The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s Chief Executive, Melanie Benjamin, will step down following the conclusion of her fifth term, ending one of the longest Chief Executive tenures in the tribe’s history. "Serving as Chief Executive for my Band has been the greatest honor of my life," Benjamin said in a statement. Elected in 2000, Benjamin has overseen the tribe’s economic diversification efforts and led a fight to preserve tribal sovereignty against claims by Mille Lacs County that the tribe’s reservation was disestablished over 100 years ago.

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