February 4 2015 Chairwomans Notes

Posoh, This is my last set of Chair’s notes for this Legislative year and my first set since the devastating phone call I took on January 23rd from the State that the Governor was saying "no" to our Kenosha project. A little over two weeks has passed since then and it is still hard to comprehend that flawed decision. It is even harder to comprehend or understand why another tribal nation would go to such great lengths to fight us from exercising our sovereignty in our pursuit of greater self-determination and self-sufficiency. The Forest County Potawatomi are in Milwaukee with an OFF-RESERVATION facility under a two part determination pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA); the exact same process we used for Kenosha. Monopolies were outlawed a long time ago. At one time we as native people stood together because others were always trying to keep us down; sadly, we have just experienced this same mentality from one of our own. That is what makes this even worse. After the decision was out, it angered a lot of people because no one expected the decision early and certainly no one expected a negative decision. This project had overwhelming support, had a positive job number creation, and was an economic boon for the State. As a result, an on-line petition was started, letter writing, and several Wisconsin Legislators from both parties signed a letter to the Governor asking him to reconsider as well as the Racine Tea Party. On January 29th I and Legislator Besaw went to Washington DC to meet with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to talk about the decision and the February 19th deadline. Specifically, if the Governor still had that timeline and if he would change his mind would they accept it; the answer was yes. On that same day, the Wisconsin Legislators along with three MTL members and several community members joined in a press conference and rally in Madison. The MTL, our Hard Rock partners and associated team members will continue to fight for this project during the remaining days. Below you will see a letter and analysis that was delivered on February 3rd to Governor Walker and emailed to every Wisconsin State Legislator on February 4th. Some of you may have seen this correspondence already as I had staff release it via email to our all groups, Facebook and website on February 4th. We will continue the battle because this is what we do as the proud and resilient Menominee Nation. By the time you see this issue of Menominee Nation News, our Tribe will have held our reorganizational meeting where we welcome our newly elected leaders and select our officers for the next Legislative year. It has been an absolute honor and privilege to serve as the Chairwoman of the Menominee Tribal Legislature for the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. Maec Waewaenen! Respectfully, Laurie Boivin, Chairwoman

Laurie Boivin

  

Date: 2/4/2015