DULUTH - Peter Defoe, former chairman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and former president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, died Monday of complications from diabetes and heart failure. He was 77.
Defoe had been the band's secretary/treasurer for 16 years before retiring in 2002 and served for a time as president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, comprised of six Minnesota Ojibwe bands.
Defoe became Fond du Lac tribal chairman in July 2004 after defeating Robert “Sonny” Peacock, who had been the band's chairman since 1988.
Defoe resigned the tribal chairmanship in September 2006 with little explanation and was replaced by Karen Diver. Defoe tried to make a comeback in 2012 but was defeated by Diver.
Kevin Dupuis, the incoming chairman of the Fond du Lac band, said Defoe was instrumental in the creation of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet as well as a major expansion of the band’s successful Black Bear Casino Resort operations.
