The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1992-08-21

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The MIAC conducts hearings on urban "Indian" issues at Minneapolis AIC
By Gary Blair
On Wednesday, the Minnesota
indian Affairs Council (MIAC)
conducted hearings at the
Minneapolis American Indian Center.
MIAC is the official liaison between
state and tribal governments and
advisor to the state on urban Indian
issues and concerns. It is funded by
the state of Minnesota.
The purpose of the hearings was to
gather information on issues effecting
American Indians living in
Minneapolis and then make
recommendations to the full body of
the Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council.
Joann Stately, Valerie Sheehan and
Roy Roberts conducted the hearing
for the council. Roger Head,
Executive Director for MIAC was not
present for the meeting, nor were any
tribal officials.
The meeting was opened by Sharon
Enjady, who offered a prayer in the
Ojibway language. Out of a group of
less than twenty people who attended,
approximately half gave testimony.
The meeting was unrecorded and
lasted a little over 3 hours.
The panel heard testimony that
covered numerous issues affecting
urban Indians, some of the most
startling testimony came from Carrie
Day and Judy Olson of the Leech
Lake Urban Office located in the
Phillips Neighborhood of south
Minneapolis.
Olson, who is an administrative
assistant, said,"In the four months
that the office has been open they
have dealt with 240 clients. Of that
number, 200 were non-Leech Lake
members who had an emergency.
Carrie Day, Director of the Leech
Lake office, followed Olson's
testimony. She said, "Seventy percent
of the people we can't serve. Of the
people who are working and apply
for loans, only ten percent qualify."
She added, "We serve anyone that
comes in but we can only offer
financial services to Leech Lake
members. We make referrals for the
others. We have exhausted resources
from the different agencies and the
people have larger types of
problems. Most have money for rent
but not for the deposit. Fifty percent
of the people are students."
Gordon Thayer testified about the
American Indian homeless problem.
He said, "We have an American
Indian population of 12,036 in the
Twin Cities according to the latest
census, and it's estimated that ten
percent are homeless.
Thayer continued, "There is a
vacuum for Indian people in
housing. We need monetary efforts
and we need to develop housing.
Most of our homeless are chronic
alcoholics but, at present, the only
wet/dry house is located on the near
northside of Minneapolis and many
of our Indian homeless prefer to use
the detox on the southside of
Minneapolis as their form of a
homeless shelter." He concluded by
saying, "We need tribal support."
Thayer is involved with the Indian
Task Force on Homelessness. He
also said he was returning to his
reservation in Wisonsin in
September to take a seat on the tribal
council.
Nellie Long testified about the
Hennepin County court system and
their refusal to follow the guidelines
for the Indian Child Welfare Act.
She said, "The tribes will have to
show concern before there will be
any changes. Right now, the
judgesplace Indian children
wherever they please."
Sharon Enjady's testimony gave
an even closer look at the abuse of
the Hennepin county court system!
She said, "Even the director of the
Hennepin County Welfare
Department admits that most of the
neglect cases involving Indian
families have to do with the parents
not being able to provide for their
children."
She told the panel, "The welfare
department is reimbursed by the
government for out-of-home
placements and not for providing
services to families."
When people from the Red Lake
reservation gave testimony, they
were informed by Joann Stately that
the Red Lake reservation has chosen
not to be part of the MIAC, but they
were welcome to speak.
Francis Fairbanks, Director of the
Minneapolis American Indian
Center, also had concern about the
abuse of the Indian Child Welfare
Act. She testified that the center
serves over 10,000 people a year and
that she has been with the center for
17 years. She said, "We really try
and I am proud of that."
Wilma Morrison reported to the
MIAC group on the problems of
enrollment, establishing paternity
and collecting support for children
when one parent lives on a
reservation such as Red Lake. She
said, "My children are full-blooded
Indians but because of the way
Indians are enrolled, my children
can't get enrolled any place. If you
have a mixture of Indian blood
from different tribes or you come
from different states and your
blood quantum is not half from
any one group, such as the
situation with my family, then
your children can't get enrolled."
She continued, "State courts can't
enforce paternity or collect child
support on reservations such as
Red Lake because those courts
have no enforcement power on
reservations."
Vernon Bellecourt also gave
testimony. He informed the panel
about the educational needs of
American Indian inmates in the
correctional system. Most recently,
his program that has served those
needs, was cut by the Bush
administration through the
Department of Indian Education
after some 14 years of
sponsorship.
Dr. Will Antell, who has been
director of the State Indian
Education Department for many
years, addressed the group on the
issues now facing Indian education
in Minnesota. He said, "We are
funding fewer Indian scholarships
each year and at the same time we
have more Indian people that want
to go to college."
He also spoke about the Indian
mascot issue that he said involves
half of the schools in Minnesota
thatcontinue to use the Indian
names. He concluded, "Most likely
this will have to end up in court
before it can be resolved." He also
talked about his retirement in
mid-1993 and spoke jokingly about
the need for a younger person to do
his job.
The NAP told the panel about the
stories the Press has covered
concerning the stress Indian people
are living under and the suffering
that accompanies it. He also
questioned the panel as to what the
MIAC has been doing to address
the needs of Indian people.
Joann Stately was quick to defend
her organization's performance.
She said, "Well, we have been
working on the issue of AIDs and
we have people calling us all the
time adking for help for different
things."
She added, "You should come talk
to Roger Head," she paused, "if he
has time." She was assured that the
Press plans to visit Mr. Head very
soon.
According to the Twin
Citiesnewspapers for the last ten
years, there really hasn't been
anything done by the MIAC agency.
Stately retorted, "We don't always
tell the newspapers because they can
sometimes hinder things."
When asked why Native people
have to find out about the state of
affairs in those same newspapers and
if there was going to be anything
done about it, "We can only make
recommendations, we have no
enforcement power, "ad no reply,"
Stately responded.
A board member from the
Minneapolis American Indian Center
then became angry with the Native
American Press. Stately then
apparently didn't want to have any
more those questions asked or any
more, for that matter.
At this point, the meeting had
reached its conclusion.
By and For the Native American Community
)
Grand Casino taking its brand
of Indian casinos outside state
Fr
e&
Native
American
Press
Plymouth, Minn. (AP) - A New
York stockbroker once told Lyle
Berman that he had done for
gambling casinos what Henry Ford
had done for cars: Made them
easily available to middle-class
Midwesterners.
Berman, chairman and chief
executive officer of Grand Casino
Inc., believes the Ford comparison
is stretching things a bit.
But he does agrees the two
casinos his company developed and
operates on the Mille Lacs Indian
Reservation have made blackjack
and slot machines more accessible
to millions of people living between
Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
"It's another way for the Middle
American public to have a good
time for an evening," like going
out for dinner, to a movie or a
baseball game, said Berman, a
championship-caliber Las Vegas
poker player. "It's a major
extension of the entertainment
market."
And now he's ready to extend
Grand Casino's operations beyond
its two central Minnesota
operations.
In a move to diversify and limit
the effects of regional economic
downturns and state politics. Grand
Casino plans to build and manage
two Indian-owned casinos in central
Louisiana and a third near
Hayward, Wis. It also intends to
develop a dockside casino on
barges in Mississippi, which would
be its first non-Indian venture.
"We recognized that this was a
business that clearly could be
exported, that could be specialized
in," Berman said.
The company's goal for the next
three years is to manage six to eight
casinos, which he's trying to market
as resorts that would include hotels,
RV parks, retail shops, convention
facilities and live entertainment.
Grand Casino was one of the first
companies in the nation to develop
and manage Indian casinos, which
are flourishing as an economic
development tool under the 1988
National Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act.
Berman and his partners, who
were involved with Indian bingo in
the mid-1980s, opened Grand
Casino Mille Lacs in April 1991. It
has been wildly successful,
generating $37.4 million in revenue
and $12.4 million in profits through
its first 10 months of operation.
In May, Grand Casino opened its
second Minnesota gaming operation
in nearby Hinckley.
Grand Casino keeps 40 percent of
the profits as its management fee,
while the rest goes to the tribe,
which is planning to use the money
to upgrade utilities and build new
houses, a school and a medical
clinic.
Because Grand Casino is working
with tribes that start out with little
money, their agreements call for the
company to pay for the construction
of the casinos and for the tribes to
pay the money back with their
gaming profits.
Berman couldn't raise the money
privately for the multi-million dollar
casinos. So Grand Casino went
public last October and raised $12.5
million with its initial offering. It
made its second offering in May and
raised more than $35 million. The
company's stock has tripled in price
to about $17 a share.
Mike Moe, an analyst for Dain
Bosworth Inc., a Minneapolis-based
financial group, believes Grand
Casino is well positioned in the
emerging Indian gaming industry.
He has projected earnings growth of
more than 50 percent over the next
three to five years for the company.
"Being first has a huge advantage
here. They are really positioned to
be a big-time gaming company,"
Moe said.
Moe gives Berman most of the
credit for putting Grand Casino out
front of more than 40 companies
now vying for Indian gaming
management contracts.
Berman, 50, is no stranger to
business success. He helped build
Berman Buckskin Co. from one
store to 200 before selling it in 1988
to Melville Corp. for $165 million.
He also led two "blind pool"
ventures, investments where
participants get involved based on
their confidence in the general
partner rather than the properties he
or she plans to acquire.
"He's a visionary, he's smart, and
he's a risk taker. More often than not
he's going to win," Moe said.
"He's always thinking about the
next step. Maybe not the next step,
but three steps beyond."
We support Equal Opportunity For All People
A Weekly Publication
Founded in 1991
Volume 2 Issue 15
August 2i, t992
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Copyright, The Native American Press. 1997
A Bemidji policeman halts traffic as the 1992 Sacred Run participants run to Lake Bemidjii's waterfront.
The Pilgrimage (A Native Anishinabe's perspective of the Democractic Convention)
By Melvin Rasmussen
Now the trip to the convention could
begin. The first point of business was
going to Detroit Lakes to meet the
Iron Horse called AM-TRAC. According to my itinerary I was supposed
to meet this steed at 1:45 am. So I left
in time to obtain my parking arrangements at the Park and Lock facility
that was supposed to be available at
the station.
When I reached the big city of Detroit Lakes, I received my first surprise.
There was no parking facility available as advertised. So, I bartered with
a local gas station and leased a spot in
their lot across the tracks from the
train station. Little did I know the
surprise that I would receive when I
went over to the station to determine
if it was open or not.
I wandered over to the station to
inspect it and see what type of arrangements were available. By this
time I had three hours to kill before
the train would arrive. The first thing
I noticed was that the station was
locked up and void of any lifeforms. I
felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.
Here was a building in a sad state of
disrepair and run down and decrepit.
On the outside ofthe building was a
sign that said, For Sale or Lease by
BurlingtonNorthern. Itappeared from
this statement that this was a continuation of the eroding of our
transportation industrie's infrastructure. I feli this reflected a part ofthe
malaise that exists within our country. Here was evidence ofthe problems
that were coming to a head in our
country.
Upon reading the schedule of hours
of operation I received another surprise. The train was not due in until
3:30 am. So, good communications
became an issue. Who really knew
what was happening? Now I was totally confused here in the Twilight
Zone. What could I do to alleviate this
dilemma? Being a betting man I felt
that to completely understand this
time warp I had to do something
outrageous. So, I made a bet with Me,
Myself and I, on when the train
would arrive. This seemed to put this
unorganized chaos into some type of
perspective.
Wouldn't you know, the train came
in at 4:30 am. I even lost my own bets
with myself. This was definitely an
earthshaking event.
Finally the pilgrimage began in earnest. As I journeyed east I proceeded
to find a seat on the train. I stepped
over numerous sleeping bodies who
were trying, to obtain some rest on
their own journeys to destinations
unknown. I placed my stuff in a seat
and then set out to find a cup of coffee.
My need for caffeine was to be denied
to me until 6:00 am. when the lounge
car would open. Brokenhearted, I sat
in the skyroom car and watched the
day begin.
As the sun came up I was able to
watch the farms of Mid'America be
gin to roll by. I noticed a subtle shift
in the farms and their activities. There
were farms that were closed and devoid of any livestock around them. I
remembered that this country was
based on a agrarian society. I remembered this country used to have
approximately 6% ofthe population
growing all of our crops and livestock
in this country. Now this number has
decreased to about 3% ofthe population. Through the years of the oil
crisis and a failing economy coupled
with the booming growth of
agribusiness corporations we have lost
our farm base and its related social
roots and institutions. This was also a
sympton ofthe fears that the people of
America were experiencing in this
country.
I remember several years ago, when
I received a political mailing from
Senator Durenburger's office in
which he stated that he had talked to
his banker friends and that he was
assured that there was not a problem
with the agricultural community and
the family farms. I found this to be a
dichotomy as the amount of farm
foreclosures and repossessions by the
financial institutions were soaring at
that time. The farmer and his related
lifestyle were becoming extinct. Here
I was riding on this dying iron horse
and watching a countryside that was
slowly dying in front of me.
By now the sun had come up and the
new day had begun. More surprises
were to unfold and present them
selves. As the train approached the
Twin Cities, I started to see more
signs ofthe ongoing poverty and decay that were occuring within our
country. I started to notice the increase ofthe old hobo jungles and the
people who were living alongside the
right of ways. These were the homeless and the unemployed. These were
the people in our society who have
fallen through the cracks and are
trying to survive in this country. These
same homeless and employment issues along with the other numerous
societal ills are also seen upon the
reservations.
Pulling into a major metropolitan
area of any type in a train allows a
person to see the decay and death of
our industrial base in our country.
With the increase with the new service industry boom and the years of
non-durable goods production our
industrial base has fallen to new lows.
The failure and demise of this industry has caused the breakdown ofthe
family units because of the loss of
income and jobs in this country.
The signs of decay were very sobering to all ofthe people on the train as
we discussed these issues. The plant
closures and business failures were
an obvious sign when we looked at the
abandoned factories and warehouses
of our country. When you see major
plants and heavy industry closed down
coupled with the ghost towns that are
now sprouting up around these once
booming giants ofthe industrial age,
you become very aware of the sickness that surrounds us. I remember as
a young man when you could go
around the south shore of Lake Michigan through the cities of EastChicago,
Hammond, Gary Indiana and you
could see all of the heavy steel blast
furnaces belching out their fires from
the gates of hell. Here was the heart of
a major industry that built this country. From the iron ore mines of the
giant Mesabi range of Northeastern
Minnesota to the Laker fleets of the
Great Lakes to the harbor towns where
this product was shipped and handled
around the world. This industry is
dead and gone. Today there is not a
single steel works open or rolling
steel from its hearths.
While we rode along the countryside a number of people would come
and sit down and talk about their
concerns with the political system
and with the country. Their concerns
were the same as our concerns back in
Minnesota. Jobs, unemployment,
medical issues, retirement, taxes,
housing, child welfare, environmental issues, all of these andmore. It was
very apparent that the members ofthe
train and the passengers were scared
and frightened with the turn of events
within the country. People were at a
point where the trust of the government and the political parties were at
an alltime low. Apathy, accountability, and fear were the predominant
themes that people talked about.
People came to me and wanted to
learn about the political process and
how they could affect change. Their
true feelings was in getting the country back on its feet and having the
political parties and the related governmental structure to listen to their
needs. I listened and felt that my trip
to the convention would have a greater
impact now as these people continued
to validity my own thoughts and fears.
It was paramount now to continue to
address all ofthe issues ofthe people
I had met along with the constituency
we had back in Minnesota.
Finally the train pulled into New
York City at Pennsylvania Station.
Penn Station is right next-door to the
Garden. Here was the grand shrine
and altar ofthe upcoming convention
where the sacred cows and grand
poobahs ofthe party would gather to
anoint their future leader to run the
country in the future and to carry the
party's banner. The Big Apple, NYC,
the pits. Coming out ofthe station the
first thing I met were the boys in blue.
The only other time I saw this many
cops was a state convention of the
FOP, (Fraternal Order ofPolice). They
were everywhere! The Garden looked
like a building under seige and was
crawling with the media. Everyone
was excited and the place hummed
like a beehive. I guess it was safe to
assume that the anointed ones would
be safe in this location. Someone went
to a lot of expense to set this dog and
The Pilgrimage/pg. 3