The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-06-02

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FBIseeksformerHennepinCo.detoxclients
By Gary Blair
The FBI continues to probe the alleged client abuse that closed the old
Hennepin County Detoxification Center more than two years ago. Agents
have recently contacted community
members who were involved in exposing the abuse. Agents are seeking
assistance in locating possible additional victims.
Former detox center clients who believe they were abused are being asked
to contact federal authorities in Minneapolis as soon as possible. FBI
agents say they're interested in talking with individuals who were clients
at the old detox within the past five
years.
Information attained by the PRESS
indicates state health officials who did
the initial investigation crossed out
the patients names on the abuse reports. However, copies of those documents had been taken out of the old
detox center earlier by a former staff
member and the file number and
client's name can still be cross referenced.
In September of 1993, allegations
of client abuse surfaced at the old
county detox center. Until that time
the abuse allegations had been cov-
ered-up by so called leaders in the
Indian community and by other authorities, including Hennepin County
officials.
Within weeks the State of
Minnesota's Department of Health
and Human Services launched an investigation and by November, 1993,
had entered into an agreement with
the county that closed the old facility
once dubbed, "the chamber of horrors."
After the state concluded their investigation, that information was subsequently turned over to the U.S.
Attorney's office in Minneapolis for
additional probing.
Mike Tripple ofthe State's Department of Heath Facilities Complaints
told the PRESS at that time, "We felt
that there had been abuse."
FBI seeks former Hennepin Co. detox clients/ pg 1
Deer deflects Shakopee enrollment require./ pg 1
Canadian band votes out tribal council/ pg 1
Warroad Pow Wow set for this weekend/ pg 8
Pow Wow trail/ page 8
Voice of the Anishinabek (The People)
1
Fifty Cents
Deer deflects Shakopee plan to loosen
enrollment requirements
By David Melmer
Washington _ The BIA has hit the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community ofMinnesota with a major
blow to its proposed membership
enrollment changes.
An enrollment ordinance approved
by community's general council has
been rescinded by the BIA and the
Department of Interior on both
substantive and procedural grounds.
A group of constitutionally qualified
members who are listed in lawsuits
against the BIA, the Department of
the Interior and the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community
were in a clebratory mood following
the BIA decision.
The critics contend the purpose of
the amended enrollment ordinance
and a proposed constitution
amendment is to "grandfather in"
more than 200 adults and children
who are not qualified descendants of
the Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux
peoples who resided on the land on
May 20, 1886, as required by the
tribe's current constitution.
In the opinion, Ada Deer, assistant
secretarv7 for Indian Affairs, stated in
a letter to the Minneapolis area BIA
director: "We believe that the
enrollment ordinance violates the
tribal courtjurisdiction ordinance and
we, therefore, cannot approve the
ordinance   if  resubmitted,   nor
recommend approval if later appealed
to the Secretary."
The proposed ordinance defied the
community's constitution as well as
an ordinance establishing a judicial
system, according to the BIA.
Changes in the enrollment
ordinance which were voted on by the
general council December 28, 1994,
would have made membership
decisions by the council final, and
further stated, "No appeal shall lie to
any judicial, executive or legislative
body."
The BIA contends the new language
attempted to change the jurisdiction
of the tribal court without properly
Deer cont'd on pg 3
ujibwi
News
We Support Equal  Opportunity  For All  People'
Founded   in 19B8
Volume G    Issue 49
June 2,  1995
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News,   1995
Canadian band votes out tribal council
Not tribal members, they say
Middlebro, Manitoba—On Saturday, May 27, 1995, a majority ofthe
band members of the Buffalo Point
First Nation met at the Middlebro
Community Hall in Middlebro,
Manitoba to end the longest rule of a
First Nation by a white family in Canadian history. Indeed, the situation
may be unique in North America.
Members ofthe Buffalo Point Nation
traveled long distances in some cases
to end not only an injustice by a scandal.
For more than forty years, a non-
aboriginal man, James Thunder (who
was born a white U.S. citizen James
Erwin Conover) and his family have
ruled the Buffalo Point reserve without its Anishinaabe members ever
having been able to review their leadership. Large parts of the best Buffalo Point reserve lands have been
granted to non-aboriginal people in
the form of long term leases. No one
knows where the money from these
leases has gone. The Ojibway people
of Buffalo Point have never had even
a say in these decisions.
Ojibway people from Buffalo Point
have never been able to determine
how James Thunder (Conover) assumed power as Chief of the Buffalo
Point reserve. James Thunder himself
was actually born in 1930 to Fred
Conover and his wife, Sarah Clement, both of whom were Americans
and lived in Warroad, Minnesota at
the time. He as named James Erwin
Conover by his parents. His parents
subsequently divorced and his father.
Fred Conover, moved to the western
United States with James' sister.
When James was almost five years
old, his mother married Tom Thunder, a member of the Buffalo Point
First Nation. Given the fact that his
father, Fred Conover, continued to
be his father, Ojibway people from
Buffalo Point have no way of explaining how he became a member
ofthe band let alone chief.
' For years now, Ojibway people of
the Buffalo Point Band have been petitioning Indian and Northern Affairs
Canada to take action on this situation. The department has refused to
act. As Elder Charles "Sam" Gibbons, who lives at Windigo Island,
Ontario, out in the Lake ofthe Woods
notes: "It is hard for the Ojibway
people of the Buffalo Point Band to
deal with this situation on our own.
History has not been kind to us. In
the early part of the century, a lot of
Buffalo Point reserve land was flooded
when a dam was built at Kenora.
Ontario. Village sites on the reserve
were flooded. At this time, our people
were also coping with a lot of sickness. As well, our children were
forced to go to school off of the reserve. Often, parents went to live near
them during the school year and look
for alternative forms of work. Fish and
game in the region were seriously
depleted  during  this time and
Point cont'd on pg 5
Pine Point Reunion draws crowd of 300+
~H*>*#
Ray Winters, (center) LCO tribal member, traveled a longdistance to enjoy Leech Lake's Veterans Memorial/
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig Pow Wow held on May 26-28,1995. Photo by John Rainbird
Health care could be curtailed by cuts
"To assure tribes that the agency
has the ability to make tribal shares
readily available to both compacting
and contracting tribes, it may be
prudent to delay entering new
compacts," Mr. Lincoln explained to
members ofthe Senate Indian Affairs
Committee.
In effect, there may be no nevv self-
governance agreements with Indian
By Gary Blair
The small Pine Point community
of Ponsford, Minnesota, celebrated
its "All Class and Family Reunion"
on Saturday, May 27. More than 300
people showed-up at the former government school to eat, reminisce, enjoy the music of a small band and to
pay respect to the community's veterans. The reunion was organized by a
group known as the Circle of Peace.
Albert Basswood Sr., 92, the
community's oldest resident, attended
the party accompanied by his 88 year
old wife Anna. Mrs. Basswood, who
still works part time, also helped organize this year's event.
John Buckanaga, another organizer,
explained that the Circle of Peace
group is made up of members from
the different community churches.
"We do volunteer work such as painting buildings. We're trying to develop
some future leadership," he explained.
Bernard Rock from Cass Lake, Minnesota, also attended the reunion. He
performed a traditional pipe ceremony
at the Catholic cemetery. The decorated Korean War veteran told a group
of youngsters and their parents the
reason for the ceremony and what he
remembered about Memorial Day
when he was young.
"Before the whilcman came there
were no guns like they shoot now on
Memorial Day," Rock said. " We did
pipe ceremonies to honor our loved
ones who had passed away. When I
By Bunty Anquoe
Washington — The Indian Health
Service may call for a year-long
moratorium on new tribal self-
governance agreements.
Michel Lincoln, IHS deputy
director, told a senate panel that the
health agency "must carefully
consider the impact of adding 30 new
tribes under the demonstration
came here today I had a hard time to
remember where my dad is buried."
He continued, "When I was grow-
ing-up people used to come to the
cemetery on Memorial Day and they'd
S^±fe£SS Dakota river land
authority in the coming fiscal year."
He said the agency is taking steps to
downsize in order to free up resources
to transfer to tribes, but the rate of
compacting and contracting is
outpacing their reorganization efforts.
The IHS has an assessment study
on the progress and status of the
agency's self-governance
demonstration project underway,
according to IHS spokesman Kenneth
Bricker.
Health cont'd on pg 3
Pressler files bill to block return of South
us to find. We knew who our relatives
and loved ones were and where they
were buried. Today people don't do
that anymore. We don't know who
our relatives are."
Rock sat with his back against the
cemetery flag pole as he spoke. Having taken off his shoes before he
started the pipe ceremony, he explained, "I've taken my shoes off just
like the people who are here."
Reunion cont'd on pg 3
Breakaway tribal council sets new general
election date
BELCOURT, N.D. (AP) _ Tribal
members who formed their own
government have scheduled a new
July 11 general election on the Turtle
Mountain reservation.
Six councilmen who were recalled
from their regular tribal council seats
in April arc in a power struggle with
Chairwoman Twila Martin Kekahbah
and consider their recall invalid.
In defiance of Kekahbah's
administration, the six set up and
held their own recall election last
week to remove Kekahbah and her
two supporters on the tribal council _
Mall McLeod and Gaillord Peltier.
Kekahbah and her supporters largely
boycotted the election and branded it
illegal.
Kekahbah said Friday that under
the tribe's constitution a new general
election can not be held. Like
Tuesday's recall election, she said
\
she will not recognize one if it is held.
"They can hold 1,000 elections,"
Kekahbah said. "I'm not giving them
any credence at all. If they've got that
type of time to basically continue to
create havoc, that's their prerogative.
I'm just not going to acknowledge the
process they're trying to use. That
process is not allowable under our
constitution.
"I'm not going to acknow ledge what
they're doing outside our constitution
as legitimate, because in doing so I'm
giving them credibility they don't
deserve."
Kekahbah, McLeod and Peltier have
continued to work in the tribal offices
since Tuesday.
The breakaway council _ Carris
LaRocque, Raphael DeCoteau, Doug
Delorme, Bruce Morin, Lee Gourneau
and Melvin Lenoir _ were out of town
Friday and could not be reached for
comment.
Kekahbah said she is planning to
file conspiracy charges against the
six next week in tribal court, because
she said they are trying to undermine
the tribe's government.
She is also planning to file charges
against Ray Parisien, a Bureau of
Indian Affairs educator who is
assistant principal at the elementary
school in Belcourt.
Parisien, who finished second to
Kekahbah in the November general
election, filed an injunction in tribal
court in January to stop Kekahbah
from paying consulting fees to herself
and other newly elected members of
the tribal council.
"I don't see anyone conspiring,"
Parisien said Friday. "Everything has
been out in the open.
"When your back's up against the
wall, you're going to come out
swinging. That's the situation she
(Kekahbah) is in right now."
By Philip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Larry
Pressler introduced a bill Friday to
block Indian tribes from regaining
land the Army Corps of Engineers
took for the Missouri River reservoirs
in South Dakota.
The Corps of Engineers has
proposed returning 15,000 acres of
land along Lake Oahe i n North Dakota
and South Dakota to the Standing
Rock Sioux.
Pressler's bill would bar the return
of the 8,000 acres in South Dakota
and also preclude the transfer of other
Corps of Engineers land downstream.
Four South Dakota reservations,
including Standing Rock, are adjacent
to the river.
Critics of the Standing Rock deal
are concerned it could lead to the
return of additional land to other
reservations.
The state would lose control of
hunting and fishing on any lands that
are turned over to tribes.
"Future land transfers could take
place throughout the country that are
not in the public interest. All citizens
_ Native American and non-Native
American _ should have the
opportunity to have a fair chance to
determine how public land is to be
used and administered," said Pressler,
R-S.D.
Sen. Tom Daschle, the Senate
Democratic leader, has taken a more
conciliatory approach. He said he is
trying to seek a consensus on the issue
before introducing a bill. He held a
public hearing in Mobridge last
month.
The Corps of Engineers is currently
taking public comment on its plan to
return the Standing Rock land and an
additional 21,000 acres in North
Dakota to the Fort Berthold
Reservation.
So far the comment has been
overwhelmingly opposed to returning
the land, said Mike George, a Corps
official in Omaha, Neb.
The comment period ends July 9.
Unless Congress intervenes, the
secretarv7 ofthe Army will then decide
whether to return the land.
State accused of breaking trust with tribes
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) _ A plan
to cut state grants for about 1,000
Indian students in Wisconsin is a
betrayal of trust that will mean fewer
Indian students on university and
technical college campuses, tribal
educators say.
The Legislature's Joint Finance
Committee has recommended that the
state's $ 1.3 million Indian scholarship
program be cut in half, with maximum
grants reducedfrom$2,200to$l,100
a year.
The cuts were recommended
because the Legislature must trim
Gov. Tommy G. Thompson's budget
to balance spending with revenues,
said Sen. Robert Cowies, a member of
the Joint Finance Committee.
"There's a lot of pain in this budget,"
said Cowies, R-Green Bay. "We've
had to make cuts all over the place.
No one was singled out."
Bernadine Vigue, American Indian
student adviser at the University of
Wisconsin-Green Bay, said the cuts
would "hurt our students because
they're struggling now."
"A college education is going to
become available for only the elite,"
Vigue said.
Most of UW-Green Bay's 85 Indian
students get grant assistance, she said.
"If you take that away, I don't know
where they're going to receive
assistance," said Charlie Hornett.
minority student counselor at
Northeast Wisconsin Technical
College.
Ever>7 one of his school's 60 full-
time Indian students receives a grant,
Hornett said. Some students might
apply for more loans, but low-income
students are reluctant to borrow
heavily, he said.
The grants, established in the early
1970s, satisfy the state's legal
obligation to provide higher education
to Indians inexchange for lands ceded
to the University of Wisconsin, said
Frank Barber, a financial aid advisor
at UW-Madison.
Tribes could make up the difference
in state funding, Cowies said.
But Barber said not all tribes are
awash in gambling profits.
"The less affluent tribes are going
to take it on the chin," he said.