The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1992-06-19

              Camp Justice knocks white media coverage of last week's White Earth tribal elections
By Gary Blair
When Darrell "Chip" Wadena, the
newly re-elected Chairman of the
White Earth Indian Reservation,
made an appearance at his
Reservation's annual PowWow, he
received a message that he wasn't
welcome.
Apparently, Wadena drove past a
member of the "Camp Justice" group
and refused to look at what he was
handing to people as they arrived for
the mid-June celebration. Camp
Justice is a group of people actively
opposing Wadena.
One of the people who saw what
happened next gave the following
account. "I had just stopped laughing
at the picture of 'Chip' on the cover
of the informational packet that was
handed to me as I came in and there
he was. Then, it looked like
everyone watching the dancers held
up that picture at the same time."
The picture was of Wadena with
"Devil's horns" extending from the
top of his head. "When Chip saw
what they were holding up, he
turned around real fast and got the
hell out of there."
Wadena, who has never won an
election with the on-reservation vote
is accused by his opponents of using
fraudulent absentee ballots to hold
his position.
According to a sworn affidavit
from reservation enrollees Sue
Bellefeuille and Dennis Smith, they
helped Wadena and his Election
Judge, Carley Jasken, fix illegal
ballots to bring about their past
victories as well as those of other
candidates.
In Bellefeuill's affidavit she
claims that she told Jasken she did
not have time to run ail over
Minnesota to get requests for
absentee ballots for Jerry Rawley,
who is now the Reservation's
Secretary- treasurer.
She said that Jasken told her, "Just
fill out some yourself and ask me
how many I need." her statement
continues, "I thought 35 would be
enough. She brought me 35 requests,
ballots, envelopes, everything I
would need.
I explained to her I didn't know
everyone's exact birthdate or
address and that maybe I should take
a look at the enrollment book in her
office. Later that same day Jerry
Rawley came to me and said that he
heard I needed to see a book. He said
he had one at home I could use.
After I brought the book home I
saw so many more names of people I
know that never voted. I told this to
Jasken and she gave me 100 of
everything I would need. I explained
to her some were out-of-state names
and she said to make up phony
addresses for them; that no one
would ever check that out."
Bellefeuille then names two other
co-workers who came to her home to
help because she could not think up
100 names on her own. "When I
turned in the 135 ballots on election
day Jadken said that with the 400 I
gave Rawley, that should do it."
Bellefeuille worked in the
reservation's business office at the
time. She came forward with her
story shortly after her brother was
removed from the Reservation
Business Committee (RBC) after
being convicted of misusing
reservation funds.
In Dennis Smith's affidavit he
claims he worked recently for the
re-election of Wadena and recently
elected first term District III
representative, Paul "Poncho"
Williams.
He stated, "I received $600 for
campaigning in 1992." He also said
Wadena gave him money for gas
and that he had handed over
absentee ballots to Wadena that had
not been notarized.
He said this had taken place on
June 2nd or 3rd in front of the
Shooting Star Casino at Mahnomen.
He said that he worked on previous
campaigns for both Wadena and Jerry
Rawley and that he had received
checks from the RBC for work on
their campaigns.
Smith, who lives in Norcross,
Minnesota, apparently had a
falling-out with Wadena. It occurred
when Wadena refused to help
Smith's mother, who lives on the
reservation, repair her house. It was
then that he decided to come forward
with his story.
With all the local media that has
been swarming around the White
Earch Reservation trying to get a fix
on the controversy, it seems none
have tried to leam anything about the
people who live there.
As the members of "Camp Justice"
who took the ballot boxes with the
ballots in them, ate a quick lunch at a
resort on White Earth Lake, they
talked openly and with humor about
why they decided to take those boxes
and how they went about it.
One of the men who did not want
his name revealed said, "With all the
time the media has spent here they
still haven't learned anything about
Indians, and it looks like they don't
want to learn anything either. They
don't even realize that the world for
the Indian is much different than their
world. Voting to them means
freedom; taking a ballot box is
unthinkable. They never stop to
realize that we did a lot of thinking
and that we had legal council before
we ever decided to take those boxes."
"We are hoping 'Chippy' tries to
have us arrested. The election
ordinance for the reservation doesn't
cover anything about someone who
removes ballot boxes. We didn't
Wadena issues press release
June 17,1992
White Earth Tribal Council
White Earth, MN
Officials of the White Earth
Reservation Tribal Council met with
Bureau of Indians Affairs (BIA) Area
Director Earl Barlow on Tuesday to
review a number of tribal matters.
Included in the discussions was the
June 9, tribal election held on the
White Earth Reservation.
According to RTC members
present, Barlow advised tribal leaders
that the BIA will not be interfering in
the election results. Camp Justice
protesters announced that they would
circulate a petition seeking a
thousand signatures in hopes of
getting the BIA to invalidate last
week's election results.
"Mr. Barlow told us that the BIA
would not interfere in a Minnesota
Chippewa Tribal election," said RTC
Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena.
"The BIA plays no role in our tribal
elections, so the petition effort
announced yesterday is moot. Each
reservation has a General Election
Board that certifies its own
elections," Wadena explained.
On another matter related to the
election, Wadena indicated that
election officals had informed him
that John Buckanaga and Lowell
Bellanger, two opposition candidates
for tribal chairman who dropped out
of the race prior to the election, had
filed offical protests on the June 9th
election.
"I find that bizarre," Wadena said,
"especially since they dropped out of
the race. Under tribal election laws,
only candidates can file protests on
the results of the tribal election. Are
they now trying to say that they've
changed their minds again and
consider themselves candidates,"
Wadena asked.
"By entering officials protests they
are saying, in effect, that our
elections process was valid and they
want another shot at running against
me. If it ever came to that," Wadena
said, "I would welcome the
opportunity to defeat them again.
'Hopefully the next time they would
stick in the race without getting last
minute cold feet in anticipation of the
terrible humiliation and rejection they
were going to experience at the ballot
box," Wadena said.
Wadena reiterated that he has been
in contact with the U.S. Department
of Justice in Washington, D.C. and
state officials regarding possible
prosecution of individuals who stole
the contents of two ballot boxes
during last week's elections.
"If Becker County law enforcement
decided not to prosecute the guilty
parties, then the RTC will ask
Minnesota state officials to
intercede," Wadena said.
The RTC is also considering filing
a malfeasance action against Becker
County officals if they choose not to
prsecute. Wadena indicated that the
RTC is still awaiting answers from,
the U.S. Department of Justice on a\
determination of whether the stealing
of uncounted votes in the two ballots
boxes constituted a civil rights
violation against those White Earth
Reservation members who had
already cast their election ballots.
Fortune Bay Casino under investigation
According to information obtained
from several sources, the Press
learned that the FBI and the
Minnesota Gambling Enforcement
Bureau has undertaken recent
investigations into the past operations
of the Fortune Bay Casino. The FBI
and state investigations are apparendy
aimed at determining whether the
casino has been operated in violation
of the federal Gaming Act and state
gaming laws. The investigations
follow prior tribal investigations
which resulted in the termination of
former president of the corporation
that runs the casino, Cyril Kauchick.
Kauchick, a former Orr
schoolteacher, is a well-known tribal
lobbyist in St. Paul and helped
develop Fortune Bay as a tribal
economic development tool in the
1980's.
Documents show that the
corporation bylaws were written by
Kauchick's partner in the leasing
company, attorney Kent Tupper. At
the time, Tupper was the band
attorney who then became the
corporation attorney and a member
ofthe corporation board.
In 1989, while Tupper held those
three positions and Kauchick was
corporation president, casino general
manager and band's gambling
lobbyist, the two men established
Creative Games Technologies, Inc.
with at least four out-of-state
investors. Tupper men resigned from
the corporation board, but both men
retained their other positions as they
negotiated various contracts with
their new business.
Early this year, Bois Forte
investigators found serious
irregularities in the contracts.
Ex-Fond du Lac employee accused of embezzlement
A former Fond du Lac Reservation
employee was indicted Wednesday on
charges of embezzling an estimated
$53,000 from the band over a
16-month period.
Roger Harper, 57, of Cass Lake, is
charged with one count of theft from
the band government and one count of
theft from its gambling enterprise in
Cloquet. Each count carries a
maximum penalty of 10 years in prison
or a $250,000 fine, or bom.
Harper was a nine-year employee at
Fond du Lac, where he served as
accountant for Fond du Lac enterprises
and later as gaming director until the
council fired him in July after learning
he had taken money. He apparently
issued checks to himself from the
tribe's accounts, later depositing the
money into his personal bank account,
according to a press release of U.S.
Attorney Tom Heffelfinger.
Fond du Lac Chairman Robert
"Sonny" Peacock said after Harper's
dismissal that the staff was in shock
because Harper was "a trusted
employee who had never done
anything wrong." He said Harper
admitted taking money when the
council confronted him with
evidence, and the council then called
the police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol
Needles said Harper's initial
appearance is set for Monday in
federal court in Duluth. FBI special
agent Bob Harvey said Harper is not
in custody, but agreed Wednesday to
come to court voluntarily.
(Reprinted with the permission of
the Duluth News-Tribune)
stop anyone from voting, and we
haven't destroyed the ballots. At the
places we took the boxes from no
one lifted a hand to stop us and we
didn't harm anyone.
"It seems the people watching the
polls were glad we did it. Right now
most of the media wants the
advertising dollars from the
Shooting Star Casino, sepecially the
Detroit Lakes paper, and they don't
care about illegal elections or Indian
treaties or stolen land. They're only
interested in quieting things down so
the 'Whiteman' can get what he
wants."
Another man at the table then
spoke up. He said, "Just tell them
that the boxes are on the reservation
with the ballots still in them."
Erma Vizenor, who heads-up the
Camp Justice group, added, " Do
you know that every one of the
media that called here before the
elcetion wanted to know if there was
going to be violence. They
repeatedly asked,'do you think there
will be violence" Ae you going to
restrain people from voting?"'
She continued, "This is what they
think of Indians and these are racist
stereotypes. Why would we want to
hurt are own people? We are trying
to build unity. Violence is the last
thing we want.
She added, " This year Camp
Justice didn't support any
candidates. If we would have done
that, it would have been just the
same as saying that there might be a
chance that the election was no
fraudulent."
The Detroit Lakes paper reported
that Wadena "captured" 803 votes.
with 449 by absentee ballots, that
was even without the, missing
ballots. His closest challenger, John
Buckanaga of Ponsford, received 90
votes. How did they conclude
Buckanaga only received 90 votes
-when no one knows just how many
he would have received in the
missing Ponsford ballot box.
The Detroit Lakes paper made no
mention of the fact that Buckanaga
had dropped out of the race for
chairman just before the election.
However, they did report that the
voter turnout was considerably less
than previous years. For example,
the polling place at the community
of White Earth usually has close to
500 voters and the Detroit Lakes
paper reported that the records
showed only 84 people voted that
day.
By and For the Native American Community
f
e«
Native
American
Press
We support Equal Opportunity For All People
A Weekly Publication
Founded in 1991
Volume 2 Issue 6
June 19, i992
Copyright, The Native American Press, 1992
Over Five hundred dancers attended the 124th Annual Tradtional Pow wow at White Earth. Dancers make
their way into the arena during grand entry as Eyabay Singers from Red Lake, host drum, renders the song.
Program provides employment in Bemidji area for native Ojibwe youth through MNDOT
By Larry Adams
The Minnesota Department of
Transportation (MNDOT) has hired
six area native Ojibwe youths for
summertime employment.
The youths were hired as a result
of Governor Carlson's Employment
Initiative program. The program
has hired 300 temporary summer
youths with surplus revenue from
this year's budget.
Lucy Arias, Herb Beaulieu,
Verdell Beaulieu, Franklin Gurno,
Melvin Jones and Brett Nevitt are
the youths that were hired for the
summer in Bemidji.
The program started on June 8th,
however, some of the crew started a
little later, said Chris Johnson,
personnel manager at the Bemidji
MNDOT.
"We just hope this is a way of
getting them into the system," said
Johnson. The program gives the
youth work experience, civil
service employment and as
laborers.
Starting wages for the workers
begin at $9.45 an hour. The
program will wind up on Labor Day
weekend as will the workers.
Nevitt, along with Gurno and
Herb Beaulieu, comprise part of the
highway maintenence crew. The
crew is supervised by highway
maintenance supervisor, Joe
McKinnon.
The crew starts work every day at
"6:55," said Nevitt. Gurno
commutes from his hometown of
Red Lake every day. Beaulieu and
Nevitt, also from Red Lake, live
and work in Bemidji. Nevitt has
been going to the Bemidji
Technical College for highway
maintenance. Gurno has been going
to the Detroit Lakes Technical
College for highway maintenance.
Beaulieu went through the highway
maintenence program offered by
the Bemidji Technical (College and
the Bemidji Opportunity
Industrialization Center (OIC)
through the Bemidji Area Indian
Employment Council.
All three like their job. Nevitt
particularly likes his job because
he "likes the hours, the people at
work seem OK, we get along." He
also said that it gives him a chance
to get outside, which he enjoys.
Gurno is going to "pay bills,"
while Beaulieu and Nevitt are
going to invest in transportation.
The job takes them to
surrounding communities like
Bagley, Cass Lake, Red Lake and
Itasca State Park. The maintenance
crew plants trees, uses brush
cutters and waters plants, among
other jobs. "I just broke [up] a
beaver dam this morning," said
Gumo.
Future plans for Nevitt include
finishing school at Bemidji Tech,
Gurno plans finish school as well
as look for work in Bemidji.
Beaulieu plans to go to school to
learn guitar and music theory as
well as forming a musical band.
Verdell Beaulieu works in the
signs department and spends his
time maintaining road signs.
Melvin Jones works on the bridges
crew, doing routine maintenence
and inspection on bridges in the
northwestern part of Minnesota.
Both men were not in the office, so
comments from either of them
were unavailable.
Lucy Arias lives in the Bemidji
area and her mother is originally
from White Earth, while her dad is
from Montana.
Arias is working with a grant
from the federal government to
install new railroad signs. She is
ensuring that the distance of the
signs are in compliance with state
guidelines. She then documents the
measurements on forms for future
reference.
Lucy has always "had an interest
in math and science in high school,
nowadays, it's important to get an
education and take advantage [so]
that you can go to school," said
Arias.
She feels that this job is good,
"it will look good on my resume
and and it goes along with my
major," said Arias
Arias is in her third year at
Moorhead State University in civil
engineering. She plans to attend
the University of Minnesota in
Minneapolis or the Univesity of
Wisconsin because "those two
schools have the programs" she
needs.
She plans to go into water
management and " I want to be an
environmental engineer.
Hopefully, I'll probably work for
the government or I could work for
private companies to make sure
that all of their equipment is up to
standards," Arias said
Her educational goals coincide
with her personal goals in life.
Arias feels that "The environment
is important, hopefully, I'll be able
to make a contribution," said
Arias.
There is an Indian support group
at the MNDOT office, said Jerry
Dalton, an automobile mechanic
there.
"We take  care of each other in
meetings, this summer is good for
these guys, they need[ to have]
steady jobs," said Dalton.
Frank Bibeau said that the
resource group is going to district
two of the MNDOT in St. Paul to
see if they want to start a group
there and to discuss fair working
environment conditions for Blacks,
Hispanics, Asians and "Indians."
The first "statewide group started
here," Bibeau said. Five years ago,
there were only 3 "Indians" at
MNDOT.
There's 12 to 15 workers now
and they are "spread out" in this
area, said Bibeau.
"The important thing is [that]
they talk and get involved," Dalton
said, referring to Native employees
of MNDOT. He feels that "I want
it different" [for my kids and
family.]
"The hardest thing to do is to get
these guys to open up, unless they
have someone they can contact. It
makes me feel good to see these
young guys," said Dalton.