Business diversification key for future success of Tribe

Chief Audrey Falcon

2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM

(The following is the State of the Tribe Address given by Saginaw Chippewa Chief Audrey Falcon on Jan. 30.)

Boozhu Tribal members,

Welcome to the Tribal community meeting. It is an honor to stand before you as Tribal Chief to provide this State of the Tribe address. I would like to begin by saying miigwetch to all our Tribal Elders who are here. I also say miigwetch to the High Spirit Singers and the Anishnabe Ogitchedaw for posting the colors. For offering blessings on our meeting, I would like to thank Tribal Chaplain Fred Cantu for opening our hearts with the spirit of prayer.

I appreciate all the support from the Tribal membership as we worked together and faced many challenges since our Council administration took office on Dec. 2, 2003.

To address these challenges, our administration stood by our mission "to provide the Tribal membership a government where open communication is valued and our cultural traditions of honor for one another is demonstrated through the Seven Teachings of our Grandfathers-Honesty, Truth, Wisdom, Bravery, Love, Respect and Humility.

For this year's State of the Tribe address, I humbly ask for your attention as we review these teachings and explain how our Tribal administration has strived to honor the teachings of our Grandfathers.

Since taking office, our Council pledged to be the administration that valued Honesty. To this end, our Council researched and evaluated where the State of our Tribe has been.

Regardless of rumors and personal attacks that brought division among Tribal members, Tribal families and Tribal employees, our administration fought through these attacks by providing the membership with monthly, unedited mailings of Tribal Council minutes...and I know the Tribal membership welcomed the openness and open communication from our government.

Our Council knows our people value Honesty.

Looking at the State of the Tribe over the last year, we knew our administration goal of fiscal responsibility would lead us to the Truth. We can focus on how the per-capita plan was overspent, as well as how opportunists raided our Tribal treasury without accountability.

Let us look at the truth. The truth is per capita payments have not decreased over the last year. We know it was the many bonuses that hurt the fiscal responsibility of the plan.

We continue to be blessed with one of the most generous per capita plans in Indian Country. It is amazing when we look to the truth and we know our Tribe continues to remain debt-free when 75 percent of major corporations in the U.S. can't match the measure of success the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe enjoy...and each of you should be proud of that.

Another truth that is self-evident is Tribal programs for members have not decreased during this administration, they have increased. Our Council developed a program to provide our students with financial incentives to excel. The higher education program incentive was increased for achieving higher grade point, and through Sylvan Learning Center, we are giving Tribal youth the academic support they need to continue their education.

We also are blessed with being the only Tribe in Michigan with the high quality health insurance program for all Tribal members. Our Council encourages members to seek the truth about all the benefits our Tribe provides the membership by contacting our Tribal programs.

Our Council knows our people value Truth.

We remember the Wisdom given to us by our Elders and we honor them by expanding opportunities for them. We provided increased services for Elders by returning the Elders trips and improvements at the Elders Program office, Elders activity coordinator and travel coordinator positions.

Those that have walked before us continue to share the wisdom that lights the way to our future. Our Council was focused on understanding where our economic success came from and knew our market needed to be protected.

The wisdom of fighting a political battle that needed to be won for all of us led Michigan Tribes to stand together as one just like our ancestors did.

Our Council knows our people value Wisdom.

Conventional wisdom leads a proud people to know when to fight and when to surrender, and both take Bravery. As you will hear today, our Tribal administration has endured while fighting battles at federal, state and local levels.

Let me be clear on this...we will not be intimidated. We will bravely stand by our convictions and continue to move our Tribe forward in unity. We challenge those who would attack our nation to acknowledge there is much bravery in knowing when to surrender. As it has been said before� sometimes you can be so right, you're wrong.

Our Council knows our people value Bravery.

It will be in the teaching of love where we can come together. One question I pose to everyone today: Can we love our families and our Tribe enough to prepare for those seven generations to come...our future generations. This is why our Council formed a Business Board of Tribal members to assist developing our economic interests.

Sound investments, diversifying our business and holding all employees, vendors and contractors to the light of fiscal responsibility will allow us to show those children of our future how much we really cared for them.

If you doubt the love we can provide the children of the future, look at how our ancestors loved us. Without their leadership, we would certainly not be where we are today and we can honor them by sharing with future generations.

Our Council knows our people value Love.

Another way to demonstrate love is through Respect. Most recently, we have seen divisions within our Tribe where respect has lost its value. If one gives respect, one gets respect.

Today, I ask for your respect to refrain from personal attacks against our brothers and sisters and let us speak and listen in a manner where we can agree to disagree. We have tried to do this with our administration, and there have been times where frustrations have led toward dissention within the government. Our Native people survive because we have mutual respect for others...please join me in welcoming that spirit of respect at our gathering today.

Our Council knows our people value Respect.

As our Council looks forward to the upcoming months, we continue to learn the teachings of Humility. Even though we are your elected officials, we are not perfect and we do not yet have solutions to all our Tribe's past, present and future challenges.

I believe you will find many types of Council before who have learned humility in the service of our people. Ask anyone who has served on a Tribal Council in Indian Country and the story will be the same...to serve is a humbling, life-changing experience. I will be bold, however, and say each Council member who serves now and has served in the past had the best interest of the people at heart.

The challenge is to get back to the time-honored tradition of a government by consensus. True humility and an open mind will lead us to faith. We learn by the mistakes that humble us.

And most certainly, our Council knows our people value Humility.

The State of the Tribe has experienced much over the past year, but these beautiful Seven Teachings of our Grandfathers can � and will � continue to guide us where we need to go.

Our Council is working together to establish what our vision and our Tribe's priorities will be for the future. We are strategizing and planning for our future, and will soon complete an updated 10 year plan. Moreover, we will continue to believe in Honesty, Truth, Wisdom, Bravery, Love, Respect and Humility.

We will learn to walk together and find the answers together. I ask you to search for your heart today and look into the eyes of our Elders and children and perhaps you will find our Tribe is truly blessed by our Creator.

Miigwetch,

Chief Audrey Falcon