The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1990-10-03

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McAllhur DleadS quiltVMcArthurwl11 help federal inquiry
■ W m^**    »■   ■» wmw v^ J    ByPeterKotz U.S. District Court in St. Paul,   funds on Aug. 27,  1989, the
By Petr Kotz
Detroit Lakes Tribune
White Earth Reservation
Committeeman Steve McArthur
pleaded guilty Monday to one count
of felony theft in U.S. District Court
in St. Paul.
McArthur's plea marks the
culmination of a year-long probe by
the U.S. Inspector General's Office
into alleged corruption on White
Earth. Though he is the only tribal
official indicted to date, reservation
dissidents say they have been
informed by federal investigators
additional indictments are
forthcoming.
The two-term committeeman's
plea only added fuel to the rumor
mill this week.
By conceding to one count of
"embezzling tribal funds and
converting them to his own use,"
according to spokeswoman Karen
Jambor, the U.S. District Attorney's
Office in Minneapolis agreed to drop
nine other counts. She would not
disclose the terms of the agreement.
McArthur pleaded guilty to
embezzling $720 in White Earth
travel funds on Aug. 27, 1989. He
faces a maximum penalty of five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sentencing should take place in four
to six weeks, said Jambor.
The lenient nature of the
agreement has left many believing
McArthur will testify against other
tribal officials.
Dennis Harper, a White Earth
enrollee who attended the hearing,
said the committeeman's cooperation
played a role in Judge Paul
Magnuson's acceptance of the plea.
"They did mention at one point
that he was cooperating, but to what
extent, that's open to interpretation,"
said Harper.
Jambor refused to say whether the
terms reflected McArthur's
assistance in other cases.
However, White Earth
Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Rawley
said rumors surrounding the case
reflect tribal discord, not the
existence of further crimes.
He contends McArthur's plea
stems from a lack of evidence on the
additional nine counts. Rawley
further asserts that word of
impending indictments concerning
other officials, including, him self,
amount to a smear campaign
conducted by opponents of the
White Earth government
He denied any wrongdoing on
behalf of the Reservation Business
Committee.
"I believe McArthur, through the
federal system, proved himself
innocent on those other counts," said
Rawley. "I don't think he can turn
on us. How can a person turn on you
if you have done nothing wrong?"
According to Rawley, the
Inspector General's Office has not
investigated other officials.
"There has been no other
investigation of anybody here. They
never came back and talked to me at
all. I take that as a vicious rumor."
Neither McArthur nor his attorney,
Neal Tangen, could be reached for
comment.
The chief investigator in the case,
Jim Hanbury, an agent for the
Inspector General's Office in Rapid
City, did not return phone calls
Tuesday.
According to the White Earth
Constitution, any tribal official
convicted of a felony while in office
must be dismissed.
Rawley said tribal leaders were
consulting their attorney on the
matter Tuesday night and a decision
had not been reached.
But according to Committeeman
Dan Stevens, reservation Chairman
Chip Wadena has already stated
McArthur would be expelled from
office if convicted of a felony.
Wadena was on business in
Michigan and could not be reached
for comment.
[Reprinted with permission front
Detroit Lakes Tribune.]
By Peter Kotz
Detroit Lakes Tribune
Though federals refuse to discuss
the matter, it appears that White
Earth Reservation Committeeman
Steve McArthur will testify against
fellow tribal representatives.
McArthur, who was elected to his
second term on the Reservation
Business Committee (RBC) in July,
pleaded guilty Monday to one felony
count of embezzling tribal funds.
In exchange for a guilt}' plea, the
prosecution agreed to drop nine
additional felony counts. Karen
Jambor, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Minneapolis,
refused to release details of the
arrangement.
But according to a document from
U.S. District Court in St. Paul,
McArthur apparently agreed to
cooperate with federal investigators
in exchange for leniency.
The document said McArthur
"agrees to cooperate with the
ongoing investigation into possible
embezzlement and theft from the
White Earth Indian Tribe .."
The document further indicates
that the committeeman has agreed to
inform on the "activities of other
employees and officers," and
mandates his appearance before any
grand jury investigating White
Earth.
The settlement apparently is a
result of damaging evidence
compiled against McArthur.
Though he officially pleaded
guilty to embezzling $720 in tribal
funds on Aug. 27, 1989, the
document notes he also admitted to
stealing $2,338 from Jan. 4 to March
27 last year.
According to Jim Hanbury, an
agent with the Inspector General's
Office in Rapid City, S.D., the
formal investigative file on
McArthur will not be released until
after sentencing.
Jambor said that will not occur
until the committeeman appears
before U.S. District Court Judge
Paul Magnuson in four to six weeks,
following a pretrial hearing.
Chip Wadena, chairman of the
White Earth Reservation, was in
Michigan on business and could not
be reached for comment.
[Reprinted with permission from the
Detroit Lakes Tribune]
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Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 3 Issue 6
October 3, 1990
J
Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1990
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
BIA notifies Brorsen that
he is eligible to retire
John R. Brorsen, contracting
officer for the Minneapolis Area
Office BIA has been receiving
"good news" lately from the BIA.
As you may recall, Mr. Brorsen
was escorted from the BIA by
Federal Officers on August 24,
1990, with termination papers in
hand, initiated by Mary Lou Smith,
Supervisory Contract Specialtist,
and approved by Assistant Area
Director Frank Annette and Area
Director Barlow.
On October 1,1990, John Brorsen
received a copy of a "Notice of
Change in Health Benefits
Enrollment" form dated Aug. 24
which states, "Employee removed
effective Aug. 24". This copy was
signed   by  Darrell   Caldwell,
Personnel Officer, but was marked
VOID in large, black letters.
The most recent form is dated
Sept. 26 and is again signed by the
Personnel Officer. This form,
however, states that "Employee
retired effective Aug. 24 and is
eligible to retain Health Benefits
into retirement.
On this same day, the Contracting
Officer was notified by Michael
Poitras, Personnel Management
Specialist, that sick leave amounting
to 860 hours would not be
reinstated. Mr. Brorsen contacted his
attorney, Judith Schermer, of the
decision, and it appears that the BIA
will have to back down and mark
VOID on another one of their many
erroneous decisions.
Man charged in White Earth killing
Detroit Lakes, Minn. (AP) - A
Waubun, Minn, man has been
charged with murder in the death of
a White Earth man.
Arnold Wayne Belland, 28, waa
arraigned Friday in Becker County
District Court on one count of
second-degree murder, one count of
third-degree murder and one count
of first-degree manslaughter in the
death of James Edward Goodman.
Belland was being held Saturday in
the county jail with bond set at
$250,000.
County Attorney John Pearson
said Goodman died as a result of
injuries he received Sept. 2 during a
fight with Belland at a home in
White Earth.
Goodman, 39, was found on the
front steps of the home by a sheriffs
deputy after the sheriffs department
received a call from Goodman's
mother asking for an ambulance,
said sheriff's investigator John
Sieling.
Goodman was pronounced dead at
St. Mary's Medical Center in Detroit
Lakes.
According to the complaint,
witnesses said the two men argued
over money. Belland then began
beating Goodman and left him on the
steps of the home, the complaint said.
Grass Dancers at the Nay-Tah-Waush Harvest festival
A large crowd
gathered at this year's
Harvest Festival at the
community of Nay-Tah-Waush
on the White Earth Reservation.
Family and friends got together for the weekend
events that included softball tournaments,
horseshoes, a parade, good food and the annual
pow-wow. About 50 dancers and 5 drum groups
helped the community celebrate.
Pictured are visiting grass dancers who helped
make the event a success, (photo by M.Boswell)
400 tribal chairmen expected
to attend leadership summit
McArthur asks for federal investigation
Albuquerque, N. M. (AP) -
About 400 tribal chairmen attended
an Indian leadership summit in
Albuquerque on Sept. 28, said
Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr.
Lujan said he invited the leaders of
310 tribes in the contiguous 48 states
and more than 200 communities in
Alaska, intertribal councils and
national Indian organizations. Lujan
will give the keynote address.
"The response was excellent," he
said in Washington, D.C.
"One of the things we looked at is
how to help the smaller tribes take
over some of their own services
(from the federal government),"
Lujan said, adding that education is
of equal importance.
Tom Sansonetti, solicitor for the
Interior Department, presided over a
workshop on legal and trust
problems. Lujan has said the
department set up special Code of
Federal Regulations courts on
reservations to handle criminal cases
involving Indians from other tribes.
Another workshop conducted by
Bureau of Indian Affairs director
Eddie Brown will deal with
restructuring the BIA in the wake of
a Senate Select Committee on Indian
Affairs recommendation that the
BIA's role be sharply reduced.
A workshop chaired by Tom
Glidden, Lujan's general counsel,
will deal with self-determination and
the "new federalism."
'Popeye' Goodwin to step
down as Sheriff of
Clearwater County
'Popeye' Goodwin used to avoid
cops. His parents and relatives told
him as a child that if he wasn't
good, a policeman was going to
come to the house, "run him in"
and "lock him up". Well, 'Popeye'
must have taken those words to
heart, because he's been in the
jailhouse for 23 years. The thing
is, for most of that time he's been
the man in charge.
Now, Sheriff Goodwin is stepping down after a long
career as one of the only Native American Sheriffs in the
nation, and the only Native Sheriff in the state.
The News interviewed 'Popeye' at his home in the
community of Ebro on the White Earth Reservation. See
page 8.
By Petr Kotz
Becker County Record
The song remains the same.
That was Eugene McArthur's
belief after awaking Wednesday to
find he had once again been defeated
in the White Earth Reservation's
secretary-treasurer race. After all,
losing is nothing new to McArthur.
The Ogema grocer lost his second
bid to unseat incumbent Jerry
Rawley - 1,135,786 - in Tuesday's
tribal balloting. Oscar Oppegard
finished a distant third with 454
votes.
McArthur said it's not the loss that
hurts, but the way he lost. He claims
Rawley's victory was produced by
"fraud," and has since contacted
three federal agencies - the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, the FBI, and the
U.S. Inspector General's Office - to
examine the matter.
Rawley was unavailable for
comment.
This is the second time McArthur
has claimed to have lost in a
"rigged" election, a contention
commonly tossed about in White
Earth races, but never proven.
In 1986, McArthur defeated
Rawley in the reservation's general
election for the secretary-treasurer's
post. However, Rawley accused
McArthur of fraud in collecting
absentee ballots. An Ojibway tribal
judge agreed, granting Rawley a
new election. The incumbent won
easily.
1990 took a similar path.
Two months ago, McArthur once
again defeated Rawley in the general
election. Yet the victory was thrown
out in tribal court after Rawley
succeeded in convincing the judge
that McArthur committed fraud.
McArthur vehemently denies
submitting fictitious ballots. Yet he
admits he has little recourse against
an election system solely controlled
by Rawley and his chief ally. White
Earth Chairman Chip Wadena.
"We have Third World elections
here in White Earth. It's disgusting."
Wadena could not be reached for
comment.
Under the tribal election system,
Wadena is vested with appointing
election judges. Likewise, as
chairman of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe, he is also in charge of
administering its system of justice.
As such, McArthur asserts that
Rawley, through Wadena, has
complete control not only over the
ballot counting, but the appeal
process as well.
With this in mind, McArthur
requested prior to the election that a
BIA official be present to monitor
the tabulation. He was refused.
McArthur dismisses the possibility'
of appealing the election in tribal
court. Given Wadena's alleged
control of the judicial system, the
challenger believes the hearing
would be a sham.
"Take a look at it. He [Rawley]
succeeded in making a mockery out
of the White Earth election process.
If you polled 200 people on White
Earth, 190 would laugh."
To back his contentions, McArthur
points to a breakdown of the balloting.
On the reservation itself, he was the
clear-cut winner, nearly doubling
Rawley by a 461-279 margin. In fact,
Rawley ran a distant third to
Oppegard's 333 votes when counting
only ballots of White Earth residents.
McArthur is hoping the U.S.
Inspector General's Office, which
was recently instrumental in the
indictment   of  White  Earth
Committeeman Steve McArthur [no
relation to Eugene], will take an
interest in the race.
[Reprinted with permission from the
Becker County Record.]
Chippewa charged with using protected birds in art
SL Paul, Minn. (AP) - When his
little girl couldn't sleep, Walter
Bresette made her a "dream
catcher," a traditional Chippewa art
object of feathers, wood, sinew and
beads said to catch bad dreams.
"It was a psychological
reassurance. It worked," he said. He
later began selling similar dream
catchers at his store in Duluth.
Last December the dream catchers
caught the attention of a federal Fish
and Wildlife Service agent. Last
Friday, Bresette appeared before
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson
in St. Paul, charged with two counts
of violating a law protecting
migratory birds.
He faces a penalty of up to six
months in jail and a $5,000 fine,
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanne
Graham said. The judge said he
would rule after attorneys submit
written arguments.
Federal officials say they
confiscated six art works from
Bresette's shop and another from a
customer that contained feathers
from protected migratory birds,
including geese and red-tailed
hawks. The Duluth store has since
closed, and Bresette operates a
similar shop in Bayfield, Wis.
But Bresette, a member of the Red
Cliff band of Chippewa Indians from
Wisconsin, says treaties dating back to
1825 give him and other tribe
members the right to gather and use
the feathers. He also charged that
federal officials are out to get him and
his codefendent, Esther Nahgahnub,
because both are treaty rights activists
who have spoken against proposals
that Indian bands negotiate away
treaty rights for money.
Federal policy allows Indians to
possess protected migratory birds for
use in religious and traditional
ceremonies, but federal laws and
regulations specifically prohibit their
sale or purchase, Fish and. Wildlife
Service Special Agent David
Duncan testified.
Duncan was off-duty shopping last
Dec. 16 when he came upon
Bresette's Buffalo Bay Trading
Company store at the Miller Mall in
Duluth. Duncan said he saw objects
that appeared to include feathers
from protected migratory birds and
told a store employee it was illegal
to sell them. When he returned later
and saw the feathered dream
catchers and other items still for
sale, he confiscated them over
Bresette's protests, Duncan said.
Nahgahnub, of Sawyer, Minn., a
member of the Fond du Lac band,
also told him that she had made
several of the confiscated items, he
said. A treaty rights consultant who
has conducted training sessions for
some federal agencies, Bresette
testified that he believes treaties
between the U.S. Government and
the Chippewa permit tribe members
to hunt, fish and gather for
commercial purposes on lands ceded
by the Indians.
"I've been involved in this issue
for the last 10 years. There's just no
question in my mind . . . that what
we were doing was absolutely
appropriate," he told Magnuson.