Peshawbestown

Government Sued Over Grand Traverse Trail Trust Land Decision in Peshawbestown

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

PESHAWBESTOWN — A group of local waterfront property owners are fighting a recent decision to place a former railroad corridor into federal trust status for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

A public notice last month in Leelanau County prompted six land owners along Suttons Bay to file a federal complaint over a Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to move into trust more than 22 acres of the former railroad right-of-way.

The lawsuit, filed April 18, alleges federal officials’ final decision to put the property in trust “was unlawful, arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion, because the Grand Traverse Band does not have title to all of the land.”

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Radio Podcast re: Grand Traverse Band’s Successful Child Welfare Program

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

More than 18,000 children and teens live in Michigan’s child welfare system. Officials in Lansing say there are too many kids who have been taken from their homes to live in the care of strangers. In Leelanau County social workers with the local Indian tribe say they had almost 40 kids in state care a decade ago – but not anymore. What the Grand Traverse Band is doing right And what native traditions of family life can teach us about helping struggling families stick together.

Here is the radio podcast.

Grand Traverse Band Trust Land Acquisition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Leelanau Enterprise (H/T Indianz):

132 acres ‘in trust’ for GTB

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has finally processed the paperwork required to place 14 parcels totaling 132 acres of land “in trust” for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

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Simon Otto Column: Indian Humor

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Cheboygan Daily Tribune:

Opinion

 

There’s a certain method to the art of Indian humor

By SIMON OTTO

 
 
 

Many people read magazines and articles in the paper and the comment on them tells of the native American being stoic or not listening to the topic of conversation. They don’t know or realize that it is one of the cultural things among Indian people.

Some people say that Indians don’t say much, but underneath they are a happy people, and most people think that they are quiet. True, they are quiet, but not when they get together. They can jokingly talk and make fun amongst themselves. No outsider had better do that, because if you do, then you will be left on the outside or not included in their conversations.

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Grand Traverse Band Marina Proposal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Leelanau Enterprise:

Tribal officials have unveiled plans to build a 129 to 135-slip municipal marina in Peshawbestown that could be open for business as early as the 2008 boating season.

The Tribal Council of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians took actions last week that could pave the way for the dredging and construction project to begin before the end of this year.