News

Bob Peters is the new Chairman of the Gun Lake Tribe

Nicole Overbeck Joins the Seven-Member Tribal Council Member 

Bradley, Michigan – Today, the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) announced Bob Peters has been sworn in as Chairman of the Tribal Council.  The Tribal Council selected Peters to serve as Chairman on September 13, 2018.  Nicole Overbeck was also sworn in as a newly elected Tribal Council member.  Peters, Overbeck, and incumbent Jennie Pearl Heeren, were all elected as representatives of the Bradley voting district by tribal citizens on August 28.  Each were elected to four-year terms of office.

“I am honored and humbled to have been chosen chairman by my fellow Tribal Council members,” said Peters.  “I want to thank our tribal citizens for their support in my re-election, and my mother and family for always being there to support me.”

Peters has served on the Tribal Council since 2014, he became the treasurer in 2016.  He has nearly 20 years of experience in casino operations, gaming regulatory and tribal government employment.  For the last four years he has been responsible for administering and monitoring all fiscal matters of the Tribe, as well as non-gaming economic development ventures.  He is a board member of the Tribe’s non-gaming economic development corporation, Gun Lake Investments.

Peters is currently enrolled at Western Michigan University, where he will complete his bachelor’s degree in business.  He plans to continue his education by earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA).  In 2015, he became a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society.

Peters was recently selected as one of the Grand Rapids Business Journal’s “40 Under 40 Business Leaders” in West Michigan and will accept his award on October 17 in Grand Rapids. 

Chairman Peters values family above all else and is very close with his mother, two sisters and his nieces and nephews.  He is the grandson of the beloved and respected departed tribal elder, Joseph “Shine” Sprague. 

On September 13 Peters, Heeren, and Overbeck accepted the oath of office in a swearing in ceremony conducted by the election committee chairperson, Tommie Williamson.

The Tribal Council consists of the following members:

  • Bob Peters, Chairman
  • Ed Pigeon, Vice Chairman
  • Jennie Pearl Heeren, Treasurer
  • Jeff Martin, Secretary
  • Phyllis Davis
  • Jodie Palmer
  • Nicole Overbeck