When and where

1995, Hannahville. I was the tribe’s housing director. Community board leadership was beginning to take over parts of my role, and the tribe’s homes still had a rent-collection problem. I also had a more personal problem: I was in political conflict over tightening the casino’s deposit procedures.

The problem

I needed someone to help me collect rent on all tribal homes. The person I hired was a worker on the casino count team, and he was my third cousin. In tribal relationships, that is family.

What we did

I posted the job on the casino employment board and I told him about it. No one else applied. I did not need anyone’s clearance to hire him. I recognized the potential conflict, and I hired him anyway.

What it became

He took the job. I include this story because I did what I have written about other people doing. In a small community, the pool of people who will apply is small, and the pool of people who are related to someone is nearly everyone. I noticed the conflict. Nobody checked it, and nobody was required to.

Lesson for boards today

Noticing a conflict is not the same as having a check on it. Posting a job and telling a relative about it does not make a hire fair if only one person applies. Questions to ask your own board:

• Is there a written policy on hiring relatives, and does it define who counts as a relative?
• Who must review a hire when only one person applies?
• Can one manager hire a relative without anyone else’s sign-off?

I did not need any clearance to hire him.

From the book A System Built by Tribal Members, Chapter 20, “The Housing Program.” Leroy Wandahsega II, Founder, Potawatomi Life. General education, not legal advice.