Marge Anderson honored with humanitarian award

ONAMIA -- Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Marge Anderson was honored Thursday with the Wendell Chino Humanitarian Award, which she received at the National Indian Gaming Association conference in Portland.

The award recognizes a member of the American Indian community each year for that member's commitment to peace, fair governance, easing suffering and injustice and advancing inter-cultural understanding.

Anderson was recognized for her dedication to improving educational opportunities for her people, her role in implementing an effective three-branch band government, her insightful decision to invest casino revenues in rebuilding the reservation and developing programs and services, her commitment to reaffirming the band's treaty rights and the overall leadership she provides on behalf of American Indian people.

The award is named after Wendell Chino, who led the Mescalero Apache of south central New Mexico for 43 years. Under his leadership, the tribe experienced tremendous economic growth, practiced greater self-governance and served as a model of reservation improvement to other tribes. Chino died in 1998.