Protesters stage coup attempt on Lac du Flambeau reservation; feds en route
ANA DAVIS
For the State Journal
LAC DU FLAMBEAU — A group of disaffected Lac du Flambeau tribal members stormed the tribe's government administration offices around 3 a.m. Wednesday in an attempted coup after previous demands for a new government had been ignored.
Officers from several area law enforcement agencies have converged on the scene, and police with guns and riot gear were inside the building, although there have been no reports of violence. Gov. Jim Doyle and state Attorney General JB Van Hollen have been notified of the coup attempt, and representatives of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs were also on the scene.
"Right now we are holed up in a Tribal Center room basically trying to get help to end the mismanagement, nepotism and corruption that exists within our Tribal Council," said tribal member Brandon Thoms, speaking from a cell phone inside the building. "We've exhausted all efforts. We've called the BIA, the FBI, and the IRS and also the NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission) and our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. This is the last thing we could do to bring attention to what's happening here."
The government building has been cordoned off by police, but hundreds of tribal members have gathered in the nearby Lake of the Torches Casino parking lot.
"When I woke up, the building was under wraps," said Council member Brooks Big John, who supports the insurgents. "This is the last straw. People's voices need to be heard. The people have been trampled on, as has our constitution, and it has led to this chaos."
The coup leaders, who call themselves Ginews (Ojibwe for golden eagles) said they no longer recognize tribal President Victoria Doud.
"The repeated abuse of governmental power, the dictatorship of seven members of the Tribal Council and the rampant corruption of these seven council members has caused the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation to become a seat of poverty," the group said in a statement. "Over 100 tribal members have either lost their jobs or their programs. Students attending higher education have lost their benefits. Tribal elders have lost needed services — all because of the wanton spending and graft of these seven people."
Doud and some of her allies were said to be in the Tribal Center building late Wednesday morning, although council members said there have been no negotiations between her administration and the coup leaders. Doud's supporters were not immediately available for comment.
The tribe has been hit hard by a series of bad business investments that have yet to produce returns, and which anxious tribal members say could take years to correct.
Those include three multi-million-dollar off-reservation casino projects, including a failed $3.5 million casino cruise ship venture that was originally destined for Mexico but is now docked in Tampa Bay, Fla.; a proposed casino in Shullsburg, which was recently nixed by federal authorities; and a second gaming boat and hotel complex in Natchez, Miss., which is the focus of a lawsuit between the tribe and one of its business partners.
The tribe also invested about $1.9 million in two hotels in Stevens Point and Green Bay and $9 million in a start-up technology company in Houston, Texas, which have yet to make money.
The conflict came to a head in January, when the tribal government, facing a cash crisis, took out a $50 million bond to consolidate its debts. The bond, which was arranged by St. Louis, Mo.-based brokerage and investment company Stifel Nicolaus, has an interest rate of 12 percent with monthly payments in excess of $500,000.
After speaking with the protesters, Council member Tom Maulson addressed the growing crowd outside the Tribal Center Wednesday morning.
"I no longer recognize Victoria Doud as our tribal president," Maulson said to applause. "They (the protesters) won't come out until the BIA are here. They know they may have to go to prison for this, but they are not hardened criminals. They are our grandmothers, our tribal elders, and our young people. We want open books and we want to know where the millions and millions of dollars have gone."
Some tribal members were upset by the overwhelming police response.
Ann Chosa, whose elderly aunt, Betty Jack, was inside the building as part of the protest, brought her children to watch events unfold. Her daughter, Margaret Gomez, 16, was glad to be witnessing the action but said the police didn't belong there.
"This is history happening right now," she said. "But why are the police here? This is a nonviolent protest."
Vilas County sheriff's deputy Mark Collins defended the decision to bring firearms into the building, saying authorities were responding to concerns about a 35-gallon gas tank that protesters took with them inside the building.
"We had to have them (guns) in there," Collins told tribal members waiting outside. "We're trying to mediate inside and outside. We're as concerned about these issues as they are."
But Thoms, from inside the building, said the group had brought in the 35-gallon fuel drum in the event they needed to power a generator they also had with them.
ANA DAVIS
For the State Journal
LAC DU FLAMBEAU — A group of disaffected Lac du Flambeau tribal members stormed the tribe's government administration offices around 3 a.m. Wednesday in an attempted coup after previous demands for a new government had been ignored.
Officers from several area law enforcement agencies have converged on the scene, and police with guns and riot gear were inside the building, although there have been no reports of violence. Gov. Jim Doyle and state Attorney General JB Van Hollen have been notified of the coup attempt, and representatives of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs were also on the scene.
"Right now we are holed up in a Tribal Center room basically trying to get help to end the mismanagement, nepotism and corruption that exists within our Tribal Council," said tribal member Brandon Thoms, speaking from a cell phone inside the building. "We've exhausted all efforts. We've called the BIA, the FBI, and the IRS and also the NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission) and our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. This is the last thing we could do to bring attention to what's happening here."
The government building has been cordoned off by police, but hundreds of tribal members have gathered in the nearby Lake of the Torches Casino parking lot.
"When I woke up, the building was under wraps," said Council member Brooks Big John, who supports the insurgents. "This is the last straw. People's voices need to be heard. The people have been trampled on, as has our constitution, and it has led to this chaos."
The coup leaders, who call themselves Ginews (Ojibwe for golden eagles) said they no longer recognize tribal President Victoria Doud.
"The repeated abuse of governmental power, the dictatorship of seven members of the Tribal Council and the rampant corruption of these seven council members has caused the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation to become a seat of poverty," the group said in a statement. "Over 100 tribal members have either lost their jobs or their programs. Students attending higher education have lost their benefits. Tribal elders have lost needed services — all because of the wanton spending and graft of these seven people."
Doud and some of her allies were said to be in the Tribal Center building late Wednesday morning, although council members said there have been no negotiations between her administration and the coup leaders. Doud's supporters were not immediately available for comment.
The tribe has been hit hard by a series of bad business investments that have yet to produce returns, and which anxious tribal members say could take years to correct.
Those include three multi-million-dollar off-reservation casino projects, including a failed $3.5 million casino cruise ship venture that was originally destined for Mexico but is now docked in Tampa Bay, Fla.; a proposed casino in Shullsburg, which was recently nixed by federal authorities; and a second gaming boat and hotel complex in Natchez, Miss., which is the focus of a lawsuit between the tribe and one of its business partners.
The tribe also invested about $1.9 million in two hotels in Stevens Point and Green Bay and $9 million in a start-up technology company in Houston, Texas, which have yet to make money.
The conflict came to a head in January, when the tribal government, facing a cash crisis, took out a $50 million bond to consolidate its debts. The bond, which was arranged by St. Louis, Mo.-based brokerage and investment company Stifel Nicolaus, has an interest rate of 12 percent with monthly payments in excess of $500,000.
After speaking with the protesters, Council member Tom Maulson addressed the growing crowd outside the Tribal Center Wednesday morning.
"I no longer recognize Victoria Doud as our tribal president," Maulson said to applause. "They (the protesters) won't come out until the BIA are here. They know they may have to go to prison for this, but they are not hardened criminals. They are our grandmothers, our tribal elders, and our young people. We want open books and we want to know where the millions and millions of dollars have gone."
Some tribal members were upset by the overwhelming police response.
Ann Chosa, whose elderly aunt, Betty Jack, was inside the building as part of the protest, brought her children to watch events unfold. Her daughter, Margaret Gomez, 16, was glad to be witnessing the action but said the police didn't belong there.
"This is history happening right now," she said. "But why are the police here? This is a nonviolent protest."
Vilas County sheriff's deputy Mark Collins defended the decision to bring firearms into the building, saying authorities were responding to concerns about a 35-gallon gas tank that protesters took with them inside the building.
"We had to have them (guns) in there," Collins told tribal members waiting outside. "We're trying to mediate inside and outside. We're as concerned about these issues as they are."
But Thoms, from inside the building, said the group had brought in the 35-gallon fuel drum in the event they needed to power a generator they also had with them.