News

MSU’s Nick Reo Quoted in Indian Country Today

Kate Fort

From yesterday’s Indian Country Today, Nick’s quote is after the jump:

GOP leader continues ‘honest injun’ controversy
MSNBC commentator uses ‘off the reservation’
By Rob Capriccioso

Story Published: Jan 13, 2010

Story Updated: Jan 13, 2010

WASHINGTON – Instead of apologizing without condition for using a racist term, the top GOP leader parsed his own words, while calling on another politician to step down for using racially offensive words.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele encountered criticism after his Jan. 4 appearance on the Sean Hannity Fox News program for using the phrase “honest injun” to punctuate a point he was making about conservative ideals.

Several Native American leaders, including the Native American Journalists Association and congressional advocates, noted that the term is racist, and said Steele should apologize. Continue reading →

News Article on Possible Cross-Dep between GTB and Grand Traverse County

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From local TV:

Grand Traverse County could be getting new officers, but without hiring any new ones. It’s part of a cross deputization proposal from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. What are the implications and how might it give a boost to the sheriff’s department budget?

The details are tonight’s Fact Finder Report.

We may all live in northern Michigan, but a complicated past has left some of us in different legal territory.

John Petoskey, General Council for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians says, “Because of the history of the relationship between tribes in the U.S. tribes do not have criminal jurisdiction over non tribe members and the state does not have criminal jurisdiction over tribal members.”

One aspect of that relationship may be changing.

The Grand Traverse Band and Grand Traverse County are discussing a cross deputization agreement.

Petoskey says, “What the cross deputization agreement would provide is the ability of the officer on the ground to make the arrest and sort out who has jurisdiction the next day.”

Right now if there’s a non tribal member breaks the law on property owned by the tribe, like Turtle Creek Casino, right now tribal officers can kick them off the property for trespassing, but that’s about it.

Petoskey says, “If we had a cross deputization agreement the tribe would be acting as deputies of Grand Traverse County to affect the arrest. The prosecution would still take place in Grand Traverse County though.”

Currently the Grand Traverse Band has similar agreements in 4 area counties; Charlevoix, Antrim, Benzie and Leelanau counties. He says those agreements are each for a number of years, but can be rescinded with a 30 day notice. And tribal leaders are using that model as the proposal for Grand Traverse County.

But why is Grand Traverse County the only county in the greater Grand Traverse Region without this kind of agreement?

You might blame it on previous administrations. Continue reading →

Op/Ed re: Carcieri Fix

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians celebrates its 30th anniversary of federal recognition this year, but nothing, apparently, is sacred in ever-changing federal American Indian policy.

A controversial Supreme Court ruling last year blocks many American Indian tribes recognized by the U.S. Interior Secretary after 1934 from making more land-to-trust applications.

The high court’s Carcieri vs. Salazar ruling on Feb. 24, 2009, and politics surrounding a proposed legislative fix, show just how frustrating, confounding and shameful federal American Indian policy has been over more than two centuries of American history — and apparently still is.

The ruling appears to have no effect on the Grand Traverse Band, which was recognized in 1980. In fact, the Interior Department approved trust status for 78 acres in Antrim County on Dec. 10.

The ruling also does not appear to affect two other area tribes — the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Emmet County and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee County, both recognized in 1994 by federal statute. Continue reading →

Lawyer Banished from Seneca

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From TV via Pechanga:

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The Seneca Nation has banished a lawyer who admits to embezzling $200,000 from the gaming corporation.

The Seneca Tribal Council voted on Saturday to expel 62 year old Timothy Toohey of Lewiston from its lands.

Toohey pleaded guilty on Friday to an unlawful agreement to make money off of the Senecas’ purchase of 200 acres of land in Lewiston for a golf course.

News Coverage of Wells Fargo — Flambeau Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Pechanga:

In a ruling that could have a far-reaching impact in Indian country, a federal judge has refused to appoint a receiver for the Lac du Flambeau’s northern Wisconsin casino even though the tribe defaulted on a $50 million bond.

The action last week by U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph T. Randa throws into question whether the financially struggling tribe, which has lost millions on out-of-state casino projects, will pay the $46.6 million it still owes on bonds that were sold in 2008.

“The entire agreement is a void issue,” said tribal administrator William Beson of the 2008 bond offering, which included giving Saybrook Capital – the California company that bought the bonds – the ability to force the tribe’s casino into receivership if the tribe defaulted on the bonds.

Randa’s decision means the tribe is not on the hook for the money, said Monica Riederer, the tribe’s attorney. Riederer, however, said that does not mean the tribe will walk away from the debt.

“They will do whatever they’re legally required to do,” Riederer said. “They do feel a sense of financial responsibility.” Continue reading →

NYTs Article about Entrepreneurialism in Detroit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Ah, romanticizing the Great Recession….

From the NYTs:

DETROIT — With $6,000 and some Hollywood-style spunk, four friends opened this city’s only independent foreign movie house three months ago in an abandoned school auditorium on an unlighted stretch of the Cass Corridor near downtown.

After the unlikely hoopla of an opening night, red-carpet-style event in an area known for drugs and prostitution, exactly four customers showed up to see a film.

Since then, the Burton Theater has had a few profitable nights. But, the owners say, this adventure in entrepreneurship was never completely about making money. It was also about creating a more livable community.

“Nobody could comprehend why we’d start a theater,” said an investor, Nathan Faustyn, 25. “But when you live in Detroit, you ask, ‘What can I do for the city?’ We needed this. And we had nothing to lose. When you’re at the bottom of the economic ladder, you have nowhere to look but up.”

Despite the recession — and in some cases because of it — small businesses are budding around Detroit in one of the more surprising twists of the downturn. Some new businesses like the Burton are scratching by. Others have already grown beyond the initial scope of their business plans, juggling hundreds of customers and expanding into new sites.

Across from the Burton, for instance, Jennifer Willemsen just celebrated the first anniversary of her shop, Curl Up and Dye, a retro-themed hair salon serving 1,500 clients. Not far away, Torya Blanchard, a former French teacher, recently opened the second location of Good Girls Go to Paris, a creperie. Next door, Greg Lenhoff, also a former teacher, opened a bookstore in August called Leopold’s. Continue reading →

News Coverage of Asian Carp Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From SCOTUSblog:

Following an editorial yesterday decrying the recent suit filed against the State of Illinois by the State of Michigan, the Chicago Tribune has a news story on recent fillings questioning the science behind Michigan’s claim that carp emerging through locks from Illinois waters could endanger the local fish.  The filings, in defense of Illinois, come from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  UPI reports that the Obama Administration has come out in favor of Illinois as well, while the Christian Science Monitor has Michigan’s side of the story.

Texas Kickapoo Embezzlement Convictions Reversed by Fifth Circuit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in United States v. Garza, and a news article (via Pechanga) on the case.

Another Mario Gonzales sighting!

Grand Traverse Resort GM Moving to Pechanga

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle via Pechanga (of course):

ACME — The search is on for a new leader at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, since its president and general manager is headed to southern California.

Grant Channing led the 600-room resort owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for more than three years. He’ll step down Friday and will take over as vice president of hotel operations at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., a 517-room resort and casino north of San Diego owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.

“Something has to challenge me for me to go, and there were some challenges there that intrigued me to go,” Channing said. “The most difficult thing, frankly, was leaving here.”

Continue reading →