The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1990-08-29

              Contracting officer escorted out of BIA by Feds
Staff
Ojibwe News
At aproximately 10:00 AM on
August 27, John R. Brorsen,
Contracting Officer for the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Minneapolis Area
Office, was escorted out of the BIA
office by Federal Police.
Mr. Brorsen was issued a notice of
removal by Supervisory Contract
Specialist Mary Lou Smith, which
terminated his employment with the
BIA and was effective on August 24.
The action was taken with the approval
of Frank Annette, Administrative
Officer, and Earl Barlow, Area
Director, although the personnel action
itself was signed by Darrell Caldwell,
Area Personnel Officer.
Brorsen had suffered a stroke in
the Area Office on Novermber 25,
1987, and was in the process of
filing a Workmen's Compensation
claim with the U.S. Department of
Labor as a result of the stroke. In
addition, he ha,d also applied for a
disability retirement due to the
adverse effects of the stroke. Neither
action was finalized before Brorsen
was terminated and the action taken
by the by the Bureau can be seen, in
the light of the recent American
Disability Act, as an embarrassment
to the office.
Treuer holds fast;
Jourdain exhausts
judicial possibilities
By Mark Boswell
Editor
Red Lake Tribal Judge
Margaret "Peggy" Treuer,
contrary to current rumor, is
not resigning.
The News learned of the
rumor after Judge Treuer's
landmark decision to permit
temporary legal representation
for those involved in cases
heard by the Red Lake Tribal
Court. The decision was based
upon a case involving former
Chairman of Red Lake Roger
A. Jourdain. In a telephone
interview last week, Judge
Treuer declined to comment
on the case, but also stressed
the point that in no way was
she considering a resignation
from the judicial post formerly
held by Bruce Graves of
Redlake. "You hear rumors
like this all the time," Treuer
said,"and it's simply not true."
When asked to comment on
the current litigation involving
Joudain, she said, "it's not
ethical to comment on cases
that are still pending."
At press time, it was learned
that Judge Treuer denied
Jourdain's request' for a
re-hearing. Jourdain's appeal
has, as of press time, also
expired.
Brorsen has also filed a
discrimination suit against the BIA,
alledging discrimination on the basis
of age, handicap, and race. In
addition, Brorsen has been forced to
file several charges of reprisal and
retaliation due to continual and
unnecessary harrassment by
Supervisory Contract Specialist,
Marylou Smith, again with the
approval of Frank Annette and BIA
Area Director, Earl Barlow.
Terr}' Vilrden, Equal Employment
Opportunity Counselor for the BIA
investigated Brorsen's (EEO)
Complaint and found that Brorsen
did not have any performance
review or feedback session during
the past year. The planning session
was not done until December of
1989 and his rating for the past year
has not been completed as of August
21,1990.
In Mr. Virden's interview with
Area Personnel Officer Darrell
Caldwell, Caldwell stated that he
was " uncomfortable with the case"
because he felt that his office had
not dona a thourough enough job
verifying information from the
supervisory before assisting her with
a separation proposal.
Virden met with BIA officials
Smith, Annette, and Area Director
Barlow, in an attempt to resolve the
complaint in the informal stage;
however Virden stated, "it was
obvious from my meetings with
management that ther would be no
informal settlement of this action;
even though they were apprised that
some of the cited infractions were
weak, they felt they had to pursue
this action as proposed...."
Brorsen is held as a member of a
protected class as a handicapped
employee of the U.S. Government.
Brorsen has retained a local
attorney and intends to
challenge the dismissal action.
Brorsen, age 48, is a Vietnam
veteran, and a single parent with
three children He would like to
continue working for the BIA, as he
enjoys working for and with the
Indian people.
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Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 3 issue 4
■■■■■■HiMilBBi
August 29,199
' Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1990
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
(Staff Photo)
Getting an early start on ricing? No, this group of Bemidji State University canoers were on their way home from a
camping trip on Sunday. Twenty-three canoes made their way on a camping trip on the Mississippi River last
White Earth Investigation: Depositions to be taken
By Mark Boswell
Editor
Another chapter will be opening in
the saga of the White Earth
Reservation Business Council this
week when a federal investigator
and a federal attorney will take
depositions from various Tribal
officials and employees.
The statements will be gathered
Wednesday by Jim Hanberry, a
federal investigator with the
Inspector General's Office in Rapid
City, S.D. Hanberry works for the
U.S. Department of the Interior and
will be accompanied by an, as yet,
unnamed Assistant U.S. Attorney
from the Twin Cities.
Three RBC employees and one
Tribal official will be interviewed.
They are:
1) Dan Stevens, District I
Representative for White Earth.
2) Warren "Jiggs" Heisler,
Assistant Executive Director.
3)  Frank  Johnson,  RBC
Accountant.
4) Joyce HighElk, Bookkeeper for
Finance and Travel.
At issue are whether payments
gathered by Tribal officials for
travel in 1989 were actual travel
debts they acrued or were payments
made for trips never taken.
Hanberry, who has never
acknowledged his presence in White
Earth, has been on numerous fact
finding trips to the northwest
Minnesota reservation.
In July, Stephen R. McArthur was
charged by a federal grand jury with
New company introduces a product that "walks the line" in rice market
Grey Owl Foods of Grand Rapids, MN. is only one -year old, but
they feel that they have already made a place for themselves in
the crowded market for wild and paddy-grown rice. Their product
is grown and harvested by 72 bands of Cree in Saskatchewan,
Canada. The company is a division of SIAP and is owned entirely
by the bands, who grow and harvest the rice with air-boats in the
far northern lakes.
They stress the difference between native wild rice, lake and
paddy-grown rice, and between hand-harvested and
commercially machine-harvested rice. This promotion, they feel,
will help to educate consumers about the difference in products,
and therefore in pricesbetween lake and paddy rice. The controversy that affects the hand-harvested market seems to have sidestepped this company, whose product is marketed for the whole
foods market and is certified organic and also Kosher.
The company wishes to establish a strong market presence
for Canadian Lake Harvested Wild Rice, and other products of
the Canadian province, including blueberries, mushrooms,
trout, fiddleheads, an even buffalo. Manager Jeff Borg stressed
that the company wants to extend its hand to any Native
companies that need help getting started, and already have
been working with Leech Lake harvesters to help them package
and market their rice. The first Native Wild Rice Industry Conference
was held this July at Grey Owl Foods, and had representatives from
most of the ricing areas attend.
GREY
OWL
FOODS
(SbfPMD)
Jeff Borg.spokesman and manager ol Grey Owl Foods, Grand Rapids, Hi
ten counts of theft from an Indian
tribe in relation to the investigation.
According to Stevens, District I
Representative, the investigator and
attorney postponed their visit to
White Earth.
"They were supposed to come
down last Thursday," said Stevens,
"They are coming down on
Wednesday (but) there are no
subpoenas being served as far as I
know." Stevens denied the rumor
that any subpoenas in the
investigation were served last week,
or recendy.
"(Federal investigator) Hanberry
called and wants to meet with the
four of us," said Stevens. "I don't
even know what it's all about. The
prosecuting attorney is coming with
him. I don't even know what they're
going to do."
Stevens expects the meetings with
the investigator and prosecutor to be
private and individual, but he
declined to speculate about the
intent of the meetings.
Warren"Jiggs" Heisler, Assistant
Executive Director for White Earth,
stated that he didn't know what type
of information the investigator will
be looking for. He was Acting
Executive Director of the reservation
until he was reassigned as Assistant
Director earlier this year.
Joyce HighElk, a bookkeeper for
the reservation, and Frank Johnson,
accountant for the reservation, could
not be reached for comment.
It's time to pack all those vegetables and kits
into jars. Canning recces. See page 6.
FetalAlcoAoISyadromeh a preventable
disease. It is a devastating reality in
many Native communities. See page 8
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