The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-03-18

              .
Hennepin County rescinds offer to co-host
powwow with AIS
By Gary Blair
It must be election year. In the midst
of all the friction, legal proceedings,
andbadpublicity surrounding the detox
issueinMinneapolis, Hennepin County
officials have recendy offered the Native American community money for a
powwow to be held in May. Although
some members of the community see
this as a gesture of goodwill, others see
it as an attempt to "buy out", at least
temporarily, those who have publibly
denounced the county's handling ofthe
detox issue, and Native American issues in general.
The following are two memos recently sent by Joe Big Bear, Program
Manager for Hennepin County Chemical Health Division, that spells out the
county's offer. The first is dated March
10,1994,andthesecondisdated March
11,1994.
"To: American Indian Services Staff
and Board of Directors.
From: Joe Big Bear, Program Manager Chemical Health Division.
Hennepin County Chemical Health
Division is seekingyour assistance with
co-sponsoring and in the planning and
development of plans for American Indian month, May 1994.
CurrenUy, we are planning a training
initiative and an awareness and recognition pow-wow, recognizing the
American Indian pow-wow as being
the greatest prevention program from
alcohol and drugs for American Indian
people.
"I have been assigned as the primary
contact for the projects. Otherstafffrom
the Chemical Health Divison shall work
on the two projects with focus as follows: Chemical Health - Cultural
Sensitivity Traning-Mike Goze; Mary
Favorite; Bill Thunkerhawk; Sally Auger. Cultural Awareness and
Reccognition Pow-Wow -Joe Big Bear.
"We are hopeful you can assign at
least one staff person to assist with the
trainingprogram. American Indian Services shall serve as the fiscal agent and
a professional service agreement shall
be written detailing the services and
expenditure offunds. Hennepin County
has available $7,000 for this initiative.
$2,000 for training and $5,000 for the
pow-wow. We are hopeful that Ameri-
canlndianservicescan matchthiseffort
forup to $3,000.00. This is however not
a requirement. ' 'Please advise as soon
as possible to your agreement as co-
sponsors to these events.''
The second memo reads: "To: American Indian Services Staff and Board of
Directors. From: Joe Big Bear, Program Manager, Re: Pow-wow.
"Today, one of your employees, Irene
Wade, allegedHennepin County is 'only
trying to buy offthelndian community.'
She also said, 'I (meaning her) will
contactthepaperandlet the community
know what Hennepin County is doing,'
"This was never an intent of mine and
this allegation is offensive. I would
never subject our Eagle Staffs, a powwow, your organization, the Indian
community, or Hennepin County to a
buy-out! This allegation was made one
day after we made what I thought to be
an exciting initiative.
"We, the Chemical Health Division
American Indian employees, have met
and discussed this allegation, and have
decided to meet with the Healthy Nations group and add our funds to their
organization who has requested funds
from us for the same type of initiative.
Cultural awareness training and a powwow. Our goal will still be met with a
different provider.
"I regret in making this decision and
I apologize to American Indian Services. I shall continue to support
American Indian Services in their efforts to serve the community in much
Hennepin/see page 3
AIM Tribunal Indictment, part IV/ page 4
Plan aims to end abuses in charities/ page 3
Memorial Service held for Anna Mae Aquash/ page 3
Treaty Foes cannot have casino data/ page 1
Mtg. held to discuss Mpls. Native Comm. Advo./ pg 1
Voice ofthe Anishinabeg (The People)
1
Fifty Cents
Founded  in 19BB
Ojibwe
News
We Support: Equal Opportunity For All People
1
Volume 5   Issue 38
March IB, 1994
sMy publication.
Copyright:, The Ojibwe Mi
i, 1994
Community meeting held to discuss advocate
position with the Minneapolis Mayor's office,
By Delvin Cree
Representatives from the Minneapolis Mayor's office met with the
Native American community on
Wednesday of this week to discuss the
role of a new Native American Community Advocate that will be hired
later this spring.
The meeting, which lasted one and
a half hours, got side tracked a few
times while some community members showed their fustrations with the
leadership of the Native community.
One ofthe most important factors that
came up in the meeting was the mistreatment of the last advocate, Pat
Amo. Amo who was the previous liaison for the Mayor' s office and the Native
communityresigned afterin-office problems with her supervisor, Donna Harris.
Harris, who was present at the meeting,
sqirmed down in her chair while being
blasted at by concerned members ofthe
community.
' 'How can we have a person work for
the Mayor's office when we already
know that they're going to be abused
and mistreated,'' said Irene Wade. Harris had no comment or answer to offer
when questioned a number of times
by the community. Instead a red face
and her white teeth showed her only
expression.
Discussion eventually moved to criteria for the position. One women
recommended that the person hired be
an enrolled member of a tribe. Doing
so would show that the person had
some Native American blood.
An employee ofthe Minneapolis Fire
Department said he was quite upset
with the current hiring practices ofthe
City of Minneapolis. He told the crowd
that one time he questioned eight other
firemen who had applied for the job as
"Native Americans" and only one
could back up his claim.
Others who spoke out said that for
years now the City of Minneapolis has
been hiring people who say they are
Native American, but can't produce
any evidence of their heritage. "For
years the City has been reporting that
they are following their affirmative action guidelines for minority
recruitment," saidanotherperson, "but
all the time white people are getting the
jobs that should be going to the minority
population."
Kathey Keeley, moderator of the
meeting, said that not much could be
done about the hiring that took place
over the past few years. Keeley is the
newly appointed chief of staff for Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton.
When Keeley asked what was done in
the past when dealing with the Mayor's
office and the City Council, responses
quickly came back that the Native community had to stage protests to be heard.
Speaking with some reassurrance
she stated that changes should take
place and meeting with the community is helpful.
One ofthe most heated moments at
the meeting came after Lucinda Ellert,
a Lakota women from South Dakota,
yelled at some of the directors of Indian non-profits and our so-called
leaders. She looked at Clyde Bellecourt, Director of the Peacemaker
Center, Francis Fairbanks, Director
ofthe Minneapolis American Indian
Center, and Laura Wittstock, Director
of Migizi Communications and others that were sitting at the table and
said that when she came to them for
help none of them helped her or supported her. She noted that her son who
is in prison was wrongfully convicted
for a crime and is being treated wrongfully in the prison system. Ellert added
that she also approached some of these
same individuals on other personal
family matters, again not receiving
any help or assistance.
She commented briefly on the issue
of hiring a new Native American advocate saying that the position
shouldn't be given to a token Indian
but rather to somebody who is really
going to do something for Indian
people.
After making that statement Ellert
turned to Bellecourt, Fairbanks,
Wittstock, et. al., and called them
"sellouts."
Treaty foes cannot have casino data, judge rules
AP-Opponents of hunting and fish-
ingtreaty rights for the Mille Lacs Band
of Chippewa cannot get information on
the income received-by the tribe's casinos, a federal magistrate has ruled.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan
Lebedoff criticized the opponents' motion, saying that tribal income
information is irrelevant to a case in-
volvingthe rightsoftheChippewaunder
an 1837 treaty.
' 'With all due respect to the attorneys,
Iwas offended by the motion," Lebedoff
said Tuesday after the session in U.S.
District Court in St. Paul. "I thought it
constituted harassment.''
The band is suing the state ofMinnesota, trying to stop it from enforcing its
hunting, fishing and rice-gathering laws
against band members in a 12 county
area of east central Minnesota that was
ceded to the federal governmentin 1837.
The motion seeking income information was made by six landowners in east
central Minnesota and several of the
affected counties, which joined the suit
on the side ofthe state.
Stephen Froehle, the landowners' attorney, said the casino income
information is relevant, partly because
of a 1979 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in
a hunting and fishing case.
According to a document he filed
with the U.S. District Court, the Supreme Court found that fish and game
privileges need not be given to individuals unless they are needed to maintain
a modest standard of living.
"It was not intended for harassment
or any improper purpose,'' Froehle said
ofhis request for financial information.
Lebedoff said he told the opponents'
attorneys, in a tongue-in-cheek remark,
that he might consider ordering the
release ofthe information ifthey could
prove that the band owned casinos before the 1837 treaty was signed.
Chairwoman tries to block publication of tribal
newspaper
BOWLER, Wis. (AP) The
chairwoman ofthe Stockbridge-Munsee
Mohican Tribe tried to stop publication
of a reservation newspaper because a
majority of the tribal council felt the
publication would be biased against
them.
Chairwoman Laura Coyhis also
accused the editor of the paper, Gary
Ehman, of siding with critics of her
administration who are staging a sit-in
at tribal headquarters and preventing
some workers, including herself, from
going inside the building.
An estimated 30 to 60 protesters who
have called for Coyhis' impeachment
have occupied tribal headquarters since
March 2. Coyhis, 44, has characterized
the turmoil as a power feud by the
faction that lost last fall's elections,
giving her side a 4-3 majority on the
tribal council.
Wednesday's editions ofthe Mohican
News were printed and about 1,000
copieswerecirculatedThursday, Ehman
said.
"The Mohican News has attempted
to remain neutral," Ehman said in a
telephone interview from his office in
tribal headquarters.
The newspaper carried a front page
story about the political standoff. The
back page cited a 1968 Indian Civil
Rights Act barring tribal government
from abridging people's freedom to
"peacefully assemble and to petition
for a redress of grievances.''
A federal mediator from the U.S.
Justice Department's community
relations service in Chicago was on the
reservation northwest of Shawano on
Monday and Tuesday to try and resolve
the dispute and is expected back for
more talks next week.
There have been threats of violence,
but the occupation ofthe headquarters
has been peaceful, law enforcement
authorities said.
Critics contend Coyhis, who took
office in December, has denied tribal
members their freedom of speech and
assembly and they seek protections for
workers from being fired for political
reasons.
According to the federal mediator,
the protesters demand that Coyhis be
removed from office.
Coyhis said she contacted the printers
of the tribal newspaper and said the
tribe wouldn't pay the publication costs
because the paper was being controlled
by one group in the political dispute.
She said Ehman was involved in "an
act of open loyalty to the other side.
They are trying to overthrow the
government."
Photo by Gary Blair
Joe Estrada,centcr, a New Visions board member exchanges words with Amy Johnson, in black suit, attorney for
Jerry Stafford. Also present are Kathy Anderson, front left and an unidentified associate of Amy Johnson. Behind
Est rada are Hennepin County assistant attorney Bill Edwards, who represents Estrada and Curt Anderson, attorney
"ior the Riverside Bank.
Lawsuit against New Visions dismissed but
County still investigating
By Gary Blair
According to information coming
from the Hennepin County Attorney's
office, their audit ofNew Vision's fund-
ingfortheproposed Indian Detox Center
has revealed violations that are prosecutable.
On Monday, March 14,1994, Hennepin County District Court Judge Debra
Hedlund dismissed the lawsuit that was
recentlybroughtbyNewVision'sboard
member Gerry Stafford, and his group
of supporters. Outside the courtroom
after the hearing, Joe Estrada, who had
been the target of the litigation, had
heated words for Stafford's attorney
Amy Johnson. Attorney Johnson, later
cautioned that she may reassert the
lawsuit if the matter isn't resolved
through another process.
Dismissal ofthe lawsuit came about
after Stafford's attorney Johnson told
the court that at least one of the defendants, Connie Ross, hadn't been served
proper notification ofthe hearing. At
torney Johnson then informed the court
that she didn't have Ross' address and
that was the reason Ross wasn't served.
Robert Olander, Hennepin County's
divison head for chemical health, who
was also named in the lawsuit, told the
court that he hadn't been served either.
He said his appearance in court was
brought about by a witness subpoena.
Olander was accompanied, in court by
Bill Edwards of the county attorney's
office.
When the judge asked New Vision's
attorney Cathleen Anderson if she would
provide Ross' address to Stafford's legal counsel she (Anderson) answered,
" I'll get sued if I do that." At that point
attorney Anderson repeated her request
that the lawsuit.be dismissed and it was
granted.
After a year of silence from New
Vision's representatives, allegations of
mishandled funds and the lack of development of the Indian detox center
surfaced. Over a month ago the Minneapolis Indian community was alerted by
PRESS coverage that a bitter split had
occurred withintheNew Vision'sboard
of directors and a second group had
been formed.
Within the past three weeks the chemical dependency treatment program for
Native Americans had their bank account frozen by Stafford because ofthe
in-fighting. Challenges as to who the
real board members are have centered
on Gerry Staffordand Joe Estrada. Both
argued thatthey are thechairpersonand
represent the organization's board of
directors.
The lawsuit that was recently brought
by Stafford was supposed to determine
who legally controls New Visions and
who controls the Indian detox center's
funding. Named in the suit is Hennepin
County employee Robert Olander, who
Stafford alleges had illegally involved
himself in the development of New
Vision'scorporateaffairs. Also included
in the suit were the treatment program' s
other board members Judy Olson,
Connie Ross; Charlene Leecy and Pat
Lawsuit/ see page 3
Head of bloated BIA has history of doing good
By Tracey A. Reeves
Reprinted w/ permission
from the Duluth News-Tribune
W ashington ~ Don't make the
mistake of calling Ada Deer a Native
American. She prefers American
Indian. "Anyone who's born in this
country is native to it," said Deer.
"That would make you, me and
everybody else Native American." And
she says just because she grew up on an
reservation doesn't mean she's
uneducated, poor and an alcoholic.
Deer, 58, has two college degrees and a
high salary to go along with her new job
as head ofthe Bureau of Indian Affairs.
And she's in perfect health.
"There's this myth that all Indians
are supposed to be poor and uneducated," said Deer, in a tone suggesting
she's tired of having to dignify herself
andherpeople. "I'mheretoerasethose
myths and to address the historic injustices Indian people have faced all these
years.
Deer, a Menominee from Wisconsin,
expects she will deliver that message in
the coming months as she tries to dispel
myths about her people and advance
them politically, socially and economically.
Deer's job is to set policy and administer a $1.7 billion budget to the more
than 1 million Indians living on the
nation's federally recognized reserva--
tions. But she knows she'll be doing
much more.
In taking over the 170-year-old BIA,
Deer inherits a whopping set of problems, the main one being the agency's
poor image and its reputation for being
ineffective and out of touch with Indian
needs.
' 'If she can change that, more power
to her, "said Gerald Big Crow, a former
tribal councilor and candidate for tribal
council on the Pine Ridge Reservation
in South Dakota. "But I don't see how
one person can change the BIA.
' 'You' re talking about an agency that
was started as part ofthe War Department," said Gary Kimble, executive
director of the Association on Ameri
can Indians, a New York City-based
advocacy group for Indians. "Anybody who takes that job has to deal not
only with the modern problems, but
a set of regulations and a historical
legacy that locks them in."
Marge Anderson, chairwoman of
the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in
Onamia, Minn., north of Minneapolis, said the problems Deer faces are
not insurmountable.
"If it can be done at all, she will be
the one to do it," said Anderson.
"She's always been a good role model because she has the power to get
things done."
Deer's History of turning negatives
into positives is impressive. A self-
described overachiever, she has made a
career out of helping Indians.
She was bom to a white mother and a
full-blooded Indian father and grew up
in a one-room log cabin with no running water or electricity on the
Menominee Reservation, aland of dense
Deer/ see page 3
i