Darrell Chip Wadena, former White Earth tribal chairman
Darrell Chip Wadena, former White Earth tribal chairman

Darrell "Chip" Wadena, the former White Earth tribal chairman who fell from power in the 1990s after being convicted in federal court of corruption and embezzlement, died Tuesday. He was 75.

His family informed tribal officials of his death.

Wadena was chairman of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota for two decades, and under his leadership the tribe built a health clinic, a community center and sports complex and the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen.

The casino would be Wadena's downfall. In 1996, he was convicted of 15 federal charges for embezzlement, money laundering and rigging construction bids for the Shooting Star Casino.

The same year he was convicted, voters ousted him as tribal chairman, and he went on to serve a 33-month prison term.

He would spend much of the rest of his life attempting, in vain, to be re-elected tribal chairman, including a heated election in 2004 against the band's current chairwoman, Erma Vizenor, who led the group of activists that ousted Wadena.

Former Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe remembered Wadena as a good friend who "made a mistake," but otherwise did good things for the White Earth people.

"In spite of the problems he had, it doesn't diminish in my mind the friendship I had for him, and the fact that while he was the leader of the White Earth nation, I thought he was a good leader," Moe said.

Wadena had been battling an illness in recent years leading up to his death, Moe said.


The White Earth Tribal Council sent out a written statement on Tuesday afternoon expressing "heartfelt sympathy" to Wadena's family.

"The Tribe shares in your grief during this difficult time and wants you to know you remain in our thoughts and prayers," the statement read. "May the peace that comes from the accomplishments and memories we all have comfort you in the days ahead."

Both Vizenor and Secretary/Treasurer Robert Durant were unsure Tuesday if they wanted to comment to the media on Wadena's death, said Gary Padrta, the White Earth band's public relations manager.

Federal charges against Wadena accused him and fellow Tribal Council member Rick Clark of positioning themselves to profit from construction of the Shooting Star Casino in the early 1990s.

Wadena, as tribal chairman, appointed Clark the tribe's representative on the casino project and Clark secretly made Wadena half owner of a drywall company he owned, Northern Drywall and Construction.

Prosecutors said Wadena and Clark used their influence to make sure that Northern Drywall became a subcontractor on the casino project, even though the company never submitted a bid for the work.

Wadena received $428,682 from the profits the company made on the casino project, and he testified at trial that he saw no conflict in the tribe awarding business to the firm, even though he owned half of it.

"Isn't that the American dream?" Wadena said.

Upon conviction, Wadena was ordered to pay $585,000 to the White Earth tribe. He ultimately served 2 1/2 years in prison and returned to his hometown of Naytahwaush in 1999.

Wadena's criminal history extends beyond the embezzling and bid-rigging case, though.


Despite the 1996 conviction, Wadena maintained a good reputation on the reservation.

He attempted to run for tribal chairman again in 2000, but the White Earth Tribal Council refused to certify him as a candidate.

That changed in 2004, when the council voted 3-2 to allow Wadena on the ballot to face Vizenor. It was a contentious race, in which Vizenor called Wadena a "crook." Wadena in-turn called Vizenor "evil."

When the results came in, Wadena actually won more votes on the reservation, but Vizenor took home a majority of the absentee votes and won the election.

Wadena contested the results, but a tribal judge on the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota eventually upheld them.


"He was smart and he was smart politically," Moe said. "He was a good politician. He paid attention to what the White Earth people wanted and tried to respond."

Wadena helped bring the tribe into the modern era, Moe said.

Under Wadena's tenure, the tribe built the casino in Mahnomen and a community center and sports complex in Naytahwaush. The tribe also started planning for the Indian Health Service clinic in White Earth.

Moe also recalled working with Wadena on housing and education issues on the reservation. After Wadena was ousted, his son Tony went on to serve on the Tribal Council for four years, from 2002-06.

"In spite of a hiccup in his life, I think his family is respected," Moe said.


In 2005, Minnesota's Chippewa Tribe changed its constitution and barred convicted felons and anyone convicted of taking tribal funds from holding office.

In an interview with the (Fargo) Forum in spring 2004 before the election, Wadena acknowledged his past but said he wanted to put it behind him.

"The good will outweigh the bad," he said. "How I treated people -- people remember that. Indians as a people are forgiving."