From the Munster Times:
VALPARAISO | Most Hoosiers don’t realize that nearly 42,000 of the state’s residents are American Indians, said Brian Buchanan, chairman of the Indiana Native American Indian Affairs Commission.
From the Missoulian:
Justice worked Burns investigation regardless of election calendar
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON
HELENA – The recent announcement that former Sen. Conrad Burns is no longer under criminal investigation by the Justice Department came as a welcome relief to him.
More coverage from the Kalamazoo Gazette and the Muskegon Chronicle. The Chronicle’s coverage denotes significant skepticism:
The standing-room-only crowd at the casino presentation by the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians left Muskegon City Hall on Monday night wondering whether the western Upper Peninsula tribe’s proposal was realistic.
Last week, the Department of Interior rejected fee-to-trust applications for eleven tribes . Matthew has linked to the rejection letters elsewhere on this site. In rejecting these applications, the DoI has changed the method by which it will review all fee-to-trust applications under 25 C.F.R. Part 151. On January 3rd, Assistant Secretary of Interior Carl Artman , issued a letter to the BIA’s Regional Directors that established that all future applications will be subjected to a “commutable distance” test. In other words, if a tribe seeks to have land placed into trust, even for non-gaming economic development purposes, it must be within a distance where tribal citizens on the existing reservation can reasonably commute to jobs at the site. This had previously not been the case.
From Indianz:
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is seeking an off-reservation casino in Muskegon, Michigan.
From Soo Evening News (H/T Indianz):
Sault Tribal Board considers resolution to remove Chairman from office
SAULT STE. MARIE – Tribal Chairman Aaron Payment issued a press release early this morning announcing the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Board of Directors is considering a resolution to remove him from office. Payment also indicated that this action would render him ineligible to seek re-election later this year.
From the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun:
Tribe banishes four
The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has begun using a very old method of dealing with problems in a new way: invoking the ancient tribal practice of banishing troublemakers from tribal lands.
From the Journal Newspapers:
A delegation of city officials hope elected officials will be swayed by testimony they plan to give regarding the impact a casino would have in Wayne County before the Legislature early in 2008.
From the Battle Creek Enquirer:
ATHENS TOWNSHIP — The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi is awaiting a Michigan Tax Tribunal decision on whether the tribe is liable for township taxes on its Pine Creek Reservation.
Here’s the commentary from the activists. And here are some materials on the mine from the Great Lakes Natural Resource Center in Ann Arbor. Here’s our previous post on the subject.
We’ll post the complaint when we get it.
Turtle Talk 
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