The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-04-15

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The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe announces
election for June 14,1994
By J. Rainbird
All Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
member reservations have scheduled
general elections for the offices of
Secretary / Treasurer and various
District Representative posts for June
14, 1994.
Member reservations include:
White Earth, Leech Lake, Fond du
Lac, Bois Forte, Grand Portage and
Mille Lacs Lake Reservation.
Those Positions to he Filled - June
14. 1994 Tribal Elections are:
Reservation, Positions, Term -
Red Lake Reservation's general election
scheduled for Wednesday, May 18, 1994
Bois Forte
Mille Lacs
Secretary / Treasurer
4Yr.
Secretary / Treasurer       4 Yr.
District I
4Yr.
District II                        4 Yr.
District II
4Yr.
District III                      4 Yr.
Fond du Lac
White Earth
Secretary / Treasurer
4Yr.
Secretary / Treasurer       4 Yr.
District II
4Yr.
District 1.                       4 Yr.
Grand Portage
District II                        4 Yr.
Secretary / Treasurer
4Yr.
At - Large
4Yr.
Candidates shall file with the
At - Large
4Yr.
Secretary/Treasurer   or   their
Leech Lake
designee during regular business
Secretary / Treasurer
4Yr.
hours beginning on April 18,1994.
District I
4Yr.
Filing will close on April 22, 1994,
District II
4Yr.
at 5:00 P. M.
All MN Chippewa Bands to conduct elections/ page 1
Lois Lang named to Ninth Judicial District Bench/ page 3
LL tribal member compares Sec/Treasurer's campaign
promises w/ performance/ page 4
Bois Forte tribal council approves casino expansion/ pg 8
Voice oftheAnishinabeg (The People)
1
By J. Rainbird
Eligible voters from the Red
Lake Reservation are scheduled
to go to the poles on Wednesday
May 18, 1994 to elect three officers (chairman, secretary and treasurer) at large and five district
representatives to the Red Lake
Tribal Council. The five district
representive seats open are as follows: one each from the Red Lake,
Redby, Littlerock and Ponemah districts for four year terms, and one
district representative from the Redby District for a two year term.
Any enrolled member of the Red
Lake Band 18 years of age and
over on election day shall be entitled to vote in this election.
Any eligible voter 25 years of
age and over on election day shall
be eligible to become a candidate
as an officer or district representative from his district, provided
requirements of Resolution No.
45 - 94 election regulations regarding candidates, are met.
Pursuant to and in accordance
with the referendum of May 24,
1978 an otherwise eligible candidate to run as a district representative, beginning in the year 1980,
shall have been a bona fide resident of the district he is to represent for a period of one year next
preceding the election date.
Pursuant to and in accordance
with the referendum of May 26,
1982, any otherwise eligible candidate shall be ineligible to become a candidate in any tribal
election if he or she has been convicted or is under indictment for a
criminal felony offense or if he or
she has been removed for any reason from the tribal council. Pursuant to and in accordance with
the referendum of May 23, 1984,
where there are more than two
candidates for any one office, the
candidate in the election receiv
ing the most votes or plurality of
votes shall be elected.
Candidates must file their notice of candidacy with the secretary of the tribal council by no
later than Monday, April 18,
1994, at 4:00 p. m. Such notice of
candidacy shall be in writing, and
shall include the candidates name,
age, residence and voting district
and certification that he or she
has never been convicted of or
under indictment for a criminal
felony offense and that he or she
has never been removed for any
reason from the tribal council and
shall be signed and sworn to before a Notary of the Public. Eligibility of candidates will be certified by the tribal council.
A candidate filing as an officer
shall pay a filing fee of $150.00
and a candidate filing as a district
representative shall pay a filing
fee of $75.00. These filing fees
shall be paid at the time of filing.
Fifty Cents
OJibwwi
News
Wi
Founded  in 19BB
Volume 5   Issue 42
April 15, 1994
1
A weekly
Copyright, The Ojpbwe
1994
Woman harassed for efforts to reunite family
By Gary Blair
[The following are memos and letters between Hennepin County, Irene
Wade and the San Carlos Apache
Tribe. They involve a young Indian
mother trying to get her children back
from the county. Most likely this won't
be any surprise to Native American
parents who have dealt with Hennepin County's Children and Family
Services and "Indianprograms" that
are supposed to help people in these
situations and don 't.J
If you're a young Indian mother
trying to get your children back and
you've gone the route that your supposed to go and that doesn't work,
then what do you do? If you're an
Apache Indian women living in Minneapolis an nothing else has worked,
you go to someone that has stood up
for Indians and isn't fearful of lighting a fire under people. You pay a visit
to someone like Irene Wade.
Wade says she was recently approached by this mother and asked to
help and within weeks she was able to
help this person get her children returned. This was after the person had
been to the Minneapolis American
Indian Center and had been given, as
Wade described it, "the run around."
Wade said, "You should see what
the county tried to do to get back at me
for doing this," she said.
Wade first contacted the San Carlos
Apache Tribe in Arizonia and received the following letter dated February 10, 1994. "Dear Ms. Wade:
This letter is in reference to Mrs.
 and her three children. We, as
Harass/ see page 3
Federal grand jury appears set to consider
allegations of abuse at Henn. Co. detox center
By Gary Blair
the Tribe of the San Carlos Apache
Indian Reservation, request to have
the children of to be returned to
her by the Honorable Court of Minneapolis Children Court. I am sure Mrs.
 found out the hard way, on her
children that they arc away from her
The Indian Child Welfare Lav
implemented to keep the I '• ,'licnar(' Carpenter Director of the St Paul American Indian Health Center welcomes guests at open house.
gether, and we being Apache Indian
Tribe strongly believe in this, no matter the color of the children, as long as
their parents are enrolled members ol
the Tribe, they should be kept together. Therefore, I strongly support By Harold Iron Shield
that these minor children to be returned back over to the mother, .    On Wednesday, April 13,1994, the
Let the American Indian Child American Indian Health Clinic held
Welafre Services of Minneapolis keep an open house in order to familiarize
potential clients and supporters with
the services offered by the clinic. In
addition, AIHC launched a campaign
Indian Health Clinic in St. Paul launches
campaign for new building
It appears that Hennepin County
and some former detoxification center employees, aren't out of the woods
yet. According to the U.S. Attorney's
Office in Minneapolis, there will be a
grand jury called to probe the client
abuse that closed the old detox center
nearly 17 months ago.
Sources who met with U.S. Attorney David L, LilleHaug last Thrusday
report that the U.S. Justice Department will announce their plans for a
grand jury investigation within a few
weeks. LilleHaug, they say, told the
group that the grand jury will first
look for criminal charges and then
focus on civil rights violations, as was
done in the Rodney King case.
On Wednesday of this week the
PRESS asked LilleHaug about his
comments at the Thrusday meeting.
"It's the policy of this department not
to divulge who we're investigating,"
he said. However, he did ask if the
PRESS would meet with him at a later
date regarding the matter.
Last week the PRESS reported that
an attorney hired by the State Department of Human Services had been
restricting information requested by
by the state, told the PRESS on Monday that there had not been any attempt on the state's part to restrict
material from the FBI. "Yes, I
know this has been the second time
they (federal judges) requested our
information, but we have to follow the
procedures of the Data Privacy Act,"
Messum said.
PRESS sources say that's not what
the FBI told them. According to the
special agent handling the case, the
FBI has requested certain documents
that contain the names of the victims
of the detox center abuse and the State
to raise funds for a new building that
would accomodate the growth in number of clients, services and personnel.
The clinic, located on Payne Avenue in St. Paul, has been operating
for two and a half years and since its
inception has enrolled over 2,000 patients, 60 percent of which are living
in poverty and/or have no insurance.
According to Richard Carpenter,
Director of the AIHC, the services are
available to anyone who needs them.
"We are providing the service to Indians and non-Indians. We are not segregating anyone," he said.
The clinic offers medical, dental
and counseling services free of charge
or on a sliding fee scale depending
upon the income level of the client.
Specific types of care provided include family medical services, prenatal care, community health services,
mental health services, social services,
and basic dental care.
AIHC is staffed by a full-time registered nurse, a community health outreach workder, a social worker, and a
team of office administrators. A part-
time family practice physician provides medical care and directs the
medical componentof theclinic. Other
part-time staff include a family nurse
practitioner, a physician's assistant, a
certified nurse midwife, and a psychologist. In addition, a part-time dentist, dental hygienist and dental assistant provide services as well.
As a result of the quality of service
provided by the clinic and a steady
growth rate in clients, it has become
necessary for AIHC to find a larger
building. Anyone wishing to contribute to the building fund can write or
call Richard Carpenter at AIHC, 965
Payne Avenue, Suite 100, St. Paul,
55101.
Tom Westbrook declares candidacy for Redby Representative
To all Redby District Voters:
Anin, my name is Tom "Jambi"
Westbrook and I am running for
Redby representative in the upcoming election May 18, 1994.
I have been independently employed for the past eight years, a
resident of Redby for the past six
years and have owned and managed the Redby Store for the past
two years.
Followingup on some campaign
But Indian activists vow to fight for tribal control of entire White Earth Reservation promises which were made in
the FBI in their probe of the client    a ■    lo_ / _
abuse. KimMessum, the attorney hired   MDUS6/ See page 3
0
Interior opposes Indian land transfer
By JAMIE MARKS
Reprint w/ permission
from Becker Co. Record
Bobby Kennedy was a man in high
places when he visited South Dakota
and breathed hope into the Pine Ridge
Reservation.
Some believed his son might do the
same for White Earth.
"I asked him, 'Bobby, help us get
ourlandback,'" said Winona LaDuke,
director of the White Earth Land Recovery Act.
In response, the son of the late U. S.
Attorney General asked the U. S.
Department of Interior to restore control of all federal lands within White
Earth Reservation to the Chippewa.
He received his answer.
The government remains opposed
to transfer portions of Hamden
Slough, Tamarac National Wildlife
Refuge and Waterfowl Production
Acres out of the National Wildlife
Refuge System, according to a letter
written by George Frampton Jr., assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife
and Parks.
The response relieved Tamarac officials, but angered some tribal members.
"It establishes a position where previously we had not known where the
department stood," refuge manager
Jay Johnson said of the letter, received at Tamarac April 5.
The letter indicates a more cooperative management system will be
put into place under a new federal
policy of "ecosystem management."
"A large part of the ecosystem management is based on partners,"
Johnson explained.
Some Chippewa are not interested
in a partnership, however. They intend to be sole owners.
"We're committed to the long term
struggle to recover that refuge," said
Winona LaDuke, director of the White
Earth Land Recovery Project,
WELRP. "We've been here 7,000 to
8,000 years. The refuge has been
here about 40. I believe we're going
to get our land back."
LaDuke met recently with Tamarac
officials. "They are very reasonable
people, but I was very clear...
I'm interested in how (they) manage
the land because it's our land.
WELRP initially petitioned Sen.
Paul Wellstone to introduce legislation allowing transfer of control of
about 40,000 acres of federally held
land on the reservation.
LaDuke expressed disgust at his
lack of response.
He's just totally unhelpful," she
said. I think Paul Wellstone lacks a
backbone, and I don't know where
Transfer/ see page 3
1990, that is that business grants
would be made available, I applied and was approved for a grant
to purchase the store. Somehow
my approved application was mysteriously lost.
I was determined to do it independent of the council and I did.
This is the same determination I
will bring to the position as your
representative. I am not owned by
the council nor do I owe anyone
on the council any favors. I can,
therefore, say that as your representative you will get true and
honest leadership.
As owner of the Redby Store, I
have had the opportunity to talk
with a number of you and you
have expressed your concerns. I
know from talking with you that
you are dissatisfied with the way
things are now.
That as Redby residents we lack
a voice on the council, that the
representation is unavailable. As
you know I live and work in Redby. I will continue to be available
to you to express your concerns
and needs. You can be assured of
direct line input.
Another concern that has been
expressed which I whole-heartedly
agree with is the distribution of
"power". The various boards currently made up of council representatives and officers should be
made up of the membership,
people of the communities, with
the chair of the boards reporting
back to the council.
I would like to take this opportunity to expand on the concerns I
have listed on my campaign card
Declare/ see page 3
State Department of Education announces
new director of Indian Education
St. Paul, MN — Minnesota Commissioner of Education Linda Powell
has announced that Yvonne C. Novack
will be joining the Minnesota Department of Education as the new director
of the Indian Education Section. Ms.
Novack will begin her responsibilities
on April 6th. She replaces Dr. Will
Antell who recently retired from the
Department.
Bob Wedl, Assistant Commissioner
of Education stated, "We are fortunate to have Ms. Novack join our staff.
She is a knowledgeable and respected
education leader. Her leadership, in
cooperation with the Indian community, will result in improved opportunities for all learners."
Ms. Novack has a Masters of Education Degree from Harvard University.
She currently is the Deputy Administrator of the Center of American Indian Minority Health, School of Medicine at the University of Minnesota-
Duluth. Previously, she was the director of Instructional Services at Fond
du Lac Community College and the
Executive Director of the Indian
School Council for Minnesota.
Ms. Novack will provide leadership
regarding the education of Indian students in Minnesota. Specific programs
under Ms. Novack's direction include
American Indian Language and Culture, Indian Social Worker Aides, Indian Scholarship, Adult Basic Education among others. The Indian Education Section has offices in Duluth,
Bemidji and St. Paul.
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