The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-02-04

              Group works to preserve grandparents'
rights in custody disputes
By Gary Blair
In Minnesota if a family breaks-up
through divorceorothercircumstan.es
all too often it is court intervention
that decides what's in the best interest
of the children. A group of people
calling themselves Grandparents Preserving Families (GPF) says when
that happens grandparents are left out
with no rights to guarantee that their
relationships with theirgrandchildren
will be preserved.
Martha Lubbers, an enrollee from
the White Earth Reservation and a
member of GPF, told the PRESS that
she and her husband aren't protected
by the Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA) because the grandchildren
that they want to maintain a relationship with aren't eligible for tribal
enrollment.
At a recent GPF meeting held in
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota members talked about the pain of not
knowing if there will ever see or be
involved with their grandchildren
again. The group is. more organized
then last year and plans to once again
introduce legislation to change the
existing laws that presently disallow
grandparents their rights to an ongoing relationship with their grandchildren
at the time there is court involvement.
The following is a draft ofthe proposed bill that GPF members say would
give them proper standing in the courts
when grandchildren are effected:
"Be It Enacted by the Legislature ofthe
State of Minnesota Section 257.022,
SubDivision2: and S18.175, Sub Division 7. Is Amended to Read: In all
proceedings upon the request of a
parent(s) or grandparent(s) of a party,
shall grant reasonable visitation rights
to the unmarried minor child. The court
shall grant reasonable visitation rights
to grandparent(s) whether the child is
part of an intact or non-intact family.
Grandparents have a relationship with
their grandchildren that is independent of and' not derivative of the
parent-child relationship. If a parent
loses or gives up rights to a child, a
grandparent(s) rights are not affected.
Grandparents must be granted reasonable vi sitation upon petition to the
Court unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that such
visitation is not in the best interests of
the children). Opposition to visita
tion by a parent or guardian is not
sufficientto deny visitation unless it can
be shown that serious physical or psychological harm will result from such
contact. Supervised visitation with the
expense of supervision to be paid for by
the petitioning grandparents) must be
considered as an option in such a case.
The court shall recognize that there
exists a special independent relationship between grandchildren and
grandparent(s) that does not interfere
with the parent/child relationship. The
Court shall make an order granting
visitation rights to grandparent(s) unless there is a preponderance of proof
by a hearing, that it is not in the Best
Interests for the Child."
GPF presently has over 30 active
members and their membership continues to grow. The Lubbers know
that they're not the only family in
Minnesota whose grandchildren
aren't protected by ICWA. That's
why they joined the GPF group and
will continue to work to change the
law so they too can look forward to a
relationship with their grandchildren.
For more information about GPF call
(612) 646-8311 or 533-6447.
Minneapolis Native American liaison position will be maintained, says Mayor
By Delvin Cree
After her first State ofthe City address, held at the Minneapolis
convention center on Tuesday, February 1st, Minneapolis Mayor Sharon
Sayles Belton spoke to the PRESS
briefly about the resignation of Pat
Amo. In the past few years Amo has
worked as a liaison between the Mayor's office and the Minneapolis Native
American community.
Sayles Belton, who is the first women
and black mayor of Minneapolis, re-
assured the Native American
community that the vacant position
would be filled by a Native American.
She said, "Pat Amo resigned from the
position and Donna Harris was a supervisor for the division and Donna
will develop a process for filling Pat
Amo's position. I don't know what
time table that she has set just yet but
the city of Minneapolis remains committed to fill this position."
When asked if the position would be
filled by a Native American, she said,
"Oh, absolutely. The position was an
American Indian liaison and it will
continue to be that and there is funding available for that particular
position." In last week's edi
tion of the PRESS, which was
headlined, "Minneapolis Native
American liaison position may fade
into maze of 'minority affairs'," it
was reported that the position was
going to be discontinued and the city
was in the planning stages of creating
a new post under a different heading,
which according to Harris, would serve
all minority communities in Minneapolis.
When the PRESS spoke to Harris on
Wednesday she said they would have
to first go through the Civil Service
Commission and then advertise for
the position, and that the application
process would take 2 to 3 weeks.
Native American Political Party organizing
in time to impact June elections
Minneapolis, Minn. — In Pre-
Columbian times Native Americans
governed themselves through political structures of their own choosing.
During most of post-contact history,
Native Americans maintained their
own structures of governance.
As the United States moved away
from the early policy of total annihilation of indigenous peoples, its
subjugation tactics evolved into a so-
phisticatedform of political alienation.
This movement culminated in the destruction of the traditional forms of
tribal governance and the adoption of
Tribal Councils as they are presently
constituted under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
In order to overcome our subjugation it is necessary for Native
Americanstoorganizepolitically. The
electoral process used by many tribal
governments assures that fraud and
lack of accountability will remain an
inherent part of tribal elections.
Our effort is to regain control of
our destinies through the development of a political party. We
will begin by organizing enrollees
of the Leech Lake Reservation.
Later, we will expand to include
enrollees of other Ojibwe Reservations and eventually include all
NativeAmerican politicalinterests.
The Native American Political Party
(NAPP) Video Project is the initial
step of this process. We will produce
a short documentary that is intended
to solicit financial and technical support for the founding of NAPP and the
holding of its first National Convention. With hard work and commitment
NAPP could hold its first convention
in May of 1994, in time to impact the
June tribal elections.
The video must convey a clear and
accurate picture ofthe need for Native
Americans to organize and regain control of their destinies. This is at the
core of self-determination and sovereignty.
The video must also convince
non-Indians that support of this
development is in no way an interference, or violation of an internal
tribal matter. Rather, this is the
beginning of a movement enabling
Native Americans to throw off the
chains of colonialism and to begin the practice of truly democratic
governance.
All Native Americans and non-Native supporters are invited to
participate. Please contact Wally
Storbakken in person or at 729-3871
for information on how you can help.
Megwich!
Religious freedom bill is flawed tribal leaders say
By Bunty Anquoe
Reprinted w/ permission from
Indian Country Today
Washington- Some tribal leaders
have voiced concern that pending legislation toensure religiousfreedom rights
for Indian people may have some serious flaws.
Marge Anderson, chairwoman ofthe
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa, said the
Native American Freedom of Religion
Act may actually hurt, not help, Native
religions by allowing non-federally recognized tribes and non-Indian
individuals to participate in the measure's protections.
"The bottom line is that (the bill)
wouldgivea 'protected' statusto groups
and individuals who are not Indians and
those who profit from exploiting our
people and our beliefs,'' she said. '' At
Mille Lacs, our people, our elders, have
suffered immensely because of fraudulent non-Indians claiming to be
traditional practitioners. I am very
concerned about the potential in this
legislation to protect these thieves.''
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe recently filed a resolution to join Ms.
Anderson inher call to amend thebill to
restrict its "Indian" references to federally- recognized tribes and their
membership.
The tribe represents 40,000 Chippewa people and is comprised ofthe Leech
Lake, White Earth, Fond du Lac, Nett
Lake, Grand Portage and Mille Lacs
bands.
Thebill wasintroducedby Sen. Daniel
K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, last year to amend
the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, a 1978 law that tribes say has
done little to protect Native religions
because it provided no enforcement
mechanisms.
Recent Supreme Court decisions have
eroded religious liberty for Indian people, prompting tribes to seek legislative
relief.
The new bill focuses on four areas: the
protectionof sacred sites; theprotection
ofthe sacramental use of peyote; protection ofthe religiousues of eagle feathers;
and improved access to Indian spiritual
leaders by Indian prisoners.
"Indian tribe" is loosely defined in
legislation to include state-recognized
tribes, terminated tribes, and any group
that has filed a petition for federal recognition with the BIA.
Also under the measure, the term
"Native American means any Indian
or Native Hawaiian" and "Indian" is
defined as "an individual of aboriginal
ancestry who isamemberofan "Indian
tribe."
While these definitions may seem
harmless on the surface, they could set
a bad legal precedent down the road,
Ms. Anderson said.
In its congressional findings, which
outlines the reasons for the measure's
necessity, the bill takes special note of
the federal trust responsibility to Indian
tribes, tribal self-governance and self-
determination.
Congress should not defend its actions by citing the special political
relationship that exists between the federal government and Indian tribes
if the legislation would protect people
who don't have that relationship, Ms.
Anderson contends.
' 'This meshing ofthe two concepts is
dangerously close to redefining 'American Indian' and 'Indian tribe' as being
a racial status, rather than a political
status," she said.
The inclusion of state-recognized
tribes and groups that have only filed
petitions for federal recognition to the
BIA could be especially problematic,
she added.
"We believe this language will set a
very dangerous legal precedent and cer-
tainly create complex legal and
jurisdictional problems for many Indian tribes. (It) will convey the authority
and powers of a tribal government to
groups of individuals, however limited,
before any federal determination has
been made with regard to their status as
an Indian tribe."
Bob Peregoy, staff attorney for the
Native American Rights Fund, said the
Freedom/ See Page 3
\A/f\fYisf"i'c <_tri i
e against domestic abuse/ page 1
Native American Political Party organizing/ page 1
A. I. Vets Center responds to NAP article/ page 4
Geshick responds to Bellecourt indicments/ page 4
ony Hillerman's The Dark Wind/page 8
Voice ofthe Anishinabeg (The People)
Fifty Cents
Founded  in 19BB
Ojibwe
News
We Support: Equal Opportunity For AD People
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Volume 5   Issue 3B February 4, 1994
A weekly publication. Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1993
Bank freezes NeVv Visions' account over
signatory
dispute
By Gary Blair
Trouble has broken out over the development ofthe New Vision's Native
American Detox Center in Minneapolis. The Riverside State Bank attorney
did freeze all the accounts ofthe Chemical Dependency Treatment Program at
one point. Allegations of misuse of
funds havebeen leveled and infighting
between staff and some of the
organization's board of directors has
been reported.
Plans for an Indian detox center came
about after the old Hennepin County
Detox Center at 1800 Chicago Avenue
South was closed in November of 1992,
amidst reports oflong termclieniabusc.
According to Vicky Abraham, New
Vision'sExecutiveDirector, when plans
for the new Indian detox center were
first proposed, New Visions agreed to
restructure their organization in order
to accomodate the new services. They
were to first form an administrative
center that would oversee the different
branchesof the organization.This would
involve their existing in-patient and
out-patient programs and the proposed
detox center operation.
"That never happened," Abraham
told the PRESS. She also said that soon
after the contract with Hennepin County
was signed, New Vision's board member Jerry Stafford aligned himself with
at least three other board members and
they created a separate bank account for
the $75,000 that the county offered to
start the new Indian detox center.
Abraham said, "Then those same
board members fixed it so Lee Staples,
our newly hired detox center director,
would be the only one in-charge of that
bank account. At that point, I wasn't
able to find out anything about those
finances," she explained.
Last Friday the PRESS spoke with
Staples about the allegations now associated with the new Indian detox center.
"I am trying to stay neutral and just do
thejob I was hired for," he said.
PRESS sources say Staples was hired
at a salary of $47,500 per year and has
done little or nothing to get the new
detox center started. When questioned
about his efforts since taking the position a month ago, Staples said, "I've
hired one person and I have one nurse
whowiUbecoming-onwithinamonth."
TwoweeksagoStaplestoldthePRESS
in an interview that there would be 28
staff hired for the new Indian detox
center and that they planed to open the
facility onMarch lstofthisyear. PRESS
sources say, the one person that Staples
has hired is being paid $ 12.00 per hour
and isn't doing anything because Staples isn't at the office most ofthe time.
Abraham said that from the start she
felt there was an attempt to isolate her
authority by Stafford and Staples. "Lee
Dispute/See Page 3
Local woman takes struggle against domestic
abuse to another level
By Sara Lawrence
Georgia Mayotte, an Ojibwe mother
of three and grandmother of one from
the Red Lake Reservation, has recently seen a dream come true. A
lifelong interest which has always
blessed those close to her will now
reach many others across the nation.
Thanks to Books Beyond Borders Pub-
lishing Company in Boulder,
Colorado, Mayotte is fast becoming a
published poet.
In a letter from publisher Judy
Rydlun she states, "We have never
before had an opportunity to produce
a book such as yours and I suspect
future opportunities will be rare indeed. '' Later this month Mayotte will
travel to Boulder to meet with Rydlun
and take care of the business aspects
of publishing the book.
' 'Right now I am trying to find a
company to market the book here. I
want to find a Native owned and operated company but so far I haven't had
much luck,'' Mayotte said in an interview at the Dry Gulch Saloon, a dry
bar in St. Paul which she often frequents to socialize in a non-alcoholic
environment.
"I would especially like to thank
my friends Barbara Marine and Don
Coyas whose friendship is a gift from
the Creator and through that He has
given me the gift of this book," she
said. Mayotte went on to explain that
Marine and Coyas submitted some of
her poetry to Books Beyond Borders
without telling her about it. The only
idea she had that they might be up to
something was on her birthday when
Marine told her, "Your gift is in the
works."
A short time later Coyas presented
Mayotte with a beautifully bound collection of her poems about the pain of
domestic abuse and the experience of
being a Native American woman in
today's world.
Mayotte was willing to give little
background information on her life.
She said that it is not her desire to have
her personal experiences with domestic abuse be the focal point of any
articles or presentations she is involved in. "The purpose of my writing
is not to dramatize my own life or
draw attention to myself, I want to
draw attention to the women and children who are dealing with domestic
abuse right now. I want to change
people's attitudes about it. Violence is
not something to be tolerated as part of
a relationship and every woman needs
to know that," she said passionately.
Mayotte, who currently lives in St.
Paul with her ten year old son, Richard, is employed as the Cultural
Coordinator for the Eagles' Nest Battered Women's Shelter. She has been
with the program since its inception in
June of 1991, previously working as
the shelter's volunteer coordinator.
"Sometimes I am overwhelmed by
the idea that violence doesn't end,"
Mayotte stated. "I see women putting
up with the abuse in their own lives
because that'showtheirmothers lived.
What they don't realize is that when
their mothers were suffering they had
very few options, but things are different now."
"The first thing most women have
to get straight in their minds is that
they do not deserve to be abused,'' she
continued. "The acceptance of this
belief is the foundation of rebuilding
their self-esteem. From there, they
have to realize that what they originally feel as shame can turn into a
feeling of power. Once they get themselves out ofthe abusive situation and
start making plans for a new life they
begin to see a strength in themselves
that they probably didn't know they
had. This leads to a feeling of power
and a healthy kind of pride which had
been stolen from them by the abuser.''
Much of Mayotte's poetry deals with
the pain of domestic abuse for both
women and children but her themes
are not repetitious. Each poem draws
from a different experiential aspect of
living with and loving an abuser. In
addition, some ofthe poems express
the feeling of loss she has felt trying to
maintain Ojibwe traditions in her everyday life and pass them on to her
children.
The reader does not walk away feel-
ing depressed, however, because
Mayotte masters a balance between
the reality of her experiences and the
strength she has found in the traditions of her people.
•.'.
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