And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Indians plan Friday
protest, march
http://sa.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/19990527chiprally.frm
Thursday, May, 27, 1999
JOEL KURTH
THE SAGINAW NEWS
MOUNT PLEASANT - Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe dissidents hope taking
their frustrations to the streets will revive a withered power struggle.
A few hundred of the tribe's 2,700 members plan to voice their objections
about the Tribal Council during a 10 a.m. rally Friday at Island Park.
The two-hour march should conclude downtown.
Members are miffed the council has voided four primaries since 1997. In
spoiled January balloting, all leaders failed to secure enough votes to
advance to a general election.
Rivals elected their own panel in March, but it proved symbolic at best.
Thus far, federal officials have failed to intervene.
"People are very, very, very upset," said Ron Jackson, who serves as
secretary on the
dissident council.
"How long would this last in Saginaw if the City Council refused to leave
office? About 45 minutes. Yet ours remains for two years. This is what the
so-called democratic process has done for Native Americans."
Jackson and colleague Bernard Sprague contend their foes have made it
known that anyone who participates in the rally will get fired from the
Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.
"It's total rumor," said Chief Kevin Chamberlain. "I don't know where
that started. It's a silly rumor, if you ask me. Whoever started that is
pretty good at that."
Chamberlain has said the tribal constitution gives leaders the right to
overturn elections if protests emerge about voting procedures.
He said it's "blatantly obvious" that the dissidents oppose the
constitution, adding that Friday's rally is "all about power."
" Members who live on the reservation now comprise a fraction of the tribe
but elect 10 of 12 representatives to the council. A revised constitution
would create 12 precincts and one at-large seat, a move Chamberlain said
will more evenly distribute power.
In October, the tribe may vote on the changes, which also
would require members to prove one-eighth Saginaw Chippewa blood. An other
council election would follow in four months,
Chamberlain has said.
Jackson labelled the changes "absurd" and argued that Chamberlain and his
cohorts are
tinkering with the constitution to buy time.
His group has repeatedly lobbied the Bureau of Indian Affairs to resolve
the conflict. The agency scheduled a meeting last month with both parties,
but Chamberlain backed out.
He since has said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Kevin Gover has
offered guarantees the feds won't interfere.
Anne Bolton, the superintendent of the bureau's Sault Ste. Marie office,
said bureaucrats are "just waiting to see what will happen."
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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