WATERSMEET, Mich. (AP) – The nine members of the tribal council of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Watersmeet have been jailed in a dispute over the election of new council members.
WLUC-TV and the Daily Globe of Ironwood report that the council was arrested Wednesday. Judge Bradley Dakota of the Keewenaw Bay Indian Community ordered the council held until a majority agree to swear in a new executive council.
A statement Thursday on behalf of the jailed council members says Dakota isn't eligible to preside in the case. The members say they are being punished for upholding the tribe's constitution.
The newly elected executive council members were to be sworn in at Tuesday's council meeting. The tribal council refused.
Watersmeet is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.