The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-03-17

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Eagle's Nest Shelter policies questioned by
community members
By Gary Blair
A Native American domestic abuse
shelter located in St. Paul, Minnesota
has recently come under fire. The
Eagle's Nest Shelter, operated by
Women of Nations (WON), a nonprofit group, is being accused of not
adequately providing services to Native American women and children.
According to present and former
staff, there are additional problems
going on at the four year old organization.
In a letter addressed to Jeanne
Barkey, director of the Victim Ser
vices Unit for the State Department of
Corrections, co-founder and former
WON board member Norma Haider
wrote:
"This letter is to inform you that
members ofthe American Indian community have requested to be on Women
of Nations agenda at their next regularly scheduled board meeting March
6,1995at 6:30 P.M. Concerned members of Women of Nations and the
American Indian community request
your attendance or your designee to
witness the interactions between the
board and the community.
A number of actions by the board of
directors and staff are in question.
They are as follows: 1) The By Laws
were revised without adequate notice
to the membership. The Board of Directors are operating under By Laws
that were not passed in accordance to
the previous By Laws. 2) Inadequate
services to American Indian Women
and their children. 3) Illegal election
of the New Board of Directors., 4)
Discrimination towards American In-1
dian women who have requested to be
volunteersand have been denied without reason. 5) Discrimination to-
wardsformervolunteers, co-founders,
and employees of Women of Nations.
We are hoping that the Board of
Directors will take the necessary steps
Eagle cont'd on pg 3
Everything you wanted to know about "Finngate"/ pg 4
Ellis gets 90 days for his roll in LL kickbacks/ pg 1
Red Lake's newest author spotted in the Big Apple/ pg 8
AIM members conversation on Aquash murder/ pg 1
DFL accused of delaying ethics case against Finn/ pg 1
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People)
I
Fifty Cents
MIGA President Myron Ellis gets 90 days for
his roll in Leech Lake kickbacks
By Mel Rasmussen
Myron Ellis, Leech Lake tribal council member and head ofthe Minnesota
Indian Gaming Association, sat silently on the bench with a bowed
head. Ellis was waiting for U.S. District Court Judge James Rosenbaum
to pronounce sentencing on a one-
count misdemeanor.
Ellis was convicted of misapplying
funds and receiving $ 13,345 from State
Senator Harold "Skip" Finn. Finn, the
Leech Lake Band's attorney, illegally
obtained the money for Ellis by fraudulently billing the Leech Lake Band
through his insurance company, Reservation Risk Management, Inc.
Finn, who pleaded guilty to a similar misdemeanor charge last summer,
was scheduled to be sentenced earlier
this month but when he realized Judge
Rosenbaum was about to sentence him
to serve jail time he withdrew his
guilty plea. Now, Finn faces felony
charges from the U.S. Government.
Ellis stood in front of Judge
Rosenbaum and apologized to the
Leech Lake Band and admitted his
mistake. He said he was sorry for
accepting the funds.
Judge Rosenbaum acknowledged
this point and listened to the sentencing recommendations presented by
U.S. Attorney Mike Ward. Ward
recommended home detention for Ellis
due to his health problems.
Rosenbaum noted the request and
proceeded with the sentencing. He
stated: "I can't tell you how sad a case
like this makes me. Yourpeople needed
you and you let them down."
Rosenbaum went on to cite letters
of both support for Ellis and requests
for severe sentencing. However, one
letter especially bothered the judge. It
was from a tribal official and
Rosenbaum said of it, "I was troubled
by a communication stating that we
[tribal council] didn't think it was
wrong to have him take the money.'"
With this closing statement, Judge
Rosenbaum rejected the home confinement, saying it went against the
responsibility he has to the reservation. He sentenced Ellis to 90 days
confinement at the Federal Medical
Center Prison in Rochester, Minnesota; one year of probation, and a
$5,000 fine. In addition, he was ordered to reimburse the Leech Lake
Band for the stolen money which he
did right after the hearing.
When the court session ended Ellis
refused to speak to the media. His
attorney, Michael Colich, spoke for
his client. Kolich indicated that Ellis
would continue to answer all questions put to him concerning any investigation in progress, referring to that
of Skip Finn.
Colich further stated that Ellis will
continue to work in his official capacities. He had no intentions of resigning from either his position as a
tribal council member or as the head
ofthe Minnesota Indian Gaming Commission (MIGA). Colich pointed but
that just last month Ellis was voted
into office again at MIGA.
Ellis is expected to turn himself
over to federal authorities in the near
future to begin his jail term. Currently, he is free and was determined
to be a candidate for voluntary surrender within a ten day period.
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 19B8
Volume 6    Issue 38
March 17, 1995
J
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1995
Treaty rights litigation may hit $5 million by mid-1997
By Mary R. Sandok
ST. PAUL (AP) _ The costs of
litigating trt.ii ;■ rights cases brought
by the Mille Lacs and Fond du Lac
bands of Chippewa Indians may reach
$5 million by mid-1997, a state official
said Tuesday.
And that would not pay for
everything, including attorney fees
that a judge could award to Minnesota
and Wisconsin bands if they win.
Assistant Attorney General Scott
Strand outlined costs in a memo to
the state Department of Natural
Resources.
Lawmakers are being asked to
approve $ 1 million for treaty litigation
in the state's next two-year budget,
and are considering an additional
$808,000 for the DNR to survey
wildlife populations in connection
with the lawsuits.
The Mille Lacs band first
part of its case last summer, when a
federal judge ruled that the band
retained rights under an 1837 treaty
to hunt, fish and gather wild rice in a
broad section of east-central
Minnesota without state regulation.
The second part of the Mille Lacs
case _ in which a federal judge is to
decide how to divide the fish and
game in the treaty area between the
band and the state _ is scheduled for
trial next March. But Strand said that
trial could be delayed because six
Wisconsin bands of Chippewa are
seeking to join the case.
The first part of the Fond du Lac
case, which involves treaty rights
claims in northeastern Minnesota, is
expected to go to trial this fall, Strapd
said. s   ■
According to Strand's memo, if the
state loses both cases, the Mille Lacs
and Fond du Lac bands, along with
the Wisconsin bands if they are
allowed to intervene, could seek state
payment of their attorney fees.
"If they are 'prevailing plaintiffs,'
the bands may well recover all of their
attorney fees, at private firm rates
which greatly exceed attorney general
staff costs," Strand wrote.
The 1993 Legislature rejected a
proposal by state and band officials to
settle the Mille Lacs case out of court.
Photo by Mel Rasmussen
:?rt!">- *.Viih-fcki»-nie»v. afc-~ Francir fclake. in New York during a recent hook promo. ■
AIM members' recorded conversation
speculates on Aquash murder
Strong finish lifts Bagley past Redlake to 8A-1 title
By Jim Carrington
Sports Editor
Bemidji Pioneer
The Bagley Flyers returned to the
Section 8A tournament for the first
time since 1980 Saturday night, winning a classic battle from Redlake's
Warriors 77-70 before a standing
room only crowd at the BSU gymnasium.
Clearbrook-Gonvick took third
place over Park Rapids 61-53.
The loss ended Redlake's hopes or
repeating in the subsection, handing
the gallant Warriors their first loss after 23 straight victories. It was
Bagley's 22nd win in 25 games this
season.
The game was everything it was
billed up to be as two fine ball clubs
went at each other tooth and nail from
the start.
In the end, Bagley outscored
Redlake 8-2 in the closing two minutes of play to widen a one point lead
to seven.
There were expected heroics and
unexpected stars. Dan Fischer led the
By Shelley Davis
Nineteen years after the murder of
Anna Mae Aquash, a revealing conversation between two men may have
answered critical questions surrounding her death.
Aquash's body was found February
24, 1976, near Wanblee on the Pine
Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
The MicMac from Nova Scotia had
been a member of the American Indian Movement. She had been shot in
the back of the head at point blank
range.
A grand jury investigation was begun last summer in South Dakota to
resolve the case.
Bob Robideau, long-time AIM member, has been conducting his own in
vestigation of the murder. He confronted John Trudell, poet and former
AIM National Chairman, at Salt of
the Earth Books in Albuquerque, New
Mexico on December 3,1994. Trudell
was scheduled to read poetry from his
new book at the store.
Robideau claims he had obtained
information regarding the case from
Trudell's alleged long-time friend
Troylynn Yellow Wood, of Colorado.
Robideau alleges she told him of the
grand jury investigation taking place
in the summer of 1994'.
Robideau asked Trudell what he
had had to do with Aquash's death.
"I didn't have anything to do with
it," Trudell said in taped conversation. "Actually, I had nothing to do
with it, all right? And I was called and
told that she was taken away to a
protected area, that's all I know."
"Look in Rosebud [a South Dakota
Indian reservation]," said Trudell.
Robideau then asked Trudell who
ordered her murder and Trudell replied that he did not know because he
was not "there."
"Why did you have Frank Dillon (of
Colorado AIM) investigate Anna
Mae's death knowing that he was one
ofthe (expletive)... guys that killed
her?" Robideau asked. Dillon is also
known as Arlo Looking Cloud.
On October 2,1994, Robideau questioned Yellow Wood in front of witnesses. The conversation took place
after an AIM meeting and Robideau
alleges Yellow Wood told him Trudell
had had Dillon investigate Aquash's;
Aquash cont'd on pg 3
Finish contd on Pg 8   DFL.accused of delaying ethics case against Finn
Indian child's adoptive parents ask high
court for parental rights
BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Federal law
never said the rights of a South Dakota
tribe outweigh the rights of an
individual Indian boy adopted by a
Canyon County couple, the. boy's
attorneys contend.
They argued the case of Casey
Swenson before the Idaho Supreme
Court on Monday. Gov. Phil Batt
made a brief appearance in the court
before the hearing, saying he was a
friend ofthe Swenson family.
Casey was born in 1989 and placed
with Leland and Karla Swenson of
Nampa almost immediately after the
delivery. He is the natural son of Jeff
Not Help Him, a member ofthe Sioux
Tribe.
The natural mother, a white woman,
consented to terminate her parental
rights. Butwhenthe Swensons sought
to terminate Not Help Him's rights,
the tribe intervened.
The Swensons prevailed before 3rd
District Magistrate James Morfitt and
in district court, but the Idaho Supreme
Court overturned a decision allowing
the adoption without applying the
federal Indian Child Welfare Act
requirements.
Idaho Legal Aid Services attorney
Howard Belodoff, representing the
tribe, said that just because Not Help
Him had not shown any interest in his
son early on, the Sioux still started
the process of bringing Casey to the
fold.
Child cont'd on pg 8
Tribe gave up off-reservation rights, state says
State Sen. Dean Johnson accused a
DFL colleague Monday of foot-dragging to keep an ethics investigation
of DFL Sen. Harold (Skip) Finn from
being concluded before the Legislature adjourns in May.
"It appears to us now... that there's
some delaying tactics occurring," said
Johnson, the ER minority leader from
Willmar.
Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge, the
DFL chairwoman ofthe special subcommittee on ethics, said its investigation will continue, but she stopped
short of saying its work would be
wrapped up before May 22, the last
day of the session.
"It's intent that we'll keep moving,"
said Reichgott Junge, of New Hope.
No subcommittee meetings are sched
uled this week because of conflicts in
her schedule, she said.
Finn, from Cass Lake, is under investigation because of a complaint of
improper conduct filed against him by
Independent-Republicans.
He also is under investigation by the
U.S. Attorney's office, which is seeking an indictment against him, alleging that he submitted phony insurance
invoices to the Leech Lake Chippewa
Tribal Council. Finn was a partner in
an insurance company tha,t provided
coverage for the reservation and
handled its claims.
Finn, 46, withdrew a plea of guilty
to a misdemeanor charge in federal
court earlier this month, saying he is
innocent. He had pleaded guilty to
misapplying tribal funds through the
phone-invoice scheme.
After Finn withdrew his guilty plea,
federal prosecutors said they would
seek felony charges against him.
But as that case proceeds, a separate but related case is pending in the
Senate.
Last week, Reichgott Junge and another subcommittee member, Sen.
Dennis Fredrickson, IR-New Ulm,
met with U.S. Attorney David
Lillehaug to discuss how one case
might affect the other. Lillehaug said
Monday that he did not ask the Senate to delay its investigation pending
an outcome of the federal case. The
Senate is free to continue its investigation, he said.
[This article is reprinted from the
March 14, 1995, edition ofthe Minneapolis Star Tribune.]
By Richard Eggleston
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The state
asked a federal judge Tuesday to
dismiss the Menominee tribe's claim
to off-reservation hunting, fishing and
gathering rights across eastern and
central Wisconsin, saying the tribe
long ago gave up those rights.
A legal team headed by Assistant
Attorney General Charles D.
Hoornstra argued that the
Menominees   failed   to   retain
permanent off-reservation rights in
an 1831 treaty, and that temporary
rights they received were gone by the
time Wisconsin became a state in
1848.
The lawyers also argued that the
tribe had long ago given up aboriginal
fishing rights, or rights based on long
uninterrupted use, on Lake
Winnebago, Lake Michigan and
Green Bay.
"Between 1831 and 1848, all the
Menominees' Wisconsin interests
shrunk to zero," Hoornstra wrote in
64 pages of arguments to U. S. District
Judge Barbara B. Crabb of Madison.
He asked Crabb to dismiss a lawsuit
filed by the Menominees in January
that asks for recognition of off-
reservation rights on public lands
across a 9 million acre area of eastern
and southern Wisconsin ranging
roughly from Milwaukee to Marinette
to Stevens Point.
An 1854 treaty established the
Menominee reservation but revived
Rights cont'd on pg 8
Federal judge says bail conditions violated chairwoman's rights
Bureau oflndian Affairs Capt. Delmar
By John MacDonald
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ A federal
judge on Tuesday ordered the Turtle
Mountain tribal court to remove what
he said were illegal conditions on the
bail ofthe tribal chairwoman and two
council members.
Chairwoman Twila Martin
Kekahbah and tribal Councilmen
Gaillord Peltier and Matthew McLeod
posted bail a few hours later, said
Langan. They had been arrested
Monday after they refused to comply
with a restraining order to leave the
tribal headquarters and stop taking
part in tribal business.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Webb
of Fargo said requiring the three not
to engage in tribal business or enter
the tribal headquarters as part of their
bail condition violated their rights.
"Those political conditions violated
what we commonly refer to as the
Indian Bill of Rights," Webb said in
a phone interview from his office.
He said he asked _ then ordered _
the chief tribal judge, Richard
Frederick to remove the conditions.
Frederick did not immediately
return a phone call seeking comment.
A woman at his office said the judge
was not taking phone calls Tuesday
afternoon.
Frederick set bond Monday night
Bail cont'd on pg 6