Bois Forte Band leadership discusses tribal affairs and financial update at state of the band
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The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa held its state of the band address on Saturday at Fortune Bay Resort Casino in northern Minnesota. The annual address updates band members on tribal affairs from the previous year and future goals.
Chairman Carlos Hernandez delivered his first state of the band address as elected leader.
“When I stepped into this role in June, I understood that the responsibility of serving as chairman was not about one person. It is about working together as a council, supporting our employees and always remembering that we support the people of the Bois Forte Band,” Hernandez said.
He spoke on financial, community and government updates, including the conversations to remove the Secretary of the Interior from the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s constitution.
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The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is comprised of six Ojibwe bands in northern Minnesota, including the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. The Secretary of the Interior is included in decision making processes with the six bands as written in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe constitution.
Earlier this year, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe chairman Virgil Wind shared the tribal nation was drafting its own constitution.
“Our nation has always believed that our people should have an opportunity to help shape their own future,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez also shared updates in strengthening transparency and communication between tribal government and band members.
“For many years, people have asked for more transparency and more opportunities to understand what their leadership is working on,” he said, stating the nation’s government has been striving to provide regular updates through conversation with community.
One update Hernandez gave in his address was that ongoing research into the federal boarding school era has led to the discovery of remains from a burial site connected to Genoa U.S. Industrial Indian School in Nebraska. The remains of three children were identified to be from Bois Forte Band.
“They were relatives taken from their homes during the painful time in our history when many Native children were sent far away from their family and communities. For many families, stories of the boarding school era were never fully known,” he said. “Discoveries like this can bring a small measure of truth and closure for the families and descendants who have carried their history.”
Hernandez shared the names of the children: Raymond, Edgar and Mary.
Tribal financial updates
With conversations around transparency, district one representative Jeneal Goggleye shared with band members news regarding tribal audits. She said audits for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 are currently delinquent.
“One of my values that I have is being truthful, and I also believe in transparency. And I think, to me, transparency means talking about the positive things, but also talking about, you know, the negative things,” Goggleye said.
She shared a timeline in which the tribal nation plans to be caught up in its audit reports by the end of the year.
“Getting these audits completed and submitted on time needs to be a priority, as failure to conduct proper audits can lead to significant issues,” Goggleye said.
In other financial updates, Secretary Treasurer Tara Geshick said the loan on the land where the tribal nation’s convenience store sits has been paid in full. The store is located off Highway 169 in Tower and is owned and operated by the Bois Forte Band.
With the loan paid off, Geshick said the land is moving towards “trust status.” This status protects the land from being sold to non-tribal entities and from state and local taxation.
More tribal updates
Geshick said the tribal nation has several projects underway, including a new DNR building and expanded water and sewer systems.
“These projects strengthen our community, provide new opportunities and support future generations,” she said.
Geshick said in addition to those projects, the tribal nation has invested in cultural programming and leadership training.
Also coming up, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa will hold candidate forums next week for two leadership positions that are up for election: secretary treasurer and District 2 representative.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
