Here:
Nottawseppi Huron Band Potawatomi Staff Attorney Job Posting
Here:
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians
Sixth Circuit Vacates Sentence of Nottawaseppi Huron Band Potawatomi Member in Sex Offense Case
Here is the opinion in United States v. Mackety.
Profile on Gun Lake and Other Potawatomi Casinos in Southwest Michigan
Here is the article, thanks to A.K. And an excerpt:
In the early 1990s, two Native American tribes in Southwest Michigan were working to gain federal recognition and open casinos. John Shagonaby, then in his early 20s, saw this and decided to enroll at Western Michigan University, earn a business degree and help his tribe do the same thing.
About 15 years later, the Gun Lake Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi are on the eve of opening the Gun Lake Casino, an 83,000-square-foot gaming hall in Wayland Township that promises to make casino gambling more convenient to hundreds of thousands in West Michigan.
By next New Year’s Eve, you could be there.
While there has been significant opposition, the number of casinos within a short drive of the region’s population centers of Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Kalamazoo is poised for further growth as a new decade dawns.
Two casinos have opened in the past three years, two more will open next year, and another may open in the next three years.
More casinos mean more options for area gamblers, but it also may mean greater competition for gaming dollars, making efficient management essential, experts say.
“It’s supply and demand,” said Jacob Miklojcik, president of Lansing economic development consulting firm Michigan Consultants. “For many years there was a lot of demand and not much supply. That’s changing now.”
But Shagonaby and the Gun Lake Tribe aren’t interested in talking about competition or what other casinos are doing. After a 10-year fight, they’re just glad to be nearing the finish line.
“There were a lot of ups and downs in the road but we made it through it,” he said. “So it will be even sweeter when we swing the doors open.”
Nottawseppi Huron Band Potawatomi Chief Judge Announcement
TRIBAL COUNCIL SEEKS LETTERS OF INTEREST FROM PERSONS TO SERVE ON AS CHIEF JUDGE OF THE NHBP TRIBAL COURT (TRIAL COURT). The Tribal Council is soliciting letters of interest from qualified individuals interested in being appointed to serve as Chief Judge of the NHBP Tribal Court. The individual appointed to this position would be appointed to a term of office which expiring on December 31, 2014. Letters of interest must be submitted no later than December 15, 2010 to be considered. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and statement of qualifications (or resume) to: Homer A. Mandoka, Tribal Council Chairperson, 2221 1 ½ Mile Road, Fulton, Michigan 49052.
Qualifications for Appointment: In accordance with the NHBP Constitution, persons interested in being appointed to the Tribal Judiciary must agree to undergo an extensive background investigation. The qualifications of prospective appointees are determined by the Tribal Council in accordance with the qualifications for office contained in Article X of the NHBP Constitution which include the following:
MIRS: Casino Catches Officials Off Guard
Without any of the standard federal or state approvals, the Bay Mills Tribe opened a new casino today near Vanderbilt off Interstate 75 in the Northern Lower Peninsula.
The 40-slot machine facility is located in a renovated Project Nature Welcome Center. Tribal members are familiar with the Vanderbilt area as they have been hunting elk in the region since 2007, exercising off-reservation treaty rights established with the 2007 Inland Consent Decree.
“This is something we’ve been working on for a long time,” said Bay Mills Chairman Jeff PARKER.
Apparently the tribe is testing a legal theory that, if it were to hold up, could open the floodgates for establishing tribal casinos without having to worry about the red tape that usually delays such projects for years. Some observers claim it could ultimately affect the status of an off-reservation site the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians own at Pinnacle Racetrack in Romulus.
Bay Mills and the Soo tribe were once a single tribe.
The move came as a complete surprise to state and federal officials. The tribe jumped through none of the usual legal hoops involved with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). In fact, its plan seems to involve specifically avoiding taking the land in trust, which is a key step in the IGRA process.
It usually takes years of working through the IGRA process to obtain the necessary sign-offs from the U.S. Department of Interior and the state to establish even an on-reservation casino.
The tribe’s reservation is located in the Upper Peninsula, centered at Brimley. However the casino Bay Mills opened today was on land far from the reservation. What’s more, the tribe bought the property less than three months ago.
President Ronald REAGAN signed IGRA in 1988. Ever since, IGRA guidelines have been an open target for almost any and every legal theory an attorney could convince a tribe to try out.
The theory Bay Mills seems to be pursuing is that because it purchased the land near Vanderbilt with money it had received in exchange for giving up its aboriginal lands, the land is therefore exempt from the usual impediments IGRA placed on off-reservation gaming.
The entire issue of off-reservation gaming, as it pertains to IGRA is currently being reviewed nationally (See “Minnesota Event <http://mirsnews.com/capsule.php?gid=3437%2325188%20> Could Affect Muskegon Casino,”10/20/10).
The Bay Mills decision to test the legal theory might have been timed to coincide with the national discussion. In addition, it might also have been timed to take place prior to Governor-elect Rick SNYDER taking office.
Snyder is believed to be less amenable to gaming expansion than Gov. Jennifer <http://mirsnews.com/lob_bio.php?cid=532> GRANHOLM has been. However, the Granholm administration quickly voiced opposition to Bay Mills opening the Vanderbilt casino today.
Testimony in Mich. House Committee Hearing on Little River Band Off-Rez Gaming Proposal
Hearing on Little River Band Off-Rez Gaming Compact Delayed
From Indianz:
A hearing on the off-reservation casino sought by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians has been delayed.
The Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee held an initial hearing on the project on May 26. Additional hearings were scheduled but they were canceled.
“I don’t get why they’re holding this up,” Rep. Doug Bennett (D), who supports the casino, told The Muskegon Chronicle.
The new hearing probably won’t be held until the end of this month or in early July, an aide to Rep. Bert Johnson, the chairman of the committee, told the paper. The location hasn’t been determined either although it will be held somewhere in the Muskegon area.
The tribe wants to build the casino at a former racetrack in Fruitport Township, near Muskegon. The site is about 80 miles from the tribe’s headquarters but it’s within the tribe’s nine-county service area.
The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians and the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians oppose the project. They say the Little River Band violated the terms of the original Class III compact by not seeking approval from other tribes for an off-reservation casino.
Get the Story:
State House group to have casino proposal hearing here (The Muskegon Chronicle 6/15)
News Coverage of Laura Spurr’s Memorial Service
From the Battle Creek Enquirer (follow the link for pictures):
Funeral is a celebration of Laura Spurr’s life
Trace Christenson • The Enquirer • February 28, 2010
Amid eagle feathers and flowers, mourners celebrated the life Saturday of Laura Spurr.
Speaker after speaker described Spurr, the chairperson of the Tribal Council of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, as determined and blunt but fair and always trying to help members of the tribe.
“She demanded respect for her people but was unassuming in going about that,” said Frank Ettawageshik, former Chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. “Laura went out and changed the world and she came home and changed the world.”
Spurr, 64, died Feb. 19 after suffering a heart attack while attending a conference in California.
She had been active in tribal leadership since 1999 and served as council chair from 2000 to 2001 and from 2003 until her death. She was a driving force in the 10-year-long process of approval and construction by the tribe of FireKeepers Casino in Emmett Township.
Laura Spurr Walks On
News article here.
New Firekeepers Casino Crime Impact Never Materialized
From the Battle Creek Inquirer via Pechanga:
Four months after the opening of FireKeepers Casino, local police say crime hasn’t risen as some casino opponents had feared.
While some critics feared the casino would lead to an increase in burglaries, embezzlement and crimes of that ilk, that hasn’t materialized, police and residents said.
Increased traffic is the thing most residents near the casino are going to experience, said Emmett Township’s acting Public Safety Director Kenneth Cunningham. Gamers at the casino might see the occasional drunken and disorderly conduct, but nothing more than would be expected at a place selling alcohol, Cunningham said.
Cunningham and casino officials said data on the number of incidents near FireKeepers and on casino grounds were not immediately available. Those statistics are tracked by the Huron Potawatomi Police Department, the force for the Athens Township-based Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, FireKeepers’ owners.
Residents living near the facility say its impact has been minimal.
“It’s not really been a problem,” said Sue Bess, 67, who lives on Ackerson Drive, directly east of the casino property. “Traffic’s not really been much different. Everything’s moved pretty smooth.”
The tribe in October 2008 signed a $1.1 million agreement with Emmett Township for Emmett to police the casino around the clock for three years. The tribe pays for five cross-trained police, fire and emergency medical public safety officers and a new patrol car for the township, which is housed at the casino. Fire or medical calls are handled and paid for on a per-call basis.
Four months after the casino’s opening, “Things are going very good,” Cunningham said.
Turtle Talk 
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