The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-06-10

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Inspector General's office begins audit of
Indian Health Board
By Bill Lawrence
According to reports from several
sources who prefer to remain anonymous six agents from the Inspector
Generals Office of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
have been auditing the financial
records and investigating the management operations of the Minneapolis
Indian Health Board (IHB) for the past
several weeks.
The IHB and its Executive Director
Norine Smith have been nearly under
siege for the past year with multiple
charges and now two recent separate
findings by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights of discriminatory practices against employees. In
addition, one former employee sued
the IHB and Ms. Smith for wrongful
termination in Hennepin County District Court. That suit is still pending.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune, the
Circle newspaper and the PRESS carried articles about the abusive management style, the misuse of funds and
the exploitive methods of Ms. Smith
at the IHB. Ms. Smith later sued the
PRESS, its publisher Bill Lawrence
and staff writer Gary Blair for defamation for the series of articles written and carried by the PRESS. That
suit in which the PRESS filed a counterclaim for violation of first amendment rights and abuse of the legal
process is still pending in Hennepin
County District Court. The PRESS
has also learned that at least seven of
the former IHB employees who filed
the discrimination charges against the
IHB and Ms. Smith have retained an
attorney and intend to file suit if they
are not satisfied with the administrative legal procedures of the Minnesota Department ofHuman Rights.
According to Minneapolis native
community spokesperson, Charles
Deegan, a group of native community
members met with officials of the local office of the I.G. last Fall to ask
for the audit/investigation of Ms.
Smith and the IHB.
The PRESS called Tom Maroney of
the local office of the I.G. for H&HS,
but he would neither confirm nor deny
whether they were conducting an audit/investigation of IHB. However, the
PRESS was able to confirm that
H&HS I.G. agents have been seen at
the IHB office building during all or
part of the past two weeks.
The PRESS called IHB board chairman Douglas Fairbanks and he confirmed the I.G. auditors were at the
IHB. He said he met three of them and
the audit looked to be "pretty intense."
He said he though he heard them say
they were going to go back four years
in their review of the financial
records. Mr. Fairbanks stated the full
board was aware of the audit and he
wasn't sure whether a special meeting would be called to discuss the audit or they would just wait for the regular meeting on June 27. He also said
he was anxious to see the final audit
report. He thought the auditors would
be there several more weeks.
The PRESS also attempted to contact Executive Director Norine
Smith by telephone, but was only
able to leave a message on her recorder.
MCT elections set for June 14th/ page 1
Conflict of Interest plague Mah. Cty. Law Enf./ page 1
Inspec. Gen. begins audit of IHB/ page 1
Election fever heats up/ page 4
L.L. candidates forum report/ page 1
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People)
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Political forums useful in meeting and sifting
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News
We Support Equal Opportunity Far All Peopli
Founded  in 1 988
Volume 5   Issue 50
June 10, 1 994
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1994
By Diane £. White
Cass Lake — This Tuesday, June
14, 1994 is a historic day for all enrolled members of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe (MCT) as we gather
together in a democratic fashion to
vote for leaders who will bring us
nearly into the next century. The last
500 years has devastated our whole
continent of tribal nations and our
governmental processes. Over the
past two decades we have watched as
our tribal leaders, activists and enrolled members have been a part of
legal history which has improved (or
has tried to improve) the lives of all
federally-recognized tribal people by
using the democratic system.
Sovereignty. What does sovereignty mean to us? Tribal sovereignty
is not a tool of oppression. Tribal sovereignty is a right and a responsibility that must be upheld and respected.
However, many Reservation Business
Committees/Reservation Tribal
Councils (RBC/RTC) within the
MCT use "sovereignty" as a weapon
against their own people. Despite the
Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 our
civil rights are not honored in our
dealings with the RBC/RTC.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
of 1988 (IGRA) enables federally-recognized tribal governments to own
and operate Las Vegas-style casinos
and empowers several regulatory
agencies to oversee this vast industry. The Act entrusts tribal governments to be accountable to their own
tribal members, however, as numerous reports indicate, the gaming industry is nearly unregulated and cor1
rupt.
At Leech Lake Resenation the
credit rating has become fouled by
poor management decision-making
from the RBC/RTC and their consultants. Regardless of what Leech Lake
officials have told their enrolled
members Leech Lake Gaming is making money and their credit rating
should be excellent instead of poor.
Finally, Leech Lake-tribal officials
have hired lawyers (i.e., Paul
Applebaum) specializing in white
collar crime and criminal defense to
protect them from future criminal indictments which will be forthcoming
soon.
For these reasons and there are
many more, changes need to be made
to the current tribal administration
throughout the MCT.
NAPP Forum-Minneapolis, Mn
On May 14, 1994, the Native
American Political Party (NAPP)
held a political forum open to all
Leech Lake candidates for Secretary-
Treasurer, District 1 and District 2
representatives. The forum is only a
step is using the democratic political
process. A constitutional convention
and primary elections are other steps
in the democratic political system that
are essential to being able to elect
qualified candidates who will win by
majority vote (51% or more).
The NAPP forum's MC was Wally
Storbakken who started by asking
three questions of each candidate.
The questions were: 1) Define self-
Forums/ see page 8
Hillview Room and Board, located at 1011 Central Avenue in Waubun, Minnesota.
Photo by Gary Blair
Does conflict of interest compromise law en-
Sioux custody case no 'Turf war, attorney says  forcement in Mahnomen County?
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) _ The
custody battle over an 11-year-old
Standing Rock Sioux girl is not a
matter of tribal survival, but one of a
child's right to continue the only life
she has known, an attorney says.
James Moore, attorney for Loni Rye
of Ashland, said the Kentucky Supreme Court should refuse the tribe's
request to accept the case of Kayla
American Horse, whom Rye has
raised since infancy. The tribe claims
the case involves "matters of great and
immediate public importance," but
Moore said it is a simple custody issue.
"This case does not revolve around
the determination of important Indian
or tribal rights," Moore wrote Tuesday in a response to the tribe's request
that the high court take the case from
the Kentucky Court of Appeals. "This
case is about the right of one child to
continue to grow up happy, healthy
and well-adjusted in the only type of
environment which she has ever
known,"
Rye has raised Kayla since the girl
was 8 months old, when Rye reportedly found her living in squalor on
the Standing Rock resenation on the
North Dakota-South Dakota border.
The tribe claims Kayla as a ward
under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, and contends that the tribal
courts have sole jurisdiction over her.
The case arose last October, when Rye
filed for divorce from her husband, a
Standing Rock Sioux and the girl's
uncle.
Boyd Circuit Judge C. David
Hagerman granted Rye permanent
custody of Kayla April 11. He said it
would not be in the girl's best interests
to send her back to the resenation.
The tribe's attorneys asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to overturn
Hagerman's ruling but last month
moved to have the case transferred.
But Moore said this case is important "primarily to the litigants, and
not to the public as a whole."
The Indian Child Welfare Act was
passed in 1978 to stem the flow of
adoptions from the resenations. The
Standing Rock Sioux argue that
Kayla's return is important to the
tribe's future.
Moore acknowledged that the Indian act's intent "was to prevent the
culture shock and underlying trauma
inherent in yanking children from an
Indian environment and placing them
in a non-Indian environment."
But he noted that Kayla had not
been in an Sioux family since she was
an infant. He cited an "Existing Indian Family Doctrine" adopted by
several states, suggesting that forcing Kayla to go back to the resenation would create the same kind of
harm the law sought to prevent.
"The purpose of Congress ... was
not to dictate that a child who has
never been a member of an Indian
home should be removed from its primary cultural heritage and background and be placed in an Indian
environment that is as foreign to it
as any other," he said.
Moore noted that Kayla has been
baptized into the Roman Catholic
Church and speaks only a few phrases
in the Sioux language.
"Kayla's family life can best be described as that of a typical American
non-Indian child residing in
Ashland, Ky," he said. "What is of
significance in this case is not the
'turf rights of the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe, but the rights of a child."
By Gary Blair
Mahnomen, MN— If a Detroit
Lakesbuilding contractorhadn't complained to the FBI about suspected
"bid rigging" involving the construction of the multi-million dollar Shooting Star Casino on the White Earth
Resenation, it is apparent the investigation now taking place at
Mahnomen may have never occurred.
Over two years ago, some of the
Resenation's members staged protests in front of the newly constructed
casino. The group was protesting corruption within the development and
management of the casino. Resen'a-
tion Chairman Darrell "Chip"
Wadena had the group labeled as
dissidents and their request for an
investigation fell on deaf ears.
Those who took part in the protest
say there were 54 police cars from
neighboring towns involvedand many
of those sent to jail were Indian elders. Recently more allegations of
corruption have surfaced. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Mafia
connections to at least five Minnesota
casinos including the Shooting Star.
At the time of the protests, U.S.
Senator Paul Wellstone sent his aide
to White Earth, and later met with
some of the protesters at his office in
St. Paul. Sen. Wellstone did nothing
about their complaints. During this
time, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Area Director, Earl Barlow, and his
secretary were put peddling their influence to the various casinos while
not once questioning who tribal officials were associating with. Few tribal
members were surprised when reports surfaced that cocaine and other
drugs were being sold at their
resenation's casino. Additional questions were later raised when reports
spread thatprostitutes were seen working at the casino. Most recently it has
been reported the FBI and other federal agencies have visited the Shooting Star to investigate some of these
allegations and more.
PRESS findings revealed Mahnomen County SheriffDennis Spickar
and his wife Carolyn (both non-Indian) are operating the Hillview Room
and Board in Waubun under a license
issued by the Resenation. Licensing
is normally obtained and required by
theState. ThePRESS visited thehome
for senior citizens located at 1011
Central Avenue. The community of
400 residents is predominately white
and is located in the West Central
area of the resen'ation, but does not
involve the reservation or trust land.
The PRESS verified the information
on the sheriffs business at the Mahnomen County courthouse. Carolyn
Spickar stated "I have a state license
and a resenation license, because I
have resenation people here," but
did not confirm the number of residents at Hillview Room and Board.
During the interview with Mrs.
Spickar, she was looking through
copies of the PRESS/Ojibwe News
and abruptly ended the conversation
by saying, "Say you can get the hell
out of here and I am going to call my
husband."
Calls to the Minnesota Department
of Health revealed that Sheriff Spickar
is not licensed by the state of Minnesota to operate his room and board
facility. Mike Tripple of the State
Health Facilities complaint depart-
Conflict/ see page 3
Tribe seeks to drop blood requirement for membership MCT Bands to conduct general tribal elections June 14th
By J. Rainbird
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. (AP) _ Leaders of the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Dakota tribe have been writing a new
constitution to drop the requirement
that children of existing tribal members must have one-fourth tribal blood
to become members.
The issue of tribal membership has
become controversial because the tiny
tribe reaps enormous wealth from its
tribal-owned casinos, and the money
is shared by members of the tribe. The
checks have averaged $40,000
monthly to the approximately 250
individual tribe members this year.
Tribal members also have access to
housing, education and other senices
provided by tribal and federal governments.
The Mdewakanton Dakota recently
enrolled dozens of people who appeared to be eligible to share money
from the Mystic Lake and Dakota
Country casinos. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, however, refused to approve the enrollees because they
didn't have enough Mdewakanton
blood under the tribe's 1969 constitution.
Although the new constitution exempts children and grandchildren of
existing members from the blood requirements, others remain subject to
the requirements.
"They (the children and grandchildren) are members of this community,
not outsiders," Susan Totenhagen, a
former tribal chainvoman, told the
Star Tribune of Minneapolis. "They
will carry on for us when we're old."
Tribes exercise wide discretion in
defining their members, but the federal government can reject proposed
changes in constitutions that appear
unfair.
Those who favor changing the constitution say the change recognizes
generations of intermarriage between
the Mdewakanton and Indians from
other tribes, and whites.
Opponents within the tribe, however, say the proposal would dilute
the character of the Mdewakanton
community to benefit the family and
supporters of tribal Chairman Stanley
Crooks.
The new constitution was drafted in
May by a committee appointed by
Crooks. Tribal members will meet
privately this week to decide whether
to ask the BIA to hold an election on
the proposed new constitution.
In addition to redefining who is
Mdewakanton, the Star Tribune reported the new constitution apparently
would end the political career of casino operator Leonard Prescott, who
helped develop the tribe's gambling
business. One provision would disqualify the former tribal chairman,
who is feuding with Crooks, from ever
holding tribal office again.
Under the provision, anyone with a
criminal record is barred from running for office, even if the person has
had his or her civil rights restored.
Prescott says he was pardoned for a
robbery conviction about 20 years ago.
The BIA review of the proposed
changes in the tribal constitution
could take months.
All of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's six member resenations will hold their general elections on June 14,1994.
Out of the six member resenations 67 candidates from: Leech Lake, Bois Forte, Grand Portage, Fond du Lac, White
Earth and Mille Lacs Lake will be for the following offices of Secretary/Treasurer and District Representatives.
According to MCT Executive Directer, Gary Frazer, there are over 30,000 eligible voters in the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe's six member bands. The 4-year-term offices and lists of candidates are as follows:
l^tt^n 1>/\KIL KfcSILKVA 1 IU1"N
1
Office of
Office of
Office of
Secretarv / Treasurer
District I
District II
Walter "Frank" Reese
Alfred Fairbanks, Jr.
Jack Seelye
Randy Gregg Finn
Myron "Butch" Fairbanks
Charles A. Beaulieu
Burton A. Howard
Leo A. Gotchie, Sr.
Arnold "Butch" Dahl
Daniel Brown
Spencer Shotley
Samuel K. Goose
James D. Michaud
Joseph A. Warner, Sr.
Diane Stangel
Gerald L. White
Hartley White, Sr.
Lawrence A McClimek
BOIS FORTE RESERVATION
Office of
Office of
Office of
Secretarv / Treasurer
District I
District II
David C. Morrison, Sr.
Doris Isham
Phyllis Boshey
Wendell Drift
Mark Drift
Adeline Anderson
Isabelle Strong
Marvin Nott
Election/ see page 3