribe’s proposed casino.

MichGO wants the full nine-judge court to determine if the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 violates the nondelegation doctrine by unconstitutionally allowing the Interior secretary to acquire or take into trust land for Indians.

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In re Gaus — Michigan COA Downplays Import of Potawatomi Heritage in Best Interests of Child Analysis

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion.

Pokagon Fund Projects Announced

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Dowagiac Daily News:

NEW BUFFALO – The Pokagon Fund Board of Directors Friday announced the funding of six new projects in June totaling $195,542.

The Pokagon Fund began funding grant proposals in November 2007. Since that time it has provided more than $2.5 million in project funding to local charities and municipalities.

Grant funding supports initiatives in the fields of health, human services, art, education, recreation and environment.

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Meijer Appeal on Campaign Law Violations

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

TRAVERSE CITY — Meijer Inc. convinced a state appellate judge to hide from public view documents related to Grand Traverse County’s efforts to investigate the retailer’s campaign finance violations.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider is challenging a May 29 order signed by state Court of Appeals Judge Donald Owens that sealed the court file in Schneider’s case against Meijer and the Dickinson Wright PLLC law firm.

Schneider is trying to investigate potential violations of state campaign finance laws concerning Meijer’s illegal involvement in local elections in Acme Township in 2007 and 2005.

Schneider said Friday he filed a challenge this week to the suppression order, but declined additional comment because his appeal remains pending before the appellate court.

A motion to seal the appellate case was filed by John Pirich, a Lansing attorney hired by Meijer. Pirich’s motion remains secret, but Owens’ suppression order makes reference to state law and investigative subpoenas that “requires the maintenance of strict confidentiality of matters related to investigative subpoenas.”

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Saginaw Chippewa Reservation Boundaries Case News Coverage

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Morning Sun:

A federal judge has temporarily halted the lawsuit seeking to define the land inside the traditional boundaries of the Isabella Reservation as “Indian Country” while he decides what kind of case Isabella County and the city of Mt. Pleasant can present.

A hearing is set for next month before U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington in Bay City, where the suit is being heard. The issue is whether the city and county will be permitted to argue that the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe waited too long to file its suit, and whether what the Tribe is asking for is impossible.

The Tribe filed suit in 2005, asking Ludington to declare that all or part of seven townships in Isabella County, and the northern half of the city of Mt. Pleasant, are “Indian country” as defined by federal law. The Tribe is asking for an injunction to prevent the governor, attorney general and state treasurer from exerting criminal or civil jurisdiction over the Tribe or its members “in a manner not allowed in Indian country.”

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Odawa Casino Revenue Sharing Numbers

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

For the article, see here. An excerpt:

When handing out the latest community proceeds from local Indian gaming, the Emmet County Local Revenue Sharing Board had about $250,000 more to work with than in the previous round.

This spring, the board used a new, more specific framework to allocate money, one which put the largest funding awards in categories such as infrastructure and education.

Local governments appoint the three-member board to allocate gaming dollars twice a year. Under its gaming compact with Michigan, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians must make 2 percent of electronic gaming receipts from its casino available to the community.

The latest payout — about $840,000 — included gaming receipts from July-December 2007, up from $590,000 in the previous round. In June 2007, the tribe opened the Odawa Casino Resort to replace its smaller Victories Casino.

1836 Treaty Tribes Comments on State Water Legislation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

GTB Letter to Governor Granholm

–Attachment A

Joint Press Release

Weblink to My Appearance on Interlochen Public Radio Today

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here it is. Thanks to Linda Stephan!

ICT Profiles Ziibiwing Moccasin Exhibit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From ICT:

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Hand-crafted moccasins from several tribes filled a room May 31 for a special exhibit at the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways.

Most moccasins on display originated from the late 1890s, with the oldest pair being from the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy and dating back to about 1850. Many pairs were decorated with intricate bead and quill designs.

Event advertisements promised more than 40 pairs of moccasins to visitors of the Ziibiwing Center in Mount Pleasant, but guests were treated to about 100 pairs from private collectors who live in the area.

The one-day exhibit primarily focused on moccasins constructed by indigenous people east of the Mississippi River, from the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Ocean and some areas southward. Today, these tribes are commonly described as woodland Indians.

Milan News on Indian Origins of Milan

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Milan News-Leader:

People often say Milan was founded in 1831. The community we know and love today was started that year with a two-story log cabin built by John Marvin for his family.

The Marvin cabin was placed on the north side of Plank Road, an Indian trail dating back many centuries. Another Indian trail led north and south within a few feet of Marvin’s log structure, along present-day Wabash Street.

Many of the Native Americans were transported out of Michigan just before the gush of settlers from New York, Vermont, England and Ireland who came to the area about the time Marvin arrived. The Erie Canal brought new farming families to the Milan area literally by the boatload.

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