Ray Villebrun

District I Representative

My early life

I have lived in Nett Lake all my life. I was born at Cook Community Hospital on February 24, 1959, and I attended Nett Lake Elementary School and graduated from Orr High School in 1977.

I played basketball all through grade school and high school, and our team won the state consolation championship during the state tournament of 1976. That was back in the day when there were only two classes of teams playing in the state tournament, so it was a long road to get to the final games. I also played some football when I was a kid.

How I started working for the Band

During the summers after my junior and senior years of high school, I participated in a program for reservation youth and was assigned to our Conservation Department. I became interested in conservation enforcement, so after graduation I went to work for the Conservation Department as a game warden.

That December, I was asked to attend a police academy training course in Utah. It was my first time away from home, and after several weeks I missed my family so much I came home before completing the training.

After that, I worked various part-time jobs and attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth for a year. In 1982, I was hired as a dispatcher at the Nett Lake Police Department. Later, a position for a Bureau of Indian Affairs Officer opened up, and I applied and was hired. To keep that job, I needed to attend police training in Arizona. I went in January 1985, and it was hard because I missed my family again. But I stuck it out and completed the training in April. After returning home, I was hired full time as a BIA Officer for Nett Lake.

My career in natural resources

In 1989, the chief conservation officer position for the Bois Forte Band opened up. I applied and got the job.

One of the things I did in my new position was hire Chris Holm, our Band's first biologist. Together we began coordinating more closely with the State of Minnesota and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We tapped into these resources to gain more expertise here at Bois Forte.

We obtained funding to hire a general assistant program staff member, who helped start programs to protect air quality, water quality, and other valuable natural resources. We also expanded funding to hire an environmental coordinator and another conservation officer, and we revised our Conservation Code and created a system to update the code every two years.

Gradually, my position as chief conservation officer expanded into the role of director of the Band’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). I stayed with the DNR until 1998.

What I do today

In 1998, I was asked to consider running for the Bois Forte Reservation Tribal Council. I was reluctant to leave the DNR, but my family and others encouraged me to consider the opportunity for working in a different capacity to serve Bois Forte Band members.

I won election as District I Representative. It took me a while to get used to tribal politics and the pressures of travel and meetings, plus the variety of subjects that I need to follow and keep abreast of. But I enjoyed it, and I won re-election in 2000 and again in 2004.

I am proud that, in addition to serving my fellow Band members, I have gained the respect of people outside the Band and been asked to serve several other organizations. Currently, I chair the boards of directors for the Bois Forte Heritage Center and the 1854 Treaty Office, and I am the vice chair of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Housing Cooperation. I am also a past member of the Great Lakes Conservation Officer Standards and Training Board of Directors.

My family

My best friend and life partner is Victoria Holmes – known as Wicko. We’ve been together for almost 25 years and are the proud parents of five children and one grandchild.

In my spare time

I am a big sports fan. My first love is baseball, and I enjoy following the Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Vikings as well.

I also love watching my own kids and our grandchild in all of the activities they are involved with.