Chile's Mapuche fear wildfire backlash

AP: Plans to create $245 million Lansing casino could create 2,200 jobs

 

Plans call for a $245 million American Indian casino in downtown Lansing that backers say could create about 2,200 jobs. The Lansing State Journal, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News report that the Kewadin casino would be built near the Lansing Center and owned by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

 

Al Jazeera: Chile's Mapuche fear wildfire backlash

 

Chile's largest indigenous group, the Mapuche Indians, have often clashed with the police over land disputes. The Mapuche now say the government is blaming them for starting the recent fires in southern Chile. They claim authorities are planning to use a controversial anti-terror law against members of their tribe.

 

Indian Country comes to Berkeley (and vice versa)

 

The Juaneño band of Mission Indians “has been in the process of federal recognition for 30 years,” laments Domingo Belardes, his voice hinting at the psychic and economic toll of a generation’s worth of government snubs. He dreams of expanding and improving his Orange County band’s modest, weekends-only museum as a way “to bring our people together through our culture.” James Marquez, a White Mountain Apache and board director for MACT — a nonprofit providing services to Indians in Mariposa, Amador, Calaveras and Tuolomne counties — says his organization has both a building and a “pretty spectacular collection” of 250 Indian-made baskets and other cultural artifacts. Recognizing the enormous challenges and myriad details involved in developing, operating and curating a full-blown museum, however, he and his fellow board members are “trying to figure out whether to take the next step” into serious fundraising.