Former Mille Lacs Band Leader Marge Anderson Dies

ONAMIA (AP) - The woman who led the Mille Lacs Band of Objiwe in its successful efforts to secure tribal hunting and fishing rights has died.

A trial government statement says former chief executive Marge Anderson died Saturday at age 81 of natural causes.

Anderson was the first woman to lead a Minnesota Indian tribe. She served from 1991 to 2000 and 2008-2012.

Anderson also led her band into the modern era of Indian gaming. She used the profits from the band's Hinckley and Mille Lacs casinos to fund social programs, schools and clinics for the band's approximately 3,500 members instead of handing out individual payments to band members.

A wake is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday. Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the District I Community Center in Onamia.