Leech Lake Tribal Chairman Faron Jackson Sr. delivered his State of the Band address on Friday at Northern Lights Casino in Walker.

Jackson says Leech Lake has almost 10,000 members now and that expanding affordable tribal housing will be a big priority in the future. Jackson reported that there are between 500 and 600 tribal members currently on housing waiting lists, and he believes there are just as many who have not signed up yet because the waiting list is so long.

“Housing has always been a big issue here, and the lack of it, and that doesn’t really sit well with the council. It doesn’t sit well with me,” said Jackson. “You know, as we get more – acquiring more land, we want to have to be able to put some homes on that land for our members, so we don’t have two, three families living in one home.”

Jackson also noted that Leech Lake is the largest employer in Cass County. Leech Lake Gaming has more than 1,000 employees, and he says the gaming revenue helps fund a lot of programs on the reservation that are currently underfunded.

By — Lakeland News