VOTERS BEWARE!

By RJanetos
You may think that you are registered to vote in any Sault Tribe election, only to find out, after it is too late, that you won't be getting a ballot.
You were denied a ballot because of a "mailing snafu".
You don't get to vote because you live outside the service areas and didn't re-register for each election...or some such nonsense.
You don't get to vote because your registration was lost somewhere along the line.
You don't get to vote because the election committee says that they don't have a good address for you although you haven't moved in twenty years.

Whatever the reason is for the inefficiency, negligence or lies...you are denied your right to vote.

The elections have been controlled by core family and Bouschor loyalist for decades. The Board of Directors are unwilling to provide a more reasonable opportunity for people to serve.....giving them  complete control..

To combat this system, there needs to be a massive effort to not only register voters but to get official confirmation of their registration in a timely fashion. To accomplish this, volunteers will need to obtain registration materials and distribute them by mail and the internet. A system to follow up on the registration must be in place and a watch dog committee must be able to act swiftly when a error is reported. The election committee must acknowledge new registrants by official tribal mail.
 
Volunteers need to provide community collection points and certify by signature that a registered voter has authorized them to forward their ballot to the tribal ballot box. The volunteer need to maintain records of those ballots received.
 
If someone doesn't receive a ballot during the delivery period, and reports it, the tribe should contact that person and overnight a ballot...which they take to the collection point volunteer. The signatures collected by the volunteers will act as a means to prevent duplication.

This action is necessary because of the corrupt and/or negligent election process

In regular elections, you sign your name and receive a ballot when it is confirmed that you are registered.

Change the path of the tribe.
Do what you can to help.

HOW TO BE A GOOD SAULT TRIBE MEMBER FOR DUMMIES

Originally published in the Cheboygan Tribune July 2009

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.

IT'S TIME TO SHAKE THINGS UP!

 This from an Anonymous Poster.....

It IS time to start over. In my mind what better time? Things are already in the toilet. Keeping the status quo only insures the continued downward spiral that we are in. I mean did you check out the latest edition of the happy land paper?  Unit reports that said absolutely nothing except that they all took another trip on our dime. I am very angry that they can travel all over the place and we are still working for peanuts,our properties are falling apart and we have ZERO leadership.

I work at the Shores and I can tell you that for a building that is what? 5 yrs old it is rapidly approaching dump status. Broken things are rarely fixed,the plumbing is a nightmare,carpets are filthy,can't keep houskeepers because they don't want to pay them anything..the list goes on ad nauseum. And I won't even start on the lakefront.And they are traveling around acting like everything is hunky dorey.

Well things are not hunky dorey, employee morale is at an all time low. Folks work for the tribe because they HAVE to..not because they want to. If there were other jobs in the area all GOOD employees would be gone.

I am a firm believer it is time to shake things up and not with some lame referendum or petition that they will just ignore. I mean shake things up!!!


This seems to be a growing trend among Sault Tribers...the idea that the only options to make the necessary changes are to be proactive in a way that suggests we mean business!
Lynne Weaver