The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa elected a new chair in a special election last week.
Carlos A. Hernandez won the election in a close race with a three-vote margin, according to election results shared Wednesday by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.
“It just goes to show that your vote matters. Everybody’s vote does,” Hernandez told MPR News. “It’s just so hard to explain the feelings that have come over me and how honored I am to be able to speak and be the voice for Bois Forte.”
Hernandez says he grew up in Long Beach, Calif., and moved to Nett Lake in 1999, where his mother lived. He worked a variety of jobs over the years with the tribe in northern Minnesota.
“What I found was a community that welcomed me, and they challenged me to grow, not only as a person, but as a relative and a leader, and that journey is what got me here today,” he said.
Former chair Cathy Chavers announced in January she would step down from her role to focus on mental health. She served as chair for two terms and won a third term last June. Shane Drift has been serving as interim chair.
In an interview published in the tribe’s newspaper, Hernandez said he plans to focus on three campaign promises: transparency and accountability from leadership, investing in band members and revitalization of culture and language.
In addition to campaign promises, Hernandez shared his ideas on how the tribe can improve its business ventures with its convenience store in Nett Lake, which include turning the store into a community hub to promote community-made goods, art and food.
Other ventures include re-investing in the tribe’s Fortune Bay Resort and Casino, a source of revenue for the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.
Hernandez also says he wants to address social change within the community by improving relationships among band members.
“Many of our communities, including our own, they struggle at times with something that's called lateral violence,” Hernandez said. “Lateral violence comes from deep wounds, from generations of trauma and systems that have tried to divide us. But we don’t need to pass that down to our kids or grandkids. We can choose something different.”
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa chairperson election results
Total votes: 340
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Carlos A. Hernandez: 170 (50.00 percent)
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Travis Morrison: 167 (49.12 percent)
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Blank: 0 percent
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Spoiled: 3 (.88 percent)
Hernandez will assume office Friday; a swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for June 30.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
