The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-02-10

              mmmmmmSmm
Hit and run led to deaths, sparked by racial
SlUrS     Cass County authorities charged man with two counts murder
By Gary Blair
A Nov. 11, 1994, a vehicle chase
near Walker, MN that ended in the
deaths of a 19 year old married couple
from Little Falls, MN appears to have
been sparked by racial remarks made
by the driver who later died in the
accident.
Cass County7 authorities charged
Leon Arron Butcher, 3 6, a Leech Lake
enrollee from rural Walker, with two
counts of second degree murder as a
result ofthe deaths. Butcher is being
held in jail on a $250,000 bail awaiting trial.
According to the felony complaint,
Anji Rashell (Berger) Elynk and
Darrin Joseph Elynk died when their
Chevrolet Blazer rolled over during
the high speed pursuit. Also injured in
the mishap were three others, Daniel
Arth McLain 2.1, Jessica Jean
Erickson, 20, and Kelly Sue Wipper,
19.
The Pilot - Independent, a Walker
newspaper, quoted Larry Kimball, the
court-appointed defense attorney for
Butcher, as saying he believes the case
is "overcharged." The article appeared
in the Dec. 1,1994, issue ofthe paper
and was entitled "Bail request withdrawn." The article by Paul Nye,
Editor, said Kimball told the court,
"Events have occurred which make it
inopportune to even raise the issue (of
bail reduction)." He added however,
"This is not an admission of guilt,"
referring to his client.
Reports obtained by the PRESS indicate the following course of events:
On November 11, 1994 at about 9:58
P.M. the Cass County Sheriffs Department received a call of a hit and
run accident at the Y-Mart Convenience Store, located at the junction of
Minnesota State Highways 371 and
200.
The report said a pedestrian had
been struck in the store's parking lot.
The injured person was subsequently
identified as Roland Hunt, a Native
American from that area. Deputy Bill
Herheim was told by a witness that a
"black Bronco" had struck Hunt and
fled east on Highway 200. This same
witness also told the deputy that Leon
Butcher had pursued the Bronco in a
blue Chevrolet 2-door Impala. They
likewise told investigators that Butcher
had returned to the scene ofthe earlier
hit and run and indicated he had
rammed the (as identified in the formal complaint) Chevrolet Blazer and
had run it off the road.
On the same date and at approximately 10:04 P.M. the Sheriffs Department received a report of a motor
vehicle accident approximately four
miles east ofthe hit and run accident
they were presently investigating. The
Minnesota State Patrol was dispatched
to the scene. Their investigation later
determined the accident to be a one
vehicle rollover and the auto was a
black Blazer. The criminal complaint
against Butcher says the Elynks died
as a result of that accident. The complaint also says State Patrol Trooper
Skip May interviewed one ofthe accident victims, Kelly Sue Wipper, one
Slurs cont'd on pg 3
Hit and run led to deaths, sparked by racial slurs/ pg 1
Details of WE pornography ring coming to light/ pg 1
Mayor recommends cand. fpr Mpls Police Chief/ pg 2
Pine Point Perspective by Maynard Swan/ pg 5
Indigenous Environ. Network supports Apache/ pg
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People)
Fifty Cents
Details of WE pornography ring coming to light
By Gary Blair
Last week the PRESS carried headlines that a child pornography ring
could be operating on the White Earth
Reservation
The article reported that Laura Meyer,
owner ofthe Rez Runner gas station in
Mahnomen, has in her posssession a
video tape that contains evidence of
pornography and that she left town
suddenly after receiving a death threat
by telephone in connection with her
efforts to expose the activities.
This week the PRESS has learned
some of what that video tape contains.
Sources say it shows an adult male
known to Meyer having intercourse
with a five- year-old girl also known to
Meyer.
Meyer, it's reported, had been doing
advocacy work with foster children on
the reservation when she received the
video tape.
Additional information received by
the PRESS indicates Indian children
are often removed from their families
through the court system under a "child
in needof protection order." It'susually
for a 90 day period and it's during that
time that many of them are being sexu
ally exploited.
Sources say Meyer claims to have
worked with hundreds of children that
have been in and out of foster care and
she says all of them have told her they
believe thev7 were either improperly
touched or sexually penetrated during
that time.
Meyer has also alleged that the pornography tapes are being transported
off the reservation by track drivers who
stop at the casino in Mahnomen
Sources close to Meyer say she is still
in hiding and is expected to remain
there until she can be assured of her
safetv.
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity1 For All People
Founded  in 1988        Volume G   Issue 33        February IO, 1 995
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews,  1 995
Martin is acquitted
By Dawn Schuett
StaffWriter, Bemidji Pioneer
Citing a lack of evidence, jurors
Wednesday morning acquitted 37-
year-old Roy Allen Martin of sexually
assaulting a Bemidji woman last summer.
"We did not feel the state came out
with enough concrete evidence to convict him," said jury foreman Frank
Guenther. "From the beginning of
deliberations, every single juror
thought the same thing."
Martin hugged his wife after a court
administrator read the verdict for
charges of first-degree burglary7 and
criminal sexual conduct an hour after
jury deliberations began.
Bemidji Police arrested Martin a'
month after the alleged incident when
the victim said she heard his voice at
a local store. The women, a former
neighbor to Martin and his wife,
Patricia Whitley, testified during the
trial that it took her that long to be
"200 percent sure" Martin Was her
attacker.
Martin, who moved to Bemidji last
May, was accused of breaking into the
woman's home June 24, 1994. On the
witness stand, the victim said Martin
attempted to sexually assault her,
threatened her and took $37 before
fleeing the scene.
Investigating officers said they found |
nothing but a partial footprint below a
window outside the home and "disturbed vegetation" on a trail leading
Traditional dancers Mike Hodges and Jim Brown make the rounds at the recent Bemidji A.S. Pow Wow.
Martin contd on Pg 3 Protestors gather again at Prairie Island
Rainbird comments on Martin aquittal
By John Rainbird
NAP - Staff Intern
Bemidji, MN - "A case of mistaken
identity" had been the call by Defense
Council Paul Kief, Roy Martin's
attorney. Martin, a man charged
with one count of burglary and one
count of criminal sexual assualt in the
first degree sat quietly, as Kief
rendered his argument. He used an
alibi defense in the court room of
Bemidji, MN.
Tim Faver, (the prosecuting
Attorney), showed little corroboratory
evidence to convict Mr. Martin. In
fact, the prosecution's case hinged on
insufficient identification of the
perpetrator and circumstantial
evidence along with an insufficient
investigation.
Martin's attorney, Paul Kief, cited
the inefficient corroborator}7 evidence
as a way in which a jury of twelve
would find it hard to convict Martin,
basing his facts on the inefficiency of
the investigation.
However, Beltrami County Attorney
Tim Faver, argued the case was based
on credibility, while stating "you have
to decide who you're going to believe
in this case" he said to the jurors
Tuesday evening in his final
argument.
Defense attorney Paul Kief said "Mr.
Martin was falsely accused" and that
is the ultimate facts, as he cited "it's a
case of a person (the victim) has made
a mistake."
The victim failed to positively
identify Martin through an assisted,
composite drawing by the police,
Aquit cont'd on pg 6
Teens Win a battle 'Squaw Point' is offensive,
they say; town's name changed to 'Oak Point'
By Harold Iron Shield
Anti-nuclear demonstrators braved
the cold and windy weather as they
protested in front ofthe Prairie Island
Nuclear Plant, owned by Northern
States Power (NSP). About 100 demonstrators took part in a major protest
to publicly denounce the radioactive
waste disposal site as the first of 17
casks arrived at the plant last week.
The nuclear waste storage site at
Prairie Island has been debated for
several years and will continue to be
as long as nuclear waste remains on
Prairie Island. The 1994 Minnesota
State Legislature approved 17 casks
for NSP' s nuclear waste storage which
the Prairie Island Tribal Council opposed.
The cask, which arrived last week,
is considered safe and will be filled in
May. But, according to newspaper
reports, it has not been inspected and
the NRC has raised concerns about
welds on the cask manufactured by a
Massachusetts subcontractor helping
to build the steel casks.
In a broader spectrum, Indian reservations and poor communities that
are considered economic hardship areas are driven to believe that the
nuclear industry will pull them out of
poverty. Therefore, Indigenous people
and people of color have suffered the
most from the nuclear industry and it
has been going on for 30 years or
more.
In a recent study, breast cancer
deaths around Prairie Island are up
43% since 1980. Nationwide studies
have revealed that figure to be 18% of
the female population living in counties that either had or are next to a
nuclear power plant. These figures
have protestors concerned about the
tribal people who have to live near the
radioactive storage.
In Nevv Mexico recently, members of
the Mescalero Apache tribe voted
down a proposal by NSP and 30 other
utilities to store nuclear waste on their
desert land.
Indian gaming pacs gave $38,000 to caucuses
By Kevin Duchschere
StaffWriter
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Two northern Minnesota teenagers
who have made it their mission to
remove "squaw" and other racially
derogatory words from place names
in the state won their first victory
Tuesday, when Cass County commissioners voted unanimously to change
the name of Squaw Point.
"We're really proud to see that we
got this far, being just students," said
Angie Losh, 17, who lives in what
now will be called Oaik Point. It's an
Indian commumty of about 50 at the
southern tip of a peninsula on the
northwest side of Leech Lake.
• Losh and Dawn Litzau, 18, of Bemidji, began the project a year ago for
an Ojibwe culture class at Cass Lake-
Bene High School.
They wrote to newspapers that
"squaw" is a French corruption ofthe
Iroquois word for vagina, and should
be changed.
They made their case Tuesday before the county's five commissioners,
who were impressed with the presentation.
"It was an exciting time. It's a real
empowering thing when students can
have people listen to them," said Mike
Schmid, the history and social studies
teacher at Cass Lake-Bene who directed the project.
Board chairman Virgil Foster said
no one objected to the change, even
ST. PAUL (AP) _ Indian casinos in
Minnesota gave more than $38,000
to the House DFL and Independent-
Republican caucuses last year,
according to campaign disclosure
reports.
The Minnesota Indian Gaming
Association, which represents 16
casinos, gave $30,000 through its
political organization.
The House DFL Caucus received
$20,000, and the House IRs received
$10,000. Caucus leaders use the
money to help pay for election
campaigns for their members.
Despite the contributions to the
DFLers, House Speaker Irv
Anderson, DFL-International Falls,
said this week that he supports an
end to the Indian-owned casino
monopoly. Anderson said he favors
legislation permitting non Indian-
owned bars and restaurants to have
casino-style slot machines, a move
opposed by most tribal officials.
The Minnesota Licensed Beverage
Association's political action
committee, representing
establishments with liquor licenses
that would be eligible for the video
slot machines, contributed $2,300 to
the House DFLers, according to the
caucus report. '
Absence of clear workplace protections on
Point contd on Pg 6   Indian land sparks concerns
State seeks to speed up appeals process in
Mille Lacs treaty rights
By Steve Karnowski
ST. PAUL (AP) _ It's a matter of
time and taxpayers' money, according
to attorneys for the state and its allies
who are trying to stop the Mille Lacs
Band of Chippevva from asserting its
rights under an 1837 treaty.
The state, along with several
affected counties and landowners, lost
in August when a federal judge ruled
that the band still retains the right to
hunt, fish and gather food on territory
it ceded to the federal government
under the 1837 treaty.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals is now deciding whether this
is the right time to let the state appeal
that decision, which restored the Mille
Lacs band's rights across a large part
of its former lands in east-central
Minnesota.
As matters stand at the moment, the
second phase ofthe treaty rights case
is scheduled to go to trial in March
1996 but could be delayed. It is
supposed to allocate fish and game in
the affected area, which includes part
of Mille Lacs Lake, between band
members and other hunters and
anglers.
"This litigation will take years,"
landowners'attorney Stephen Froehle
told a three-judge panel ofthe appeals
court Wednesday.
So attorneys for the state, counties
and landowners asked the appeals
court to speed up the process. They
want the court to consider their appeals
of the August verdict and a related
October decision before the next phase
begins.
The judges indicated some
sympathy to the request and are
expected to rule within the next few
weeks. ludge Donald Lay said that if
the appeals courtfound that the band's
treaty rights no longer exist _ as the
state contends _ settling that issue
quickly would make phase two ofthe
trial unnecessary.
Wednesday' s arguments focused on
Treaty cont'd on pg 3
LEDYARD, Conn. (AP) _ Unlike
workers in virtually every office,
factory and shopping center in the
United States, employees on Indian
land are not guaranteed the safeguards
that have been written into state and
federal law over the last century to
protect workers.
The absence of clear workplace
protections on Indian land has sparked
deep concern. Lawmakers, union
leaders and attorneys general across
the nation are wondering if there is
anything they can do.
"I don't think Congress ever
envisioned the extent to which
working men and women would be at
the mercy of sovereign entities,"
Connecticut Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal said. "People
working there ought to be protected."
Nationally, Indian gambling has
grown into a $6 billion-a-year
industry.
Foxwoods Resort Casino in
Ledyard, open just three years, is
already the eighth-largest employer
in the state and is one ofthe few major
businesses in Connecticut that is
growing.
The Mohegan Tribe is planning to
build its own casino in nearby
Montville that could employ another
9,000 by the end ofthe decade.
The Mashantucket Pequots, who
own and operate Foxwoods, contend
that state and federal workplace laws
that apply off the reservation don't
necessarily mean that employees are
better off elsewhere. The casino's
personnel polices, they say, mirror
the law in many cases.
Employees who work more than 40
hours a week are paid overtime, the
tribe has a family leave policy and
sexual harassment is against casino
rules. By several measures, wages
and benefits equal or exceed others in
the region.
"I think the state should understand
thatjust because it's their law, doesn't
make it superior to ours," said Jackson
King, general counsel to the tribe.
The sovereignty enjoyed by Indians
across the nation is rooted in the
Constitution, which recognized the
tribes as separate nations. But as the
number of people working on
reservations skyrocketed, many
federal laws did not seem to apply on
Indian land.
Through the years, the federal
government has tried to assert its
jurisdiction while the Indians have
countered with a range of legal
arguments rooted in sovereignty and
treaty rights. The result has been a
confusing patchwork of judicial
decisions.