The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-01-14

              Floyd Hand declares candidacy for Pine Ridge
tribal council
By Delvin Cree
Floyd "Ginney" Hand, spiritual advisor for the Minneapolis IndianHealth
Board, recently declared his candidacy
for the Oglala Sioux tribal council.
Hand, who is a member of the Pine
Ridge reservation, is taking on as many
as five other candidates for the
president's seat the highest position on
the council.
The issue that was brought to the
attention ofthe PRESS by tribal members both on the reservation and in
Minneapolispertainstoallegationsthat
Hand is telling outright lies about his
past achievements.
One concerned tribal member,
Melvin Lee, an assistant to the current
president ofthe tribal council, said that
he is disturbed by what Hand is able to
tell people on the reservation who have
no way of knowing what really goes on
in Minneapolis.
During a phone interview Lee said
that Hand is telling tribal members that
he has successfully started a number of
programs in the Minneapolis Indian
community. Hand, he says, is taking a
lot of credit for other people's work.
One example is that he is saying he was
responsible for getting the Golden Eagles program off the ground. He is also
taking credit for the national media
recognition the program has received.
The Golden Eagles program is one of
many that was being run by the Indian
Health Board but is presently receiving
sponsorship by another Native organization after being shut down by Indian
Health Board administration last year.
According to Lee, Hand may have
had an honest chance of being elected
but now the truth about him is coming
out and he is no longer considered a
contender.
"Another story he's been telling
around here is that he founded the
AIOIC and the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis," Lee said. "He
also said he started a program at the
Heart ofthe Earth Survival School."
"Now I lived in Minneapolis for seventeen years before I came out here on
the reservation several years ago and I
know Floyd Hand had nothing to do
with what he is saying," Lee stated.
Other people the PRESS spoke to who
live at Pine Ridge said they don't even
know who Hand is. One did say that he
knew him as a child but that was all.
Interestingly, Hand sells himself as a
great spiritual leader and medicine man
in Minneapolis. Many people are won-
Hand/ See page 8
Chippewa leadersays band rebounding from
century of poverty
ONAMIA, Minn. (AP) The opening
of two reservation school buildings and
the success of its two casinos show how
the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa is
rebounding from decades of poverty,
the band's leader said Tuesday.
'' We have been ground down by one
hundred years of poverty, but now are
rebuilding for one hundred years of
accomplishment," Chief Marge
Anderson said in her 1994 State ofthe
Band address.
Anderson sounded the themes of self-
sufficiency and self-governance, citing
last year's acquisition of 3,500 acres of
additional reservation land, the
construction of modern housingforband
members and the success ofthe Grand
Casinos at Mille Lacs and Hinckley.
"The task of rebuilding our nation is
in full swing, but it is not complete,"
she said. "Today I want to lay out the
plant for the continued rebuilding of our
nation."
Anderson urged band leaders to find
ways to diversify the reservation's
economy by branching out from the
gaming industry. "We must create a
climate of economy growth so we can
foster morebusinesses that provide more
revenues and jobs," she said.
Anderson praised the success ofthe
MUel_acsP_3servation'sNay-Ah-Sr_ng
Schools for providing children with a
"culturally-based, challenging
education." She said educators must
prepare reservation youth to "accept
responsibilities of governing our
homelands in the future."
Indian Health Service works with tribes on
analysis of employee reduction plan
Washington, D.C.-
Consistent with the initiative to reduce
the federal government workplace by
252,000 employees, the Indian Health
Service (IHS) has been provided a
preliminary employee ceiling for fiscal
years 1994 and 1995.
The IHS is preparing contingency
plans based on the preliminary ceilings
showing the impact these will have on
providing quality patient care.
"These contingency plans focus
potential management changes and
employee reductions on the
headquarters and area offices," said
Acting Director of the IHS, Michel
Lincoln. "We are doing our best to
shelter the health care delivery system
at our hospitals and clinics."
Unlike most government agencies,
the IHS is legally required by the Indian
Self-Determination and Assistance Act
to consult with tribes on policy issues.
In compliance with this requirement
the EHS met with the National Indian
Health Board to share information and
discuss the proposed employee ceiling
numbers. Information related to
potential employee reductions is also
being shared with tribal representatives
of individual tribes through the Area
Offices of the EHS. Comments and
discussion between the tribes and IHS
are expected to continue throughout the
next few months.
Top managers in the IHS are to submit
contingency plans to assess the impact
of reductions of employees on patient
care activities. Thesepreliminaryplans
will be used to develop an EHS-wide
plan and will be used only if the IHS is
required to establish a ceiling on
employees. The IHS had 15,418
employees on October 1,1993, the end
of the 1993 fiscal year. Preliminary
employee staff level targetsfor planning
purposes are 14,787 by October 1994
and 14,327 by October 1995.
"While the numbers may change,"
Lincoln said, "it's realistic to expect
that some reductions maybe necessary.''
The Public Health Service (PHS)
imposed a hiring freeze last December
on all PHS agencies but exempted IH$
dircctpatientcareactivities. Therefoii,
the hiring freeze, does not affect IHS
Service Unit hospitals and clinics at this
time. Beyond this hiring freeze, no
other employee reduction program has
been requested or implemented. The
hiring freeze will remain in effect until
an evaluation of Agency impact
statements has been conducted by PHS.
Split in AIM leads to charges
By Shelley Davis
News From Indian Country
Oklahoma Bureau
A delegation of autonomous American Indian Movement chapters met in
New Mexico, December 17 and 18, to
discuss chapter autonomy, the restructuring ofthe movementandatribunal to
hear testimony onthealleged disruptive
activities of Vernon and Clyde
Bellecourt, officers of the National
American Indian Movement, Incorporated, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The issue has been a major topic of
letters to the editor in several major and
local native publications around the
country the last few weeks, as supporters of one group or the other issued
charges and counter-charges against
each offer.
A press release was issued by the
delegation which stated, "After presenting testimony of acts of treason,
fraud, complicity, genocide and other
criminal acts" the assembled delegation brought forth an indictment of
crimes against the Bellecourts.
A national/international tribunal will
be conducted on March 12 and 13,
1994, in San Francisco at which time
testimony and documentation will be
brought forth and judgement will be
rendered by peers and elders. Bob
Robideau, with the New Mexico chapter, said specific charges will be in the
indictment which is expected to be delivered to the Bellecourts after the first
ofthe year. Robideau said some ofthe
charges include' 'provocateuring within
the American Indian Movement to cause
division and unrest, snitch-jacketing,
which is accusing someone of being an
informant," and the Bellecourts will be
charged with "being in collusion with
the federal government in passing bills
of genocide, includingtheNative American Free Exercise of Religion Art and
the Indian Arts and Crafts Art"
"These are bills we consider to further genocide and we consider it treason," said Robideau. "Any policy initiated by the American government is
part ofthe total package of genocide,''
said Russell Means. The total package
of genocide includes the Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act."
"Bob Robideau accuses us of supporting the Native American Free Exercise of Trade Act," said Vernon
Bellecourt, ATM co-founder and board
member of National ATM in Minnesota. "Yes, definitely we support that.
I'm in the prisons on a regular basis.
We're concerned about our brothers
and sisters in the prison system.''
Are Bellecourts Part of
COINTELPRO?
Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt are under indictment for "embracing
COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence
Program) tactics against their own
people," the press release stated.
Means said COINTELPRO tactics
are used to disrupt and confuse and
therefore discredit anyone connected
with dissent against the U.S. government and its policies. Other people
wjiom the delegation considered i ndict-
AIM Split/ See Page 3
Ex-Navajo Chairman's corruption convictions upheld
SAN FRANCISCO. (AP) Calling the
evidence of guilt "substantial,'' afederals
appealscourthasupheldtheconvictionsof
former Navajo tribal chairman Peter
MacDonald.
MacDonald, chairman in 1971-83 and
1987-89, was convicted of racketeering,
fraud and related charges and sentenced to
five years in prison He is serving that term
and an additional tribal jail term concurrently with a 14-year sentence for a
conspiracy conviction in a 1989 riot at
tribal headquarters that left two dead and
five injured.
He was suspended from office by the
uibal council aftera U. S. Senate investigation linked him to bribes and kickbacks.
MacDonald, 65, was convicted of taking
payoffs to help associates gain control of
Navajo Technologies Inc., a computer
company operating on the reservation
Prosecutors said MacDonald shared at
least $53,000 in bribes from the firm
between 1987 and 1989 in return for
helping to arrange a $2.25 million loan
from the tribe.
He also was promised secret ownership of 3.2 million shares of the
company's stock, and did not disclose
that ownership to the tribe in seeking
the loan, prosecutors said.
Two business associates and
MacDonald's son, Peter Jr., earlier entered
plea agreements in the case.
In a 3-0 ruling last Thursday, the 9th
U.S. Circuit Courtof Appealssaid there
was adequate evidence that MacDonald
and his co-conspirators hid the payoffs
to MacDonald and his son by funneli ng
themfromNavajoTechnolcgies through
another company in a contract for services that were never performed.
The court also rejected MacDonald's
contention that he was denied a fair trial
by the prosecutor's closing argument to
thejury, which contrasted MacDonald's
lavish lifestyle to the poverty on the
reservation.
Some ofthe comments "may have
been close to the line separating permissible hard blows from
impermissible foul blows," but any
misleading statements were clarified
by subsequent statements from both
lawyers, the court said.
"Given the substantial evidence of
MacDonald's guilt it is unlikely that the
prosecutor's statements led the jury to a
guilty verdict that it otherwise would not
have reached," the court said
The ruling was issued by Judges
Otto Skopil, David Thompson and
Pamela Rymer.
Casinos good to official who regulated them/ page 1
Split in AIM leads to charges/ page 1
PRESS makes visit to Fortune Bay Casino/ page 6
Fond du Lac CC receives book donation/ page 8
Voice ofthe Anishinabeg (The People)
_
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support: Equal Opportunity For All
Founded in 1988
Volume 5   Issue 29 January 14, 1994
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skly
Capipright, Ttie Djbwe l-ewB, 1994
Photo by Gary BJair
Funeral director Steve Perion, an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) reservation in Wisconsin.
Native American funeral director serves
community with compassion and respect
By Gary Blair
Over two years ago the Minneapolis
Star Tribune carried an article entitled
"Missing their own funerals." The
subheadings read, "Urban Hearse
Project plagued with horrorstories about
itsproblems, Volunteerprojectfor Indians is unraveling."
The story outlined the difficulties
many Native American families in
the Twin Cities were having trying to
get their loved ones transported back
home for burial with some dignity.
With most of Minnesota's Native
American population still living in
poverty and our urban group the poorest in the nation, what has been done
to address this continuing problem?
One of the people now trying to do
something about this problem is Steve
Perion, an enrolled member ofthe Lac
Courte Oreilles (LCO) reservation in
Wisconsin. In 1973, while attending
hiscousin's funeral at LCO, Perion saw
what he calls, "the don't give a dam
attitude" of funeral directors who bury
the poor and vowed to do something
about it. After 5 years of study he became the first licensed Indian mortician
in the United States.
Before coming to the Twin Cities and
starting the Perion Funeral Service 4
years ago, he obtained ten years of
mortuary experience. Part of that time
was spent working as a medical
examiner's assistance.
Perion said,' 'For those who remem-
berthe TV show called "Quincy," Idid
the type of work his assistant did." He
says the past four years have been a
struggle to build his service and the lack
of money has created many ofthe problems he has had to over come.
Perion says he's been stung in the past
by the Indian Urban Hearse Project and
the lack of accurate information about
his services. He says many ofthe problems associated with the old hearse
project were blamed on him.
Perion that if he handled the funeral
and the hearse project provided the
transportation and there were any problems, he received the complaints. He
says before he came on the seen in the
Director/ See page 5
Casinos good to official who regulated them
By Chris Ison and Lou Kilzer
Star Tribune staff writers
At a time when Indian-owned casinos
in Minnesota and neighboring states
were losing millions of dollars to fraud,
theft and mismanagement, the federal
official who was in a position to prevent
abuses was often traveling with his
secretary to casinos he regulated, accepting gifts and money and winning
thousands gambling.
Between August 1992 and September
1993, Earl Barlow, 66, area director of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and his
administrative assistant, Dee
Rasmussen, billed the government for
more than $31,000 in travel expenses,
including 63 days they spent together
on out-of-town trips, according to travel
documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Star
Tribune.
And when he wasn't traveling to distant
casinos, the records show he was often
making local trips - particu-laity on Fridays - to nearby casinos such as Mystic
Lake and Treasure Island.
Much of Barlow's traveling was for
official BIA business, and most area
directors in the country travel exten
sively. But taking along a clerical aide
is unusual and sometimes violated BIA
policy. Further, the trips sometimes
involved gambling and the acceptance
of gifts.
Whether on official business or not it
is clear from their winnings, and from
interviews with people who have seen
them at casinos that Barlow and
Rasmussen were frequent gamblers.
That has raised concerns at BIA headquarters about the appearance of a
conflict of interest and may lead to
adoption of a new policy forbidding
agency employees from gambling in
Indian-owned casinos.
About a year ago, Barlow won $5,070
on a slot machine during a business trip
toLakeof the Woods Casinoin Warroad.
Minn. AtMystic Lake and predecessor,
Little Six, Rasmussen has won four
jackpots totaling more than $16,000.
Gambling interests have been good to
Barlow and Rasmussen in other ways as
well. Rasmussen stayed four nights for
free at a Green Bay, Wis., hotel associated with the Oneida Casino, according
to the travel records. Barlow received a
complimentary skybox seat at the 1992
Super Bowl from a slot machine company that has done business with
Minnesota casinos. Two key investors
in the company have been accused of
trying to buy influence from government officials in other states.
Barlow and Rasmussen were suspended from the BIA after the Star
Tribune reported in October that they
received vouchers, which they could
exchange for cash, from two Minnesota
casinos. Their activities are under investigation by the inspector general's
office ofthe Department ofthe Interior.
Beyond the appearance of conflicts of
interest Barlow's constant travel, absences from his officeand coziness with
casino interests raise questions about
his ability to aggressively review the
contracts negotiated between Indian
tribes and casino management companies and vendors, as his office was
charged with doing.
At the same time that Barlow -often
accompanied by Rasmussen -was visiting casinos and tribes around the
Midwest treated to free meal s and gam-
bling with complimentary chips, some
managers and vendors took advantage
of Indian casinos by negotiating contracts that put much of the profits in
Regulated/ See pg 3