The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-08-053

              White Earth RTC in financial straights after
election spending
By Gary Blair
According to former council member Danny Stevens, who recently lost
another bid for secretary/treasurer,
the White Earth reservation is "broke"
and can't pay its bills.
Stevens told the PRESS, "They (the
resen'ation tribal council) spent too
much money trying to make themselves look good just before the election."
"They're putting up some nevv housing near the town of Richwood and
they're building a large sports complex in Naytawaush (Twin Lakes)
and they haven't been paving their
bills at the casino," he continued.
But other PRESS sources, who asked
not to be named out of fear of losing
their jobs, say that's only part of what
has been going on. "The reservation
tribal council doesn't know where
they've spent the money," said one
source. "They've started an internal
investigation and they've been checking with their suppliers."
Reports say the reservation's bank
accounts havebeenfrozenand they've
layed off a large portion of their program staff as a result.
The reservation's latest problems
come in the midst of a federal probe
into the alleged involvement of council members in income tax evasion,
bid rigging and kick backs surrounding the construction ofthe muti-mil-
lion dollar Shooting Star Casino located at Mahnomen, MN.
PRESS sources say local FBI and
IRS agents have been visiting the
reservation since November of last
year after a Detroit Lakes, MN, bui ld-
ing contractor complained ofbid rigging in connection with the construction of the casino over three years
ago. They say at the center ofthe bid
rigging investigation is reservation
enrollee Harold (Butch) Gordon,
owner of Gordon Construction, whose
company built the casino. Gordon,
it's reported, has been meeting with
federal authorities in Minneapolis and
according to his attorney, he (Gordon) "will be testifing for the govern
ment if there is to be a trial."
Stevens also said the reservation's
money problems will effect the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MTC) and
could cause that organization, headquartered at Cass Lake, MN, to fold.
The MTC is made up of all the Chippewa reservations in the northern part
of Minnesota, excluding the Red Lake
Reservation. The MTC serves as an
administrative body for the six reservations that make up its membership.
At issue in the income tax evasion
allegations is the reservation's biological center, located on Ice Cracking lake. PRESS sources say the place
was being used by reservation council
members to avoid paving federal income taxes.
According to sources who spoke
with IRS investigators, under U.S.
government rules if the place where
you work is funded totally by federal
grants and you earn 60 percent of
your income from that place you don't
have to pay federal income taxes.
Spending/ cont'd on pg 3
Minn. Amer. Indian Affairs Coun. mtg. agenda/ pg 3
WE RTC in financial straights after election/ pg 1
Marge Anderson receives achievement award/ pg 8
Pine Point Perspective by Maynard Swan/ pg 4
Reflections by Wub-e-ke-niew/ pg 5
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People)
I
Fifty Cents
Tribe accused of libeling casino manager
Founded  in 1988
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A casino
manager who was ousted from an
Indian gambling hall is suing the
Winnebago tribe over allegations its
spokesman made involving bribery,
extortion and prostitution.
Thomas Schrade, president of
Golden Nickel Casinos which
formerly operated the tribe's Ho-
Chunk Casino near Wisconsin Dells,
filed the libel suit over reports
published July 21 by the Baraboo
News Republic.
Schrade, in the lawsuit filed in Dane
County Circuit Court, denied
allegations made by tribal spokesman
Toni Krajewski that he hired
prostitutes for tribal officials or had
them photographed in an extortion
plot.
Krajewski told the newspaper that
prostitutes were arranged for three
members of the tribe's legislative
Business Committee during an Indian
gambling convention in March in
New Orleans.
The newspaper article quoted
Krajewski, who was explaining why
the tribe's Gaming Commission
canceled the license of the Gaming
Corporation of America and its
affiliate, Golden Nickel.
The commission ousted the
Minnesota companies July 8 because
they were "unsuitable to operate in
the highly regulated field of Indian
gaming," Krajewski said.
Schrade's attorney, Tom Basting,
told the Wisconsin State Journal the
published comments damaged Golden
Nickel's reputation.
In a letter to the Baraboo newspaper,
Krajewski insisted the commission
believed Schrade tried to curry favor
with the Business Committee, but "I
was in error when I said the
commission found that he attempted
to bribe the committee members."
The letter also said he was "not
careful to advise your reporter" that it
was his belief _ and not a conclusion
of the Gaming Commission _ that
Gaming Corporation of America hired
a private investigator to take
photographs.
Basting said Tuesday the letter failed
to correct libelous material.
The suit, which does not name the
Baraboo newspaper as a defendant,
asks unspecified damages.
Gaming Corporation of America
had a five-year contract that allowed
it 30 percent of casino profits.
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
i
Volume E   Issue G
August 5, 1 994
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe New*. 1994
Tribe asks House panel to avoid interfering
in nuclear storage plans
New Mexico (AP) _ A representative of a New Mexico Indian tribe
asked lawmakers not to interfere with
its plans to build a temporary storage
facility for nuclear waste from Minnesota and other states.
"If Congress does nothing, absolutely nothing, we can license this   and pursues other energy sources. The
out of room at their nuclear power
plants to store spent fuel rods.
NSP got approval from the Minnesota Legislature this year to store overflow waste in 17 steel casks at its
Prairie Island nuclear plant provided
the utility searches for another site
project. I recognize this may run
counter to your instincts," Miller
Hudson, a spokesman for the
Mescalero Apache tribe, said Wednesday.
The tribe "will vigorously oppose
plan is located along the Mississippi
River about 45 miles southeast of St.
Paul.
A permanent depository, targeted
for Nevada, won't be ready until 2010
at the earliest. In the meantime, Con-
any legislation designed to prevent   gress is under pressure from the
the tribe and our utility partners" from
building the facility, he said in a statement prepared for a House Energy
and Commerce subcommittee.
Northern States Power Co. of Minneapolis is leading more than 30 utilities that reached an agreement earlier
this year to store wastes on the southern Nevv Mexico reservation until the
federal government opens a permanent depository. NSP is among the
first of many utilities that are running
nuclear power industry to allow it to
move ahead with the private storage
project and speed development ofthe
permanent dump.
"No matter how one stands on the
issue ofthe future of nuclear power, we
have an obligation to dispose of a lot of
nuclear waste," said the subcommittee
chairman, Rep. Phil Sharp, D-Ind.
The Mescalero tribe has been stymied in its effort to get the federal
government to put temporary storage
facility—called a monitored retrieval
storage site-on its land because ot
opposition from New Mexico's governor and congressional delegation.
The private project is unpopular,
too.
"What does it say about this country
that the citizens targeted to receive the
poisons produced by our biggest technological failure are the same people
who have already suffered enormously
from the abuse of our government and
industry?" said Bill Magavern, director ofthe Critical Mass Energy Project,
an anti-nuclear group.
Kris Sanda, commissioner of the
Minnesota Public Service Department,
warned the lawmakers that the battle
in her state's Legislature this spring
over NSP's storage plans will be repeated in other states.
"The situation in Minnesota, while
contentious and dramatic, will be in
no way unique," she said.
"Public policy which allows waste to
continue at the country's 72 nuclear
power sites is unacceptable."
Pictured are some of this years Mississppi River (Lake Itasca) to Fort Snelling canoe expedition youth
and chaperones at the recent Ball Club pow wow. staffphoto
Canoeists still stroking on old Mississippi
Trail
Clinton addresses participants at unity ?94
ATLANTA (AP) _ Minority
journalists must ensure that the
country's diverse ethnic and racial
groups are well-represented in the
profession to bring more attention
minprity achievements, President
Clinton told minority journalists.
Clinton spoke via satellite from
Washington Friday at Unity '94, a
convention of minority journalists.
About 6,000 people are attending
the convention, which wraps up
Sunday. It combines the annual
meetings ofthe National Association
of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian
American Journalists Association, the
National Association of Black
Journalists and the Native American
Journalists Association.
"The job of your associations is to
see that more Americans of diverse
backgrounds, races and ethnic
heritages have an equal chance in
journalism," Clinton said.
"It's also to make sure that the
nation sees the faces and hears the
voices of non-white Americans whose
ideas and achievements too often are
ignored."
Clinton also said minority
journalists must work like the leaders
of Jordan, Israel and Russia did this
week to bring together diverse people.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein
met in Washington with Clinton this
week to culminate their peace talks,
and some of the final barriers of the
Cold War came down when Russia
announced plans to pull its last troops
out of Eastern and Central Europe.
"Their examples must also inspire
us to strengthen our own sense of
community and celebrate the rich
diversity of the American culture,"
Clinton told those attending a
luncheon Friday at Unity '94, a
convention of minority journalists.
He spoke from Washington via
satellite and took questions from the
audience.
After extolling his diverse cabinet
_ which includes seven white males,
six women, five blacks, two Hispanics
and one Asian American Clinton
turned to the economy, crime bill and
health care reform.
Dozens of people in the audience
streamed out as the president returned
to political topics.
Moderator Connie Chung, co-
anchor of CBS Evening News, then
asked Clinton to respond to five
questions from leaders of the
journalism associations.
Paul DeMain, president of Native
American Journalists Association and
president of Unity '94, asked whether
Clinton would sign legislation
designed to end battles between states
and tribes over the Indian gambling
industry and to give the federal
government a bigger role in
regulation.
Clinton apologized for his
unfamiliarity with the details of the
bill, introduced last month in the
Senate, but promised to work closely
with the tribes.
Evelyn Hsu of The Washington
Post, the president ofthe AAJ A, asked
Clinton about how the lack of diversity
in the Washington press pool affects
coverage of a "multi-ethnic America."
After an outburst of applause from
the participants, the president
responded,"I'm not sure I can answer
that question."
He added, "I believe that all of us in
positions of responsibility, with
influence, should strive to make our
decisions through a process that
involves all the American people _
their insights, their understandings,
their experience."
Clinton's plan to vaccinate all
children was questioned by Diane
Alverio of WFSB-TV in Hartford,
Conn., president of NAHJ. Clinton
said his plan would increase funds to
public health clinics, which provide
immunizations for undocumented
children.
The president used a question on
racism by Dorothy Gilliam of The
Washington Post, president of the
NABJ, to praise his Justice
Department's civil rights division.
"The idea of stamping out racism ...
permeates everything I do," he said.
By John Rainbird
In 1991 an old trail was reopened
when a group of inner-city youth
along with a couple of chaperones
made a trip down the Mississippi
River to Fort Snelling. The trip, a
cultural learning experience organized by Dr. David Gonzales of
Bemidji State University, was initiated as a way to honor and remember the Native people who were
forced to move from their land in
order to make room for the white
loggers, traders and farmers that
came in great numbers during the
last century.
Many pictures were taken as the
youths floated down the Mississippi
in their canoes, following in the
footsteps of their ancestors. Questions were asked about why the wa
ter was so dirty and, more importantly, about when was it going to
be cleaned up.
On the way down the old trail,
everyone (chaperones included) had
a hard time comprehending the reasons for the killing of so many Native people. And as the expedition
got rained on, missed some scheduled landings, were eaten alive by
mosquitoes, and attacked by bees, a
deeper understanding ofthe human
condition set in.
The two adult participants,
"chaperones" or "guides" as they
were reported to be, (shinobs from
White Earth and Nett Lake) kept
the children full of commods which
as everyone knows are good for
stamina. Yet, along the way there
was the stopping off for some real
food which was brought by the
chaperone's women partners who
kept going back and forth from Bemidji to whatever camp they could
get to.
The trip ended on the shore of
Fort Snelling and the group was
warmly greeted by Kris
Kristofferson and Floyd "Red Crow"
Westerman, who had ridden part of
the way as "lead canoeist".
Now, in 1994, a different bunch of
youth are preparing to set out on the
journey down the old Mississippi. It
will be different this time because
there are more canoeists coming and
they will be coming from four directions rather than everyone going the
same route. And, one old chaperone
from the last venture is staying home.
He's still busy trying to find out where
the rest of that $ 10,000 grant from the
McKnight Foundation, administered
through the Peacemaker Center, for
the '91 trip went.
Women settle sex discrimination suit against
tribal casino
RED WING, Minn. (AP) _ Five
women who formerly worked for
Treasure Island Casino have settled
a sex discrimination lawsuit against
the tribal casino.
James Wicka, an attorney for the
women, said Monday that terms of
the settlement will be confidential
by agreement with the tribe.
The lawsuit filed last year accused
Freeman Johnson, former tribal
chairman ofthe Prairie Island Sioux,
of sexually assaulting one woman
in his office at the casino. Johnson
has denied the allegation.
The women accused other
employees of offensive remarks and
unwelcome touching, and said
casino managers failed to stop the
harassment. Two ofthe women said
they were threatened after filing the
lawsuit.
Indian firefighters battle blazes in several states
HAVRE (AP) _ About 340 Fort
Belknap and Rocky Boy firefighters
are battling forest and brush fires in
California, Idaho and Montana.
"We have 11 20-man crews from
Hays-Lodgepole, the (Fort Belknap)
Agency, Dodson and everywhere in
between out," said George Stiffarm,
fire control officer for the Fort Belknap
Indian Reservation.
"We sent four crews to Happy Camp
California, one to Idaho and the rest
are inMissoula, Whitewater Junction,
Plains and Ronan, and we have five
engines out with three person crews
on each engine," Stiffarm told the
Havre Daily News in an interview
published Tuesday.
Rocky Boy was preparing to send
out the last of its crews Tuesday,
according to Lana Turner, a Bureau
of Indian Affairs forestry clerk at
Rocky Boy.
"We have approximately 80
firefighters out and are getting ready
to dispatch our first 10-man camp
crew," Turner said. "The camp crew
is going to Perma in the Flathead
Valley. Two crews were in California
but were transferred to Idaho."
One crew in Superior was
transferred to Plains and one crew
battling the Niaradafire outside ofElmo,
near Flathead Lake, hasbeen transferred
to Black Mountain outside ofMissoula.
"We don't have anything available
now," Turner said, "but there are still
enough volunteers at Rocky Boy in
case of emergency."
Fort Belknap still has some crews
available, according to Stiffarm.
"We have two crews left to get out.
We don't know where they're going,
we'll just wait until they're called out
"And we have two camp crews, 10
members each, that are ready to go.
They serve meals and clean up
camps."