RED LAKE NATION CANDIDATES FILE FOR
ELECTION
RED LAKE, Minn. – More than 30 Red
Lake candidates filed for seven seats on the nation’s council by the
close of filing on March 15.
Positions up for election on May 14
are four district representative and three council officer positions,
including tribal chair, secretary and treasurer.
After completing and passing a
criminal background check, the candidates will be certified as
candidates in April. The May 14 election may also include a possible
run-off election to be scheduled 60 days after a counting and
challenge period is complete, potentially in late July or August.
A candidate receives a majority of 50
percent plus one, they will be declared winner, however if a
candidate does not reach a majority of votes, the run-off election
will be formally scheduled.
Tribal chair candidates include: Floyd
“Buck” Jourdain, Kathryn “Jody” Beaulieu, Ron Lussier and
current tribal treasurer Darrell G. Seki, Sr. Incumbent Don Cook, Sr.
filed for reelection as secretary, along with candidates Rochelle
"Chelle" Kingbird, Judy Roy, Sam Strong and Jim White.
Among candidates for treasurer were
Michael Barrett, Annette Johnson, Lee Lussier, Jr., Glenda J. Martin
and Cheryl Schoenborn. Red Lake will have a new treasurer in May
because of Seki’s candidacy for chair.
Little Rock Representative William
"Billy" Green did not file for reelection, triggering an
election for that district. Those filing for that seat include,
Adrian Lee Beaulieu, Katherine "Spears" Dudley, Christopher
Jourdain and Robert "Charlie" Reynolds. Tribal council
candidates for Ponemah District include incumbent Gary L. Nelson, Sr.
and challengers Clifford C. Hardy and Eugene Perkins.
Red Lake candidates include incumbent
Roman “Ducker” Stately, challengers David F. Desjarlait, Deanna
K. Lasley, Donovan M. May, Roberty L. May, Martin “Mott”
Parkhurst and Robert “Bob” Smith.
Julius “Toady” Thunder seeks
reelection as the Redby District representative with challengers John
W. Dudley, Matt Sayers, Clayton Van Wert and Thomas "Jambi"
Westbrook.
LAC DU FLAMBEAU TRIBE AND CITY OF
SHULLSBURG REACH DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS
SCHULLSBURG, Wis. – The Lac du
Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and the City of
Shullsburg have approved the Intergovernmental and Development
agreements for the tribe’s proposed off-reservation casino resort
complex in Shullsburg.
The Tribe’s plans for the 20 acre
project were officially unveiled at a Public Scoping Meeting in
Shullsburg in August of last year. Plans include the construction of
a casino, hotel, event center, campground and sportsman’s club. The
projected impact of the proposed $132 million project includes 600
permanent jobs, 800 construction jobs, and associated payroll and
purchasing impacts. The Tribe is currently assisting the Bureau of
Indian Affairs in the preparation of a draft Environmental Impact
Statement, the completion of which should be published later this
summer.
For the past several months, the Lac
du Flambeau team, led by casino project manager Duane Chapman, and
the Shullsburg team, led by Mayor Tom Lethlean, worked to draft the
documents. Upon approval of the project, the city will receive an
infrastructure down payment and annual impact payment of 2 percent of
the project’s net profits. The tribe will receive municipal services,
city improvements, exclusivity and ongoing governmental support for
the application process.
LEECH LAKE TO RECEIVE $4 MILLION
HOUSING GRANT
WASHINGTON – Minnesota Eighth
District Rep. Rick Nolan announced March 20 that the Leech Lake Band
of Ojibwe received a $4,022,585 housing grant.
The grant, part of the Indian Housing
Block Grant program, will fund eligible affordable housing
activities, including new construction, modernization, rehabilitation
and crime prevention safety.
“These funds will ensure that
members of the Leech Lake Band will be able to build tribal housing
held to the highest modern standards of safety and efficiency,”
Nolan said. “Though Native Americans make up only 1 percent of our
nation’s population, they account for more than 8 percent of our
homeless. These funds will make proper ,modern housing available,
both now and in years to come.”
COUNTY OFFICIAL DELIVERS ULTIMATUM TO
LCO CAMP
HAYWARD, Wis. – The head of the Iron
County Forestry Department says the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of
Ojibwe isn’t doing enough to remove its harvest village project in
the Penokee Hills and said the sheriff should evict them.
The day after the band announced it
was moving most of its camp and not allowing any of its people to
stay more than the 14-day camping limit, Iron County Forestry
Director Joe Vairus said that isn’t enough.
The Band’s Harvest Education Learning
Project spokesman Paul DeMain said they’re chopping through deep
snow and ice to remove equipment and rotate people to private
property. He’s meeting again with Sheriff Tony Furyk, who says for
now, the action by LCO is reasonable. He said they won’t remove
everything though, so their two administrators have a place to stay.
Vairus says he’ll push for action
against the band if it doesn’t remove everything from public forest
land. Meanwhile, tribal officials are asking the Department of
Natural Resources for a scientific research permit to allow them to
stay there. Vairus said even then, they can’t camp there beyond 14
days.
CASINO TECH COMPANY FIGHTS TRIBES AFTER
BANKRUPTCY
KING OF PRUSSIA, Penn. – Money
Centers of America, a firm that manages electronic payments for
gambling casinos, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
federal court on March 24 while it fights two former clients, the
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Company director Christopher M.
Wolfington said his firm plans to stay in business. However, the
company appealed a $5.6 million court order to repay the Corporate
Commission of the Mille Lacs Band and is fighting sovereign-immunity
claims by the Ho-Chunk Nation. Wolfington asserts that the latter has
used the legal move in an attempt to prevent his company’s appeal
from prevailing in a dispute over $4.8 million.
Federal judge Richard H. Kyle in an
opinion in his Minneapolis courtroom in February noted that Money
Centers had contracted with the Mille Lacs Band in 2009 to distribute
cash to casino patrons and that the tribe had cancelled the deal in
2012, leaving Money Centers owing the tribe $5.6 million. The tribe
sued and in September the court granted the tribe summary judgement
on a breach-of-contract claim; litigation is continuing.
The Ho-Chunk dispute also covers cash
the tribe expects back from Money Center, as well as a cancellation
fee Money Center has said the tribe owes the company.
AIM COFOUNDER CALLS FOR A RENEWAL OF
THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
CASS LAKE, Minn. – In a press release
on March 17, American Indian Movement co-founding member Dennis Banks
called for a rejuvenation and reinvigoration of the organization,
nationwide.
In the release, Banks asserted that
AIM had not had a national meeting since 1981 and enumerated several
issues that he felt were pressing for the group’s action. Those
issues included the Keystone XL pipeline, states’ non-compliance with
the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Native American Graves
Protection and Rehabilitation Act.
Although individual tribes like the
Cherokee Nation and several Lakota tribes in South Dakota have made
strides toward addressing some of those issues, the release indicated
that AIM be more active in engagement. In addition, the release
called for the organization to be active on health issues, alcohol
and drug addiction and called for an international gathering of AIM
families, chapters and support groups at Green Bay, Wis. in October.
Banks also called for elder and youth
groups to be fostered by the organization, creating senior advisory
groups and for all AIM officials to be retired at the age of 60 and
transitioned into the advisory group.