Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indi – Page 2

LCO Treaty Rights Camp Update

July 31, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Iron County is going to postpone its prosecution of treaty rights campers, article here. An excerpt:

People at the Lac Courte Orielles harvest camp in northern Wisconsin will not face eviction any time soon as Iron County Board members decided Tuesday night to postpone any directives to its district attorney to seek civil and criminal charges.

The board referred the matter to the county forestry committee, the group that originally approved a year-long stay for the camp. It next meets Aug. 13.

The Lac Courte Orielles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa camp of two dozen wigwams sits near the area where Gogebic Taconite is exploring a proposed mine site. Clashes in the past few months with mining officials and those opposed to the practice have elevated the public knowledge of the camp. The band is using the camp to highlight the natural resources it says are at risk due to the proposed mining.

Coverage of Final Day of Wisconsin Chippewa Tribes Night Deer Hunting Trial

July 26, 2013Adrea Korthase

Ruling is expected before November.

Wisconsin Public Radio story here.

Minneapolis Star Tribune story here.

Day one coverage is here and day two coverage is here.

Disturbing Events at Lac Courte Oreilles Treaty Rights Camp — Mining Co. Hires Paramilitary Security Firm to Push Off Anishinaabeg

July 24, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

News coverage from the Progressive and Wisconsin Public Radio.

From the Prog:

On Tuesday morning the Iron County Forest Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Iron County Board pursue criminal and civil charges against the Lac Courte Oreilles Treaty Harvest and Education camp for violating county ordinances and provisions of state County Forest Law. The vote took place with no discussion after the committee emerged from closed session with their corporate counsel.

The decision comes two months after the same committee voted unanimously to approve a request by the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa for a waiver to the county’s 14-day camping ordinance to allow the camp to remain established on Moore Park Road for one year.

From WPR:

An attorney who has been critical of mining company GTAC says the company might have committed a felony when it hired an unlicensed security firm to guard its test drills.

Hurley lawyer Anthony Stella had already asked the Iron County district attorney and state regulators to deny a license to Arizona-based Bulletproof Securities because the company’s paramilitary-style guards operated here without a license. In a new letter sent to the DA and the state, Stella cites another law that says anyone who employs armed people for the protection of persons or property, not being authorized by the laws of the state, is guilty of a felony.