The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-09-02

              $200,000 missing from HOTESS: Benton resigns
By Gary Blair
Recent reports indicate there is
$200,000 missing at the Heart ofthe
Earth Sunival School, a Native
American magnet school located in
southeast Minneapolis. As a result of
the missing money, the Indian alternative school's director, Edwin
Benton, resigned last Tuesday
evening.
PRESS sources say Benton was paying himself with school funds for conducting ceremonies, referred to as "the
three fires" on land just outside of
Minneapolis.
All but two ofthe school's board
members have resigned. The two remaining are board chairperson Clyde
Bellecourt, and board member William Means, director ofthe American
Indian Opportunities and Industrialization Center (AIOIC), a jobs training program for Indians located in
south Minneapolis.
Sources say no one has reported the
misuse of funds to authorities, including the board members who resigned
when they learned of the situation.
They say Benton's misuse ofthe money
came to light when the bookkeeper
resigned because the board wouldn't
take any action on the matter.
Sources also say Clyde Bellecourt's
response to Benton's resignation has
been, "I am glad he's gone." However, reports indicate that the book-
kf ?per has since changed her mind
about resigning and remains employed at the school.
"I thought the school was supposed
be for the Indian students, but recently
these guys have been using it to make
moneyforthemselves," said one source
who asked not to be named. "The
money Eddy (Benton) took was federal dollars meant for the kids."
Two years ago, Clyde Bellecourt's
brother, Vernon Bellecourt, was running around trying to recover funds
lost by the school through federal
cutbacks. The question now is, how
are the Bellecourts going to explain
their error in judgment regarding the
hiring of Benton with his "traditional" history of "digging in the cookie
jar".
The Bellecourts knew all about
Benton's previous activities when they
pushed to have him hired as the
school's administrator two years ago.
Most notable of those activities occurred ten years ago when Benton
went to Canada during a Minnesota
state audit ofthe Red School House, a
Native American alternative school
in St. Paul where he worked as the
director. He returned to the U.S. after
learning that he wasn't going to be
charged with misappropriating funds.
More recently Benton worked as the
director of an Indian school on his
home resenation, Lac Courte Oreille,
in Wisconsin and sources say Benton
left there under a storm of controversy
as well.
The PRESS attended the school
board meetingwhen Benton was seated
as the school's director in 1992. Bellecourt was under fire then for promoting Benton to that position.
Benton's past escapade that involved
the misuse of funds at the Red School
House was the topic of debate at that
meeting. Bellecourt explained to the
other school board members that he
trusted Benton because "he was an old
AIM buddy."
Additional reports say Benton has
been back at the Red School House
sening as a,, consultant for the past
several months and has been drawing
a salary for that position as well as
being paid by Heart ofthe Earth.
So, once again we find Clyde
Bellecourt'sjudgment in question, but
to the Indian community this comes
as no surprise.
State Supreme Court reverses trial court
decision in ICWA custody case
By Sara Lawrence
On Tuesday, August 31 the Minnesota Supreme Court filed its decision to reverse the finding ofthe trial
court in the much publicized child
custody case involving three Minnesota Chippevva Tribe enrollees.
At issue was the decision ofthe trial
court to allow the three children to be
placed in a non-Indian adoptive home
due to the presence of "extraordinary
emotional needs" based on the
children's need for permanence. The
appellate court found that that need
could not be met by the tribe and was
therefore a "good cause" exception to
the placement preferences provision
of the Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA).
In reversing the lower court ruling,
the Minnesota Supreme Court stated
that its decision is "not meant in any
way as a criticism of the trial court's
handling of the matter. By contrast,
it was because of that court's careful
decisions at trial, which lasted six
days, and the court's thorough find
ings of fact and thoughtful memorandum that we were able to review this
case effectively."
However, the Supreme Court disagreed with the lower court's ruling
that the children's extraordinary emotional needs could not be met by the
tribe. It was the higher court's finding that the qualified expert witnesses
did not, in fact, provide positive testimony that the children had extraordinary emotional needs which were
not being met in their current foster
home provided by a tribal member.
The court ruled that it was in the
best interests ofthe children to maintain close ties with their tribe even if
no permanent adoptive home could be
found rather than allowing them to
be adopted by the non-Indian foster
parents who had previously provided
cared and then petitioned for adoption.
Diane E. White, the court-appointed
Guardian ad Litem for the children
and a member ofthe Minnesota Chippevva Tribe, testified for the non-Indian respondents. White thoroughly
researched the case and spent time
with the girls in the respondents home
as well as the various foster homes
provided by the tribe. Her support for
the adoption of the children by the
non-Indian foster parents never wavered even in the face of much criticism by members her tribe.
White maintained that the individual needs ofthe child and the circumstances unique to each case
should outweigh the provisions ofthe
ICWA, and that in this case they did.
White provided the following statement to the press: "I am very concerned about the children and their
future which has been put at stake
once more as a result of this ruling.
Of course, I am saddened by the fact
that these little girls will continue to
be shuffled around between foster care
placements until they are emancfi
pated, turn 18. or commit suick':
is obvious the ruling does not reflect
the best interests of the children but
that ofthe tribe and political wind. It
is my wish that Leech Lake take to
heart my statements and provide these
children with permanence."
Mille Lacs tribal member disagrees with
media stereotype of reservation
By Vince Hill
With the advent of the gambling
casino industry on the Mille Lacs
Ojibwe Indian resenation in 1991,
the Mille Lacs Resenation Tribal
Council immediately embarked on an
abitious and expensive infrastructure
rebuilding program of its resenation.
Contrary to what the media has duped
the public into believing, the Mille
Lacs Reservation Tribal Council
(RTC), with Grand Casino backing,
imprudently borrowed fifteen (15)
million dollars to construct nevv homes,
install badly needed water and sewage
systems, build roads, a health clinic
and cultural buildings, including traditional Ojibwe cultural centers, and a
culturally-specific school encompassing all grade levels.
I certainly have no quarrel with
providing the Mille Lacs resenation
residents with the basic necessities of
life, but a hidden question is that up
until and prior to 1991, why were
these basic needs, such as uncontami-
nated drinking water denied or inaccessible? Any half-educated citizen
knows that local, county, state and
federal governments are legally and
morally obligated to provide its citizenry (even American Indians) with
at least drinking water.
Poverty conditions on the Mille Lacs
resenation in the 1980s and even up
until 1992 were unbelievably bad, exceeding the poverty and isolation of
the black ghettos of Detroit and the
poor white areas of the Appalachian
south, according to two important
Mille Lacs resenation employees.
What in the world was the Mille Lacs
Resenation Tribal Council doing
about this abject poverty, which was
Media continued on pg. 3
Program director responds to Mpls fire dept. article
By Gary Blair
The August 26, 1994 PRESS article entitled "Race i.d. practices of
Mpls Fire Department questioned by
Native Americans," drew a response
this week from Red Lake enrollee
Wilma Mason. Mason is the executive director ofthe Anishinabe Council of Job Developers, a Minneapolis
based non-profit organization developed to assist Native Americans find
employment.
Mason's name was mentioned in
the article, along with others, as one
of the Minneapolis Indian
community's program "check collectors" who wouldn't help Indian fire
fighters Leonard Thompson and Mike
Beaulieu address the bias hiring prac
tices by the City of Minneapolis.
Mason told the PRESS, "They came
to me for help and I told them what to
do (referring to Beaulieu and Thompson). I had worked hard in the past to
resolve this problem and when I
couldn't do anymore, I resigned from
the Firefighters's Steering Committee in November of 1991."
Her letter of resignation cites health
problems as part of the reason she
resigned. "The whole thing was making me sick," she said of her efforts on
that committee. "To start with, I know
there will be Indian program directors calling me for what I'm about to
say, but let them, I'll be ready for
them."
Mason continued, "Anytime you
deal with Indian problems, sooner or
later you'll be fighting with other
Indians- that's what they do to us.
Anyway, I'm tired of doing everything by myself." Mason contends
that the City of Minneapolis doesn't
care about Indians. "They know Indians won't stick-up for themselves,"
she said. "Pat Amo and I were the
only ones from the Indian community
really doing anything on this fire
fighters' issue," she added. (Amo recently resigned her position as an
Indian advocate for the city. She also
cited stress-related problems like
Mason's as one of the reasons for
leaving.)
"I can't do it all by myself," she
said. "I need help from other Indian
organizations and tribal support from
our representatives. We can't afford
Fire continued on pg. 3
$200,000 missing at HOTESS: Benton resigns/ pg 1
Mtgs. to discuss Henn. cty. detox issues/ pg 5
MN Spr Ct overturns appeals in ICWA case/ pg 1
Anishinabe grandmothers tell their stories/ pg 6
Voice of the Anishinabeg
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988   Volume 6 Issue lO     September 2, 1994
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1 994
Wally Storbakken, NAPP spokesperson addresses demonstrators at the state capitol seeking the
impeachment of State Senator Harold "Skip" Finn.
Photo by Gary Blair
Simultaneous protests against 'Skip' Finn
held at State Capitol and Cass Lake
By John Rainbird
On Wednesday, August 31, a group
of Native people from the Twin Cities
demonstrated on the steps ofthe Minnesota State Capitol to call for the
impeachment of State Senator Skip
Finn, DFL-Cass Lake. At the same
time, another group of Leech Lakers
demonstrated at the tribal offices in
Cass Lake.
Senator Finn, an enrolled member
ofthe Leech Lake Band of Chippewa,
recently plead guilty to misapplying
tribal funds in his highly calculated
insurance scam. Finn is the principal
of a company called Reservation Risk
Management which sold insurance
coverage to the Leech Lake tribe at
inflated prices, netting Finn a huge
profit while utilizing "tribal sovereignty" so as not to have to pay out on
any claims.
The reality is that Finn go $500,000
per year for insurance coverage that
could have been placed with any local
agent for $40,000-$50,000. That's
about $450,000 of the LEECH
LAKE PEOPLES' MONEY EVERY YEAR THAT WENT TO
SKIP FINN!!!
The two groups were protesting
against Finn's statement that he would
not resign from the State Senate, even
though he plead guilty to a watered-
Gambling on Casino Jobs
By Richard MacPhie
Colors Magazine
As Indian-owned reservation
casinos proliferated over the past
several years, many Minnesotans
thought they saw the makings of a
custom-built industry for the Native
American community. What with
gaming facilities right there on the
"rez" and tribal sovereignty allowing
unencumbered preferential hiring, it
looked as though the Great Provider
had returned to the Indian, not as a
buffalo but as the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988.
Thanks to that legislation and the
favorable compact that followed with
state government, leaders and tribal
members foresaw a cornucopia of job
and professional career opportunities.
It would be an unprecedented social
miracle: the historically destitute
Indian community .suddenly
immersed in wealth and work options.
Now, after several years of legalized
gaming, Native Americans are
beginning to see where this industry
is taking them... and leaving them
behind.
When Minnesota's new casinos first
opened, a positive aspect touted by
promoters and supporters was that
betting would be a boon to
disadvantaged Indians on and around
the reservations. And in the beginning
that was true, especially for people on
the lower end ofthe skills and wages
scale.
For the chronically unemployed and
destitute, however, assimilation into
the mainstream isn't necessarily a
seamless transition even with prefer-
down misdemeanor charge, because
the incident happened in 1988, before
he became a senator. The demonstrators feel that Finn put himself into a
position of conflict of interest while
being a tribal attorney and a tribal
official and that he should receive the
harshest sentence possible for admittedly "misapplying" $2 million dollars ofthe Leech Lake peoples' money.
Tapes by Twin Cities' TV station
channel 5, which were aired on the
10:00 news Wednesday night, showed
the group of about 25 people at the
State Capitol holding signs that read:
Politics + Crime = Nothing for the
Protest cont'd on pg. 3
ential treatment in hiring. "We've
been sitting at 70 percent unemployment for 50 years," Vincent
Martineau, jobs planner for the Fond
du Lac Reservation, told a Star Tribune reporter in April, "and when
jobs become available, we find we
can't do them." William Means, director ofthe American Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center
(AIOIC), in Minneapolis, struck a
similar note: "There's been a failure
of socialization skills," Means said;
"When the casinos started out, they
just hired Indians and put them in
there. Some people felt like they
didn't really have to do anything -
they were hired just for being Indi-
ans.
Cultural differences often add to
Casinos cont'd on pg. 6
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