From the Leelanau Enterprise:
Ed. note: New Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, who was sworn in to his new position Thursday, talked with Enterprise reporter Eric Carlson Friday on a wide range of topics. Following is their conversation:
From the Leelanau Enterprise:
Derek Bailey sworn in as new GTB chairman.
DEREK BAILEY at last week’s swearing-in ceremony.
Clutching an eagle fan believed to give a leader the courage to “speak in a good way,” the youngest tribal chairman in the history of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians stepped up to the podium on stage at the Leelanau Sands Casino Showroom Thursday afternoon immediately after being sworn in.
“This is a very emotional, powerful moment not only for me but for our entire nation,” said 36-year-old Derek Bailey. He explained that the sacred feathers were loaned to him by his uncle, Deuce Miller.
Bailey acknowledged how long and difficult the 2008 tribal election process had been.
“To those who did not support me in the election,” Bailey said, “I will work hard to meet your needs and expectations.”
In 1980, when the tribe was finally recognized as a sovereign nation by the U.S. government, membership was around 400. Tribal membership now exceeds 4,000.
From Indianz:
The outgoing chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan is being sued in tribal court over salaries of tribal council members.
The tribe’s Compensation Committee set the base council salaries at $60,000. Those serving as vice chair, secretary and treasure were supposed to receive base pay of $65,000. But right before this year’s election, chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum set higher salaries for some council members, according to the suit filed by the Compensation Committee. Kewaygoshkum reportedly makes around $100,000. Kewaygoshkum was defeated by Derek Bailey after a second election was held in September.
Get the Story:
Suit targets tribal head over new salary levels (The Leelanau News 12/15)
Larry Plamondon, a member of the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians, is profiled in the new paper by Trevor Morrison on the Supreme Court case, United States v. District Court (the Keith case, named after Judge Damon Keith). Here is a link to the paper (via Legal History Blog), which is part of the Presidential Power Stories book.
And it’s great to see Larry’ autobiography, Lost from the Ottawa (available at Nokomis), featured in an important piece of legal scholarship.
Here are a few recent scholarly articles of interest to the blog:
Susan Gray, Miengun’s Children: Tales from a Mixed-Race Family, 29:2&3 Frontiers 136 (2008) — article about the children of Northport, Michigan missionary George N. Smith
David Wilkins & Sheryl Lightfoot, Oaths of Office in Tribal Constitutions, 32 Am. Indian Q. 389 (Fall 2008)
Siegfried Weissner, Indigenous Sovereignty: A Reassessment in Light of the UN Declaration, 41 Vand. J. Int’l L. 1141 (2008)
From the Record-Eagle:
PESHAWBESTOWN — The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians settled the last in a long string of election disputes, clearing the way for Derek Bailey to assume the post of tribal chairman.
Bailey is slated to take over a four-year position held by two-term Chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum, pending certification of the September election.
“I am very happy that this process is over, and I definitely look forward to being sworn in as the next tribal chairman,” Bailey said.
Kewaygoshkum, 57, defeated Bailey, 36, in the original May election, but that was overturned and Bailey won a special September election.
From the Romulus Roman:
Romulus officials hope a year-long moratorium regarding the expansion of Indian gaming that was put into place by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs will be lifted, or at least more flexible, under a Barack Obama administration.
City officials met with a representative from the Hannahville Indians last week, and all involved said they felt they would receive more consideration for the tribal request to build a casino in Romulus.
“I think that once there’re more Democrats in Washington, and more people who are interested in helping Michigan, we will turn this around,” said Romulus Mayor Alan Lambert.
Here is an article about GTB member Mitch Sullivan, son of one of our contributors!
Wanted: Fluent Anishinaabemowin Teacher for Suttons Bay Public Schools and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Teacher will be employed half time by Suttons Bay public Schools to instruct a Level 1 class at the high school level, a beginning class at the middle school level, as well as some foundation language experiences at the elementary level.
The ideal candidate will help develop the high school curriculum, which will grow in the following year into a two-year course sequence. The applicant must be a first speaker of the Odawa or Ojibwe dialects of Anishinaabemowin. The applicant must write in the double vowel system and speak the dialect of Manitoulin Island or the North Shore of Ontario. The applicant should have training in the Total Physical Response methodology of teaching the language, and should have a minimum of three years experience teaching Anishinaabemowin. The teacher must know the cultural aspects of the language and the worldview inherent in Anishinaabemowin.
Holy cow! It just won’t stop. 😦
From the Record-Eagle:
TRAVERSE CITY — Yet another challenge has arisen in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ quest to install a chairman.
On Sept. 24, Derek Bailey defeated two-term incumbent chairman Bob Kewaygoshkum 256 to 186 for the four-year chairman position. That election was scheduled after a tribal court threw out the regularly scheduled May chairman election, in which Kewaygoshkum beat Bailey 233 to 210.
Bailey said it’s his understanding eight people filed nine separate challenges to the recent election, but he couldn’t provide details.
“I do recognize and honor the election challenge process,” he said. “(But) all of these challenges are personal character attacks and, or, are an … attack on the tribal judiciary’s ruling that was reached in August.”
Turtle Talk 
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