ELDER HOME LOAN FORGIVENESS PROVIDES DEBT RELIEF
No application. No waiting list. Community Development explains who qualifies, how the program works and what Elders should know about receiving mortgage relief.
If you're a Mille Lacs Band Elder who is still making payments on a home purchased through the Band, you may qualify to have your remaining mortgage balance forgiven. The Elder Home Loan Forgiveness Program, enacted May 29, 2026, provides debt relief to qualifying Band members age 55 and older who have repaid at least half of their original home loan principal.
Administered through the Community Development Department, the permanent program is available to all eligible Band members with qualifying home loans. There is no application process or waiting list. Instead, the Housing Loan Department reviews loan balances and borrower ages each month to identify those who qualify or are approaching eligibility.
SUPREME COURT REJECTS ICWA APPEAL
Decision leaves federal and Minnesota protections for Native children and families intact.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Oct. 5 to hear a Minnesota case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA), leaving both laws in place and providing another victory for tribal nations seeking to protect Native children and families.
The decision in N.R. v. Ellison, involving twin children from the Red Lake Nation, ends the latest attempt to bring a constitutional challenge to the laws before the nation's highest court.
Tribal Government News
MEET VANESSA GIBBS, DISTRICT III LEGISLATIVE AIDE
Looking forward to assisting her community.
Vanessa Gibbs brings years of experience serving Band members, a commitment to learning, and strong community connections to her new role as District Ill Legislative Aide.
JUDICIAL BRANCH: MEET JUDGE JAMES RENNICKE
James Jay Rennicke serves as an Associate District Court Judge for the Non-Removable Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, presiding over matters before the Court of Central Jurisdiction. He was nominated by Chief Executive Virgil Wind and confirmed by the Mille Lacs Band Assembly during the summer of 2026. With an extensive background in litigation, Judge Rennicke is committed to seeking truth and justice for those who appear before the court.
CONSTITUTION DELEGATES CONTINUE COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND PLANNING
The Mille Lacs Band Constitution Delegates Committee continues to gather input from Band members as work moves forward on drafting a new constitution. Community participation remains an important part of the process, and delegates are encouraging Band members to stay involved as drafting sessions continue into early next year.
DO WE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN CLEAN ENERGY AND CLEAN WATER?
The proposed Tamarack nickel mine in northern Minnesota has been promoted as a way to supply the metals needed for electric vehicle batteries and the transition to clean energy. But as battery technology advances and alternatives to newly mined nickel become more widely available, an important question remains: Is the potential risk to Minnesota's water resources necessary to support a cleaner energy future?
Highlights
ELDERS GATHER FOR TWO-DAY CONFERENCE AT GRAND CASINO MILLE LACS CONVENTION CENTER
Mille Lacs Band Elders gathered October 26 and 27 at the Mille Lacs Grand Casino Convention Center for the Gichi-aya'aag Maawanji’iding Conference, meaning "Elders Coming Together." The two-day event celebrated the important role Elders play in preserving Ojibwe culture, language, traditions, and knowledge while providing opportunities to reconnect, share experiences and enjoy time together.
SKO VOTE DEN! GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS EXPANDS VOTER OUTREACH AHEAD OF GENERAL ELECTION
Get out the Native Vote efforts for the midterm elections 2026
Minnesota voters will head to the polls Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to elect candidates for federal, state and local offices. With election results unavailable at press time, over the past few months, the Mille Lacs Band Government Affairs team has focused its efforts on voter education and increasing participation throughout the Band's districts.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY CELEBRATION: Brainerd area aims to be a bridge celebrating culture
Central Lakes College brought back its Celebration of Nations event on October 7, 2026. Bringing in a crowd of students, employees, and community, CLC students and staff offered the area a few hours to pause, laugh, sing, dance, and create at a time where celebrating cultural pride was much needed in the region.
RETIREMENT: A LIFETIME OF SERVICE, A PROMISE KEPT
Monte Fronk retires after 35 years of service to the Mille Lacs Band communities
When Monte Fronk joined the Mille Lacs Band Tribal Police Department in 1991, he was a 23-year-old officer hoping to serve the community where his family had deep roots. Thirty-five years later, after a career spanning law enforcement, emergency management, firefighting, and community outreach, he retired with one question still on his mind: Had he lived up to the expectations of the drum keepers who hired him?
DISABLED RENOVATION PROGRAM: MAKING HOMES SAFER AND MORE ACCESSIBLE
The Mille Lacs Band's Disabled Renovation Program provides assistance for home modifications that meet the needs of Band members and family members living with disabilities.
Everyone deserves a home where they can feel safe, comfortable and independent. For Band members living with disabilities, even everyday activities can become challenging when a home is not designed to meet their needs.
Indian Country News
US national parks told to remove signs on mistreatment of Native Americans, climate, Wash Post reports:
U.S. officials this month ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to the mistreatment of Native Americans by settlers, as well as about climate change and environmental protection, the Washington Post reported. The move is part of President Donald Trump's campaign to reshape public spaces and museums in a way that rights advocates say could undo decades of social progress. The National Park Service staff last week removed an exhibit on slavery from a Philadelphia historic site in line with Trump's claims, rejected by civil rights groups, of "anti-American ideology" at historical and cultural institutions. The removal orders include a display at the Grand Canyon about the forced removal of Native Americans, the Post reported, while at Glacier National Park, Trump administration officials flagged a brochure and a sign about climate change. The U.S. Interior
Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement that it was carrying out Trump's executive order on "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." Source: Reuters.
‘As vulnerable as a plant can be’: New study finds climate change largely to blame for less wild rice:
A new study finds the availability of a wild rice in the Great Lakes region has been declining over the past 30 years, partially due to climate change. The decline, the study says, “has disrupted Ojibwe lifeways, family, and health.” Brandon Byrne, inland fisheries biologist at the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, or GLIFWC, coauthored and helped collect data for the study. Byrne said that the plant is most vulnerable during its early stages. “Not only is it vulnerable to weather or climatic variables, it’s also vulnerable to motorboat use. Its ecology is very delicate.” Rob Croll, coauthor of the study and commission policy analyst and climate change coordinator, said, “You have to look at manoomin and climate change holistically. It’s as vulnerable a plant as a plant can be. One of the things that we’re seeing — will continue to see — is our precipitation coming less frequently, but more intensely: much heavier rain storms, which can cause quick floods. During [early growth] stages, floods will uproot the plant. Later on in its growth, when there are seeds on the plant, big storms and heavy winds can devastate a rice bed just by blowing the stalks down into the water. Source: WPR Wisconsin Today.
White House budget request slashes funding for tribal colleges and universities:
In President Donald Trump’s budget request, he’s proposing slashing funding for tribal colleges and universities, including eliminating support for the country’s only federally funded college for contemporary Native American arts. If the budget is approved by Congress, beginning in October, the more than $13 million in annual appropriations for the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, would be reduced to zero. It would be the first time in nearly 40 years that the congressionally chartered school would not receive federal support, said Robert Martin, the school’s president. Source: APNEWS.
Upcoming EVENTS
July 27
East Lake Day
July 1
Mid-summer Days
July 24