Grand Traverse Band

GTB Primary Election Results

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Traverse City Record-Eagle:

PESHAWBESTOWN — Voters selected eight finalists for leadership positions in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ primary election.

Two-term incumbent Chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum and council member Derek Bailey were the top two finishers in the tribal chairman’s race, according to preliminary election results, said Sam Evans, who heads the tribe’s election committee.

Those two candidates will square off in the May 21 regular election.

Former council member Thurlow “Sam” McClellan finished third in the chairman’s race, but unofficial vote totals for each candidate were not made available.

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GTB Election Coverage (from Indianz)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan are voting in a primary election on Wednesday.

Twenty candidates are vying for three seats on the tribal council. Three candidates are running for chairman. The general election will be held May 21. The two top voters from each race will be on the ballot. For chairman, incumbent Robert Kewaygoshkum is facing a challenge from Derek Bailey and Thurlow “Sam” McClellan.

Get the Story:
Tribal voters to narrow field (The Leelanau News 4/8)

AP: Michigan Tribes Object to Michigan Water Legislation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the AP:

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — An American Indian tribe says bills pending in the Legislature to regulate high-volume water withdrawals would violate its rights by reducing fish populations in some rivers and streams.

Officials with other northern Michigan tribes also are raising concerns about the measures, pending in the House and Senate. The two versions are similar, but have differences that sponsors are trying to work out before floor votes are taken.

The bills would regulate withdrawals of more than 200,000 gallons per day from rivers and streams — or from underground aquifers — for commercial uses such as farming and manufacturing.

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Grand Traverse Band Opposition to Michigan Water Withdrawal Legislation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Thanks to Bill Rastetter.

GTB Letter to House

GTB Letter to Senate

GTB Election Preview

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Leelanau Enterprise:

Three candidates have tossed their hats into the ring to serve as tribal chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

In addition, 21 other tribal members are running for three seats on the Tribal Council.

The GTB will hold a Primary Election on April 9 to narrow the field of candidates to two running for tribal chairman and six running for seats on the Tribal Council. The Regular Election is slated to be held on May 21, with newly elected or re-elected officials taking office the following day.

Tribal Election Board chairman Sam Evans said that the deadline for candidates to declare their candidacy was March 3. He explained that a list of candidates will not be available until after March 17, the deadline for completing a background check of all candidates. The background check, which includes fingerprinting, eliminates any convicted felons from running for office.

Although no candidate list was available this week, it’s clear that at least one incumbent tribal councilor, Derek Bailey, is hoping to fill Tribal Chairman Robert Keywaygoshkum’s seat. Lawn signs declaring Bailey’s candidacy for tribal chairman have appeared along roadways near the reservation in Peshawbestown. Bailey’s four-year term as a tribal councilor is slated to expire in May.

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Black Ash Basketry Conference — May 16, 2008

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Kelly Church:

Emerald Ash Borer/ Black Ash Basketry Conference 2008

Since the discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer(EAB) in 2002, Michigan has lost over 20 million ash trees, and the numbers continue to rise. The entire lower peninsula of Michigan is under a “no ash movement” quarantine, and the EAB continues to spread and infect entire ash lots, eventually killing off once healthy, thriving ash trees.

For hundreds of years Native Americans of Michigan (Anishnabe) and Natives from all over the North Eastern United States have been using Black Ash trees for basketweaving. These baskets have been used for centuries for utilitarian purposes such as Market baskets, berry picking baskets, fishing creels, baby baskets, laundry baskets, and sewing baskets. Today they are still used in a variety of ways, and are also collectible baskets as pieces of art.

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Radio Podcast re: Grand Traverse Band’s Successful Child Welfare Program

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

More than 18,000 children and teens live in Michigan’s child welfare system. Officials in Lansing say there are too many kids who have been taken from their homes to live in the care of strangers. In Leelanau County social workers with the local Indian tribe say they had almost 40 kids in state care a decade ago – but not anymore. What the Grand Traverse Band is doing right And what native traditions of family life can teach us about helping struggling families stick together.

Here is the radio podcast.

Grand Traverse Band Revenue Sharing Slowly Declining

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

From the Leelanau Enterprise (H/T Indianz):

This winter’s “2-percent” payments from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians are down for the third year in a row to the lowest level in more than a decade.

The twice-yearly payments represent two percent of the revenues earned from video slot machines at the tribe’s Leelanau Sands Casino in Peshawbestown and Turtle Creek Casino in Grand Traverse County. The tribe is required to pay out the money to local units of government in the immediate vicinity of tribal casinos for governmental services and “for impacts associated with existence” of tribal casinos in their vicinity under terms of a 1993 federal court consent decree. Since 1994, the tribe has paid out around $18 million in “2-percent” money.

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Romulus Casino Update

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Journal Newspapers:

Romulus Mayor will pitch casino approval on Capitol Hill

A delegation of city officials hope elected officials will be swayed by testimony they plan to give regarding the impact a casino would have in Wayne County before the Legislature early in 2008.

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Tribal Walleye Stocking Program

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Soo Today:

Friday, December 21, 2007NEWS RELEASE

SAULT STE. MARIE
TRIBE OF
CHIPPEWA INDIANS

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Tribal walleye stocking program going strong into 10th year

21 percent of walleye sampled were stocked fish; no sign of VHS in stocks

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – Tom Gorenflo, Inter-Tribal Fisheries and Assessment Program (ITFAP) director, reported walleye fishing in the St. Marys river received another boost in 2007 as the ITFAP raised and stocked 337,000 two-inch walleye summer fingerlings at various locations in the river.

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