Tribal land claims may be investigated

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Chief Fred Cantu Jr. questioned the motives of a rival tribe’s attempts to gain land in the Port Huron area on Wednesday at Capitol Hill.

Cantu called two bills that would award land to the Bay Mills Indian Community for casinos a “scam from the start” and may have forced an investigation into the legality of its land claims.

Cantu testified in front of the House Committee of Natural Resources.

“In this case, I think what’s being taken under advisement is for the committee recommendation to launch an investigation,” said Joe Sowmick, Saginaw Chippewa’s public relations director.

If approved, the two bills would settle land disputes among the state of Michigan, the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Along with Cantu’s testimony, representatives from the Bay Mills and Sault Ste. Marie tribes presented their positions.

Jeff Parker, president of the Bay Mills executive council, focused on the relocation of Bay Mills’ 110-acre Upper Peninsula Charlotte Beach land claim promised by former Gov. John Engler.

“The governor insisted that we locate replacement lands in a community that was desirous of hosting us,” Parker said during the hearing. “We have done that. That community affirmatively wishes our tribe to locate its replacement lands there.”

Lawmakers in support of the bills included House Representative Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township and the two sponsors of the bills, state representatives Bart Stupak, D-Menomonee, and John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

Cantu said Port Huron is not an appropriate location for the settlement.

“The passage of this legislation will encourage tribes to create or exploit a land claim by seeking to replace lost lands with lands in profitable gaming markets, without regard to whether they are entering into the territory of another tribe,” Cantu said.

Officials who lobbied against the bills included Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and House Representatives Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, D-Detroit; Mike Rogers, R-Clinton Township; John Conyers, D-Detroit; Shelley Berkley, D-Nevada; and Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi.

“At the very least I think we were able to state our position rather well,” Sowmick said. “It allowed us to meet with not only other congressional leaders but some of the other people in Washington to let them know that we firmly believe in reservation business on reservation lands.”

Cantu said in a press release that Bay Mills’ intentions became more clear at the hearing.

“What we now know is that these bills have nothing to do with protecting innocent landowners (at Charlotte Beach), but it was scam from the get-go so these tribes could get casinos 350 miles from their reservations,” he said.

The House Natural Resources Committee could vote on the bill by next Wednesday, but Cantu said he would appeal to the U.S. Department of the Interior for an investigation into the two tribes claims.

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