The editors complain about everything, and then assert whole states and localities should be allowed to vote on whether Indian gaming can come to the community. But the first two comments on the website have powerful responses.
Grand Rapids Press
Michigan Tuition Waiver News Coverage
The Grand Rapids Press ran a story on the GR representative who introduced the bill to abolish the tuition waiver. I spent a great deal of time talking to the reporter about my point of view on the benefit of the waiver, and recommended she talk to tribal leaders about, but to my disappointment and regret she wrote nothing whatsoever about the benefits of the waiver to Indian people.
Oh well.
What I did say, and I’m sure even a modicum of empirical research would bear out, is that the Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver has been an outstanding engine of economic growth in the entire State. There would be Indian gaming, but I suspect it would have come much later to Michigan Indians without the college-educated Indian professionals to guide the way. And not all the beneficiaries of the tuition waiver went into gaming-related jobs. Many, many more have helped to fill jobs inside and outside of Indian Country.
And to say that Indian casinos make millions is disingenuous. Some do, some definitely don’t. Many tribal members living outside of their communities see little of that benefit. The tuition waiver for many Indians in Michigan is the difference between poverty and hope.
All this is — is free promotion for a junior rep from Grand Rapids with no political power.
Grand Rapids Press Editorial: “Fair Game”
The Grand Rapids Press has come out in favor of the inland treaty rights settlement. Hat tip to Indianz.com.
Here’s the text of yesterday’s editorial:
Michigan natural resources must be conscientiously respected and carefully managed. The same is true of the government’s promises to the first people of this region, American Indians. A hunting and fishing agreement among five tribes, Michigan and the United States would protect property rights, allow the state to manage fish and game and honor long-standing treaty agreements with native people.
Considering the volatile history of relationships between American Indians and the state when it comes to tribal hunting and fishing, that’s a major accomplishment. The consent decree deserves quick approval from U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen, who will have final say.
The agreement traces back to an 1836 treaty between the U.S. government and five tribes: the Grand Traverse Band; the Bay Mills Indian Community; the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians; the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians; and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. In the treaty, the tribes ceded to the federal government land that became the western half of the Lower Peninsula and the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula.
The disputed part of the treaty gave the tribes the “right to hunt and the usual privileges of occupancy until the land is required for settlement.” The bitter controversy surrounding gill netting on the Great Lakes during the last few decades attests to how contentious such conflicts can become. That dispute involved hard feelings, vandalism, even occasional gunshots.
The decree recognizes that tribal rights under the treaty remain in tact, a fundamental point that had previously been in dispute. The agreement, which covers land and inland water in the treaty area, prohibits the tribes from hunting or
fishing on private property without permission. Hunting and fishing for commercial gain would be prohibited, too, except in very restricted instances.
The tribes would be allowed to write their own rules and issue licenses for hunting seasons that, in some cases, differ from the state’s. Nevertheless, the tribes and the Department of Natural Resources would share information and coordinate, to make consistent game management possible. Four of the tribes have ratified the settlement. The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa, by far the largest of the five, is conducting a referendum of its 23,870 members. A final decision is expected from Judge Enslen, likely later this month.
Judge Enslen should see the decree for what it is: a fair deal. American Indian tribes were in Michigan thousands of years before European settlers arrived. The 1836 treaty recognizes that history by granting special standing and privilege to the tribes. This consent decree recognizes that the best way to honor those obligations is to work together to manage the amazing resources we all share.
Turtle Talk 