Susan Bradford: Chief Kequom Misled His Membership About Pursuing an Investigation

Susan Bradford on Saginaw Chippewa:

Like many Saginaw Chippewa Indians, Dennis Kequom is a liar and opportunist. While he campaigned on integrity, he has misled tribal members about his intention to pursue an investigation into the 1986 Constitution and membership fraud. He laughed and contradicted himself in the same conversation as he gloated about having gotten one over on everyone and then encouraged anyone who took issue with his deception to sue him in Tribal Court.

His alleged right hand woman, Council Woman Linda Hunt, who claimed to be speaking for him to initiate an investigation, was deeply tied into the dilution of the tribe’s billion dollar portfolio during the doomed Seminole deal in which the Seminole Tribe of Florida was trying to get the tribe’s Migizi development board to invest in gaming in violation of its charter, inside sources said.

The deal involved having the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan put up the investment for a Hard Rock casino (The Seminoles own the Hard Rock franchise) while both tribes were poised to share the profits. The billion dollar portfolio has since been looted – with money potentially having gone into mergers & acquisitions and other speculative ventures involving alternative energies.

Already a genealogist investigating fraud concerning throngs of fictitious Indians who have acquired membership in the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan has reported that her car brakes were cut in what appears to be an attempt against her life. She allegedly told investigators and the Council that the culprit was none other than Bernie Sprague, the Saginaw Chippewa SubChief who committed perjury against Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in Sen. John McCain’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearings. Most who have questioned the illegality of this tribe’s government have found themselves in jeopardy of one sort or another.

Increasing membership is intrinsically tied to federal funding. The more members, regardless of whether they are legitimate or not, the more money the tribe can acquire from the federal government for the care of those individuals. In a ravenous quest for income, the tribal government continues to add more fictitious Indians onto the rolls, in the process defrauding the U.S. government of tax revenue.

Kequom laughed about misleading his membership and said that anyone who disagrees with him can take him to Tribal Court, which everyone knows is fixed. Judges have been known to rewrite law during trial in order to secure convictions, and the Chief can fire any judge who rules against him. The Chief thinks he is above the law and acts accordingly. After campaigning on fighting corruption, he has resisted all efforts at reform and has bought himself an expensive new car and most likely has been bought off himself, tribal members said.

While Hunt told members that the Chief wanted to replace corrupt tribal attorney Sean Reed and lobbyist Larry Rosenthal, and bring on clean operators, Kequom said he was perfectly happy with the status quo. He seems to think tribal sovereignty is license to engage in illegal activities and operate above federal law and the U.S. Constitution. However, tribal sovereignty cannot serve as a buffer when federal laws have been broken.

The lawlessness surrounding the prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens and Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff are an ominous reflection of the lawlessness overtaking Indian Country, where anything goes, most are bought off, and the criminals are in charge.

It is an affront to hardworking taxpayers to have them subsidize this crime syndicate, especially at a time of looming deficits. The federal government needs to shut down this criminal enterprise and prosecute the criminals within it before any more innocent people are harmed.

Susan Bradford is author of Lynched! The Shocking Story of How the Political Establishment Manufactured a Scandal to Have Republican Super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff Removed from Power.

For more information, please visit: http://www.susanbradford.org/.

Susan Bradford: Federal Government Rewards Substance Abuse on Indian Reservations.

Federal Government Rewards Substance Abuse on Indian Reservations

By Susan Bradford


Saginaw Chippewa Indians have reported drug trafficking on their reservation, but the shipments never seem to stop nor have they successfully enlisted the federal government to investigate and eliminate the nefarious trade from their community. Some tribal whistleblowers have even taken to filming the drug-filled crates in transit only to report that FBI agents have responded by taking their videos and destroying them. In the meantime, the drug trade continues and even flourishes here.

Drugs are allegedly being brought onto the Mt. Pleasant, Michigan reservation by black helicopters which descend onto a makeshift landing strip in the dark of night. “The planes hardly make any noise and are nearly invisible to the naked eye, and so we can't seem to capture them on film,” said one tribal source, who believes the drugs are being shipped in from Canada.

Drug trafficking and related criminal activity were especially prevalent during the Administration of Chief Fred Cantu. One former tribal public affairs spokesman, Joe Somwick, who has been arrested for DUI at least half a dozen times, was caught on film retrieving what appears to be a small plastic bag filled with white substance from a tree on church grounds. Somwick circulated lies about Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and later served jail time, tribal records reveal.

The average tribal member, who is unable to live on his roughly $80,000 tax-free, per capita annual income, is more likely to abuse pot while the tribal elite, who never seem short of disposable income, freely indulge in cocaine. Much to the disgust of tribal members, Council leaders usher controlled substances onto the Indian reservation and then turn around and appeal to the federal government for money to combat the drug epidemic. Former Saginaw Chippewa SubChief Bernie Sprague, Sen. John McCain's lead witness against Abramoff, openly throws wild cocaine parties at his palatial mansion and has been known to physically assault those who show up uninvited.

Saginaw Chippewa Indians Seek Congressional Investigation from House Resources Committee

Our friend Susan Bradford has the story on her Investigative Reports page:

Dennis Kequom campaigned for a seat on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan’s Tribal Council on the platform of combating corruption. Many tribal leaders before him have made similar promises, but Kequom, who was elected Chairman, has been good on his word. Recently, the Kequom Council submitted a letter to Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), the Chair of the House Resources Committee, requesting that Congress investigate the legitimacy of tribe’s constitution, which was rewritten in 1986 to accommodate economic development on the reservation and alter qualifications for tribal membership.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe was formally established in 1937. The newly minted members – that is, the descendants of the Swan, Saginaw, and Black River Band of Chippewa Indians who populated the state over a century ago – appealed to the Indian Claims Commission for compensation for land the federal government had stripped from their ancestors.