The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians announced today the results of its 2019 general election, which took place Saturday, July 13. The results were certified last night at the Election Board meeting at the Pokagon Band’s Dowagiac campus. Elected to staggered, three-year terms by its citizens, the 11-member Tribal Council governs the Pokagon Band.
Elected as its Tribal Council Vice Chairman is Andrew Bennett, a Pokagon citizen living in Hartford, Mich. Bennett currently serves as the chairperson for the Enrollment Committee, a position he will abdicate to join Tribal Council.
Other results include James Olds from Hartford who was elected as Treasurer, and two new Members-At-Large: Anita Morales from Detroit and Mark Parrish from Benton Harbor.
Other members of the 11-member Tribal Council who were not up for re-election are Chairman Matthew Wesaw, Secretary Kelly Curran, Elders Representative Colin Wesaw, and Members-At-Large Andy Jackson and Gary Morseau. Acting Vice Chairperson Steve Winchester and acting Treasurer Alex Wesaw will return to their positions as Members-at-Large.
About The Pokagon
Band of Potawatomi Indians
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians’ sovereignty was reaffirmed under
legislation signed into law by President Clinton in September of 1994. The
Pokagon Band is dedicated to providing community development initiatives such
as housing, education, family services, medical care and cultural preservation
for its approximately 5,600 citizens. The Pokagon Band’s ten-county service
area includes four counties in Southwestern Michigan and six in Northern
Indiana. Its main administrative offices are located in Dowagiac, Mich., with a
satellite office in South Bend, Ind. In 2007, it opened Four Winds Casino
Resort in New Buffalo, Mich., followed by Four Winds Hartford in 2011, Four
Winds Dowagiac in 2013 and Four Winds South Bend in January 2018. It owns
and operates a variety of businesses via Mno-Bmadsen, the tribe’s non-gaming
investment enterprise. More information is available at www.pokagonband-nsn.gov,
www.fourwindscasino.com
and www.mno-bmadsen.com.
