Marc Slonim Set to Retire After 40 Years Representing the Band
By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INNAJIMOWIN EDITOR
Since the 1980s, Marc Slonim has worked alongside the Mille Lacs Band to tackle the greatest hurdles the Tribe has ever faced. Slonim is described as thoughtful, knowledgeable, collaborative, measured, responsive, incisive, and prudent. With his help, the Band won a case in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 ensuring Band members (and other Ojibwe signatories to the 1837 Treaty) the right to hunt, fish, and gather in the 1837 ceded territories.
Slonim and his firm have negotiated Band law enforcement agreements with surrounding counties; made tax agreements with the State; and argued and won every time the County objected to a Band fee-to-trust application. The County has not won on any of their objections.
Most recently, Marc successfully argued against Mille Lacs County in federal court that the 1855 Mille Lacs Reservation had not ever been disestablished. On March 4, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson issued a definitive ruling on the status of the Reservation, stating that Court affirms what the Mille Lacs Band has maintained for the better part of two centuries, that the Mille Lacs Reservation's boundaries remain as they were under Article 2 of the Treaty of 1855.
After nearly 40 years of representing the Mille Lacs Band, Slonim announced his retirement as a partner from the law firm of Ziontz Chestnut,, but he will continue representing the Mille Lacs Band in the current federal litigation until this case is completed.
On Thursday, August 11, a courtroom full of people watched him brilliantly argue in federal court that Mille Lacs County interfered with the Band’s sovereignty over public safety and law enforcement.
During a special recognition of Slonim’s career with the Band held at Grand Casino Mille Lacs on August 12, Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin addressed the audience. “When I think about our strategy in the field of legal, it seems like we have always been a step ahead. I am happy to say we have always had the upper hand, and that includes any of the legal attacks that were put on us in every court. The reason I say that is because we probably have the best litigator in the whole country, and that is Marc Slonim and his firm.”
Benjamin cited many of Slonim’s accomplishments over the last four decades. “Marc is also responsible for the restoration of our homelands and protections of our land base. He has helped us get our lands into trust status for four decades and his help was needed every single time. Because every single time we would file an application to place our lands into trust, Mille Lacs County would file an appeal. And every single time over the last four decades, Marc would win. And he won on our behalf. He did this while providing us the wisest counsel on almost every important legal issue the Band has faced over the last four decades. Yesterday Marc did an outstanding job in Federal Court arguing that Mille Lacs County interfered with our law enforcement authority in a way that harmed public safety. So, his work with us is not quite finished. If the County decides to appeal the Reservation boundary victory, Marc has committed seeing us through the case to the very end no matter how long it takes.”
In the 1980s after an Elder brought Chief Executive Arthur Gahbow and his advisor Don Wedll a copy of the 1837 Treaty, they became convinced the state of Minnesota did not have the authority to regulate Band treaty rights. Chief Executive Gahbow directed Wedll to file a lawsuit against the State of Minnesota. After much research, Wedll presented Marc Slonim, a young attorney, to the Chief Executive. “Marc wrote about a 100-page report as to how we should proceed,” Wedll said. But in order to proceed, Wedll insisted the Band have at least $500,000 saved up in a special litigation fund.
“That was an extraordinarily high amount of money to put together,” Wedll said. “Every year at the State of the Band, Art would say, ‘I am directing Commissioner Wedll to litigate.’ And I would say, ‘I can’t. Not until I put this money together.’ And ultimately, in 1990, I was able to put this money together and Marc had the case ready to go . We proceeded to introduce that into Federal Court and began the long process of getting that resolved that ultimately accumulated in the Supreme Court.”
Ultimately, it was the support of the Mille Lacs Band members themselves that allowed the tribal leaders and the legal teams to proceed so that they could enjoy these benefits. Wedll recalled a bit of history, citing a Band member named Ricemaker who lived down by Cove. He fought from 1862 through his death in 1894 trying to get the rights of the Mille Lacs Band acknowledged. “When he died,” Wedll said, “the last sentence of his obituary was, ‘I know, that at some point the Band’s rights will be vindicated.’ And that happened with Marc’s work in making that all possible. That is something that everyone should appreciate and enjoy.”
Secretary-Treasurer Sheldon Boyd gave a message of friendship and humility. “With each season and generation, there are people who get up and speak for the Anishinaabe people here who speak to someone who can help us. Marc was like that. Marc Slonim took his turn and spoke for the Anishinaabe people here. A friend who was put in the right place at the right time. He got up and spoke for the Anishinaabe people and someone listened.”
Slonim, a very humble man, took a few moments to express his gratitude.
“It is a unique privilege to be a lawyer and represent clients. It is more of a privilege to be able to represent an Indian Tribe — an Indian community in the United States. And it is ever more of a privilege to represent the Mille Lacs Band,” Slonim said. “Your history — which I have become somewhat familiar with over the years — is just remarkable. I know every tribe has its own history and there are a lot of amazing stories out there, but the persistence of this Band from the earliest recorded history until today, the adversity the Band faced, and inter-Tribal fights with the Dakota, conflicts with other Ojibwe Bands, and fights with lumber companies who just could not keep their hands off the timber in this country and spent 50 years figuring out how to get it by hook or by crook, and they got it by stealing it. And then the settlers who did everything in their power to force the Band to leave their homeland. The history of Band leaders who said, ‘We have a right to be here and we are not leaving no matter what.’ It is just a remarkable story.”
In conclusion, he said, “I look forward to the next chapter of the Mille Lacs Band. You have so much going for you. Like every community, you have challenges, and your ability to overcome challenges in the past gives me great confidence that you will overcome today’s challenge. Thank you for the opportunity.”
To that, Marc Slonim received an extended standing ovation from the audience.
