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MHA Nation signs agreement with North Dakota to change unfair alcohol tax structure on Fort Berthold Reservation

New tax revenue will help fund essential services on reservation

 

Bismarck, ND—At a signing ceremony at the North Dakota State Capitol, MHA Nation Chairman Mark Fox, Governor Doug Burgum, and North Dakota Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus signed an agreement between the Tribe and the state of North Dakota that outlines a tax revenue sharing plan for alcohol sold on the reservation. 

 

The agreement will allow the MHA Nation to keep 80% of all tax revenue from alcohol sales on its reservation, while 20% goes to the state. Previously, 100% of all alcohol tax revenue, generating millions of dollars, went solely to the state.

 

The Tribe will allocate all funds from alcohol tax revenue toward addiction treatment, law enforcement, community safety, and wellness programs. 

 

“MHA’s agreement with the state is a long time in the making. I am proud to say this agreement will lead to more opportunities and stronger programs for our tribal citizens,” said MHA Nation Chairman Mark Fox. “I want to thank Governor Burgum, the Office of State Tax Commissioner, and the state legislature for working with us to come up with a fair plan that benefits everyone.” 

 

In March 2023, Governor Burgum signed a bill that gave the five tribal nations of North Dakota an opportunity to impose a single tax on alcoholic beverages sold by retailers and wholesalers on their reservations.

 

The MHA Nation is the first North Dakota tribe to sign an agreement with the state.

 

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Contact: 

Lovell Overlie, MHA Nation

lovelloverlie@mhanation.com

 

Governor Burgum’s office press release: https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/governor-mha-chairman-and-state-tax-commissioner-sign-historic-alcohol-tax-revenue-sharing

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April 2019 Tribal Disbursement Duplicate Checks

April 23, 2019

Greetings MHA Members,

There was an error during the processing of the April 2019 Tribal Disbursement checks dated 4/19/2019. Some members were sent two disbursement checks. The two checks are identical with the same check number. The bank that the checks were written from will only allow one of the checks to be cashed. If you have received a duplicate check, please mail one of the checks back to the People’s Fund at the address listed on the check itself. Please feel free to contact the People’s Fund at (701) 627-8779 or toll free (844) 684-0205 with any questions. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

MHA People’s Fund

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Celebrating Women: Dr. Monica Mayer

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By: Jim Olson 

Posted: Mar 25, 2019 11:42 AM CDT
Updated: Mar 25, 2019 10:25 PM CDT

New Town, ND - She was an all-state basketball player in the earliest years of the sport in North Dakota.
She's a doctor.
And she's helping shape her people's future.
Tribal council member Dr. Monica Mayer of New Town is in the spotlight tonight as we continue our salute to women making a difference in North Dakota.
Jim Olson has the story.

Dr. Monica Mayer is proud of her Native American heritage, provided to her by her mother.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "MHA Nation has been a great nation for hundreds and hundreds of years on the great plains."

But she also honors the European heritage of her father.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "My father was German so, work, work, work!"

In fact, it was a stunt her father pulled when Monica and her two sisters were in school that may have been the turning point in her life. She says the three girls were not exactly bearing down in school when dad took them out to some family land one morning, left them there with water and lunch and orders to pick rocks. When he returned at day's end, he delivered his message - take school seriously or be ready for a hard life.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "You mean if we get good grades in school we don't have to come out and work this hard? He says yes. He didn't have to bang our heads against a brick wall. We all went to school and became educated."

Did they ever. Monica is a UND doctorate graduate, sister Holly has a masters in public health nursing from UND, and Renee, now deceased, who earned a masters in social work at UND.
Dr. Monica Mayer put her education in action immediately.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "I finished my residency on a Friday and I started on a Monday right here in New Town, my hometown."

And her work ethic pushed her far beyond her work in the local clinic. She became chief medical officer at the hospital in Belcourt, saving it from closure.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "That's a real success story over there, I'm very proud of that."

She was promoted to Chief Medical Officer for 19 hospitals and clinic in four states for the Indian Health Service and was offered a position in the Washington office of IHS when family pulled her back to New Town.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "My mother, she asked me if I would come home and spend what little time she had." 

Soon after, she decided on a new avenue for her energies - politics - running to represent the New Town area on the MHA Tribal Council.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "Much to my surprise I landslided in."

Since then, she's led the fight against addiction among tribal members - especially the men of the tribes.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "I'm very hard on them. You have to work to take care of your family, your flesh and blood. Because there's nothing more important than your family."

And now, two years into her four-year term, she sees parallels between her work as a doctor and serving on the tribal council.

(Dr. Monica Mayer, Tribal Council Member) "I miss medicine terribly. Every day. But I always feel strongly and am satisfied that I'm serving in a different capacity so, it works out."

It works out, thanks to hard work. A lesson learned in a rocky field near New Town so many years ago. 
Jim Olson, KX News.

Dr. Mayer's mother died in recent months.
Monica says she proudly shares her mom's philosophy: love the Lord, love your family, and love to serve others.
 

Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

https://www.kxnet.com/news/minot-news/celebrating-women-dr-monica-mayer/1875650589

 

Icy Plunges Raise Funds to Fight Cancer

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By: Jim Olson 

Posted: Mar 13, 2019 03:57 PM CDT

Updated: Mar 13, 2019 09:23 PM CDT

New Town, ND - Dozens of people stripped down to swim gear and jumped into the ice-cold water of Lake Sakakawea this morning.
As Jim Olson shows us, they did it to raise money to battle cancer.

"Are you worried about this at all?"

(Kim Marcucci, Plunge Participant) "Yes." 

And why not? They had to saw through thick ice to open up a slice of Lake Sakakawea for this.

(Mark Fox, MHA Tribal Chairman) "This is the fourth annual, number four."

This is the Ice Water Warrior Plunge. And MHA Tribal Chairman Mark Fox is the first one into the icy water.

"1, 2, 3..."

But many others followed, including a fellow tribal leader - from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa.

"Splash"

And there were groups of jumpers - such as eight guys from an oil and gas pipeline company.

(Trent Howard, Mandan) "I think it will be brisk." (You guys agree with that?) "Yeah! I think it'll be a little brisk, yeah."

And when you're jumping into 33-degree water, you need a strategy, right?

"I'm going traditional cannonball, it's my first year so I'm a little nervous."
"This is my fourth year doing this and I might go with the belly flop again."

But no matter the style, or the background of the jumper, every one did this for a very good reason.

(Mark Fox, MHA Tribal Chairman) "The major thing is to raise money for the American Indian Cancer Foundation. 
(Ayla Salamanca, Minot) "My grandpa is the main reason I do this. He had throat cancer. He passed a couple of years ago. But my grandma beat it so I'm gonna keep fighting for her and do this for her every year."

Ayla raised a huge sum of money for the cause - and delivered on her promise to jump again.

"Splash"

And so one after another splashed into the icy lake - surviving a few minutes of cold to give hope to cancer victims in Indian country. At Four Bears, Jim Olson, KX News.

Chairman Fox says today's event brought in close to $70,000.

Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

https://www.kxnet.com/news/minot-news/icy-plunges-raise-funds-to-fight-cancer/1846312651

 

4 Bears Water Park opens for the summer

By: Hannah Davis

See story shared on MyNDNow.com here.

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It may have been 100 degrees, but that didn't stop Isabel Flores and her family from lining up two hours early to be the first into the new 4 Bears Water Park for opening day.

"I want to go on the slides and probably go on the lazy river," says Flores, a New Town resident.

The new park is part of an initiative to get residents outside and moving.

"All the things that we're doing relate to trying to provide recreation for families and recreation for our children and make them active. Got problems with diabetes on this reservation, and so we want to continue to promote healthy lifestyles," says Mark Fox, MHA Nation Chairman.

It's been about a decade since the New Town area has last had a public pool to call their own, and although they are close to Lake Sakakawea, the chairman wanted to provide a safe alternative.

"This is a huge lake and it's not always safe, so if we build this, we have a safe place: lifeguards, kids can swim safely. We don't want them just venturing out swimming anywhere along the lake," says Fox.

12 lifeguards will rotate throughout the day to keep watch in the heat.

"Lots of sunscreen, stay hydrated. It's very easy to get dehydrated because you think you're in the water and you're hydrated up, but -no, dehydration happens quite often," says Dennis Bunner, Lead Lifeguard.

"It could've been raining, it could've been 50 degrees: this is North Dakota, but here -it is hot- but this is what it's for," says Fox.

Staying cool at the pool.

The water park will be open every day from 11:00AM to 7:00PM from now until Labor Day Weekend, and it only costs $5 to get in.

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