The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1990-04-04

              Red Lake Fisheries
Association conducts
annual meeting
Fifty Cents
The Red Lake Fisheries
Association, Inc. held its annual
meeting on Saturday, March 31,
1990, at the association's operating
plant in Redby, Minnesota. Nearly
200 of the association's 450
commercial fishermen attended the
meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to
review 1989 operating results,
discuss plans for the 1990 fishing
season and to elect the Board of
Directors.
Most of the discussion at the
meeting centered around excerpts of
a 1989 financial statement prepared
by the C.P.A. firm of Krigbaum,
Ross-Rhoades & Elliott, Ltd., of
Bemidji, Minnesota. See the
financial statement exerpt and the
chart of fish harvest in pounds
following the text.
Fisheries manager James
Eisenrich, who is sceduled to retire
on May 1, 1990, after 29 years of
dedicated service for the association,
told members that this year's
financial results reflect a much
larger than usual marketing of
Canadian walleyes in the U.S. in
1989. He indicated that this would
probably continue during the 1990
Wadena
admitted
to hospital
Darrell "Chip" Wadena, Chairman
of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe,
was admitted to St. Luke's Hospital
in Fargo, N.D., on Monday.
Surgery was performed on
Wadena to correct a back problem.
Apparently he slipped a disc and
needed surgery to correct the spinal
problem. Expected to be on medical
leave for a few weeks, Wadena's
surgery was successful.
On Tuesday Wadena said he was
"a little groggy," but expects to be
out of the hospital by Friday.
Wadena has been Chairman of the
tribe for 13 years. He is also
Chairman of the White Earth Band
of Chippewa Indians.
commercial fishing season.
After a great deal of discussion,
members appeared to be in a
consensus that new marketing
techniques must be implemented if
Fish/ See page 2
1 Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1990
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Red Lake High School Students write second
 Earn college credits while preserving culture	
•   •   •
k
By Tom Robertson
Northern Student
Seven Indian students from Red
Lake High School have good
reason to celebrate. They are not
only compiling material for their
second published book, but they
have also become the first group of
student from RLHS to earn college
credit at Bemidji State University.
The group completed an Indian
Studies course at BSU winter
quarter, and many found college a
different experience compared to
high school.
"I was expecting more freedom
than high school," said Keith May,
senior. "But you've got to be more
responsible toward studying and
going to class."
"It wasn't as bad as I though it
would be," said Karen Jourdain,
senior. "The best thing about the
class was the challenge."
The students are participants in
Project Preserve, a program
designed to prepare Indian
students for college, and
encourage involvement in
contemporary Indian issues,
according to Dr. Kent Nerburn,
project director.
"The project's original intention
ws to record an oral history of the
Indian culture, and involve the
students and the community
together," said Nerburn. "It's
designed to preserve the past while
preparing for the future."
The students are working on a
second volume to their 1989 book,
To Walk the Red Road, a
compilation of interviews with
people from the Red Lake area.
From left to right: Elliot Cloud, Delores Desjarlait, (hidden) Mylen Brummond, Keith May, Don Spears, Shaun Stately and Karen Jourdain.
photo by Tom Robertson, courtesy Northern Student
They develop the questions and
conduct the interviews themselves.
To Walk the Red Road was well
received in the literary community,
and is of interest to Indian tribes
across the country, according to
Nerburn.
Some of the students plan to enroll
in college full-time after high
school. "I'm thinking about West
Point," said Don Spears.
May is interested in pursuing a
career in law at Harvard. After that
he wants to return to Red Lake.
"I've got a lot of ideas about
improving the reservation," May
said, "I would start with a war on
poverty and a war on drugs."
Many of the students are
concerned with the problems of
being a minority in a predominantly
white society. "We have to
compromise our culture and
ourselves when we have to sit in a
class that is geared more toward
mainstream society," said May,
"but I think Indian education is
getting better."
RLTC votes to contract Red Lake Hospital operation
By Mark BosweH
Editor
A recent move to take over
operation of the Red Lake Hospital
in Redlake has split Red Lake Tribal
Council members into those who do
not want the takeover, and Chairman
Roger Jourdain, who is lauding the
takeover as a significant step toward
"government-to-government"
relations.
Secretsry of the RLTC, Royce
Graves, Sr., said that opposition to
the takeover within the council is
"holding fast" in their descision not
to support Jourdain's move.
According to a letter from Graves
sent to Evertt Rhoades, shown on
page 5, Assistant Surgeon General
and Director of Indian Health
Service, an "illegal resolution was
acted upon" to approve a contract
proposal with the IHS to take over
the operations of the hospital.
Because of a previous resolution
taken Sept. 18,1989, that "orders the
discontinuance of negotiations for
the operation of the Red Lake
Hospital", Graves believes that the
vote is illegal because of the
previous resolution that ordered any
decisions stopped "indefinately."
A press release, made available by
the Red Lake Tribal council,
Council Secretary charges vote illegal
illustrated the need behind the
descision to "save the Red Lake
Health Care Delivery System ... by
gaining an additional $1,536,400 in
health care funding." According to
the release, "the vote by the RLTC
puts the entire health care system
under tribal self-governance."
The press release further
illustrated the problems that were
created by the "IHS in an effort to
reduce the level of health care
spending at Red Lake." The RLTC
puts the blame for the budget crisis
sqlely on the shoulders of the IHS.
"The IHS strategy was to reduce
available funding prior to an
assumption by the RLTC", the
"assumption" being the takeover of
the hospital and running of health
programs." (Last week's) action
averted the financial crisis and
eliminated the IHS budget reduction
effort."
Secretary Graves said, "They hand
a carrot out and call it administrative
cost or indirect costs. Realistically
there really isn't enough money
allowed even if you wanted to
administer these programs."
Jourdain believes the RLTC
decision to take over the hospital is a
move toward the "new federalism"
plan to dismantle the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and IHS operations
elsewhere. The plan comes on the
heels of the Senate Select
Investigation that uncovered
corrutption and mismanagement
within the BIA and tribal government
throughout the nation.
Graves see the move as helping
the federal bureaucracy "absolve
their trust responsibilities" to Indian
people. "I don't think Red Lake
should help dismantle the BIA or
IHS any more than it is now," said
Graves," but alot of tribes are
supporting the dismantling." Graves
believes that this gives the BIA and
IHS a chance to shirk their duties
when it comes to funding Indian
tribes.
There remains some confusion
over whether the takeover of the
RLTC now assuming role as hospital administrator
Redlake, Minn. (AP) The Red
Lake Bank of Chippewa Indians is
taking over administration of the
Redlake hospital, saying the move
will increase funding and quality of
care.
Increasing tribal control over
federally funded programs was
suggested in a report by the U.S.
Senate Selected Committee on
Indian Affairs last year. The report
detailed mismanagement in federal
agencies controlling reservation
funding and notes that much of the
money meant for Indian services has
been lost in a maze of federal
bureaucracies.
The Red Lake tribe and others
across the nation long have argued
that their right to self-determination
extend to the administration of
federal funds.
Congress assured tribes of those
rights in the Indian
Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act in 1975, which
allowes tribes to contract with the
federal government to provied
services, acccording to Pat DeAsis,
spokeswoman for the Indian Health
Service.
The Red Lake Tribe negotiated
Red Lake Awarded $ 848,500
in damages for 1979 Riot
—Tribal council had sought $ 12 million—
with the Indian Health Service to
administer the Red Lake hospital
after the federal agency projected a
budget cut for the facility in 1990,
according to Tribal Health Director
Monte Hammitt.
IHS had projected a $307,000 cut
in the hospital's annual $4.8 million
budget. Red Lake Tribal Chairman
Roger Jourdain said the cut would
have left the tribe with a "totally
inadequate" health care system. The
tribal council voted last week to take
over hospital administration for the
IHS facility.
Under an agreement negotiated
with IHS, the tribe will receive $6
million to run the hospital. About
$236,000 of that total is an increase
in funding for the hospital and
clinics. More that $1.3 million of the
total is for the tribe's expenses such
as insurance, legal services and
adminstration of the hospital,
Hammitt said.
The tribal council voted to take
over adminstrative functions from
the the IHS in 1984, but changes in
federal laws prevented the transition,
Hammitt said.
health care facility was legal
according to the Sept. 1989,
resolution.
According to Dr. Kathy Annette,
Acting Director of the Bemidji Area
Office of the IHS, no contract
proposals have been submitted by
anyone from Red Lake to re-activate
the tribe's contract proposal. "We
will need to see something in writing
from the RLTC before we will act to
renew the old contract proposal,"
said Annette.
She also stated that the Bemidji
Area Office had received no
direction from the IHS headquarters
in Washington,D.C, in regard to
RLTC Secretary Royce Grave's
letter concerning the legality of the
takeover.
In the meantime, a meeting was
called by Jourdain at the Red Lake
Hospital on Monday to explain the
takeover to hospital employees.
At press time, no information
concerning the outcome of that
meeting was available.
William J. Lawrence, who has
announced his candidacy for Red
Lake Tribal Chairman, called the
move to take over the Red Lake
Hospital, "an act of desperation" by
the Jourdain and Hammitt
administration.
"It's pure folly," stated Lawrence,
Hospital/ see page 14
A Federal District court judge in
Washington, D.C, recently awarded
$ 848,500 in damages for property
destroyed during the 1979 riot on the
Red Lake Reservation. Break down
of the award is as follows:
Earlier the court had found that the
FBI, who was the lead law
enforcement agency at the scene,
was negligent in their management
of the law enforcement effort during
the initial stages of the riot.
$ 689,000     to the Red Lake Tribe for destruction
of buildings, equipment and vehicles
$ 103,000     to Roger A. Jourdain for destruction
of house by fire
$ 54,000     to Francis Brun for destruction of laundromat
business destroyed by fire
$   2^00     to Elaine Johnson for car destroyed by fire
Specifically, the court concluded
that the FBI's decision to withdraw
all law enforcement personnel from
the reservation at the inception of
the riot was negligent and the direct
cause of the resulting damage to the
above property.
Originally the Red Lake Tribal
Council had filed suit against the
U.S. government seeking $ 12
million in damages. The law firm of
Sonosky, Chambers and Sache of
Washington, D.C, represented all
the Red Lake plaintiffs in this law
suit. The News was unable to learn
the cost of legal fees incurred in this
legal action.
Fox announces candidacy for White Earth RBC post
Alfred "Ray" Fox, rural Bagley,
has announced his intention to run
for the District I Representative
position on the White Earth Tribal
Council.
Fox previously served on the
Tribal Council as District I
Representative for two-four year
terms, from 1978 to 1982 and again
from 1982 to 1986.
In announcing his intent to file for
the position in the White Earth
tribal elections on June 12, 1990,
Fox stated he has a number of
priorities if elected.
"I feel we've been spinning our
wheels for the past several years in
this district. We haven't kept pace
in the areas of housing,
employment, health services and
emergency services," said Fox.
Currently the District I post is
held by Sharon Eid of rural
Mahnomen.
"I have been requested by a lot of
people for assistance in many areas,
but I'm not able to help that much
because I'm not on the Tribal
Council. If elected, I will be able to
help the people in my district more
than I can at the present time," Fox
said.
"I have eight years of Tribal
Council experience and this will
allow me to get back into the swing
of things right away," Fox added.
Fox lives in Falk Township near
Rice Lake with his wife Bemadine
and daughter Leah. Fox has lived
on the white Earth Reservation his
entire life.
The 1990 Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin
All Indian
Basketball Tournament
Chief Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School
 See pa.g& 11 tor scores	
The Senate Select Report Concludes:
The sad conclusion of the Seriate Select Committee's Investigation
"federal agencies today lack the direction, will and expertise to make
significant impact, and their failures have continued to harm the peopi
that can least afford it, the American Indians. .