Tribal Members Attempt to Oust Their Leaders

According to Christina Rohn, staff writer for the Petoskey Review, "Several members of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians have formed a committee and are circulating a petition to recall their recently elected tribal chairman, Ken Harrington (right) and vice chairman, Dexter McNamara."

Far too many tribal leaders have forgotten that their purpose must always be in the best interest of the tribal members. Nepotism, jealousy, self-interests, and power-tripping seem to be the driving force behind the failure of many tribes and bands in Michigan. Questionable election results and even the failure to hold an election keeps some so-called leaders in their position of power at the expense of the members. The ability to load committees and available positions with friends and relatives is a political move to control the power within a tribe at the expense of the best interests of the membership.

Such loaded positions are added protection for tribal leaders who choose to ignore the constitution and bylaws of the people they claim to represent. Revisions and amendments to some tribal constitutions are passed at the whim of power hungry boards who want to eliminate the input of tribal members which includes the right to vote for their leaders in an election that is controlled by the members rather than the board. Holding back tribal constitutions from tribal members until it disables the rights of members to choose leaders prevents members from contributing their voice to the direction they want for their tribe. This places tribes under 'ownership' of the board instead of the people who were left out of the decision-making process.

Improperly held meetings, critical information withheld from members,lack of accountability of tribal funds, ignorance of tribal law, and failure to uphold state and federal laws are among many problems that place all tribal members in jeopardy along with the status of the tribe in the eyes of those agencies who oversee some tribal operations.

Elected tribal boards should never be in control of the tribal constitution and bylaws just as they should have no control over election policies. This alone can take down the success of a tribe and place all it's members in a hostage position with so-called elected leaders as the captors. All too often and very recently, I have seen tribal leaders turn down wonderful opportunities for their members that could provide or increase jobs and services because leaders may be required to relinquish some power to investors and members, uphold the constitution and bylaws, adhere to acceptable accounting practices and abide by IRS rules. Not all do so intentionally, but a lack of education and general knowledge intertwined with a wannabee mentality have been the source of embarrassment and dismay for those whose proud heritage is being tarnished by their leaders.

Federal recognition for tribes that provided the goose that laid the Golden eggs isn't always what it is cracked up to be. Anyone that has ever been a beneficiary in a large inheritance or won some big bucks in the lottery is well aware that the snakes will slither out to wrap themselves around those Golden eggs for their own personal profit while completely ignoring the true beneficiaries.

I am no judge of the character of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Little Traverse Band since I do not know either one but I do credit those tribal members for taking a stand for what they feel is right. May the best man win.

Lynne Weaver

MACKINAC BANDS FORWARD MOVEMENT GENERATES PUBLIC INTEREST

Several steps have been taken to generate public interest in the Mackinac Bands. The results have been, for the most part, positive. Enrollment has been steadily increasing with many members of the Sault Tribe requesting affirmation of their membership in the Mackinac Bands.

A growing stream of business developers along with the occasional philanthropist have communicated their interest in the MB. All the ingredients required for potential success are coming together. Invitations to become involved in large community projects, including outside the Indian community, are becoming more frequent.

Several Sault Tribe members who were employed and acted under certain authority for the ST, who are not eligible for membership in the MB, are giving the thumbs up along with several bits of advice.

Suggestions of a Mobile Health Unit are high on the priority list for the MB Board of Directors since the Sault Tribe does not provide convenient health services for members beyond the voting units in the Upper Peninsula. Members that are too ill to travel could benefit from the option of a Mobile Health Unit.

Jobs,especially in 'Green' technology, education and a diversified portfolio of business development all hold an equal level of priority on the MB agenda.

In order to achieve the MB's maximum potential at a faster rate and to further the best interest of all members, it would be beneficial if all like-minded groups who feel they are representing smaller bands of the original MB, could come together as one.

The Mackinac Bands are always searching for professional advice from talented members so if you are interested, don't hesitate to contact me....

lynne.mackbands@yahoo.com

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CONGRATULATIONS TO SAULT TRIBE MEMBER...JOE NOLAN

In the October issue of the Bay Mills News there is a picture of a Sault Tribe member, Joe Nolan. Nolan, who is an engineering technician for the Indian Health Service in the Sault, received the 2009 Bemidjii Area Director's Award for Excellence. The Sault Field Office provides sanitation facilities assistance to tribal members and communities. Thanks for making us proud, Mr. Nolan.

Just a few words on Healthcare Reform....

Insurance companies who don't want to give up their mega profits don't want healthcare reform. Insurance companies and their lobbyists have resorted to scare tactics to stop reform.

There are those that say they don't want the government to be involved in their healthcare but some of these people are on Medicare. Huh? So I asked them, "So you don't want your Medicare anymore?" and they say "Huh?" If those on Medicare or Medicaid no longer want to participate because they discovered they are on a government run program, maybe the savings will help pay for a government run medical plan for those who need health care coverage and do want it.

How about all those cushy government jobs with their great benefits? Maybe the government should get out of the employment business and turn it all over to privatization. If that happened, would government employees have an option to stick with their government employer or would they be forced to give up that option to have the government involved in their employment, their health plan and all those other wonderful benefits government employees get from their government run employer? I have to wonder if privatization would reduce their salaries and benefits so that the private companies could drastically increase their profits.

How about all those government holidays? We should get rid of them too....that would save a lot of money. Doesn't the government run the military forces? Crap...what would we do without a government run military? Would we end up like other 3rd world countries? At least we wouldn't have the government interfering in our security and over-protecting us.

One more thing....a lot of us want the public option plan because it gives us a choice. Isn't that what we have when we vote in our government-run public elections...a choice? I like choices and options. My vote will go to those who want the American public to have a choice.

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

GO FIGURE......

Now that Sault Tribe management is out of the picture, Greektown is finally making money. Were we making money all along and didn’t know it? Where did it go? If Greektown’s revenues are up 11.8% over last year while the other 2 casinos in Detroit are down an average of 25% or more, which is representative of casinos all across the country, doesn’t this raise some questions in everyone’s mind. Even those that are clueless when it comes to doing the math are scratching their heads over this one. Add the 11.8 % increase to what the other casinos are down…an average 25% decrease over last year. That’s almost 37%. I spent 25 years examining and calculating budgets and doing comparisons of budget to actual, prior years, and projected sales, profits and expenses so I can’t help but have a couple of raised eyebrows over the calculations I just did.

Let me try to explain this. A manager I worked for continually added inventory counts to reported promotional sales and markdown figures which recorded a loss in profit. He did it to cover waste so that at the end of the year, he would come out smelling like a rose and get a big bonus for controlling waste. Trouble is, inventory figures, and cover-ups, roll over to the next year’s business just like your unused cell phone minutes. The following year’s inventory count reflects last year’s cover-up plus the current years normal expected waste figures. Waste is inevitable and the result of human error, undetected shoplifting, and employee theft with 1% and under as the goal.

So this manager thought he had a great year showing a 5% gain instead of a loss, which could only happen as the result of a huge mistake. He tried to explain it away by claiming the inventory of the prior year, before he got there, was in error. He was fired.

Now reverse the scenario....While the manager wanted to look good so he could get that top bonus, a corporaton would never report more profits than they earned. It would be stupid and cost them in corporate taxes. If a corporation wanted to pay less taxes, they would report less profit using a seperate set of books. If an owner of a large company wanted more money in his pocket, he might be inclined to show less profit and a loss would be even better. But of course, this scenario would assume that the owner of the large company was crooked, dishonest….a thief. Now imagine if this company had stockholders. They just got ripped off.
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Changing the subject and just as a reminder, why did Bernard Bouschor go to extraordinary lengths to get back on the Sault Tribe board? Prior to the last election, why did Cathy Abramson, DJ Hoffman, Lana Causley, Joe Eitrem, Dennis McKelvie and who am I missing, fight so hard to get Aaron Payment away from Greektown and replace him with the ousted police chief who wasn’t qualified to run an outhouse let alone a casino? Hmmmmm…….2 + 2+?=??…

NO NEWS CAN'T BE GOOD NEWS

We have waited and waited and now it seems that we waited for nothing. First Bernard Bouschor participated in a devious act to relieve 2.7 million dollars from the Sault Tribe members to pay off his key employees. Then on the night he lost the 2004 election, with a lot of help from some of his friends and a few of his family members, they relieved the tribal offices of computers, hard drives and rare native American art.


Five years later, it appears that Bouschor's traitor-like behavior will go unpunished. Attempts to right the wrongs perpetrated by Bouschor upon the tribal members only resulted in even more losses. It seems the courts are going to rule in his favor. The Indians lose again. Why should we be surprised that the innocent Sault Tribe members would lose in a court system not their own?

Sovereignty is not what it is cut out to be. Like the treaties signed by our ancestors, sovereignty is a half-ass promise filled with 'but onlies and exceptions to every rule' and those rules are not in our favor. We should have been able to sue Bouschor in accordance with our laws and in our courts. We should have been able to handle Bouschor's case in the same manner that he handled Mike Lumsdens....that is, if we were truly sovereign.

Because of Bouschor, hundreds of tribal members have suffered job losses and had many services cut but those on the board who supported him then and remain on the board to support him now, have given up nothing.

Those same directors also supported Fred Paquin, Sault Tribes disgraced former police chief. Where has the investigation of the Sault Tribes biggest embarrassment led? Don't expect the Sault Tribe chairman, or the Board of Directors to fill us in because....IT'S A BIG SECRET. Instead of our elected representatives (well-sort of)keeping us informed, they have chosen to hide the truth and hire a public relations firm to deal with the nasty publicity instead. Well, at least the news we will get should be good news, even if it's not.