The following report of comments by Bay Mills Indian Community Chairman Jeff Parker would suggest that tribal leaders have pursued the Charlotte Beach land claims solely for the purpose of creating leverage they need to acquire land for an off-reservation Indian casino in Port Huron.
The comments reported by Parker and the tribe's attorney Candy Tierney would suggest that a financial settlement of the tribe's claims to lands in the small Charlotte Beach subdivision in a rural area on the eastern edge of Michigan's Upper Peninsula isn't an objective at all.
The comments reported by Parker and the tribe's attorney Candy Tierney would suggest that a financial settlement of the tribe's claims to lands in the small Charlotte Beach subdivision in a rural area on the eastern edge of Michigan's Upper Peninsula isn't an objective at all.
reported by the Bay Mills News as proceedings of the Bay Mills General Tribal Council meeting of April 20, 2006:
Tribal Chairman Jeff Parker "updated the GTC on the Charlotte Beach land claim. He said Bay Mills was having the same problem other tribes were having with their land claims. In order to disclose on the Charlotte Beach property it would take an act of Congress. Parker said the tribe has been attempting for years to get that language included in past bills, but to no avail. He said that very recently, in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal, Bay Mills learned that another tribe had spent millions of dollars to make sure this settlement didn't take place. Parker added that other congressmen have said they supported the project and said the council plans on a stand alone bill - The Bay Mills Land Claim Settlement Bill of 2006.
"A tribal member asked if it would be plausible to "ruffle some feathers," so to speak, to speed up the settlement process. Parker said that if the tribe were to go that route, the only settlement the tribe would get would be cash and not land. Tribal Attorney Candy Tierney echoed Parker's statement, adding that the damages paid would be similar to a medical malpractice suit and that the compensation would be cash and not land..."
It's also interesting to note that Parker attempts to create a boogeyman in Jack Abramoff as the excuse his tribe has yet to have its scheme approved and references the "millions of dollars" spent lobbying against the Bay Mills plan but never references the millions in political contributions and lobbying expenses that have been spent advancing the Bay Mills off-reservation casino plans the last decade .
No comments:
Post a Comment