Racially Motivated

From the Shawano Leader

Why is race always thrown into the equation?

As someone said, "you made your bed, you sleep in it. You would think the people who bought property on Legend Lake should have seen this coming before they bought.

"Association’s proposed covenant draws tribe’s ire
By Tim Ryan, Leader Reporter

The Legend Lake subdivision, nestled on the edge of the Menominee Reservation on a slender swath of land once owned by the Menominee Tribe, has had a mostly quiet, if tenuous relationship with its sovereign neighbor.

After a contentious start some four decades ago — when economic necessity forced the selling off of portions of tribal land and the creation of the subdivision — the tribe and Legend Lake property owners have long since settled into peaceful coexistence and even cooperation.

But this week, members of the Legend Lake Property Owners Association will be voting on a proposed covenant that threatens to stir up old passions and could lead to the two sides facing off in a bitter legal fight in federal court.

Viewed by the association as an innocent measure aimed at protecting the Legend Lake tax base, it is being called racially motivated by the Menominee Tribe and an attack on the tribe’s sovereign rights.

The covenant would in essence restrict association properties from being taken off the tax rolls.

Specifically, the covenant is aimed at putting a stop to the transfer of properties purchased by the tribe and tribal members into federal trust, under which the property is not only non-taxable, but also not subject to association bylaws or state and county regulations.

“I think it’s an af-front to the Menominee Nation,” said Menominee Tribal Chair-person Lisa Waukau.

Waukau said the federal Restoration Act that restored the Menominee’s tribal status also gave the tribe an absolute right to put their land into trust if they so desire.

See more in Sunday’s Shawano Leader."

Menominee Nation will keep raising taxes and take more land off the tax roll until they have it all back. Property owners, your wasting your time!