New program will help tribal veterans get
benefits
By Bethany Wesley
Bemidji Pioneer
Duane
Columbus, a Bois Forte tribe member, nearly died when he was injured by a
rocket-propelled grenade in 1969 in Vietnam.
For 30 years he tried
unsuccessfully to get benefits. But then he met Alan Ellenson.
Ellenson, who then worked with Beltrami County,
offered to help Columbus
work toward getting benefits and assisted him in filling out paperwork.
“I was
hesitant,” Columbus
said, explaining that offers of help in the past hadn’t produced any results.
But this time it was
different. Ellenson worked with Columbus
throughout the entire process, and Columbus
eventually began receiving the benefits to which he was entitled.
They developed a friendship
and began having coffee in downtown Bemidji.
Columbus
thought other tribal veterans could benefit from help in understanding the
benefits and filling out paperwork.
Columbus soon began advocating for legislation
that would fund positions in each Minnesota
tribe. Others soon came on board, including Rocky Cook from the Red Lake Band
of Chippewa. They began traveling to different reservations and tribal councils
promoting the idea.
Their work paid off. Gov. Tim
Pawlenty signed the $170 million Agriculture and
Veterans Omnibus Bill on May 4 – and it included $750,000 to create the Tribal
Veterans Service Office and fund its staff.
Ellenson was then named Tribal Division
supervisor with the Department of Veteran Affairs. He will supervise the
program and also train and supervise six tribal services officers, who will
each serve one reservation in Minnesota, and
two service officers in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The program is the first of
its kind in the nation, Ellenson said.
“This is an opportunity to
really make history as a state,” he said. “The rest of the nation is really
watching us.”
The program is needed because
many native veterans are confused by the paperwork and don’t know which
benefits they are eligible for, Columbus
said.
“I know what those guys are
going through,” he said. “They get frustrated.”
The open positions are posted
on the State of Minnesota
job site athttps://statejobs.doer.state.mn.us
.
Once hired, officers will worked with
American Indian veterans and their dependents to educate them about state and
federal veterans’ benefits, and initiate or reopen claims, according to the job
description. Applicants must be Minnesota
residents, U.S.
citizens and veterans of the armed forces, according to the job description.
Positions are in Nett Lake (for the
Bois Forte tribe), Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids), Cass Lake (Leech Lake), White
Earth (White Earth), Red Lake (Red Lake), Granite Falls (Upper Sioux),
Minneapolis and St. Paul. The officers for the Bois Forte and Grand Portage
tribes will be required to conduct community outreach to the American Indian
veterans in the Duluth
area.
Columbus said
having dedicated officers for each tribe is significant as some veterans are
not comfortable talking with people they don’t really know.
“It will be good to have someone on
each reservation,” he said. “They will get to know them and open up to them.”
Ellenson’s office is in
downtown Bemidji.
“Bemidji is kind of centrally located,” he
said. “(The state) said it was OK, since there are seven Chippewa tribes in the
northern part (of Minnesota).”
The program, while aiming to secure
benefits for tribal veterans, may also prove to be therapeutic, Ellenson said.
“They’ll talk about their
experiences, struggles, what they went through,” he said. “It will be an
opportunity to really open up and share.”
