Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians invests in $25 million expansion near Dowagiac

DOWAGIAC — On a recent fall morning, the dental clinic at the Pokagon Health Services building was humming.

Patients were lying back in almost all of the six or so chairs available, drills whirred and machines beeped.

This time next year, there should be a dozen chairs where patients can get their teeth pulled, cleaned and filled.

That’s if construction stays on schedule for a $25 million expansion project at the Rodgers Lake campus of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, off Sink Road.

“It’s a significant investment,” Jason Wesaw, tribal government manager, said.

The project includes major growth for the health services building, which has been open for only four years; a brand new Justice Center; and an entire water system to replace the scattered wells that serve buildings on the 300-acre reservation.

Redoing the water infrastructure “is a big step for us,” Wesaw said.

Water lines will run from one end of the property to the other, and a treatment plant will allow central control of the system instead of monitoring numerous wells, he said.

Another important addition will be the new 30,000-square-foot Justice Center, which combines Tribal Court on one side and tribal police headquarters on the other.

“We’re combining the two but they’re separate, so there’s a clear distinction between court and law enforcement,” Wesaw said.

About 50 police officers at the main office on Michigan 51 south of Dowagiac will move onto reservation land, Wesaw said. Satellite tribal police offices in South Bend, New Buffalo and Hartford will remain open.

The police department will have a separate parking lot and entrance but will be back-to-back with the courts side of the building as a safety feature in transferring inmates, according to Wesaw.

Two rotundas will be part of the courts building, one featuring a circular courtroom and the other a circular space for peacemaking meetings.

“Circular is always prominent in Pokagon culture, Native American culture,” Wesaw said. “It facilitates discussion. It’s more collaborative than authoritarian.”

The Tribal Court, currently housed in a remodeled, old campground building, has jurisdiction over legal matters on tribal land, including criminal, civil, child welfare and other cases at housing areas and casinos. The court handled more than 480 cases last year, only three of which were criminal, according to communications director Paige Risser.

While the Justice Center will give judges and officers a brand new space to replace separate, retrofitted buildings they currently occupy, the project at the Pokagon Health Services building is an expansion of space that’s only four years old.

The 35,000-square-foot building houses a “whole health system,” Wesaw said, featuring a family medical clinic, pharmacy, workout facility, counseling, and optical and dental care.

Traditional healing is offered, too, and once a month a healer visits to help people use medicinal plants and herbs. Activities like cardio drumming let participants get a cardio workout while also “bringing that cultural aspect into physical fitness and wellness,” Wesaw said.

Registered Pokagon Health Services members have shot up from 700 in 2014 to more than 2,200 people today, which thrills Wesaw. Getting members healthier is a top priority for the tribe, which now numbers about 6,000, he said.

“The life expectancy of a Pokagon is 60 compared to the national average of 76,” Wesaw said. “Even Native Americans as a whole have a higher life expectancy than us.”

Tribal members receive health care services at no cost.

“Any native from any federally recognized tribe in the world can get certain services here,” Risser said.

The health services building will nearly double in size as a new Pokagon Family Center is added to accommodate the annual tribal meeting, dances, indoor powwows and other large gatherings.

Reorganizing office space will allow the dental clinic to double its number of patient chairs, which is a key part of the project.

“The big thing for us is expanding our dental,” Wesaw said. “We need to have more chairs to meet the demand.”