The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1991-06-05

              RBC accused of betraying traditionalists
By Drew Moody
Because of a series of incidents
occurring on the Fond du Lac
Reservation during the past several
weeks, some traditional Indians
believe they have been betrayed by the
Reservation Business Committee
(RBC).
The clash between the two factions
involve what traditionalists perceive as
a denial of not only the Indian culture,
but also of their religious rights.
At issue is the treatment of a
respected elder, Joe Shabaiash, a
tribal medicine man, and the arrest
of two tribal members for spearing
and possessing a spear.
Shabaiash, 75, is a practitioner of
Grand Medicine, and looked upon as
a priest by traditionalists at the
reservation. While suffering with
pneumonia, he requested the RBC to
provide him with wild game because
he didn't want to eat processed
"white man's" food.
While the RBC initially responded
by giving him a small fawn, further
requests were denied, according to
Esther Nahgahnub, a treaty rights
activist, of Sawyer.
Last month Nahgahnub went to an
RBC board meeting which was also
attended by a delegation from
Russia. She attempted to bring the
issue up, but claims the members
refused to acknowledge her.
"They didn't want to turn me
down for meat for a sick elder,
medicine man, respected man - in
front of the people from Russia,
because then they would know the
RBC was worse than Gorbachev."
"What do I have to do, get a
Congressional order," she asked?
Finally, after the Russian's left, the
RBC approved getting Shabaiash
fish, but the following day changed
their minds, Nahgahnub said.
She says the staff at the
reservation's medical clinic told her if
Shabaiash needed food to go to the
food shelf. They also said, according
to Nahgahnub, it would take a note
from his doctor before they would
allow him to eat wild meat.
I said, "well he is a doctor, and he
says he needs game, which is
medicine of the earth."
Nahgahnub also claims a reservation
conservation officer told her if
Shabaiash was provided with wild
game, everyone would want some.
"It's almost like these people feel
really threatened, because Joe
(Shabaiash) is a real Indian," she said.
"There's a difference between
Indians and real Indians - there's
blood quantums, and then there's an
Indian mind and heart."
"All these guys know are blood
quantums. Being a real Indian is a
state of mind the RBC has lost,"
Nahgahnub said.
Because of her recent federal court
victory in the "Feathergate" case,
and the judge's ruling upholding
individual treaty rights, she believes
the RBC has a vendetta against her.
The RBC maintains Indian treaty
rights, such as those to hunt, fish,
and gather in the ceded territory, are
not individual rights.
It maintains those rights were given
to the tribal government to be
managed and passed on to the people.
"They're a little stingy with their
wildlife, even on the reservation,"
Shabaiash said. "We don't have any
rights on our reservation any more."
The RBC has created many rules
and regulations which do not benefit
the people according to Shabaiash.
"The majority of the people on the
reservation should tell the RBC what
to do," he said. "The RBC is
overruling the people."
"I don't like the way the RBC is
running it. AH they're after is money
for themselves."
Shabaiash likened the tribal
government to a "white man's"
government, not one which represents
Indian culture.
Members of the RBC had little to
say when contacted by The Pine
Knot.
"I couldn't comment on whether wild
game would benefit him (Shabaiash) at
this time. I'm no dietician or a doctor,"
one member said.
He went on to request his name not
be mentioned in the article, saying the
decisions were made by a five man
board and he is not the spokesman.
"We discuss these things
thoroughly, and we make the best
decisions we can," he said.
Another RBC member, also not
wishing to be quoted, said at the
time the requests for wild game were
made Shabaiash was under the care
of a doctor and dietician, and his
needs were being met.
He also indicated if the request
had come from Shabaiash himself, a
family member, or someone other
than Nahgahnub, the RBC may have
viewed the matter differently.
"If you do something they don't
like, this is how you pay for it,"
Nahgahnub said. "The RBC doesn't
respect the treaty rights any more
than they do Joe (Shabaiash)."
"We're doomed," she said. "We
don't have to have white men kill us
off, we do a damn good job of doing
it here. Our leaders will do it for us."
Nahgahnub said the RBC has
nothing in common with Indian
traditions or tribal members. In her
opinion they have been corrupted by
money, power and greed.
"The worst part of it is those SOBs
will have the nerve to go to his
funeral," she said.
Neighbors and members of the
Grand Portage and Lac du Flambeau
Reservations have come to
Shabaiash's aid by donating ducks,
deer, moose, and fresh fish.
Nahgahnub, her son Charlie, and
his wife Pam are caring for
Shabaiash to prevent him from being
put in a nursing home.
Charlie is scheduled to appear in
Fond du Lac tribal court this week
for possession of a spear.
Another friend of the family,
Napoleon "Nappy" Ross, faces two
charges of spearing.
Both have been spearing in protest
of the Fond du Lac ceded territory
code's ban on spearing and recendy
to get wild game for Shabaiash.
Both face fines and possible
imprisonment for the violations.
For Charlie and Nappy the exercise
of the treaty rights to hunt, fish, and
gather is a religious right, not one that
can be delegated by the RBC.
George Cardinal, a shaman (priest)
in the Me-da-we Grand Medicine
Society of the Keweenaw Bay Indian
community in Michigan, said the RBC
is infringing on the 1968 Indian Rights
Act by charging Charlie and Nappy
for spearing violations.
"The tribal government is wrong in
prosecuting this,"-he said. "The
hunting, fishing, and gathering rights
are religious rights, not property
rights, and can't be taken away,"
Cardinal said.
According to Cardinal, most of the
reservation business committee's are
Christian Indians and don't
recognize traditional Indian values.
"The concept of traditional
religion has been lost to them," he
said.
"By prosecuting them and taking
them to court they are violating their
religious rituals," Cardinal said. "It
would be like arresting someone for
going to church."
[Reprinted with permission from
The Pine Knot, Cloquet, Minn.]
■
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Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 3 Issue 22
June 5,1991
Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1991
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
1988 study indicates that Red Lake
School Board ignors financial problems
By William Lawrence
Publisher
The News has recendy obtained
a copy of a study titled
"Management assistance study for
the Red Lake Independent School
District # 38."
The study, dated March 14,
1988, was prepared by Mr.
Bernard Pirjevec, Project
Consultant pursuant to a grant
from the Minnesota Department of
Education. The primary purpose of
the study Was to assist the Red Lake
School Board in strengthening its
fiscal management capabilities.
The study is 36 pages long and
covers the following five areas: an
analysis of fund balances; a
comparison of financial
performance with other school
districts of similar size;
administrative concerns;
recommendations; and compliance
statutes. The study reveals that the
district's financial problems go
back at least to the 1985-86 school
year when the Red Lake School
Board failed to adopt a budget.
Since that time the Board has
consistently ignored and/or failed to
file various budgets or reports
required for reimbursement by
Minnesota State Law, which states
"Prior to July 1 of each year, the school
board of each district shall approve and
adopt its revenue and expenditure
budgets for the next school year." It
further states: "no funds shall be
expended by any board or district for
any purpose in any school year prior
to the adoption of the budget. ..."
"Expenditures of funds in violation
of this subdivision shall be
considered unlawful expenditures."
In the case of the district failing to
file required reimbursement reports,
it appears that the Red Lake School
District has lost hundreds of
thousands of dollars for not filing.
On page 27 the study states, "We
regret to say that the district's
budgeting, accounting, financial and
reporting standards are seriously
deficient. Under present conditions
we believe it is impossible for the
school board and superintendent to
manage or control the district's
finances.
When contacted by the News,
Project Consultant Bernard Pirjevec
was surprised to learn that the Red
Lake School District was nearly $2.5
million dollars in the hole. He told
the News "it was hard for him to
imagine that a district (Red Lake),"
which gets nearly twice the per pupil
funding compared to other
Minnesota school districts, "could be
that far in the hole. With all the
funding they get," Pirjevec states,
"there is absolutely no reason •'
couldn't have taken my*
recommendations and put their
financial house back in order." The
study contained over 5 pages of
recommendations on strengthening
internal controls and the overall
financial management of the Red
Lake School District.
The study, much like the audit
performed by the CPA firm of
McGladney and Pullen of Duluth,
indicated that excessive spending was
occurring across-the-board in the Red
Lake School District, in every
spending category.
When the News asked Project
Consultant, Pirjevec if he knew why
his recommendations were never
implemented, he said that he didn't
know. He told the News that during
the Spring of 1988, he went to Red
Lake and presented his evaluation
to the school board and they
thanked himt. The News contacted
the Minnesota Department of
Education and tried to find out if
they had done any follow up with
Red Lake on the study. Due to
ffing changes and/or reduction at
Department of Education, the
,wa was unable to locate any
official who was involved in
authorizing the study.
Based upon the above reported
management study, die McGladney/
Pullen audit, and the Minnesota
Department of Education team
findings it is obvious that the Red
Lake School District is either unable
or unwilling to carry out its fiscal
responsibilities. No doubt State
Auditor Mark Dayton and his audit
team will confirm this and institute
proper fiscal controls over the
district so that it can get back to its
primary roll of educating our
students.
Crowned Miss Leech
Lake at the Leech Lake
Memorial Pow wow
Fond du Lac Follies
By Jim Northrup, Jr.
I watched the network news the
other night. At least half of the
program was reporting the results of
a NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. To
me, a poll is not news.
A poll brings up more questions
than it answers. First, who did the
poll? Who responded to the poll?
Where was it conducted? How were
the questions phrased?
Maybe we should take a poll to see
how many peoople think a poll is the
same as news.
* * * *
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q.  What  reason   did  tribal
government give for not helping the
family of Desert Storm trooper?
A. "If we did it for him, we'd have
to do it for everyone."
Q.  What  reason  did  tribal
government giye for not helping
elder Joe Shabaiash get food?
A. "If we did it for him, we'd have
to do it for everyone."
****
Indian Arts of American had their
doings at the Minneapolis
Convention Center, FDL Follies
motored to Minny to see what was
happening.
On the way down, we passed at
least ten dead critters that were
killed by cars and trucks. We
wondered if the DNR counts those
bodies.
The juried art show was held in
one of the three igloo domed halls.
At first, it felt like art in a
warehouse, but the beauty of the
objects on display made us forget
the surroundings. Minnesota artists
won several thousand dollars in
prizes at the show.
Most of the Indian artists at the
show came from the southwest
United States. Each artist had a
booth mat identified them, their tribe
and Reservation. The artists seemed
to know each other from other art
shows. They said this is the first
time a major show was held in
Minnesota.
The art show circuit is similar to
the pow wow circuit. The food was
not the same but the people were.
Entertainment was provided by a
drum and dance group from the
Minneapolis Indian Health Board
led by Don Pewaush. there were
Zuni dancers, a comedian and a
fashion show. Okay, we're a bit
biased but we liked the Minnesota
dance group the best.
There was an American craft show
going on in one of the other igloo
shaped halls. That crowd came over
to see what the Indians were doing.
Warren Geffre and Bonnie Startek,
the leaders of Indian Arts of
America, said next year's show will
be bigger than ever. Artists were
competing for $18,000 in prizes.
We drove home past the animal
and tire carcasses on the Interstate.
We felt pretty good because we had
met and talked with Indian artists
from all over the United States.
* * * *
HISTORICAL QUESTION OF
THE MONTH
Q. What was the motto of Minnesota
when it was a territory?
A. Civilitas successit barbarum
(Civilization has replaced the
barbarian)
There are two items of interest to
native writers. The first is a
Regional Literary Symposium held
in Racine, Wisconsin on
September 26-28, 1991. FMI:
American Indian Voices, 1922
University Av., Madison, WI
53705-4099, (608) 263-1692.
The second is called Returning the
Gift, a festival of North American
native writers. This four day event
will include writing workshops,
panel discussions and readings. This
writing festival will be held July 7-11,
1992. That's right-1992, at the
University of Oklahoma. FMI:
Barbara Hobson, Project
Coordinator at 3015 72nd Street
N.E. Norman, Oklahoma 73071,
(405) 329-7729.
* * * *
FDL Follies went to tribal Court to
watch the doings. It was a regularly
scheduled session of the court. We
wanted to know what would happen
to Nappy Ross and Charles
Nahganub. They were charged with
possessing a spear and spearing a
fish. They were charged with
violating a code that was voted
down twice by the Fond du Lac
people.
The first thing we noticed when
we walked in was a poster that listed
the rules of decorum for the Court.
The rules said: No tape players or
video equipment, no gum chewing,
no drinking, no eating, no
ceremonial smudging, no smoking,
no smoking 1/2 hour before Court
commences. The poster further
warned that violating these rules
could result in a charge of contempt
of Court.
The former Knife Falls Township
office building now houses the
Court and the game wardens. The
green block building was nice on the
inside. It had light brown paneling
and carpet. There was an American
flag but no Reservation flag. The
walls were decorated with stuffed
animals and wildlife pictures.
In addition to the defendants, 35
people came to watch the
proceedings. Three game wardens
lined up along the south wall.
Judge Dee Fairbanks walked in
chewing gum. She had to step over
the spectators to get to the bench.
The bench was actually a bingo hall
kind of table. She faced Dennis
Peterson, the Rez lawyer who was
prosecuting the cases. Wes Martins
of Indian Legal Assistance sat next
to Peterson. These two wore the
only neckties in the place.
A spectator named Val Ross asked
the Judge to spit out her gum. The
Judge bristled and asked Ross if she
wanted to leave the room. Ross said
no. Judge Fairbanks said she didn't
know about the rule concerning gum
chewing.
The ceded territory cases came
Follies/see page 2
Josette White was crowned Miss Leech Lake Sunday, May 19,1991,
at the Leech Lake Veterans Memorial and Pow wow Grounds.
She gave up her crown as Chief Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School Senior
Princess to Niomi Blue.
You can't operate a newspaper on the reservation
Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) - One of
two journalists who says she was
fired for trying to tape a tribal
meeting says the conflict is not
unique to North Dakota. She said
similar disputes have arisen on
reservations elsewhere.
"This has happened to Indian radio
stations and newspapers throughout
the country," Dorreen Yellow Bird
said. "We have to take a stand to
make a change.
"We have to change the system so
we're not at the whim of the tribal
government," she said. "If the
system we have on the reservation
would be in Grand Forks, it would
be like the newspaper there having
to answer to the mayor of Grand
Forks."
Yellow Bird was fired earlier this
month as executive director of Fort
Berthold Communications
Enterprise, which operates KMHA
radio station and the
Mandan-Hidatsa-Acickara Times on
the reservation. At the same time her
son, Tony Lone Fight, lost as editor
of the newspaper.
Yellow Bird said they were fired
from their jobs after the radio station
was embroiled in a dispute over the
tape recording of tribal council
meetings.
Tribal officials called it a
reorganization and have declined to
discuss the topic.
William Lawrence, publisher of
the Ojibwe News of Bemidji, Minn.,
said some reservation newspapers
have failed because the tribal
government made it hard to get
advertising or circulation on
reservations.
"I don't think you can operate a
newspaper on the reservation. You
have to get off the reservation and
be totally independent," Lawrence
said. "There are no civil rights on the
reservations. Tribal governments
exert power over the courts."
The relationship between a tribe
and the media can change as often as
there's a change in tribal leadership,
he said.
In Devils Lake, the new tribal
judge, Peter Belgarde, said the
newspaper does not face a threat.
"A tribal newspaper is part of the
protection of freedoms," he said.
"There's no room for tribal politics
to interfere with freedom of speech.
"The press is going to ask tough
questions," he said. "That's good.
You can't have glowing reports
every day. People disagree. That's
human nature, part of life."
The day after the reorganization at
the Fort Berthold reservation.
Yellow Bird and Lone Fight
appeared at a tribal council meeting
with a resolution to remove the
reservation's media from direct
control of the tribal council. The
council adjourned before the
resolution could be presented.
Tribal Council member Ted Lone
Fight said he will try to rally support
for a reorganization of the
communications board. He hopes to
present that resolution to the tribal
council at a meeting in June.
He would not rule out starting
another independent newspaper.