Chippewas kick out dead
The move threatens their descendants with expulsion from tribe, loss of benefits.
By Melvin Claxton
and Mark Puls
The Detroit News
MT. PLEASANT — Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribal leaders Wednesday expelled at least three people — all deceased. Their expulsion clears the way for more than 50 of their relatives to be expelled.
“This is crazy, what this council is doing,” said Bill Snowden, whose deceased mother was expelled. “They are expelling people who belong in the tribe, and they don’t care if they are dead or alive.”
The expulsions are the latest development in an ugly struggle over a plan by tribal leaders to expel more than 10 percent of the tribe’s 2,700 members.
At stake in this bitter conflict over tribal membership is billions in casino revenues and control of the tribe.
The expulsions would cement the tribal leadership’s control over the tribe and its highly profitable Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, the top-grossing Indian casino in Michigan and the fifth-largest in the country.
Chippewas threatened with expulsion stand to lose their share of a vast financial empire. As equal shareholders in the tribe’s $1.2-billion business portfolio, each tribal member has a net worth of more than $400,000 — 10 times that of half of all American households.
Tribal members 18 years and older get $52,000 a year — children get $13,000 — from casino profits. For many, this money is their sole source of income.
If 10 percent of the tribe is expelled, the more than $10 million they now get annually from casino profits would be used to fund services for the remaining tribal members, including the leaders behind the expulsion effort.
Tribal leaders defend the expulsions, saying they are only weeding out those who are not true members of the tribe. “Disenrollment is a very difficult process for all involved, said tribal chief Phil Peters. “However, we have a duty to follow the constitution of our tribe and our priority is to protect the true members.”
Saginaw Chippewas Indians being expelled have called for a congressional inquiry into the issue.
In a related matter, a number of Chippewas are calling for an independent tribal prosecutor to probe charges that chief Peters and his daughter were wrongly admitted into the tribe.
They want an independent prosecutor to probe whether Peters and his daughter broke tribal law when they enrolled in the tribe more than a decade ago.
The pleas for the investigations followed a Detroit News two-day series that highlighted serious problems with the expulsion effort. The News’ stories also focused on the questionable way in which Peters — the most powerful man in the tribe — and his daughter obtained their membership.
Generations affected
Despite protest and calls for restraint, tribal leaders have moved ahead with the expulsions. Snowden and his four sons received notice Tuesday that Snowden’s deceased mother, Mary, was officially expelled from the tribe. Her expulsion means that Snowden and his sons will almost certainly be expelled, too.
Malinda Hinmon is one of the deceased Chippewas who has been expelled. Hinmon is the mother of former tribal Court Chief Judge Bruce Hinmon, who was fired by the current leaders two years ago for issuing a ruling he said they didn’t like. Bruce Hinmon and his siblings, who traced their membership in the tribe through their mother, also face expulsion.
“I think it is totally unfair that they attacked my dead mother and she has no way to defend their birthright,” said Bruce Hinmon.”I am greatly angry that this is going to affect my children and their birthright as tribal members.”
There may be another casualty in the membership struggle. Alvin Chamberlain, father of former tribal chief Kevin Chamberlain, was fired from his job at the Soaring Eagle Casino this week. His dismissal came just days after he and about 50 other members of the tribe called for the suspension of tribal leader Peters at a tribal council meeting.
Last week, Chamberlain and others formally asked the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council to suspend Chief Peters, pending an investigation into how he and his daughter were admitted into the tribe. Peters and at least three other council members walked out of the meeting.
The News revealed that Peters’ application for membership was approved, processed and certified by his relatives and that the ancestors he uses to prove he is Chippewa may be Ottawa-Pottawatomie.
There are also questions as to whether Peters’ daughter, Angela Mitchell, is really his biological daughter and therefore not entitled to the $91,000 a year she and her three children get as their share of casino revenues.
The council cut short its monthly meeting without taking action on the request for an independent counsel to investigate Peters. But tribal leaders indicated little support for the idea.
Seeking federal help
Several Saginaw Chippewas targeted for expulsion met with U.S. Rep. Congressman Dave Camp (R-Midland) last week. Others traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with officials from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and congressional staff from around the country.
The group wants Congress to intervene to fix the tribe’s constitution, which gives tribal leaders sweeping powers to revoke the membership of legitimate descendants of the tribe. Congressional action is justified, the group argues, because the federal government helped create the problems when it set up the reservation government in the 1930s.
But those seeking federal action got little good news. Camp told the tribal members they should meet with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Those meeting with the bureau were told they should meet with their congressman.
Camp said there isn’t much he can do to stop the expulsions. And bureau officials said their power over tribal membership matters is limited. Those facing expulsion said the federal government should correct its errors in setting up the reservation governments.
“This is a failed trust,” said Ben Hinmon, a former tribal council member whose family faces expulsion “The federal government has a responsibility to correct its historical mistakes, and amend the restrictive membership requirements.”
You can reach Melvin Claxton at (313) 222-2154 or mclaxton@detnews.com.
