Stimulus Package Discussed at Annual Leech Lake State of the Band Address

The annual Leech Lake State of the Band Address was held Friday in Walker, where Tribal Chairman Faron Jackson Sr. announced his plan to help boost the local economy with his economic stimulus package for the band.

It was a day of celebration for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, where hundreds from all across Minnesota came to hear Chairman Jackson give the address.

“We understand how important unity is because we can get more accomplished and done if we kind of work together as we collaborate on a lot of the issues that we kind of have in common with natural resources, forest management, and just, community safety,” Jackson told Lakeland News. “We all kind of feel that’s very important to all of us here in our northern Minnesota area.”

The Chairman discussed a variety of topics for the future of the band, including what he hopes will boost the economy for the area.

“We had additional money that we put into a tribal reserve general fund,” explained Jackson. “You know, 40 million [dollars] of that, as well as our 18 million that we have in our regular general fund. I proposed $1,500 for all the adult[s] and $500 into the Indian Minors Trust Fund for kids 18 and under.”

With over 50% of the band’s population being 50-plus years old, Chairman Jackson wanted to put a strong emphasis on the youth of the community.

“Our youth, like we stated, are so important to all of us here on Leech Lake,” Jackson said. “A lot of times we don’t consider them leaders of tomorrow, we consider them leaders of today. So, you know, that’s why we want to approach them with, you know, putting additional money in for scholarships.”

The Chairman also hopes to put a dent in the housing crisis with a little help from the Reservation Restoration Act.

“Housing’s always been a big issue here, you know, and last count, we had five, 600 members on the housing waiting list to receive housing. And that number doesn’t really go down much because we’re not able to, you know, to add, to put anybody, any families into new housing homes. But now that we’re getting 11,000 acres of land back on May 1st here, we’re going to have more land available for housing development. So we’re going to be able to work on building more houses here on Leech Lake for our band members.”

Chairman Jackson ended the address with a positive outlook for the future.

“You know, we had many more successes in countless hard-fought battles that didn’t bear any fruit, but we got off the dust ourselves off and regrouped the next day as a council,” stated Jackson during his address. “Past and present leaders in a voice had an idea on how to make our Tribal nations the best we can by moving forward and maintaining a positive outlook … every day.”

Chairman Jackson also addressed an agreement that had been reached from the lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies for high levels of addiction facing the area, saying all of the $3.6 million they will receive will go towards recovery efforts.