The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1992-02-21

              ■  .   : .-■-' .-: ^    :■ P«
Kent Tupper admonished, he waited too long to inform his clients
By Susan Stanich
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
attorney Kent Tupper has been
admonished for unprofessional
conduct by the state board that
governs ethical conduct.
An admonishment is the lightest
form of discipline the Lawyers
Professional Ethics Board issues.
William Wernz, director of the
ethics office, wrote last month that
Tupper failed to disclose to his clients
his involvement in a private company,
Creative Games Technology Inc.,
which leases video gambling
machines on Minnesota reservations.
Wernz characterized Tupper's
action as an isolated and non-serious
violation of the rule governing
conflict of interest.
In 1989, two of Tupper's tribal
clients, the Grand Portage and Bois
Forte bands, paid him to negotiate
gambling agreements with the state
of Minnesota. The state-tribal
compacts would allow the bands to
use video gambling machines in
their casinos.
Tupper's firm was established a
month before the negotiations. The
firm wouldn't have been able to lease
the machines if the compacts weren't
completed. Tupper didn't disclose his
business arrangements to band
officials until after the compacts were
completed, Wernz wrote.
Tupper billed Grand Portage and
Bois Forte more than $4,500 in legal
fees during the two months of
negotiations. He also billed Grand
Portage for several hours spent
preparing a license for the company
from which Tupper's firm bought
the gambling machines; an
ordinance for video gambling; a
resolution to approve the state-tribal
compact; and a license for gaming
employees, Wernz said.
At the time, Tupper was attorney
for both bands, and also was
attorney, chief executive officer and
19 percent shareholder in Creative
Games. Tupper's law office and
Creative Games shared the same
rooms and the same secretary,
Wernz wrote.
- Wernz wrote that he found no
evidence of "self-dealing," or
evidence that Tupper's negotiations
had materially changed the resulting
tribal-state compacts. All Chippewa
and Sioux bands in the state have
"essentially identical" compacts, he
wrote. Nevertheless, Tupper's
failure to notify the citizens of a
situation that might affect the
outcome of the compacts constituted
a violation, he wrote.
Former Minnesota Supreme Court
Justice Peter Popovich, now attorney
for Creative Games, said the ruling
is appropriate because Tupper's fault
was only that he had waited too long
to inform his clients.
"He's a good man," Popovich said.
"I'm very impressed with him, and
you can quote me on that. I'm
impressed with him as an individual
and impressed with his honesty and
integrity."
The 11-month investigation was
prompted last year, when three tribal
members from Grand Portage, Bois
Forte, and the tribe's White Earth
reservation asked the board to look
into what they regarded as Tupper's
conflict of interest.
When the ethics office decides to
investigate a complaint, it could
decide to dismiss it as unwarranted,
said Betty Shaw, senior assistant
director of the ethics board.
If it finds a complaint is warranted,
the discipline could be admonishment,
probation, suspension of license, or
disbarment, depending on the severity
of the offense, Shaw said.
Of the 1,384 complaints received
by the board in 1990, 76 percent
were dismissed, 9 percent were
admonished, 2 percent were placed
on private probation, with the rest
being handled by the state Supreme
Court as public reprimands,
probations, suspension, and
disbarment.
There are  17,000 licensed
attorneys in Minnesota, Shaw said.
[Reprinted with permission from
the Duluth News-Tribune, February
14,1992.]
By and for the Native American Community
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American
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Copyright The native American Press, 1992
Founded In 1991
Volume 1 Issue 12
February 21,1992
Casinos doing well! Minnesota ranks third in casino revenues
Welcome to the midwest's Las
Vegas, Indian casinos in Minnesota.
No kidding, Minnesota ranks third in
gaming revenues just behind Nevada
and New Jersey. Gambling in
Indian country is growing and
growing and growing. In Redwood
Falls casino owners have asked the
city fathers to lengthen the airport
runway about 2,000 feet to
accomodate jets. Small air-craft
landings have doubled, and business
continues to grow rapidly. People
are coming from all over the United
States to the Lower Sioux's Jackpot
Junction. Other reservations are
somewhat behind that most rapid
pace, but all casinos are reporting
growth at an accelerated rate.
Motels, restaurants, and casinos are
being built as we speak.
A series of federal decisions have
created hugely profitable casino
gambling on land that sovereign
Indian nations own, and Native
Americans - who have long-suffered
from poverty - are now in the
unique position of managing this
monopoly. Below is a listing of each
reservation and its casinos.
• White Earth - currently operates
the Golden Eagle Bingo Lodge at
White Earth (200 seats) and the
Shooting Star Casino at Mahnomen,
a temporary facility opened in Nov.,
1991, (over 200 video gambling
machines including slots and keno;
12 blackjack tables); the permanent
casino set to open in May will have
750 video slots, and a keno pit.
• Bois Forte - currently operates
Fortune Bay Casino at Tower (200
video gambling machines; 15
blackjack tables; high stakes bingo;
pulltab); plans to add 300-500
additional gaming machines and 30
blackjack tables.
• Fond du Lac - currently operates
the Big Bucks Bingo and Casino at
Cloquet (500 seats and 82 video
machines) and Fond du Luth at
Duluth (75 slot machines; pulltab;
bingo); plans to open a Casino at
Cloquet in July, 1992, with 1,000
video slot machines; up to 25
blackjack tables
• Leech Lake - currently operates
Northern Lights Casino at Walker
(300 video slots; 8 blackjack tables;
pulltab) and the Palace and Casino at
Cass Lake (800 seats; 200 video
slots; 12 blackjack tables; pulltab);
Northern Lights plans to build a new
Casino on the same site at Walker to
be open May, 1993 with 700 video
machines; 30 blackjack tables;
Palace Casino plans to add 150 slots
and maybe 10 more blackjack tables.
• Mille Lacs - currently operates the
Grand Casino at Garrison (700 video
slot machines; 40 blackjack tables;
high-stakes bingo); plans to add 250
video slots and build a Grand Casino
at Hinckley to be open in May, 1992
with 60 blackjack tables;
1,000-1,500 video slots; 100-150
seat keno hall; 500-seat bingo hall.
• Red Lake - currently operates a
Bingo hall in Humanities Center at
Red Lake (400 seats); and has a
Casino at Warroad (150 video slot
machines).
• Grand Portage - currently operates
the Grand Portage Casino at Grand
Portage (6 blackjack tables; 159
video slot machines; pulltab; bingo).
• Lower Sioux - currently operates
Jackpot Junction at Redwood Falls
(700+ video gambling machines; 40
blackjack tables; live keno; high-
stakes bingo; pulltab; lottery); plans
to add 400 slots; 20 blackjack tables.
• Upper Sioux - currently operates
Fire Fly Creek Casino at Granite
Falls (114 video slots; 9 blackjack
tables; pulltab); plans to add 136
slots; 11 blackjack tables; bingo.
• Prairie Island - currently operates
Treasure Island at Red Wing (600+
video machines; 35 blackjack tables;
high-stakes bingo; pulltab).
• Shakopee-Mdewankanton -
currently operates Little 6 Casino
and Bingo Hall at Prior Lake (450+
video slots; 42 blackjack tables;
bingo (1000 seats); pulltab); plans to
add 1,000 video slots; 80-100
blackjack tables; bingo hall (1000
seats).
Over half of the 23 Indian gaming
operations in the U.S. are located on
Minnesota's 11 reservations. The 13
casinos account for $900 million in
gambling revenues, and most have
developed from modest bingo halls
into grand establishments offering:
 \
Minnesota Indian Reservations
and major population centers
live blackjack tables; video slots,
including poker and keno; full
service restaurants, and big-screen
television for sports events; long
hours; hotels, RV parks, and/or
motels; and museum and gift shops.
Something for everybody, with
millions of dollars flowing through
these self-regulated, establishments.
Nobody knows the total profits.
The current casino operations are
loosely supervised by the Minnesota
Department of Public Safety, a
4-person staff which checks to see
that games pay out 80 to 98 percent
of their take, as required by state
pacts; does background checks of
employees; and monitors testing of
gaming equipment. They have yet to
turn up illegal gaming activity, but
they have found problems in
accounting and misuse of proceeds.
Casinos are required to have an
annual independent audit.
One $5,000 video slot machine
generates $25,000 revenues in
Nevada, and $80,000 in Atlantic city
and more than that on Indian
reservations in Minnesota according
to Bill Thompson, professor of
management at the University of
Nevada.
Grand Casino in Mille Lacs,
owned by the Chippewa Band of
Mille Lacs, is one of the biggest
casinos in Minnesota. Between April
and July of last year, Grand Casino
generated $13.4 million in revenues
and $6 million in profits. In
November, Grand Casino opened a
10,000-square-foot expansion. For
the 3-month period before this larger
operation, Grand Casino netted
about $4 million in profits, and it is
projected that revenues for 1991
were over $40 million with profits of
about 33 percent or over $13
million. They plan to open a second
facility at Hinckley between Duluth
and the Twin Cities this spring.
The Little Six Casino, owned by
the members of the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux band at Prior
Lake, generates an income of about
$15 million or over $4,000 per
month for each of them and a
college fund for those who wish to
use it.
Many tribes have staked their
futures on gambling, but the
legislature is likely to loosen the grip
Indians have on casino-style
gambling allowing non-Indian
competition. The tribes have a head
start, and the ones that diversify
have the best chance of success. Of
the 11 operations, Grand Casino and
Little Six have perhaps the best
chance of remaining profitable, they
both started early, they both have a
good locations (on well-travelled
vacation-oriented roads), and both
have hired good managers for their
operations.
The governor, attorney general,
and several legislative leaders have
placed a one-year moratorium on
expanding gambling in Minnesota,
and there is pressure to allow
non-Indian video machines, and to
hook video machines to the state
gaming authority's central computer
for regulatory state-control.
Legislators grumble that the tribes
don't pay corporate tax on the
profits they generate, although the
added income generates personal
income tax revenue for Minnesota
and the welfare costs are reduced
when unemployment decreases.
Extended Care Facility faces financial uncerainty
Unless the Red Lake Tribal Council
finds an alternative source of funding,
the Jourdain/Perpich Extended Care
Facility faces a financial crisis that
will be set into motion January 1,
1993, and could lead to its eventual
closing.
Operational monies for the
Jourdain/Perpich Extended Care
Facility will come up short unless
more funding is provided by the
Minnesota legislature this session,
according to AI Rasmussen at the
Department of Human Services'
Reimbursement Division.
"When the cash flow stops, and
routine limits are imposed through the
Medicaid program, the nursing home
will not have the money to make
payroll," he said.
The Nursing Home, situated on the
Red Lake Reservaiton, opened in 1989
and is the first tribal-owned and
operated nursing home in the state. It
is funded by both the Federal
government and the State of
Minnesota. During the past two years,
the Federal government has paid 53
percent of the operating costs with the
state paying the remaining 47 percent.
Due to a three-year exemption which
is allowed new health-care facilities,
the nursing home has not yet had
routine limits put on the amount of
funding it can receive from federal
Medicaid funds. But next January,
when the routine Medicaid limits are
no longer waived, the amount of
Medicaid will be reduced by about 35
percent and the difference will have to
be made up somehow.
"The Federal Goverment will send a
letter to the state saying that under
Federal Law, you are limited as to the
amount of money you can use to
finance this facility," Rasmussen said.
The result will be an estimated
"deficit of about $350,000 during the
1992-93 bienium, and a continuing
deficit of approximately $1.5 million
during each bienium thereafter,"
according to Duane Cooney, Director
of the Remimbursement Divsion at
Human Services in a November 1989
memo to Deputy Commissioner
Chuck Schultz.
The whole situation is a political
bombshell, said Rasmussen. For two
years, the state has been paying
$940,000 for the operation of the
nursing home while the state should
not be paying anything. The
legislature hasn't been keeping tabs on
the total amount expended, he said.
The tribe would have to come to the
legislature this session in order to get
an appropriation for next year.
So far, no one (from the legislature)
has come to Rasmussen asking for the
financial figures on the nursing home,
he said.
Harry Davis, administrator of the
nursing home, said he is not sure what
tribal health director, Oran Beaulieu, is
doing about the situation.
"I know that he has talked to some
Senators about it, and I think that was
the reason for the meeting he had with
Senator Wellstone last summer, but I
don't know anything more than that,"
Davis said.
The Press was unable to reach
Beaulieu for comment and was told
that John Berquist, controller, does not
work there any longer.
Rasmussen said there are many
possible scenarios for what could
happen should the facility fail to come
up with the money.
"They may have to shut down, move
the patients somewhere else, or maybe
the state will take it over," he said,
adding that he seriously doubts the
state will want to run a tribal nursing
home in these financially difficult
times. If the legislature does decides to
appropriate funds for the operation of
the facility, it would cost the state
$1.3 million per year (based on current
costs) to keep it running.
The immediate difference in funding
would mean the nursing home would
receive about $90 per patient/per day
for operational costs instead of the
approximate $160 per patient/per day
costs it currendy receives.
"You're talking about $55,000 to
$60,000 less per month, and I would
predict that by the end of the first
month they will have trouble paying
salaries," Rasmussen said.
In the original agreement, the state
loaned $5 million to the tribe for the
building of the facility on the
condition that the nursing home
become linked to the Indian Health
Service Hospital in Red Lake. But the
IHS never approved the agreement
drawn up by Monte Hammitt, former
tribal health director, and Roger
Jourdain, former tribal chairman. The
legislature did not wait for approval by
the IHS, they allowed the facility to be
built with state money, and the state
has had to pay for it ever since,
Rasmussen said.
The idea was that the Indian Health
Service would have paid 100 percent
of the necessary operational costs,
though it is doubtful that the IHS
would have approved the agreement,
considering it does not receive federal
money to pay for nursing homes. "All
along I've been asking, where the Hell
is that agreement," Rasmussen said.
The nursing home is the first Indian
run nursing home in the state offering
a culturally sensitive, familiar
environment to aging and ailing tribal
members. Tribal members, especially
those that live there, have a lot to lose
if the nursing home is forced to shut
its doors. Earlier this month, it was
the interest of the main stream media
for its unique qualities. In fact, a
Duluth News-Tribune article reported
that other tribes have looked it as a
kind of model of health-care for tribes.
But the numbers are working against
it. Operational costs are currently
based a projected 90 percent capacity.
The last time the News checked,
capacity was at 60 percent. The lower
the capacity, the more funding that is
needed to run the nursing home.
If alternative funding is not found
for its operation, the building would
revert to the state, according to the
provisions of the tease.
Pembroke State University mascot
and toy tomahawks get the ax
Pembroke, N.C. (AP) - Saying
he was worried about offending
American Indians, the chancellor of
Pembroke State University, home of
the Braves, has given the ax to the
school's costumed mascot and 1,200
toy tomahawks.
Chancellor Joseph Oxendine said
he was watching the school's
basketball team at a game last week
and was surprised to see a caricature
of an Indian brave on the sidelines.
It was the school's unofficial
mascot, in an old costume
apparendy resurrected by a student.
"This person was dressed in full
Indian regalia, with a mask-type
face which was quite large and, I
thought, unattractive," Oxendine
told The News & Observer of
Raleigh. "That individual was
behaving the way mascots behave:
running around doing some funny
things and doing some 'Indian'
dances on the floor.
"I felt a little uneasy about it. That
thing is kind of hideous and it is not
the image we ought to be projecting
of American Indians."
After the game, Oxendine said he
talked with the school's athletic
director.
He discovered that the athletic
director had ordered toy tomahawks
to be sold at this weekend's
homecoming game as a way to raise
funds.
The tomahawks have been popular
favors among fans of other teams,
like the Florida State Seminoles, the
Atlanta Braves and the Washington
Redskins.
Oxendine said he discouraged the
sale of the toy hatchets.
"I feel we can't be in the business
of promoting something that
alienates a group of people or is
offensive to any group."
The mascot and the tomahawks
surfaced during a time when
Pembroke has been redesigning its
logo, a drawing of a whooping
Indian with a hatchet in his hand.
Located in Robeson County,
where the population is one-third
Indian, the college was begun in
1887 as a place to train teachers for
Indian children, who were barred
from public schools.
The school later became a
four-year college, part of the state
university system, and now has
about 3,000 students, a fourth of
whom are of Indian heritage. None
of them had complained about the
mascot, the chancellor said.
Brian Freeman, president of the
student senate, said he could
understand how Indians could be
offended by the bouncing brave,
with its giant head and made-up
dance. But he said the Pembroke
was proud of its Indian heritage, and
that he and other students hoped the
school could come up with a
variation of the mascot that wouldn't
be offensive.
"Someone suggested having a real,
live. Native American portray our
mascot," he said. "They could do a
traditional dance, maybe perform
some Native American music at
halftime."
"That would satisfy our need for a
mascot and maybe expose schools
that we compete with to our history.
I think the brave is a great symbol
for the university. Deciding how it
should be portrayed is the hard
part."
Attend Your Precinct Caucus!
March 3rd at 7:30 p.m.