By Gary Bernard
Well, another tribal paper came to me today. It was filled with the same “junk” as always. There is a sad note for me. More tribal members have walked on without so much as a nod of recognition for their life as a tribal member.
There is no land's claims money. The tribe used it all and pays the elder's 12% on what the land's claims money used to be. Someday it hopes to replenish the fund but until then the elder's are expected to be happy with the 12% paid to them out of the yearly tribal budget.
Land claims money was used for the benefit of the tribe. The problem is, that all are passing on without getting even a small portion of it. It was said that the money would solve the financial woes in perpetuity. That is a joke that no one can laugh at. I watched my father go through this when he was my age(56), and he could not understand why the tribal administration was holding on to that money for dear life. Could it have been that they saw the mismanagement of the tribes future finance through theft and embezzlement and decided to hedge their options?
Of all the space given to the BOD and TC in the tribal rag, it would seem that someone would have mentioned a serious effort to free up those financial resources for the individual membership. I have asked many in the past about this issue and my concerns fell on deaf ears. Boushor, Lumsden and the others built a fortune for themselves while claiming we could not disburse the money on a personal basis because we as members would waste it on frivolous spending. Little did we know.
I would like to know when the board members are going to address this issue before it is all gone. I think it is only just to see how much has been spent, how much has been borrowed against it. There needs to be drastic changes within the tribal leadership, and sooner the better. They have all proven useless at everything from lying, thievery and dishonesty. It seems Indians can complain about the whites for hundreds of years in regard to manifest destiny, but let them hold the reigns and it is acceptable to rape and pillage their own tribal members. Bouchor sets the example that the others follow. Nuff said! Please forward. Thanks.
16 comments:
When Is Enough....Enough?
The tribe's golden years have already passed.
Its rise to power and wealth was short lived.
Who made the decisions.....who made the ploicies....... that resulted in the legacy, of past generations, being squandered?
Who supported these people with their vote?
What safeguards were initiated by Cathy McCoy Abramson?
How has Lana Causley provided integrity to our Board of Di rectos?
How has Benard Bouschor contributed to our goal of self sufficiency?
Did Joe McCoy's vision include the membership?
How has Joe Eitrem protected our rights as tribal citizens?
Did Rickley bring anything of worth to the Board?
How has any of these "elected" positively contributed to the tribe's well being?
The land claims funds were not distributed to the members because the leaders at that time, primarily Bernard, stated that the members would squander the money and it would be gone.If the Tribal Board held control the money could be invested to provide self sufficiency. So that is what happened. Well, once they got the money the Board went on a spending spree. They raised their salaries from a once meager per meeting stipend to $350 per meeting and social event, and then greedy board members, including Lumsden, Abramson and others voted themelves a salary of almost $70,000 per year of wages and benefits. Then they got computers, cell phones, comp meals and bennies and lodging. Cathy Abramson started taking trips everywhere. Then the uneducated, unskilled and arrogant board started pumping all kinds of funds in failing enterprises. So who squandered the money ? It certainly was not the members. It was the Board and they still are living high on the hog with those outrageous salaries and bennies while the members go without. Time to give them all the boot. Time to go back to meager stipends per meeting. Hire a competent CEO and let him or her run the business without the micromanagement of useless incompetent Board members.
I couldn't agree with you more. Right now there are several on the board without the experience or education to do anything more than make sandwiches, but there they sit, pretending they have a clue how to handle millions of our money. The board should be paid by stipend and their job should be to communicate to the members what the people who are educated to do the job, are doing.
A tribal member just asked, "I think it is only just to see how much has been spent, how much has been borrowed against it.”
Well as a tribal member you have the right under law to see the books of this “Fund” anytime you request during normal business hours. You will be able to see who spent what as the the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, (Public Law 105-143) clearly states: The books and records of the Self-Sufficiency Fund shall be audited at least once during each fiscal year by an independent certified public accountant who shall prepare a report on the results of such an audit. Such report shall be treated as a public document of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe and a copy of the report shall be available for inspection by any enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe.
Is it just me, or did anyone else find Deb Pine's unit report immature, reactive, insulting, and repetative ? The majority of her report casts blame on the 'previous' administration for all the current problems. Too bad she simply is not bright enough to realize that the previous administration which caused the current problems was her beloved cuz, BB. I know she is trying to put the blame on Aaron, but in reality she cannot. She even went so far as to try and blame Aaron for the evergreen contracts ! Is she really that dimwitted, or was she off partying during those years. Then she goes on to insult those who post on the internet as not having accurate or meaningful information. She encourages us to rely on the tribal paper for news because she states they are accurate and unbiased. Right. And she also wants people to stop criticizing the board for their actions and causing turmoil by demanding a voice in the government. She wants people to 'park it'. Finally she insults us all by implying that we are not astute enough to understand her. Well it does not take a lot of smarts to undertand the writings of someone who can only boast a certificate in jewerly making. How did we ever fall so low as to elect her to office. She, Cathy A., and Lana are a sad reflection on the great members of our tribe.
The Board reports are a waste of space in the tribal paper and a waste of time to read. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME ! The same topics are covered and the same excuses as to why this was done or not done. All defensive garbage. Why don't they just have someone from the paper write on report that assigns blame to the previous administration, defends their indefensible actions, and makes umpteen excuses. Then they can all sign it ! Would save space for important news ( Please no more pics of Cathy A) and save time for members who now read all the reports.
Ah is it just me or are the people on this blog just sour? We lost everything and now you shit all over the people that have to come in and clean up the messes. Get a grip and grow up and oh yeah, grow some balls and post what I just wrote. If you don't like the tribe, DISENROLL or grow some balls and run. Work at making it better rather sitting back and ripping everyone whonhad the balls to step apart.
Anyone want to bet that the last ANONYMOUS poster telling me (?) to grow some balls sounds a lot like the arrogance of Deb Pine or one of THAT type. Here's what ANONYMOUS-TOO-GUTLESS-AND-EMBARRASSED-TO-USE-MY-REAL-NAME is really saying..."Get over it that we stripped the tribe, got ours, screwed you and everyone else....and we're going to keep on until the good people of the tribe stop us."
Wouldn't Pine and Bouschour just love it if we disenrolled. More money for them and they wouldnt have anyone to answer to.
Hey I have the balls to run, but I don't have an uncle whose one and only need is to use me like everyone else on the board in his pocket for his own purposes. Now run along little girl, you bore me.
You know I am reasonably sure that there are a bunch of tribal members who are perfectly capable of running this thing. I truly believe that the only way we will accomplish anything is to take matters in our own hands. Maybe take a page from the new egyptian philosphy and gather in the soo and expeditite the removal of those who have done so much damage to this tribe. Their arrogance is unprecendented and needs to be addressed in the only way possible. They need to be escorted out,as so many others have,and the members need to take complete control of everything. I read this blog several times a day and it is all the proof I need that the members are intelligent,articulate and I see a whole lot of good business minds. The time is now folks. Referendums are fine when the playing field is level but make no mistake...it is not. How many do we need to get it that the current BOD couldn,t care less about the will of the people. we still do not have a new constitution,the elder fund is pillaged on a regular basis and they continue to believe that the people who generate ALL the revenue (the employees) are making those dollars possible for them to use an way THEY see fit and we all know how that goes. One word comes to mind..Greektown. Gives us 700 million reasons to revolt.
I am so inclined to agree 100% with the previous Anonymous posting regarding a 'revolt'. That very thought has been with me for some time. Radical?
If recent events regarding decisions made that violate the constitution are not dealt with by the tribal prosecutor and our joke of a judicial system leaving the tribal police with no authority to uphold the law, and intervention by the BIA is not an option do we sit on our hands and say "Oh well, there's nothing we can do"? Or....
Wow a real Indian uprising in the 21st Century.... and all the reasons are the same as back in the day.... someone is taking what is rightfully ours.
Yup, the anonymous ball grower poster absolutely sounds like lewd, crude, rude, Princess Pine. When I see her all dressed up in her traditional garb, I truly want to vomit. She disgraces our traditions with her hypocracy and her not so traditional behaviors.
Would Ms. Priviliged Pine like to explain why she received money from the Tribe to attend a jewerly making school in the Southwest at a time when all other tribal members were denied funds for out of State schools ? Why did the tribe pay her mega bucks ? Is it because her auntie was on the board and also on the Education Committee ? So what did Ms. Privileged Pine give back to the Tribe because of the favoritism and nepotism extended to her ? Nothing. She did work as a poster maker for the casino for years, and perhaps still does, but that is not giving back, that is earning a wage. And how come she kept a good paying job for so many years when the job she did could have been contracted out to a printing service for a fraction of the cost ? How about her siblings and relatives and how they all got prefential acceptance into tribal housing and food commods......Ms. Privilege can spout all she wants about trying to clean up the messes with the tribe. However, she and her family are a big part of the mess.
The lands claim money was to be distributed and split up among only the quarter bloods and above. The leadership, at that time, believed it best to keep the money together and share the interest with everybody, which means people who fall below the quarter blood mark could also share in the benefit of the lands claim.
This was the original discussion of the link. We should all remember this fact. The leaders at that time could have just given the money to people who qualified with the right amount of blood. Trust me, we have tribal members who would like to see us go back to quarter blood and above.
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