Some members of the Lac du Flambeau Band of
Lake Superior Chippewa are threatening to take over the tribal government, citing $65 million in debt and dissatisfaction with their leaders.
Unhappy tribal members say the tribe has yet to see any returns on its investments. They point to the tribe's recent decision to mortgage tribal lands for a $50 million bond that will help pay off some debts.
Newly elected council member Brooks Big John says tribal leaders didn't have enough time to read the bond financing document. It requires the tribe to put up 100 percent of the revenue from the Lake of the Torches casino and hotel complex as collateral, he says.
“Not one council member read it before voting on it,” Big John told The Rhinelander Daily News , “and no one understood it. Now it has basically leveraged all our money from our cash cow – the casino.”
The tribe has shut down its newspaper and has laid off between 100 to 150 people, Big John said. Greg Johnson edited The Lac du Flambeau News for four-and-a-half years until he lost his job last month.
Dissident tribal members have started LDFNews.com to raise complaints about their government.
Get the Story:Job cuts add to tribe’s woes (The Rhinelander Daily News 3/17)
Angry tribal members threaten takeover in LdF (The Rhinelander Daily News 3/16)
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Lac du Flambeau Band to mortage land for debts (2/15)
