TO: WINNEBAGO TRIBAL MEMBERS
Sept. 28, 2006

In my previous letter to you about the upcoming Tribal Election for Tribal Council membership I would like to add a few more issues of vital importance.

Whenever concerns of Senior Citizens and youth are discussed, someone usually says our Elders are revered and highly respected and are the guideposts of our Tribal Traditions and we must take care of them to the best of our ability and the youth are the future of the Winnebago Tribe. Yet, today we still lack adequate housing for our Senior Citizens. When a Tribal Member reaches the age of senior status and applies for Senior Housing they are placed at the tail end of a waiting list, at present this period of waiting is three (3) years. This means that they must continue to live with relatives and/or mover off the reservation to find the kind of housing they desire. Our youth are many times left to find their own sources of recreational activities. Too many times this results in trouble or tragedy. The Tribal Council does not and should not assume the responsibilities of parents. Rather the Council should work to establish programs and activities to provide outlets for the energies and enthusiasm of young people.

Once again I ask you to put aside your personal allegiances and vote for those that you think can put aside their own personal ambitions and focus on the needs of the entire Winnebago Tribe. Do not waste your vote on empty promises, don’t be afraid to ask the candidates questions about what they can offer. Please keep in mind that solutions to major problems can’t be solved overnight. Solutions to these problems have to be worked on tirelessly and constantly.

From time to time articles appear in the paper that suggest that the Tribal Council should be changed from the present membership of nine to a lesser number like three or maybe even less. Some say that this system was adapted from a non-Indian form of government by Act of Congress dated June 18, 12934 (48 Stat 984). They evidently forget that the U.S. Government was established in colonial days patterned after the representative government of the great laws of the Iroquois Nation.

Looking back in the world history many types of government were formed by ruling classes of individuals, some were called Kings, or Emperors and in more recent times Chairman and one was called Fuhrer, you can all recall what happened under those system of government, they all deprived individuals of any and all freedoms. If any one resisted they were crucified, gassed, hung, shot and were even told how many children they could have, some were exiled.

Ours may not be the perfect type of government but it does give you a voice via the representative you voted for. In the governments described above, individuals had no say whatsoever about anything.

In summary, these DICTATOR TYPES ALL SHARED ONE COMMON TRAIT, the lust for power and they ruled by fear. Remember, the old saying “POWER CORRUPTS”.