The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-05-19

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Mille Lacs reservation community fails
EPA standards for drinking water
By Gary Blair
According to reports issued by the
Mille Lacs Public Works Office, the
resenation's Timber Hills community water system failed to meet the
United States Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water standards.
The violation notice reads: "This
community water system failed to comply with the federal drinking water
standards for coliform bacteria for the
month of November 1994. Recent
tests have shown the drinking water
contained coliform bacteria on the
dates shown above. Dates of positive
samples 11-1-94 and 11-7-94.
"The United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) sets drinking water standards and has determined that the presence of total colif-
orms is a possible health concern.
Total coliforms are common in the
environment and are generally not
harmful themselves. The presence of
these bacteria in drinking water, how
ever, generally is a result of problems
with water treatment or the pipes which
distribute the water, and indicates that
the water may be contaminated with
organisms that cause disease.
"Disease symptoms may include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, and possible
jaundice, and any associated headaches and fatigue. These symptoms,
however, are not just associated with
disease-causing organisms in drinking water, but also may be caused by a
Water cont'd on pg 3
Mille Lacs res. water fails EPA standards/ pg 1
Adoption advocates want to rewrite ICWA/ pg 3
Sovereign people, quasi-sovereign gov't/ pg 1
MAPP holds protest boycotting casino/ pg 1
Dan King elected to RL School Board/ pg 1
Voice of the Anishinabek (The People)
1
Sovereign people, quasi-sovereign government
By Jeff Armstrong
Led by tribal officials to whom
indigenous sovereignty is little more
than a bargaining chip with the state
or a legal device to dodge
accountability for their actions,
Anishinabe people in Minnesota are
often left to fight individually for
their collective rights. On the Leech
Lake Resenation, that burden has
fallen heavily on the LaRose family,
which is,currently fighting state
jurisdiction over parental rights in
four child protection complaints
initiated by employees of the
Resen'ation Business Committee.
Tim LaRose is also contesting a state
citation in Itasca County for gathering
wild rice on tribal waters without a
permit.
In Cass County Court May 9,
Roxanne and Tim LaRose found an
unlikely ally in Leech Lake Attorney
Anita Fineday. Tim LaRose had
argued that the court had no legal
standing to rule on the Child in Need
of Protection or Senices (CHIPS)
petitions, while his sister Roxanne
was prepared to challenge the RBC's
constitutional authority to intenene.
But Fineday's unexpected support of
a motion for dismissal due to lack of
subject matterjurisdiction preempted
any discussion of tribal government,
according to those present at the
closed-door hearing. "As soon as
[Attorney Ted] Lundrigan started
talking about the constitution and
where their authority lies, Anita
Fineday said that there was no reason
to get into that because she was
supporting the motion to dismiss, so
then they didn't get into it," said
Roxanne LaRose.
"Anita Fineday did a complete
turnaround. She was totally on our
side in saving that Leech Lake has
never given up any regulatory
jurisdiction," said LaRose. Fineday's
position further weakens the
legitimacy of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe's child custody agreement with
the state, making any future use of
county courts by resenation social
senice agencies problematic!
LaRose, however, expressed
suspicion of Leech Lake's motives in
the case. She asserted that the RBC
may be more interested in protecting
itself from any further investigation
into state senator Skip Finn's shady
reservation insurance corporation
People cont'd on pg 5
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 1988
Volume G    Issue 47
May 19, 1995
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News,  1995
MAPP holds protest boycotting casino
By Gary Blair
It was weather only befitting a duck
hunter, but that did not stop members
ofthe Mille Lacs Anishinabe People's
Part}' (MAPP) from staging another
protest on the Mille Lacs resenation.
About ten of the organization's
members held a protest Saturday, May
13, along state highway 169 in front of
the Grand Casino Mille Lacs. Some
dressed in rain gear and others
pounded a drum covered with plastic
as they marched. The group shouted
to drivers as they turned into the casino, "Hey! Don't go in there," as they
pointed to the signs the)7 were carrying.
For a time before the rally, the group
considered canceling the demonstration, but that was only until an owner of
a scanner told the group she'd heard the
police betting MAPP wouldn't march
because ofthe heavy rain.
The purpose of the protest was to
remind tribal administration, and specifically chairperson Marge Anderson, that MAPP won't just go away.
MAPP alleges that Anderson has been
violating band member's civil rights.
Members say they're not allowed to
hold meetings on the resenation and
other band members have been kicked
out of their homes for speaking out
against the abuse.
MAPP was formed because tribal
members' concerns have not been addressed by the administration who, they
say, run the resenation like a dictatorship. Among many concerns,
MAPP members are fed up with the
lack of financial accountability on the
resenation. They want to know where
all the money from the casinos is
really going. MAPP members are also
worried about what they say is a surprising lack of senices for children
and youth at Mille Lacs.
There were four police cars present
at the rally. One ofthe cars was from
the Mille Lacs Police Department,
another from the State Highway Patrol and two vehicles were from the
resenation's police department. One
of them was a K-9 unit that was driven
back and forth along the senice road
across from the casino.
Vincent Hill, a MAPP leader and
Mille Lacs band member told the
PRESS after the rally, "They have a
canine unit and yet the resenation
doesn't have any programs for their
youth. That really tells you what's
wrong at Mille Lacs."
The PRESS was told that even the
Catholic priest had been pressured
into keeping MAPP members from
parking in the church's lot located ,
next to the casino. MAPP members *
say they had made arrangements to
park at the church the week before.
The group then parked along the service road that's located across from
the front of the casino.
PRESS calls to resenation officials
this week were not answered or returned.
Lisa Tiger of the Muscogee Nation traveled to northern Minnesota to speak to students on disease prevention.
Here Tiger answers questions after a lecture at Red Lake Middle School.
Lisa Tiger addresses Red Lake students
Dan King elected to Red Lake School Board
Pemberton re-elected to 8th term
By Bill Lawrence
Three hundred and ninety-two or
approximately 15% ofthe eligible
voters turned out on Tuesday evening
on the Red Lake Resen'ation and
sleeted Dan King to the Red Lake
District #38 School Board. They also
re-elected Arnold "Shiekie"
Pemberton to his 8th term on the
board. This years election was relatively mild, despite the fact that a
growing number of Red Lake parents
are currently sending their children
to adjacent school districts under the
Minnesota Open Enrollment Law.
Those districts gaining Red Lake students are as follows: Bemidji 158 student, Blackduck 25 and Kelliher 26.
In addition, it has also been reported
that a number of Red Lake parents are
sending their children to boarding
schools in South Dakota.
The financial impact of losing so
many students in addition to past financial problems is reported to be
adversly affecting course offerings and
some senices in the Red Lake district.
Red Lake School District # 38,
which has an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students, is geographically comprised of the solid block of
the Red Lake Resenation located in
Beltrami and Cleanvater counties.
Results from last Tuesday's election
are as follows: Dan King 222 votes,
Arnold Pemberton 217, Ella Kingbird
132, Shirley M. Maxwell 64 and John
Wayne Dudley 54.
King and Pemberton were both
elected to 3 year terms of office.
By Julie Strong
Red Lake — Red Lake students
received inside information on the
prevention of AIDS and other Sexually
Transmitted Diseases Tuesday, from
nationally acclaimed speaker Lisa
Tiger. The program was sponsored
by the Red Lake Indian Eagles.
Tiger is from the Muscogee Nation
in Oklahoma, and has been traveling
nationwide to bring to life the risks of
AIDS to unaware pre-teens and teens
since 1992, when she tested positive
for HIV. Tiger, head cheerleader and
homecoming queen in her high school
day, was infected in a long term,
monogamous relationship in 1989.
"I know that if I vvould've heard a
story like this, I would have listen,"
explained Tiger.
When asked how she fares traveling
the nation alone for months at a time,
she answered, "I have a very large
phone bill." Later she added, "I have
a lot of friends at the different
resenations I've visited. But today is
especially hard, because it is the 5th
anniversary of my brother Chris's
death. Tiger's brother was murdered,
and her father died from an accident
when she was 2 years old.
Tiger stresses that everyone can
protect themselves from STDs by not
putting themselves at risk; but,
tragically, many of our young don't
realize that they too are at risk. It's
easy to hide behind the myth that "it"
can't happen to heterosexuals who
don't use IV drugs. Well Tiger is here
to tell students everywhere that it can,
and did; to her. She urges young
women not to allow peers to pressure
them into sex, or to lend themselves
to other's sexual desires in seeking
love and comfort. She adds, if you
want to have sex, know who you're
with and their history; they may have
AIDS and not know it, and protect
yourself by properly using
prophylactics.
Tribal official's "sovereign immunity' called
Lee Antell awarded Doctorate in Education   into court     Ho-Chunk case could set precedent
Lee Antell, a White Earth enrollee,
has been awarded a Doctorate in
Education (Ed, D.) degree from the
University of Minnesota, in
Minneapolis. Antell's major field is
educational administration with a
minor concentration in American
Indian Studies. Antell is currently
the Director of Affirmative Action for
the statewide Minnesota Community
College System, and on July 1, 1995
will   become   the   Director   of
Affirmative Action for the newly
created merged system of public
higher education entitled Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities
(MnSCU). The new system will be
comprised of all state universities,
community colleges and technical
colleges, with a total of 62 campuses.
Antell, his wife Susan and daughter
Jody are residents of New Brighton.
His other two children, Marcie 23,
and Rob 21 reside in Brainerd.
By George Thompson
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. - If an
unfavorable verdict is rendered in a
tribal official's previously denied
appeal for sovereign immunity from
a $100,000 civil suit, it may set
legal precedent.
Dallas White Wing, a Wisconsin
Winnebago legislator and Business
Committee member is being sued
for slander by former Rainbow Casino employee and tribal member
Nettie Kingsley.
The case stems from Ms.
Kingsley's termination from the
Nekoosa Casino on October 30,
1992. She had been employed as a
facility manager.
In a February 25, 1993 article in
the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Mr. White Wing was quoted
as saying that Ms. Kingsley had
Case cont'd on pg 3
Former Grand Casino employee files
discrimination charges
Proposal for juvenile correctional
justice system
By Gary Blair
A former Native American casino
employee has filed a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department ofHuman Rights (MDHR).
Albert Reum, of Onamia, Minnesota,
says the Grand Casino Management
Corporation of Plymouth, Minnesota,
discriminated against him because of
race and reprisal.
The MDHR formal complaint reads:
"I am a Native American male who
was employed by the above-named
Respondent from April 27, 1993, to
October 21, 1994, most recently as a
Suneillance Technician. My work
sites included the Respondent's Mille
Lacs and Hinckley locations.
"On October 22, 1994, I was notified that I had been terminated effective October 21, 1994. The stated
reason for my termination was that I
had not submitted to a background
check, and because of a breach of
confidentiality. The allegations made
against me are false.
"During my employment in the Surveillance Department, I was denied a
key to the monitor room. I was forced
to wait for others to open the door for
me. Similarly situated white employees were given keys to all rooms on
their first day of work.
"Also during the spring of 1994,1
made a complaint of sexual harassment regarding the behavior of Respondent Director Stephen Coleman.
After I made my complaint, Mr.
Coleman instructed others to watch
me closely and report any infraction.
Also after I filed the complaint against
Mr. Coleman, my hours were reduced.
"I believe my race and my complaint
against Mr. Coleman were factors in
the Respondent's actions. I was treated
differently in comparison to similarly
situated white employees, and I was
harassed and eventually terminated
after I made a complaint of sexual
harassment against Mr. Coleman."
Charge cont'd on pg 3
By George Hart
This nation is the leader ofthe free
world, but its rate of imprisonment is
ever increasing, without a commensurate improvement in public safety.
We have no coherent plan (beyond the
most costly options of imprisoning
earlier, lengthening sentences and
increasing incarceration rates) to remedy this situation.
Corrections is the fastest growing
sector of government employment.
Experience shows that as we imprison
some, others become our violent offenders. The huge expense of confining over a million of our fellow citizens has more certainly added to the
ominous projection of our national
debt (and the number of single parent
families), than to an expectation of
public safety. If there's a solution,
where will it be found?
The treatment of juvenile delinquents is the rotten apple in the barrel
of corrections.
Our juvenile correctional
system fails to correct, frequently harms, and often
impairs the futures of its
clients.
\ —'
This collection of courts, facilities
and agencies is hampered by limited
performance incentives, insufficient
resources and quick-fix attitudes.
Young people are our greatest resource. They are too valuable to cycle
heedlessly through this juvenile justice system. They aren't problems that
go away no matter how many times we
send them away. Our systematic disregard for children in trouble is a
national travesty.
By the principle of "in loco parentis"
courts have the legal and moral responsibility to do more than merely
punish delinquent youth. A caring
parent provides incentives for success
and models desirable behavior. But
we expand the courts' ability to punish
while we restrict their ability to care
for children with systematic obstructions and woeful political cruelty.
The result is the vast discrepancy
between the original hope and intent
of the juvenile court and what it all too
often offers-crowded dockets, perfunctory hearings, inadequate fund-
System cont'd on pg 8