America's EAGLE
article - February,1996

OJIBWE TRIBAL MEMBERS FROM KEWEENAH BAY, MICHIGAN SEEKING HELP AGAINST OPPRESSION

Members of the American Indian Movement from Keweenah Bay, Michigan, were in Washington DC in late December. They were seeking assistance from any federal office in Congress which was willing to help them settle their intra-tribal political battles. Anyone. But no one answered the door for them. Federal BIA personnel were on leave and members of Congress were too busy to listen to them.

Their problem is almost a carbon copy of the situation which took place on the the Pine Ridge Sioux reservation in South Dakota in the early 1970s. A dictatorial tribal government is said to be running roughshod over the grassroots people and ignoring the results of a fair election held to choose a new leader. Nightriders shoot at houses of dissidents and violence is imminent, said Jerry Lee Curtis, Ojibwe tribal member from Baraga, Michigan.

Curtis told America's EAGLE that in the elections, he had garnered the majority of votes but the tribal chairman and the council refused to recognize the election results. Curtis said that grassroots people wanted to oust the tribal government because there were gross violations of their constitution and misappropriation of gaming funds.

It has done no good to ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs to resolve the dispute, Curtis said. They have repeatedly told him that they will not get involved because "it is an internal tribal matter, and the BIA won't get involved because of the tribal sovereignty." Congressional offices give the same answers.

Curtis said that "apparently what the Congressman from our district in Michigan wants is to have a shoot-out on our reservation." So far, their group has refused to take up arms, and they want to resolve the dispute in a legal and lasting manner. He criticized federal inaction saying "They choose and pick when they want to recognize tribal sovereignty. When they want something from us they forget our sovereignty and take it. But when we need their help they say "You are sovereign and we cannot get involved."


This kind of political dispute is a growing danger to the peace, harmony, and the future of American Indian communities nationwide.

Another trouble spot brewing is on the Cahuilla reservation in southern California, where the tribal government is said to be illegally in power and running roughshod over the wishes of their traditional tribal members.

In both of the above examples, potential profit from gambling casino's seems to be driving one side or the other.