Larry Plamondon, a member of the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians, is profiled in the new paper by Trevor Morrison on the Supreme Court case, United States v. District Court (the Keith case, named after Judge Damon Keith). Here is a link to the paper (via Legal History Blog), which is part of the Presidential Power Stories book.
And it’s great to see Larry’ autobiography, Lost from the Ottawa (available at Nokomis), featured in an important piece of legal scholarship.
From the Muskegon Chronicle:
A downtown Muskegon casino proposed by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians would be nearly twice the size of the band’s Little River Casino in Manistee.
It would also appeal to a different market, tribal leaders told members of the Muskegon City Commission Monday night — an urban market that would pull in people from around Muskegon, Grand Rapids and as far east as Lansing, as opposed to the destination-resort setting of the Manistee gaming facility.
From Indianz:
The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is entering the off-reservation casino game in Muskegon, Michigan.
The tribe plans to make a presentation to the city commission on Monday. Ogema Larry Romanelli says the tribe is interested in a casino in Muskegon — about 80 miles from tribal headquarters in Manistee. The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians recently proposed an off-reservation casino in Muskegon. The tribe’s headquarters are about 500 miles away. The Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians, an unrecognized tribe, is also interested in a casino in the city.
Get the Story:
Muskegon officials to hear another casino pitch (The Muskegon Chronicle 2/8)
Here’s the full text of the bill.
And here’s the link to the testimony in the House Resources Committee on October 3, 2007.
Jim Keedy of Michigan Indian Legal Services testified. As Jim notes in his testimony, MILS has assisted numerous Michigan tribes in their federal recognition efforts, including Pokagon Band, Little Traverse, Little River, Lac Vieux Desert — and Grand Traverse Band, the first tribe recognized under the Federal Acknowledgment Process, 25 C.F.R. Part 83 (then Part 54). MILS is now representing the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians in their attempt to become federally recognized. Their petition is complete, but as Jim Keedy testified, it will be 15-20 years before the Bureau of Acknowledgment and Research will place their file on active review.
From the Muskegon Chronicle: “Flying under the public radar screen since a successful 2003 non-binding city of Muskegon ballot proposal supporting the concept of a casino for downtown Muskegon, Archimedes Group LLC now has unveiled a $2.4 billion concept plan for a downtown Muskegon waterfront casino resort that is predicated on federal tribal recognition for the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians.”
Later in the article, the Archimedes people made an assertion that doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny:
“Left unanswered is how the Grand River Band gains the ability to open an Indian casino in downtown Muskegon, but Archimedes spokesman Dick Anderson said the tribe is ‘on the cusp’ of federal recognition — a critical step in the process.”
Our post about the federal recognition process and the Grand River Band is here. There is support from Senator Levin, but I would surprised if there is a serious push in Congress to recognize the Band. I would like to be wrong, but announcing plans for casinos long before federal recognition is a certainty creates more difficulty for unrecognized tribes.
Turtle Talk 