Saginaw Chippewa Tribe Again in National News Spotlight Because of Lobbyist
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Dissidents from the Saginaw Chippewa tribe picket tribal headquarters last year during an unsuccessful recall campaign of council members.
Michael Scanlon, center, testifies before U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, pleading protection under "the Fifth Amendment," to charges of fraud in dealings with Indian tribes, including the Saginaw Chippewa of Mt. Pleasant.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.)
The connection of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe to Washington lobbyists has again put the national news spotlight on Mt. Pleasant.
A government investigation threatens further disruption even as the tribal council faces a new recall effort.
A $3 million federal grant last year for a new school is being scrutinized by the Interior Department's inspectorgeneral, the FBI and the Justice Department's public integrity office, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The government's focus on the grant is because lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who formerly represented the local tribe, is under investigation for fraud.
Abramoff is accused of bilking the Saginaw Chips and five other tribes of about $82 million.
A Saginaw Chippewa tribal officer told a Senate committee hearing last September that lobbyists took about $14 million from the tribe.
Now the government is investigating whether Abramoff was instrumental in the school grant.
U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana), who oversees the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, denies that lobbyist influence played a part in the grant.
He says the Saginaw Chips got the grant, even though they apparently didn't qualify, because Michigan senators and representatives pushed for it.
The Post pointed out that Burns' campaign received 42 percent of its "soft money" contributions from Abramoff and his "wealthy tribal clients" without specifying whether the Saginaw Chips were among the donors.
Karen Finney, a spokesperson for Sen.Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, said that she was joined in supporting the request in 2003 for the Saginaw Chippewa grant by Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI, and U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland. The request was denied by the Interior Department and no more was heard about it until it was awarded in 2004,according to Ms. Finney. She said Sen. Stabenow responds to "hundreds of requests" for support of various projects in the normal course of business.
Former Senator Ben "Nighthorse" Campbell told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at a hearing last Sept. 29 that Abramoff and public relations consultant Michael Scanlon conspired with local Chips to control tribal council elections in 2001.
Sen. Campbell said Abramoff told Scanlon: "I had dinner tonight with Chris Petras of Sag Chip. He was salivating at the $4-5 million program I described to him (is that enough? Probably not.). They have their primary for tribal council on Tuesday, which should determine if they are going to take over (general elections in November).
. . . He is going to come in after the primary with the guy who will be chief if they win (a big fan of ours already) and we are going to help him win. If he wins, they take over in January, and we have millions."
Sen. Campbell continued: "The day after the election, in which seven of the eight candidates running as"The Slate of Eight" won, Mr. Scanlon sent out the following e-mail to his employees and Mr. Abramoff: 'Well team . . . Last night was amazing -- The Slate of 8 kicked ass, and I want to thank all of yuour for helping out -- and watching the bottom line. We had less than three weeks to take 8 guys who never met before and get them elected. It was a great plan, and great execution by a great team. Just to recap, we elected7 out of our slate of 8 . . . we now control 9 out of the 12 seats on the council. Maynard (Khagegab) will be elected Chief at the organizational meeting on December 4, and hopefully we will be doing some more work for the tribe in the near future. THIS MAKES US 2-0 in tribal elections this year!'"
Sen. Campbell concluded: "Earlier this year, the Slate of Eight were voted out of office -- due largely to allegations at the heart of this investigation. Mr. Abramoff financed a recall effort run by the ousted tribal council."
New Chief Audrey Falcon and new tribal council members held a meeting during which a videotape of the Senate hearing was played.
Last week tribal dissidents headed by Patricia Peters took ourrecall petitions to launch a recall campaign against Chief Falcon, Subchief Bernie Sprague, Secretary Ruth Moses, Treasurer Charmaine Benz and Sergeant-at-arms Brent Jackson.
The recall process requires signatures of 30 percent of eligible voters on the Isabella Reservation where the tribal council members live. There is an April 10 deadline for filing the petitions with 250 signatures each, according to a report by Mark Ranzenberger of the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun.
The recall group's website criticizes the tribal council for spending millions to support Michigan Proposal 1 on the November ballot last year. Chief Falcon says services to tribal members have increased under her administration. The entire council is up for election in the fall.
Proposal 1, adopted by Michigan voters last November, requires voter approval of any new form of gambling. It does not apply to three Detroit casinos or Indian tribal gaming and, since it limits competition, is expected to benefit those gaming interests.
Abramoff has been ousted by his firm, Greenberg Traurig, Washington lawyers, that represented several Indian tribes with gaming operations. The firm recently settled with a Texas tribe, the Tiguas, that had paid $4.2 million for help reopening its casino.
(NEXT WEEK: Senator Campbell tells of e-mails and phone conversations by lobbyists "displaying an amazing level of contempt for their American Indian clients, as well as what appeared to beplans to bilk those tribal clients of millions of dollars.")###
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