Crowded contest for White Earth tribal chair

Winona LaDuke at the hearing on water standards.
Winona LaDuke is one of a dozen candidates running for chair of the White Earth Tribal Council.
Tom Scheck | MPR News 2015

It's been less than a month since Erma Vizenor resigned as chair of the White Earth Tribal Council, and already nearly a dozen tribe members are running to fill her seat.

Winona LaDuke, executive director of the Native American environmental group Honor the Earth, was the first to garner attention ā€” declaring her run within days of the power struggle that cost Vizenor her job.

Since then many others have thrown their hats in the ring. Earlier this week the White Earth Tribal Council certified 12 candidates.

Candidates running for chairperson are: Emily Annette, Michael Dahl, Robert Durant, K Melinda Iverson, James Jackson, Diana King, Winona LaDuke, Karen M. Manypenny, Marvin Manypenny, Patrick Scott Sr., Terrance Tibbetts Sr. and Leonard Wadena.

A primary election will be held April 5. The top two candidates will move on to a general election June 14, unless one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, in which case that candidate will be declared the winner.

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