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Ed Bassett
Tribal Council Member
4 Year Term of Office ----- 10-1-10 through 9-30-14
A special
election was held January 19, 2012 and Ed was elected to finish out the
remainder of the term of a previous council member.
In the past Ed has
served as the Tribal Lt. Chief and as a council member.
I want to thank
all of you who supported me in last week's election. There are many critical
issues and problems that tribal government is forced to deal with today. It is
my hope that we will be able to work together to collectively find solutions.
One common theme that I believe we all can agree on is that the tribe needs
solid financial accountability and sound governance and management. From my
point of view I see some critical things looming on the horizon. Because of a
good blueberry crop last summer the tribe was blessed with a short grace period
but the blueberry money won't last long at all and should be conserved and used
wisely for the benefit of all.
Over the past 500 years the tribe has had to adapt to
a changing and chaotic world. We went from living comfortably off the land to
wars, plagues and famine to dependency and now struggling to survive in a
foreign capitalistic society. Our survival depended and still depends on
adaptation. In today's modern capitalistic society we should be looking for ways
to bring financial stability to the tribe and work toward creating an
environment that will bring prosperity and jobs to the community. However, with
the lack of resources there are very few viable economic opportunities available
for Sipayik today. I would like to believe that we have learned from some of the
past failed economic experiments and grand schemes. We can not afford to
waste our precious resources on pie-in-the-sky pipe dreams anymore. The feedback
I get from community people is that we should set our sights on affordable and
realistic common sense economic ventures that fit within our Passamaquoddy
values and not allow ourselves to be manipulated and ripped off by outsider
special interest to dictate our future and leave us with a mess to clean up. I
know things are tough and we desperately need change but we can't afford to be
so desperate that we sell ourselves short to the benefit of the outsiders and
burden our future generations with a legacy of bad deals, bad debt and bad
contracts.
Tribal members have also expressed their deeply felt
convictions about how tribal government has forgotten their historical and
ancestral connection to the earth and the environment. Our ancestors suffered
great hardships and sacrificed blood and life so that we can live today in our
sacred homeland. Our homeland and the creatures within it have fed and sheltered
us for thousands of years. With this in mind I believe we have the solemn
responsibility to maintain our connections to the environment. This stewardship
is vital because if this grand experiment of capitalism and modern technology
ever collapses, as some of the medicine people have predicted, our future
generations must be able and prepared to revert back to the Passamaquoddy
ancestral ways in order to survive in our homeland. We must not perish. We must
never forget where we came from so that we will know where we are going.
Ultimately the decisions are yours to make. With your input and guidance I hope
and strive to make good decisions for our future generations.
Kci-Woliwon
Ed Bassett
1-22-12
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