KBIC

Job Posting: Tribal Attorney for Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

Kate Fort

Details here (pdf).

To serve as general in-house counsel for the Keweenaw Bay Tribal Council.
Provides legal advice and assistance to the Keweenaw Bay Tribal Council, tribal administrators, program and enterprise directors/managers.
Prepares legal documents. Acts as agent of the Tribal Council in various transactions.
Provides counsel and representation on treaty right issues: hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering, taxation, environment, and civil regulations.
Represents Tribal Council in court and before quasi-judicial or administrative agencies. Provides legal counsel and representation on Indian Child Welfare matters.
Maintains and revises the Tribal Code. Drafts, reviews, revises and acts as consultant in regard to tribal legal codes and legislation.
Reviews and assists in revision of personnel manuals, policies and procedures to ensure compliance with tribal and applicable federal laws.
Supervises Legal Department clerical staff, and may act as Tribal Prosecutor (if appointed by Tribal Council).
Reviews all tribal contracts for legal sufficiency in conjunction with the tribes’ Chief Financial Officer. Represents the tribe in regard to land acquisition, including fee to trust applications.
Serves on advisory committees relative to economic and financial development, environmental concerns, employee benefits and employment policies.
Performs other related duties as directed by the Tribal Council and assigned by the Tribal President.

KBIC, Eagle Rock, and Kennecott Mine in Scientific American

Kate Fort

The article is Part 5 in a series called “Pollution, Poverty and People of Color”

“A Michigan Tribe Battles a Global Corporation”:

An abundant resource, this water has nourished a small Native American community for hundreds of years. So 10 years ago, when an international mining company arrived near the shores of Lake Superior to burrow a mile under the Earth and pull metals out of ore, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa had to stand for its rights and its water.

And now, as bulldozers raze the land and the tunnel creeps deeper, the tribe still hasn’t backed down.

“The indigenous view on water is that it is a sacred and spiritual entity,” said Jessica Koski, mining technical assistant for the Keweenaw Bay community. “Water gives us and everything on Earth life.”

The Keweenaw Bay Indians are fighting for their clean water, sacred sites and traditional way of life as Kennecott Eagle Minerals inches towards copper and nickel extraction, scheduled to begin in 2014.

It’s a good longreads article. Our previous coverage, including the multitude of lawsuits the article mentions, is here.

Preliminary Results of KBIC Council Vote

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Mining Gazette:

Tribal elections too close to call

By JANE NORDBERG, DMG Writer

BARAGA — Unofficial results from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s Tribal Council elections held Saturday show a close race, especially for the two seats in the Baraga District.

Continue reading →

Tribal Exhaustion Doctrine & KBIC Tribal Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Judge Quist in the Western District of Michigan recently remanded a tort claim back to tribal court in accordance with the tribal court exhaustion doctrine, as articulated in National Farmers Union and Iowa Mutual.

The case is called Michigan Property & Casualty Guaranty Association v. Foucault-Funke American Legion Post 444.

The motion to dismiss is here: Memorandum in Support of Motion

The response brief is here: Response Brief

Judge Quist’s opinion remanding the case to tribal court is here: Opinion