Here, from the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee:
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
Intertribal Fight in Michigan over Little River Off-Rez Casino Proposal
From the K’zoo Gazette via Pechanga:
FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP — A top official of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is lashing back at other Indian tribes, accusing them of delaying a proposed Fruitport Township casino to choke off potential competition for their casinos.
“We understand other casino interests do not want competition, but don’t delay jobs for the Muskegon region. Don’t delay revenues to the state School Aid Fund,” said Robert Memberto, commerce director for the Little River Band, which wants to build a casino at the former Great Lakes Downs race track.
He accused the other tribes of “throwing all kinds of minutiae to delay, delay and delay this project.”
Memberto delivered his plea last week to the House Regulatory Reform Committee in Lansing, which is deciding on a resolution that would pave the way for a Fruitport Township casino.
Leaders from three other tribes — the Gun Lake Tribe, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi — testified against the Little River Band proposal. They claimed that state approval of a casino in Fruitport Township would break an agreement that tribes in Michigan would not pursue off-reservation gambling unless all the tribes agreed. They also suggested that the authority of taking land into trust for off-reservation casinos rests with the U.S. Department of Interior, not state leadership.
Ziibiwing Changing Exhibit Opening Saturday
The Dr. Mike and Linda Shinkle Collection: People of the Turtle
The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways will premiere a new changing exhibition, “The Dr. Mike and Linda Shinkle Collection: People of the Turtle,” on Saturday, January 30, 2010. The Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony to open the exhibition will take place at 12pm. This exhibition will run January 30 – August 7, 2010.
“The Dr. Mike and Linda Shinkle Collection: People of the Turtle” began as an effort to pay tribute to the Eastern Woodland Indian Tribes at a new cultural center in Muncie, Indiana, called Minnetrista. To honor these great people, the founders of Minnetrista which include Dr. Mike and Linda Shinkle of Morton, Illinois, and several Woodland tribal leaders were assembled in an effort to communicate the culture and history of the first people of the land and their story of survival and growth. This consortium of Eastern Woodland tribes and Nations became known as the Minnetrista Council for Great Lakes Native American Studies (MCGLNAS). Continue reading
Bomb Threat at Soaring Eagle Casino
MT. PLEASANT — Employees head back to work at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant after a bomb threat Wednesday afternoon. It was like any other day at the casino until a call came in that turned the resort upside down. “The Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department at approximately 1:30 this afternoon received a bomb threat,” said Public Relations Director Frank Cloutier.
Six other law enforcement agencies were called and within minutes the resort was swarming with police ready to shut the area down.
Casino player Kim Jones drove an hour to get to the casino when she was turned away. “Yes we were coming here to the casino and we got up here and we saw all the police cars…a friend…was here earlier and was playing a slot and the (police) come in and told them they all have to leave,” said Jones.
“We had a bomb threat and they evacuated us very professionally and we’re dealing with it the best we can,” said evacuee Randy Thompson.
Frank Cloutier said the bomb scare was unlike any evacuation he’s ever seen. “We haven’t had an impact on the property to this magnitude,” Cloutier said.
The search continued for over six hours but no evidence of a bomb turned up. Kim Jones said she was cashing in on her own theory about what took place.”Because I think somebody just lost and was upset and it doesn’t surprise me,” said Jones.
House Resources Committee Hearing on NAGPRA
The video is here.
At about the 15 minute mark, Rep. Kildee discusses the Flint dig and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe’s involvement.
Miigwetch to A.K.
Union Organizing at Soaring Eagle?
From Indianz:
Two employees of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan want to organize a union at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.
Peter Gallinat and Dawaine Penney recently contacted the United Auto Workers. The employees don’t have any complaints but they want to be able to negotiate with Saginaw Chippewa management.
“We just want a voice and a say in the contract. And to be treated with dignity and respect,” Penney, a table games dealer, told The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun.
Two prior union efforts at Soaring Eagle failed. The UAW is organizing among card dealers at the casino owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut.
Get the Story:
Two Soaring Eagle workers contact UAW (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 9/12)
Update on Challenge to Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act
Northville Downs’ opening brief before the Sixth Circuit in its challenge to the constitutionality of the Michigan’s Proposal E, barring additional, non-Indian gaming facilities in Michigan absent a state-wide referendum is here — Northville Downs Appellant Brief
In late February, the Eastern District of Michigan (Cohn, J.) rejected a constitutional challenge to Michigan Const. art. IV, section 41, otherwise known as Proposal E, and the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act. Here are the pleadings in Northville Downs v. Granholm.
northville-response-to-motion-to-dismiss [response begins around page 27, the rest is an amended complaint]
Interlochen Public Radio on Saginaw Chippewa Reservation Boundary Case
From IPR:
The Saginaw-Chippewa Indian Tribe won a victory last month in an ongoing lawsuit over the boundaries of Indian land in Isabella County. The suit has yet to go to trial, but it’s been in court for years.
Should the tribe win, it would exert tribal sovereignty throughout five townships, and half the city of Mt. Pleasant.
Just what that would mean is still not clear to Mt. Pleasant’s Mayor, Jim Holton. “Well the city has several concerns, obviously, with this. And it’s still a lot of theory. It’s still a lot of ’What if’s.’”
Some of Holton’s big “What if’s” include questions of zoning, law enforcement, and taxation. “Who to tax, how can we tax. Can we collect on tax? It’s obviously vital to our survival as a city, with infrastructure, roads and all those things.”
Saginaw-Chippewa leaders do not want to comment on ongoing litigation. But Matthew Fletcher says – as he understands it – those last two are also some of the tribe’s biggest concerns: taxation and law enforcement. Fletcher runs the Indigenous Law Center at Michigan State University.
Saginaw Chippewa Citizen on Disenrollments
from Rob J. Peters blog:
The following editorial regarding the tribe’s recent disenrollment motion has been censored and will not appear in our tribal newspaper due to its controversial subject matter. This editorial has been scheduled for publication nationally later this week by a Native news organization. It is also preface to a more in-depth report regarding the membership history of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
The Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council had the unfortunate task of deciding the fate of an undetermined number of people when faced with a disenrollment motion March 17, 2009.
It was and always has been an issue of legality that has been dangerously ignored too long. Ignoring and allowing those not entitled to membership under specific constitutional guidelines by diluting (Enrollment) Ordinance 14 (now almost thirty pages long), has in-fact led to intentional or otherwise fraud and mistake.
Dangerous in that those who have been allowed membership, although not constitutionally entitled, are now faced with the harsh and scary reality of not only losing benefits, but an identity they believed was based in historical record. But historical records are not the rule of law when absolute criteria is outlined and inclusion is very specific.
The membership criteria of the Saginaw Chippewas was determined over 70 years ago, and redefined almost 23 years ago; in the founding documents of our tribe, the Constitutions of 1937 and 1986.
***
To read the rest, go here.
Saginaw Chippewa Disenrollment News Coverage
From Indianz:
The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan plans to remove people who don’t meet its membership criteria.
It’s unclear how many people will be affected though prior news stories have said up to 125 adults could be removed. A spokesperson said the tribal council has been concerned about the issue for some time. The tribe will spend the next month to determine how many people to remove.
Get the Story:
Tribe disenrolling members (Central Michigan Life 4/15) Related Stories:
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe mum on disenrollment (3/27)
Turtle Talk 
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