The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-01-20

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Investigation continues into Minneapolis1
hiring of Native American firefighters
By Gary Blair
PRESS sources say the Minnesota
Department of Human Right's
(MDHR) investigation into the City
of Minneapolis' hiring practices of
Native American firefighters is moving forward.
MDHR investigators now have information that reveals how Native
American applicants for the fire department are systematically denied
employment by the city's human resources and civil senice departments.
According to PRESS sources, during the past 10 years the American
Indian Opportunities and Industrialization Center (AIOIC), a Minneapolis job service and training program,
has contracted with the city to recruit
applicants for the fire department under current affirmative action guidelines. The AIOIC has sent numerous
candidates to apply for the fire
department'! job openings, but none
have ever been hired and the AIOIC
has never questioned the city's failure
to hire their candidates.
Despite this fact, the city's human
resources department now claims the
Minneapolis Fire Department has 27
Native Americans in its ranks. The
city7 also claims to have five fire captains who are Indians. AIOIC has
never challenged these claims.
According to Ron Edwards, chairman ofthe firefighter's steering committee, an oversight group formed
through a federal court order to monitor the integration ofthe Minneapolis
Fire Department, there are only eight
firefighters who have verified their
Indian heritage.
"After the city was ordered in 1972
to integrate the fire department, certain job applicants were allowed to
switch their race status once thev had
More word for White Earth
By Gary Blair
The White Earth tribal council, it
appears, is preparing to face the federal indictments they know are coming. Resenation chairman Chip
Wadena says he's hired a high priced
attorney that he hopes will keep him
from going back to prison. The
resenation's tribal attorney, Peter
Cannon, also reports that he has hired
legal counsel.
Sources on the resenation say the
other council members have been seen
hauling some of their personal property to relatives' homes. They say
council member Rick Clark has taken
articles of furniture and other things
to his sister's place in Bena, MN. -
Employees at the resenation's
"Fallen Star Casino" in Mahnomen
say the tour bus company from Canada
has recentlv closed its office there.
reached the final selection process,"
Edward's alleges. "This would then
guarantee those applicants would be
hired," he said.
Recently, the city's personnel director was asked to produce the original
employment applications made by
these individuals. "They told us they
had lost them," Edwards explained.
"It wasn't until Mike Beaulieu, the
first Native American firefighter who
was hired, started asking questions,
did the issue become public," he said.
At that point, Edwards explained,
Wilma Mason, Executive Director of
the Anishinabe Council of Job Developers, and Pat Amo, City of Minneapolis Native American Liaison, also
became involved and the heat was
turned-up.
"What makes it even more interesting, AIOIC now has the recruitment
Hiring cont'd on pg 3
They're also reporting that one ofthe
casino's top managers has cleaned out
his office. Ed Donofrio, one of Angelo
Mendura's lieutenants for his casino
management company Gaming World
International, has apparently packed
up and is planning to leave town.
The latest talk now coming from
White Earth is that some ofthe enrollees are planning to take over the casino. (See Lowell Bellanger's letter to
the editor, page 4.)
.
investigation continues into hiring of firefighters/ pg 1
Mille Lacs to begin exercising treaty rights/ pg 1
MIAC meeting scheduled for February 9,1995/ pg 6
More Finngate information surfaces/ pg 4
Pine Point Perspective by Maynard Swan/ pg 5
Voice ofthe Anishinabeg (The People)
i
Fifty Cents
Ojibwvi
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 1988 Volume 6    Issue 3D        January EQ, 1995
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews,  1995
Mille Lacs Band to begin exercising interim
treaty rights
By Mary R. Sandok
ST. PAUL (AP) _ The Mille Lacs
Band of Chippewa has told the state
that band members will be allowed to
start spearfishing in east-central
Minnesota lakes Sunday, exercising
interim treaty rights still in dispute.
During the winter season, band
members will be able to spear northern
pike through artificial holes in the ice
on Lake Mille Lacs and most other
lakes within a 12-county area. Don
Wedll, the band's commissioner of
natural resources, said only one
spearing permit had been issued by
Friday afternoon.
Wedll said he does not expect
protests by non-band members who
oppose Indian spearing.
"Our wardens and state wardens
have been alerted, but I expect it's
going to be pretty much business as
usual," he said Friday.
State Department of Natural
Resources Commissioner Rod Sando
said the band's season should be put in
perspective.
"Currently, anglers have about 4,500
ice fishing houses on Lake Mille Lacs
alone," he said, adding that only a small
number of the band's 2,800 members
are expected to seek band fishing
licenses.
Licensed band members will be
allowed a daily han est of six walleye
and three northernpike; the same limits
apply to non-band anglers licensed by
the state. Band members will not be
allowed to take muskellunge.
A federal judge ruled last year that the
bandretainsrightsunderan 1837 treaty
to hunt and fish without state
regulation in a large section of east-
central Minnesota.
The judge also ruled that the band
can begin exercising its rights before
the courts determine how to allocate
resources between band and non-band
members. The allocation phase ofthe
case is scheduled to begin in March
1996.
"Though the state is seeking to halt
interim hanest through the appeals
process, we believe the band's winter
fishing season will have little impact
on the resource." Sando said.
Wedll said the band's winter fishing
opener won't be at all like the state's
spring fishing opener, when tens of
thousands of anglers head to the lakes.
"Tribal members don't have that same
fever," Wedll said.".. .Ifpeople feel like
they want to fish, they will go out".on
opening day, but many wait, he said.
Seven top managers ousted from jobs at
Little Six Inc.     Four intend to file lawsuits soon
By Ann Merrill
The Mpls. Star Tribune
Seven top managers at Little Six
Inc. have been fired and four intend to
file lawsuits within days against the
company, which operates Mystic Lake
and Dakota Country casinos.
The departures signal the growing
power of Stanley Crooks, the tribal
chairman ofthe Mdewakanton Dakota
Community who for some time has
been locked in a power sniggle with
Leonard Prescott, the former CEO of
Little Six who had a hand in the
hirings before his own ouster in June.
Crooks and Prescott, who are
cousins, are longtime political rivals
within the tiny community of about
200 members.
The dismissals raise the issue of
who is minding the store in the
massive gambling operation, which
in fiscal 1993 had revenues of $500
million and a net income of $97
million.
The seven firings "wipe out upper
management," covering sectors
including gaming operations,
security, marketing, sales, finance and
human resources, said Doug Kelly, a
Minneapolis attorney who is
representing four ofthe excutives. He
also represents Prescott, who was
unavailable for comment Monday.
Prescott continues to fight several
legal battles related to his forced
departure.
Roseann Campagnoli, director of
public affairs for the tribe, said Stanley
Crooks "had nothing to do with the
derision. It was made by the [Little
Six] board of directors." Crooks was
unavailable for comment Monday.
The seven-member Little Six board,
Campagnoli said, acted quickly to
name interim managers, and those
selected were employees ofthe various
departments. There has been no
disruption in operations, she said,
noting that the company is in the final
stages of hiring a new chief operating
officer.
Campagnoli referred other
questions to the casino's public
relations officer, who did not return a
phone call late Monday. The board's
attorney declined to comment.
Since October the Little Six board
has been led by Raymond Crooks,
brother of Stanley Crooks. In a Jan.
10 letter to Little Six employees,
Crooks said the board made the staff
Jobs cont'd on pg 3
Bribery case hinges on official's admissions
By Matt Kelley
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) _The most
damaging evidence so far in the
corruption trial of Charles Hacker
has come from Hacker himself.
The centerpiece ofthe government's
case against the Bureau of Indian
Affairs official is his own admission:
that he accepted thousands of dollars
in cash from a Sioux Falls
businessman.
Hacker's trial on bribery and
conspiracy charges is expected to
conclude this week in Aberdeen. He
faces up to 20 years in prison and
$500,000 in fines if convicted on both
counts.
Federal prosecutors are expected to
wrap up their case Tuesday. Hacker's
lawyer, Gary Gellhaus, told the jury
Hacker wants to testify and tell his
side of the story.
The key testimony in the case came
Thursday from a federal agent who
told how Hacker admitted taking cash-
stuffed envelopes and other favors
from Francis "Butch" Oseby in 1991
and 1992.
Oseby was sales manager of Dakota
Machinery Exchange, which was part
of a conspiracy that snagged $59
million in government equipment for
illegal resale, prosecutors say.
Hacker helped the scheme along by
providing blank, pre-signed property
transfer forms to Oseby and trying to
shield the operation from scrutiny by
other federal officials, according to
prosecutors.
Hacker's defense is that he is a
model employee who was only doing
his job to the best of his ability.
Gellhaus says the payments were
merely loans from a friend and not
bribes.
"My client is being prosecuted
because he signed some forms,"
Gellhaus told the jury during opening
arguments.
Interior Department agent Charles
Butler painted a different picture
during his testimony, however.
According to Butler, Hacker gave the
following account of his involvement
with Oseby:
While working for the BIA's
Albuquerque, N.M., office, Hacker
encountered Oseby, who was
obtaining government equipment
under the name of the Sisseton-
Wahpeton Sioux Tribe arid reselling
the gear for DME. The men, who had
met while Hacker worked in Aberdeen
in the late 1980s, struck up a
friendship.
In April 1991, Hacker was going
through a divorce and needed money.
Oseby obliged, giving Hacker $325
in cash during a meeting in
Albuquerque and later mailing Hacker
an envelope stuffed with $800.
Hacker then began signing forms
that allowed Oseby to get surplus
federal equipment under the tribe's
Bribery cont'd on pg 3
Sarah Solberg wears one of her dance outfits for Bemidji School's 7th grade Gamma Pod for American
Indian cultural Awareness Days. Photo by John Rainbird
Bemidji Middle School's Gamma Pod hosted
American Indian Cultural Awareness Days
By John Rainbird
Wednesday Jan., 18,, 1995,
Bemidji's Middle School's Gamma
Pod's seventh graders hosted their
American Indian Cultural
Awareness Days under the direction
of Linda Phillips. The school's
program brings talented Native
speakers and artists, to the school in
order to gain a better understanding
of native culture and life-styles.
Those who came with their
presentations were: Ms. Mavis
Whitebird; Oral Traditional
Storyteller; Mr. Duane Goodwin,
Artist-in-Residence; Ms. Karen
Solberg, designer; maker of Native
Dance Outfits; her daughter Sarah
Solberg; Mr. JaimieSnowdon, Ojibwe
men's traditional dancer; and Ms.
Deb Warren, teacher of traditional
craft beadwork.
Mavis Whitebird made references
to the stories of "Wenabozho" (an
Ojibwe trickster), as she addressed
the importance of respect for all things
through story telling. "Traditionally,
stories are told in the winter, as it's
too cold for children to be outside too
long. Besides, it's a way to continue
the traditions of our people."
Duane Goodwin, presented and
spoke on his slide show of beautifully
caned stone he had done, which were
on exhibit at a BSU's Native Art
show in 1992.
Mr. Snowdon, spoke on the
relationship of eagle feathers, as
used in dance and ceremony. He
also displayed his traditional dance
outfit and showed excerpts from a
video ofthe American Indian Dance
Theater and spoke on the different
kinds of dances and outfits.
Ms. Karen Solberg, designes
traditional and fancy dance outfits
for both men and women to wear at
powwows and other functions. She
also does fine beadwork, which is
shown in the picture above of her
daughter Sarah Solberg, who
exhibited two stunning, intricate
female dance outfits her mother
made.
On an encouraging note programs
like these continue to bring different
life-styles and traditional cultural
ways a bit closer in view each year.
Farm to be training center for R.L. youth
REDLAKE - Red Lake youth will
soon have a place to go near home to
learn a trade, study wildlife
management and work on their
development. But it won't look like a
traditional school - it's located on a
2,552-acrefarminCleanvaterCounty.
The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe
bought the farm from Harold and
Doris Sabo in November to create the
new training center, dubbed Red Lake
Training and Youth Development Inc.
Starting this spring, 50 to 100
youngsters will start classes at the
school. They'll learn operation and
maintenance of heavy equipment and
machine shop training. They'll get
hands-on experience in dike
construction and maintenance,
agricultural practices, natural
resource management techniques,
including grassland, woodland and
aquatic/wetland management.
A critical part ofthe business project
will be teaching social and personal
skills and cultural enhancement.
Students will engage in peer
counseling and mentor programs, and
learn skills including drivers'
education, child care, tribal history
and cultural activities, general
education and self-esteem
development, how to interview and
fill out job applications and how to do
business plans and become
entrepreneurs.
The point ofthe new training center
Farm cont'd on pg 3
Indian gambling to get another look
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The new
chairman ofthe Senate Indian Affairs
Committee says lawmakers will try
again this year to improve regulation
ofthe Indian gambling industry.
"We're obviously going to have to
revisit the Indian gaming issue," Sen.
John McCain said Wednesday.
The Arizona Republican also said
the panel would "take a closer look"
at the Bureau of Indian Affairs to see
if tribes can be given more control
over its programs. Critics say the BIA
is one of the most inefficient and
ineffective agencies in the federal
government.
The committee drafted a bill last
year to overhaul the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988 and give the
federal government a bigger role in
regulating the industry.
However, the legislation died when
lawmakers were unable to find a way
to settle disputes between states and
tribes over what games should be
allowed in Indian casinos. The
disputes have led to numerous
lawsuits.
McCain said the legislation may
have to be broken into separate pieces.
The first measure would likely deal
with regulation and oversight.
Last year's bill would have
expanded the National Indian Gaming
Commission and allowed it to set
minimum standards for casino
operation.
Indian casinos primarily are
regulated by states or tribes according
to agreements they must negotiate.
Regulations vary widely from state to
state.
McCain said he has already achieved
one goal in his job, convincing the
Senate's new Republican leadership to
keep 17 seats on the committee. That
meant that the Senate's lone American
Indian, Sen. Ben Nighthorse
Campbell, D-Colo., could keep his
place on the panel.