Changes Possible for MCT Enrollment Policy
Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin engaging with Band members for a questions and comments session during the enrollments information community meeting held at Grand Casino Mille Lacs on January 24, 2023.
A Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT) Secretarial Election could be scheduled this summer to allow MCT Members to vote on expanding eligibility requirements for enrollment with the MCT.
The TEC has been grappling with enrollment for decades, but things began picking up speed in 2014, after a study was done by the Wilder Foundation showing that enrollment in all six Bands will plummet within 75 years if no changes are made to the current blood quantum requirement of 25 percent Minnesota Chippewa Tribe blood.
In 2015, Grand Portage and Bois Forte pushed the Issue to the forefront by bringing resolutions forward to the TEC that would expand enrollment eligibility. Those two resolutions, 31- 15 and 32-15, passed through the TEC in February, 2015. The resolutions call for MCT members to be able to vote on whether other verified Anishinaabe blood from other Indian nations and First Nations should be Included in the calculation of the one-quarter blood quantum requirement for membership in the MCT. Shortly after that meeting, the MCT sent a request to the U.S. Secretary of Interior to grant approval for the MCT to hold a Secretarial Election — which is the only way to change anything in the MCT Constitution, including enrollment criteria. After eight years, that approval has come through, but an election date has not yet been scheduled.
For years, much has been written about the MCT enrollment discussion in Band newspaper articles, Chief's columns, letters, and social media, and many meetings have been held about enrollment discussions as the TEC. Last year, meetings focused on the non-binding referendum vote that took place in spring of 2022, when MCT voters were asked for their thoughts about two questions: 1) Should the blood quantum requirement be removed from membership requirements for the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, and; (2) Should the six reservations (Bands) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe be authorized to determine their own membership requirements by Band Ordinance.
As previous articles reported, a majority of voters responded “yes” to both questions, but that election was not binding, which means that it was more like a survey and not a decision-making election.
But that vote did provide the TEC with important feedback. Most MCT members who voted are not happy with the current use of one-quarter MCT blood quantum when it comes to who can be enrolled, and most who voted in that election want each of the six Bands to be able to make the decision about what kind of enrollment criteria their Band will use to determine citizenship. (See actual numbers on page 1.)
That message was also heard loud and clear at two community meetings Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin held for Band members on January 24, 2023, at Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley. At both meetings, many Band members commented that they don’t want to vote on something that impacts another Band, and they don’t want the other Bands to have power over what happens at Mille Lacs. Unlike the non-binding referendum vote about enrollment that was held in 2022, the will of the voters in a Secretarial Election would have the impact of changing the Constitution for the MCT, although no changes would happen overnight.
Whatever the outcome might be of a Secretarial Election, “That would be the beginning of a long, long process,” Benjamin said. "Our Band Members have been consistent about wanting the Mille Lacs Band to be able to make decisions about what happens at Mille Lacs.”
At both community meetings, Band members asked to see updated data about what future enrollment could look like for the Mille Lacs Band under different scenarios. In 2013, the MCT hired Wilder Research to conduct a population projection for each of the MCT Bands looking forward to the year 2098, or 75 years from now. This study was released in 2014. The study showed that if no changes are made to the current one-quarter blood quantum requirement, the entire MCT population will decrease from about 42,000 members to about 8,900 in just 75 years — an 80 percent decline.
This data was shared with Band members at both meetings, along with a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and an article from the Native Governance Institute entitled, “Blood Quantum and Sovereignty: A Guide.” All of these documents are available online on the Band’s website at https://millelacsband.com/members/government/official-documents-and-communications.
The current enrollment at Mille Lacs is about 5400, but the youngest Band members alive today could see their tribe decline to about 1,800 during their lifetime, which is a 60 percent loss of enrolled tribal citizens. Which is exactly what federal officials wanted to happen when they invented the concept of blood quantum and required it to be included in nearly all the tribal constitutions that were adopted in the United States during the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of the 1934.
The goal of the blood quantum policy was to eventually reduce tribal membership until a time when most people born would not be able to meet the one-quarter blood quantum requirement. “That generation is here, and it is us,” said Benjamin. “Every single person in this room has a family member who has been denied enrollment because the degree of MCT blood does not meet 25 percent.”
Federal attorneys from the 1930s, who included the concept of measuring “Indian blood” through blood quantum into the IRA constitutions, knew that tribal members often intermarried with people from other Ojibwe bands outside the MCT, like Red Lake, St. Croix, and other bands from Michigan, Wisconsin and North Dakota, as well as people from other tribes or non-Natives.
“Those little babies born into our families don’t know or care anything about DNA,” said one attendee, whose grandchildren cannot be enrolled because one of their parents is from St. Croix. “Who the parent is doesn’t make our grandchildren any less Indian. It doesn’t make our relatives not our relatives,” she said.
At both meetings, Chief Executive Benjamin brought up “the elephant in the room,” acknowledging that some Band members are concerned about whether per capita payments would be reduced if enrollment was changed and membership grew. One Band member asked for data so that people could make an informed decision about the financial impact on the Band, which Chief Executive Benjamin agreed is necessary.
As of press time for this issue, Chief Executive Benjamin had already shared the request for updated data with the MCT.
Chief Executive Benjamin reported that a date for a 2023 Secretarial Election had already been proposed, but no election date was set at the TEC meeting held on January 27.
More community meetings are being scheduled and will be posted on the Band’s Facebook, and the MCT will be engaging in a massive educational effort while the Band continues its educational process. Many Band members filled out a questionnaire at the meetings and shared their ideas and comments, which are available on-line for viewing at https://millelacsband.com/members/government/official-documents-and-communications. Watch for updates in the mail, in the newspaper, on social media, and video updates from the Chief Executive about this important issue.
