Secretarial Election on the Horizon

Sault Tribe Traditional Medicine Program is holding September clinic hours for the following dates and locations. Any questions, or to book an appointment, please call the Traditional Medicine Program at 906‑632‑0236 or 906‑632‑5268.

Gerard Sagassige
Sault Ste. Marie Health Center—Sept. 1, 14, 15, 21, 22
906‑632‑0236

St. Ignace Health Center—Sept. 2
906‑643‑8689 or 877‑256‑0135

Manistique Health Center—Sept. 16
906‑341‑8469 or 866‑401‑0043

Hessel Community Center—Sept. 23
906‑484‑2727

Flyer

Please see the attached rolling three-month activities calendar for Language & Culture activities for August, September and October. This document will be updated monthly to keep our members informed on upcoming cultural activities happening across all five units.

Calendar

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Board of Directors will hold a regular meeting Aug. 18, 2026, beginning 5 p.m. at Sault Kewadin Casino Whitefish Point Room, in person or via Zoom, https://zoom.us/j/83640619761.

“Membership Participation” will be held at 5 p.m. in person or by virtual attendance. The link is available at the Sault Tribe website saulttribe.com under membership assistance for the meeting link and Membership Form that must be completed. The deadline to submit a form is 1 p.m. on meeting day. The link is https://zoom.us/j/83640619761. Those who have already registered for Zoom meetings need not register again unless they have a matter for the board.

To attend the scheduled workshop, except for closed session or items, go to https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84149623333. Those who have already registered to Zoom Board of Directors meetings need not register for workshops.

Those who have already registered for Zoom meetings need not register again.

On the agenda under Resolutions is:
FY27 Budget Doc 002 (Schedule B - No Health)
Continuing Funding Gov FY27 Schedule B Budgets
Continuing Funding Health FY27 Schedule B Budgets
Broadband Reconnect4 Est. of FY26 Budget
Sanitation – BE-26-N93 Est. of FY27 Budget
NRD EPA Indoor Air Quality Est. of FY27 Budget
NRD White-Nose Syndrome Est. of FY27 Budget
Elder Services Meal Additions Est. of FY27 Budget
Marquette Community Center FY26 and FY27 Budget Modifications
Lodge of Hope FY26 Budget Modification and Est. of FY26 Budget
Emergency Conditions Policy Amendment
Rural Health Transformation Program Approve Contract – ACC Gladstone Project
Health Division Stand Strong Youth Initiative
Negotiate/Accept Donation Donaldson Trust Property
Amending Resolution 2012-245
Creation of the Legislative Attorney Office

Under New Business, the board will consider Oct. 6, 2026, Meeting Date Change – Escanaba, Committee Appointment, and Board Concerns.

Agenda

The Sault Tribe Enterprise Authority meeting agenda for Aug. 18, 2026, is the following:

07.21.26 Minutes
R-Authorize Use of Assumed Name EDC

The meeting is being held at the Kewadin Casino Whitefish Point Room in Sault Ste. Marie at 11:30 a.m. or at the conclusion of the EA Workshop.

Tribal members may attend the workshop except for closed sessions or items or attend by Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84149623333. Those who have already registered to Zoom Board of Directors meetings need not register for workshops.

Agenda 

There will be a JKL Fiduciary Committee Meeting Aug. 18, 2026, at 9 a.m. in the Kewadin Casinos Whitefish Point Room.

On the agenda under School Reports:

Sault Tribe Education
JKL Bahweting Anishnabe School
Special Education Additional Needs
2026-27 Draft Budget Summary
Special Fiduciary Requests
Malcolm High School

Tribal members may attend the workshop except for closed sessions or items or attend by Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84149623333. Those who have already registered to Zoom Board of Directors meetings need not register for workshops.

Agenda

Yesterday was a dark day for Tribal Nations across the Midwest. It is a dark day for the Great Lakes, the environment, and all those who hold a special place in their hearts for the Straits of Mackinac.

Oaths have been broken. Tribal sovereignty ignored. The federal government’s Indian trust responsibility disregarded.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers has approved a key permit Enbridge needs to construct a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. A tunnel that threatens to unearth and violate the bodies and spirits of our ancestors who have been at rest since long before colonization.

And all this betrayal for what? The benefit of a Canadian mega-corporation worth billions of dollars? Under the guise of a national energy emergency?

Thankfully, construction cannot begin at this time. The Michigan Supreme Court recently vacated permits issued by the Michigan Public Service Commission. Enbridge must reapply and go through that permitting process again.

So, despite the Corps’ decision, this project has by no means been given the green light to begin construction.

Enbridge also has a long history of broken promises and spilling millions of gallons of oil. Let us not forget the disasters near Kalamazoo, Mich., and Grand Rapids, Minn. Two of the largest inland oil spills in United States history occurred under Enbridge’s supervision, spilling nearly 2 million gallons of oil combined.

Is this the fate that awaits Line 5 and the Great Lakes tunnel project?

We can only pray to the Creator that it is not.

The Straits of Mackinac have been sacred since time immemorial.

Anishinaabe people see the Straits as multidimensional. It is home to both the physical and the superphysical. The two are interwoven as one. We cannot have one without the other. It has been this way since Creation.

Our stories tell of Mackinac Island being the first land to appear after the Great Flood receded. As far back as we can trace our oral histories, the Straits have held significant cultural meaning to Anishinaabe people. For centuries, the area was a hub of trading networks and a place for ceremony.

The water, plant and animal life, spirits, and our ancestors and their belongings buried there are not simply resources to be disposed of to fulfill a government permit.

We must care for our ancestors and protect the Straits. This is integral to our way of life.

If Enbridge begins boring a 4-mile-long tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, it will disturb and uproot venerated areas. For us, these are the bones and spirits of our grandparents, our Ogemmag, our leaders, and honored Ogichidaag, our warriors.

For Enbridge, it may be another load of earth moved during construction.

For us, it is our ancestors.

And when people visit Lake Michigan during the summer if construction is ever underway and hear the constant hum and feel the vibration of industrial equipment for months on end, we will know what lies beneath it.

Our ancestors.

The Straits, and all the Great Lakes, should never have been threatened by Line 5 to begin with. The irreversible harm that could be caused to the Straits of Mackinac, and the physical, mental, and spiritual burden tribal communities would bear while recovering our resting relatives, cannot be dismissed as another cost of construction.

We do not trust Enbridge.

And we are deeply disappointed by the Corps’ decision to grant Enbridge the permit needed to take the next step toward construction.

That disappointment is made greater by the process that brought us here.

On Monday, following short notice, the Sault Tribe was granted one hour of virtual consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our subject experts voiced concerns about the tunnel, the permitting process, treaty rights, our ancestors, and the cultural and environmental consequences of this project.

Following that consultation, we were given just 24 hours to submit written comments.

We made our position clear.

There should not be oil pipelines underneath the Straits of Mackinac.

We know the coming years may be difficult for everyone who values the Great Lakes. But we are not done fighting.

In fact, if there is a silver lining throughout this process, it is that Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes have never been more united. Just this Tuesday, leaders and representatives from all 12 tribes assembled at Bay Mills to discuss our shared concerns and strategies for responding if the Corps issued Enbridge’s permit.

On Wednesday, we received that answer.

And we cannot overstate how shortsighted we believe this decision is.

In 1836, our ancestors signed the Treaty of Washington. That treaty is federal law. The record, including the Corps’ own findings, shows that construction and operation of Enbridge’s tunnel would diminish treaty-protected fishing, access, cultural practices, ceremonies, ancestral relationships, and the resources and conditions that make those rights meaningful.

Consultation does not supply tribal consent.

Our treaty rights are not expendable.

The United States made a promise in 1836. The Army Corps had an opportunity and a responsibility to uphold that promise.

With this decision, the Corps has failed to honor its treaty obligations.

But this decision is not the end.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians will continue to stand with our sister tribes. We will continue to protect our treaty rights. We will continue to protect our ancestors. And we will continue to defend the Straits of Mackinac and the Great Lakes for the generations yet to come.