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Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council for 2010-2011 poses in council chambers in Mt. Pleasant.

Settlement Pending in Saginaw Chippewa Suit; Ancient Federal Fraud Charged

Trial Delayed Until January 2011 as Parties Work Out Details of Deal

August 22, 2010       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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The federal government was guilty of "remarkable incompetence and outright criminal fraud" in implementation of 1855 and 1864 treaties with the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in Isabella County.

Ironically, the local Chippewa, of the Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Band, had escaped exile to Oklahoma after the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw negotiated by Gen. Lewis Cass.

After 118 chiefs signed away 6 million acres for $3,000 in silver and $1,000 a year "forever," Cass and trader Louis Compau broke out barrels of whiskey and the drunken Indians, vastly outnumbering Cass and his men, caused the soldiers to flee to Detroit aboard their ship. The Chippewa stayed and ultimately were given local reservations while other tribes were driven on the "Trail of Tears" to Indian Country in Oklahoma.

Shady dealings by lumber barons like Ezra Rust of Saginaw and other lumbering interests allegedly tainted the transfer of lands to the Indians.

So say several reports by historians cited in filings with the U.S. Federal District Court of Eastern Michigan in Bay City as part of a tribal lawsuit against the State of Michigan.

Trial of the five-year-old lawsuit before Judge Thomas Ludington has been postponed while the parties, the tribe and the United States attorney versus the State of Michigan, Isabella County and the City of Mt. Pleasant work out proposed settlement details that are being kept confidential.

The Chippewa, flush with cash from operation of the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, are asking in the lawsuit to stop enforcement all state laws, civil and criminal, and taxes within the original nearly 98,000 acre Isabella Reservation site.

More than 700 exhibits have been filed in the suit as attorneys and consultants try to sort out land deals dating back as long as 155 years ago.

Extensive analysis by Mt. Pleasant abstractor J. Greg Benford of Isabella Abstracts has come under fire by tribal attorneys who are calling his charts of land sales "prejudicial and irrelevant."

Reports filed in the suit charge that a deal by Ezra Rust of Saginaw "and other schemes to get at Indian timber or buy land from Indians outright did not respect the spirit of either the 1855 or 1864 treaties."

Another issue is whether lands that had previously been sold were still to be considered part of the reservation. The Chippewa in 1864 petitioned President Lincoln to use their last treaty payment to purchase land within the block of land withdrawn before "the land is brought into market and white men come and settle among us, we fear it will disturb us verry [sic] much and break up our settlement."

Lumber baron Henry Sage of Bay City also acquired huge tracts in Isabella County, according to a map published in his biography. Sage reputedly owned about 500,000 acres statewide and was considered Michigan's largest landholder.

On June 5, 1871, Saginaw Chippewa Band leaders sent out a petition criticizing former Indian agent Major Long, and seeking to protect their "settlement":

"We the undersigned chiefs and principal men met in council we wish to say a few words to our Great Father in Washington viz your red Children are alarmed that the wicked white men give whiskey to the Indians and buy their land from them for a little money and the white men determined to break up the settlement and it may be possible that Major Long might give them deeds under our Notice -- and since he's agent everything went wrong -- and we humbly beg to our Great Father President to stop this our hurt -- and your Petitioners will each pray." Another petition in September 1871 reflected faith in Agent Smith and echoed the Indians desire for the government's help regarding their land, to continue their guardianship, and to maintain the integrity of their separate "settlement."

Long later became a facilitator for land sales in the Isabella reservation area to lumber interests.

A trial that had been set for Aug. 10 now has been delayed until Jan. 11, 2011. Mediation slated to be completed by Sept. 14 and a final pretrial conference is set Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m.

In 2005 the tribe sued Michigan seeking to stop enforcement of civil and criminal laws against members in all or parts of seven Isabella County townships. The tribe says the land was part of its original reservation and therefore should be again declared "Indian Country."

The Saginaw Chippewa tribe has approximately 2,750 enrolled members in Michigan and elsewhere. It is Isabella County's largest employer, probably best known for the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, 65 miles north of Lansing. "Michigan has exercised jurisdiction over the alleged 'historic Isabella reservation' for many years without dispute," said Assistant Michigan Attorney General Todd Adams. " ... The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe waited over 100 years to raise its claims."

Observers point out, however, that only in recent years has the tribe obtained the funds to bring any action in court in so momentous an action as that currently underway. Those funds, of course, come from the tremendous windfall brought by profits from the Soaring Eagle Casino, estimated to gross in excess of $800 million annually.

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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