PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — During a regularly-held Tribal Council meeting on May 3, 2017, the leadership of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (ABM) signed a resolution to ratify a charter of incorporation, reaching a milestone in the effort to engage in formal community economic development.
Eltueg Corporation, a corporation formed under the laws of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and known as a “Section 17 Corporation,” will provide the ABM with the opportunity to segregate tribal government assets and liabilities from corporate, without divesting either the corporation or the tribe of the privileges and immunities afforded to their legal status under law.
A Section 17 corporation gives tribes the power to incorporate and waive sovereign immunity to facilitate business transactions. This allows tribes to compete fairly and effectively in the business world. In authorizing this structure, Congress sought to, “permit Indian tribes to equip themselves with the devices of modern business organization, through forming themselves into business corporations.”
Among a Section 17 corporation’s advantages is the ability to preserve tribal assets as it is separate and distinct from the tribal government. In addition, there are no federal income taxes whether the business is operated on or off the reservation, and the Section 17 may issue tax-exempt bonds if the proceeds are used to finance essential governmental services.
Eltueg (pronounced ell-dueg) means “We make it, we build it, we earn it.” Work on the Eltueg Corporation began in 2015 when the ABM Tribal Council took action on three important issues: creating a tribal constitution, determining tribal jurisdiction and launching a serious plan for economic development and tribe-owned businesses.
The initial board of directors for Eltueg was appointed May 3 and will hold its first organizational meeting on June 15. Tribal Chief Edward Peter Paul stated, “The key to these steps forward came from the effective work of the Nation Building team and the support of our tribal council and community in reaching these important goals.”
The Council retained the services of a tribal member-owned business to lead the project. All Nations Global Solutions meets at least bi-weekly with the tribal chief, tribal administrator, in-house counsel and Natural Resource Department director to plan and and develop a path to address the above issues. The “Nation Building Team” led the effort to draft the Eltueg Charter of Incorporation, recruited an initial board of directors, and now continues to build the community relationships necessary to successfully launch its operations.
Nation Building is community-driven. It involves input and participation. It involves strong support from the tribal government and its employees. It requires the ABM to think in different ways, to step outside of the box and build their nation as they envision it. Many tribes call it “rebuilding” as it engages social, political, economic, historical and cultural development in an effective exercise of tribal sovereignty and self-governance in ways that the tribal community sees fit, not as U.S. Indian policies have dictated for over a century.
Eltueg Corporation has become the shining star on the NATION BUILDIng project, according to Chief Peter Paul. The process was a long one from draft to approval. The ABM Tribal Council signed a resolution in May 2016 to submit the draft to the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the bureau reviewed the document and suggested amendments, which the band made. The ABM received the final certificate of approval a month later and ratified the charter, at which time the Eltueg Corporation officially came into being.
