New Energy, New Faces, New Hours: Miskwaanakwadookwe Aquatic and Fitness Center
Exciting things are happening at the Miskwaanakwadookwe Aquatic and Fitness Center - and staff hopes Band members will take advantage of the expanded opportunities to get active, have fun, and build healthy habits for themselves and their families.
Since March 2026, Site Manager Jereck Weyaus has been working alongside staff to bring new energy and expanded services to the center, including extended hours, additional staff, and new fitness programming.
The center will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., starting May 3. This will make it easier for community members to find time to stop in.
WIND ADDRESS COUNTY BOARD OVER M-OPINION RESOLUTION
Chief Executive Virgil Wind appeared before the Mille Lacs County Board of Commissioners on April 21, urging county leaders to reconsider Resolution 02-03-26-03 asking the U.S. Department of the Interior to revisit the Solicitor's Opinion M-37032 (M-Opinion) affirming that the Mille Lacs Band Reservation boundary was never diminished or disestablished.
Speaking before commissioners and a room of county residents, Wind outlined the Mille Lacs Band's contributions to the region and urged leaders to pursue cooperation rather than renewed legal conflict.
Tribal Government News
SECRETARY OF STATE TRIBAL CONSULTATION
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon visited the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Government Center on Wednesday, April 22, to discuss the need for state polling locations in our tribal communities. As part of the meeting, Chief Executive Virgil Wind provided Secretary Simon with a copy of the Band's 2026 Annual Report and Program and Services Guide, as well as Band member demographic information for each of our districts. The demographic information included the number of enrolled Band members living in each district and the number of voting-age members.
PART 1: UNDERSTANDING THE M-OPINION
Recent discussions surrounding the Mille Lacs County Board's request for the U.S. Department of the Interior to revisit Solicitor's Opinion M-37032 — commonly known as the M-Opinion — have raised questions about what the opinion is and why it matters. To better understand the M-Opinion, it helps to look at the events that led to the Department of the Interior issuing the legal opinion in 2015.
PART 2: THE AFTERMATH
The release of the Department of the Interior's M-Opinion in November 2015 and the Department of Justice decision accepting concurrent federal criminal jurisdiction on the Mille Lacs Reservation in January 2016 did not end the dispute between the Mille Lacs Band and Mille Lacs County. Instead, tensions between the two governments soon escalated.
DELEGATES CONTINUE CONSTITUTION REFORM WORK, PLAN DRAFTING SESSIONS
The Mille Lacs Band Constitution Reform Delegation continues moving forward with its work to develop a Mille Lacs Band-specific constitution, with recent community conventions and additional drafting sessions planned across the districts.
Delegates recently completed their fourth convention, held in the Urban Area, with the most recent session taking place April 23. These conventions are part of the delegation's ongoing effort to keep Band members informed and involved as the drafting process continues.
CELEBRATING EARTH DAY TO PROTECT SHARED WATERS
I celebrated Earth Day this year at a rally at the Minnesota State Capitol, joining partners, allies, and Tribal Nations in a powerful moment uniting our communities to protect our water, land, and future.
Honoring our earth requires us to honor water. Water cannot be separated from a healthy life. It is a living system that cares for us, our families and food, our cultures and communities, and our future. It is our inheritance as Minnesotans. And Ojibwe teachings tell us we have a responsibility to care for it.
Highlights
REZ REAL ESTATE GUIDE LAUNCHES TO HELP BAND MEMBERS BUY AND SELL HOMES
Mille Lacs Band members who are considering buying or selling a home on trust lands now have a new online resource to help guide them through the process.
The MLBO Real Estate page on the is now live on the website. This feature offers information to help Band members better understand the steps involved in purchasing or selling property, with a focus on homes located on the Reservation.
INTRODUCING DANI HARKNESS: Assistant Band Assembly Clerk, Mille Lacs Band Legislative Branch
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Legislative Branch plays a vital role in upholding the voice, governance, and traditions of the Band. At the heart of this work are dedicated individuals who ensure that the processes of government remain organized, transparent, and accessible to Band members. Among these committed professionals is Danni Harkness, who serves as Assistant Band Assembly Clerk.
DOGEAGLE REFLECTS ON SERVING SEVEN YEARS AS MILLE LACS SOLICITOR GENERAL
After seven years serving the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe as Solicitor General, Caleb Dogeagle is stepping away from his role in the Band government - closing a chapter marked by major litigation, public safety work, and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty.
Dogeagle began serving the Band in 2019. During his tenure, the Office of the Solicitor General handled a wide range of responsibilities, including litigation, natural resource protection, contract and grant review, child welfare matters, and legal counsel across the Band’s three-branch government system.
YOUTH SPOTLIGHT: FROM THE BLOCK TO THE CORPS — MAHNTAO “TAO” NELSON FINDS PURPOSE IN THE MARINES
Mahntao Nelson knows exactly where his path could have led. Just a few years ago, the Hinckley-Finlayson graduate admits he was drifting. School was not a priority. He skipped classes, acted out, and spent time running the streets with friends and smoking weed. Teachers warned he might not graduate.
Today, Nelson stands on a very different path. After graduating from Hinckley-Finlayson High School in June 2025, he completed United States Marine Corps boot camp and is now preparing to serve overseas as a United States Marine communications specialist.
His journey from struggling teenager to Marine is one he hopes other young people can learn from.
HOW JAEDEN KING FOUND HER PURPOSE – AND BROUGHT IT BACK TO HER COMMUNITY
At 14-years-old, Mille Lacs Band Member Jaeden King attended the Wiidoo Program, a Tribal youth employment program that inspired her to think about her future career. At 15, she began working at the Grand Market. It was her first real connection to MLCV, which would later play a pivotal role in her career trajectory.
Indian Country News
US national parks told to remove signs on mistreatment of Native Americans, climate, Wash Post reports:
U.S. officials this month ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to the mistreatment of Native Americans by settlers, as well as about climate change and environmental protection, the Washington Post reported. The move is part of President Donald Trump's campaign to reshape public spaces and museums in a way that rights advocates say could undo decades of social progress. The National Park Service staff last week removed an exhibit on slavery from a Philadelphia historic site in line with Trump's claims, rejected by civil rights groups, of "anti-American ideology" at historical and cultural institutions. The removal orders include a display at the Grand Canyon about the forced removal of Native Americans, the Post reported, while at Glacier National Park, Trump administration officials flagged a brochure and a sign about climate change. The U.S. Interior
Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement that it was carrying out Trump's executive order on "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." Source: Reuters.
Wife of accused Minnesota lawmaker killer says husband's actions were "a betrayal"
The wife of Vance Boelter, the man accused in the deadly Minnesota lawmaker shootings, released a statement on Thursday calling her husband's alleged actions "a betrayal." Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed inside their Brooklyn Park home in the early morning hours of June 14. Their golden retriever, Gilbert, was also shot and later died from his injuries. Also targeted in the shootings were Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were attacked inside their Champlin home about 90 minutes before the Hortmans were killed. Boelter, 57, faces federal and state murder and attempted murder charges. He was captured some 36 hours after the shootings near his home in Green Isle, about 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis, in what officials say was the largest manhunt in state history. Jenny Boelter's full statement, released on her behalf by her legal team: "On behalf of my children and myself, I want to express our deepest sympathies to the Hortman and Hoffman families. Our condolences are with all who are grieving during this unimaginably difficult time, and we are praying daily for them."
Source: CBS News.
‘As vulnerable as a plant can be’: New study finds climate change largely to blame for less wild rice:
A new study finds the availability of a wild rice in the Great Lakes region has been declining over the past 30 years, partially due to climate change. The decline, the study says, “has disrupted Ojibwe lifeways, family, and health.” Brandon Byrne, inland fisheries biologist at the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, or GLIFWC, coauthored and helped collect data for the study. Byrne said that the plant is most vulnerable during its early stages. “Not only is it vulnerable to weather or climatic variables, it’s also vulnerable to motorboat use. Its ecology is very delicate.” Rob Croll, coauthor of the study and commission policy analyst and climate change coordinator, said, “You have to look at manoomin and climate change holistically. It’s as vulnerable a plant as a plant can be. One of the things that we’re seeing — will continue to see — is our precipitation coming less frequently, but more intensely: much heavier rain storms, which can cause quick floods. During [early growth] stages, floods will uproot the plant. Later on in its growth, when there are seeds on the plant, big storms and heavy winds can devastate a rice bed just by blowing the stalks down into the water. Source: WPR Wisconsin Today.
White House budget request slashes funding for tribal colleges and universities:
In President Donald Trump’s budget request, he’s proposing slashing funding for tribal colleges and universities, including eliminating support for the country’s only federally funded college for contemporary Native American arts. If the budget is approved by Congress, beginning in October, the more than $13 million in annual appropriations for the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, would be reduced to zero. It would be the first time in nearly 40 years that the congressionally chartered school would not receive federal support, said Robert Martin, the school’s president. Source: APNEWS.
Upcoming EVENTS
May 25
Memorial Day
April 27
Art gahbow day
May 22