Chairman

April 2026 Chairman's Report

Aaniin Boozhoo Gaa-waabaabiganikaag
Niminwendam Waabaminaan!

Maango-Giizis!

Aaniish inaa akawe ninga-gaagiizomaag aadi-
zookaanag.

Weweni-sago-na

Greetings White Earth Nation I am Happy to See You!

We usually use iskigamizige-giizis which means boiling sap moon.

We as Anishinaabeg utilized copper for thousands of years. Copper is sacred to the people of the great lakes. Alongside shores of lake superior lives a water being known to the Anishinaabeg as Mishibizhiw the water panther.

Ogiishkimanisii kingfisher. Kingfisher helped Nanaboozhoo long ago. This bird was not very good looking at one time and when the kingfisher helped Nanaboozhoo, and made him beautiful. His name ogiishkimanisii means ricochets off the water
because he warns us of a water spirit called Mishibizhiw.

Anishinaabeg are known as lake, river and woodland people.

Long ago, the Anishinaabeg lived on the great lakes, they were known for they built birchbark canoes. People that come and barter trade for the canoes. A little girl named Naawagamikgabokwe said she was raised by bears when her parents lost her in the woods when she was a baby and some years later the bear nation returned her to the people.

Naawagamikgabokwe would play by the water and she befriended a water spirit. Her father and others saw her playing and they let her be.

Naawagamikgabokwe had grown to be a beautiful lady and was set to marry her love. She had to say goodbye to her water spirit that she grew to know. The spirit told her if she ever needed help to call onto the wind his name and the spirit would be present.

Time had passed and she had many children. She became one of the great leaders in her community and was invited to a ceremony in Bawating many miles away.

They stocked their canoes with goods for the ceremony with thirty canoes in all. They set off into the great lakes and in the distance a great storm erupted, then a huge sound of thunder within the storm.

The people were traveling they saw the thunder beings fighting huge serpents. The serpent's pushed the Thunder beings away, and the serpents came after
the canoes taking a few of them under.

Naawagamikgabokwe was in one of those canoes. She gather her children in water and uplifted them into other canoes. The snakes would not stop advancing. She cried in the wind, her friend name Mishibizhiw.

In the distance this huge creature is running on water. The snakes slammed towards Mishibizhiw, eventually Mishibizhiw was pulled under.

The storm cleared and Naawagamikgabokwe and the people canoa back to the shores. She was on her knees on the shore lines crying for her friend.

Out of nowhere Mishibizhiw appeared out of the water holding a great snake in his mouth, bringing body after body to the shores.

Mishibizhiw said to the people I brought you gifts and remember and honor these gifts. Watch the bodies of these beings turn, the snakes turned to copper. This is how Anishinaabeg received copper.

Here is an update on our Land Back journey with Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. As you know, Land Back is very important to our Nation. Despite the long history of land theft and loss, we are resilient adaptive people who will continue into the
infinite future. Remember our fight for Land Back is a long-distance race, not a sprint, and we are going about it in a good way by taking deliberate steps towards our goals so we can set ourselves up in the best position now and for those whocome after us—the next seven generations.

We first entered a Memorandum of Agreement with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regarding the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge (the Refuge) on June 4, 2024. Then we quickly followed up with a Co-Stewardship Agreement with FWS for the Refuge that took things a little further and a little more in depth on Oct. 1, 2024. Our WEDNR meets regularly with the FWS Refuge staff and coordinates easily on the many aspects of costewarding Refuge management. We’re moving full speed ahead on the next steps in our plan, even with some hold ups with the federal government shut-downs!

Since our first agreements with FWS in 2024, we’ve now executed a Self-Governance Compact with Department of Interior (DOI) that was signed Dec. 4, 2025 under P.L.638 or the Indian Self Determination Education and Assistance Act
(ISDEAA). This compact gave us the ability to enter into Multi-Year Funding Agreements (MYFA) and Annual Funding Agreements (AFA) for BIA and non-BIA programs and services such as the ones that FWS provides at the Refuge. This means we would receive funding to carry out the programs, functions, activities, and services (PFSAs) that we contract for instead of FWS and that’s exactly what we’ve done. We formally requested to begin negotiations with FWS for a MYFA on Nov. 13, 2025. Although our request was delayed by the government shut down at
the time, our negotiation team has been hard at work to quickly regain footing. Now, we have a complete MYFA ready for Council to vote on accepting at this
next regular meeting on March 27.

Recall, for our first MYFA we selected three main PFSAs to assume control over that the FWS provides at the Refuge. Since water protection is one of our top priorities, we selected water management which will include wild rice management as one of the PFSAs we plan to assume control of on the Refuge. We are also selected forestry and all cultural components of the Refuge’s visitor’s services program for assumption. The MYFA will allow us to carry out these PFSAs on the Refuge and have greater Tribal control over the resources and relatives that mean so much to us.

For example: we will make sure our story in our words is told to visitors at the Refuge and hold education events for youth that are culturally appropriate; we will manage water levels in an ecologically balanced way that benefits Manoomin; we will monitor for invasive species to protect the forests and the waters; as well as provide new opportunities to our Tribal timber harvesters if we determine timber should be harvested.

If Council accepts the MYFA, then the proposed
start date for our assumption of the selected PFSAs is July 1, 2026. From now until then the MYFA will go out to other Tribal Nations in Minnesota pursuant to a
federal law for a 90 day comment with them. After that, this first MYFA is slated to run until September 2028. We plan to renegotiate another MYFA and progressively assume more and more PFSAs at Tamarac so we can continue on our steady path forward to return Tamarac Refuge to White Earth Nation!

Miigwech and thank you to everyone who takes the time to stay informed and getting involved by casting your vote for the future of our Nation.

Chi-miigwech bizindawiyeg miinawaa anooj
ninda-gikinoo’amaadiwin,
Gigawaabamininim naagaj.
Take it easy.
Thank you for listening and continuing to learn together,
See you all later.
Chairman Michael Fairbanks