On January 25, 2006 the following letter to the editor was published in the Mille Lacs Messenger, Mille Lacs County's official newspaper.

ADDRESS HYPOCRITICAL

In response to statements made by the Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Melane Benjamin during the State of the Band address, statements published in a January 18, 2006 Messenger article, "To Stop the devastation of the Mille Lacs 'hurricane' I would like to express that I believe that they are shot through with hypocrisy and do nothing to help resolve the problems that she and other Bands leaders are trying to resolve.

During the State of the Band address, Chief Executive Benjamin said, "The responsibility lays with us as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to get our children involved in our culture. If we help our youth learn our traditions. If we help them take pride in their Anishinabe identity, they won't be so quick to look for themselves in drugs and alcohol." And Benjamin also said, "I want to send a message to the people selling drugs that they can't do it here."

As long as the Band sells addictive and harmful produces, such as gambling, tobacco and alcohol - and by doing so, promotes the antitheses of Anishinabe culture, Benjamin's mentioned above statements are not going to be taken seriously by Band members who are selling other addictive produces.

In a recent letter to the Messenger, I tried to influence Mille Lacs County leaders to help me establishment of a dry (alcohol free) county, but the leaders of the Mille Lacs Band have not given me any assistance with this initiative of mine.

Mille Lacs Band leaders say they are trying to stop the alcohol abuse "hurricane" devastating their people, but they have not given their support for my effort to establish a dry Mille Lacs County and by doing so help their people and other Native Americans to free themselves from the perpetual "hurricane" of alcoholism.

Therefore, I believe that this years State of the Band address was a hypocritical blunder that is going to cause more suffering and grief for both Band members as well as for many other people living in and visiting Mille Lacs County. It seems to me that blatant hypocrisy was the theme of this years State of the Band address.

Thomas Dahlheime, Wahkon