Here is the ABA’s announcement and here is a blog profile of the award.
H/T to G.G.
News
Federal and Tribal Responses to AG Cox Objections to Saginaw Chippewa Settlement
Here:
USA Response to Cox Objections
SCIT Response to Cox Objections
According to this news article (via Pechanga), Judge Ludington could issue an order today.
White House Statement on Passage of Claims Settlement Act of 2010
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2010
Statement by the President on the Senate Passage of the Claims Settlement Act of 2010
I applaud the Senate for passing the Claims Settlement Act of 2010, which will at long last provide funding for the agreements reached in the Pigford II lawsuit, brought by African American farmers, and the Cobell lawsuit, brought by Native Americans over the management of Indian trust accounts and resources. I particularly want to thank Attorney General Holder and Secretaries Salazar and Vilsack for their continued work to achieve this outcome. I urge the House to move forward with this legislation as they did earlier this year, and I look forward to signing it into law.
This bill also includes settlements for four separate water rights suits made by Native American tribes. I support these settlements and my Administration is committed to addressing the water needs of tribal communities. While these legislative achievements reflect important progress, they also serve to remind us that much work remains to be done. That is why my Administration also continues to work to resolve claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers against the USDA.
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Senate Passes Cobell Settlement; Leaves Attorney Fees Question to Federal Judge
Here is the coverage from BLT and the announcement from Secretary Salazar.
An excerpt from the BLT story:
Debate over the settlements had drawn out for months over how to pay for them and over how much of the $3.4 billion settlements should go to the plaintiffs’ lawyers in the case involving American Indians. Named for plaintiff Elouise Cobell, that case centers around the accounting of royalties for resource extraction on American Indian land.
In the end, the authorizing legislation that passed the Senate left the question of fees to the judge in the case, without a cap from Congress. The legislation also appropriates $1.15 billion for a settlement with black farmers, including name plaintiff Timothy Pigford, who were denied the full benefits of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program.
In order to pay for the settlements, the legislation draws money from a surplus in a fund for nutrition programs and by extending customs user fees. Senators approved the legislation without a formal vote, sending it to the House of Representatives for a potentially final vote.
Washington State Trial Court Rules Against Swinomish Tribe on Instream Flow Issues
Here’s the letter opinion: <a href="Thurston County Court decison“> The Swinomish Tribe and the City of Anacortes were fighting to keep water in the stream for salmon. The Department of Ecology had repeatedly amended the instream flow rule to the detriment of salmon in order to allow for more development, and the Tribe and City had challenged the latest amendment.
Senate vote on Cobell settlement likely today
Here’s the article from Greenwire.
NYTs: “Supreme Court Opinions Long on Words but Short on Guidance”
A truly outstanding article by Adam Liptak (h/t to R.S.) appears here.
News Analysis on Saginaw Chippewa Reservation Boundaries Settlement
From the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun:
Expert: settlement could bring clarity
By MARK RANZENBERGER
An expert in the law of Indian country says the agreements that could end the Indian country lawsuit could bring some sense and clarity to where, and to whom, Tribal jurisdiction applies.
“Indian country in Michigan is a mess,” said Michigan State University Law School professor [Matthew] Fletcher, who teaches in the indigenous law program. “Most lands that could be considered Indian lands are checkerboarded, with multiple jurisdictions asserting authority over lands dependent on who owns them, Indian or non-Indian individuals or entitles.”
The settlement agreements hammered out in 20 months of closed-door negotiations define Indian country in Isabella County as all of Deerfield, Denver, Isabella, Nottawa and Wise townships, the north halves of Chippewa and Union townships, and a small portion of federal trust land south of Remus Road in Chippewa Township.
“This settlement starts from scratch, and reinstates settled boundaries that everyone can recognize and understand from Day One,” Fletcher said.
Those boundaries are among the items in the settlements being challenged by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. He argues that not all the land within the boundary area is part of the historic Isabella Reservation, because it had already been sold off to private owners or given to the state of Michigan before the treaties of 1858 and 1864, which allocated land to members of the predecessor bands of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
“Attorney General Cox objects to the settlements involving the state, but the city and county are nonetheless affected by the state’s agreement,” said Joy Yearout, Cox’s spokeswoman. “The proposed settlement necessarily subsumes the city and the county because they are both affected by any resolution of the establishment of a reservation and the determination of what is or is not included on the reservation.”
Interlochen Public Radio Spot on BMIC’s Vanderbilt Casino
From IPR:
Listen
There’s a new Indian-run casino in Vanderbilt north of Gaylord along I-75. It’s a small facility with just a few dozen slot machines.
Its opening came as a shock to the state, and to several Indian nations in northern Michigan who contend it’s illegal.
Quiet Open
The new casino opened so quietly early this month that its nearest competitor knew nothing of it.
“I heard 9&10 News was traveling over there to view the opening. So that’s how we found out,” says Ken Harrinton, chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. His tribe owns a much larger casino, about 30 miles away in Petoskey, The Odawa Casino Resort.
Turtle Talk 
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