Michigan Indian

Call for Papers — Living Treaties Anishinaabe Summit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

The presence of the US/Canada Border is a fact of life for Aboriginal People. It is also a simple fact of life that Indigenous people along the border have established their relationship with both US and Canadian governments through Treaty, and those Treaties affect people along the border in profound ways.

As “treaty rights” are continually challenged in the courts, the courts are given opportunities to continually “re-interpret” these treaties.  Thus it is important to explore these treaties and related issues in some depth.  To that end, The Anishinaabeg Joint Commission (Batchewana First Nation, Bay Mills Indian Community, Garden River First Nation, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), in cooperation with the Center for the Study of Indigenous Border Issues, is issuing a Call For Papers for the Living Treaties Anishinaabeg Summit. The gathering will be held August 13 – 15, 2008, at the Sault Tribe Conference and Convention Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

The primary objective of this gathering is to bring together Tribal Elders, Traditional Knowledge Keepers, Tribal historians, college and university faculty and students, land claims researchers, Government officials (US, Canadian, Tribal), and Indigenous Community members so that we can all benefit from a thorough discussion and understanding of the role that Treaties play in the lives of Native Peoples along the US/Canada border.

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Michigan Indian Legal Services Spring 2008 Newsletter

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

mils_newsletter_spring_2008

Detroit News: Tribe Demands Remains from U-M

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Detroit News:

ANN ARBOR — On the wooden shelves of a University of Michigan laboratory, thousands of relics — ceramic bowls, copper beads and stone and bone tools — await the careful eyes of researchers.

The ancient burial artifacts provide rich details about vibrant cultures that hunted, fished, raised crops and traded goods throughout the Great Lakes and beyond, archaeologists say.

But a group of Native Americans led by the Saginaw Chippewa of Mount Pleasant say hundreds of human remains, and the funerary objects buried with them, are being wrongly held and they are asking U-M to return them so they can be reburied.

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More Info on Mother Earth Water Walk

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Our previous post is here.

And here is the Mother Earth Walk poster.

Requiem for South Fox Island

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

A few years ago, we wrote a short article that included a section on South Fox Island, traditional home to many Michigan Anishinaabeg families, that was lost during the Termination Era of the 1950s. An Indian cemetery is out there, hidden, but now the island is owned by non-Indian real estate developers (see here). This is what we wrote about this question:

Non-Indians also used strained or invalid constructions of statutory authority to dispossess tribal communities of their lands. Returning to the notion that the United States compensated Indians and Indian tribes for their land cessions, there still remain the lands government officials sold without the consent of Indians and Indian tribes under the color of federal law. While there are numerous types or classes of lands dispossessed in accordance with the political will of non-Indians, the focus of this Part is on the so-called “‘secretarial transfers,”’ a subset of the kind of transactions often grouped together with “‘forced fee patents.”’ In a secretarial transfer, “BIA officials approved sales of inherited allotments on reservations without the consent of all beneficial heirs.” Under federal law, many secretarial transfers were valid. For example, the Secretary had authority to take an allotment out of trust status where the Indian beneficiary passed away and had one or more heirs who were “competent to manage their own affairs.” However, as discussed below, the Secretary abused this authority on numerous occasions, illegally extending the authority to lands that would not have been covered by the statutory authority.

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Forthcoming Book: “American Indian Education: Counternarratives in Racism, Struggle, and the Law”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

My forthcoming book — “American Indian Education: Counternarratives in Racism, Struggle, and the Law” — is available for pre-order.

The blurb:

American Indian culture and traditions have survived an unusual amount of oppressive federal and state educational policies intended to assimilate Indian people and destroy their cultures and languages. Yet, Indian culture, traditions, and people often continue to be treated as objects in the classroom and in the curriculum. Using a critical race theory framework and a unique “counternarrative” methodology, American Indian Education explores a host of modern educational issues facing American Indian peoples—from the impact of Indian sports mascots on students and communities, to the uses and abuses of law that often never reach a courtroom, and the intergenerational impacts of American Indian education policy on Indian children today. By interweaving empirical research with accessible composite narratives, Matthew Fletcher breaches the gap between solid educational policy and the on-the-ground reality of Indian students, highlighting the challenges faced by American Indian students and paving the way for an honest discussion about solutions.

If you picked up a flyer at Fed Bar (american-indian-education-fba-flyer), you get a discount.

GTB Constitution Reform Proposals (Uggh!)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Leelanau News:

Problems apparent during the last tribal election are among factors spurring the Tribal Council of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians to call for establishment of a “Legislative Drafting Committee” which will review procedures for amending the Tribal Constitution.

Hundreds of GTB members last year signed a petition calling for an amendment to the Tribal Constitution following a highly contentious 2006 election process that delayed the seating of newly elected Tribal Council members until 2007 and resulted in the elimination of two of the top vote-getters from the race.

A proposed constitutional amendment would allow tribal members to vote for the position of Chief Judge and Appellate Judges of the Tribal Court, the Tribal Prosecutor and Tribal Police Captain. Currently, those positions are filled by political appointees hand-picked by elected members of the Tribal Council.

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GTB Primary Election Results

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Traverse City Record-Eagle:

PESHAWBESTOWN — Voters selected eight finalists for leadership positions in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ primary election.

Two-term incumbent Chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum and council member Derek Bailey were the top two finishers in the tribal chairman’s race, according to preliminary election results, said Sam Evans, who heads the tribe’s election committee.

Those two candidates will square off in the May 21 regular election.

Former council member Thurlow “Sam” McClellan finished third in the chairman’s race, but unofficial vote totals for each candidate were not made available.

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Former Sault Tribe Appellate Judge Speaks

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

From the Soo Evening News:

SAULT STE. MARIE – Local Attorney Michael Winnick explained that his resignation from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Court of Appeals came for one reason and one reason alone.

Integrity.

“My name is the only thing I truly own and I do not want it in any way shape or form dirtied by what is taking place on that reservation,” said Winnick. “I owe it to myself, my profession and to any mentor I have ever had who took the time to teach me right from wrong.”

Winnick said recent allegations that he stepped down because he was not named chief judge – a position the Appellate Court took in a 15-page memorandum dispensed at a recent meeting of the Sault Tribe Board of Directors – are simply untrue.

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Gun Lake Band Compact as Model for Future Michigan Compacts

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Mlive:

The Gun Lake Tribe’s compact may be a model for agreements to be renegotiated in the next four to five years, according to James Hill, professor at Central Michigan University.

The compact is different from earlier agreements in three major ways. The tribe agreed to share revenue on an increasing scale, beginning with eight percent and rising to 12 percent of slot machine revenues, calculated on gross revenues. As the tribe makes more, it pays the state a higher percentage.

That might be the wave of the future, Hill said.

Another difference is the size of the exclusivity zone. instead of the whole state, the Gun Lake Tribe agreed to nine counties surrounding its Wayland casino.

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