Micmac interim leadership will not stand

To the editor:
    On the May 8th election for the Micmac people, Marilyn Carlton was elected as the new elected chief of the “Aroostook Band of Micmacs”. Terry Hamel was elected as the vice chief of the Micmac people on this day, as well as the council was elected on the same day.     There were only two positions contested and challenged. The first position contested was the position of chief “Marilyn Carlton” who won her position by getting the most votes. The second position was a council seat by Julia Miller who is full member of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs.
    The election committee who oversaw the full process of the election from beginning to end stated the process did follow the bylaws of the people. At this time the elected chief, vice chief and council have not served one day as the elected government of the ABM. These people are now black balled from the tribal office and fired from their jobs though the tribe. Some of them have even been evicted from the tribal housing on Bon Aire, courtesy of Richard Dyer and Victoria Higgins.
    Richard Dyer stated the Interim Chief pulled out of the MITSC for the best interest of the tribe. I attended the meeting on Indian Island on the day the tribe pulled out the bill LD 2221 and she (Victoria Higgins) did pull out the MITSC bill due to internal instability and an investigation by the Department of Justice. A large group of the tribe stated they would testify against the bill simply due to the fact that the tribal members would lose their rights and lose their voice and have no say in their tribal government.
    This is the reason why she pulled out the bill. Victoria Higgins “interim chief” keeps talking about our sovereignty of the tribe, but she uses the local police departments to keep the oppressed in place. Every time a large group gathers and holds a scheduled meeting, it is called “illegal “and tribal members who attend are called the dark side. When we ask the questions of why there are such cutbacks, i.e. childrens’ education, secondary education, health care, fuel assistance, the elders’ gathering house, elders’ meals, and so on, we’re called troublemakers and told that it’s none of our business.
    The elders’ council that was used to determine the outcome of the election was hand picked by the interim chief Victoria Higgins, as well as housing director Richard Dyer, who also served on the hand picked elders’ council. For this simple fact, how can there be justice and a fair elections for the tribal people?
    Victoria Higgins is using a letter issued by Franklin Keel of the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) to keep the position of power. So the BIA still has their hands in the problem and I don’t see any change in the near future. In some ways this reminds me of the Black Hills of South Dakota, where the people finally had to rise up with one loud voice and give the United States a wake-up call.
Frank Hanning
Micmac basket maker
Former Council member