WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has again extended a west Michigan tribe’s request for federal recognition.
The department was set to issue a decision on the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians acknowledgment by February 9, but members will now have to wait until February 23 for a determination.
“We’re confident that we have submitted everything that we need to submit and checked every box we had to check,” said Ogema Ron Yob.
Yob says the tribe is remaining optimistic since it’s only an extra two weeks. In the past it’s been upwards of 180 days.
Grand River Bands submitted a petition to re-affirm their status as a tribe in 1994.
READ: Grand River bands continues recognition fight as deadline approaches
The petition has been on the “active consideration” list since 2013, but it’s been stonewalled by a series of extensions requested by DOI and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal recognition means the U.S. government sees a tribe’s right to exist as a sovereign nation, opening up a number of benefits, including land, healthcare, and education resources.
Grand River Bands is recognized by the state of Michigan.
The tribe’s history dates back hundreds of years when 19 bands of Ottawa people formed villages along the Grand River and other waterways in southwest Michigan.
Yob says Grand River Bands has lost about half of its members through the federal recognition process. When the petition was originally submitted, there were more than 1,000 members.
It’s unclear why the tribe has not yet been acknowledged.
Documents on DOI’s website show it’s requested at least nine extensions since 2017. Each time “administrative issues” were cited.
Another filing from 2005 suggested possible issues with the proof given to officials, but Yob says those problems have been corrected.
Over the summer Grand River released an affidavitfrom a longtime historian who was part of DOI’s recognition team. He claims the tribe’s request was approved in 2016, but it’s since sat in the department’s solicitor’s office.
Lawmakers from both parties have sent letters to DOI since 2020 in support of recognition for Grand Rivers Bands, including U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters and U.S Representative Bill Huizenga.
“The tribe’s rights are slowly being eviscerated by this delay,” wrote Huizenga when describing how Grand River Bands lost millions of dollars from the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, which Congress passed in 1997, because it was not federally recognized.
Huizenga went onto say other rights are at risk.
“For instance, Michigan tribes sued the State of Michigan and the Department of Interior over fishing and hunting rights,” wrote Huizenga. “Grand River couldn't be a party to that lawsuit because it is not a federally recognized tribe. Likewise, Grand River has become ineligible for tuition assistance because it isn’t a recognized tribe. There are countless other very concerning examples of this tribe’s rights being slowly taken away.”
If the application is rejected, Yob says they plan to appeal it.
“I hope we finally get a decision because positive or negative,” said Yob. “If it’s negative then we got something to counter with, but positive, of course we’d love that. We’re ready either way.”
Read the full letter below:
2023.0207 GRB PF 2-Week Extension by WXMI on Scribd
