News

Asian Carp Plea Denied

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From SCOTUSblog:

The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to order emergency measures sought by the state of Michigan to stop the migration of an invasive fish species, Asian carp, toward Lake Michigan from rivers and a sanitary canal in Illinois.  Without comment, the Court refused to issue a permanent injunction that would have closed waterway locks and required other temporary measures in reaction to the discovery of the carp upstream in Illinois rivers.  The Court’s order did not dispose of Michigan’s plea to reopen a decades-old decree to address the carp migration issue on its merits. That will come later in cases 1, 2 and 3 Original, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York v. Illinois.

Tribal Judge David Harding Walks On

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From ICT:

PLUMMER, Idaho – David Lee Harding was widely known throughout Indian country, having served for 29 years in tribal courts in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska. He passed away Dec. 8, 2009 while playing in a father/son basketball game with his sons and numerous friends. He was 57 years old.

David was a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota but grew up in the Willamette Valley of Oregon with two brothers and a sister. He was a fan of Paul Revere and the Raiders and started his own rock band in his early years. This led to working as a radio announcer and in later years to announcing at boxing matches at the Coeur d’Alene Casino as well as basketball games in Plummer and Spokane and he was a backup announcer for the Spokane Indians professional baseball team.

Former Coeur d’Alene Tribal Attorney Ray Givens tells of a night at the boxing matches when David was announcing. “One night I took my son, who was about 8 at the time, to a boxing match at the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Casino. We bought some 50/50 tickets as we went in, and I gave the stubs to Joe. Dave Harding was the ring announcer that night, and when the ring girl drew the ticket, we won. The scantily clad lady came down to where we were sitting and escorted Joe up to the ring. He was terrified. Dave smiled, looked down at me, and said over the mike, ‘Ray, under the tribe’s law, which you probably wrote, a minor can’t gamble here and 50/50 is gambling.’ Everyone, including me, had a good laugh at my expense. I went up to the ring, rescued my son and collected the prize from a still laughing Dave. His grace and humor was much appreciated.”

David graduated from the University of Oregon in 1975 where he was president of the Native American Student Union. He attended the University of Oregon School of Law, and later a summer session at the University of New Mexico School of Law and later yet attended the University of Idaho School of Law. Continue reading →

News Coverage Update on Asian Carp Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From How Appealing:

“Something’s Fishy at the High Court”: Tony Mauro of The National Law Journal has this report.

And last Sunday’s edition of The Chicago Tribune contained an article headlined “Asian carp: Take that carp and fry it; River invader is more tasty morsel than maligned in some quarters.”

Update on Gun Lake Casino Construction

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

From K’zoo Gazette via Pechanga:

Gun Lake Casino construction 1View full sizeShawano Cleary | Special to the Kalamazoo GazetteBob Ely, of Ace Steel and his partner, Riley Beight, work on the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland Township last week.
WAYLAND TOWNSHIP — Cooperative weather up until mid-December allowed work crews constructing the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland Township to get a bit ahead of schedule on the 83,000-square-foot facility.

Gun Lake Casino Artist renderingView full sizeHandout photo.Artist rendering of the exterior of the planned Gun Lake CasinoThe foundation has been laid and steel beams are being installed on the $157 million casino — less than half the size originally planned— off Exit 61 on U.S. 131, halfway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo on the former Ampro Products factory site. It is scheduled to open at the end of this summer. Continue reading →

Banishments at Mashantucket Pequot

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From local news:

In banishing Christopher Pearson, the former tribal official facing sentencing on federal wire-fraud charges, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Elders Council meted out an ancient form of punishment employed by Indian tribes across the country.

Within weeks of his Nov. 19 conviction in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Pearson was ordered off the Mashantucket reservation, where he owns a home, and to surrender his tribal badge, having “forfeited all rights and privileges of Tribal membership with the exception of services provided by Tribal Health Services.”

The elders council also directed the tribe’s finance department to cut off Pearson’s monthly “incentive” payments — the distributions of Foxwoods Resort Casino revenue that all tribal members in good standing receive.

While the tribe would provide no information about banishments, it’s believed that their frequency has increased since the tribe’s constitution and by-laws granted the elders council “the authority and responsibility” to impose them.

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council resolutions show that 12 people were banished by the tribal council prior to the establishment of the elders council in 1996. Currently, several people are banished each year, maybe more, according to Thomas Weissmuller, chief judge of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court. Continue reading →

Fighting Sioux Logo Case Appealed to North Dakota Supreme Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From USA Today (H/T to A.):

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Some University of North Dakota officials were hoping that a long-running dispute over the school’s Fighting Sioux nickname would be settled this week. Now it appears it could continue for several months.

A state judge ruled last month that the North Dakota Board of Higher Education has the power to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname and Indian head logo before a November deadline set as part of a settlement with the NCAA. The board promptly moved Thursday’s regularly scheduled meeting — originally to be conducted by conference call — to the university’s campus in Grand Forks to discuss plans to officially retire the moniker.

But the issue might not be debated for long.

Patrick Morley, the attorney for a Spirit Lake Sioux group that sued to keep the nickname, filed an appeal late Friday to the state Supreme Court. Morley did not return repeated phone calls by The Associated Press.

Op/Ed on Saginaw Chippewa Fee to Trust Application

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Morning Sun via Pechanga:

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is following the lead of many other Tribes across the country by purchasing land, then asking that the land be put into trust by the federal government.

It’s a historical fact that much of the land allotted to the Native people during the 19th century was swindled away from its rightful owners by unscrupulous lumber barons, land barons and railroad barons. Now that the Tribe has substantial resources, it has been quietly but persistently purchasing property.

When land is in trust, there is no question of Tribal sovereignty on that land. The land where the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort sits has been in trust for decades, and no one questions that the Tribe and the federal government have jurisdiction there; the state, county and Chippewa Township don’t.

There’s also no question that land in trust is not taxable by local governments. There’s no question that local governments’ zoning rules don’t apply there, either.

When the Tribe owns land that’s not in trust, it pays taxes on them. It’s subject to local and state regulation, like land owned by any other property owner. Continue reading →

Colorado Legislature Threatening Cuts to Fort Lewis College’s Indian Students

Matthew L.M. Fletcher5 Comments

From the Durango Herald News:

DENVER – Legislators are targeting Fort Lewis College’s free tuition for Native Americans for a $1.8 million cut.

It comes on top of the nearly $4 million in cuts Gov. Bill Ritter has proposed for the college by 2011 – the deepest percentage cut in the state. Together, the two cuts will have a “devastating, crippling impact” on Fort Lewis, said Steve Schwartz, FLC’s vice president for finance and administration.

“I’ve never seen anything where I’ve felt so singled out by the state,” Schwartz said.

The college hasn’t figured out what it would do if the Legislature OKs both cuts, which could take $6 million out of its $41 million annual budget. But it would “absolutely” have to lay off employees, Schwartz said.

College officials and their allies at the Legislature are fighting the cuts, and their first priority is to kill House Bill 1067, which targets the Native American tuition program.

Continue reading →

Florida Seminole Tribe to Seek Compact through Secretarial Procedures

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Orlando Sentinel:

After the Legislature voted down a proposed revenue-sharing deal Thursday, the Seminole Tribe will now turn to the federal government for authority to run its casinos that feature slots and blackjack, tribe attorney Barry Richard said in an interview.

Richard said that the tribe remains open to negotiate more with the Legislature, but “we’ve reached the conclusion that it’s time to begin looking at other options.”

“We made a vigorous effort to work this out,” he said. “We had two separate compacts with the governor. We made giant strides toward negotiation with the Legislature. It’s disappointing – the tribe can’t continue to wait forever.”

The tribe will enter a formal process known as “procedures,” in which it will ask the federal government for authorization to keep its blackjack tables open, even though there’s no compact in place to allow such table games. Continue reading →

ESPN Article on Haskell Basketball

Kate Fort

H/T Indianz.

From ESPN.com (see photos at ESPN.com):

Originally Published: January 13, 2010

Haskell offers haven for hidden talent

Native American players continue to strive for recognition outside the reservation

By Dana O’Neil

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The bus bounced along the highway from Eagle Butte, S.D., to Lawrence, Kan., covering the almost 700-mile trip in about 16 hours.

Folded into one of the seats, 6-foot-10 Terrance Little Thunder tried to make himself comfortable enough to relax.

It was no use. He was far too preoccupied to rest. Every time the bus stopped, Little Thunder scrambled in his seat to make sure he hadn’t lost the worn-out scrap of paper stuffed in his pocket.

When Terrance Little Thunder left South Dakota on a bus, he had little else but a piece of paper with a coach’s number on it.

Before he left his home on the Lakota Nation reservation, Little Thunder had scratched a phone number on that piece of paper.

If he lost the paper, he lost the number.

If he lost the number, he lost his last shot at a future.

He was 29 and out of chances.

“All I had was a little bit of money and that piece of paper with Coach’s number on it,” Little Thunder said. “I held onto that thing so tight, man. I wasn’t about to lose it.”

Continue reading →