The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-02-183

              U of M Indian/Chicano students hold press
conference after previous demands ignored
By Delvin Cree
At a press conference held Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the La Raza Cultural
Center on the University of Minnesota
- Twin Cities campus, the following
letters were read by American Indian
and Chicano students:
We, the concerned American Indian
students of the University of Minnesota, have called this press conference
this morning to announce that on January 31,1994 we sent a letter to
President Nils Hasselmo requesting
that the University ofMinnesota comply with the following requestsby 4:30
p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 1994:
1) Immediate evaluation or termination ofBruce Meyers; 2) Evaluation of
Nobuya Tsuchida A. hiring practices
in OMSSA Central B. written reprimand ofhis behavior; 3) Reinstatement
of Dianna Kale; 4) American Indian
Studies department faculty increase;
5) Request for line item budgets for the
last 6 years of all learning resource
centers.
Since we have not received a satisfactory response to our requests we are
sendingthefollowingletterto: 1) American Indian high school students in the
states of Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, South andNorthDakota; 2) The
Twin Cities American Indian Advisory
Committee, and; 3) The FA.M.I.L.Y.
program mentors at the University of
Minnesota and tribal colleges.
The letter reads as follows: As concerned American Indian students at the
University ofMinnesota - Twin Cities
campus, we are writing to discourage
other American Indian people from
attending the University ofMinnesota.
We, believe that this University has
failed in its commitment to American
Indian people as indicated by the following actions: I) American Indian
support services for students have been
in turmoil since the hiring of G. Bruce
Meyers as Director of the American
Indian Learning Resource Center
(AILRC) in September 1992. Students,
faculty and staffhave attempted to reach
resolutions regarding issues the resource
center for over a year and a half. There
has been a complete turnover in staff
twice in that time period. Several positions have been terminated by the
administration; 2) As of February 15,
1994, the Twin Cities American Indian
Advisory Committee hasyettobeformed
as an advisory to the president of the
University of Minnesota. This is required by state law; 3) Ourside of the
American Indian Studies department
(which currently has only one active
full-time American Indian tenured professor) there are very few American
Indian faculty; 4) Of those American
Indian freshmen entering the University ofMinnesota in 1988,98% still had
not graduated in five years.
Enclosed is a copy of the Minnesota
American Indian Education resolution
whichrecognizestheproblems that exist
between staff and administration.
Hopefully, the University of Mnne-
sota will renew its commitment to
American Indian people as we continue
Conference/ page 3
pg
Reports for IHB and MAIC reveal changes/ page 4
Casino employee entitled to workers' comp/ pg 1
AIM tribunal controversy continues/ page 4
U of Minn students hold press conference/ pg 1
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People)
1
President's budget takes deep bite out of economic
development funds/    BIA loan programs, tribal court money on the hit list
Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
By Bunty Anquoe
Reprinted W/ permission from Indian Country Today
Washington- President Clinton on
Monday unveiled a 1995 budget plan
that proposes significant cuts in tribal economic development programs.
The administration's $1.5 trillion
1995 budget package includes a request of $2.24 billion for the BIA.
This figure falls short of the 2.27
billion total budget authority for the
agency enactedby Congress for 1994.
BIA operating programs are increased by 9.3 million over the 1994
mark to $1.5 billion. The total federal spending mark is $30 billion
less than the president's 1994 budget request.
On the chopping block in the budget proposal are three BIA economic
development grant programs. Almost $4 million in business
development grant funds is sched
uled for elimination.
Also on the budget hit list are: the
$2.5 million direct loan program; $4.3
million in technical assistance grants
and $1.4 million for special tribal
courts funding.
The cuts seem to replay the Bush
Administration's 1993 budget proposal which also sought to terminate
the BIA's business development
grants and discontinue the direct loan
program, according to congressional
staff. Congress later reinstated the
programs during the appropriations
process.
President Clinton has proposed kill-
' ing a total 115 federal programs to
save $3.25 billion in the 1995 budget
with reduced spending scheduled for
300 additional programs.
He said this budget is one of the
toughest ever becauseof the spending
caps put in place last year that require
the administration to hold to reduced
spending commitments made in the
$500 billion, five-year deficit reduction plan passed by Congress last
year.
Carl Shaw, BIA spokesman, said
the good things the bureau is trying to
accomplish in the budget plan ' 'will
more than make up" for the cutting
out of these programs.
"The direct loan program has
turned into an obvious failure because of the 70 percent default rate
the program has experienced," he
said. "Also, since more and more
tribes are contracting services, they
don't need the technical assistance
funds and the purpose of the business
development grants will be taken up
by the bureau's loan guarantee program."
Ada Deer, Interior Department assistant secretary for Indian Affairs,
said the administration's budget proposal continues the shift of resources
Economic/ see page 3
OJibwvi
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
1
Volume 5   Issue 34        February IB, 1994
skly publication.
Copyright, The Opbwe News, 1B93
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) Money for
health programs, school construction and
small business loans on American Indian
reservations would drop under President
Clinton'sproposed 1995budget, the Oneida and Menominee tribes say.
Oneida Tribal Chairwoman Debbie
Doxtator said the plan may violate treaties
negotiated between tribes and the U.S.
government
"TheU.S. sendsbilUonsofdollarsaround
the world to help other countries, yet they
never put those kinds of resources into the
Indian tribes, which they have legal binding agreements with," she said of the
proposed federal spereimgfor the year that
starts Oct 1.
Jerry Waukau of the Menominee Tribal
Clinic said the new budget proposes to
eliminate 1,700 jobs in the federal Indian
Health Service, including 49 at the
Bemidji, Minn., office, that serves local
tribes.
' 'If the cuts are going to be made, they
should be made in the administrative
area, versus areas that affect direct patient
care," he said.
Money from the Indian Health Service
now meets only about 65 percent of the
Menominees' demand for health care
services, and 49percentoftheir demand
for dental services, Waukau said.
Over the next four years, projections
indicate a substantial growth in demand
for services and theneedformoredoctors,
Waukau said.
But Ada Deer, the U.S. Interior
Departaerrt'sassistantsecretaryfor Indian
affairs and former chairman of the
Menominee Tribe, defended the budget
Indian Chamber of Commerce elects new officers
St Paul, MN — At a recent annual
meeting of the board of directors of the
Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce, Les King was elected
Board Chairman.
King is an enrolled member of the
Boise Fort Band of Ojibwe. Before
going in business, King attended
Bemidji State University. Currently,
he is President and partner in American Liberty Construction, a Native
American owned and operated general construction company located in
Lorreto, Minnesota.
Other elected officers include: Vice-
Chair - Evelyn Tanner, credit officer
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Treasurer - B. Don Crofut - owner of
NDN, Inc.. Secretary-KathyCullen,
owner of Karma Trading Co. Fifteen
other Indian business owners or Native American professionals make up
the MAICC board of directors.
The Minnesota American Indian
Chamber of Commerce is an eight
year old organization of American
Indian owned businesses, professionals, and associate members. The
Chamber's mission is to enhance economic development in the Native
American community by promoting
Indian owned businesses and business
networking, and establishing free
enterprise educational and training
opportunities for Native American
youth and entrepreneurs.
Les King new board chairman of MN
Amcr. Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Winnebago Tribe buys 600 acres that contain Indian mounds
BLACK RIVERFALLS, Wis. (AP)
The Winnebago Indian Tribe said it
spent $1.2 million of casino profits to
acquire 600 acres of land that elders
believe was the site of a Winnebago
village.
The property, along the Wisconsin
River near Muscoda in southwest
Wisconsin, once contained at least 64
specially sculptured, earthen mounds,
someof whichare Indian burial mounds,
the tribe said. All the mounds have
spiritual significance in the Winnebago
culture.
' 'We will have a cultural center on the
site and display and store some of the
marry cultural artifacts we are reclaiming
from museums around the country,"
Winnebago Vice Chairman Wilfred
Clevelandsaid ''Wearealsoinvestigating
thesiteforayoumcarnp,prairierestoration
and a buffalo farm "
The money for the purchase is coming
from Las Vegas-style casinos that the
4,700-membertribe operates near Black
River Falls, Wisconsin Dells and
Nekoosa.
The land includes 1.5 miles of river
frontage and two islands in the Wisconsin
River, the tribe said in a statement
Most of the effigy mounds at the site,
many in the shape of eagles, were plowed
under over the years but 15 still exist in the
woods overlooking the river and islands,
the tribe said
The tribe also said it was building new
convenience stores near Wittenberg and
Black River Falls and building or
renovating five Headstart centers for
early childhood education programs.
"All of these developments are
possible because of Indian gaming,"
Cleveland said.
The convenience stores are part of a
$1.5 million effort for the tribe to
diversify its economy, leaders said. The
tribe's first convenience store opened
near Toman last year.
"Our people lost our land and our
resources many times in the past. We've
learned," said Dallas White Wing, a
member of the Winnebago Business
Committee, thetribe'sgoverningboard.
"The public supports Indian gaming
and we are workingto keep that support.
But we want to make sure we have
businesses that will support each area.''
Iribes criticize Clinton's 1995 budget for reservation programs
"By continuing to emphasize and
enhance the shift of responsibilities and
resources to the tribes, we are providing
them with the capability and flexibility to
set and'implement their own goals and
directly administer federal programs,"
Deer said
Doxtator said her tribe and others in
Wisconsin are better positioned to handle
cutsmfederalspendingforrribal programs
because of revenue received from Las
Vegas-style casinos.
But nearly 500 U.S. tribes do not have
steady gaming revenue, she said.
With its gambling profits, the Oneida
Tribe is building a new elementary school
and providing money for small business
loan and grant programs similar to those
thatwouldgettheaxeinClinton'sbudget
officials said.
New Visions executive director Vicky Abraham (standing), responds to questions from Hennepin County
accountants and New Visions board member Gerry Stafford (far right) at a meeting last monday.
More allegations of mismanagement surface
at New Visions
By Gary Blair
There is not going to be a New Visions
Native American detoxification center
in south Minneapolis the PRESS has
learned. There is nothing in place to
create such a venture.
New Visions board member Gerry
Stafford, says he has tape recordings of
board meetings and other documentation that demonstrate financial
mismanagement of the organization.
He plans to obtain a court injunction
that will stop what's been happening
and force New Visions to use the funds
they've received from the county to
properly develop the proposed Indian
detox facility.
Stafford unleashed his allegations be-
foreHennepin County accountants who
met with New Visions Executive Director Vicky Abraham last Monday. The
accountants were there to inquire about
the program's handling of county dollars. According to Stafford, the county
gave New Visions $145,000 toorganize
the Indian detox center. As of today he
says $26,000 has not been accounted for
and he alleges that some of that money
went to New Visions board members.
Abraham's defense of her management was stopped by Stafford's
allegations that she has mismanaged
the treatment program and the development of the new Indian detox center.
Not even the program's accountant,
who was also present, could explain
how the county's funding to New Visions and the development of the Indian
detox center was being appropriated.
Stafford told the group, "They've
been using 3 sets of bylaws at board
meetings. If one didn't fit their particular needs they'd use another." The
PRESS has obtained copies of those;
documents. They call for differentnum-
bers that are needed to create a board
quorum. They also differ in the number
ofmeetingsaboardmemberhadtomiss
before they could be removed from the
board of directors withoutcause. Stafford
said later, "They had thingspassed that
should not have been passed and they
got rid of board members who opposed
them," he said.
The meeting became flammable when
Stafford finally said, "New Visions
owes the IRS $42,000 in back payroll
taxes." When Abraham couldn't explain how those taxes were going to be
paid, the meeting drew to a standstill.
Irene Wade told Abraham,' 'You need
to get a new board of directors and you
need to fire your accountant." Wade's
Visions/ see page 3
Casino employee entitled to workers' comp,
judge rules
Minneapolis (AP) In a ruling
that may affect thousands ofMinnesota casino workers, a state
labor and industry compensation
judge has ruled that an injured
worker at the Grand Casino in
Hinckley is an employee of an
independent firm running the
gaming business and is covered
under the state workers' compensation system.
Compensation Judge Jerome
Arnold's ruling, if ultimately upheld,
could chip away at the principle of
Indian sovereign immunity, which
exempts workers at Indian casinos
from the state workers' comp system
and other Minnesota laws. Arnold
ruled recently that Tammy Fisher was
an employee of Mille Lacs Gaming
Corp., a subsidiary of Plymouth-based
Grand Casino, when she injured her
back in June 1992. Mille Lacs Gaming manages the Hinckley casino for
the Mille Lacs band of Chippewa.
The band argued that Fisher, a
beverage server, was not covered for
her work-related injury under state
law because she was an employee of
the tribe, whose sovereign immunity
exempts it from the state laws.
But Arnold disagreed, noting the
tribe's contract with Mille Lacs Gaming Corp. made the outside firm
responsible for numerous employer
duties at the casino, including hiring,
supervising and training workers.
The decision is the first time a
compensation judge has ruled that a
Minnesota casino worker is not a
tribal employee.' 'The decision is significant because we have had
hundreds and hundreds ofMinnesota
citizens working at these casinos who,
if they are injured, didn't have recourse under state law," Fisher's
attorney, Raymond Peterson, said
Thursday. "Now this opens the doors
for them."
Peterson said the Indian tribes have
their own insurance programs, but
they generally provide fewer benefits
for injured workers. For example, the
Mille Lacs Chippewa provide injured
workers two-thirds of their weekly
salary for as long as 104 weeks for
temporary partial disabilities, while
the state's coverage extends to 225
weeks," he said.
Patrick Mahoney, an attorney for
Berkley Administrators, the insurer
handling Minnesota's signed risk
pool, said he disagrees with Arnold's
decision and said his client may appeal the decision to the Minnesota
Workers' Compensation Court of
Appeals. Mahoney alleged that there
were disputed facts in the case and
that Arnold did not conduct a full
hearing,
Mahoney said the Chippewa in
Hinckley handle the casino's payroll
and are in charge of hiring and firing
workers. He added that eventually the
tribe will take control of all casino
operations.
Jeffrey Thill, an attorney for the Mille
Lacs band, could not be reached for
comment There are 17 Indian-owned
casinos in Minnesota employing more
than 10,000 workers. Fourteen are
operated by the tribes or Indian-formed
companies. Two outside firms manage
the three other casinos: Grand Casino
runs casinos in Hinckley andMilleLacs
for the Mille Lacs Chippewa, and
International Gaming runs a casino for
the White Earth Chippewa in
Mahnomen. Those casinos together
employ more than 3,000 workers.
i