Indigenous Governance Database
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
Indigenous Land Acknowledgment
Native Governance Center co-hosted an Indigenous land acknowledgment event with the Lower Phalen Creek Project on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2019 (October 14). The event featured the following talented panelists: Dr. Kate Beane (Flandreau Santee Dakota and Muskogee Creek) Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band…
Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu
Climate change has impacted and will continue to impact indigenous peoples, their lifeways and culture,and the natural world upon which they rely, in unpredictable and potentially devastating ways. Many climateadaptation planning tools fail to address the unique needs, values and cultures of…
Sovereign Nations: Giving Visibility
Tribal nations have always had formal ways of self-governing. Take a closer look at local Tribes exercising their inherent rights to land, culture, and self-governance in a contemporary context. Produced in partnership with TPT-Twin Cities PBS and producer/director Missy Whiteman. Special thanks to…
Leech Lake Joint Tribal-State Jurisdiction
Across Indian Country tribes are strengthening and better defining their governments in order to meet the unique needs of their communities. As Native nations work to expand their sovereign powers, tribal justice departments can play a critical role in achieving those goals. In the early 2000s, the…
LeRoy Staples Fairbanks III: What I Wish I Knew Before I Took Office
Leroy Staples Fairbanks III, who serves on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Council, discusses some of the hard stances he had to take in order to do his job well and also shares an overview of some of the major steps thatthe leech Lake Band has taken in order to govern more effectively and use its…
LeRoy Staples Fairbanks III and Adam Geisler: What I Wish I Knew Before I Took Office (Q&A)
Leroy Staples Fairbanks III and Adam Geisler field questions from the audience about the role of education in nation building. The discussion focuses on the importance of Native people being grounded in their culture and language, and where and how that education can and should take place.
Cass Board, Leech Lake Tribal Council highlight cooperative efforts
The cooperation and partnerships between Cass County and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in recent years have not only been successful but apparently are highly unusual, both state- and nationwide. Time and again at the April 24 joint meeting of the county board and tribal council, at Northern Lights…
Cass County Board, Leech Lake Tribal Council hold productive joint discussions, first in three-plus years
A wide-ranging conversation between Leech Lake Tribal Council and Cass County Board of Commissioners, held Friday at the new Leech Lake Government Center in Cass Lake, concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two governmental units. The MOU is designed to…
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Increases Minimum Wage to $10.25
As the economy recovers from what is being called the worst recession since the Great Depression, rural economies are still feeling the effects. The greater economy is rebounding, but a large amount of the jobs that were lost due to the housing bubble and subsequent global financial debacle are…
Leech Lake Band pushes for governmental reform
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is hosting the three-day “Build our Nation” convention which kicked off at noon Tuesday, Sept. 17 with a powwow and informational fair, followed by a “Nation-Building 101” educational session on Wednesday, Sept. 18, and wraps up on Thursday with a gathering of…
Leech Lake, Red Lake Ojibwe bands moving on constitutional reform
On Tuesday, tribal members of the White Earth Nation voted resoundingly to adopt their own constitution and eventually split from the 80-year-old Minnesota Chippewa Tribe constitution that dictates the laws of many Ojibwe tribes in the state. Neighboring Ojibwe bands at Leech Lake and Red Lake may…
Tribes across the country are re-examining their constitutions
Erma Vizenor is not exactly a revolutionary. But like America’s founders, she’s on a mission to ratify a new constitution in her homeland – the White Earth tribal nation. Most Americans don’t realize that tribes have their own constitutions, which set down rules for everything from tribal…
Build Our Nation Convention
A local television news program chronicles the effort of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to deliberate potential changes to its constitution and system of governance.
Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country
Weed and Seed, a community-based strategy sponsored by DOJ, is an innovative, comprehensive, multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization. The strategy aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in designated high-…