The people of our community have witnessed a disturbing trend recently as some young people have acted on their perverted notions of respect by burglarizing and destroying the belongings of fellow tribal citizens.
Like many of you, I am sick and tired of this dereliction of values by citizens of our tribe.
There has been a lot of discussion as to how the community should respond to these activities, with much focus on law enforcement and our judicial system. However, as has been indicated by tribal leaders, our justice system is significantly impaired in its ability to respond effectively to crime in our community.
Due to federal law, tribal courts may not impose any punishment greater than a one-year imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. The cost of imprisonment to tribal governments is substantial, which often causes tribal courts to avoid sentencing criminals to meaningful jail time.
The proposed solution of our tribal leaders to prosecute 17-year -olds as adults, when viewed in light of those facts, is pitiful and will accomplish nothing for our community.
If we are to seriously combat the epidemic of disrespect, substance abuse, and crime, we must get creative and look to our own Anishnaabe values.
On the front end, we as tribal citizens must do better at integrating children into our community and instilling our values in them. Traditionally, all citizens of the tribe shared responsibility for the upbringing of children, and all citizens were held accountable for shirking those responsibilities. We have departed from that practice in recent years, but a return would pay wonderful dividends for our future.
On the back end of this process, we should consider more fully integrating Anishnaabe values into our judicial process.
There is absolutely nothing standing in the way of our General Tribal Council to stop it from establishing a peacemaker division of the tribal court or requiring that sentencing determinations be made by an Elders Council.
As I've mentioned previously, in a peacemaker court the alleged perpetrator is required to engage his or her victims, family members, and a spiritual leader in a discussion aimed at restitution and resolution. The perpetrator is forced to look his victim in the eye and participate in working out a solution.
In addition, the GTC could direct our tribal judges to transfer cases to an Elders Council once a guilty plea or verdict has been entered against a Bay Mills citizen. The convicted tribal citizen would then appear before a panel of members of the Elders Council, which would determine the punishment. This could range from jail time to more creative options (such as having the offender stand in front of the tribal office for several days while holding a sign describing the crime committed).
The creative punishment option would allow for the effective administration of justice without the high costs associated with traditional punishment. The participation of our tribal elders would also give citizens of our community a greater sense of ownership over our justice system.
Lastly, we should also continue to think about banishment as an option for serious crimes (especially for persons who push drugs in our community). In the old days, banishment was one of the harshest forms of punishment bestowed upon a tribal citizen and reflected public shame felt toward the individual.
Undoubtedly, new ideas advanced by members of our community to respond to this growing epidemic will be met with skepticism. But instead of finding reasons why these ideas won't work, perhaps we should look for ways to make them possible.
We've tried reliance on our existing system and it has only gotten us to our present state. The time is ripe for creativity and a return to our traditional values to combat the perversion of our culture - or we should get used to sleeping with one eye open.
Bryan Newland is a Bay Mills Indian Community Member and a student at Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing. He is the oldest son of Gordon and Vickie Newland of Bay Mills. He has written columns and letters that have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. You can respond to his column at 517-420-0808 or tikro6@yahoo.com.
