The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-07-21

              COPE 1 rent scheme costly to Minneapolis
Indian Health Board tenants
By Bill Lawrence
In 1971, the Minneapolis Indian
Health Board (IHB) was organized as
a nonprofit corporation to provide
health care to Indian people. The
clinic has figured prominently in the
community and is recognized as the
leading health care provider for Indians in Minnesota. It currently has a
staff of approximately 50 employees
and in 1994 reported a budget of
nearlv $3.6 million. Most of its fund
ing is from government sources and
patient fees.
In 1983 and 1984, the building
which currently houses the IHB was
constructed at a cost of $765,000. In
1986, the kitchen was remodeled at a
cost of $4,000. During 1992, the roof
was repaired at a cost of $69,380, and
in early 1995 remodeling work was
done to the second floor at a cost of
$60,000.
In 1983, IHB Executive Director
Norine Smith and five others organized a company called COPE 1 as a
nonprofit corporation. The purported
purpose of COPE 1 was for "holding
title to property, collecting income
therefrom, and turning over the entire amount thereof, less expenses to,"
the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis. Sometime during 1983, the title
to the IHB building was transferred
to the COPE 1 holding company.
It is now clear from the IHB's audited financial statements for the years
1989-1994, and from documents re-
COPE1 cont'd on pg 3
COPE 1 rent scheme costly to Mpls IHB tenants/ pg 1
Earthstar expands to provide more services/ pg 1
Justice Still Elusive in Minnesota Courts/ pg 1
Former Bemidji teacher files discrim. complaint/ pg 1
The Indigenous Games Sacred Lance Run/ pg 1
Voice of the Anishinabek (The People)
I
Earthstar Project expands to provide
more services to St. Paul Elders
By Gary Blair
Earthstar Project, Inc., located at
1885 University Avenue in St. Paul,
is expanding its services to the East
Metro Native American communities.
The program's growth offers the community change and new direction
since the St. Paul Indian center closed
its doors over three years ago.
Earthstar Project Director Perry
Bolin says the organization's Elders'
Program Senices now include "Chore
Senices" that will employ Native
Americans to assist seniors with
housekeeping tasks. "The project is
to be funded by Ramsey Action Programs," he explained.
Another new component ofthe program involves "Health Care Access."
This element works with the Integrated Health Alliance, the American
Indian Health Clinic, Comfort Plus
Care, Inc. home health care and the
Metro Area Agency on Aging to develop strategies to deliver sensitive
health care which will be accepted by
the Elders and by providers who are
more culturally aware of American
Indian Elders special needs.
Bolin said the Health Care Access
program will employ a nurse who is
Native American who will conduct
Elder home visits. "We already have
someone in mind for that job." he
said. The Elders Program also provides transportation senices to con
gregate dining, shopping, medical
and dental appointments, prescriptions, food shelf and more.
Earlhstar's transportation was formally operated by the Department of
Indian Wdrks in St. Paul, MN. "The
plan was to have this senice more
centrally located," Bolin says.
Another of the proposed senices
has been the Elders' Lodge (a 43 unit
apartment complex), recently funded
for constniction by HUD. Bolin said,
"We're waiting for those funds to
move through the pipe line. At this
point we're interested in becoming a
good neighbor in that part of St. Paul.
We intend fortius much needed nous-
Project cont'd on pg 4
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support  Equal  Opportunity  For All  People
Founded   in 19BB
Volume 7    Issue 4
July 21,  1995
A weekly publication.
1
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews,  1995
Justice Still Elusive in Minnesota Courts
By Jeff Armstrong
Two years after the Minnesota
Supreme Court completed a
comprehensive study of racism at all
levels of its legal system, the state has
made limited progress in earning out
its recommendations.
The May 1993 report of the Task
Force on Racial Bias found that Native
people in Minnesota are 10 times
more likely than whites to have their
children removed from the home, and
more than four times less likely to be
released from police custody without
bail. 42% of non-white juveniles
suneved said thev were "treated in a
rough or violent manner by the
arresting officer." while 25% of
Caucasian minors complained of such
treatment, according to the report.
More than one in five minority race
juveniles said they were subjected to
derogatory racial comments while in
custody.
Although the Task Force urged
sweeping changes and established
committees to implement them in
Minnesota's ten judicial districts,
many of its recommendations have
been stalled, if not abandoned
altogether. "Frankly, I think it's gone
slow," said Anishinabe attornej
Shirley Cain, a member of the 9th
District Implementation Committee.
The 9th District is made up of 17
counties extending into most of the
Leech Lake, Red Lake and White
Earth resenations.
Implementation coordinator and
Supreme Court Justice Alan Page
acknowledged last year that progress
has been more modest than some
expected. "We all know that the effort
to assure that all Minnesotans are
treated fairly in the courts is not a
sprint—it's a marathon." said Page
at an Oct. 21, 1994 employment
conference in Bloomington.
"'However, we have made a significant
start."' Page enumerated the first year
Courts cont'd on pg 6
Former Bemidji teacher files
discrimination complaint against district
Tom Barrett, Red Lake (left) and Eugene Standing Cloud, Red Lake (right), on their way to NAI Games.
The Indigenous Games Sacred Lance Run
By Gary Blair
A former Bemidji High School
teacher of 29 years has filed a discrimination complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights
against the Bemidji School District.
In his complaint, filed July 21,
1995, Donald Lee Barcenas alleges
discrimination based on national origin, reprisal and age. The charge
reads as follows: "I am a fifty-six year
old Hispanic male who worked as a
teacher for above named Respondent
from August of 1962 until January of
1992 when I began a leave of absence.
During my employment I had become
identified as an advocate for Native
Americans. My work site at the lime
I began my leave of absence was Bemidji Senior High School.
"On Januan 24, 1992, I requested
a leave of absence from the Respondent so I could teach at Mount Sinai
School (now known as Four Winds).
I was granted a leave from February
3, 1992 to June 5, 1992. I indicated
that I would return to Bemidji in June
of 1992 if my leave was not granted.
On April 20, 1992 the School Board
and School Superintendent, Wayne
Haugen, voted to grant me the leave
for up to five years. There were five
conditions stated including one which
provided that the board would not be
obligated to reinstate me if I accept a
teaching position in another school
district. I was concerned.
"School Board members, such as
Joe Day and Edith Harrington, told
me not to worry about that condition
and stated that I should notify the
Board of Education of my intent to
return. In Januan of 1993 I wrote a
letter to the Respondent indicating
that I wished to return the following
school year. The Director of Personnel, Jerry Abbott, informed me that
Complaint cont'd on pg 8
By Anne M. Dunn
It's the first time the North
American Indigenous Games (NAIG)
will be held in the United States and
Minnesota has been chosen as the
host state.
Two thousand Native American
athletes participated in the first games
held in Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan hosted
5,000 participants in 1993.Thisyear's
NAIG committee expects 8,000
athletes for the nine-day event, July
29 to August 6.
The games consist of 17 sport
competitions and a cultural festival
featuring performances, activities and
displays representing over 400
indigenous nations.
Two sacred runs will arrive in
Blaine, Minnesota as part of the
opening ceremonies. The Sacred
Lance Run came from Prince Albert
into the United States through North
Portal, North Dakota, July 2. The
Sacred Bundle Run started at the Big
Horn Mountains in Wyoming on July
8 and crosses through South Dakota
into Minnesota. The Big Foot Riders
will ride from Mankato to Blaine.
Indigenous runners from Canada
have already carried the sacred lance
over 4,000 miles.
Life-long runner Pete Neadeau, 40,
Red Lake, was asked by NAIG
chairman Keith Lussier to sene as
lance keeper and has been with the
run since it left North Portal, North
Dakota.
Pete's brother Roger Neadeau, 48,
also began running at the Canadian
border and plans to run to Blaine.
Single mother and former Marine,
Annette Humphrey, 28, Leech Lake,
was at North Portal when the lance
was brought into the US. "I saw the
young runners holding the lance...
touching it to their faces. They carried
the lance for six weeks. I saw them
crying as they were left at the border."
Games cont'd on pg 6
Despite rejection, track casino still sought Confederacy of Indian groups calls for
Great Lakes cleanup
By Richard Eggleston
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ An
opponent of a plan to create an Indian
casino at a struggling Hudson dog
track says business people who backed
the tracks "gambled and lost."
But the three Chippewa bands and
owners of the St. Croix Meadows
track trying to gain governmental
approval of the plan say they're not
yet giving up on the proposal.
Nancy Bieraugel, a Hudson
businesswoman who organized a
petition drive against the St. Croix
casino, praised a decision by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs to deny the
placement of track land in trust.
Tribes can only run casinos on their
resenations or land put in trust under
the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory7
Act.
In denying the land trust last week,
BIA officials cited the opposition of
local officials and the nearby St. Croix
Chippewa band to the proposed
casino.
"They gambled and lost," Bieraugel
said. "As a businessperson, I feel bad
for anyone who makes a poor
investment, but that's what it was."
Bieraugel said she hoped the BIA's
decision set a precedent.
"Casino gambling is devastating to
a community and costly to society,"
she said. "Maybe this will spare other
littlecommunities from going through
what we went through."
The track owners and tribes blame
the BIA's decision on wealthy
Wisconsin and Minnesota tribes that
don't want competition in Hudson,
spokesman Mark Goff said.
He said their lobbyists "ran
roughshod" over Interior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt. "It was greed
triumphing over need," Goff said.
But Bieraugel said she believed the
proposed track casino would have
been unsuccessful without the BIA
ruling.
"I don't think people are that
interested in dog racing," she said.
Tom Diehl, the owner of another
Track cont'd on pg 6
Hope for better housing one year after Carter visit
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. (AP) _ The
30 homes that former President Jimmy
Carter helped build last year on the
Cheyenne River Indian Resenation
have kept alive the dream of better
housing.
"Sometimes even now, I come out
on the porch and shake my head,"
said Jessie Garcia, who moved his
family into one of the Habitat For
Humanity homes.
"You go from nothing to your own
place," Garcia said. "Hard to believe,
hard to get over, you know?"
But while the building project last
July offered hope, the project did not
solve the shortage of houses on the
resenation. Tribal officials said 257
families continue to wait for homes.
And the situation is no better on
other reservations, said Delbert
Brewer, Aberdeen area director ofthe
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
At a legislative committee meeting
last Wednesday, Brewer said more
Indian families are moving from cities
back to resenations, at the same time
the federal BIA is trying to reduce
funding.
On the Pine Ridge Resenation,
2,500 families are waiting for home,
Brewer said.
"They (resenations) need housing,
they need jobs, they need health care,"
Brewer said. "The demand is increasing, the senices are decreasing, that's
the dilemma we face."
Led by Carter, about 1,500
volunteers converged on Eagle Butte
for one week of construction last July.
The eventual owners were among the
home builders.
While some of the homes show signs
of a year's wear, for the most part, the
area looks about like it should for a
place that was empty7 13 months ago.
Alice Miller, a North Carolina
resident who's been in Eagle Butte as
a project coordinator since 1993, said
some work remains to be done at the
site.
She will soon be leaving Eagle Butte
Hope cont'd on pg 6
By Ken Guggenheim
UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ A
confederacy of six American Indian
nations presented the United Nations
on Tuesday with a $700 million plan
to clean up pollution in the eastern
Great Lakes region.
The proposal by the
Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Six
Nations Confederacy, calls for money
for education, research, monitoring
and other purposes. It hopes to get
funding from U.N. agencies and the
private sector.
The plan was presented at a meeting
hosted by the U.N. Environment
Program as a follow-up to the 1992
U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
That conference had called for
indigenous groups to take a leading
role in protecting the environment.
Environmentalists say pollution
around the Great Lakes _ Lake
Superior, Lake Huron, Lake
Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario
_has harmedfish, livestockand crops.
In March, the Environmental
Protection Agency announced a plan
giving states in the region two years
to adopt plans to limit 22 toxic
pollutants, including mercury, PCBs,
DDT and dioxin.
Many ofthe confederacy's proposals
involve setting up an infrastructure
for dealing with environmental
problems instead of specific cleanup
projects.
They include a $350 million Center
of Excellence for Environmental
Research and Education on Lake
Onondaga in New York State.
At a U.N. news conference, Chief
Oren Lyons, faithkeeper of the
Onondaga Nation, warned that
pollution was endangering future
generations.
"They're not going to sunive
without clean water, they're not going
to sunive by cutting all their trees,
they're not goingtosuniveby fishing
the oceans dry. And that is in fact
what's happening right now," he said.
The confederacy is seeking funding
at a time that the United Nations is
struggling with financial difficulties
and the Republican-led U. S. Congress
is trying to cut spending and ease
environmental regulations.
The Haudenosaunee comprises the
Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca,
Caj-uga and Tuscarora Indian nations.
Arizona Senator urging faster federal
recognition of tribes
PHOENIX (AP) _ Federal
recognition of Indian tribes is
"intolerably slow," Sen. John McCain
said in urging legislation to speed the
process.
"There is general agreement that
the process, as it presently exists, is
unsatisfactory," the chairman of the
Senate Indian Affairs Committee said
during a  hearing Thursday  in
Washington, The Arizona Republic
reported.
McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced a
bill to accelerate the process by
establishing deadlines for deciding
cases and by creating a commission
devoted solely to the recognition
process.
Interior Department officials told
the committee that they are reviewing
recognition criteria.
"We are committed to doing some
fresh thinking here," said Ivjichael
Anderson, deputy assistant secretary
for Indian affairs.
"Federal recognition is the
necessary precondition for the
fulfillment of the United States'
Tribes cont'd on pg 3