The following is an update to reflect comments newly named tribal president Jerome 'Brooks' Big John made in an interview with NN.N Editor Joe Costanza on Feb. 9
LAC Du
FLAMBEAU – Jerome “Brooks” Big John, 48, was named Tribal President of the Lac du
Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa on
Monday night.
As leader
of the 12-member Tribal Council, Big John succeeds Carl Edwards, who stepped down last November 23rd citing unspecified "differences" with other members in a brief one-paragraph resignation letter. Big John was one of three candidates for the top spot, the others being Tom Maulson and Bert Labarge.
The Tribal Council met twice in January to appoint a new leader, but a lack of proper notice for candidates to submit their names for consideration stalled the process.
In June
2008, tribal members voted to sustain the removal of Big John and two others
as council members over disagreements with then-president Victoria Dowd and other tribal leaders.
Big John is
a long-time fishing guide in Lac du Flambeau, which is located in Vilas County, Wisconsin. He will serve on an interim basis until September, when primaries will be held for the general election to take place in October. Five other tribal council seats will be up for grabs as well.
In recent
months, the tribe has been faced with mounting financial troubles including
defaulting on the payment of $50 million in bonds and the pending foreclosure
of properties it owns in Mississippi
in connection with a failed casino project.
During an
interview with NN.N on Feb. 9, the day after his appointment, Big John said one of his first priorities is to unify a
tribe and council that in the past were often bitterly divided. “There has been
a lot of distrust and we need to create unity within our reservation and our
community, starting at our council level. We can agree to disagree.”
When asked to comment on
his removal from office two years ago and friction between some tribal leaders, Big John said he bore no grudges. “I am
not a vindictive person, and we are healing many of the past wounds and need to
continue healing. We need to come to the realization that it’s vital that we
work for the benefit of all our people in Lac du Flambeau.”
Regarding the financial troubles the tribe is facing, Big John said previous
administrations “left a lot of unfinished business,” and the tribe and its legal advisers are working to resolve many of the problems, including mending
finances. But, he added, at this time he couldn't be more specific.
Big John, stressing the unity message, reiterated one of his main goals. “We need to
dissolve the cloud of fear that has existed in Lac du Flambeau for quite some
time and replace that dark cloud with new visions of hope, starting with our
young people and then the membership as a whole.” He conceded that unity would be “a
big chore,” but nonetheless attainable despite past differences among tribal
members.
The tribe
has an estimated 3,400 members, about half of whom live on the Lac du Flambeau
reservation.
Get rid of Gloria Cobb in tanif, she treats people like crap, and whoever is in charge up there should be fired for letting her get away with it and letting her run the joint.
I hope it isn't another "here we go again" situation. The peoples of Lac du Flambeau and memebers presently not living on the reservation are disgusted with the way the "tribe" has been running the monies of the people. Apparently we can not even trust our fellow tribesmen to look out for the interest of all the peoples. Sad to say greed has shown it's ugly face. We as a people need to stick together, not divide and just look out for our personal selves. This Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Ojibwes need to remember how the past treatment of aboriginal peoples moved us to the corners and crannies to be ignored. Stick together, make a difference show others we can make it as a whole and not as a statistic left over from greed.
Please make the casino managers accountable. Many are not doing their jobs, leaving without punching out for hours at a time. When I receive my paycheck, I can honestly say that I have earned it. I want to see this Tribe succeed! Time to get rid of dead weight and place people in these positions that truly care about the job and not just their big paycheck. Good Luck Brooks in your new position and make your this Tribe proud to have you as their leader.
Thank God Maulson didn't get in, all he wants is to fill his own pockets like in the past, and after what he tried to do to Bobby C, he should be run out of town, but his time is coming
This is what the tribe needs is unity and a speck of light at the end of a very long dark tunnel. The other thing we need is patience, things didn't get this bad over night and we shouldn't expect it to be fixed over night although this new council has been doing a pretty good job of trying to fix things thus far. good luck
You delivered the right message - unity! Many tribes do not reap successes because they only look out for certain individals best interests which is usually "what's in it for ME as a tribal leader!" Unity will put LDF back on the map as one of Wisconsin's best tribes. Go to work, Brooks - unite the council, the staff, and our Band of Chippewa.
