Ahneen, Boozo:
What a difference a year makes. When I heard that the Tribal Christmas Card would not be sent to you this year, I just couldn’t believe it. Even though the Tribe is facing tough times due to the Greektown casino debt, there are some things that could and should continue. The cost of the Christmas greeting was minimal as I designed the card on my own time and only included the postage at .42 cents each. I am in complete disbelief that the Tribal Children’s Halloween and Christmas parties were also been abandoned. I am equally dismayed that the Elder Thanksgiving dinner was cancelled, as well as, the elder gift cards, birthday cards, and the Elder dividend to be reduced to between $200 and $600!
The new Chairman even asked you to endorse your check back to the Tribe!
His pay remains the same.
When I became Chair, I lowered the salary from $856,275 to $100,000. If you factor out Greektown, I lowered the salary from $240,000 to $100,000. Over four years, this was over a 1/2 million savings.
For over a decade, our recreation facility has been an 'alcohol and drug free' place for our tribal youth to congregate. In order to make room for a bar to be installed in the Big Bear, our Youth, Education and Activities program was evicted and moved to a delapitated run down old house that is not handicapped accessible. Prior to this, Kristi Little, the Tribe's Executive Director refused to let other programs occupy this building because of the condition. If it was too poor of a condition then, why would it be acceptable now? For nearly two decades, our Tribe has celebrated the coming of the New Year by holding a sobriety pow wow. This year, the Big Bear Bar will be open during the sobriety pow wow, presumably to draw customers from the sobriety pow wow as both are located in the Big Bear.
It seems our Tribe has lost its heart and soul. No one from the social services division or the cultural division are speaking out as they are afraid for their jobs. Over 150 people were fired in the weeks after the 2008 election after the new administration urged the Board to vote to suspend the few labor protections we had in place. They suspended the employment termination appeals procedures and the anti-retribution policy. Now, you can be fired for any reason - opening the door for the union to step in and provide the protections the Tribal government has taken away.
Probably most disheartening is that the government of the Tribe has completely abandoned any notion of improving our weak corporate charter constitution. Those Members who live ‘At Large’ have long waited for equal representation and a true balance of power with checks and balances and government accountability. Sadly, this dream has been halted as evidence in no dialog in our paper regarding representing you, no member meetings where you live, and no plan for your future in our Tribe.
Still, with hope and the guarantee that the movement of a people will continue, it is just a matter of time before unity of purpose replaces the current challenges we face. We have come too far to go backward. Please keep the faith. Below, I leave you with the preamble to our Tribal Constitution which intended you to benefit from your Membership in the Sault Tribe.
For over a decade, our recreation facility has been an 'alcohol and drug free' place for our tribal youth to congregate. In order to make room for a bar to be installed in the Big Bear, our Youth, Education and Activities program was evicted and moved to a delapitated run down old house that is not handicapped accessible. Prior to this, Kristi Little, the Tribe's Executive Director refused to let other programs occupy this building because of the condition. If it was too poor of a condition then, why would it be acceptable now? For nearly two decades, our Tribe has celebrated the coming of the New Year by holding a sobriety pow wow. This year, the Big Bear Bar will be open during the sobriety pow wow, presumably to draw customers from the sobriety pow wow as both are located in the Big Bear.
It seems our Tribe has lost its heart and soul. No one from the social services division or the cultural division are speaking out as they are afraid for their jobs. Over 150 people were fired in the weeks after the 2008 election after the new administration urged the Board to vote to suspend the few labor protections we had in place. They suspended the employment termination appeals procedures and the anti-retribution policy. Now, you can be fired for any reason - opening the door for the union to step in and provide the protections the Tribal government has taken away.
Probably most disheartening is that the government of the Tribe has completely abandoned any notion of improving our weak corporate charter constitution. Those Members who live ‘At Large’ have long waited for equal representation and a true balance of power with checks and balances and government accountability. Sadly, this dream has been halted as evidence in no dialog in our paper regarding representing you, no member meetings where you live, and no plan for your future in our Tribe.
Still, with hope and the guarantee that the movement of a people will continue, it is just a matter of time before unity of purpose replaces the current challenges we face. We have come too far to go backward. Please keep the faith. Below, I leave you with the preamble to our Tribal Constitution which intended you to benefit from your Membership in the Sault Tribe.
2 comments:
Thank you Arron Payment. I'm glad to see you're still out there. I thought for sure we would be recognized by now, but the people 'at large' are a lost part of this tribe. We are only recognized when the chairperson needs us. I am sadden by his action he has taken on our people. Most of all our Elders and Youth, why'll he lines his own pockets with tribe money. It's a poor day for the tribe when you, Arron Payment, had to step down from the Chairmans seat. This tribe needs you back. I hope our people realize this. You were good for this tribe......Many Thanks
Let us dust off our feet and band together to take control of our Tribe once again. Kristi Little has to be termed. How dare she take turn this into a Watering Hole. I would like to know if her Assistant non-tribal I believe was termed along with all the others. "Get the Power Back to the People"
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