Rumors Persist About Casino or Resort at White's Beach in Arenac County
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The tribe has recently invested $96,000 in more property, adding to its 350 acres at Saganing, just north of Bay County
Rumors persist that the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe is considering building a new casino or some other enterprise on the shore of Saginaw Bay near Saganing in Arenac County.
No confirmation of these reports has come from tribal officials, although the tribe has recently invested $96,000 in more property, adding to its 350 acres at Saganing, just north of Bay County.
The tribe recently was urged to diversify into other businesses by Dennis Banks, well-known Indian activist. Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, led the 1973 occupation at Wounded Knee, S.D. He said the most important issues for Indians are "land acquisition, as well as water quality and protection."
A development on the bay shore at Saganing would seem to fit the profile of that advice, some Indian Country observers noted.
A hotel or resort might be a likely bet, they said, and would utilize valuable bayside land without competing for gambling dollars with the Soaring Eagle Casino at Mt. Pleasant.
"The only thing our band has is the casino," Banks said to tribal officials including Chief Audrey Falcon. "There are no new jobs or companies that we're bringing up or investing in. If gaming went out, our Tribe would be layingon its back."
The tribe is involved with the telecommunications industry and is interested in further diversification of its economic base, according to federal agency reports.
Banks himself runs a family-owned business that produces wild rice, maple syrup and smoked whitefish. He was in Michigan to make a presentation to the native American Indian Student Organization at Michigan State University, East Lansing.
Ronald Nelson is the lone member of the Tribal Council representing Saganing. Ten members represent the Isabella Reservation and one member is at-large.
Mr. Nelson has been involved with the Saganing Outreach Center and has announced a goal of growth and development at Saganing. The tribe has 2,183 members, each with at least 25 percent Chippewa blood or kin of members. Some 43 tribal members occupy trust land at Saganing while 657 live in the Isabella District and 1,483 are living at-large. Tribal land has about 200 housing units.
The tribe was reorganized in 1937 under provision of the Indian Reorganization Act.
Meanwhile, scrutiny of the tribe's lobbying activities continues by the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, headed by Sen. John McCain. The tribe experienced several years of turmoil and corruption involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Committee hearings revealed that the tribe was bilked of about $14 million from 2001-2003.
Sen. McCain recently introduced legislation to reform lobbying practices. He said the Abramoff investigation revealed that Members of Congress were plied with a variety of inducements to support issues to benefit the lobbyist's clients.
"The story is alarming in its depth and breadth of potential wrongdoing," said McCain. "It has spanned across the United States, sweeping up tribes throughout Indian Country."
The legislation would provide that Members of Congress would have to report gifts over $20 and pay "fair market value" for travel and tickets to entertainment and sporting events.
Grassroots organizations would have to disclose financial interests for the first time. The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe donated $25,000 to prominent Republican group, Americans for Tax Reform, Sen. McCain said.
McCain was joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-CT, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-WI, as co-sponsors of the reform legislation.###
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