Saginaw Chippewa Tribe court set to rule in enrollment dispute

Thursday, July 19, 2012  

A judge for the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in Michigan heard an enrollment dispute involving two people who were granted membership in the 1980s.

In addition to a blood quantum standard, the tribal constitution mandates lineal descent from someone who appeared on one of four base rolls. But during the 1980s, Anna B. Atwell and William Masterson were enrolled after tracing their ancestry to a sibling of a person on one of the rolls.

The tribe contends that the such "collateral" descent is barred. A judge will determine whether Atwell and Masterson can be disenrolled.

Get the Story:
Decision expected in Tribal disenrollment cases (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 7/19)