Michigan Indian

Conyers, Freep op-ed “No Special Deals for Tribal Casinos”

trentcrable

John Conyers in today’s Freep:

“I would like to add a few points concerning the upcoming vote in Congress on legalizing off-reservation casinos in Romulus and Port Huron (“Legislators, tribes divided over casinos; At issue: Romulus, Port Huron sites,” June 22):

The validity of the land claims the bills purport to “settle” is questionable. The Bay Mills Indian Community filed its claim in federal and Michigan courts, and lost in both. The Sault Ste. Marie tribe has never bothered to pursue the established legal paths available for settling such claims.

The settlements are for land hundreds of miles from the tribes’ reservations. Under the established procedures for considering permitting a tribe to build an off-reservation casino, distance from the reservation is a major factor weighing against approval, because the detriment to the tribe is more likely to outweigh any benefits.

Other important factors under the established procedure are the potential environmental problems and the potential detrimental effects on the surrounding community. The deals the bills cut for the Bay Mills and Sault Ste. Marie tribes would circumvent every part of the careful consideration that is usually required.

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Saganing Powwow, June 27-29

Kate Fort

From the Bay City Times:

Saganing Members Aim to Teach Indian Culture at Standish Powwow

by Helen Lounsbury

STANDISH – When tribal drummers, singers and dancers take their places this weekend for the Saganing powwow near Standish, don’t think of the event as a first.

It’s a homecoming – a celebration of origins for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, members say.

“I get so full of emotion when I attend our cultural events,” says Mary Bukowiec, a Standish member of what is now a Mount Pleasant-based tribe. “This event will be especially meaningful… After centering things in Mount Pleasant for so long, this powwow has come home.”

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Freep on BMIC and Sault Tribe Gaming Bills

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Detroit Free Press:

A fight over proposed American Indian casinos in Romulus and Port Huron may reach the floor of Congress this week, where two Michigan political heavyweights find themselves on opposite sides of the issue.

The proposals — which could be on the floor as early as Wednesday — have a fair shot at passing, despite loud objections from Detroit politicians who fear new casinos could cut into the take of the city’s three gaming emporiums and undercut investments their owners have made.

Even if the House approves, however, the proposals face a big obstacle in the Senate — Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who is said to be opposed to the legislation that has been simmering in Washington for at least six years.

The difference now is the strong support for the Romulus casino from Rep. John Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat who is the longest-serving active member of the House and chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.

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BMIC & Sault Tribe Gaming Bill Heads to House Floor

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Never mind the Senate, this one’s going to be ugly. I wonder how many times Abramoff’s name gets mentioned. Here’s the report from The Hill:

House Democratic leaders have brokered a deal to bring to the floor next week a contentious Indian gaming bill that has pitted two powerful Democratic committee chairmen against one another.

For months, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) have been clashing over two bills that would settle tribal land disputes and allow two new Indian casinos to be built near Detroit. Next week, they will settle their differences on the House floor.

The deal would allow the two tribal land dispute bills that Dingell supports to be voted on on the floor, but would also give Conyers an amendment, according to sources tracking the measures. The amendment apparently would direct the Department of Justice (DoJ) and possibly the Department of the Interior to review the land claims — a difficult and likely unsuccessful process Dingell and other supporters have attempted to avoid by seeking congressional approval of the legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders are in a politically difficult spot.

They have decided to allot precious floor time for measures that will pave the way for Indian casinos during the first election year after the fall of Jack Abramoff, whose lobbying practices involving tribes and gambling helped propel Democrats into power in 2006.

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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.