The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1991-11-20

              Planned opening of casino escalates dispute at White Earth
By Marilynn Wheeler
Associated Press Writer
White Earth, Minn. (AP) -
Darrell "Chip" Wadena drives a
four-wheel-drive pickup with
chrome bumpers, the equivalent of a
stretch limousine on the
impoverished Indian reservation he
heads.
Outside his tribal headquarters
stands a cluster of tents and tepees
built by dissidents who say Wadena
has rigged elections to cement his
control of the White Earth Indian
Reservation, and most of the
reservation's jobs.
The tribal leader and the tent
city's dissidents are the combatants
in a long-running conflict that
combines the well-worn issue of
fraud in Indian elections with the
powerful new lure of expected huge
profits from legalized gambling on
reservations.
Wadena says the dissidents are
sore losers who fear he will reap a
political bonanza from the benefits
of a $10 million casino opening this
winter on the northwest Minnesota
reservation, where only about one
in every 10 potential workers has a
job.
The dissidents and their advocates
say Wadena's real interests are
money and power, and that his
ironclad control over the tribe and
the casino is an open door to
corruption.
"It's the biggest license to steal
I've ever seen," said Miles Lord, a
former federal judge and Minnesota
attorney general who is the
dissidents' lawyer.
Wadena is in his 16th year as
chairman of the White Earth band
and 14th as president of the
Minnesota Chippewa tribe. It is a
discouraged band.
Eighty-six percent of the
reservation's 4,395 residents are
unemployed. Of the jobs that do
exist, one-third pay less than
$7,000 a year and three-fourths are
controlled by the tribal council.
Dissent, like unemployment and
poverty, is old news.
In 1988, the dissidents of Camp
Justice demonstrated unsuccessfully
for election reform and a
constitutional convention. In 1989,
they blocked the doors of tribal
headquarters, protesting a $6.6
million settlement made by Wadena
for land illegally taken from the
Indians in the early 1900s. Later that
year, a 68-year-old man fasted for
seven weeks demanding - again,
unsuccessfully - Wadena's removal
or resignation.
The latest protest began after the
sister of an impeached tribal
councilman admitted forging ballots
for tribal secretary-treasurer Jerry
Rawley, winner of a string of
disputed elections.
About 100 people took over tribal
offices on July 27, accusing their
leaders of election fraud, misusing
funds and giving organized crime a
stake in the reservation-owned
Shooting Star Casino. Twenty-six
were arrested for trespassing after
four days, and another 26 were
arrested in a second protest the
following week; the charges still are
pending.
"They keep having elections until
who they want wins," says dissident
leader Marvin Manypenny.
"(Wadena) owns the election
judges. They're appointed by the
Minnesota Chippewa tribe. The
election board is appointed by the
reservation tribal council. . • •
Where do you think their loyalties
lie?"
Wadena says the woman who
raised the charge of ballot fraud was
bitter that Rawley didn't try to save
her brother's job. He scoffs at
demands for a probe of tribal
elections - including one that
Wadena's son, Tony, won by 23
votes.
"I'm opposed to having another
Indian month gets two-year life
President Bush has signed a joint congressional resolution
proclaiming the month of November for 1991 and 1992 as National
American Indian Heritage Month. Supporters of the bill in both the
House and Senate fought to make the month a permanent designation
instead of for only two years. However, some House supporters wanted
additional Indian legislation attached to the resolution before agreeing
to a permanent designation. The compromise was the two-year
designation. See the Proclamation on page 12.
American Indian Dance Theatre to perform
The American Indian Dance Theatre, a renowned company of dancers
and musicians, will present a concert tonight, Nov. 20, at the Myles
Reif Performing Arts Center, Grand Rapids. The 7:30 p.m. performance
will feature traditional dances from many regions of the United States,
including ceremonial and seasonal dances, spiritual and social dances,
and dances offering individual expression. The dances are beautifully
staged, and include elaborate outfits. The company, featured in a
national public television "Great Performances" special, received a
Grammy Award nomination for its original cast recording. Cost of the
general admission tickets is $6 for adults and $4 for elders (60 and over)
and students. Children two and under will be admitted free-of-charge.
The company recently concluded a highly-successful run at the
Joyce Theatre in New York City. The music in the production includes
ancient songs passed down from generation to generation, from family
to family, as well as contemporary songs in the traditional style. Since
none of the music is written down, an older accomplished singer needs
to remember several hundred songs. These are sung in tribal languages
and many feature vocables. The drum is central to the dance,
accompanied by gourds, rattles and bells. The outfits worn by the
performers are made by each dancer or by members of their families.
Many of the pieces are handed down from father to son, from mother to
daughter. They are worn at ceremonials, festivals and pow wows. Ihe
outfits worn by company members are all authentic and were not
designed or conceived for this production. Company members are
expert silversmiths and mask carvers, and many are adept at creating
intricate beadwork and featherwork. Each outfit is designed to express
the individuality of the dancer but follows the tradition of each dance
and incorporates tribal patterns and colors.
Shooting Star to open Nov. 25
Officials at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen say their
temporary casino will open its doors on the 25th of November at 10
a.m. The temporary casino precedes a multi-million dollar casino,
equipped with lodging, restaurant, RV parking and dinner theatre, to
open in the spring of 1992. The temporary casino features eight
blackjack tables, 107 slot machines, a bar, and a cafe. 20 one dollar
machines, 19 nickel machines, and 68 quarter machines will be
available for play 24 hours a day. The cafe and bar areas will be open
from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. everyday. Approximately 80 people have been
hired to operate the temporary facility.
The opening of the temporary facility is pending a thorough
inspection of the slot machines by James Maida, who is President of
Gaming Laboratories, International, an independent testing laboratory
for video games of chance in Toms River, New Jersey. The State'of
Minnesota also completes random inspections of all Indian gaming
facilities in the state.
LIEC election results
Election results for the Local Indian Education Committee on Nov. 5
are as follows: Title V - Doris Vleck, and Ida Braveheart, 2 year terms,
Kathryn J. Beaulieu, 1 year term; Johnson CMalley - Beverly Warren,
Cheri Goodwin, and Muriel Litzau, 2 year terms; Joseph R. Johnson, 1
year term; Student Representative - Eddie Lone, 1 year term; Teacher
Representative - Lee Barcenas, 1 year term.
The American Cancer Society and
the American Lung Association are
joining the Minnesota D-Day effort
to encourage smokers to quit for at
least one day on D-Day, which will
be observed statewide Thursday,
November 21.
Last year, 18.9 million smokers
tried to quit for D-Day, and 7.4
million stayed off cigarettes for the
day, according to a Gallup survey,
an increase of 1 million people over
the previous year. Studies also show
that smokers need support from
family, friends, and co-workers, in
order to quit permanendy.
The American Cancer Society is
ready to help and is offering a
31-day calendar of tips for quitting,
starting with D-Day.
"The important thing to remember
is to take it one step at a time," said
Shirley Batchelder of the Beltrami
Unit of the American Cancer
Society. "That's why we offer a tip a
day, tailored to the holiday season."
investigation every time they come
and set up on my lawn," Wadena
says.
The situation is complicated by
the special legal status of Indian
tribal elections. The U.S. Supreme
Court has ruled that tribal
governments should control their
own internal affairs, which makes
them immune from state and
federal safeguards against election
fraud.
"White Earth is not unique," says
Erma Vizenor, another dissident
leader. "Throughout North Dakota,
you'll find election fraud. In
Montana, you'll find election fraud.
In every election, every reservation
is split"
"Where can we go?" Vizenor asks.
"Where there's money and power,
corruption follows. Where people
can never be voted out of office,
they build up their own little
regimes. We talk about democracy
in Russia . . . but let's analyze
what's happening to the Indians."
Lord, the dissidents* lawyer,
shares her frustration.
"Tribal sovereignty is working
against the average Indian," he says.
"It really amounts to
disenfranchising them."
Gambling supporters say
Minnesota's Indian casinos will
mean a new era of prosperity, the
"new buffalo" tribal, elders have
predicted for generations.
Wadena says his opponents want
to stop the casino because it will be
successful and strengthen his
standing.
"It means more jobs, more health
care, more education," he says. "As
a result, I get stronger because I've
done something positive."
But Lord says some may get rich
quick while others stay poor forever.
"It's my prediction that unless
something is done to stop the
corruption and perversion of
justice on Indian reservations,
Mafia-like characters will take
over all Indian gambling," he says.
"The people will be enslaved to
those who control gambling. The
money that comes in will be used to
buy elections. And reservations will
be run strictly as gambling
enterprises."
Thursday is D-Day
Here's a sample of the first day's tips:
• Throw out all cigarettes.
• Clean out all ashtrays in your
home, office, and car, and put
them away.
• Discard matches; give your
lighters to someone to hide.
• Keep busy.
• Hold a pencil or pen.
• Chew on carrot sticks or a sucker.
• Change your habits connected
with smoking.
• Leave the dinner table soon after
eating to avoid the desire to light up.
• When answering the phone, reach
for gum rather than a cigarette.
Smokers who want to quit can call
the American Cancer Society's
toll-free information line,
1-800-ACS-2345, to receive the tips.
A brochure, "How to Stay Quit Over
the Holidays," is also available.
Information on D-Day and help to
quit smoking is also available from
the American Lung Association of
Minnesota, 1-800-642-LUNG.
• Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1991
Reorganization
of the BIA is the
subject of
Anchorage
meeting
Quoting an ancient proverb "well
done is half the job," Department of
the Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan
Jr. told the Advisory Task Force on
the reorganization of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs at their Anchorage,
Alaska meeting that he was truly
encouraged with the results of their
efforts so far.
"In order to move ahead, I would
like to request from you that we
bring this process to some
conclusion. By conclusion, I don't
mean to make a report and -walk
away from it. . . . LjKSP'd ask,V~£^
all possible . . . that perhaps by the
end of the year we could have that
report (to send) to the Congress,"
Lujan told the 43-member group that
he named to the Task Force last
January.
Lujan told the Task Force
members that once their report was
completed, "you have your work cut
out for you because if we're going to
give advice, then we have to help
carry it out." He said that Interior
would need their help in revising
and updating the BIA Manual and
the Code of Federal Regulations and
in implementing the revised
organizational structure.... "so that
we can move forward on some of
those things that you all are talking
about. You also need to help us with
your continued involvement in our
economic development initiative."
The Interior Secretary was
addressing the Task Force at their
seventh meeting where several
representatives made presentations
for an "Ideal BIA Agency" and set
parameters for devtlopment of final
structures for aiea and agency
offices to be presmted at the next
Task Force meeting
Before the nexi meeting of the
Task Force, the budget Process
Work Group will neet with Office
of Management arj Budget (OMB)
officials to discus OMB concerns
about some of th budget reform
recommendationsnade by the Task
Force. The group ad recommended
in its April 30 sttus report to the
Congress and Seretary Lujan that
action should betaken to increase
tribal control ove BIA funding and
programs Improved
communicationa>etween the tribes
and the Burau for budget
formulation, iresentation and
implementaton was another
recommendatin. The Task Force
also requestedhe establishment of
tribal funding>ased on needs and
priorities rathcthan a historic base
in accordancwith. 28 principles
adopted at tl Phoenix meeting.
Specific recomendations were also
made for tlvFY 1993 and 1994
budget years.
The two mining meetings of the
year for the sk Force will be Nov.
20-21 in SaOiego, and Dec. 18-20
in Tampa.
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Land of the Eagle to run on PBS
Mfmm
'ftrntsM ; v,) zr*
Across the Sea of Grass, the series' fourth program, describes how
the nearly 25 million buffalo that once roamed the Great Plains of
North America were systematically destroyed for their hides by
Americans pushing west in the 1880s. This segment of Land of the
Eagle can be seen on Monday, November 25 from 8 to 9 pm on
either KTCA-TV Channel 2 out of Minneapolis or KAWE/KAWB-TV
Channel 9/22 out of Bemidji/Brainerd on PBS. The entire series will
be re-run a second time. On KTCA-TV on Thursday, November 28
from 9 to 5 pm or on KAWE/KAWB-TV on November 26 thru   FaflleQ/ epp nano ft
November 29 from noon to 2 pm each day. (Photo: F. Allan/ Animals ^***f ■**«» *>"" P«*ge o
Animals) •
The natural history of North
America tells a story as
wide-ranging and colorful as the
land itself. It's a story in which the
natural world and human history are
inextricably linked, a story of unique
wildlife and dramatic landscapes, a
story of Native Americans and new
Americans, of pioneers and
plunderers, of survivors and sinners.
Land of the Eagle, a new
eight-part series for PBS from
Thirteen/WNET, brings to television
the first comprehensive celebration
of the spectacular natural history of
our continent. Reflecting its
many-layered subject, the
lustily-photographed series examines
North America's natural world by
setting it against the dramatic story
of the early Europeans who
explored, settled, developed, shaped,
wounded, and protected the land -
and what their arrival meant for the
Native Americans who had also
been using and changing die land for
thousands of years.
A special presentation of "Nature,"
the popular series about the natural
world currently celebrating its 10th
year on public television. Land of
the Eagle premieres with two
hour-long episodes on Sunday, Nov.
24, from 7 to 9 pm. on PBS
(KTCA-TV Channel 2 in
Minneapolis or KAWE/KAWB-TV
Channel 9/22 in Bemidji/Brainerd).
The series continues Monday
through Wednesday, Nov. 25-27,
with two episodes airing each night
from 7 to 9 pm. On Thanksgiving
Day, Thursday, Nov. 28, Land of
the Eagle will be repeated in its
entirety, from 9 am. to 5 pm on
KTCA-TV Channel 2 in
Minneapolis or the series will be
re-run from noon to 2 pm. on
Tuesday, Nov. 26 thru Friday, Nov.
29 on KAWE/KAWB-TV Channel
9/22 in BemidJ^Brainerd.
Land of the Eagle is a
co-production of Thirteen/WNET
and BBC-TV. The series is hosted
and narrated by George Page, a
favorite of public television viewers
in his role as host and executive
editor of "Nature." "Nature" is
Average yield on Indian trust funds is 8.73%
Interest earnings of Bureau of
Indian Affairs' (BIA)
investment of Indian trust funds
in fiscal year 1990 increased in
almost every category and
resulted in an overall yield of
8.735 percent, earning more
than $175 million in interest,
and increasing the amount of
the fund to more than $2
billion.
The recently released activity
report of investment for FY'90
by the Office of Trust Funds
Management showed the
highest interest yield of 9.34%
was in the Papago Cooperative
Fund which earned $1.7 million
in interest, bringing the total of
the fund to $19 million. Second
in earnings, and the only other
category to have a return of
nine percent or more, was the
Power and Irrigation Category
which earned 9.14% for its $62
million account.
The largest account by far in
terms of dollars, the Tribal
Funds Account, earned 8.72%
in interest on investments of
$14 billion. The total funds
composed of 290 primary
accounts and approximately
1,800 subaccounts, ended FY'90
with a balance of almost $1.5
billion. The funds fit into two
categories, income from trust
resources or Proceeds of Labor
funds and funds paid as a result
of a claim against the United
States which are classfied simply
as Award funds. BIA does not
always have the flexibility of
long-term investment of these
funds since tribes must provide
instructions as to either the
general terms for investment or
specific investments to be made
on their behalf. If instructions are
not received, BIA assumes the
tribes may be anticipating
withdrawals and funds are kept in
cash accounts until instructions
are received. Total interest yield
in this fund fell from 9.902% in
FY 1989.
The second largest account of
Individual Indian Monies (IIM),
which has more than 288,000
individual accounts, increased its
interest yield from 8.532% in
FY'89 to 8.708% in FY'90. The
interest earned totaled more
than $40.4 million and the IIM
"account had a balance of
$482.1 million at the end of the
fiscal year. Most IIM funds are
pooled for investment purposes.
The BIA follows its own
discretion as to how this fund is
to be invested, needing only to
make sure that sufficient funds
are in cash on a daily basis to
support disbursements.
In the two remaining funds,
interest yield increased in one
and fell slightly in the other.
The Alaska Native Escrow
Fund, with a year-end balance
of $5.5 million, rose in yield
from 8.52 to 8.686%. This fund
was established as an outcome
of the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act to receive funds
related to land acquisition by
Native Corporations. Earnings
in the Contributed Funds
Category, three small funds
which are contributions in cash
to the United States basically
for the benefit of Indians,fell
slightly from 8.938% to 8.862%
in FY'90.