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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 20:32:49 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 21:07:12 GMT -5
Nice post Jamie - adding it to my list to save lol Advertise on Indianz.Com Search: News Indian Gaming In The Hoop Home > News > Headlines printer friendly version Shakopee Tribe's trust land stirs controversy Monday, February 13, 2006 The Bureau of Indian Affairs could make a decision on the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's land-into-trust application within two months, regional director Terry Virden says. Virden, the former director of the BIA in Washington, D.C., doesn't know which way the decision will go. But the last time the tribe sough trust status for the land, the application was rejected due to the tribe's wealthy status. Chairman Stanley Crooks say that's unfair. He says the tribe should have the right to determine what to do with the 760 acres in Scott County. "When you are sovereign, you determine what's best for you," he told The Minneapolis Star Tribune. He rejects a suggestion by Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) that the tribe agree to have only some of the land placed in trust. The tribe plans to use the land for residential development and for cultural purposes. But opponents, including county commissioners, want a say in what happens to the land. They also fear the loss of $2.9 million a year in tax revenues. Link below- www.indianz.com/News/2006/012477.asp
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 21:07:42 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 21:08:03 GMT -5
All the files from the BIA office in MINNEAPOLIS AREA has been moved to BIA OFFICE IN -(FORT SNELLING)
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 21:11:42 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 21:53:31 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 22:23:17 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 22:25:07 GMT -5
This question of paying interest to Indian tribes on money that was held in trust is one of the most complicated the Commission faced. The government had generated hundreds of millions of dollars for tribes over the years by overseeing the usage by non-Indians of Indian land. This money was deposited in a trust account, and was then used to fund various Indian programs. The United States Government asserted that no interest was due on the funds, since the money was constantly being spent for the benefit of the tribes. Tribal attorneys countered this by pointing to a statute, passed over a century earlier in 1841, that required funds held in trust by the United States to be invested in bonds bearing at least five percent interest. Although the statute had not mentioned any funds belonging to the tribes, the Commission again sided with the Indian tribes. www.geog.umn.edu/faculty/squires/research/American_Indians/icc_minnesota.html
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Post by mdenney on Jan 20, 2007 22:58:44 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 21, 2007 0:04:05 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 21, 2007 1:43:01 GMT -5
some old news and new Greetings Fellow MMDO Members: As the Executive Council, we eagerly look forward to seeing each one of you and celebrating the amazing growth in our number at this year’s convention. Since last year, the number of registered Minnesota Mdewakanton Dakota Oyate has grown from approximately 1,250 to nearly 5,500!! We have worked almost non-stop for the past twelve months on a directory of the Lineal Descendants, which we are creating for use by Mohrman & Kaardal, P.A. The directory project has challenged us to keep up with the dynamic nature of our members!! You can help us maintain a reliable membership directory by notifying Itaca Branden whenever your contact information changes (mmdo_1886@hotmail.com). We discovered that some of our members had moved when MMDO Convention 2006 packets, Census 2006 packets, and Ballot 2006 packets were returned undeliverable. If you need to update your contact information, please do so. For the third year, Wicanpi Research & Consulting Inc. has purchased flowers and paid to rent the Redwood Area Community Center Fieldhouse for the MMDO Annual Convention. This year Wicanpi will also present the four eldest MMDO members with tokens of recognition and appreciation. The Lineal Descendants have much to celebrate this year. The Court of Claims in a series of favorable rulings has determined that the United States is in breach of its responsibility to protect the 1886 lands in Minnesota for the Lineal Descendants. The fundamental reason for bringing Wolfchild, et al v US was to examine that fiduciary duty. Mr. Kaardal will provide an update at the convention. Thank you for your prayers and support. We look forward to greeting you in Redwood Falls on May 20! The Executive Council Minnesota Mdewakanton Dakota Oyate Home www.freewebs.com/oyate/ecmessage7.htmwww.freewebs.com/oyate/ecmessage2.htmwww.freewebs.com/oyate/ecmessage3.htmwww.freewebs.com/oyate/ecmessage6.htm
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Post by mdenney on Jan 21, 2007 18:02:15 GMT -5
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Post by mdenney on Jan 21, 2007 18:14:10 GMT -5
The two posting was copied from other site so it just hear-say till I can prove more OK
BIA APPROVES SHAKOPEE TRUST LAND
Shakopee tribe gets land-trust go-ahead The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe, owner of the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, won the hard-fought, long-awaited freedom to develop its lands as it wants.
A decade-long quest by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to put hundreds of acres of land into tax-exempt trust has been realized, raising the likelihood of development near the tribe's Mystic Lake Casino Hotel.
Over the objections of Scott County, the city of Shakopee and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) issued a letter Friday granting the tribe's request to move 752 acres of its land off of the property-tax rolls and into trust.
The decision, announced by the tribe in a Monday interview with the Star Tribune, took city and county officials by surprise. Recipients of the letter, according to the BIA, have 30 days from the day they receive it to file an appeal, but as of Monday afternoon, county officials said the only copy they had received was one provided by the newspaper. Local officials said it was too early to say if they would pursue an appeal.
The ruling was applauded by tribal leaders, who have argued that as a sovereign nation, the Mdewakanton Sioux should be able to develop its lands as it sees fit -- free of local zoning and land-use rules. The tribe left the four parcels in question -- in Prior Lake and Shakopee -- undeveloped pending a final BIA ruling.
"When you purchase land, it should be under your control," Tribal Chairman Stanley Crooks said.
Crooks noted that the tribe also owns other parcels -- totaling another 750 acres -- that also could be the subject of future land-trust requests.
For now, Crooks said, the first round of projects probably would include new houses for some community members, as well as a new cultural center and powwow grounds. He acknowledged, however, that any such plans must await the outcome of any appeals, a process that he said could take as long as two years to complete.
The stakes are high.
Local governments not only risk losing as much as $2.9 million a year in property-tax revenues, according to county estimates, but also the authority to oversee development of prime real estate in one of the country's fastest-growing counties.
Yet, the BIA decision is not without precedent.
In Carlton County, for example, approvals of trust applications by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have become almost routine, a county official has said.
This year, in Mahnomen County, the White Earth Band of Chippewa succeeded in having its Shooting Star Casino moved from the tax rolls and into trust, saving the band more than $800,000 per year in property taxes.
However, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux proposal differs in that its land holdings are within a major metropolitan area and that the BIA had rejected a previous trust application from the tribe involving 593 acres of the 752 acres approved for tax-exempt status Friday.
Wealth not a factor
The tribe's previous request was rejected in 1998 by the BIA because the agency said the tribe -- as one of the country's most successful Indian enterprises -- had failed to show why it needed the benefits that having land in trust could bring.
However, the current decision, provided in a 13-page letter from the BIA's Midwest regional office, said the Indian Reorganization Act "does not include any type of evaluative factor to consider the wealth of the tribe prior to bringing land into trust status." Several federal court cases, including one based in Mille Lacs County, support that position, too, the letter says.
In the letter, the BIA also rejected Scott County proposals to limit the tribe to the land-use plans outlined in the current application submitted in 2000 and to prevent the Mdewakanton Sioux from making any other land-trust requests for at least 20 years.
Although he had yet to read the decision, Shakopee Mayor John Schmitt said he was disappointed by the BIA's action and puzzled by the agency's reversal: "None of the circumstances have changed," he said.
BIA officials could not be reached for comment.
County Administrator David Unmacht declined to comment on the specifics of the letter. The county has said that in addition to the lost tax revenues and land-use controls, it also is concerned about how tribal projects may affect transportation and other regional initiatives.
Crooks, the tribal chairman, reaffirmed Monday that the land would not be used for economic development projects. The BIA noted, too, that gaming was not part of the application.
At tribal headquarters, the mood was calm, though there was some relief as well.
"It has been a long haul," Vice Chairman Glynn Crooks said.
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Post by mdenney on Jan 21, 2007 18:15:20 GMT -5
Re: BIA APPROVES SHAKOPEE TRUST LAND
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They just posted on the news, they're not allowing it.
The BIA reversed their decision. (I saw it on KSTP
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Post by mdenney on Jan 21, 2007 18:16:34 GMT -5
I am waitting to post the judges legal papers on this Ok ---But this is what some people from the other site is saying OK --
The issues discussed in court were: #1 Proposed ammendment to the complaint. This is just accepting the latest and greatest list from M&K #2 Cermack case-need I say more? #3 Related intervention. This seems to deal with individuals and groups using other law firms. Also there seems to be some question as to if the 1886 & 1889 census are the only way to prove that your ancestor was a Loyal Mdewakanton. Can the historical record (diaries, historical research etc) be used to prove what role an individual took in the conflict. #4 Summons to the communities and individuals. Does the court have the power to summon plantiffs? Another point that came up regarded the constitution of Shakopee. If the constitution requires a 1/4 blood quantum does it make the constitution invalid because it violates the original agreement with the Loyal Mdewakanton where no blood quantum was specified?
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