Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the establishment of a new Bureau of Indian Affairs agency office to serve Indians in the state of Michigan.
The new agency, to be located at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, will have in its jurisdiction the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Original Band of Sault Ste. Marie Chippewas at Sault Ste. Marie; the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community at L'Anse; the Hannaville Indian Community at Escanaba and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe at Mt. Pleasant.
These tribal groups were previously served, together with all the Indians of Wisconsin, by an agency at Ashland, Wisconsin.
The organized tribes in Michigan, as well as the Intertribal Council of Michigan, have sought the establishment of a Michigan agency so that the Bureau of Indian Affairs services would be more directly and easily available to them.
The establishment of the new agency will reduce travel distances and costs, permit more day-to-day contact and eliminate the complications of one agency dealing with two sets of state agencies and laws.
The new office will be under the Bureau's Minneapolis Area Office.
