Here is the order: DCT Order Striking Sag Chip Briefs
The remaining materials are here.
treaty rights
EPA Visits Eagle Rock
BIG BAY, Mich. – As the top government official who oversees Great Lakes water quality stood on the edge of sacred Eagle Rock, overlooking a pristine expanse of the Yellow Dog Plains, she gained a better understanding about why the state-owned land is sacred to Michigan’s Ojibwa.
“I very much understand what their concerns are – and that is one of the things we are considering as we moved forward on this,” said Tinka Hyde, Water Division director for Environmental Protection Region 5. “We realize that Eagle Rock is of cultural and religious importance to the tribe.”
Hyde was one of three EPA regional bosses from Chicago and the agency’s tribal liaison for Michigan who were given a tour of the area May 13 by officials from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community during a two-day visit to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Members of numerous tribes including Ojibwa, Cherokee and Lakota had been camping at the base of Eagle Rock since April 23 in hopes of preventing Kennecott Eagle Minerals from building a nickel and copper sulfide mine – named the Eagle Project. At the company’s request, state and local police officers raided the encampment May 27 arresting two campers.
Under federal treaties, Ojibwa have rights to hunt, fish and gather on the state of Michigan owned land. The state leased the land to Kennecott with the understanding that all permits must be approved.
Hyde said any ruling the EPA makes about the withdrawal of state and federal permit applications by Kennecott subsidiaries will be based solely on environmental protection laws, primarily the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act.
United States Brief in Opposition to Cert Petition in Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Missouri River
Here: Oglala09-1051
Earlier materials are here.
Ninth Circuit Decides Wenatchi and Yakama Fishing Rights at Wenatshapam Fishery
Here is the opinion in U.S. v. Colville, and an excerpt:
This appeal is the latest chapter in the saga of Pacific Northwest Native American treaty fishing rights; a saga that has spanned many generations and over forty years of federal litigation. If history is our guide, it will not be the last chapter written. After a 2006 remand from this court, the district court conducted a trial primarily based on expert anthropological opinions, century-old documents, and reliable hearsay. The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation (“Yakama”) appeal, and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation (“Colville”) cross-appeal on behalf of theirWenatchi Constituent Tribe (“Wenatchi”), the district court’s finding that they share joint fishing rights at the “Wenatshapam Fishery” on Icicle Creek-a tributary to the Wenatchee River which flows into the Columbia River-under an 1894 agreement between the United States and the Yakama. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
For over a century-as the result of broken and forgotten promises-the Wenatchi’s fishing rights at their aboriginal home and fishing station have been in doubt. We hold that the district court’s ruling is supported by historical evidence establishing that it was the intent of the 1894 negotiators to grant theWenatchi fishing rights at Wenatshapam, that the Yakama did not sell all of their fishing rights at Wenatshapam, and that both tribes’ fishing rights are non-exclusive. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.
Washington COA Holds State Has No Criminal Jurisdiction over Off-Reservation Treaty Fishing Areas
Here is the opinion in State v. Jim.
An excerpt:
Lester R. Jim, an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, appeals a superior court decision reversing the district court’s dismissal of his fishing citations for lack of jurisdiction over the Maryhill Treaty Fishing Access Site (MTFAS). This court granted Mr. Jim discretionary review. We reverse the superior court because the State of Washington lacks jurisdiction to cite Mr. Jim at the MTFAS.
More News Coverage of Eagle Rock Protest
KBIC, Kennecott to talk – From Mining Journal
http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/543915.html?nav=5006
Article in the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-pryor/a-sacred-fire-is-burning_b_567652.html
Miigwetch to A.K.
Poaching Case to Reach Sault Tribe Tribal Court
From the Escanaba Daily Press vie Pechanga:
ESCANABA – Three members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, accused of illegal commercial fishing in Little Bay de Noc in 2009, will appear in tribal court this month, officials said.
Five tribal members and one Delta County man were arrested in early 2009 for allegedly illegally catching and selling walleye from Little Bay de Noc. The tribe has legal jurisdiction over the five tribal members, while Delta County has legal jurisdiction over the non-tribal member.
In March of this year, the tribe announced three of the accused tribal members were cited with approximately 100 civil infractions including illegally setting nets and selling thousands of pounds of walleye for profit.
The fish were allegedly being sold through a tribal commercial fishing operation consisting of two tribal members and a state-licensed wholesaler. Investigation continues regarding these three individuals who have not yet been officially charged.
According to Brenda Browning, a clerk at the tribal court in Sault Ste. Marie, the citations have been issued against the three tribal members accused of illegally poaching and selling walleye. Their pretrial hearings are scheduled in tribal court in mid-May. The court is not releasing their names because the case is in the pretrial phase, Browning explained Friday.
Browning also said these three cases are considered civil matters, which are being handled by Special Prosecutor Monica Lubiarz-Quigley.
When contacted Monday, Lubiarz-Quigley referred the Daily Press to the tribe’s general counselor, Thomas Dorwin. Dorwin did not return a call from the newspaper prior to press time.
The Daily Press also left a message with the tribe’s attorney, Aaron Schlehuber, on Monday.
Indian Treaty Rights Showdown in Minnesota Possible
From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
LEECH LAKE RESERVATION — The stage is set for an off-reservation treaty rights battle to begin Friday in Bemidji that ultimately could engulf much of northern Minnesota. Some Leech Lake Chippewa band members say they’ll set nets in Lake Bemidji the day before Minnesota’s walleye and northern pike seasons begin.
The Indians are gambling they’ll be busted for violating state angling rules, sparking a legal battle not only over northern Minnesota fish but also its wildlife and perhaps its timber, minerals and other resources.
Citing a treaty more than 150 years old, the Chippewa say most state fish and wildlife rules don’t apply to them across a large section of northern Minnesota — generally north of Interstate 94 — that they ceded to the federal government in 1855.
The stakes are high for everyone. The Leech Lake Chippewa, and those of the White Earth band about an hour away, risk backlashes that could cut into their casino profits and fracture relations with nonband members that in some instances are already tenuous.
And while the state has signaled it will hold fast to its contention that the bands have no off-reservation hunting, fishing and gathering rights, its costly defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court to the Mille Lacs and other Chippewa bands over similar treaty claims in 1999 hasn’t been forgotten.
“We need to exercise our rights or our sovereignty is just a thought,” said Renée Jones-Judkins, 52, of Cass Lake, who with her four sons will net Lake Bemidji on Friday. She was one of about 125 Leech Lake members (out of a tribal enrollment of 9,400) who attended a tribal treaty rights meeting Friday at the band’s Palace Casino in Cass Lake.
The White Earth and Leech Lake tribal councils aren’t sanctioning the protests. Instead, they will sponsor a public forum on Friday in Bemidji to inform nonband members about rights the Chippewa say they hold.
Eighth Circuit Panel Amends Opinion in Yankton v. Podhrasky; En Banc Petitions Still Pending
Here are the materials:
Amended opinion–081441P
CA8 Order Granting Rehearing [explains the amendments to the earlier opinion]
South Dakota Petition for En Banc Review
Charles Mix County Petition for En Banc Review
Federal Response to En Banc Petitions
Yankton Opposition to En Banc Review
Rosebud Sioux Opposition to En Banc Petition
Earlier opinion and briefs are here.
U.S. v. White Mountain–Jurisdictional Defense to Federal Prosecution Based on 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty
Here are the materials (no decision from the Eighth Circuit yet):
Turtle Talk 
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