Links: previous post, DRC website.
Dispute Resolution Center of Washtenaw County Video on Peacemaking
Links: previous post, DRC website.
Michigan Indian
Final Review of Washtenaw County’s Peacemaking Court Initiative
Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi Supreme Court Posting
TRIBAL COUNCIL SEEKS LETTERS OF INTEREST FROM PERSONS TO SERVE AS CHIEF JUSTICE ON THE NHBP TRIBAL SUPREME COURT. The Tribal Council is soliciting letters of interest from qualified individuals interested in being appointed to serve on the NHBP Supreme Court. The individual appointed to this position would be appointed to a six (6) year term of office expiring on December 31, 2022. Letters of interest must be submitted no later than November 25, 2016 to be considered. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and statement of qualifications (or resume) to: Jamie P. Stuck, Tribal Council Chairperson, 1485 Mno-Bmadzewen Way, Fulton, Michigan 49052.
NHBP Judicial Branch: The NHBP Judiciary is a Constitutional Branch of Government established under Article XI of the Band’s Constitution. The NHBP Court is a court of general jurisdiction and the Supreme Court hears appeals from the Judiciary’s Trial Court. In addition to hearing appeals, members of the Supreme Court also work with the trial court’s Chief Judge and other court staff in the development of Court Rules and Administrative Orders.
Qualifications for Appointment: In accordance with the NHBP Constitution, persons interested in being appointed to the Tribal Judiciary must agree to undergo an extensive background investigation and may be asked to appear before the Tribal Council to answer questions about his/her qualifications for the position. The qualifications of prospective appointees are determined by the Tribal Council in accordance with the qualifications for office contained in Article XI of the NHBP Constitution which include the following:
- Has attained the age of thirty (30) years;
- Is a licensed attorney in good standing;
- Not be an employee of NHBP or presently serving, or a candidate for, a seat on the elected Tribal Council and
- Has never been convicted of a violent crime, felony or a crime of fraud.
Members of the bench are compensated for services at a competitive hourly rate. In accordance with the NHBP Constitution, “the amount of [compensation] shall not be reduced during such person’s term of office”. Justices are also reimbursed for reasonable expenses including travel to and from Michigan.
Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell Cert Petition
Here:
Questions presented:
Whether the Court of Appeals deviated from this Court’s decision in Carcieri v Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009) which held that the Secretary of Interior’s Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) established in 25 C.F.R. Part 83 is not determinative as to whether Indian Tribe is “recognized” for the purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 479)?
Whether the Secretary of Interior can avoid performing her mandatory non-discretionary duty under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 476) to call elections to ratify tribal constitutional documents within a reasonable time by requiring a tribe to exhaust administrative remedies estimated to require 30 years to complete?
Lower court materials here.
Kirsten Carlson on Lobbying Congress for Federal Recognition of Indian Tribes
Kirsten Matoy Carlson has posted “Why Lobby Congress? Constitutive and Instrumental Influences on Indian Groups’ Strategies for Federal Recognition, 1977-2012” on SSRN. This paper is highly recommended.
Here is the abstract:
When and why do marginalized groups chose a particular institutional venue when pursuing their legal claims? This article combines theoretical and methodological insights from sociolegal and interest group studies to investigate why non-federally recognized Indian groups used legislative strategies for federal recognition from 1977 to 2012. It finds Indian groups employed legislative strategies both to increase their chances of success and for constitutive purposes, including educating the public and leveraging institutional tensions. The article’s emphasis on constitutive and instrumental motivations provides a more nuanced approach to understanding marginalized groups’ venue decisions.
Federal Bankruptcy Court Holds Sault Tribe Didn’t Waive Immunity
Earlier, the federal district court had held the federal bankruptcy act doesn’t abrogate tribal sovereign immunity.
Here are the materials in In re Greektown Holdings LLC (E.D. Mich. Bkrcy.):
MSU Students and Faculty Testified in Favor of East Lansing’s Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution
Passed last night! Here:
MSU Paints the Rock in Support of #NoDAPL for Michigan Indian Day
Tribal Law & Economic Development Lecture at Northern Michigan University Wednesday
Download flyer (PDF)
Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m.
Whitman Hall Commons | NMU Campus
Reception to follow.
For more information call 906-227-1397 or visit nmu.edu/cnas
Grand Traverse Band Press Release on Dakota Access Pipeline Protests & Enbridge Line 5
PRESS RELEASE: STANDING ROCK SIOUX OPPOSITION TO DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE AND GTB’S OPPOSITION TO ENBRIDGE LINE 5.
Peshawbestown, Michigan, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB), by Tribal Resolution 16-34.2792, and a letter to President Obama, joins in the Standing Rock Sioux opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota requesting that President Obama override the Army Corps Engineers permit authorization for DAPL pipeline construction based on lack of compliance with federal environmental law. GTB’s central and independent rationale in supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is GTB’s opposition to Enbridge Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac.
“Both of these pipelines are scars across land and water that could injure not only treaty protected rights of Native Americans but also the land and water inheritance of all Americans. If we are to take these risks with our common resources, then at a minimum, both the federal government and the pipeline companies need to be held to the highest environmental and legal standard of review to ensure the safety of land and water for all Americans,” Tribal Chairman Sam McClellan said.
Turtle Talk 
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