Bart Stupak: “On the Federal claim brought forth by Bay Mills, the Sault tribe was not part of that action, and the Federal court…”

“On the Federal claim brought forth by Bay Mills, the Sault tribe was not part of that action, and the Federal court said, your cousins--the Chippewas of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe--must be joined. Go back and get joined and come back later. In the meantime, they started negotiations in the State court. The State court said, you have a valid land claim, but we cannot give you economic damages because the 6-year statute of limitations has run. This claim should have been brought 100 years ago. So that's the injustice we're trying to correct; they could not be given money damages because more than 6 years had lapsed. The statute of limitations had run.”