cns vs. The Michigan Daily-Saturday, July 29, 1978-Page 9 Th7e University e Ann Arbor-based attorney representing hnson and the tribes, has managed to con- ract a persuasive case. E EXPLAINS THAT Governor Cass confer- red with members of the three tribes, and acted a treaty for them to sign on September 1817. One month earlier, the tholepistemaid, or University of Michigania s created at Detroit by an act of the Michigan rritorial government, and a few weeks later, e University established a primary school to epare children for collegiate studies. cktracking several years to 1808, Father chard established a school near Detroit to ovide Indian children with a similar education. White further explains that 12 days before the aty was signed, Father Richard was appoin- lawsuit asks that the University provide an education to the children of the Tribes. The University's main fear seems to-be that if Johnson wins the case, hordes of Native Americans would line up in front of the ad- missions office to collect their long overdue free education. Such an occurrence is highly unlikely. A glance at any one of Michigan's four federally recognized American Indian reservations would supply ample support for this claim. The Isabela Indian Reservation, owned by the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, is a good example. The only reservation in the lower peninsula, Isabela is home to some 320 native Americans. The reservation was established by the Treaties of 1855 and 1864, and under these agreements the Saginaw Chippewa tribe received six townships (640 acres each) in Isabela County. At the time, most of the land was considered uninhabitable. at Isabela is making slow but certain progress in battling the problems of stereotyping, unem- ployment, substandard housing, health care, and alcohol/drug abuse. Moreover, the reservation study showed that 86 per cent of the Native Americans view the reservation as a good place to live. The report states "this positive attitude, with respect to the reservation, should enhance opportunities for progress." But the problems of the Indian reservations revolve around education or the lack of it. White recently posed an interesting question: If the "The best way to restore dignity to the tribes is to fulfill the original promises made to the tribes in the treaties and agreements of former years, " he (Vine Deloria) writes. As Richard vice president of the University. Father chard's strong commitment to the education A FTER MORE THAN 100 years of finagling the Indians, plus his position with the Univer- and a few corrupt federal Indian affairs a y are important factors in White's contention agents had passed, the reservation is down to a t the three tribes gave the land to the Univer- mere 450 acres. Isabela doesn't resemble the y in exchange for education. It has been con- reservations often depicted in Hollywood ded, in fact, that Article 16 was a direct result movies. There are no gates to keep people out or Father Richard's work with the tribes. in, and there are no teepees. Were it not for a On April 30, 1820 an "Act for the establishment single sign on Route 20, almost no one would an University" was enacted by the Michigan know it was there. rritorial government. Section 8 of the Act According to a study done on the Reservation ted in part "that the three sections of land, by tribal officials, in 1976 the median income per anted to the College at Detroit by the Treaty of family was about $5,000. The lack of available rt Meigs . .. shall be vested in the said work for Native Americans in Isabela County is stees, agreeably to the terms of the grant, at crisis proportions. In 1976, the Michigan bject, nevertheless, to the uses, trusts and unemployment rate was pegged at 10.2 per cent. In Isabela County the figure was 7.1 per cent, while in the Indian community the unem- ployment figure was 34.7 per cent. But the Regents told John- A major factor in employment is education. on that no such trust existed. The study shows, however, that only 46 per cent of the Indian community have graduated from hey said the land was an high school with only an additional 8 per cent having reached college. A young woman who tright gift. The Regents lives on the reservation said high school drop- aid they had acknowledged outs were a common phenomenon in the com- munity. The woman, a first-year college student, he gift in 1932 by passing a said most parents don't force the children to go ' c..to school and most of the kids feel they are esolution in recognition of abused by racism from white classmates and his, first benefaction received teachers. The report on the community stated that 18 per y (the University)." ' cent of the community admitted to having an alcohol problem and 4 per cent a drug problem. eposes for which the same property was gran- But several sources on the reservation said the given, conveyed, or promised." problem with alcohol and drugs, especially This is a key point in the case. White alleges marijuana, was much more severe. The reser- Ssection, drafted by Lewis Cass, clearly vation is about ten miles from Mount Pleasant, a tablishes existence of a trust. Therefore a small college town less than half the size of Ann bstees the Reents of the Us.erefoe, as Arbor. But other than the limited entertainment omised in the treaty, free educais owe, th the town provides there seems to be little else for ildren of the Chippewa, Ottawa and the young to do. And with little hope of attending tawatomi tribes. Since the lawsuit was filed college because of the prohibitive costs, many eRegents have maintained that a trust does young residents of Isabela take little or no in- exist and that the land was a gift to the terest in school. So there is little hope for change. versity. The alcohol/drug abuse problem, the fact that young Indians have little to do has worked again- Sometime after 1825 the Regents sold the land st the tribe to produce occassional conflicts with $5,888 to help finance the struggling Univer- the non-Indian community and the police. The Y. Johnson has.charged that the Regents have white man's stereotype of Indians coupled with egal duty as trustee to account for the monies poor news media representation of the Native eived from the sale of the land and profits Americans has often induced a distinctly lized from investments of those monies. negative reaction toward Native Americans in hnson contends the money should be used to the community at large. ucate Indian children. SPITE problems with stereotyping, a bet the basis of the preceding events the tereducated, more organized Tribal Council Lafr ambois e said- "Honor-above all Honor." else University had fulfilled the duties of their trust 100 years ago, "what would Isabela look like today?" Richard Laframboise, a Turtlemountain Chip- pewa, defines the dispute surrounding the Regents' trusteeship as a question of "honor." He said the Native Americans who signed the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs were honorable men - they fulfilled their part of the bargain and expec- ted their counter parts to honor their commit- tment. Laframboise stressed the importance of education to the Native American. "Without knowledge you march to the beat of somebody else," he said. "We want to be able to choose our destiny." Whenasked what differences a free education at the University would make when there are so many high school drop-outs Laframboise said "at least you're affording them the oppor- tunity-then he has the choice." Most non-Indians view Native Americans as a minority group, with the same aspirations as blacks, chicanos, and oriental-Americans. But Vine Deloria, Jr. a Standing Rock Sioux and author, says Native Americans view themselves as members of an independent nation, which, although weak, should be granted international recognition. In his book, Behind a Trail of Broken Treaties, Deloria insists that the government has not solved a single American Indian problem, because they have taken "dignity" away from the Indians. Until dignity is restored no lasting progress can be made by the United States or the respective tribes. "The best way to restore dignity to the tribes is to fulfill the original promises made to the tribes in the treaties and agreements of former years," he writes. As Laframboise said: "Honor-above all else Honor."