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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Tribal chair: Better communication needed

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 7/20/16

VERMILION RES-ERVATION— Newly-elected tribal chair Cathy Chavers and Dist. I Rep. Travis Morrison both stressed better communication with band members during a meet and greet here late last week at …

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Tribal chair: Better communication needed

Posted

VERMILION RES-ERVATION— Newly-elected tribal chair Cathy Chavers and Dist. I Rep. Travis Morrison both stressed better communication with band members during a meet and greet here late last week at the Vermilion Social Center.

Chavers, who had previously worked for Bois Forte Health and Human Services, said band members want more information about the workings of their tribal government. “That’s key in any organization,” said Chavers. “We want people to know that we’re out there and approachable. We are working for the people,” she said.

“We used to have quarterly meetings with band members,” recalled Morrison, who suggested the tribal council look at doing something similar in the future. “We’ve gotten away from that, but it’s time to reopen the lines of communication, so we know what the people are thinking.”

Issues of concern

Chavers, in an interview with the Timberjay on Tuesday, was fresh off a meeting with Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who was filling in for Gov. Mark Dayton who was taken ill this week. It’s a meeting that the governor typically calls once a year to talk about issues affecting Indian Country and other parts of Minnesota.

One of the issues at the top of the agenda, said Chavers, was the opioid drug epidemic, which is affecting communities around the country. It’s an issue that concerns many Bois Forte band members as well, said Chavers, although she acknowledged there are no easy fixes to the problem. Right now, she said, she wants to talk to other tribal leaders to see how the drug issue is being addressed elsewhere. “We want to find out what other tribes are doing, what works, what doesn’t work. If something is working at Shakopee, for example, we need to see if it can be modified to work here at Bois Forte,” said Chavers. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”

Chavers said the focus in any anti-drug effort needs to be on education and prevention, and that law enforcement has a role to play in that effort. “And it has to go both ways,” she said. “We also need to educate law enforcement about the tribes, so they can respond more effectively.”

She said community involvement is also key to any solution, and she wants input and ideas from members of the Bois Forte community. “A lot of our elders are scared. There are a lot of things going on that we have to address. But it’s not just a government issue. We need to take back our communities,” she added.

On other issues, Chavers said she’d like to see more coordination and cooperation between the Bois Forte tribal government and local governments in the area.

“That came up in our discussions with the Lt. Governor,” she said. “Other tribal leaders said they are meeting with mayors of neighboring communities and their county commissioners. I see that as a good step forward.”

Such outreach was somewhat limited under the previous tribal chairman, but Chavers said she’d be interested in making the effort. “I’d like to set up meetings with the mayors of Cook and Tower, and in Virginia and Duluth, because we have a lot of tribal members in those communities,” she noted. Chavers pointed out that Orr’s mayor works for the tribal government, so the relationship there is already a strong one. “With the others, we have to start the process. We have to sit down at the table and open the doors.”

As the owners of the area’s largest single employer, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, the Bois Forte Band has become a key player in the region’s tourism economy, and Chavers said she’d like to see more collaboration among the various entities as the region works to promote itself. “I don’t see how you can’t do that,” she said. “Tourism is our main industry up here.”

At the same time, Chavers said she’d like to see management at Fortune Bay brought back under the auspices of an independent board of directors, rather than the tribal council. She said the band has a growing number of members with significant business experience, and that the development corporation could provide a good opportunity for those members to use their talents and skills to further the success of tribal ventures. As it is, she said, she doesn’t believe the tribal council needs to intervene to the degree that it has in recent years in the management of the tribal businesses. Yet, Chavers noted that she doesn’t have the authority on her own to restore an independent board. “Personally, that’s what I’d like to see, but I’ll have to approach the council.”

The council has yet to meet, however, since Chavers took office earlier this month. The council’s first meeting under their new chair is set for Aug. 3.