As a divorced single parent, the greatest benefit to me as member of the Sault Tribe was the free health and dental care for myself and my children and fortunately, we were a healthy family. I never relied on or asked for any other services from the Sault tribe other than the health and dental care.
But what about those Elders who are diabetic, have heart problems or other age related illnesses? What about those children whose parents must rely on IHS for asthma medications so their children can breathe? There are an untold number of Sault Tribe members who have serious health problems and have no other options for their health care and most ask for nothing more than that.
But...there are a handful of directors that want to take that away. Not for one moment have they considered what they are doing to thousands of members. While they do little for the 70 grand a year plus benefits they receive, there are members who would give anything just to get a job making 1/4 of that.
Dennis McKelvie seems to be leading the charge to disenroll thousands of members of the tribe and he is followed closely by Cathy Abramson, DJ Hoffman, Joe Eitrem, Lana Causley, Keith Massaway and Fred Paquin. Now the last 3 must have some significant plan in place since they are Mackinac Bands themselves but that remains to be seen
Now those same useless people not worthy of the title or position want even more at the expense of the health of Elders, children and other members who desperately need the health benefits of the tribe. During these times of extreme unemployment in Michigan, our country falling into a recession, those greedy directors want to take more away from the members in order to benefit themselves and their own families.
I am a descendant of both Sault Tribe and Mackinac Bands so either way, it should not matter to me....but it does. It infuriates me that these evil people feel they somehow have the right to do this to so many good people. Because our people had to move away to find jobs rather then live on welfare, the greedy useless bunch sitting on the board have decided that these members are no longer Indian or part of this tribe.
I am a member of this tribe and those directors are there because of the vote (however questionable that is). The board is there to represent the members and they have failed us miserably. As a member of this tribe, I want the Mackinac Bands as well as all At Large members to remain within our tribe until such time as they choose to leave on their own.
The Mackinac Bands, with their approximate 17,000 members, are making progress. When the BIA accepted the resolution to allow the adoption of the Mackinac Bands into the Sault Tribe, they, for all intents and purposes, recognized the Mackinac Bands as being an Indian tribe. That is only logical...correct? They certainly didn't let them in thinking they were not Indian...correct? The Mackinac Bands is already recognized by the State of Michigan.
For those that are concerned about your future, Mackinac Bands is holding open enrollment and it is not necessary to drop out of the Sault Tribe at this time. For those that are not Mackinac Bands, contact the Bay Mills tribe since Sault Tribe is just a splinter tribe of Bay Mills.
http://macbands.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment