SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians board of directors will consider at its September 1 meeting whether to reverse course on a plan to let tribal members vote on fundamentally restructuring their government, and the meeting has become a flashpoint for a debate that has simmered for more than two decades.
Three months ago, on May 19, directors unanimously approved Resolution 2026-145, requesting a federally administered Secretarial Election that would put a proposed amended constitution before tribal members. The amendment would establish separate legislative, executive and judicial branches of tribal government, a separation of powers that has been discussed within the Tribe for more than two decades.
Now, Director Kimberly Lee has placed a resolution on the agenda that would rescind the board's authorization for that election. Her stated reason is money.
The numbers behind the reform
In 2025, the Tribe mailed members a survey asking what governmental structure they preferred. Of 6,388 ballots counted, 3,566 favored three branches, 1,596 favored two branches, and 1,198 favored keeping the existing one-branch structure. The survey drew 16.33 percent turnout from the 39,117 mailed.
Chairman Austin Lowes described establishing a three-branch government as his top priority heading into 2026, and Director Aaron Payment, who has spent years pushing for separation of powers, called the effort his life's work before the May vote.
The money question
Lee's proposal says tribal members should receive a complete breakdown of implementation costs and information about the Tribe's financial condition before deciding whether to approve a new government. The resolution further states that the Tribe's financial situation is not clear enough to provide that information before the Secretarial Election would occur.
The timing is notable. On August 24, the board held a constitutional implementation workshop that included discussion of the Tribe's financial status, with that portion closed to the public. A second workshop on August 31 included an estimate of increased cost, though no public dollar figure accompanied the agenda.
If Lee's resolution passes, the executive team would have until May 1, 2027, to publish five-year projections of both the Tribe's financial position and the cost of implementing the amended constitution. Monthly open workshops would provide updates, and a resolution authorizing the Secretarial Election would return to the board in June 2027.
The board-accountability proposal
Director Robert McRorie has placed a competing resolution on the same agenda, titled "Upholding the Membership's Right to Vote and Enforcing Board Accountability."
McRorie argues that tribal members have had years to consider separation of powers and that suggesting they are not sufficiently informed to vote on the matter disrespects the membership. He notes that nine members of the current board participated in the unanimous May vote, including Lee, and that three newly elected directors, Ashley Gravelle, Sue St. Onge and Cole Goudreau, campaigned on protecting members' right to vote on separation of powers.
The resolution goes further. If the board rescinds its unanimous May decision, McRorie proposes that all board of directors compensation be immediately forfeited and applied toward costs resulting from the rescission until those expenses are paid.
Building the machinery at the same time
Another resolution in the same agenda packet, sponsored by McRorie and Director Jennifer Sorenson, seeks authorization to hire a temporary legislative legal consultant to help write and revise the tribal laws necessary to make a three-branch government operational. The resolution states that the Tribe is moving toward implementation of a three-branch government.
That sets up a somewhat tangled agenda. The board would be considering at the same meeting hiring help to build the new government and postponing the election needed to create it.
A failed casino and a possible funding source
Chairman Lowes has also placed a separate resolution on the agenda involving the Sibley Property, approximately 71 acres in Huron Township near Detroit Metropolitan Airport that were once slated to become a Sault Tribe casino. The Tribe fought to have the land taken into trust, but the federal government refused the trust application, the D.C. Circuit upheld that decision in 2024, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Tribe's appeal in April 2025.
Lowes' resolution states that, because of those court decisions, the Tribe will not be able to open and operate a casino on the property. It asks that the Tribe's chief financial officer be authorized to put the property up for sale, with any offer still requiring board approval. Legally available proceeds from a sale could help pay for implementation of the amended constitution.
The open question
The central question before the board is what changed between May 19 and September 1. The public record offers pieces but no single answer. The board unanimously authorized the election, told members the constitutional question was headed to a vote, and then three new directors arrived after this summer's tribal election. Implementation planning continued, workshops examined finances and increased costs, and now a director who voted to authorize the election wants the authorization rescinded, while other directors simultaneously propose to keep building the machinery needed to make the new government work.
Lee's argument is that tribal members deserve to know the cost of an entirely new governmental structure and whether the Tribe can afford it before creating it. McRorie's argument is that the membership has discussed the question for over twenty years, the board already voted unanimously to let them decide, and directors should not pull the ballot away now.
The board will take up the question at its September 1 meeting.