WATERSMEET, Mich. (AP) – The nine members of the tribal council of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Watersmeet who were jailed in a dispute over the election of new members have been released.
WLUC-TV and the Daily Globe of Ironwood report the council was freed Saturday after a tribal appellate court decision.
The council was arrested Wednesday. Judge Bradley Dakota of the Keewenaw Bay Indian Community had ordered the council held until a majority agreed to swear in a new executive council. The tribal council refused.
Council lawyer Zeke Fletcher says the appellate court issued a stay of Dakota's contempt of court order. Council members have said they were being punished for upholding the tribe's constitution.
Watersmeet is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.