The Ojibwa Casino in Baraga, Michigan. Photo from 500 Nations
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of Michigan appears to be heading back into a judicial crisis over plans for a new casino. Tribal members approved the $2.75 million purchase of the Baraga Lakeside Inn for $2.75 million with the intent of building a new Ojibwa Casino at the site. But former chairman Fred Dakota says the process was illegal so he filed a lawsuit in tribal court to block the plan. That prompted the tribal council to suspend Chief Judge Bradley Dakota, who is Dakota's sun, and Associate Judge Violet Friisvall-Ayres, who was hearing the lawsuit. Both were put back to work last month but Friisvall-Ayres was told to stop proceedings in the case. Friisvall-Ayres appears to have ignored the directive. She has scheduled a pre-trial hearing next week, The Marquette Daily Mining Gazette reported. "The court is still trying to process the civil suit in violation of the tribal code," Treasurer Eddy Edwards, who pushed for the casino deal, told the paper in response to the latest developments. "They're trying to destroy our community by taking away our (council) immunity." Get the Story:
Dakota suit back in court (The Marquette Daily Mining Gazette 9/3)
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