Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe

Federal Court Indicts Man for Assault and Witness Tampering at Saginaw Chippewa

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Man Indicted for Assault and Witness Tampering on Indian Reservation (U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan)

Travis Jay Kendall, 24, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Bay City, Mich., for assault causing serious bodily injury and witness tampering. The indictment charges that Kendall assaulted his girlfriend on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation in Isabella County, Mich. The indictment also charges that Kendall attempted to intimidate, threaten, or corruptly persuade the victim with the intent to influence her testimony at a grand jury proceeding.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/mie/news/2011/2011_8_10_tkendall.html

Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe Accepts Mount Pleasant Indian School Grounds

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan held a remembrance and healing ceremony on Monday at the site of the former Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School.

The school operated from 1893 to 1934. Officially, five children died there but a search of obituaries and local records turned up the names of nearly 150 more, whose names were read at the ceremony.

The city of Mt. Pleasant owns most of the site but the state deeded eight acres and six historic buildings to the tribe.

Get the Story:
Tribe remembers boarding school era, begins healing (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 6/7)
Tribe plans day of remembrance, healing for June 6 (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 5/31)

Saginaw Chippewa Member Loses Case in United States Tax Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Johnson v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

U.S. v. Pego: Indictment of Saginaw Chippewa Member

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in United States v. Pego (E.D. Mich.):

Pego Indictment

DCT Order to Hold Pego Pending Trial

Saginaw Chippewa Issues Release Opposing BMIC Vanderbilt Casino

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the press release:

The Tribal Council of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has taken a firm position against the Bay Mills attempt to push their way into Vanderbilt MI with class three gaming. “We have a long history of supporting the intent of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in honoring “On Reservation” gaming provisions within that act” stated Tribal Chief Dennis V. Kequom Sr. For many years the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has teamed with others who are like minded on the issue of off reservation gaming.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is committed to educate the public and elected officials of the negative implications to “Off reservation” gaming. If Bay Mills is allowed to conduct “Off Reservation” gaming it would open the flood gates to unlimited casino development saturating an already stressed market. The Federal Government rejects casino compacts unless a tribe has trust land. Vanderbilt is not in trust according to the Department of the Interior. The Tribe will continue to closely monitor Bay Mills activities and continue with its efforts to inform the public at large about the negative implications of the Bay Mills Indian community and their efforts elsewhere in the State.

 

News Coverage of Saginaw Chippewa Settlement

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Interlochen Public Radio coverage here.

Detroit Free Press coverage here (including a quote of sorts from me).

MIRS: Casino Catches Officials Off Guard

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From MIRS and Pechanga:

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&gt;  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&gt; GRANHOLM has been. However, the Granholm administration quickly voiced opposition to Bay Mills opening the Vanderbilt casino today.

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Federal Court Declines to Dismiss Major Crimes Act Indictment on Indian Status Question

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is United States v. Delacruz-Slavik (E.D. Mich.), and the court held that whether the defendant is an “Indian” is an element of the crime to be decided by a jury. An excerpt:

Defendant notes that he is not an enrolled tribal member and thus does not satisfy the first, and most important, of the Bruce factors. As noted above, this is not an absolute requirement. The government alleges that Defendant has received government recognition through receipt of assistance reserved only to Indians and has enjoyed benefits of tribal affiliation. Namely, Defendant took seven parenting classes at the Nimkee Memorial Wellness Center in 2008, and has had many Nimkee dental, medical and behavior health/mental health and substance abuse appointments between 1996 and 2009. Gov’t’s Response & Brief to Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss Indictment 5. These services allegedly are not available to non-Indians. Id. The government estimates that Defendant has had 100 or more tribal-related organization appointments. The government alleges that Defendants records identify Defendant as an “Indian” and “Native American,” as well as Defendant identifying himself as an “Indian” and “Native American.” Id. Defendant states that he only received some tribal services allowed to him as an immediate family member of a Tribal Member, but that he himself has never qualified for membership and is not a recognized member. Def.’s Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss Indictment 2. There is also evidence that Defendant has social recognition as an Indian through residence on a reservation and participation in Indian social life.

Still seems to be an interesting constitutional question whether a jury empaneled in Detroit is really competent to decide beyond a reasonable doubt that a person with the above factors, and who is not an enrolled tribal member, is an “Indian.” Without much doubt, that Detroit jury will consist entirely of non-Indians (and any Detroit Indians will be excluded from the jury, to be sure).

Here are the materials:

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Saginaw Chippewa Repatriation News

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Morning Sun:

Dennis Banks, renowned co-founder of the American Indian Movement who helped create the language for the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act which became law in 1990, took part in a reburial ceremony Thursday on the Isabella Reservation.

The reburial ceremony was for 10 Native American ancestoral remains who were dug up and kept in a vault in a museum at Harvard University and were proven to be affiliated with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

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News Article on Saginaw Chippewa Membership Dispute in Tribal Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun, via Pechanga:

Mt. Pleasant attorney Paula Fisher says she is pleased with her victory in Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Appellate Court on Aug. 16.

The Tribe’s Court of Appeals reversed the decisions of past Tribal Councils, the Tribe’s Office of Administrative Hearings and the Tribe’s Community Court said Fisher.

“The Tribe had previously taken the position it would not honor its own Tribal blood quantum certifications,” said Fisher, attorney for Tappen and Ayling. “That resulted in Tribal applicants who were born to Tribal members who had at least one half degree Indian blood quantum, not being allowed to use their parents to prove their members (eligibility).

“The Tribe has taken the position for the last several years that one half of one half does not equal one quarter.”

Chief Judge Kevin K. Washburn, Associate Judges Robert Kittecon, and Dennis Peterson issued an opinion and an order that would allow Dennis Tappen, Angela Ayling and Skykur Graveratte “due process rights” with their applications for Tribal enrollment.

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