Entrance to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's new Saganing Community Center off Sturman Road in Standish Township, Michigan. Photographs by Mike Dini.

Saganing Community Center anchors tribe in Standish Township

Yes, there are tribal lands outside the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's main holdings in Isabella County. And no, the new Saganing Community Center in Arenac County's Standish Township will not become a casino. These are answers to a couple of intitial questions the tribe's magnificent new center has raised.

The Chippewa's Saganing division has the tribe's only trust lands outside Isabella County. Until now, its 56 members and their families have made do with a double-wide mobile home for a community center.

Now they have a nice, solid Michigan-log lodge where they and tribal members from throughout the Saginaw Bay area can meet for cultural activities and health and education services. In fact, anyone interested in knowing more about the tribe and its culture is invited to stop by.

Now it's obvious to all that Saganing isn't just another Chippewa place name. It's a place that the tribe never left.
The Bay City Times, February 2nd, 2007

Tribes subject to labor laws

Native American tribes are subject to federal labor laws, an appeals court ruled in a case that could lead to stricter labor protections and more unions at the nation's booming Indian casinos.

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected arguments from a wealthy Southern California tribe that as a sovereign government, it should not be subject to those laws.

"Tribal sovereignty is not absolute autonomy, permitting a tribe to operate in a commercial capacity without legal constraint," said the opinion written by Judge Janice Rogers Brown. The ruling stemmed from an organizing dispute at a casino run by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians east of Los Angeles, where a union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board arguing that another union was getting preferential access.

San Manuel contested the complaint by asserting the labor board didn't have jurisdiction because federal law establishes Indian tribes as sovereign governments. The labor board disagreed in a 2004 opinion that, for the first time, said tribes are covered by the National Labor Relations Act that bars unfair labor practices and gives workers the right to organize and bargin with employers.

At stake are protections and bargining rights for some 250,000 workers at the nation's 400+ tribal casinos, including Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. The Teamsters union has been attempting to organize tribal workers, but union organizers say they've run into strong opposition from casino management.

It's not entirely clear how the court ruling will affect the organization campaign at the Mt. Pleasant casino. Both sides reportedly had been watching the case cosely. The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe is the largest employer in Mid-Michigan, with more than 4,000 workers in its gaming and hospitality operations, as well as in other tribal services.
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