The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1992-12-25

              St. Paul United Way Questions Indian Center's Ability To Serve
By Gary Blair
On December 21,1992, at 1:30 pm,
there was supposed to be a meeting at
the St. Paul American Indian Center.
The meeting was arranged by the
PRESS and was agreed to by Mike
Poolaw, Board Chairperson for the
Center and Ellary July, ofthe St. Paul
United Way. The purpose for the
meeting was to find an alternative to
the United Way's decision not to fund
the Center'sfood shelfprogram, which
has been in operation for over ten
years. A program that in the month on
November 1992, distributed 9,536
pounds of food and served 942
individuals, which represented 251
households, of those households, 110
were American Indian families.
When the PRESS arrived at the
Center for the meeting, we were met
by David Manual, who had earlier
asked for our assistance. Manual said,
"They cancelled the meeting. Mike
Poolaw called the Center's secretary
and told her not to let any press people
in." ThePRESS thenfollowed Manual
into the Center. Once inside Manual
received a phone call, which he
announced was from Mike Poolaw.
The PRESS then talked to Poolaw
and told him that Indian community
members were present and wanted
the meeting heldregardlessofwhether
he was going to attend.
Within five minutes Poolaw arrived
accompanied by Cornell
Tahdooahnippah, also a Center Board
Member. Both smelled of liquor, and
they started hollering at David
Manual, and his father Richard
Manual, for promoting the meeting.
Then they asked Ellary July of the
United Way, who was present, to join
them in a small room at the rear ofthe
Center. Hubert Denny, another Board
Member who was also present, was
not invited by Poolaw to join their
secret meeting. This did not stop
Denny. He pushed his way into the
meeting anyway.
After they met with July, Denny
said, "they (Poolaw and
Tahdooahnippah) had told July that
PRESS overheard him say as he American Indian Center's operation,
laughed, "We're willing to talk about In November of 1991, Darnel Glass,
the Indian Center's business, but not then Chair person of the Center's
in front of the press." Channel 9 had Board received a letter from Richard
a camera man present who also L. Kastner, Chairperson, Board of
witnessed the drunken behavior. Director's for the St. Paul United Way.
For nearly three years now the St. In the letter Kastner outlined three
Paul American Indian Center has held important areas that they wanted the
no elections for its Board Members. Indian Center to address in their
Those who are now serving on the allocation for 1992.
Center's Board are accused of holding      The agency wanted, (1) monthly
they did not want the food shelf  their positions by an in-house vote financial statements; (2) demonstrate
program anymore". On December   conducted only amongst the Board progress toward agency stability; and
Members themselves. The PRESS (3) to submit a proposal for additional
22nd, Ellary July told the PRESS,
"That's right, that's what they told
me." He also said Denny didn't seem
to share the same opinion as the other
two. He also admitted the meeting
was more that he expected. Those
who were at the December 21st
meeting said, "July appeared scared
and that's why he left the Center right
away."
When Poolaw came out of the
meeting with July, he likewise didn't
stop to talk inside the Center, but
instead stopped just outside the door
and waited for Tahdooahnippah to
join him. Before Tahdooahnippah left,
he once again started to argue with
the Manuals. Helen West, who was
present, then confronted
Tahdooahnippah. She said, "I am one
of the people who helped start the
Indian Center over twenty years ago
and I am dissatisfied with you and
Poolaw's conduct." Of the fifteen
Indian community members that were
present for the meeting, all came to
talk aboutkeeping the Indian Center's
food shelf program open.
When Cornell Tahdooahnippah
joined Mike Poolaw outside the Indian
Center, he was still talking loud. The
attained a list of the present Board funds under a one time "Capacity
Members who are now serving; they Building grant" from the agency,
are:    Mike   Poolaw,    William In December 1991, CharlesDeegan,
Pensoneau, Herman Martin, Dexter who was then the Indian Center's
Yellow Thunder, Hubert Denny, Director, also received a letter from
Sophie  Neeland,   and   Cornell the United Way. According to Ellary
Tahdooahnippah. July,  Deegan entered  into an
PRESS sources say there are three agreement, as did the other recent
Board Members who dominate the Indian Center Directors, to improve
Center's Board of Directors and three the relationship between the two
individuals have been running the organizations. He said, "As other
Indian Center from a local "Indian Indian Center Directors had done,
Bar" called the Woodshed. And Deegan also never fully lived up to his
they're upset that the Center is agreement."
operating without an Executive This agreement was to do the
director. Most recently, Board following: 1. Submission of accurate
Member Tahdooahnippah has been monthly financial statements which
acting as an overseer at the Indian clearly depict actual program costs
Center and they say he has been there for   all   SPAIC   programs.   2.
drunk. Submission of monthly lists of
Richard Manual told the PRESS, accounts payable to the United Way.
that the bank has called him, thinking 3. A written monthly update of all
that he is still the acting director of external fund-raising efforts on behalf
the Indian Center. He said, "Within ofthe CFNEP program. (Food Shelf
the    last    two    weeks    since Program)
Tahdooahnippah has been there, they In a November 1992 letter from the
have had a number of overdrafts." St. Paul United Way to Richard
Paper work attained by the PRESS Manual, who was the Indian Center's
sheds light on the United Way's latest acting Director the ace finally
present concerns with the St. Paul fell. "I have enclosed the information
used by the United Way Board of
Directors and the Fund Distribution
committee in making its decision to
not fund the St. Paul American Indian
Center for 1993." Ellary Julytold the
PRESS on December 22nd, "There
are other American Indian programs
at the Indian Center that go back
some ten years. Problems such as;
high staff turnover, especially
Executive Director and Board of
Directors; Financial Instability -
negative fund balances, monthly cash
low difficulties, annual program
expenses exceeding program revenue,
State and Federal tax liability -
including back taxes. And, the list
continues.
At present, the St. Paul American
Indian Center has an annual budget
of $715,000 and now only administers
one program, the American Indian
Foster Child Care Program. Those
who worked at the Center in the early
days say, "We offered the community
a lot of different services and we
helped a lot of people." Richard
Manual says that need is still there.
Helen West said, "It's always been a
place people came to for help."
United Way officials have said they
will continue to fund a food shelf
program for American Indians, but
from a different location. Indian
Community members want the food
shelf to remain under the Indian
Center's operation. And still others
say, "If we lose just one more program
at the Center, it will have to close."
Most recently, the Indian Center
and the food shelf have been housed
in different locations, both on
University Avenue. The Indian Center
is located two blocks west ofthe Dale
Avenue intersection and the food shelf
is located three blocks west of the
State Capital. United Way officials
have confirmed the following story.
At one ofthe meetings they recently
had with the Indian Center's Board of
Directors, certain Board Members
didn't even know where the Center's
food shelf was located.
As a result of the December 21st
meeting, there is now a petition being
circulated in the St. Paul American
Indian community calling for an
election of Board Members at the
Indian Center. According to David
Manual, the Center's By-laws state
that a petition containing signatures
of only 10 percent of the Indian
community is needed to call a special
meeting for that purpose. Manual also
said, "We need to keep the food shelf
operational."
The food shelf led funding of
$70,324 from theUnited Way in 1992.
And other donations in the amount of
$2,100 were from churches, $9,103
came from corporations and another
$8,385.03 was from individual
contributors. These contributions
produced revenues for the Indian
Center's food shelf in the amount of
$89,912.03
The PRESS told Ellary July, on
December22nd, "Ifyouwanttoreduce
some ofthe tension being generated
by the United Way's move to defund
the Indian Center's food shelf
program, then you'll need to keep the
food shelf in place and that also means
it's long time employees. You'll need
to get some other Indian organization
to operate it." David Manual, told the
PRESS, "That's what July told my
dad today, that's what they now plan
to do." David Manual, asked the
PRESS to print his phone number so
those in the St. Paul American Indian
community who want to sign the
petition can call him, (610) 487-
32451.
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Cornell Tahdooahnnippah standing. 1-r sitting, Helen West, Dick Manual, David Manual
are discussing the status ofthe Food Shelf Program at the St. Paul American Indian Center.
Photo by Gary Blair
11
nmnirea Mn 133 a
if:::
December BS, 1332!
Little Earth Housing Foreclosure Discussed
by City Officials
Ilk
Copyright, The NativB American
v 133B
By Mel Rasmussen
Today members ofthe Minneapolis
City Council, Minneapolis Community
Development Association (MCDA),
City of Minneapolis Indian Advocate,
and Pat Amo met with the Chicago
Regional Director of Housing and
Urban Development, Leon Jacobs.
The issue discussed was the
foreclosing ofthe Little Earth Housing
project. This foreclosure was ordered
12 years ago by federal court. The
basic issue has always been the issue
of Indian Preference and how it has
been used. Also of concern was the
use of Indian Preference in the
placement of Indian families within
the Little Earth Projects.
Currently the Little Earth Housing
Project uses Indian Preference in its
placement of families in its housing
units. At present over 95 percent of
the housing is filled by Native
Americans. This project has been the
only Native American Housing
project of its kind off the reservations
that has served the Native American
community in any United States city
and uses the designation of Indian
Preference in its placement of housing
for individuals.
According to sources at the meeting
there is a concern by HUD in the use
of Indian Preference. It appears that
this issue is just one of many on-going
problems that have plagued HUD
across the country. For over twelve
years, HUD has been at odds with the
Hennepin County Commissioner Mclaughlin
Discusses Detox Issues
Foreclosure/Page 3
FBI Lobbies Against Minneapolis Peltier
Resolution
By Mel Rasmussen
Last week, supporters of Leonard
Peltier sought an endorsement from
the Minneapolis City Council
supporting a new trial for Peltier.
However, not everyone expected
the turnoutof local law enforcement
officials who voiced their
displeasure to this.
According to local political and
social activists there appeared to be
in excess of some 60 to 70 law
enforcement officials who voiced
their opposition to the resolution.
Some voiced their displeasure
through some veiled innuendoes
and threatening statements towards
members of the Minneapolis
Community and the Native
American Community.
Ms. Carol Johnson, Minneapolis
13th Ward City Council Woman,
had submitted a resolution to the
Minneapolis City Council in
support of a new trial for Leonard
Peltier. The resolution was a copy
of a resolution that had been
approved by the City of Boston,
Massachusetts earlier this year.
Because of the heavy lobbying
pressure by the local law enforcement
agencies, however it was obvious that
the resolution would fail at the hands
ofthe Minneapolis City Council. Ms.
Johnson indicated that she was
surprised by the turnout and pressure
that was applied by the local, county,
state and federal law enforcement
agencies.
Ms. Johnson felt that it was better to
table the resolution rather than have
the City be tagged with the label of
being racist or biased. Her major
concern was the chilling effect
brought on by law enforcement. An
example of this was when she was
called by a local FBI agent and was
totally reproached by him for even
considering this type of resolution.
She felt there was a problem with this
type of activity as it appeared to
interfere with the activities of the city
council and interfered with
governmental operations. Johnson has
always felt that the FBI is supposed to
catch criminals and is not charged with
interfering or controlling the direction
and operations of governing bodies.
Johnson stated, that the law
enforcement groups main concern was
that Peltier was guilty and should not
be allowed the right to a free trial.
Therefore, any activity on their part
to stop this action was appropriate.
Johnson felt that there was an ongoing
concern because of the Hoff murder
earlier this year. The Peltier issue and
the ongoing prevailing distrust and
fear ofthe public by law enforcement
officials because of the killing of a
fellow officer were the driving factors
for their response to the resolution.
In discussing her resolution and the
atmosphere at the city council
meeting, Johnson realized and felt
the fear of repression that can be
made by a group. She felt a great
sense of oppression and fear for
her opinions and felt herself being
stifled and denied her rights to free
speech. This same feeling and
understanding was felt also by other
members outside of the Law
Enforcement commumty. One such
person felt that some sort of fascism
or totalatarianism had been reborn
again in the City Halls and Chambers
ofthe City of Minneapolis. Yet others
still felt that this is still a ongoing
problem within the city and it must be
dealt with by the Minneapolis Citizen
Review Board.
By Mel Rasmussen
Hennepin County Commissioner,
Peter Mclaughlin, was asked about
the status of the Hennepin County
Detox Center within the county.
During the interview, Mclaughlin
stated that there is action being taken
by the Board and feels that there will
not be an end to the investigation and
overhaul of the system in the
immediate future. Positive changes
are starting to occur.
During the interview, Mclaughlin
discussed the facts that are currently
facing the Detox issue. Mclaughlin
brought out the point that when the
Detox program was started it was the
biggest detox program in the country.
Part ofthe problem was in the original
inception of the program. The staff
and medical expertise were in place
but there was a problem as to the
location ofthe facility and if it should
be decentralized or not.
Mclaughlin stated this fact about
the original Program inception,
"Nobody would have designed the
service that way, they were kind of
stuck with it. It was decided a number
of years ago what they were going to
do, they got this building and the
staffing and so that was kind of in
place. Then there was this fear that
they couldn't find any alternative
locations for it. People would tell me
now that there was a need to
decentralize it but the ongoing
problem was where were we going to
site the alternative facilities."
According to Mclaughlin, because of
the current situation at Detox now it
is time for forward motion on the
problem..
Mclaughlin stated that now is the
time to get away from the 100 bed
detox situation that has been a source
of problems in the past. It is now time
to decentralize these facilities and
have the services provided from
related social services according to
the needs of the individuals going
through the program. Mclaughlin felt
that it has been a major mistake to
place all people through the same
intake and handling process. This
process proved to be a mistake and
didn't utilize the full capabilities of
the entire process. He felt that the
involvement of the different social
services will definitely improve
services in the future.
Mclaughlin stated that the detox
programs focus and its demise came
because of the Commissioner's
decision to pursue this course. Some
commissioners wanted a mix of
services from overnight shelters to a
Wet-Dry mix and full Chemical Detox
services. However, the original
Chemical Detox approach came from
Mark Andrew, and this was the
program that was then developed.
Mclaughlin was asked if the full set of
Commissioners are now aware of their
error and are understanding the need
for a mix of services to serve the
patient. He stated, "I think so, that's
what the staff has, that's the direction
that the staff told them they had to
go."
Mclaughlin was asked about the
fears ofthe community that the issue
of the Detox abuse will be
whitewashed by the community.
Mclaughlin stated emphatically,
"There are accusations being made
and they are being investigated. The
Hennepin County Attorney is also
double checking them and there is not
a whitewash going on." Mclaughlin
reiterated that there would not be a
whitewash and the County would
definitely deal with the problems
brought out and prosecute those
involved. He strongly felt that it is
time to get on with a new system to
correct these abuses.
Mclaughlin was asked about the
involvement ofthe State ofMinnesota,
specifically the Department ofHealth,
and its involvement with the Detox
issue and its regulatory enforcement
or lack of it. Mclaughlin stated that it
was important to remember that the
rules that were written for a Detox
Center by the state were originally set
up for a sixteen bed facility and not a
100 plus bed facility. He stated that
the legislation has proved to be
inadequate and the County is pushing
for a major overhaul of this legislation.
Mclaughlin felt that the original
concept of using this facility was in
error. The reason for this was in the
use of a costly medical procedure with
a facility that was not appropriate for
everybody who came through the
detox center. This reflects back to the
point that there needs to be a separate
facility for each type of patient use.
Not everyone should havebeen thrown
through the same program as it was
not appropriate treatment of the
patients.
Mclaughlin felt that progress is
being made on the detox issue and
that community involvement will
greatly affect the structure in the
future. He felt that change is
appropriate and that it was unfortunate
that this issue came to light as it did.
Again he reiterated that there will not
be a whitewash, that there will be
changes in the process and that
offenders will be charged and held
accountable by the appropriate
authorities.