Mille Lacs Band granted police powers over reclaimed reservation

This gets more interesting all the time.

Mille Lacs Band granted police powers over reclaimed reservation

All I see is the headline, no verbage.
The ML Band has wanted and exercised jurisdiction over MLB members for a while while waiting a court ruling, IIRC.
NOW if this gives tribal police jurisdiction over non-band members on Da Rez…..things will get interesting in a hurry in northern Mille Lacs County.
Hello SCOTUS? Ya got a minute to look at this?

It gives them full authority on the reservation. One more step towards them reclaiming the south shore.

Mille Lacs band definitely has a long term plan for that area.

Once a precedent is set this can and will happen all over Minnesota.

Ripjiggen wrote:

It gives them full authority on the reservation. One more step towards them reclaiming the south shore.

It’s getting easier with each passing year to avoid the Mille Lacs area entirely.

buckybadger wrote:

It’s getting easier with each passing year to avoid the Mille Lacs area entirely.

i’ve been doing that for 15 years!!!!!!!! :waytogo:

Interesting that it gives them power over the DNR and agreements.

^^^dont think it affects the fishing agreement at all. More so policing their land and eventually going after the other land that they feel is theirs.

Mille Lacs Band granted police powers over reclaimed reservation
A court ruling announced January 12th, in a press release from Mille Lacs County Administrator Dillon Hayes, restores the Mille Lacs Band’s ownership of the long dis-established 1855 Mille Lacs Reservation. This includes civil and criminal authority over all persons in that territory.

As PERM has often pointed out, such jurisdiction covers all natural resources. That puts anything related to hunting, fishing, and gathering, entirely beyond the reach of the MN DNR. That includes any “co-management” or “negotiations.”

These and other points in the press release are facts of law. Tribal protestations minimizing the threats or fallout from the ruling would be only opinions.

Read more from the press release below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2023

The County is disappointed by the Court’s ruling as it allows tribal police to investigate the activities of non-Indians throughout the original 1855 Reservation boundaries, even on non-Indian owned lands and homes. The ruling runs counter to U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have consistently found that tribes lack civil and criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians and on non-Indian lands even within a reservation (subject to very narrow exceptions). As a result, the ruling has the effect of disenfranchising non-Indians who can now be investigated by a government in which they cannot participate.

The County believes the expansion of tribal law enforcement authority is neither necessary nor warranted since, under Public Law 280, the Mille Lacs Sheriff’s deputies are on duty and regularly patrol the entire area in question with criminal law enforcement authority over all persons.

It is also of concern that the Court’s ruling holds that the tribe’s enforcement powers arise from its traditional power to exclude persons from the original 1855 Reservation boundaries. Applying the logic of that finding to its ultimate conclusion leads to the untenable position that the Band has the authority to exclude non-Indians from non-Indian lands and homes and to exclude them from public roadways. Surely, that has never been the legislative intent of any law or treaty.

While our concerns about this ruling are profound and multi-faceted, two aspects of the Court’s ruling are welcome: the conclusion that no injunction against the County, County Attorney or Sheriff was warranted and that the claims against the Sheriff and County Attorney in their individual capacities should be dismissed. Both of these findings are positive even though both the Sheriff and County Attorney remain defendants in their official capacities.

It is also gratifying that the Court did not uphold claims by the Band that the County, County Attorney and Sheriff were responsible for an increase in crime and opioid deaths and that Sheriff’s deputies threatened to arrest tribal officers. To the contrary, the Court here made no findings to support those allegations, noting simply that the “facts relating to specific instances of deterrence and interference may very well be in dispute.”

No one should dismiss the immense impact that this ruling will have on everyone living, working, or visiting the three northern townships of Mille Lacs County, as it builds upon the Court’s earlier decision that the 1855 Reservation still exists. If these rulings stand, they will affect the rights of non-Indians by expanding the authority of the Mille Lacs Band over non-Indian persons and lands. The implications of these rulings go far beyond our specific issues and should be reviewed carefully by every government that works with tribes.

While the Court’s ruling is lengthy and will take time to carefully review and analyze, we believe there are grounds for a strong and successful appeal.

CONTACT: Dillon Hayes, County Administrator, [email protected], (320) 983-8349

Administrative Services Office
635 2nd Street SE
Milaca, MN 56353
http://www.millelacs.mn.gov

So does this mean they can arrest or ticket people? If so I see this blowing up in some manner down the road.

Yes. They have a very clear agenda moving forward if you do some research. This was the first hurdle that they overcame.
Let’s just say I am glad I do not own property on the south shore.

This could possibly become much like the Law and legal system in Mexico.
In Mexico, the criminal justice system is gravely flawed. The country’s law and enforcement agencies and judicial
system do not effectively protect people from human rights abuses, and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.
These systemic deficiencies lead to arbitrary detentions, torture, fabrication of evidence and unfair trials.

question………..is this strictly on the Mille LAC rez???? cause i see this possibly bleeding over to say the leech lake band, or the fond du lac band at some point????

Mille Lacs band for now. They are basically fighting with the county over property lines.

I thought we had it bad here in WI with the treaty BS. You people from MN have my sympathy.

The latest issue of the Mille Lacs Messenger weekly paper has a story on this court decision.
While the actual decision the judge rendered is not quoted it is “discussed”. There is no mention of tribal civil or criminal jurisdiction over non-band members. None the less out in the 3 townships (Isle Harbor, South Harbor, & Kathio) that comprise the latest interpretation of The Rez rumor has it that the Army Corps of Engs looks at site plans for watershed issues.
Do your own research. This is a on going situation.

MX1825 wrote:

I thought we had it bad here in WI with the treaty BS. You people from MN have my sympathy.

B.S.? You evidently aren’t a student of history.

This is pretty insane if you ask me. Are they trying to make the whole South Shore a ghost town? Look at Eddys. Always empty.

lindyrig79 wrote:

This is pretty insane if you ask me. Are they trying to make the whole South Shore a ghost town? Look at Eddys. Always empty.

Yes.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Look at Eddys. Always empty.

I’ve always wondered why that is. Its a nice venue after that renovation they did a few years ago. They also have a good access with a rocky harbor for protection from the wind there as well.

Wait until they take (back?) half the lake….like lower red. It will happen eventually

We can all thank Bud Grant for this. If he hadnt tried to challenge this back what 30 years ago, we wouldnt be here.

Walleye Hungry wrote:

Wait until they take (back?) half the lake….like lower red. It will happen eventually

So many inaccuracies in this statement.

This is just another step in the progression. We have a Lt. Gov who pledges allegiance to the tribe, not MN or the USA. A tribe she had virtually no relationship with growing up in St. Louis Park. And we have our legislature starting meetings with a Land and Labor Acknowledgement below, like a different pledge of allegiance. And as anyone who spends some time on the reservation knows, they have far worse corruption, politics, and results for their constituency than the general population does. But the authoritarian politicians (most politicians from either party) see the control the tribe has and desire it. Plus the tribe funds pretty much all of the politicians in MN. None of this discounts the very real problems that occurred in the past or are occurring now for the tribes, it’s just an acknowledgement of human nature and politics always craving more power.

http://www.twitter.com/AlphaNewsMN/status/1615876705322733570?s=20&t=PbOh2tsnpBEEQI6xVxua7g

This will eventually get to the Supreme Court on appeal. IMO a random judge can’t decide for themselves that a reservation exists or not. That’s not what the case was about. She expanded the scope all on her own.

Tribal lawyers all paid for with casino money!!! How does that all you can eat buffet sound now? How about some one arm bandit?

Marine Pete wrote:

Tribal lawyers all paid for with casino money!!! How does that all you can eat buffet sound now? How about some one arm bandit?

I have a HUGE vested interest in this as a 4th generation landowner & as someone who built a new place where my parents had built a cabin.
Tribal courts are all messed up and so far as I can see band members just don’t care. Melanie Benjamin had been the tribal chair. Was arrested by the Feds for financial crimes. Signed an Alford plea (not an admission of guilt but agreeing that there likely is enough evidence for convection) to have charges dropped and looses her chairwoman position as part of the agreement.
Next election the band votes her back in. You really can’t make this chit up.

EDIT. The only time I have ever gone in that place is when a buddy won free tickets from KKIN for a free concert.
Seeing fishing rigs in the parking lot is just sad.

Marine Pete wrote:

How does that all you can eat buffet sound now?

The buffet has been closed since the pandemic started. I loved the seafood buffet there when they had it though. They lost money on me when I dove into those snow crab legs.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Marine Pete wrote:</div>
How does that all you can eat buffet sound now?

The buffet has been closed since the pandemic started. I loved the seafood buffet there when they had it though. They lost money on me when I dove into those snow crab legs.

Had no idea it was closed. Thanks for the update, there goes my plan of eating them out of business.

I’ve never set foot in a Native American Casino and never will. No sportsman should patronize their Casinos. JMO