The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1991-07-08

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Casino workers face gag order
News-Tribune stories ripped
By Julie Gravelle
and Susan Stanich
Duluth, Minn. - A gag order
prohibiting Leech Lake casino
employees from talking to reporters
has been issued after stories in the
Duluth News-Tribune questioned
possible local gaming links to
organized crime.
In addition, the stories are the
subject of articles in the current
issue of De-bah-jimon, the Leech
Lake Reservation's governmental
newspaper.
In a June 17 memo written by the
tribe's casino manager and in other
instructions to employees, the staff
was told not to talk to Minneapolis
television station WCCO's I-Team
or other reporters.
And in separate tribal newspaper
stories, Leech Lake councilmen
James Michaud and Myron Ellis
attacked the News-Tribune as
shoddy, false and destructive.
Their reports followed full-page
advertisements denouncing the
stories. The ads ran in the
News-Tribune, the Mesabi Daily
News and the Hibbing Daily
Tribune. The ads were paid for by
the Leech Lake, Bois Forte, and
Grand Portage reservation councils.
The open letter by Ellis, who is
president of the Minnesota Indian
Gaming Association, also was
distributed this week to patrons of
Leech Lake's casinos.
In it, Ellis argued that the
News-Tribune stories wrongly raised
questions about the integrity of tribal
gambling operations. He said state
Department of Public Safety
officials do extensive background
checks on casino employees, using
the FBI's national criminal justice
information system.
John Willems of the department's
Gambling Enforcement Division
said he does use the FBI's
fingerprint base, but is not allowed
to use, and does not use, the
National Criminal Information
Center.
Willems and division Director
Tom Brownell said the background
checks are limited under terms of
state-tribal gambling compacts.
They check whether people doing
business with tribal casinos have
ever had a conviction or a gambling-
related felony or gross
misdemeanor, or any felony
conviction in the past five years.
The check would not turn up
ongoing investigations, pending
charges, non-gambling-related
felonies older than five years or plea
bargains.
Creative Games Technology Inc.,
a firm mentioned in the
News-Tribune stories, also made
comments in the tribal newspaper.
The firm leases video gaming
machines to Leech Lake, Grand
Portage, and Bois Forte.
The firm's statement said it
voluntarily turned over its financial
records to the Department of Public
Safety on June 17.
Brownell said there's no reason for
the firm to turn over the records,
because his office has no authority
to investigate them.
"The documents they provided us
were a result of (the News-Tribune)
articles," he said Friday.
Brownell confirmed the
company's statement that a
background   check   on   its
shareholders turned up no felony
conviction that would prohibit the
firm from doing business on the
reservations.
In his open letter, Ellis said the
state officials "conduct frequent spot
checks" of casino machines and use
a special device to check for
tampering.
Willems said officials have not
begun spot-checking and have not
begun using the device. His
department will begin doing so
sometime after Monday, he said. He
said state officials have infrequently
gone to tribal casinos to see whether
old-style machines are being
replaced with the newer machines
required under the compacts.
Ellis said in his open letter that he
feared the News-Tribune stories
threatened the future of Indian
gambling.
Edward "Skip" Pelerin, president
of the Fond-du-Luth Gaming Casino
commission, disagreed. "It's news,
and it deserves to be in the
newspaper," he said.
Ellis did not return phone calls.
A poster at Bois Forte's Fortune
Bay Casino this week repeated the
content of the ad and said no one
believed the News-Tribune stories.
The reporters who wrote them have
been banned from the Bois Forte and
Grand Portage reservations.
Leech Lake Bingo Palace general
manager Robert Larson refused
phone calls. Michaud could not be
reached for comment. Leech Lake
executive director Roger Aitken said
he was not authorized to talk to
reporters and hung up.
[Reprinted with permission from the
Duluth News-Tribune.]
[
Voice   of -tJrxe?   Anisl
Fiftv Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 3 Issue 24
July3; 1991
' Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1991
Federal court of
appeals reverses
Red Lake award
Redlake, Minn. (AP) - The Red
Lake Band of Chippewa and three
individual plaintiffs have 45 days to
decide whether they want to pursue
their lawsuit against the federal
government for damage caused in a
1979 riot on the Red Lake
Reservation.
A federal appeals court Friday
reversed an award of nearly
$850,000 to the northwestern
Minnesota band. The lower court
had agreed with the plaintiffs, who
blamed a 1979 dissident uprising
on lax federal law enforcement.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit ruled
that property damage during the riot
was not caused by the FBI's
decision to withdraw police forces
from the Red Lake Reservation
after the disturbance began on May
19,1979.
By that time, the court said, "the
riot was beyond the power of the
available officers to control," so
they could not have prevented the
damage.
"I think it's a terrible decision,"
Harry R. Sachse, the Washington,
D.C, attorney who represented the
Red Lake Band of Chippewa and
three individual plaintiffs, said in a
telephone interview.
If the band decides to appeal,
Sachse said the next step would be
filing for a rehearing.
The violence erupted after the
band's treasurer was fired. A tribal
judge earlier had warned the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, which
handled law enforcement on the
reservation, of a possible
disturbance.
When the disturbance began, the
FBI and local Minnesota police
officers were called in. An FBI
agent ordered all the law
enforcement officers to withdraw.
They returned within several hours
but "with things now generally out
of control," according to the court
decision, the police withdrew again
to await reinforcement.
The uprising was settled the next
day following negotiations with
the dissidents.
When the rioting was over, two
teen-agers were found dead of
gunshot wounds, several people
Reversed/see page 2
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Red Lake Fisheries will hold new elections in July
By Hope Lavine
Redby, Minn. - The Red Lake
Fisheries Association Board, in a
stormy meeting here Thursday,
voted to let the Association's 363
members select a new board.
After a lengthy, often heated,
debate, the board decided that
notices will go out to all 363
members on Monday. The election
will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 20.
The regular board meeting began
at 4:30 p.m., but with two extra
board members at the table. In
dispute was whether the board
would recognize a petition which
asked for the rehiring of fisheries
manager Dan King and the ouster of
the three board members who had
voted him a salary cut.
Problems surfaced even before the
meeting started with the seating of
two "extra" board members and a
discussion between President
Delwyn Holthusen and Acting
Manager Marlene Hanson over
which of at least two versions of
Association bylaws was correct.
At a disputed special meeting
Saturday, new members were
elected to replace those who,
maintaining the meeting was illegal,
did not attend. Secretary-Treasurer
Phillip Johns, Ron Beaulieu and
Rudy Johnson had boycotted the
Saturday meeting.
Holthusen and Johns have each
based their stands on Association
bylaws. However, those which
Holthuson used are dated 1930. The
H'laws Johns used is a later version
but bylaws Hanson says have been
in use since she became a fisheries
employee 14 years ago.
There was standing room only in
the board room Thursday with about
25 members crowding inside and
more on the grounds. Many freely
gave their opinions from the floor.
Most speakers asked for rehiring
King, who was also present, as
fisheries manager. He had resigned
as a result of the pay dispute.
Ousted board members called
Saturday's meeting illegal as it
requires a two-thirds vote of the full
membership to unseat a board
member. Holthusen and board
member Larry good criticized the
three for not attending the meeting
and Hanson for posting signs that it
wouldn't be held.
As it was, about 80 members did
attend and voted for reinstatement of
King as manager at last year's salary
— about $80,000 with commission.
Johns, Beaulieu and Johnson, who
had proposed a salary cap of
$45,000 which King rejected, were
voted off the board. Holthusen and
Good asserted that a quorum was
present at the Saturday meeting.
Voted in were Frank Hill, Billie
May and Myron Kingbird. Only Hill
and May attended Thursday's
meeting and offered little to the
lively discussion. The "replaced'
members stayed at the table and
refused to recognize their dismissal.
Johns took a stand early for
another election, saying, "Let the
majority rule. The only thing that's
going to settle this is a special
election."
Both Good and Holthusen said the
petition was the voice of the
membership and they were being
Elections/ see page 2
BusineK Devettpme^L^n^SnS1 Waybenais police brutality case tried in Federal Court
According to information received
from the Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council, the Red Lake Tribal
Council currently has nearly
$80,000 of Indian Business Loan
Funds availabe for individual
business development. The RLTC
continues to be the only tribal
government in Minnesota that has
not made these funds available for
tribal members to start their own
businesses. The RLTC's exclusive
utilization of the funds for tribally
owned and operated businesses is
contrary to both the intent and spirit
of the statute setting up the loan
program. In addition, the RLTC only
allocates 5% of the funds for
utilization off the reservation, whereas
all other Minnesota tribes have
allocated 25%to off-reservation
funding. The only two loans made by
the RLTC are for a retail outlet at
Ponemah ($103,245) and for a wood
processing plant at Redby ($143,875).
Red Lake members should contact
their district representatives and/or
council officers for an explanation
of why they are excluded from the
Indian Business Loan Program.
On Monday, June 24, the civil
lawsuit of Darrell Waybenais against
the Bureau of Indian Affairs was
tried before Federal District Judge
Diana Murphy in U.S. District Court
in Minneapolis, Minn. Waybenais,
28, who is a Red Lake tribal
member, was shot twice by Red
Lake Reservation Police Captain
Gary Jourdain during an incident
that occurred on the reservation at
about 5:30 a.m. on July 17,1988. As
a result of the shooting, Waybenais
was left with permanent injuries that
severely limit his quality of life.
At the beginning of the trial. Judge
Murphy told the parties involved
that, since she was well aware of the
facts in the case, there was no need
to restate them at the trial. Both
parties agreed Attorney Romaine R.
Powell of Bemidji, Minn., who
represented Waybenais, called his
first witness.
According to trial testimony, the
incident occurred near Fuller's Lake
on the Red Lake Reservation after
Red Lake BIA police officers
responded to a call that someone
was shooting in that area. Within
minutes of the call, six Red Lake
police officers in four squad cars
arrived at the scene.
Red Lake police officers Delwyn
Dudley (lieutenant), Dwight
Bellenger, Ben Benson, Pat Mills
and Gary Jourdain (captain) testified
at the trial. Eckstrom, another police
officer who was at the scene, did not
testify during the trial. According to
the officers' testimony, when they
arrived at the scene they observed
the plaintiff, Darrell Waybenais,
near his home near Fuller's Lake
with a firearm in his possession. The
officers stated that the plaintiff
Waybenais/ see page 2
MN Indian Affairs
$383,783 in loans
By William Lawrence
Publisher
According to information obtained
pursuant to a Minnesota Data
Practices Act request, the Minnesota
Indian Affairs Council approved 10
Indian Business Development loans
in 1990 totalling $281,417 and 10
loans in 1991 totalling $102366. The
Indian Business Loan program,
which has been in operation since
1981, has now made a total of 71
loans totalling $1374,662.
The loan funds come from the 25
cents per acre taxation of severed
mineral interests held by individuals,
corporations and organizations in
Minnesota.
The legislation authorizing this
program is Minnesota Statute
116J.64, which was enacted into law
in 1979 by the state legislature.
Eligibility requirements for the
loans require that the applicant be 1/4
or more Indian and be an enrolled
member of a Minnesota band or tribe.
Eligible applicants include
individuals enrolled in the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, Red Lake and the
Sioux communities.
The loan program will fund up to
25 percent of the total project costs
provided that the applicant has 5
percent or more equity to insert into
the project, depending on the criteria
established by the tribal council
Council approved
during FY90 & 91
where applicant is enrolled.
All owners of the business venture
are required to be at least 1/4 Indian
and be enrolled members of a
Minnesota-based band or tribe; the
same rules apply for corporations.
Regular financial information,
including balance sheets, income and
expense projections, cash flow
statements, and good business plans,
must be documented. The business
must show a reasonable chance for
success.
Interest charges accrue at a rate of 2
percent and repayment of the loan
will be determined by an assessment
of the cash flow and the ability to
repay the loan. A portion of the
funding is reserved for businesses
located off-reservation. Each tribal
council decides on the amount
available for these businesses.
Applications are forwarded to the
appropriate tribal council for approval
or rejection. For more information
contact the Indian Affairs Council,
the tribal council where the applicant
is enrolled, or Charlotte M. White of
the Indian Affairs Council, 1819
Bemidji Avenue, Bemidji, Minn.
56601(218)755-3825.
The Ojibwe News has attempted to
obtain information on the status of the
the '71 loans, but the Minnesota
Indian Affairs Council submitted the
request to the Minnesota Attorney
General's Office for advice.
Chief Lyons share's his people's folklore and tradition
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Journalist Bill Moyers (above left) talks with Onondagan chief Oren Lyons (above right and far
left) about the past and the future of Native American peoples in Moyers/Oren Lyons the
Faithkeeper, premiering on PBS on July 3rd at 8 p.m. (check local listings). The Faithkeeper
of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation and a prominent member of the international
environmental movement, Lyons shares the stories, legends, and prophecies of his people in
this one-hour special.    Photo by John Dowling.
The legends, prophecies, and
wisdom that have for centuries
gUided Native Americans in the
Onondaga Nation and the effect that
Native American culture has had on
mainstream America are shared with
Bill Moyers by Chief Oren Lyons in
the upcoming hour-long special,
Moyers/Oren Lyons The
Faithkeeper. The interview premiers
on PBS on July 3rd at 8 p.m. (check
local listings).
Designated the Faithkeeper of the
Turtle Clan of the Onondaga
nation—one of six nations
comprising the Iroquois
Confederation—Lyons is entrusted
to pass on the traditions, legends,
and beliefs of his people for
generations to follow.
A belief that has endured through
the centuries is that nature and the
environment are sacred and must be
respected. In the broadcast, Lyons
stresses the importance of protecting
the cycle of life, for it is not certain
Folklore/see page 13