Native American Press/Ojibwe News

Leech Lake people give Pete a second chance

February 14, 2003
The Leech Lake people gave Alfred “Tig” Pemberton a second chance on the tribal council when they elected him chairman in 1992. At his victory party, he thanked the people for a second chance, and he told me that he was going to “do it right” this time, because Tig was coming back into office with a lot of baggage.

As we all know, Tig did not deliver on that promise. He was indicted along with Harold R. “Skip” Finn, and Dan Brown in the Leech Lake self-insurance scam. They were charged in 1995 and convicted of multiple felonies in 1996.

Leech Lakers seem to be a very forgiving people. Now, history seems to be repeating itself, and on Tuesday, February 11th, the Leech Lake voters gave Pete White a second chance. White is also coming into office with a lot of baggage.

As we all know, tribal office has a lot of temptations, because of the lack of accountability, the secrecy that has long shrouded tribal government, and the availability of loosely-handled gambling and other monies.

Let’s hope that Pete White can overcome temptations, and with his second chance, provide real leadership to the Leech Lake people.

Pete needs to support Archie’s efforts to bring accountability and reform to tribal government, both at the RBC level, and at the TEC level.

Among the reforms that Pete White needs to support are continuing the forensic audits, ensuring that all tribal business is conducted at open meetings with proper notice to allow members to participate.

Minnesota Chippewa tribal members will continue to have problems with their tribal governments until there is constitutional reform. There are no checks and balances in the current system, and no means of enforcing accountability. Right now, the current council is trying to take away the jurisdiction of the tribal court in the case filed by LaRose challenging the legality of the removal petition.

Good Luck, Pete!

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