The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-04-22

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Human Rights Dept. investigation indicates
discrimination at Indian Health Board
St Paul, MN—Commissioner David
Beaulieu announced today that the
Minnesota Department of Human
Rights has completed an investigation into numerous charges of discrimination at the Indian Health Board
(IHB) of Minneapolis.
"Our investigation has disclosed evidence which is sufficient to indicate
that the Executive Director of the
IHB, Norine Smith, discriminated
against employees on the bases of
race, national origin, religion and sex,"
Commissioner Beaulieu said.
"What I find most distressing is that
our evidence shows that the Executive
Director further violated the Human
Rights Act by actions of reprisal: Employees who acted within their rights
and objected to discriminatory behavior were terminated; others who objected felt intimidated and coerced
into leaving."
Original charges were filed by the
Commissioner in July, after the Department received information of alleged discrimination by numerous current and past employees of the IHB.
"A Commissioner's charge, which
has priority status within the Department, was warranted because of the
sheer number of complaints and because many employees felt that their
individual action in initiating a charge
would result in retaliatory actions. It
appears that these employees were
correct in their fear of reprisals,"
Beaulieu said.
According to the Department's published findings, the evidence showed
that the Executive Director created a
hostile, intimidating environment by
making derogatory comments about
the political history of tribes to which
some employees trace their heritage, a
preoccupation with employees' skin
color and the race of their parents and
spouses, and by negative and derogatory comments about Native American families.
"American Indians are diverse racially and tribally as well as spiritually, and this diversity should have no
bearing on the manner in which they
are regarded at work," Beaulieu com-
Rights/ see page 3
See complete text of Commissioner's findings of discrimination/ page 2
Employees of IHB should be recognized
By Gary Blair
After reading the Minnesota Department of Human Right's (MDHR)
findings on the discrimination complaints that were filed by former Minneapolis Indian Health Board (IHB)
employees (see page 2) against Norine
Smith, the organization's director, the
PRESS interviewed MDHR's Commissioner David Beaulieu.
We asked the Commissioner about
his strong personal statements contained in his department's press release. He answered, "They had to be
said." Commissioner Beaulieu also explained some of the ramifications now
facing Norine Smith and (her) now
infamous IHB clinic. He said his department would work closely with IHB
to help settle the discrimination claims
and to help improve Native American
working conditions at the clinic.
"When people are scared to go to
work to do a good job, then that has to
be changed," Beaulieu said.
Long time IHB employees say
Smith'sbehaviorstarted about 15 years
ago. It appears that she would still be
making her bigoted remarks if she
hadn't hired the people who finally
banded together and filed the discrimination complaints against her.
Even self-proclaimed "Spiritual Advisor/Medicine Man" Floyd Hand,
assisted in the madness at the IHB
clinic, (see MDHR's findings Page 2).
Information received by the PRESS
indicates Hand was nothing more than
an "Indian Jim Baker" when it came
to receiving money through Smith.
It is apparent that the MDHR's findings are just the first of other problems
now facing Smith. PRESS sources say
the investigators for the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services are about to pay
a visit to the clinic very soon. IHB staff
report that Smith has been busy preparing for their visit. Some of the
things she's done have included putting more of her staff on the time
clock. However, she still is trying to
maintain some of her demeanor. She
recently posted a sign on the IHB time
clock that advises employees not to
talk about anything at work other then
clinic business.
The Golden Eagles program was
also mentioned in the MDHR's findings. It's apparent that Smith was
more interested in maintaining her
control over the program's staff, than
serving the Indian community'syouth.
It is time for the Indian community
to stand-up and request that the U.S.
Indian Health Services clean house at
the IHB, if the clinic's board of directors aren't willing to do so.
As for the Indian staff at the clinic
who filed the discrimination complaints against Smith, you need to be
recognized by the Indian community
for what you've done, you're the role
models the Indian community needs.
39 Candidates certified for Red Lake Tribal
Council election Roger Jourdain certified / decertified
The Red Lake Tribal Council, in a
special meeting Tuesday, certified 39
candidates for this year's May 18
election but excluded Roger Jourdain
and a candidate for secretary since
they are not Red Lake Reservation
residents.
According to a Tribal Council
statement, the two had been certified
Monday but the council rescinded its
vote Tuesday.
With Brun not seeking reelection to
a second term, the field of candidates
for chairman include Walter Jourdain,
the band's social services director;
Archie R. King, whom Jourdain beat
by 21 votes in an 1986 election; current
Tribal Secretary Bobby Whitefeather;
Bruce Graves, former Red Lake chief
executive judge and unsuccessful 1990
chairman's candidate; and tribal elder
Frank Dickenson.
The council certified candidates
in a 5-4 vote Monday, but reconsidered the matter Tuesday in light of
the tribe's constitution which states
that candidates for office must have
been a bona fide resident of the Red
Lake Reservation for one year preceding the election date.
Jourdain, a resident of Bemidji
since 1979, had moved to a trailer
home in Redby in the last year but
apparently didn't satisfy provisions
of the constitution. Also excluded
was secretary candidate Charlotte
Monette, who lives in St. Paul.
"Neither Jourdain nor Monette
reside or actually live on the Red
Lake reservation," according to the
statement from Brun's office. Brun
"recommended disapproval of these
two candidates because "the oonsflt
tution, is the foundation on which
our tribal government is based,"
mandates actual residence on the
reservation." Brun is reported to
have threatened to sue the five council members who voted to certify
Jourdain Monday if they didn't rescind their action. The five council
members were: Bedeau, English,
Whitefeather, Stillday and Hardy.
Those opposing were: Graves,
Strong, Stately and Cook.    The
Election/ see page 3
'Crazy Horse' malt liquor bill passes the House
By Harold Iron Shield
The Omnibus LiquorBill now moves
to the Senate for consideration after
passing the House floor 120-14 in the
Minnesota Legislature. If the bill
passes the house, it means that the
"Crazy Horse" brand malt liquor cannot be sold in Minnesota.
Under an amendment by State Representative Andy Dawkins (DFL-St.
Paul), no beer label in Minnesota could
depict an "actual living or dead American Indian leader."
Dawkins had read a letter to fellow lawmakers from Crazy Horse's
estate which said the beer flies in
the face of everything the famous
Lakota leader stands for. "Crazy
Horse was one of the foremost Lakota spiritual leaders of all time. He
lead the fight to protect his people
from alcohol," the letter stated.
The banishment of the Crazy Horse
brand malt liquor is part of a bill
called the Omnibus Liquor Bill (HF
2617) and there is a national campaign to keep the brand out of local
establishments. The current standing
of the bill now moves to the Senate for
approval. From there it is expected to
go to committee and then to the full
house for final approval.
Indians more likely to quit or be fired at casino
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. (AP) A tribal
chairman said the turnover rate among
American Indian employees at Mystic
LakeCasino is "totally unacceptable"
when compared to the rate for non-
Indian workers.
An internal report obtained by the
Star Tribune documented a turnover
rate of nearly 120 percent among the
approximately 500 Indian workers at
the tribally owned casino between
mid-1992 and mid-1993. It also said
Indians are more likely to be placed in
low-paying, menial jobs.
Stanley Crooks, chairman of the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota
Community, said the tribe wasn't
aware of the turnover rate.
Mystic Lake is managed by a separate
corporate entity, Little Six Inc.
The Shakopee band owns the casino
operation, but has no direct control
over the business decisions or
personnel practices of Little Six
executives except through a semi-
autonomous tribal gaming
commission.
"It is difficult, if not impossible, to
make positive changes without honest,
cooperative communication with
casino management," Crooks said
Thursday.
The Prior Lake complex now
employs about 4,500 full-time and
part-time workers, about 20 percent
of whom are Indians.
Little Six officials refuted the figures
on Friday and said the turnover figures
were preliminary, and actually only
17.5 percent.
"We have had turnover at Little
Six, but that's to be expected of a
company that has grown as rapidly as
we have," said Leonard Prescott,
chairman and CEO of Little Six. "Of
particular concern to us is the turnover
rate of our Native American
employees, some of whom have never
before had the opportunity to have a
job and may lack basic job skills."
After Mystic Lake employees
complained last year about hiring
practices, employment conditions and
high turnover rates, Crooks said, tribal
executives raised those issues with
casino management.
"(We) believe we have given them
more than adequate opportunity to
address and change the situation,"
Crooks added. "Because of this
situation and others, we are taking
steps to correct the situation."
Crooks declined to say what those
steps might be, but a tribal
spokeswoman said the gaming
commission could recommend
revoking or not renewing the state
gaming license for Little Six.
A Little Six official said Thursday
that it has always been "committed to
recruiting, hiring and retaining Native
American employees." The casino's
tremendous growth in the past three
years has contributed to the high
turnover rates among Indian
employees, she said.
"People learn new skills and move
up in the corporation, and sometimes
we discover that an individual is not
the best person for a job," Allene
Ross, executive vice president of Little
Six, said in a written statement.
"We recognize that for many Native
Americans, this may be their first job
and that many lack basic job skills.
That's why we are making a conscious
effort to put programs in place to train
and support our Native American
employees."
Ross and other Little Six officials
declined to respond to Crooks'
remarks.
The internal report on job turnover
at Mystic Lake was completed late
last year by a Little Six employee,
who estimated the margin of error in
the report to be between 5 and 10
percent.
The two-page statistical summary
eventually surfaced in Minneapolis'
Indian community, where as many as
half of Mystic Lake's Indian
employees have been recruited. They
commute to their casi no jobs on buses
provided by Little Six.
Enjoy Earth Day '94
Friday, April22,
Honor the Earth daily
Voice oftheAnishinabeg(The People)
1
Fifty Cents
OJibwi
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 198B
Volume 5   Issue 43
April 22, 1994
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1994
1
Harold Iron Shield, Native writer, with Rev. Ben Chavis, National Executive Director of the NAACP at the
Earthday Rally in Minneapolis. Rev. Chavis commented that the NAACP considers the proposal to store
nuclear waste on Prairie Island an "atrocity" and commits itself to working to insure that this will not happen.
NAP publisher and staff meet with U.S. Attorney
By Gary Blair
On Tuesday, April 19,1994, PRESS
Publisher William Lawrence and this
staff writer met with U.S. Attorney
David L. LilleHaug at his office in
Minneapolis. Among the issues discussed, were the client abuse allegations that closed the old Hennepin
County detoxification more than 15
months ago.
LilleHaug told the PRESS, "The
U.S. Justice Department and the FBI
have recieved a number of complaints
about the old detox center and we are
investigating. Have anyone with relevant information contact special
agent David Sid, at 376-3200/' he
stated.
In Septmeber of 1992, the PRESS
reported the first of 35 stories dealing
with allegations of client abuse at the
old county detox center. The facility
located at 1800 Chicago Avenue South
in Minneapolis was soon dubbed, the
"chamber of horrors" by those who
heard the different accounts of the
client abuse. Documents obtained at
that time indicated the detox center
had a history of "client abuse" that
dated back more than 10 years.
Shortly after the client abuse allegations were first leveled, the Minnesota
Department of Human Services entered into an agreement with the county
that closed the old detox center. That
arrangement then allowed Hennepin
County to open a shelter in the same
location. It's this shelter that state
officials now say is nothing more than
a detox facility being operated without a state license. The county's license to operate this shelter was obtained through the City of Minneapolis which approved the license without a public hearing, which had been
the normal application process.
With the closing of the old detox
center the local mainstream media
were quick to ignore the client abuse
allegations. Their reports never focused on the issue of client abuse that
caused the old county detox center to
be closed. Instead, one of. the TV
stations did a documentary that focused on the problems that "drunks"
were now causing at the Hennepin
County Medical Center. Of course the
only people that were shown coming
out of the county's hospital were Native Americans.
It appeared that the TV stations
didn't know what to do faced with a
real issue effecting far too many of the
Native Americans living in Minneapolis. It wasn't a soft issue like the
"Tomahawk Chop." There wasn't a
handful of Indians supported by most
whites with some politicians mixed-
in protesting infrontofthe metrodome
during a baseball game.
When the Minneapolis Star Tribune finally came with a story on the
Meet/ see page 3   *
BIA head attacks president's Indian health cuts
By Phillip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) The Clinton
administration's top Indian. official
attacked the president' s proposed cuts
in Indian health spending, saying it
will be an outrage if money is not
restored.
"I want to emphasize that the Indian
Health Service budget cuts are
devastating," said Ada Deer, the
Interior Department's assistant
secretary for Indian affairs.
Deer is not responsible for Indian
health programs _ IHS is a division of
the Department of Health and Human
Services. But it is unusual for a
presidential appointee to openly
criticize the president's budget,
especially in the strong words Deer
used.
"Everyone needs to understand that
the health conditions of native peoples
are at least a generation behind that of
the general population," Deer said
during an interview with news
reporters who cover Indian issues.
The administration proposed a 13
percent cut in the agency's 1995
budget for the Indian Health Service.
The agency provides medical care to
1.3 million Indians as required by
treaties with the federal government.
The administration also ordered a
staff reduction out of proportion to
the agency's size. IHS is taking nearly
40 percent of the personnel reduction
in the Department of Health and
Human Services, although IHS has
fewer than 12 percent of the
department's employees.
Tribal leaders say the planned cuts
will be a major issue with them when
they meet with Clinton at the White
House April 29.
Deer said she is encouraging The
Department of Health and Human
Services to ask for more money than
Clinton requested.
She said "it will be a real outrage if
the budget is not increased."
Deer, a member of Wisconsin's
Menominee tribe, was picked by
Cli nton to head the BIA last year after
unsuccessfully running for Congress.
She formerly taught at the University
of Wisconsin's school of social work.
During Monday's interview, Deer
said BIA would focus its economic
development efforts on Alaska and
the agency's Aberdeen, S.D., region
to see if it can find better ways to help
tribes start new businesses. The
Aberdeen region includes the Dakotas
and tribes in Nebraska and Iowa.
Deer provided few details of the
program, but she said economic
development would-be a major
emphasis of her administration.
"By any socioeconomic indicator...
American Indians and Alaska Natives
are at the bottom.... I want to change
that," she said.
She singled out South Dakota's
Oglala Sioux tribe as needing
assistance because it is located in one
•of the nation's poorest areas.
"I'm challenging people to think
up solutions to their own problems
and then to become involved in solving
them," she said.
In other comments, Deer said she
will not steer tribes away from
gambling enterprises, although BIA
officials think the market may be
nearing the saturation point with
competition from non-Indian casinos.
"We operate under the policy of
Indian self-determination. We work
to assist the tribes carry out their
initiatives and their decisions. It's
interesting to note that a number of
tribes are now attempting to diversify.
We would encourage them to find
other means of economic
development," she said.
'