The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1994-11-11

              Hennepin County holds New Visions
nOStape     Most Indian social service programs are dependent on county dollars
By Gary Blair
The New Visions Chemical Dependency Treatment Program for Native
Americans plans to change its level of
care due to past and present financial
problems. Staff at the treatment center say Hennepin County has been
holding them "hostage" for past debts
and they haven't been able to raise
funds from other sources because of
this.
According to Victoria Abraham, executive director ofthe 13 year old nonprofit organization located in south
Minneapolis, "We plan to move from
an inpatient to an outpatient program
by the first of the year. We either do
that or we'll have to close the doors."
Abraham continued, "We can't raise
additional operational funds from
foundations because they say we'll
just use the funds to pay our debt with
Hennepin County."
Chemical dependency counselors
the PRESS spoke with say outpatient treatment for American Indians does not work as well as inpatient care. And Nevv Visions counselors say more people could be
helped to stay sober if there were
more aftercare services such as jobs
and decent housing.
At the present time New Visions
offers no services in those areas.
"We used to have a job counselor
come from the American Indian Opportunities Industrial Center, but
they haven't been coming here
lately," one New Visions staff member told the PRESS.
The problems now faced by New-
Visions are nothing new in the Minneapolis Indian community. With the
lack of leadership and the fact that
most Indian social service programs
are dependent on county dollars, who
is going to complain?
This time last year Nevv Visions was
in the midst of a heated controversy
after it was learned that a portion-of
the $150,000 they had received from
Hennepin County to develop a culturally specific detoxication center for
American Indians was being diverted
to pay off debts with the IRS. Factions
developed among the program's board
of directors over the use of that grant
and lawsuits were filed by the opposing sides that have never been resolved. Since that time Nevv Visions
has been operating with only two board
members and the proposed detoxification center for American Indians
has not become a reality.
Nearly two years ago Hennepin
County was forced to close the old
detoxification center because of alleged client abuse. The old detoxifica-
Visions cont'd on pg 3
Bellecourts banished from AIM for life/ pg 1
Hennepin County holds New Visions hostage/ pg 1
MPR to air series on corruption on White Earth/ pg 2
Case against Finn could be 'tip of iceberg'/ pg 1
Pine Point Perspective by Maynard Swan/ pg 8
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People)
1
Bellecourts banished from AIM for life
Found guilty of collaborating with the government
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
By Shelley Davis
Clyde and Vernon Bellecourt, representatives ofthe National American
Indian Movement, Inc. of Minneapolis, have been banished from the
American Indian Movement for life,
according to a panel of indigenous
peoples which reviewed evidence
against the Bellecourts during a recent tribunal.
Clyde and Vernon Bellecourt were
found guilty of collaborating with the
United States government and seven
other charges by a panel of indigenous
peoples at the conclusion of a tribunal which began in December, 1993
at a conference of American Indian
Movement chapters.
In a signed "concluding statement"
of the AIM tribunal, the panelists
stated, "Clearly, the evidence of these
charges demonstrates a long tail of insidious abuse by" the Bellecourts. It
further stated that the Bellecourts
found in the Minneapolis Native community and within AIM "an environment which enabled their conduct,"
which the panel said, "overstepped the
boundaries of tolerance."
"Repeatedly, the tribunal was confronted with overwhelming evidence
that the Bellecourts abused and subverted American Indian people for
their own personal gain," according
to the statement.
"Both of these men, but Clyde Bellecourt in particular, have become
predators in their community while
purporting to protect the community
with their AIM patrol," it continued.
The panelists stated that the use,
abuse and reliance on federal funds
distorts any tendency towards liberation within a community or a movement and that Minneapolis AIM was
"saddled with drugs, alcohol and illusions of a false concept of empowerment through violence and intimidation."
"Moreover, the defendants did not
stop these actions within their homeland; they moved out with a vengeance across the national and international scene, purporting to be leaders of a liberation movement," the
statement declared.
The panelists stated that the
Bellecourts defended the actions ofthe
United States government in undermining two key issues of sovereignty,
American Indian identity and spirituality, through their advocacy of
AIM cont'd on pg 3
Founded in 1988       Volume 6   Issue 20       November 1 1, 1 334
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews,  1994
Case against Finn could be 'tip of iceberg1
Probe of tribal leaders insurance scam expanding
By Susan Stanich
New-Tribune Duluth
A state senator who serves as judge
and lawyer in the Minnesota
Chippevva Tribe could lose his right
to practice law, his senate seat and his
freedom as a result of a federal case
against him that continues to expand.
Harold "Skip" Finn of Walker, a
member of the tribe's Leech Lake
band, admitted in August to
orchestrating an insurance scam that
swindled Leech Lake of $13,000.
However, federal investigators say
now that new information reveals an
"unconscionable" scam that actually
involved about $ 1 million and had the
cooperation of several Leech Lake
officials who also got payoffs.
In a memorandum filed late last
week, the U.S. Attorney's office asked
the judge to depart from normal
guidelines and give Finn more than a
misdemeanor sentence. That would
total 12 to 18 months, said assistant
U.S. Attorney Mike Ward.
In the meantime, the case continues
under investigation: nevv felony
indictments of Finn and other
involved are a possibility, Ward said
Monday.
"To me, this is just the tip of the
iceberg," said Walter 'Frank' Reese,
on ofthe Leech Lakers who supplied
information about Finn's business to
federal investigators.
"This kind of thing - taking money
out of programs and using it as their
own - has been going on a long time."
Finn has also served as Minnesota
Chippevva Tribe appellate judge,
election judge and lawyer on other
reservations. He's a DFLer who wcW
state office in 1990 with the strong
support of Senate Majority Leader
Roger Moe and other Democrats, and
over the strident objections of Leech
Lake tribal members who were
convinced Finn's insurance firm was
a sham.
According to the U.S. Attorney's
office, Leech Lake Chairman Alfred
"Tig" Pemberton and Leech Lake
secretary-treasurer Dan Brown were
part owners in and personally
benefited fromFinn's firm. Pemberton
also is president ofthe state-supported
Minnesota Indian Affairs
Commission.
Elder Jim ClaJrmont of the Lakota Nation delivered a traditional Lakota welcome at the American Indian
Higher Education Consortium reception at the University of Minnesota.
U of M Hosts American Indian Higher
Education Consortium
The University of Minnesota
recently hosted a reception honoring
the American Indian Higher
Education Consortium (AIHEC), at
the Fredrick R. Weisman Art
Museum.
The AIHEC was founded in 1972,
to address developmental problefns
common to tribally controlled
colleges. Currently, the consortium
is the cooperative effort of 21 U.S.
and Canadian member institutions.
Located on or near Indian
reservations across the nation, tribal
colleges serve more than 16,000
Indian students with vocational,
technical, two year, four year and
graduate programs.
The reception included a program
featuring a traditional Lakota
welcome by Elder Jim Clairmont of
the Lakota Nation in Rosebud, S.D.
Sheila Wellstone helps kickoff Eagle's Nest
Finn contd on Pg 3    renovation campaign
Ron Otterson sentenced in forgery case
By Gary Blair
Ronald George Otterson, 54, has
been sentenced for forgery involving
the misuse of funds while director of
the Center School, an alternative
school for Indian youth located in
South Minneapolis.
Otterson received one year and one
day at Stillwater State Prison. That
part of the sentence was stayed for
three years. He also received 100 hours
of community service and three vears
probation with restitution. However,
he will have to spend 20 days in the
county workhouse.
Two years ago the PRESS carried
the first story on Otterson's theft of
funds at the school. Later that year the
Minneapolis Star Tribune moved in
for a closer look when he was nominated to run for the Minneapolis
School Board. The Tribune ar
ticle told of a troubled man, given to
excessive drinking, and a changeable
lifestyle. Police Department records
showed Otterson's misuse of school
funds covered the last four years that
he hadbeen the director at the school.
Otterson's misuse of school checks
and credit cards amounted to more
than $20,000.
In May of this year the PRESS reported Otterson's guilty plea to the
forgery.charge. The article disclosed
how Otterson used the money, cashing most ofthe checks at the Gay 90s
bar in downtown Minneapolis. In addition, the school's credit card was
used for local hotel rooms and additional entertainment.
NE WS FLASH
On Thursday, November 10, Mille Lacs enrollee and activist Irene Wade Benjamin was thrown
out of her place of residence which is owned by the Mille Lacs band. Dan Milbridge, tribal
commissioner of health and human services and a NON-INDIAN, came to tribal member
Benjamin's home, on her reservation, and told her she had to leave. The notice to vacate contained
allegations which were totally false or otherwise suspicious and was CC: Marge Anderson. Look
to next week's PRESS for complete details.
Wawokia.win
On October 20, 1994, the Eagle's
Nest Shelter for women, located in St.
Paul, hosted a very distinguished
guest. Sheila Wellstone, wife of Senator Paul Wellstone, came to offer her
support for the kickoff of the shelter's
campaign for renovation funds and
enjoy some homemade soup and
frybread.
The goal is to renovate the building and change the decor to reflect
the Native American spiritual environment that the program is based on.
In addition, they would like to add on
an activity room and provide space for
more beds so thev can accommodate
more women and children. Right now,
the shelter holds 26 beds and the goal
is to reach 34.
Joan Myriall-Lewis, an Ottawa
from Michigan, is the Executive Director of the Eagle's Nest. Myriall-
Lewis has been director since February of 1993. She said that Sheila Wellstone has always been supportive of
the shelter since it opened in 1991.
Her crusade is to speak out against
domestic violence, and her husband
has aided her by taking a stand in
Congress.
Eagle's Nest Shelter is unique in
that it has a cultural program and a
cultural coordinator. Georgia
Mayotte, the cultural coordinator, says
that the cultural program deals with
the spiritual aspects of the Native
American women who come to the
shelter for help from an abusive relationship. It is considered part of the
healing process at this shelter where
abused women and their children are
taken in and given a safe place to stay.
The Eagle's Nest provides a safe
place to stay, food, clothing, medical
treatment, legal aid, advocacy, and access to various resource groups. The
average stay is two months. In addition, the shelter sponsors activities
such as a yearly pow wow and seasonal feasts to celebrate Native American culture with a focus on women's
roles.
Court rules tribe can't regulate hunting, fishing
at Lake Oahe
People with little Indian blood sharing in
gambling profits
By Laura Baenen
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Some
members of the tiny Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux tribe, and others
whose tribal status is in limbo, want
the federal government to intervene
in a power struggle that involves the
sharing of gambling profits.
Mystic Lake casino's ousted leader
and 34 other American Indians filed
a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing
the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and
the tribal leadership of violating the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. They
say the BIA has failed to stop tribal
leaders from padding the tribal rolls
with distant relatives and friends,
allowing them to vote and receive
casino profits.
"The federal government has put
its head in the sand and said, 'This is
a membership issue for you to decide,'
" said the plaintiffs' attorney, Jim
Cohen.
Cohen said the group is not
questioning the right of tribal
sovereignty.
Besides the BIA, the suit also names
the Department of the Interior and
the tribe's leaders, headed by
chairman Stanley Crooks.
Crooks referred calls to the tribe's
attorney, Andrew Small, who said he
hadn't seen the suit and couldn't
comment.
Bob Walker, an Interior Department
spokesman, said department officials
also hadn't seen the suit and couldn't
comment.
Former Little Six Inc. chief
executive Leonard Prescott and his
Profits cont'd on pg 3
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) _
Hunting and fishing by non-Indians
along the Lake Oahe reservoir doesn't
threaten the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe, a federal appeals court ruled
Monday.
The tribe therefore cannot regulate
hunting and fishing on land and water
taken to form the giant reservoir in
central South Dakota, according to a
2-1 ruling of the 8th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
The appeals court ruled on the issue
after the U. S. Supreme Court sent the
matter to the lower court for further
discussion. The 1993 Supreme Court
ruling also held that a federal law-
creating the Oahe reservoi r took away
the tribe's power to regulate hunting
and fishing along the lake.
The case is one of a series of disputes
between the Cheyenne River Sioux
and the state of South Dakota over
jurisdiction. The tribe has won battles
over control of highways and liquor
sales on the reservation.
Monday's ruling was another loss
for the tribe in the hunting and fishing
case. Tribal lawyers had argued for
the tribe's power to require non-Indian
hunters and anglers to buy tribal game
and fish licenses.
The decision again upholds South
Dakota's right to enforce state game
and fish laws in the disputed areas.
The Supreme Court had asked the
appeals court to rule on whether non-
Indian hunting and fishing along the
lake posed a threat to the Cheyenne
River tribe's political integrity,
economic security or health and
welfare.
The appeals court noted reports of
non-Indian hunters disturbing or
killing livestock, depleting deer herds
and damaging fences.
"These incidents undeniably are
vexatious to the individual Indians
affected, but we think it is plain that
they do not amount to a direct effect
on the political integrity, the economic
security, or the health or welfare of
the tribe as a whole," Justice Pasco M.
Bowman wrote for the majority.
Dissenting Justice Gerald W.
Heaney said the ruling takes too strict
a view of how non-Indian hunting
affects the tribe.
Heaney wrote that the tribe has
regulated hunting and fishing on the
reservation since the 1930s and should
be allowed to regulate those activities
on and near Lake Oahe.
"While it may be true that the tribe's
recreational industry is not so well
developed that its economic security
would be threatened if it were unable
to regulate non-Indian hunting and
fishing, that issue is separate from the
question of whether non-Indian conduct
on the taken lands has a direct effect on
the Tribe," Heaney wrote.