Indian Gaming 2017 Tradeshow and Conference

Melanie Benjamin
Tribal Chair/Chief Executive
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe


As Chief Executive of the Non-Removable Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Melanie Benjamin leads the Executive Branch of tribal government, which implements Band laws and programs in the Band’s three-branch division-of-powers system of government. The Chief Executive is statutorily responsible for conducting external relations on behalf of the Band with all other governments and political subdivisions. Benjamin was first elected to the four-year term of Chief Executive in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Under Benjamin’s leadership, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe achieved economic diversification through leveraging its expertise in the hospitality industry, and the Band now owns hotels in St. Paul, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City. She led Mille Lacs to become the second tribe in the Nation to achieve concurrent federal jurisdiction under the Tribal Law and Order Act, and is passionate about education for Indian students and tirelessly worked to achieve a legislative waiver allowing for satellite schools in the BIA system. Her battles today include protecting public safety while fighting the spread of violence and addiction in the community, and protecting the existence of the Reservation, which is constantly under attack by the local county. She has been the recipient of the Tim Wapato Sovereign Warrior Award, National Indian Gaming Association, 2015; Great Women of Indian Gaming, 2005; Jay Silverheels Achievement Award; National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, 2005; and the Norman Crooks Memorial Eagle Feather Award, Minnesota Indian Gaming Association Benjamin earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and a B.S. in Business Administration (Management Concentration) from Bemidji State University.

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