Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin delivers the State of the Band on January 12, 2016. Photo from Facebook

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians didn't allow non-members or the media to attend its annual State of the Band address on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin said she wanted to be able to speak freely to tribal members and invited guests. She noted that some speeches were closed to the general public in the past.

"As Chief Executive, this year is one of those years when we have critical and sensitive issues that we need to be able to speak very openly about," Benjamin wrote in a letter to the membership.

The tribe, though, still released a copy of the speech. And Benjamin managed to make news by announcing approval of the tribe's Tribal Law and Order Act application, a move that restores federal jurisdiction over the reservation.

"We need this message to go out to drug dealers, gang members and anyone intent on committing violent crimes on our lands – we will catch you, and when we do, you are going to Leavenworth, not Stillwater, and you are not getting out for a very, very long time," Benjamin said. "Tell the dealers, if you don’t want to go to federal prison, get off our lands now, and stay out."

Last July, Benjamin told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that opiate addiction has become a huge problem on the reservation. She said more Native infants are being born addicted to drugs.

Get the Story:
State of the Band closed to public (The Mille Lacs Messenger 1/13)
Mille Lacs Band becomes second in nation to receive help from federal prosecutors (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 1/13)
Feds Take New Role Against Crime on Mille Lacs Reservation (KSTP 1/12)
Feds agree to help fight crime on Mille Lacs Reservation (Minnesota Public Radio 1/12)
Mille Lacs Band leader deems address 'too sensitive' for outsiders, media (The Brainerd Dispatch 1/9)

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Mille Lacs Band hails return of federal jurisdiction on reservation (1/12)