Stronger Together
By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe hosted a Tribal/County Relations Training on February 3 and 4 at Grand Casino Hinckley presented by the Association of Minnesota Counties in partnership with the Tribal Nations in Minnesota in an effort to help strengthen partnerships and knowledge between Minnesota tribes and counties.
Mille Lacs Band member Bradley Harrington gave the invocation to start the event off in a good way. He gave the invocation in Ojibwe first with an English translation stating, “You are all being offered a gift here today and I hope you accept it.” He further explained that the goal was to be able to strengthen partnerships by working together. “We are all going to have to work together,” he said.
Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin provided a powerful welcome speech stating, “I am so happy to see so many counties represented.” Also adding, “We are very excited to spend this time with you to get to know you.”
Chief Executive Benjamin offered an explanation of the Mille Lacs Band branch government, the various Districts of the Mille Lacs Band, and an overall briefing of recent tribal consultations between state and federal governments.
“As sovereign nations it is our responsibility to protect our lands. County governments have their own responsibilities. We have found that when the tribe and the county are willing to sit down together, common groundcan always be found.” She continued thanking Pine, Aitkin, Crow Wing, and Kanabec counties for their continuous positive relationships with the Mille Lacs Band, extending high praise to Pine County for being “outstanding and a good friend to the Mille Lacs Band.”
The speech also pointed to the strained and often tumultuous relationship between the Mille Lacs Band and Mille Lacs County citing the Band is currently “fighting over our existence.”
Chief Executive Benjamin added recognition to a new positive working relationship with Sherburn County citing the recent partnership project whereby members of Sherburne County invited the Band to be involved from the very beginning of project to protect and preserve cultural lands. “For two days in December Mille Lacs County and Sherburne County walked the halls of congress together,” Chief Executive Benjamin said. She added that the Band called on the relationships with the Department of Interior to establish listening sessions for the County and Band that proved, “together we are much stronger and there is so much potential when counties and tribes work together.”
Tim Sumner, Commissioner of Beltrami County and AMC Tribal Relations Chair, said he was proud to be a part of the event that day and expressed his gratitude. “This is pretty exciting to be expanding tribal relations. There are a lot of great relationships that we don’t often hear about. This is an opportunity to learn about each other and move forward in a good way. As a commissioner, we are always looking at how we can partner. We all have one common goal and that is to serve our people. It just seems right that we work together in a good way.”
The opportunities to learn more about each other became increasingly evident as Dr. Joseph Bauerkemper, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth Department of American Indian Studies facilitated the event with very clear expectations of “ultimately forging stronger relationships” with Minnesota tribes. One key message of advice to the audience was if they were ever unsure about what to do, what to say, or how to act, “just ask. That would be my guidance.”
He continued, “We are going to talk about the past, some history lessons. In order to understand the present, we need to understand the past — where and what we are. We are responsible for the future.”
He also requested that the audience focus on the presentations and think to themselves, “How does this connect to the work that I do? We want that always hovering over us thinking about what I can do now.”
The event was full of exceptional lessons in language and culture of the Mille Lacs Band, presented by Band member Bradley Harrington and history, presented by Tadd Johnson, Esq., Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, and a powerful Indian Boarding School presentation by Mary Otto, Tribal State Relations Training Manager of MnDOT that left the audience reflecting in silence.
Day two of the event provided smaller breakout sessions with presentations on Human Services and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Law Enforcement and Tribal Courts, and Tribal lands and Land Use.
In summary, Dr. Bauerkemper said, “Minnesota shares the land with 11 federally recognized tribes. I hope you are able to leave here with a full understanding…. I hope it strengthens your relationships
