June 8 2015 Chairmans Notes
Posoh Nec-Omaeqnomenewak, Greetings my Fellow Menominee.
Well, this update comes with spring ending and summer beginning. The last update was April 22. You should probably be planting your gardens now, and I know many have them started already. As before, the following will summarize some of my travel as Chairman and summarize some actions of MTL as well.
April 23-Attended a meeting of various tribal and county departments who are charged with establishing a Menominee Tribal Children’s Code. This will replace the dependence on the state’s laws we adopted long ago regarding our Menominee children and families. This is a major undertaking, and should hopefully keep the working parts but correct many problems we have now in working with the tribe, county, and courts because we follow state law for various issues.
April 24-Attended the Great Lakes Intertribal Council (GLITC) Strategic Planning and drug ordinance review meeting in Lac Du Flambeau. This is a tribal organization consisting of all the tribal chairs of Wisconsin and also includes Lac Vieux Desert, a tribe in Upper Michigan. One of the objectives this year was to try to coordinate sustainable economic efforts, including joint purchasing. We also prioritized areas to target joint grants, etc. I am told this is a yearly session.
April 28- Met with GLITC members to discuss our drug ordinance as a model. The synthetic marijuana sections in our Menominee ordinance are some of the most advanced and comprehensive in the nation. Regarding the drug ordinance, other tribes also have alcohol and synthetic marijuana/drugs and prescription drug abuse. We are trying to communicate and share laws between Wisconsin tribes, even though we are the only non-PL280 tribe, so that we help the reservations where abusers now can go to hide and deal drugs since that rez might not have strong laws. It is worth the effort.
April 30 through May 27-Held several meetings with some Wisconsin tribes to discuss either investment in or a joint business regarding industrial hemp. CBD oil and the many uses of the fiber are the primary targeted products. Tribes are willing to invest in industrial hemp, as it is not the “high inducing” type of marijuana, and a lower priority for state or federal enforcement, thus low risk for them and us.
May 2-Went to Keshena Animal Rescue held at Transit Building and received a tour of their set-up. They saw, tested, and/or vaccinated about 178 dogs, with 42 dogs spayed or neutered. Lyme disease was found in 49% of the dogs, which is a concern. Good news is the heartworm positives went from 35% of all dogs tested eight years ago to about 3% now. Thank you to all the volunteers, we truly appreciate everything you do.
May 4 – The MTL met with the Menominee Tribal Supreme Court Justices. While we realize the separation per the Constitution, we also realize the value of meeting to communicate on issues not directly related to court decision making or direct ordinance creating. Based on feedback, we plan to meet several times a year if possible.
May 4-5-Met with a potential hemp oil company and toured rez regarding grow sites and infrastructure. Wisconsin used to be one of the very top hemp growing states because of soil, temp, rainfall, etc…and this company verified our potential to grow hemp as excellent.
May 7-Held BIA exit conference regarding our tribal jail staff and BIA consultant efforts to correct past and continuing non-compliance with BIA jail standards. They were here last year and cited the non-compliance, and now were here to work with Jerrit Okimosh, the new Tribal Jail Administrator and his staff. The BIA staff said we are progressing well in correcting safety and health violations, and Jerrit and his staff are rewriting the policy and procedures handbook to update policy to make sure we are in compliance. This will take a long time to complete. Waewaenen Jerrit and staff.
May 13 - Attended and gave the tribal welcome for the JOM Senior Recognition Banquet held at the Casino Ballroom. It is held yearly in honor of all Menominee students who have graduated from various high schools across the U.S.. This year we had 90 Menominee graduate high school. Congratulations graduates and waewaenen to those who supported them along the way.
May 14- Attended GLITC meeting in Oneida. Coordination of grants and updating on existing GLITC continues and federal program changes and updates in policy were given.
May 16-17-Attended the Menominee Veterans Powwow as the co-arena director with John Teller Jr. The theme was “Honoring our Senior Veterans.” About a dozen veterans, 70 years or older, were present to be honored during the powwow, but they also represented all those who could not be there, so waewaenen to those elder vets also. The powwow was well attended. Waewaenen to all our veterans.
May 19-Met with Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WISDOT). The roundabout between the college and casino on 47 was a major topic, as was sidewalks and curbs from casino through Keshena area, both approved and future projects. WISDOT employs tribal members in projects on and near reservations, and sometimes hires for overall state-wide work. Tribal members wanting to work in the transportation industry should contact our tribal HR Department or the Wisconsin Workforce Development office housed at CMN for details on opportunities.
May 27-28 – Met with Hemp consultants regarding potential management agreement. This was a follow-up to the May 4th and 5th tour and meetings held on the reservation.
May 28 – Held a special MTL meeting, which had been rescheduled from earlier this year, to set the yearly Goals and Objectives for MTL. I will list these in my next update when the minutes are available. During this same meeting we also discussed the Ordinance 15-07, Marijuana Reform Act, which had been approved at 1st Consideration on May 21st and sent to be discussed at public hearing on June 4th. MTL knew it needed more discussion, so it was placed on this agenda .During the meeting, it was decided, and voted upon, that we should educate the membership on this ordinance then offer it as a referendum question. More on this below.
May 30 – Attended and gave the tribal welcome at the 2015 CMN Commencement Ceremony. Approximately 112 graduates this past year. Dr. Alton “Sonny” Smart gave the Commencement Address, and did a great job. The event was touching. Congratulations graduates, you earned it. I’m told this graduating class puts the total number of graduates over the years from CMN over 1,000. Remarkable. Waewaenen CMN for the great work helping our community, one student at a time.
As I said before, the MTL has authorized a referendum for tribal members on August 19th and 20th, on whether membership wants the tribe to legalize the recreational use of marijuana on the reservation, or not to legalize it. This involves the tribe having a company grow and sell it while we sell them a lease and tax their sales. One week before the referendum, on August 13th the MTL will hold a special general council to discuss and inform, as well as answer questions and hear from membership. During the weeks until then, MTL will provide educational forums, listening sessions, presentations from medical experts, various governmental and law enforcement officials, business owners from states that have legalized it, and other experts we believe will help educate all to make an informed decision via their referendum vote. Stay tuned, we will provide times, locations, and topics when we set them.
Finally, this time of year means lots of sun and fun outside at family gatherings and at summer events on and off the rez. Too often, sadly, sometimes it also means too much drinking and then attempting to drive. Please, if you drink, you must have a designated driver or stay put. Do it for yourself, your family and loved ones as well as the unknown family you may crash into. That said, enjoy yourselves, visit our sick and elderly, even take them for a ride or to the lakes, they’d love it. Memorial Day just passed, waewaenen to those who served and gave all so we could enjoy all we have.
Chairman Gary Besaw
Gary Besaw
Date: 6/8/2015