Bay Mills Indian Community

The Bay Mills Indian Community is located in Michigan (shown as number 11 on the map) and was formed in 1936. The group was established and their constitution was passed in the year of 1936. They treat themselves almost as a separate nature, with their own constitution, government and voting system. The tribe is made up of just over 1500 members, with around 1000 who are able to vote (18 years of age or more).

Although they like to see themselves as completely separate, they do state that they have inter-governmental relationships between Chippewa County, especially with the childcare and police department; this shows how although they like to keep themselves to themselves in terms of the rest of the country, they do recognise that many legal matters and the law still apply to them.

The tribe seem to very organised in terms of them having many events planned and also have their own newspaper especially for the residents- which proves the sense of community and spirit within the group. The community does also have many departments which deal with certain aspects of their society, such as gaming, accounting and housing. They have three council meetings planned for 2012, in April, July and October- this also shows how they like to keep the people happy as they can raise issues and talk together at quite regular intervals. I am especially impressed with the fact that they have their own health centre, because it shows how much they rely on their own people to look after each other; something which I personally believe is often lost in many modern day, capitalist cultures not only in America but across the whole world.

When researching Bay Mills Indian Community, I also came across the Bay Mills Resort and Casino which is owned and run by native Americans; the money earned from this resort is used to buy more land so the community can spread further out and become more influential and powerful. This is quite a contrasting concept, as the people of this culture who appear to like the simpler, traditional way of life take advantage of the modern day culture of spending lots of money and having materialistic values, by transferring the wealth they attain from modern day Americans from the cities and re-investing it into their own community.

The group seem to very proud of their history and roots, considering how well organised the website and newspaper are; it proves their commitment and how they want to keep their society working. The flag/badge of the group is also quite traditional with the feathers and block colours, there is also writing at the bottom at the badge which I would assume to be native Indian, which keeps the roots and history of the group prominent with their motto being written in their own language rather than in the national language of America, English.

I believe there is a lot to be learned from tribes such as the Bay Mills Indian Community, because they prove that life can be enjoyed without lots of money and the luxuries that many people have in America nowadays; and that looking after your own people and being proud of your history rather than submitting to assimilation amongst the ever-increasing American culture can often be a positive thing; especially when you look at how organised they are in their own community. I also believe that the negative press and reputation Indians have within American society and also the unfair segregation they face is somewhat unfair, as this website shows that they are simply getting on with their lives- however, this could be a biased point of view because it is written from their perspective, and in fact although they seem to be organised with their own healthcare centres etc. the standards of health and the medical expertise is unlikely to be up to the standards of many developed areas in America.