The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) has announced Bob Peters was sworn in last month as chairman of the Tribal Council.

Nicole Overbeck was also sworn in as a newly elected Tribal Council member. Peters, Overbeck, and incumbent Jennie Pearl Heeren, all were elected by tribal citizens  in August to four-year terms as representatives of the Bradley voting district.

“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, who has served on the Tribal Council since 2014, 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 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.  n 2015, he became a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society.

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

Peters is the grandson of the beloved and respected departed tribal elder, Joseph “Shine” Sprague.

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 and Nicole Overbeck.