October 24th
Karen Wolf

October 26th
Patti Bigboy

October 28th
Denise Neveaux

October 29th
Sandy Corbine

October 30th
Paul Kraft

October 31st
Jeff Neveaux
Erv Soulier

Wherever Hunter Powless and Brennan Corbine play football together, good teams seem to show up.

It happened in the fall of 2018, the senior year of high school for Hunter and Brennan. That's when the two athletes and friends helped the Ashland Oredockers field their best team in a decade, posting an 8-1 record and advancing to the state playoffs. With Hunter, Brennan and the rest of their stellar senior class graduating last spring, this year's Oredockers are winless.

From left:  Adam Davis, #41, from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Brennan Corbine, #58, and Hunter Powless, #65, pose with Robb Kolodziej, head football coach at Central Lakes College. Photo courtesy of Central Lakes College.

Hunter, an offensive guard, and Brennan, a middle linebacker, are two of three Native Americans playing football this fall for Central Lakes College. Adam Davis, an outside linebacker from Hulbert, Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation, is the third.

Hunter is the son of Peter and Lori Powless of Odanah. Brennan is the son of Russ Denomie and Jamie Corbine of Ashland.

Central Lakes is a two-year community college in Brainerd, Minnesota. After eight games this season, the Raiders have a record of 3-5.

"This is a great story as our young men will serve as role models to other Native kids," said Mary Sam, Central Lakes College Dean of Students, who also supervises the Raiders Athletic program. "The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma should feel proud."

Giiwaase Zwenidig (We Hunt Together) and Ginandomigoom Weniijaanisiyeg (We Invite Those Who Have Kids) are ongoing events in the Survival Revival Series.

"This series will take us through summer 2020. We believe culture is prevention and that includes parent involvement," said  Lynn Bigboy, Youth Services Director.

Ginandomigoom Weniijaanisiyeg will be held this afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Community Center, and offers a Healthy Lifestyles Open House.

The Halloween Dance will be held on Friday, November 1st at the Community Center from 6:00 to 10:00 pm. Prizes will be awarded for best Halloween group costume, most original, and fan favorite. There will be a drawing for a big-screen TV at 9:30 pm, and you must be present to win. The dance is for all ages. Snacks will be served, and transportation is available.

Lynn shared that 15 boys and girls participated in this year's hunter safety classes with all graduating on October 12th.

She also shared that two youth coordinators will be hired to cover services at the Birch Hill Community House and at the Bad River Community Center.

"We are advertising for coaches for dance, indoor soccer, volleyball, wrestling, and basketball. We also have monthly nutritional teachings, conditioning, and are kicking off a Fitness Challenge for our community."

"Our greatest gifts are our Elders and our youth, which we try to get together as much as possible. The fitness challenge will offer extra 'points' for shoveling for an Elder, taking a walk with them, and other surprises. We are also planning an Elderly technology class with our youth as the teachers."

More information will be shared regarding the Resilience Project and Youth Council activities in November.

"We also have a project with the school to provide credits for community activities. We work with Joe Corbine, Roxanna Turner, Brian Trettin, and a few others to honor the work our youth do within the community," Lynn continued.

The  Dagwaagin ( Fall) Camp will be held on November 16th and November 17th , and there will be a variety of traditional activities. For more information, email Lynn Bigboy or call 715-682-7111, ext. 143.

Joe Rose, a Tribal Elder, is working to stop Senate Bill 386, which is making its way through the Wisconsin legislature. The proposed bill would make trespassing around gas and oil pipelines a felony.

Joe is planning to organize a public hearing in hopes of derailing the bill before it picks up steam. Initially, Joe thought about circulating a petition to block the bill, but has since changed his mind.

"I think our best bet is to ask for a hearing, either in Odanah or Ashland," Joe said. "It takes time to do a petition."

Joe has yet to set a date or location for the hearing, but plans to invite two Democratic legislators to attend - Janet Bewley, State Senator from District 25, and State Representative Beth Meyers, of the 74th Assembly District.

"I'd want Janet Bewley and Beth Meyers there," Joe said. He also hopes a representative from Governor Evers' office will attend.

If the bill passes, it would make trespassing around pipelines, such as the Enbridge line that passes through the Bad River Reservation, a felony with up to six years in prison, $10,000 in fines, or both.

State Representative Jason Fields, a Democrat from Milwaukee, and one of the bill's co-sponsors, said the bill is designed to prevent damage to private property. However, at present there are already existing state laws that penalize trespassing and damaging oil and gas infrastructure.

The bill is one of many proposals around the country that increases penalties on protesters, which in the mind of Joe Rose, are attacks on everyone's First Amendment rights, not just Native Americans.

At present, such trespassing violations are misdemeanors. However, if the bill passes, it would make the offense a Class H felony. Class H felonies are among the most prevalent classes of offense in Wisconsin.

In the opinion of Joe Rose, it would be 100% wrong to make trespassing yet another offense that will send people to jail.

"We already have more people behind bars than any other country in the industrialized world. We've lost our freedom in increments for about the past 40 years now. Corporate interests are taking over the government, the news media and just about everything."

From his research and discussions with the National Wildlife Federation, Joe estimates that 65% of oil carried by the pipeline through the U.S. goes back to Canada.

"We're talking about not only Enbridge but anybody else that wants to come in. Enbridge is a foreign interest. All it is, is a highway for Canadian oil across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and back to Canada again," Joe said of Enbridge, Inc., which is based in Calgary, Alberta.

There are a lot of other concerns, Joe said, besides the issue of protecting peaceful, respectable protesting near the Enbridge pipeline.

"There's the First Amendment rights," Joe said. "There's freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. In the case of Native American people, there would be freedom of religion, which is also included in the First Amendment. At the very base of our spirituality, our religion is to live in harmony and balance with the four orders of creation. When that is interfered with, we protest."

If the hearing goes well, Joe said, it could inspire a petition. But, he added, if the hearing goes extremely well, there might be no need for a petition.

"We've been successful with a couple of petitions, but it takes time," Joe said. "You have to have an overwhelming majority with a petition."

A class H felony, of course, is less severe than a Class A, B, or C, but it is still a serious life-altering event with lasting implications. "You can't go hunting because you can't have firearms," Joe said.

Long after the prison time has been served and the fines have been paid, a felony conviction can have a lasting impact on a person's life. It can never be removed from a criminal record, and might severely restrict some civil rights, including such things as voting, holding certain kinds of jobs and freedom to cross national borders.

Laws are changed in one of two way: through legislative action to pass new laws that amend, create, or remove existing laws; or through judicial action that changes the way that laws are interpreted, applied, or whether or not they are enforceable, in part or in whole.

To share your thoughts on Senate Bill 386, email Senator Bewley or call 608-266-3510, or email Representative Meyers or call 608-266-7690.

An unnatural odor along the Enbridge Line 5 corridor within the Bad River Reservation has caused concerns of a possible pipeline leak and prompted the Tribe's Natural Resources Department to issue a public safety notice.

Naomi Tillison, Natural Resources Director, said Tribal employees first detected the odor on September 10th. "It's happened on more than one day and there has been more than one of our staff members who have smelt this unnatural odor," Naomi said.

She said it was first described as a hand-sanitizer odor, but said others have had different takes on the smell. "One time it was described by an Enbridge contractor as a butane odor, but more often it has been described as a sort of like alcohol, or hand-sanitizer odor," she continued.

Naomi said department employees detected the odor about four miles south of U.S. Highway 2 "as the crow flies," at the Bad River location. "At this stretch there is routine inspection of storm-water controls to make sure these sites are being revegetated. Enbridge is responsible for those (inspections), but any time they or their contractors are out on the Reservation, we need to send a staff member with them," Naomi explained.

She said the odor was detected in a stretch of pipeline west of Pine Flats Road where Enbridge had just completed two digs. "They had just detected some sort of an anomaly and they just went in and did repairs on those digs," she said.

On September 13th, Naomi said that Enbridge's contractor went back and did a routine inspection, again accompanied by a staffer from her department. "This time, it was described by their contractor as butane. When their contractor reported the odor to Enbridge, it caused Enbridge to shut down Line 5 on September 13th, and Line 5 wasn't operating for a few hours."

At that point, Naomi said that Enbridge sent its people out to investigate and determine if there was a leak of Line 5. "They came back with, 'there is nothing wrong,' and they restarted the line on September 13th," she continued.

But the odor lingers, so the issue still remains in the watchful eyes of Naomi and her department. She said a public safety notice was issued out of concern for Tribal Members who hunt and gather in the area where the odor was detected.

"We do still have concerns because the odor had been detected on multiple days in this similar area, which is close to where they just completed a dig in August," she said. "So, we were requesting Enbridge does an additional investigation before they restarted Line 5. They chose to restart the line, telling us there is nothing wrong. What we were concerned about is this is a very remote area. This is not a natural odor to detect in this remote area. It's really close to where they just did a dig."

Naomi said her department is also working with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding this issue. "It could be just a small leak, small enough that it goes undetected by the equipment Enbridge has. But still, a small leak is something we're concerned about," she explained.

Meanwhile, Naomi and her department wait for test results from the Enbridge contractor, Barr Engineering. "Enbridge sent their contractors out at the very end of September to do additional sampling where they collected 24-hour ambient air samples, soil samples and samples of soil gas," she said.

Naomi was expecting Enbridge to send her the lab results on October 8th. "But they did not. And when I reached out on October 9th about the update, they sent a response on October 10th that basically said they have them, they're analyzing them, and they will send them to us at the end of the month."

Alina Heydt, a Vice President and Senior Environmental Engineer for Barr Engineering, was contacted by email and telephone, and said the company had no comment at this time.

Boozhoo, giinawaa! Mii go miigwechiwendamaang aapiji da-bi-wiidanokiiminigog, naa gaye da-ojibwemotawangidwaa giniijaanisiniwaag da-bimiwidoowaad i'iw gidinwewininaan iwidi waasaa oniigaaniimiwaam omaa isa Mashkiziibiing. Mii a'aw Asiniiwabiik izhinikaazo a'aw bezhig mindimooyenh. Nawaj nebwaakwaad waa-niigaanizid imaa bezhig abiwining debendaagwak bezhishig i'iw Ojibwemowin, da-gwayakosidomawiyangid da-wanigiizhwesiwaang. Obaashiing onjibaa a'aw Asiniiwabiiik. Niin dash Gegaayootayaash indizhinikaaz, naa go gaye niitawis, Zhewab izhinikaazo. Mii iwidi Odaawaazaaga'iganing indoojibaamin, niin miinawaa niitawis, Zhewab. Ingoji wayiibaa wii-ziigwang wii-paakaakoshkaag i'iw gikinoo'amaadiwigamigoons endazhi-ojibwemotaadiyaang Onaabini-giizis agoojing.

Hello everyone. We are extremely thankful to come work with you, and for the opportunity to speak Ojibwemowin with your children, so that they can continue to carry our language far into their future here in Bad River.

Rosemarie Debungie (Asiniiwabiik), is our classroom Elder, whose wisdom will be leading us so that our language will be authentic and accurate Ojibwemowin. Rosemarie comes to us all the way from the Ponemah community.

My name is Nicholas Hanson (Gegaayootayaash), and along with my longtime friend Reggie Cadotte (Zhewab), we will be the classroom teachers. Reggie and I come from the neighboring Lac Courte Oreilles reserve.

From left: Gegaayootayaash, Asiniiwabiik and Zhewab.

Bad River Head Start will be launching an Ojibwe Immersion classroom serving infants from six weeks to three years old. We are anticipating an opening when the new facility is finished, hopefully around March.

We look forward to meeting more community members as time moves forward.

Miigwech,

Gegaayootayaash (Nicholas K. Hanson)
Bad River Early Head Start Ojibwe Immersion Program
53751 Elm Street, Odanah, WI 54861

Governor Tony Evers, along with Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, signed

	Gov. Tony Evers, seated, prepares to sign an executive order establishing a task force on climate change. Photo by Bill Glauber.

"For too long we've been ignoring science, and frankly, we can't afford to do it any longer. It's time for us to deliver on the promise to our kids that we're leaving them a better life and world than the one we inherited," Gov. Evers said. "I am confident that this task force will find meaningful sustainable solutions to the climate crisis to carry our state into the future."

The Task Force on Climate Change will advise and assist the governor in developing a strategy to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change for the benefit of all Wisconsin communities. Members of the task force will work closely with the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, created through Executive Order #38. The task force will report their findings and policy recommendations to Gov. Evers by August 2020.

In the executive order, Gov. Evers stated climate change is a grave threat to the health, safety, and economic well-being of people and communities throughout Wisconsin. Gov. Evers has appointed Lt. Gov. Barnes to serve as chairman of the task force, who noted communities of color and low-income communities experience the first and worst consequences of climate change.

"All of Wisconsin can prosper in transitioning to a just and equitable clean economy," Lt. Gov. Barnes said. "I'm eager to work alongside a number of brilliant and diverse individuals from across the state on this task force being created by Governor Evers, and I'm proud he's given me the opportunity to lead it."

"This is a great opportunity for our tribal perspectives to be heard on the issue of climate change. Many of our communities and harvesters are experiencing the direct effects of climate change in real time. I look forward to working with all of our communities to address their concerns and bring this to the task force," Dylan aid.

View the full list of the Members of the Task Force.

Five Wisconsin Tribes announced the launch of the Tribal Business League, a new, Tribally led, non-profit buying club. The Tribal Business League, the first and only Tribally led non-profit buying club in the United States, offers a new way for Tribes to engage in Inter-Tribal commerce while reaping the benefits of a buying club.

A buying club affords each Tribe volume discounts on pricing of goods and services as well as exclusive product lines only offered to large groups. Added benefits include monthly meetings to discuss common challenges and hurdles experienced by Tribal business leaders.

Wisconsin Tribes
The Wisconsin Tribes participating as members of the Tribal Business League include Bad River, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau, Red Cliff and St. Croix. The five Tribes have worked diligently to ensure vendors were properly vetted and procurement procedures were followed to solidify the best possible partnership for the members of the Tribal Business League.

"This has been long overdue for the Tribes to engage in collaborations, nearly 25 years of previous attempts, and we're proud to announce publicly we have officially launched this initiative to benefit all Tribes involved." says Curtis DeCora, founder of the Tribal Business League. "If we can work collectively on ensuring our enterprises are profitable, efficient and positively contributing to the Tribal economy, there is no limit to what we can tackle next."

Goals and Objectives of Tribal Business League
The primary goal is to help all member Tribes reap the benefits of a buying club organization, which filters into enterprise goods and services including fuel, tobacco, cigarettes, snacks, sodas, and light grocery, to name a few. Historically, Tribal enterprises operate on razor-thin margins while employing Tribal Members to operate the for-profit enterprises. The Tribal Business League allows all member Tribes to immediately increase their profitability without any investment, warehousing, or storage of bulk goods. Each Tribe operates as it did prior to joining the Tribal Business League.

The Tribal Business League operates under the direction of a board of directors, which also serve as the consulting team to assist with procurement and negotiations of contracts and service agreements with all vendors servicing the member Tribes.

The Launch Party
The Tribal Business League launch party took place at the St. Croix Casino in Danbury and included a mini trade show and expo with 12 vendors present displaying goods and services, providing tastings and demonstrations. In attendance: Tribal business leaders and Tribal enterprise executives from each of the five participating Tribes, dozens of eager community members, and other Tribes interested in joining the Tribal Business League. The launch party was sponsored by Midwest Food and Tobacco Group in Slinger, Wisconsin. Midwest Food and Tobacco Group is the first partner of the Tribal Business League, and is dedicated to delivering quality customer care, proven unmatched pricing along with exclusive product lines and private label capabilities.

Features and benefits of the Tribal Business League include:

• Lowest possible pricing on all goods and services
• Tribal consulting team negotiating on behalf of all member Tribes
• Monthly meetings to tackle the largest challenges and hurdles in our enterprises

The Tribal Business League is operating, and improved pricing took effect immediately with all participating retail locations.

Buy Native Initiative
The Tribal Business League is the driving force behind the Buy Native initiative, and will strive to produce a strong Buy Native campaign in their respective geographic locations to enhance the well-being of the local economies and increase profitability to the Tribal enterprises and Tribal business.

For more information, contact Curtis Decorah at (715) 638-0481, or visit the website.

When Bad River honored and celebrated its employees on October 9th, it underscored the importance of this large workforce to not only the Reservation but to all of Ashland County.

The 500+ employees of Bad River is among the top three employers in the Ashland area. The other two are Memorial Medical Center (MMC) and C.G. Bretting Manufacturing Company, both located in Ashland. MMC has 530 employees and Bretting has a staff of 500, according to each human resources department.

Along with the 265 employees who work in Tribe's 16 departments, there are approximately 235 people who are employed by the Bad River Lodge and Casino.

In many respects, each of the top three employers serve as a vital part of the three-legged stool upon which the Ashland area economy sits. Mary McPhetridge, Executive Director of the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, seems to agree.

"The beauty of our economy is that we rely on each other to create jobs and bring in economic stability for the region. The three main employers of the county are all different market segments, so if one segment suffers economically there are two to support it. We don't have our proverbial 'eggs in one basket'. That's why Ashland is sustainable!"

Betsey Harries, Executive Director of the Ashland Area Development Corporation, understands and appreciates the contributions of the Bad River workforce to the overall well-being of the Ashland area.

"Well, this is the perfect day to have this conversation, being that it's Indigenous Peoples' Day today," Betsey said on October 14th. "It's heartening to see how much progress has been made, and yet sometimes it can be very frustrating to see how slowly progress goes, too. I'd really like to increase the amount of services and the amount of partnerships that we have with the Tribe."

The Tribe recognizes the value of it's employees, and the October 9th Employee Appreciation Day was a time for recognition, thanks and fun.

Chairman Mike Wiggins, Jr., got things rolling with his opening remarks to the crowd of approximately 260, and included a borrowed quote from Red Cliff Tribal Elder Andy Gokee, saying, "The power of the Anishinaabe has always come through our ability to recognize ourselves."

"It is so true," he continued. "We do need to recognize ourselves; the ability to share victory."

And they did just that. The day included shared victories, no work and celebrations.

There was a special honor for eight people who have been around a while and know a lot about hard work, sharing and dedication.

These were the most honored guests at the event, the longest-tenured employees: Linda Stone, (39 years); Rose DePerry, (35); Cheryl Pero, (31); Bernice Wiggins, (31); Susan Houle, (33); Bonnie Green, (30) and Wayne Burns, (37). Barbara Smart, who tops the service list with Linda at 39 years, was ill and unable to attend.

Each received a Tribal blanket adorned with the Band's logo and a statue of an eagle. Together, this Great Eight has served the Band for a combined 275 years.

All employees received a keychain and a thank-you card, according to Jenny Schlender, Human Resources Manager.

The employees were treated to breakfast, lunch, presentations from 16 department heads, the hilarious humor of comedian Don Burnstick, a Cree Native American from Canada, and participated in raffles that included more than 50 fabulous prizes.

"It's to build team morale, and reinforce this collective ideal that we're all in this together," Jenny said. "And then, of course, enjoy each other's company, through food and entertainment."

Linda Stone, with 39 years of service, has been a life-long Tribal Member. "Oh yes, I love it here," said Linda, who works in Accounting. "It's all good. The people are good people. I enjoy working with them."

Wayne Burns works in the Head Start Program, and with 37 years of service, ranks as the longest-tenured male employee serving the Tribe. Wayne shared the favorite part of his job, saying "Teaching the young kids. I taught my own kids and my grandkids. I'm getting ready to retire, but I don't know when. I've been here since I was 30 years old."

Near the end of the event, Chairman Wiggins smiled and said, "We're doing our best to celebrate all the good work our organization does, recognize our employees for their longevity, and generally just enjoy being together."

When Melis Arik agreed to this interview, it was only her third day on her new job. She had a stack of boxes to unpack in her office, and many more at her new home in Washburn.

She was feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed, but hugely happy. You see, she has found her dream job in a place where she has always wanted to live. Yes, she has no fear of the frequently frozen Northern Wisconsin.

"I've always wanted to be in this part of the state," said Melis, who had been a regular visitor to the area. "I've always loved it and always thought, wow, it would be so great to live up here! I wondered if I will ever be able to."

Melis is the new Water Resources Specialist for the Natural Resources Department, and replaces Shea Schachameyer, who is the Department's Wetlands Specialist.

Melis has a degree in English literature from Georgetown University, and received her teaching license and master's of education from the University of Minnesota.

For about 15 years, Melis shared that she taught English as a second language to high school students in Minneapolis. "There were kids from all over the world, Somalia, Ethiopia, Laos," she said.

Then she decided to change the direction of her career. "I really love science. And I always loved hiking. I was a bird-watcher and wildflower enthusiast."

So, it was time to go back to school and pursue her true love, science. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a degree in water resources and fisheries.

"I'm totally over-educated," she said with a laugh. "But I like school. What can I say? When all else fails, go back to school."

After Stevens Point, she worked a few seasonal jobs while studying natural resources. Her position with the Oneida Nation became her first year-round natural resources job.

So, is her new job and home a dream-come-true? "This is cliché, but it really has been a dream," she said, pointing to the history of the area and the culture of the Ojibwe people. "Even just working for Bad River. It's a really important place in the world."

And Melis, certainly, has a broad worldview. Her parents were immigrants from Turkey. "Being raised bi-culturally always has been a real central thing in my life, being raised as a Turkish person in America," she explained.

In fact, for two years in the early 1990s, her first teaching job was in Turkey at an international school where all her students were Turkish. She speaks Turkish and taught English as a second language.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, she most recently held a job with the Oneida Nation as a Water Resources Specialist. She sees her new job as vastly different.

"It's very different because Bad River is so much more rich in water resources; and Lake Superior is here. My job is to manage the surface water monitoring program and the beach monitoring program. We had no beach monitoring program in Oneida and surface waters were much fewer. It was mostly an agricultural landscape."

Melis moved to Washburn on October 11th, and started her job on October 14th. Her life and employment changed with the same shift in geography. "I'm very happy to be here. Everything that I care about revolves around water."

Away from work, she likes to swim and fish and has her own flat-bottom boat. And now she's near her favorite body of water. "Lake Superior has its own spirit and draw. It always has. There's something about Lake Superior. If you feel it, you feel it. If you don't, it's like 'It's too cold up there.' Yeah, it is, but it's Lake Superior."

Melis believes she's in the right place, the right job and at the right time in her life. "I was an English teacher and now I'm a scientist," she said. "And I don't think I'm any less of a scientist because I was an English teacher. I can't imagine doing anything else now."

My dream of becoming a Major League catcher ended when pitchers started throwing one little thing I just couldn't hit: the baseball.

In 1969, I conned Northland College into a football scholarship and the coaches asked me to play baseball, too. (No really, they asked).

After two forgettable years at Northland, it was time give up what I wanted to do for what I thought I could do: communicating with words on paper. Remember them? They called them newspapers and they were all the rage.

So I transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, switched my major from business to journalism and got my butt kicked by Leslie D. Polk, my tough-as-buffalo steak editing teacher. He demanded perfection and encouraged me to pursue a career in the less-than-perfect world of newspaper journalism.

During a 41-year career I made stops in three time zones, working in six states for 13 newspapers and one international website. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (twice), the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and CBS Sportline in Fort Lauderdale. Smaller papers included the Racine Journal Times, the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Massachusetts, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Englewood (Florida) Sun, and the Baraboo News Republic.

My newspaper career began and ended at the Daily Press in my hometown of Ashland, where I currently reside. Along the way I met, interviewed and wrote about some amazing people, both famous and virtually unknown.

And now, Kim Swisher has given me another chance to communicate with words, but not on paper. Best of all, she doesn't seem to care that I still can't hit a baseball.

Richard may be reached by email or by calling 920-857-4673.

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Visit these sites for current employment opportunities:

Bad River Lodge and Casino

Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College

Job Center of Wisconsin

Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program (CEP)