By Lynne Weaver
Ten rules to being a good Sault Tribe member.
# One Never question authority.
This is by far the most important rule to becoming a faithful and obedient Sault Tribe member. Tribal Officials are the ultimate and final authority and not law enforcement as some may assume. Do not assume that as a voting member, you have the right to opinions that may question authority.
# Two Learn to nod yes effectively.
Move your head from its upright position directly downward until the chin touches the area located at the top of the breastbone. This movement signals your approval with whatever you are told by tribal officials.
# Three Ignore the tribal constitution.
This document was originally intended for approval by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the purpose of obtaining federal acknowledgement and can be amended by the Sault Tribe Board of Directors only, as needed.
# Four Believe everything you are told.
If tribal officials tell you that everything is hunky-dorey fine, you should believe it because they would never deceive tribal members unless it was absolutely necessary. The definition of “necessary” is at the discretion of the board and other tribal officials.
# Five Do not ask for tribal financial updates.
The financial position of the tribe is none of your business. The “don’t ask-don’t tell” rule is always in effect.
# Six Do not ask that the meetings be televised as before.
One of the benefits of having tribal members not living within meeting zones is that it is less complicated for tribal officials. If members can’t attend meetings, it is easier not to be held accountable. This is also easier for members come election time since a simple guess is all that is required to know who has worked in the best interest of the tribe.
# Seven Give back your Elder check if you received one.
The Board of Directors needs it to pay for unnecessary trips across the country to attend conferences that bring nothing of value back to the tribe.
# Eight Be happy that the board is not making any financial sacrifices for the tribe.
Someone has to benefit from all the money received from the land claims. Be happy that you don’t have the headaches associated with how to spend 67K a year for working a part-time job. Since members are not privy to such highly confidential information, apologies to all if the figure is higher now.
# Nine Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
If you have heard about the FBI investigations and the discovery of the endless can of worms, put your hand over your ears. If you were a witness to questionable activities by any tribal official, cover your eyes. Place your hand over your mouth if you feel tempted to tell anyone what you have heard or seen.
# Ten Drink the red koolaid as soon as the effects of the first nine rules begin to wear off.
11 comments:
July 2009....2 yrs. later and that still holds true.Shame on us for letting it get to this point. We have been complacent and trusting.Time for that to end. I am reasonably sure that the trusting is over among most tribal members.Now about the complacent part.Time to end that as well.
Good article. Nothing will change unless we change it. Any ideas ?
Let's look at it a different way.
The Golden Age of the Sault Tribe (a time when the tribe had choices) ......During the 10m years prior to Bouschor's quest for Greek Town.
40,000 citizens most of which are out of the service areas and receive no benefit, as a member.
Entrenched for three decades.... Core families are at full employment...qualified or not.
Every business venture initiated by Team Bouschor ....FAILED.
Chief of Police in Federal custody.
Approximately a billion and a half dollars squandered through greed, poor business decisions and corruption.
New constitution banned by Team Bouschor.
Golden Age OVER.....no more choices.
rj
The only choice left is to TAKE IT BACK.Take back what is left and try to salvage what they have done over the years. I see no reason for the bod to even exist. We pay them 3.5 million (give or take) and just what is it we get for our money.Lies,corruption,greed,no answers,rampant nepotisim,to name a few. Just think no bod. It's not like they serve such a huge purpose anyway.And it's not like they would be homeless or starving,trust me they would be just fine. An immediate savings of 3.5 mill.Not a bad start. I mean it isn't like everything would come to a standstill.Good employees would step up and the casinos would run at full tilt.Why wouldn't they? And who knows maybe the money we generate would actually make it to the bank.
Who was it that led the charge for the 67k/yr board member salary? ,, also how retroactive was it?..
Seriously, though, the tribe needs help from all of those people that have recognized the corruption, mismanagement, and poor business decisions that were mostly based on greed
The tribe needs the new voters to try and understand what has taken place, in the past, and how it will repeat itself if the members don't learn from the mistakes. It is equally important for them to learn who the perpetrators were and are.
Because they are on the Board and they are benefitting from a lifetime of entitlement because of their family or political connection. This is all made possible by the lack of seperation of powers and a real constitiution.
Ask any Elder what happened to their "Land Claims Settlerment".
Ask any Elder how the tribe squandered 1.5 BILLION dollars over the Greek Town screw up.
Ask any Elder why the constitution hasn't been approved.
Ask any Elder what Cathy Abramson has done for the tribe in all of the years she has been in office.
Ask them about Bouschor's promise to them about safe guarding their legacy and how he lost it to the greeks.
Ask them if they know "now" who Bouschor really is
The voter shouldn't stop there.
Abramson, Causley, Pine, Rickley, Eitrem and Bouschor make up the worst that the tribe has to offer in the way of leadership.
This is the year that you should
REELECT NO ONE
These people don't have a right to call themselves directors.
It is shameful how they have kept the new constitution from the people.
If you can't find honest people to replace them with...get on board yourself and run for the seat. If you are honest...people will support you with their vote.
We have paid a terrible price for trusting these individuals. We will never really recover from their greed and inept business sense.
But, we don't have to suffer at their hands anymore.
With all due respect to the previous poster.You are operating on the assumption that tribal elections are fair and honest. I think our past experiences will prove that not to be true.After all haven't we voted on things only to be told we did not understand the wording? This board has a stranglehold on the tribe and in case you haven't noticed they do what they please.Ballots be damned..they mean nothing to them.Petitions and referendums mean even less.
Next meeting is in Hessel. On the agenda motion for “Interim Chairperson Appointment.” Not a resolution but a motion. Could this be a set-up to appoint Causley in her home Unit? What needs to happen to Causley is her being voted out. Her and her family have been huge recepients of Supreme Tribal benefits.
I do not personally know of Lana's shenanagins but I do know what I've heard.None of it very nice.Rumors of how she and her father scammed the feds for $180,000,rumors of an inapprioate relationship with the former chair,the claim that she covered up and swept under the rug that her sister helped herself to a lot of money from the midjim in St.Ignace.There is a lot more but the question is this.Do you really want someone with morals as questionable as this running a multi million dollar operation and representing you? I am thinking it is a real bad idea.I don't believe for one minute that she did not know what McCoy was up to when HE helped HIMSELF to 60,000. And I still want to know just when he will be paying back that money. Call me crazy for thinking that he should but I'm funny that way. I also think he should be prosecuted like any other thief. Any person I work with certainly would be..what makes him so special? I would like to know what puts him above the law? Is it just because that has been the way of it for so long that these people no longer recognize the difference between right and wrong or is it simply they do it because they can? There are no consequences and they are accountable to no one. Time for a real big change.Yes we can!
WHO DOES BOUSCHOR WANT ON THE TRIBAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS??????
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