Three American Indian tribes — the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Prairie Island Indian Community — are jointly establishing a fund through the Minnesota Community Foundation, St. Paul, to support rural economic development on and near tribal lands in the state.
Each of the tribes has a successful casino venture near the Twin Cities and will be major donor to the fund, which was set up to allow other tribes, individuals and corporations to make donations, said Judi Dutcher, president of the Minnesota Community Foundation. The foundation manages about $100 million in more than 400 donor funds set up by various groups. Ms. Dutcher said her foundation commingles its assets with those of the affiliated $650 million St. Paul Foundation, which supports community development in St. Paul and the eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities.
Melanie Benjamin, chief executive officer of the Mille Lacs band, said in a statement: "This is not a new concept; a foundation is just a formalization of our tradition of sharing with others."
The Minnesota Community Foundation offers organizers of donor funds four investment options — equity, fixed-income, money market and balanced funds — managed by Adams Street Partners, BPI Global Asset Management, Cadence Capital Management, Dodge & Cox, Driehaus Capital Management, Loomis Sayles, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, Private Advisors LLC, RREEF, TA Associates Realty, Tremont Capital Management, U.S. Bancorp Asset Management, Waddell & Reed and Woodland Partners. The tribes have not decided which ones they will use for the fund, said Ms. Dutcher.
