The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1990-11-14

              Aitken resigns from BIA
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Roger T. Aitken, Superintendent
of the Minnesota Agency of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
recently announced his resignation
from that position on Dec. 3, 1990.
According to BIA sources, Aitken
left the bureau to assume the
position of executive director of the
Leech Lake Reservation Business
Committee. Sources have also told
the News that the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe is planning to
contract nearly all remaining
functions of the Minnesota agency
under the federal government's
tribal self-governance policy which
is now in effect. Aitken, who has
long expressed support of that
policy,   apparently  has  now
determined to implement it on the
Leech Lake Reservation. The Red
Lake Tribal Council in July of 1989
signed a government agreement with
the BIA to contract nearly all
functions of the Red Lake agency.
As part of that agreement, the
former BIA position of agency
superintendent became the office of
Red Lake Tribal Administrator.
Aitkert, aged 42, who has been
superintendent since 1984 and a
Leech Lake tribal member, was
unavailable for comment. Ed
Fairbanks, Minnesota Agency
Natural Resource Director, is
reportedly to be appointed acting
superintendent until the position is
either filled or abolished.
FourH3edTrVi988
Volumes Issue9
November 14,1990
1
' Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1990
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Giago's
Lakota
Times
Cambridge, Mass. - Tim Giago,
55, Publisher and Editor of the
Lakota Times, a weekly
newspaper published in South
Dakota, holds a copy of his award
winning publication.
Giago recently recieved a
Nieman Fellowship to further
hone his considerable writing
skills at Harvard University.
In 1985 Giago recieved the H.
L. Mencken award for writng; he
later returned the prize after it
was revealed that Mencken was
racist and prejudice in thought
and action.
In 1987 Giago founded the Red
Lake Times. The newspaper,
publilshed in Bemidji, later failed
because of conflicts with the Red
Lake Reservation administration
and the pullout of local
advertising. (AP photo)
Protest to be staged
against Anheuser Busch
By Gayle Streier
Staff Writer
Members of the Minnesota Hand
Harvested Wild Rice Association are
planning a trip to St. Louis, Mo., to
stage a protest against Anheuser
Busch and their subsidiary, Gormet
Foods, which processes and markets
paddy grown rice. The group is
involved in litigation against the
corporation in response to what they
call "false and deceptive marketing "
practices.
The protest is tenatively scheduled
for three days between November
18-20, and according to-Frank
Bibeau, president of MHHWRA,
the group hopes to involve some
200 people from the St. Louis area
social justice groups who are
sympathetic to the issue.
The lawsuit is scheduled to go to a
pretrial hearing on November 27,
but Bibeau stated that the suit may
be held up until as late as next year's
ricing season. He also stated that due
to the filing of the lawsuit, he felt
that the Department of Agriculture
has been more agressive in their
enforcement of the truth in (abiding
guidelines, which regulate the
information printed on the paddy
grown wild rice packaging.
This year's rice crop was
sometimes difficult to harvest due to
low water levels in many areas, but
most agree that the quality of rice
gathered was very good. Bibeau
stated that due to inconsistancy in
the pricing, many people did not
harvest as much as they normaly
would have in years where prices
were stable. The MHHWRA was
formed to bring together hand
harvesters and to represent their
concerns in the marketplace, which
was affected by the enormous influx
of paddy grown rice in the past
decade.
'Buffalo Burger* costume triggers review
Milwaukee, Wis. (AP) -
Milwaukee County's natural
history museum shouldn't be
blamed for an incident of "racist
behavior" at a reception there, a
spokeswoman for an Indian rights
group said.
Sharon Metz, director of Honor
Our Neighbors' Origins and
Rights, complained to the county
because someone wearing Indian
attire served ethnic food during a
Wisconsin Counties Association
reception.
"This stereotype portrayal of a
native American is uncalled for
under any circumstances," Ms.
Metz' group said in a statement.
The Sept. 17 reception, held in a
room rented at the Milwaukee
Public Museum, featured an
Indian-costumed waiter serving
buffalo burgers.
"I'm sorry this happened," Ms.
Metz said. "I don't think the
museum should take the fall."
Doss Bender, a spokesman for
County Executive David F.
Schulz, notified Ms. Metz
Thursday the incident was
reviewed with the museum
director, Barry Rosen.
Rosen was told to review the
museum's rental policy, he said.
stop camping on the cemetary club calls attention to abuse problem
BJ. Whipple put an end to our sorrow and grief
BJ. Whipple
Contributor
Sugar Point, Minn. - The people
of District II have made many
attempts at putting a stop to the
"desecration, vandalism and abuse"
of the Indian burial ground at the
Boy Lake Cemetary, according to B.
J. Whipple of Boy Lake. The
population has been "suffering in
silence" each time they discover that
their burial ground has been used for
a weekend camping expeidtion, as a
boat landing or an overnight
recreational area for beer parties of
either local or out-of-town people.
The people have, on many
occasion, stated their disstisfaction
about the situation to their district
representative without any action
being taken.
It was discovered on Friday,
November 2 that, once again, the
burial ground had been occupied,
this time overnight by either deer or
duck hunters. Whipple decided to
"put an end to our sorrow and grief
(mat) we've carried within ourselves
for our loved ones" by taking action.
First she talked to the Leech Lake
DNR, then to the Reservation
Business Committee and finally
tried to speak again with the district
representative. She was initially told
by her secretary that the
representative "just left".
Coincidentally, she ran into her in
the hall. Whipple asked her to sign
the "No Trespassing" signs she had
brought along but was refused.
She next went to see Jim Michael
at the suggestion of the
representative. Without hesitation,
he signed the signs. Within two
hours, Leo Jourdan had placed two
"No Trespassing" signs at the Boy
Lake Cemetary.
Whipple mentioned that, buried in
the cemetary, are also Indians who
were Veterans of Foreign Wars, who
fought for the United States, people
"who deserve the respect and dignity
that those of other color have."
Minneapolis Area Office
undergoing management review
By Dee Fitch
Staff Writer
Minneapolis, Minn. - Hazel
Albert, Woody Hopper, John
Nicholas, Allan Young, and Rob
Baracher, all from the Central
Office Staff are doing a
management review of the
Minneapolis Area Office
beginning yesterday and
continuing thru Nov. 16.
They will also meet with agency
personnel under the jurisdiction of
the Minneapolis Area Office.
The review team assured the
Area Office that this was not a
witch hunt.
Wisconsin gets grant to fight
drug abuse among Indians
Madison, Wis. (AP) - Treatment
centers in northern Wisconsin will
receive $2.6 million in federal aid to
fight drug abuse among Indians.
The three-year grant will be split
among drug treatment facilities of
the Menominee and Oneida tribes
and Human Service Center of
Rhinelander, which serves Forest,
Oneida and Vilas counties.
"Our goal is to reduce the demand
for illegal drugs," Gov. Tommy G.
Thompson said in a news release.
"This grant will enhance our ability
to reach more people through
community-based treatment."
Studies indicate drug treatment
programs are not likely to be
successful if they are not culturally
sensitive and accessible. The grants
were given by the federal Alcohol,
Drug Abuse and Mental Health
Administration.
By Paul V. Boswell
Staff Writer
White Earth, Minn. - Many
people are worried about alcohol
and drug abuse on the White Earth
Indian Reservation. Now a handful
of teen-agers have become involved
in a new effort to combat the
problem.
The Close-Up Club, a new student
organization at The Circle of Life
School, is off to a great start,
according to Charles Wadena, one of
the group's two advisors.
Wadena, who serves as a Social
Studies instructor at the school,
reported that club members are
genuinely interested in its purpose:
calling attention to the problem of
alcohol and drug abuse among
teen-agers.
The club borrows its name from
the Close-Up Foundation, a
nonpartisan, nonprofit educational
foundation for citizen involvement
in government headquartered in
Arlington, Va. The school is an
all-Indian institution with an
enrollment of about 115 and a
curriculum for students grades K-12.
The Close-Up Club was founded
at The Circle of Life School in
September and the national
foundation earmarked about $5,000
to fund club activities for the current
school year. Activities include
meeting with other tribal community
schools in the United States to
discuss the topic of alcohol and drug
abuse.
But Wadena was quick to point
out that the club isn't designated to
only deal with alcohol and drug
problems and next year the club
might focus on a completely
different topic - as designated by the
national foundation.
This year the White Earth club,
which usually meets twice a week,
will travel to schools in Iowa,
Wisconsin and Michigan to discuss
how those institutions deal with
alcohol and drug abuse involving
students. Through an information
exchange, schools might be able to
help each other address the same
problems, said Wadena.
At present the club has over a
dozen members from grades 9-12
and Wadena is hoping that
membership will grow. In the weeks
ahead, the club will be announcing
The Circle of Life School's 'Close Up Club' takes a closer look at Drug abuse.
plans for other activities.
Wadena is looking forward to
traveling with the fledgling club to
visit with other clubs at other tribal
community schools. This week the
club will visit the Lac Courte
Oreilles Ojibwa School in Hayward,
Wis., and later attend the Minnesota
Indian Education Convention in
Duluth, Minn.
Another of the club's objectives is
to bring together students,
community members, tribal
members, school officials and law
enforcement officials to discuss the
effects of substance abuse on the
community. By joining forces,
different segments of the community
can work together to fight the
far-reaching problem, Wadena said.
As Close-Up Club members work
on fine-tuning alcohol and drug
abuse policies, they are also
acquiring an understanding of tribal
government and learning how
policies are written. Wadena joked
that the students are learning how
tribal government actually works as
opposed to how it's supposed to
work.
If there is one thing that Wadena
hopes the club will accomplish on a
local level, it's refining the alcohol
and drug policies of both The Circle
of Life School and the White Earth
Indian Reservation. He also hopes
the club can take a look at the
school's smoking policy, which
seemingly hasn't been uniformly
enforced by faculty and staff
members.
Wadena said policies should be
modified to address all types of
incidents. If a given policy doesn't
designate whether a given situation
is a violation, it might be debatable
whether the student involved has
violated any rule, he said.
Wadena and Bill Wessels, a Grade
7 and 8 instructor and basketball
coach at The Circle of Life School,
supervise all club activities and
discussions. The two officials also
keep in contact with the Close-up
Foundation headquarters in Virginia,
specifically to ensure that club
activities are acceptable.
Though the club has only been in
existance at The Circle of Life
School since the beginning of the
current school year, Wadena has
already witnessed encouraging
developments. For example,
involvement in the club triggered the
revitalization of student government,
something the school has been
without for the past couple of years.
Also, Wadena reported that he has
seen the start of a new phenomenon
which he terms "peer discipline."
Students are actually counseling
each other in the areas of alcohol
and chemical abuse, he said.
AbUSe / see page 2
Bemidji Artistportrays local characters
in new Pioneer cartoon. Seepage 4.
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