March 20, 2014 Press Release. Mackinac Indians Sue Secretary Of Interior To Reorganize As A Federally Recognized Indian Tribe. On Wednesday, March 20, 2014, a lawsuit was filed in Washington DC against the Secretary of the Interior seeking to declare that the Mackinac Tribe of Michigan is a federally recognized Indian Tribe and to order a federal election to reorganize the Mackinac Tribe under the Indian Reorganization Act. Currently, the BIA does not recognize the tribal status of the Mackinac. There are several Michigan organizations that claim to represent the Mackinac bands who have been seeking federal recognition of the Mackinac since the 1970s. The lawsuit claims that in 2011, the various Mackinac organizations agreed to request the federal Secretary of the Interior to conduct a federal election to reorganize the tribe under the federal statute. The lawsuit further claims that the Secretary never responded. Reorganizing under federal statute would extend federal recognition to the Mackinac. The lawsuit claims that the Treaty of 1855 which dissolved the Chippewa Tribe promised to deal with the the various Chippewa bands in the future, including the Mackinac bands.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 22:32:06 +0000
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