Although Michigamua has recently sparked a campus controversy, the University administration remained relatively unaffected Ann Arbor lawyer and University alum Christopher Bell filed a lawsuit against the University Board of Regents this month over its handling of the society between 1989 and 2000.

Bell is accusing the University of failing to enforce a 1989 agreement in which Michigamua legally agreed to desist from using Native American references in its rituals.

"Michigamua has not been served with any papers and therefore cannot comment on specific details," Michigamua wrote in a statement to the Daily yesterday. "However, as the organization has honored its agreements from the past, we are confident that whatever is alleged is meritless. This has all the feel of a further attempt at sensationalism aimed at trying to misrepresent Michigamua."

University regents did not return phone calls asking for comment.

The society's activities exploited Native American culture in a "demeaning, belittling and disrespectful" way, Bell wrote in his complaint.

His lawsuit rests on the accusation that Michigamua appropriated Native American culture in its rituals for more than 10 years after it signed the agreement.

The University severed its ties with the society in 2000.

Whether Michigamua continued using Native American culture after the agreement is still unclear.

When members of the Students of Color Coalition took over Michigamua's meeting place in the tower of the Michigan Union in 2000, they found Native American artifacts, but Michigamua members said the artifacts had been in storage since 1989.

Bell and his co-plaintiff, an anonymous University employee only identified as John Doe, claim to have heard "pseudo-Native American singing and drumming coming out of the top floors of the tower of the Michigan Union," according the lawsuit.

Bell wrote that he heard it "sometime between September 1, 1993 and December 20, 1994," several years after the society's agreement to cease using Native American cultural elements.

In his complaint, Bell wrote that the existence of Michigamua created an offensive and unfriendly environment for Native Americans to work or study in, and the University must be held responsible for sponsoring a group that did so.

"The University breached the contract by failing to monitor that Michigamua abide by the contract and not abide in the prohibited behaviors," the lawsuit says.

Bell said he filed the suit on behalf of Native American students, staff and faculty who attended the University between Nov. 1, 1989 and Feb. 6, 2000.

He is requesting a trial by jury to determine whether the University broke the contract and is seeking financial compensation for those allegedly discriminated against by Michigamua's presence on campus.

Bell did not return phone calls asking for comment.