The chairman of the White Earth Tribe, one of five tribes of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, has filed charges with that tribe’s Tribal Executive Committee seeking to have the White Earth secretary treasurer censured.
Chairman Terry Tibbetts seeks the ouster of Tara Mason. His motion at the Tribal Executive Committee’s quarterly meeting got a second but no vote.
Mason now could choose to immediately answer the charges, which include “malfeasance in the handling of tribal affairs, dereliction or neglect of duty, and refusal to comply with provisions of the constitution and tribal bylaws.” Or she could appear at a hearing, which must be held within 45 days.
Mason is specifically accused of taking actions that undermined the Tribal Executive Committee, such as pursuing the construction of the Star Lake Casino and interfering with tribal courts.
The Tribal Executive Committee does not have the authority to do more than censure Mason. Only the White Earth Tribal Council has that authority, but apparently Tibbetts doesn’t have the votes to make that happen.
