Red Lake, Minnesota (AP)

Floyd “Buck” Jourdain Jr. was sworn in for a four-year term as the chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa during early August after a three-hour debate over allegations that he bought votes in July’s run-off election.

The Red Lake Tribal Council voted 7-2 to install Jourdain and the other tribal officials elected on July 19. Jourdain defeated former tribal secretary Judy Roy by 71 votes. He ran as the incumbent as he had served the last two years of the late Chairman Gerald Brun’s term. Brun died while in office.

The council’s vote was a repudiation of a July 28 ruling by the tribal election board, which had called for a new run-off between Jourdain and Roy.

The board had ruled there was merit to claims that Jourdain had brought tribal members from Duluth before the election and given them free rooms and food at a casino owned by the tribe.

However, the tribal council rejected the election board ruling, citing hearsay evidence, the board’s lack of authority to call for a runoff and the need to move on and focus on tribal needs.

Jourdain, speaking to a capacity crowd in the Humanities Center, again denied the allegations that had been made against him. “I have nothing to hide from the Red Lake Nation, and I will prove that,” he said.

Regarding the bus from Duluth, Michael Sayers of Red Lake’s Duluth Urban Office said he requisitioned it, and had done so for the last two elections, so tribal members living in Duluth could come to the reservation to vote because there is no Red Lake polling place in Duluth.

“The bus was not only for Buck supporters,” Sayers said. “There were quite a few Judy supporters, too.”

Even though the election board was on the agenda, none of its members spoke. About 300 people attended the council meeting.

Information from: Pioneer

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