Melanie Benjamin is chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, a sovereign, federally-recognized American Indian tribal government in the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation in east-central Minnesota, USA.
[1] Benjamin was originally elected chief executive of the band in 2000, and re-elected in 2004 and 2008.
[2] In October 2008, shortly after the start of her third term, she was removed from office following accusations of misappropriation of tribal funds.
[5] In 2020, Benjamin was again re-elected by the citizens of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to her sixth consecutive four-year term.
[6] In 2018, Benjamin addressed the Band's opioid crisis and provided harsh comments to traditionally Band-supportive groups on their lack of assistance to the Tribe.