FDL chair faces censure

A hearing on a motion to censure the chairperson of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is set for Monday, based on allegations he knowingly violated a reservation ordinance that prohibits weapons in the tribal business center.

Fond du Lac secretary/treasurer Ferdinand Martineau made the motion to censure Fond du Lac Reservation Business Committee chair Kevin Dupuis Sr. at the Jan. 28 meeting of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Executive Committee meeting. The Tribal Executive Committee comprises the chairperson and secretary/treasurer of each of the six Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Reservations. These officials are the governing body for the Minnesota Chippewa.

According to a copy of the Fond du Lac police report, a gun was discovered in a bathroom near the RBC members' offices by a cleaner. FDL police responded to a call about the firearm, and found the gun was loaded. There was no video of the bathroom door available for checking who had gone in or out. Eventually, they took the gun back to the police station for safekeeping. When a police officer called Dupuis to apprise him of the situation, the chairman told the officer it was his gun and he later came to pick it up. No charges were filed.

In January, Martineau told executive committee members that carrying a loaded handgun is a violation of Fond du Lac ordinance 04-03. According to the band ordinances, the firearms measure was passed in 2003 and prohibited firearms within public facilities on the reservation.

The only exceptions to the law are firearms lawfully possessed by on-duty law enforcement officers and people transporting money under contract.

Dupuis didn't deny that the pistol found in the bathroom Oct. 15, 2021, belonged to him. He insisted during an executive committee hearing that the RBC previously had given him authority to carry a handgun in facilities owned and operated by the band.

Martineau said there's no evidence that any exception had been granted. He said ordinance 04-03 had not been amended or repealed by the RBC, as it would have been if they were allowing Dupuis or any other RBC member to carry a firearm in any public building owned by the Band.

"Although there are no criminal charges pending in this matter, it is a violation of a duly adopted ordinance of the Fond du Lac Band," Martineau said in a recording of the hearing shared with the Pine Knot News. He said he considers it "a dereliction or neglect of duty," and was therefore requesting censure by the executive committee.

Leech Lake member Archie LaRose said things were moving too fast with the censure motion, saying he considers it a Fond du Lac matter.

"It's a rush to judgment, in my opinion," he said. "We've got to give Kevin his due process and respect and allow the Fond du Lac Band to deal with this issue."

Dupuis spoke briefly via Zoom during the January committee meeting.

"I do not deny in any way, shape or form that I left a weapon in the bathroom," he said. "What I will deny is the statement that (an exception) was never (approved) in a meeting. Apparently there [are] no minutes to this meeting. I don't understand why there [are] no minutes to this meeting. We're three years behind on our minutes."

Dupuis said the violation should have been addressed by the RBC first. "That has not been done," he said.

Brookston RBC member Roger Smith told the executive committee they were hearing only "half the story." He said the approval to carry a weapon was also afforded to him in a meeting.

Neither Martineau nor Dupuis responded to emailed questions from the Pine Knot News this week.

According to the constitution and bylaws of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, available online, the accused in a censure motion should have up to 45 days to respond. The executive hearing is set for 9 a.m. Monday, March 14, at the Black Bear Casino in the convention center, exactly 45 days after censure was brought up. The meeting is open to Minnesota Chippewa Tribe members only.

The Minnesota Chippewa constitution and bylaws state that after considering the accused member's response, the executive committee shall "by official action, either (1) exonerate the member or (2) censure the member and refer the matter to the band represented by the member for a hearing."

If that happens, the Fond du Lac RBC would have to schedule its own hearing, open to Band members, and according to a process laid out in the Minnesota Chippewa constitution and bylaws. The RBC members (including the chair) could vote that the accused had either answered the charges to their satisfaction or, if not, schedule a recall election by majority vote or remove the member from office by a two-thirds vote.