Pokagons mark 9th year of sovereignty (fwd)

[Phil CashCash]

Pokagons mark 9th year of sovereignty

Tribune Staff Report
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2003/09/19/local.20030919-sbt-MICH-D1-Pokagons_mark_9th_ye.sto

DOWAGIAC -- This is more than just a powwow.

It is a celebration of sovereignty on Saturday for the Pokagon Band of
Potawatomi Indians.

The members of the Dowagiac-based tribe are going to be celebrating
their 1994 recognition by the United States with Pokagon Day, tribal
officials said Thursday.

The ninth anniversary celebration will run from sunrise to dinnertime at
the tribe's Rodgers Lake compound.

The keynote event will be the Unity Drum & Flag Ceremony on Saturday
morning with addresses from Pokagon Chairman John Miller and former
chairman Joe Winchester along with members of the tribe's Youth
Council.

Full tribal recognition was restored with President Clinton's signature.

The 2,764-member tribe, which includes 1,833 members in Michigan and
Indiana, took a step forward for its proposed Four Winds Casino near
New Buffalo with its cross-deputization agreement with the Berrien
County Sheriff's Department for the Pokagon Band Police Department,
which at this point has a chief but no officers.

It also has a tribal court and other tribal operations, including
teaching its Native American language restored with President Clinton's
signature.

The 2,764-member tribe, which includes 1,833 members in Michigan and
Indiana, took a step forward for its proposed Four Winds Casino near
New Buffalo with its cross-deputization agreement with the Berrien
County Sheriff's Department for the Pokagon Band Police Department,
which at this point has a chief but no officers.

It also has a tribal court and other tribal operations, including
teaching its Native American language. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi
Indians has a 10-county service area of Berrien, Cass, Van Buren and
Allegan counties in Michigan; and St. Joseph, Elkhart, Kosciusko,
LaPorte, Marshall and Starke counties in Indiana.

It has land for reservation sites near Dowagiac and Hartford in
southwestern Michigan and near North Liberty in northern Indiana.