The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1992-09-25

              Sacred Pipe display
controversy page 3
Vine Deloria Jr. to speak
at Hamline/seepage 8
Grand Casinos signs Pact with Louisiana Tribe
Detox Center Management Questioned About Abuse
By Gary Blair
It has become apparent that American
Indians living in Hennepin County have
been abused for so long by a system that
professes to serve them, that even their
so called leadership has given in and
have been willing to accept the abuse.
On September 17th another patient's
finger was cut offby Detox staff while
trying to lock this person in what they
refer to as their QUIT ROOM. The
PRESS has not been able to leam if the
person who lost the finger is a Native
American With all the staff who work
at the Detox Center, there have only
beentwopeoplewillingtocomeforward
thus far and expose the abuse people
have received over the years at this
County operated facility. Those two
people have been Irene Wade, who is an
American Indian, and Lynn Fitzpatrick,
who is non-indian.
Joe BigBear, who is American Indian
and works in administration at the
Detox building, has not spoken to the
Indian community publicly as to what
he plans to do to assist in putting a stop
to the abuse. BigBear has been at
meetings where the issue of abuse has
been discussed and is aware of the
problem. The PRESS has learned that
other Indian staff who also work at the
Detox building have taken sides with
the non-indian staff, and some have
even approved of Wade and Fitzpatrick
being harassed for what they reported at
the meeting on September 15th, which
the PRESS reported in an article on
September 18th.
On Sept. 21st, the PRESS
interviewed Bob Olander, Director
of the Chemical Health Division,
Department of Community Services,
who has direct over-sight
responsibilities for the Detox Center's
operation two floors above his office
located at 1800 Chicago Ave. S.,"
Minneapolis. The first thing Olander
wanted was to make sure the PRESS
had his job title correct. He said, "I
am not the financial manager as you
reported in your last article."
Before meeting with Olander, the
PRESS was told he would blame
Paul Norman, Program Manager of
the Detox Center, for the problems
connected to the abuse. Olander, as
expected, wasted no time in putting
the blame on Norman. He said, "Paul
Norman, needs to be responsible; he
works for me.
When asked by the PRESS what he
thought the problems were at the Detox
Center, he avoided any direct answers
and instead said, "We have had many
problems overthe years." Hethenblamed
theproblems on the labor unions, saying,
"We have a secret reporting system. If
one staffcomplains about another's abuse
of patients, the unions ask for the name
of die person who made the complaint
People dont want to report anyone if
we're going to be found out" Olander
went on to say he was willing to work
with the Indian community andhe wants
to be accountable.
When asked if the police were going.
to be called in to investigate, Olander
said, "only if we have too. We plan to
handle this internally."
When asked about the rapes of patients
at the Detox Center, he said, "No staff
was involved, one man already went to
prison for a long time for that." When
Olander was toldabouttherumors in the
Indian community that Detox staff were
also involved in the rapes of not only
women but also of male patients, he
didn't answer. When told that a staff
person was so well known for the rape of
patients at the Detox Center that he was
given the nickname of "Geedish" by the
Indian patients, Olander also didn't
respond. Olander didn't answer when
told about some of his Detox staff who
just sit around and play cards and watch
football games, and only check on their
patients every two hours.
One Indian woman was reportedly
raped four times at the Detox center.
When PRESS sources asked her how
come she didn't report it, she responded,
"I thought if I said something the next
time it would be worse."
Monday, there was a meeting held at
theMinneapolisAmericanlndian Center
to further discuss the issue ofthe Detox
Centerabuse.Therewereover25 people
in attendance. It was reported that Lynn
Fitzpatrick hadbeenassaultedby another
staff at the Detox Center. The group
submitted a letter to the Detox Center
that stated, "If there are any accidents to
any staff there will be criminal charges
brought There will be another meeting
held this coming Monday evening at the
Indian center starting at 5:00 PM.
The state of Louisiana has signed a
gaming agreement with the Coushatta
Indian Tribe, clearingthewayforGrand
Casinos Inc. to build a casino on Indian
trust land near Elton, La.
Plymouth based Grand Casinos said it
expects a second state agreement with
the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe to be
signed later this week, opening the way
for Grand Casinos to build a second
casino and entertainment center in
Louisiana.
Fond du Lac Tribe Exercises Treaty Rights
Moose Hunt Set For The Ceded Territories
By Mel Rasmussen
Fond du Lac Reservation issued 75
Moose permits for Tribal hunters tc-
hunt in the ceded territories. The
scheduled Moose season starts on
October 1st and runs throughout the
entire month. Presently, 22 band
members have obtained permits and
will go to the territories to fill their
permits. The Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources is currently
aware ofthe Tribes' issuance of these
licenses and does not agree to the
legality of the Fond du Lac Band to
issue these permits.
Ms. Marcy Dosse, Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources
Director of Information, stated the
DNR's position. The Fond du Lac
tribe is not in agreement with the
1854 Treaty and does not have the
authority to issue the permits. The
DNR does not have a way to
acknowledge, nor the authority to
recognize these permits. The
Minnesota legislature has set this
decision in place through curren^
legislation.
Dosse was asked about the
conditions ofthe 1854 Treaty and
their sovereign right of the Fond du
Lac Band to hunt in the ceded
territories. She responded that the
position of the DNR was that the
treaty was not in effect as it stops at
the border ofthe state and is not valid.
The issue ofthe 1854 Treaty had been
settled when the Tri-Band agreement
went into effect. It is important to note
that the Fond du Lac Tribe pulled out
of the agreement with the state
approximately one year after entering it
Dosse was then asked about the
issue ofthe Mille Lacs Band and their
fishing issues. She stated the DNR
would like to settle this issue. Dosse
was asked about the rights of other
Bands and their members and how
they would be impacted. She replied
that the issue was only with the Mille
Lacs Band and that a court date had
been set for February 1993. There was
no response to any recognition ofthe
rights of all of the other Anishinabe
who are covered by the separate
treaties. There was no recognition of
the larger group of Indians called the
Lake Superior Band of Chippewa and
their inherent rights.
Dosse was asked about the reasons
for the DNR to seek litigation over
treaty rights issues. She stated that
the State is correct and that the laws
of the state would supersede the
treaties, therefore, litigation was the
only solution. Dosse was asked about
the impact of the treaty issues that
have been settled in Wisconsin federal
courts in favor ofthe tribes. Also how
would these decisions affect the states
position. Wouldn't the state be beati ng
a dead horse and fighting a moot
point. She stated that the DNR felt
that this was not an issue and their
position was correct on the matter.
Dosse went on to say that the DNR
is having ongoing communications
with the Fond du Lac Tribe about
these matters. The DNR wants to
have a Conservation Code with the
Band and come to some type of
agreement. The DNR was concerned
about the safety of the small game
hunters who would be in the woods
and could be harmed by an accident if
there was a moose hunt. She went on
tp say that the 1854 Authority was the
only body who could have an input
upon the hunting within the ceded
territories and that Fond du Lac does
not have the authority to set a moose
season in the ceded territories.
Fond du Lac permits will include 3
or more band members on a permit. It
is the position ofthe tribe that they are
within their rights to gather game in
the ceded territories. It was determined
that the Fond du Lac Wardens do
enforce a conservation code on the
reservation and are cross deputized
for any violations on the Reservation.
The state refuses to recognize the
current Conservation Code that the
Band has in place. The tribal wardens
are called Conservation Officers for
the 1854 Ceded Territory. These
wardens have worked in the past with
the State DNR Wardens and the 1854
Authority Wardens in the ceded
territories.
When informed band members
were asked about the states
position they brought up the fact
that the state did send a letter to
the Council about two weeks ago.
There have been no ongoing
discussions or contact from the
Minn. DNR about the Moose hunt
issues. Band members brought out
the fact that the Band had a moose
hunt last year. The state made
some threats but took no action.
Also the state has had moose hunts
also in which there were small
game seasons overlapping. It was
felt by Band members that the
states position did not hold water
at all.
Tom Brosig, chief operating officer
for the casino management company,
said the Louisiana contracts are similar
to the compacts between *.linnesota and
its Indian tribes. The contracts, spelling
out jurisdiction and the types of gaming
allowed, are* required under the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
Grand Casinos manages two casinos
and entertainment complexes for the
MilleLacsBandofChippewaatOnamia
and Hinckley in Minnesota, and is
developing a non-Indian owned
dockside casino at Gulfport, Miss.
A public company, Grand Casinos
has contracts with both Louisiana tribes
granting it 40 percent of distributable
profits and repayment, with interest, of
the costs of building the casinos. Its
stock closed Tuesday at $14.37 1/2 a
share, up 75 cents.
By Lee Egerstrom
St Paul Dispatch
By and For the Native American Community
iH Native
eree
American
Press
We support Equal Opportunity For All People
A Weekly Publication
Founded in 1991
Volume 2 Issue 20        September 25, i992
Copyright, The Native American Press, 1992
Shakopee Women Prisoners Hurt by Budget Cuts
By Gary Blair
When asked to speak, Pauline
Goldstein said, "I am proud to be an
American Indian." Goldstein, she is an
inmate at the Shakopee Prison for
Women was responding toTrudell Starr
and Chuck Robertson ofthe People In
Prison Entering Sobriety (P.I.P.E.S.)
program who had just started awarding
the eight young women their graduation
certificates.
According to Starr, who helped
organize the Monday evening event,
this graduation will be the last one until
new funding for the P.I.P.E.S. program
can be found. The program lost its
funding from the U.S. Department of
Indian Education because of budget
cuts. She also said the only program of
this type that's still in operation in
Minnesota is at the Rochester facility
which is federally funded. She added
she used money she's earned from
speaking appearances to purchase the
cake and other things the group enjoyed
that evening. "I wanted them to have
their graduation," she told the PRESS.
P.I.P.E.S. is a culturally based
alternative approach to substance
education and was started by an
American Indian inmate organization
behind the walls of the South Dakota
State Penitentiary. Charles Poor
Thunder, who was a member of that
group; planned and was the author of
the original P.I.P.E.S. program. Stan-
said, "We are still working on trying to
adopt it to better serve the needs of our
female inmates."
The PRESS was told by the eight
graduates, "We don't care if you print
our names or take our pictures; we want
to let people know how important this
program is to us and how proud we are
to have completed it." The following
Indian women accepted certificates that
evening: Carol Allen, Giselle Lyons,
Pauline Goldstein, Lorraine Jankowski,
Barbara Aguilar, Deborah Rainwater,
CarleneBlackbearandJanetKaulJones.
The introduction to the two hour event
was opened by Chuck Robertson, Sr.
who told the graduates about the success
the program has already had at the
Rochester prison. He said, "We have
already graduated 45 people from the
P.I.P.E.S. program and we have only
been in operation there for the past two
years." He also said he is a very big
supporter ofthe program.
Chris Leath, spiritual advisor to the
group, gave the invocation. Leith was
also the guest speaker. When he spoke,
he talked very softly to the women. He
told them about the importance of
spirituality and knowing who you are as
anlndianperson. Hesaid, "Weas Indian
people have special gifts. That's why
those little boys that just sang can sing
at such a young age." The ended his
advice by saying, "I also respect the
Christian way and the other religions."
Johnny Smith and the Heart of the
Earth Singers sang the recognition song
for the graduates. Smith also talked
about himself and the AA program. He
said, "I can espouse for a long time about
what I know about the AA program."
Smith said he has been sober for six
years. Smith ended his talkby sayinghe
used to drink arid sing at POW WOWs
for many years. When he found his
sobriety, he realized the drum was just
a tool to help him stay sober, but first he
had to leam who Johnny Smith was.
Carol Allen, one of the graduates,
SHAKOPEE/Page3
Clinic meets reservation's needs - Bois Forte boasts latest equipment, Indian Staff
By Susan Stanich
Bois Forte's health program is fairly
bursting with health.
While other rural clinics in Northeastern
Minnesota struggle to keep their
professionals, health care on the remote
Chippewa reservation has grown so
rapidly that die 35 staffers now need a
second building.
The attractive 6-year-old health services
building here houses a full-time dentist,
doctor, clinicians; state-of-the-art
laboratory equipment; a treatment room
for electrocardiograms, casts and minor
surgical procedures; a diabetic clinic,
pharmacy, chemical dependency
counselors, mental health workers, victim
services and child welfare workers.
Out back, in a garage next to a picnic
area used by the staff, is the sparkling
• ambulance, replete with the latest in
computerized defibrilating and vital
sign/oxygen- analyzing equipment.
Fourteen trained emergency technicians,
mostly band members, volunteer for
around-the-clock service. Two band
members and a Leech Lake member
married to a band member are trained as
ambulance drivers.
The program has referral agreements
with a half-dozen hospitals from Cook to
St. Paul and offers satelite care in the
reservation's community near Tower.
And the clinic offers two rarities; a
physician's assistant who has a physician-
assistant, and an Indian dentist
Physician's assistant Ray Hawk, a
Santee Sioux from Nebraska, has been
clinical director since the building
opened. The clinic got by with a part-time
doctor for several years, until hawk hired
Dr. Stanley Bezek, a Virginia, Minn,
native who has been practicing in Utah.
And this year Hawk hired Dr. Steve
Roberts, a Kiowa-Choctaw from
Oklahoma, as the clinic's first full-time
dentist. There are fewer than a dozen
recognizably Indian dentists in the nation.
Hawk was downright hawkish about
going after Roberts. When he learned that
the dentist was going to be interviewed by
the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, he
sleuthed out the salary Oneida was
offering, hustled over to Green Bay the
night before and intercepted Roberts with
a better offer.
"He had good credentials, but when I
found out he was an Indian I couldn't let
him get away," Hawk laughed. "That's
like a trapper who traps all his life for an
albino beaver!"
When Roberts arrived recently, the
part-time dental clinic was serving four to
five patients a day. Now Roberts sees
nine patients a day on average, with peaks
of more than double that, he said.
When Bezek began practicing here,
about 200 patients a month were being
seen by the part-time visiting physician,
Hawk said. Now the average is 500 a
month.
The clinic was quieter than usual last
week; it was wild rice season. Nett Lake
is known for the quality and quanti tity of
its rice, and about half the
staff-including Health Director Jeneal
Goggleye and assistant director Cathy
Chavers—harvest or process it. So do
many patients.
Nevertheless, Roberts* arrival and the
startup of a full-time dental clinic was
formerly heralded last week with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony and a
smorgasbord of tooth-friendly fresh fruit
and vegetables.
'We're so glad to see this for the people
of Bois Forte," said Doris Isham ofthe
tribal council, which contributed money
to recruit the dental staff.
Unlike most reservations in the country,
which obtain physicians and dentists
through the federal Indian Health Service,
Bois Forte hired its doctor and dentis
direcdy, Goggleye said. The two dental
assistants also are direct hires, she said.
Last year, the health program's budget
was $1.2 million. This coming fiscal year
it's $1.3 million, short by $300,000 of
what's needed, Chavers said. Billing is to
the usual sources: Medicare, Medicaid,
private insurance, individuals. The clinic
offers both direct services to patients and
contract services through Indian Health
Service.
The band's success in snaring its
professionals is unusual, said Terry Hill,
executive director of the Minnesota
Center for Rural Health.
"In most rural areas, including
reservations, people are having a hard
time recruiting physicians and dentists,"
hesaid.
Indian Health Service alone is short
about 200 physicians nationwide, Hawk
said.
Bezek said he came to Bois Forte
because he wanted a more personal
practice than he could have working at a
large urban clinic, because his work with
Navajo, Ute, and Paiute patients in Utah
drew him to tribal clinic; and because he
wanted to return to the region where "my
fore-father grew up and dug holes in the
ground." He spends one day a week as
emergency room physician in Mesabi
Regional Medical Center in Hibbing,
which keeps both him and the clinic
linked other medical people in the area,"
hesaid.
Bezek said he's noticed in the practice
that the "chemistry" between Indian
patient and health professional is much
better if the professional is Indian. He said
that subtle things — mannerisms,
misperceptions - can interfee with patient
interviews and, ultimately, with treatment
Roberts agrees. He said he's absolutely
committed to working with Indian
people, and specifically sought out a tribal
practice.
"The need is so great" Roberts said.
"It's not simple stuff, either. We're
working hard just to get to sea level."
When Roberts came, patients were
booked two to three months ahead,
Chavers said Now it's 21/2 weeks.
"I won't let it go longer," Roberts said.
"Ill work late if I have to, and I do. A lot
of people, especially Indian patients,
won't tell you if they're really hurting."
Hawk said the clinic is open to the
public, but until recently the backlog was
so great they hadn't trumpeted the fact.
Their first commitment is to the people
of Bois Forte, and their service are is to
primarily Indian people in St. Louis,
Itasca and Koochiching counties.
"But we don't refuse anyone," he said.
'We like to take care of people. We want
people to get well. Dr. Roberts doesn't
ask the patient about insurance - he treats
the person first, and then we look at how
we can get it paid for."
The grass-roots flexibility is a hallmark
of the community-based clinic. For
example:
* Water in Nett Lake has a low natural
floride content So, twice a week, a dental
technician takes a jug of flouride solution
over to the nearby elementary school,
where each child sloshes a mouthful as a
matter of routine, Chavers said.
* Few youngsters on the reservation
have any deep-down expectation that
they can be college students or health
professionals. So the small community of
professionals tries to turn that around.
Goggleye and Chavers have made
presentations to high-school students,
trying to open them up to the world of
health careers; Hawk and others are
discussing how to help track failing
students and encourage them with
incentives, like a Twins game, to
raise their grades.
The very existence of Indian
health directors, Indian physician's
assistant, Indian dentist, Indian
technicians and ambulance drivers
and community health professioals
is an encouragement to children.
Hawk said.
"I grew up in a state with the
second largest Indian population,
and I didn't see one Indian doctor or
dentist," Rogers said. "Not ONE.
The first Indian dentist I met was in
my third year in dental school (in
Kansas City, Mo.). I didn't know an
Indian could be a doctor or dentist."
Melvin King, 7-8, said that before
the clinic was built, people went to
COok or Littlefork for health
ssrvices.
"It's a good thing they got this
clinic here," he said. "It's good for
the village. It's good for the people."
[Reprinted with permission from
the Duluth News-Tribune]
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