Keweenaw Bay Indian Community – Page 3

Press Release: “Keweenaw Bay Indian Community stands 500 strong at Eagle Mine Court of Appeals Hearing”

June 5, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community stands 500 strong at Eagle Mine Court of Appeals Hearing (PDF)

For Release: June 5, 2014

Contact: Donald Shalifoe, Sr., Tribal President

Baraga, MI — About 500 members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) stood united around the importance of keeping their waters clean from contamination associated with sulfide mining on June 3, 2014 at the Michigan Court of Appeals. Oral arguments were heard involving the Eagle Mine, Michigan’s first permitted sulfide mine in the Upper Peninsula.

“This is the first time in our generation that the community as a whole came together to fight for true sovereignty and engage in spontaneous government participation. The goal of the new moving-forward Tribal Council is to bring transparency and involvement to the Anishinaabeg (the people),” said Donald Shalifoe, Sr., KBIC’s Ogimaa (Chief).

Many tribal members carpooled and traveled about eight hours to line up for the 10:00 a.m. Lansing hearing. KBIC’s remarkable presence overwhelmed the Michigan Hall of Justice whose staff reported it was their largest turn out ever for a court hearing.

Tribal leaders and elders observed the hearing from within the court room, while hundreds watched and listened to the proceedings in an overflow video conferencing room. Traditional drumming and singing resounded outside the building following the hearing.

KBIC’s Vice President Carole LaPointe remarked “it was a very educational experience for our membership and youth.”

The Anishinaabeg band has opposed the Eagle Mine development, located on Treaty of 1842 ceded homeland, since it was first permitted by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in 2006.

Unsettled concerns involve the mining regulatory process, improper permitting and inadequate assessment of impacts to the area environment, cultural resources and water quality, including groundwater contamination and the potential for perpetual acid mine drainage upstream from Lake Superior.

Tribal member Jeffery Loman said “the hearing today is another testimony to the fact that inadequate regulation and collusion between industry and government results in endless litigation.”

One aspect of the evolving case questions what qualifies as a “place of worship” under Michigan’s sulfide mining statute. An initial ruling by Michigan Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson recommended mitigation of impacts to an Anishinaabeg sacred place, Migi zii wa sin (Eagle Rock), but the MDEQ made a final permit decision asserting only built structures are places of worship.

Discriminatory enforcement of Michigan law has led to substantial degradation to KBIC’s sacred site. This includes obtrusive mine facilities and a decline access ramp into the base of Eagle Rock, non-stop noise and activity, and hindered traditional access and use. Spiritually significant high places like Eagle Rock are used in solitude by the Anishinaabeg for multi-day fasting, vision quest and ceremony.

Despite the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, Native people still struggle to protect their remaining sacred places in the face of extractive development agendas. “It is a shame that the United States of America, proudly founded upon values of religious freedom, has trouble guaranteeing this right to all of its nation’s first people,” said tribal member Jessica Koski.

KBIC anticipates a decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals within six months. The Eagle Mine’s timeframe for production start-up is the end of 2014. “While the court deliberates, it is important to remember that regardless of the outcome, we are in the right for standing up for the Yellow Dog Plains. We hope the court understands their decision will have long lasting implications for this place, as well as other areas that are slated for mining,” said Emily Whittaker of Big Bay, Michigan who gathered alongside KBIC and other locally affected residents.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruling will be an important precedent for additional sulfide mining proposals threatening Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and waters of the Great Lakes.

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In These Times Profile of Fight against Rio Tinto’s Mine in UP

March 14, 2014March 13, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

H/T Pechanga.

Sixth Circuit Rejects Challenge to Eagle Mine

October 30, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Huron Mountain Club v. United States Army Corps of Engineers:

CA6 Unpublished Opinion

Huron Mountain Brief

Federal Brief

Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company Brief

Huron Mountain Reply

An excerpt:

Plaintiff-Appellant Huron Mountain Club (“HMC”) appeals the district court’s denial of its motion for injunctive relief, which sought to enjoin Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company (“Kennecott”) from constructing and operating the Eagle Mine (“Eagle Mine” or “the Mine”), a nickel and copper mine in Marquette, Michigan, and compel the United States Army Corps of Engineers1 (the “Corps”) to “administer” the federal permitting programs under the Rivers and Harbors Act (“RHA”), 33 U.S.C. § 403, and the Clean Water Act
(“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 1344. We AFFIRM.

Lower court materials here.

Federal Court Allows KBIC Member’s Treaty Rights Case re: Pig Farming to Proceed

October 9, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the order denying Michigan’s motion to dismiss in Turunen v. Creagh (W.D. Mich.):

DCT Order

Briefs here.

Prior posts here and here.

Briefs in Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Member’s Treaty Rights Claim

July 31, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the briefs in Turunen v. Creagh (W.D. Mich.):

Turunen Opposition to MTD

Michigan Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint

Turunen Opposition

Michigan Reply

Amended complaint here.

Gov. Snyder Refuses to Concur with Interior on KBIC Off-Reservation Casino Application

June 19, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, via Pechanga.

This is interesting:

Governor Snyder did state that he was open to relocation as part of a broader agreement between the tribe and the state. Potential points for such an agreement include:

·         Allowing local governments to have some say in the disposition of the 2 percent local casino revenue sharing payments

·         The tribe entering into an agreement requiring the tribal businesses to collect tax on transactions with non-Native Americans

·         Working out a revised revenue sharing agreement so the tribe would continue to make some level of payments to the state, even if future gaming competition develops elsewhere in the state. Currently, the KBIC is the only tribe with gaming operations in the state that has an agreement that would stop revenue payments if state-authorized gaming was expanded in Michigan.

In a two-part determination, which allows the governor to concur or not, these points are irrelevant. However, in a compact negotiation, these points appear to put KBIC in a very strong negotiating position in that the governor’s demands appear to violate IGRA’s requirement that the governor negotiate in good faith. Asking for more revenue sharing without any meaningful economic concessions, and demanding tribal tax collection, and demanding the institution of a local revenue sharing board — way overboard, in my view. Will be interesting to see what KB does — go with the Secretarial procedures, or simply sue the governor under the 1993 compacts and litigate good faith.

Update in KBIC Member Suit against Michigan over Pig Farming

May 31, 2013May 31, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is the first amended complaint in Turunen v. Creagh (W.D. Mich.):

Turunen First Amended Complaint

Michigan previously moved to dismiss here:

Michigan Motion to Dismiss

First post was here.

KBIC Member Sues Michigan DNR over State Regs Affecting Pig Farming

April 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is the complaint in Turenen v. Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources (W.D. Mich.):

Turunen Complaint

An excerpt:

Plaintiff is a family farmer and a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) residing and farming in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Plaintiff has been raising crops and livestock for the past 23 years on land located in the territory ceded to the United States of America via the 1842 Treaty between the United States and the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, 7 Stat. 591 (the 1842 Treaty). Plaintiff’s farming operations are conducted pursuant to rights reserved in Article II of the 1842 Treaty and pursuant to a license from KBIC. Plaintiff’s treaty-protected farming activities are being threatened by the policies and activities of Defendants which seek to destroy a certain agri-industry in the State of Michigan, so-called hunting estates. To achieve this questionable goal Defendants have sought to prohibit Plaintiff’s pigs through an Invasive Species Order which literally can be applied to any pig in existence. Further, Defendants’ policies make no provision for Plaintiff’s treaty-protected farming activities and Defendants’ seek to impose their regulatory schemes upon Plaintiff. Plaintiff invokes this Court’s jurisdiction in order to protect her treaty reserved right to farm within the territory ceded to the United States by the 1842 Treaty.

Tribal Gaming Per Cap Payments May Decrease Labor Productivity and Increase Fertility (?!?!)

March 13, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher6 Comments

Here is a study of the effects of gaming per capita payments on tribal members of three Michigan tribes (Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians). In line with the 1491s’ hilarious video in which a candidate for tribal office runs on the platform of “progression, procreation, per cap,” the study suggests that tribal members receiving per caps leads to “decreased work efforts,” while “weak” evidence exists that per cap payments increase fertility. Enjoy.

Here is the study:

The Effects of Per Capita Tribal Payments on the Fertility, Education, and Labor Force Participation of Tribal Members

The abstract:

The purpose of this research is to provide a preliminary examination of the effects of per capita tribal payments on the decision making of tribal members. Standard microeconomic theory suggests that unearned income changes the labor-leisure tradeoff in utility maximization models. While the results of per capita payments on hours of work can be easily anticipated, the effects of these payments on human capital accumulation and family size are more ambiguous. Using Census data from 1990 and 2000 we shed some light on the impact of these per capita tribal payments on the lives of the recipients. We concentrate on three tribes in the state of Michigan: the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan. The results lend support to the basic labor theory conclusion that an increase in nonlabor income causes individuals to decrease their work efforts. There is also weak evidence that the payment of per capita payments from casino profits is increasing the fertility rate of Saginaw Chippewa tribal families.