The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-07-28

              Court rules state lacks authority to enforce
MN truancy laws
By Jeff Armstrong
Dismissing a Child in Need of
Protection or Services (CHIPS)
petition against the families of three
Leech Lake children, Cass County
District Judge Michael Haas ruled
that Minnesota courts have no
jurisdiction to impose state truancy
regulations on resenation youth.
The ruling is at least the third
dismissal for lack of subject matter
jurisdiction within the 9th Judicial
District in the past year. County
Attorneys in the district, however,
maintain that in the absence of a
ruling by a higher court they are not
bound by decisions denying their right
to enforce slate regulatory laws,
including trespassing, mandatory auto
insurance, and now child welfare
statutes on resenations.
Cass County Attorney Earl Maus
said he is still assessing the county's
options, which include appealing the
decision or negotiating with tribal
officials to cede the sovereign rights
of resen'ation members. "We're still
in the process of making our next
move," said Maus.
Although the prosecutor described
the scope of Haas' ruling as "narrow,"
he acknowledged the repurcussions
could be significant. "Obviously, if
the court is making a ruling based on
lack of jurisdiction, we have to
consider it. If there's going to be
further action by the tribe to address
this issue, I guess that's up to the
tribe," said Maus, adding that the
county will decide within the next
three weeks whether to challenge the
Rule cont'd on pg 3
Resident assaulted at sober house
By Gary Blair
According to a Minneapolis Police report dated July 19th, they responded to an assault complaint at
the Indian Neighborhood Club (a
sobriety house), located at 1805
Portland Avenue South in Minneapolis. The report reads as follows:
"Victim states he was assaulted
by the housing director at the location. The victim states he was repeatedly punched to the left temple,
and cheek by the suspect with his
fist, and then the suspect threw the
victim against his bed in the victim room, and the victim right
shoulder was dislocated as a result.
"The victim states the police were
called out, and did respond, and the
police told the suspect to take the
victim to the hospital for medical
attention, and the victim was taken
to HCMC where he was treated, and
released.
"The victim states he cooked
some dinner last night and left his
dirty dishes in the sink which is
possibly why he was assaulted."
Daniel Tapio told the PRESS on
Tuesday that Gregory LaFontaine,
the house director, came into his
room shortly after 5 A.M. and confronted him about the dirty pan and
dish he had left the night before.
"We started arguing," he said, "and
I told him I would wash them in the
morning. I don't normally leave
dirty dishes, but I was really tired
when I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. I
thought he was going to hit me, so
I moved my hand to block the punch
and I accidentally hit his arm and
that's when he started hitting me."
"The next thing I knew he threw
me against the bed and my arm was
dislocated at the shoulder. Then a
resident opened the bed door and
asked what was going on and that's
when he stopped. He looked scared
when he seen my arm," Tapio said.
Greg LaFontaine, told the PRESS
Wednesday evening, "He attacked
me first. He told me 'if I had my
baseball bat, I'd hit you with it.'"
LaFontaine says he's had trouble
with Tapio before. "He recently
threw some pool balls at one ofthe
residents," he said.
Jerry Stafford, former employee
of American Indian Senices Halfway House in Minneapolis, said he
has known Tapio from when he
used to stay at American Indian
Services. "He is no fighter,"
Stafford said.
Tapio said he filed an assault
charge against LaFontaine and has
moved out. "They (City Attorney)
told me they've had other complaints against him," he explained,
"but those people never followed
through. I know of another person
who was also beat-up by him."
LaFontaine says he hasn't reported
the incident to the organization's
board of directors vet.
Senate Bill on Indian gaming bill draws
support from tribal leaders
By Henry Stern
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A bill
designed to end disputes over Indian
casinos was endorsed Tuesday by
tribal officials who said they would
accept limits in order to presen'e their
growing gambling operations.
Tribal leaders told the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs that
gaming allows them to pull themselves
out of poverty with jobs as well as
funds to finance education and
housing.
The Senate bill, however, was
opposed by the nation's governors
who said it would force them to accept
gambling they might not want, and
limit their ability to negotiate
compacts with tribes.
Some governors urged
consideration of a House measure they
said maintains theirbargainingrights.
and places tougher restrictions on
Indian gambling operations.
Lawmakers are trying to make
changes to the Indian Gambling
Regulatory Act, the law that followed
a 1987 Supreme Court ruling that
tribes were not subject to state
gambling regulations.
Tribes often can't be touched in court
PRIORLAKE, Minn. (AP) _Donald
McKush's golf course was flooded
during construction at the nearby Mystic
Lake Casino. John Robertson's truck
was damaged when a casino parking lot
attendant dropped a traffic arm on it.
Both tried to get compensation. Both
got nothing.
Minnesota tribes that run some ofthe
well-known casinos typically invoke
their sovereign immunityfrom lawsuits
to avoid state and federal trials.
"We should have just given up," said
McKush, who operated Lone Pine Golf
Course near the Shakopee Dakota in
Prior Lake.
Donald and Betty7 McKush sued the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota
Community, seeking $25,000 for lost
income and hopingthat tribal immunity
wouldn't apply to damage of private
land. But it did. The couple decided not
to risk more money on an appeal.
Robertson, a former blackjack dealer
for Mystic Lake, said the traffic arm
caused $1,200 in damage. He filed a
complaint in Scott County small claims
court and prepared to argue his case
without a lawyer.
A couple of weeks before the trial
date, lawyers for the tribe sent him "a
packet of information that cited all of
these cases," Robertson said. "Every
Morrison passes on
By Gary Blair
Cheryl Ann Morrison, a 23-year
veteran with the Hennepin County
Probation Department, both juvenile
and adult divisions, died Tuesday of
cancer. Sunivors include: Father
Michael "Mike" Morrison; Brother
Gary Morrison; Sisters Jeanette Loud
and Roberta Morrison of
Minneapolis. She was proceeded in
death by her mother Cecelia
(Shabiash) Morrison and brother,
Steven Michael Morrison. Other
sunivors include: nieces and nephews
Toni, Jessica, Sara, Leah, grand
nephew, Artral, and many aunts,
uncles and cousins.
Cheryl was born in 1948 at St.
Luke's Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota
and later attended elementary and
high school in Minneapolis. She
graduated from the University of
Minnesota in 1972.
Mike Morrison said ofhis daughter,
"She was a fighter and was always
ready to face any challenge. She kept
her illness a secret until recent
months. In her never tiring efforts and
dedication, she specialized in
working with Native American
case was dismissed becauseof sovereign
immunity."
He appeared at the trial anyway. So
did an attorney for the tribe.
"The judge said, 'Did you get the
letter from (the tribe's attorney)?"
Robertson recalled. "I said I did. The
judge said, 'Well, then you know we
have no jurisdiction over this.' I got
beat up."
Other losers include gamblers who
blamed casinos for their injuries. State
courts have refused to hear several such
cases.
Judges sometimes advise plaintiffs to
Court cont'd on pg 3
youth," he added.
Funeral arrangements are by
Cremation Society of Minnesota.
Rev. Marlene WhiteRabbit, will
officiate the memorial service to be
held at 4 p.m. on Friday- July 28th,
at the All Nations Indian Church-
23rd St. and Bloomington Ave., So.,
Mpls. An additional memorial
senice will held on Saturday at 1:00
p.m., Sawyer Chapel, Sawyer, MN.
Interment, Sawyer Cemetary.
Senices will be conducted in both
traditional and Christian, with
Sawyer service conducted in
Christian worship only.
Winona LaDuke: Thunderbird Woman
By Susan M. Barbieri
Saint Paul Pionneer Press
WHITE   EARTH   INDIAN
RESERVATION, Minn. (AP) _ You
notice her cowboy boots first. In fact,
they are so startling that your eyes
keep drifting to them for another look.
Purple leather instep and toe. A wave
of w7hite. Bold turquoise around the
top. These are strident, in-your-face,
impossible-to-ignore boots. They suit
Winona LaDuke.
It is barely past breakfast hour and
the nationally known American
Indian.activist is working feverishly
y
at her kitchen sink, trying to get out
the door. She is up to her elbows in the
frozen whitefish she netted last winter
on Round Lake, which is visible from
her log house on northern Minnesota's
White Earth Indian Resen'ation.
"I'm having a serious craving for
smoked fish," LaDuke explains,
tossing filets into a stoneware crock.
She adds handfuls of salt and brown
sugar, then pours water over
everything. This is how the Ojibway
do it, she says.
She prepares fish the way she does
most things: with purpose. LaDuke,
35, is executive director ofthe White
Earth Land Recovery Project. The
Hanard graduate started the nonprofit
project seven years ago with a $20,000
grant and the goal of buying back _ or
persuading public and private
landowners to give back _ "stolen"
land within the resenation. The White
Earth Band of Ojibway today hold
about 60,000 acres of the 837,000-
acre resenation.
In addition to her duties with the
land recovery project, LaDuke works
for Seventh Generation Fund, a
nonprofit foundation focusing on
American Indian environmental
issues. She is also aGreenpeaceboard
LaDuke cont'd on pg 3
Court rules state can't enforce truancy laws/ pg 1
Resident assaulted at sober house/ pg 1
Trial date set for Mahnomen County deputy/ pg 3
1995 N.A. Indigenous Games schedule/ pg 6
Cherokee Court finds Bearpaw ineligible/ pg 8
Voice of the Anishinabek (The People)
1
The law left Indian casinos to be
regulated under compacts negotiated
between the states and each tribe.
The subsequent boom in Indian
gaming, nowan estimated $2.6 billion
annual industry, has prompted worries
from New Jersey and Nevada casinos
that the tribes are ripe for infiltration
by organized crime.
Those casinos and sponsors ol tfld
House bill, Rep. Robert Torricelli, D-
N.J., and Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-
N.Y., _ say mob influence could taint
the entire industry.
Bill cont'd on pg 3
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support  Equal  Opportunity  For All  People
Founded   in 1988
Volume 7    Issue 5
July 28,  1995
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews,  1995
Vern Robinson (center) enjoying a recent Pow wow in Ball Club, MN.
Photo by John Rainbird
From the office of Sen. Paul Wellstone
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator
Paul Wellstone has won major concessions in his hard-fought negotiations with the Senate Republican leadership to debate, amend and vote on
the rescissions package. Pending a
unanimous consent agreement by the
Senate, Sen. Wellstone is prepared to
move fonvard with debate and votes
to restore funding for the low-income
home energy assistance program
(LIHEAP) as well as job training and
education programs. With regard to
the third issue raised by Sen. Wellstone, a medicare counseling program
for seniors, the Clinton Administration has agreed to restore funding for
this vital program.
"I am extremely pleased that the
Administration has agreed to restore
funding for the medicare counseling
program for seniors and that the Republican leadership agreed to debate
and \ote on these two vital issues,"
Sen. Wellstone said. "It's critical that
we make the legislative process more
open and accountable to the people
we were elected to represent. That's
why I could not in good conscience
allow these drastic cuts in energy assistance, job training and consumer
protection counseling for seniors—
programs affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans and their families—without an opportunity to debate
and vote.
"I support responsible deficit reduction efforts. However, it is unconscionable to cut programs that help families avoid shut-offs while leaving intact corporate welfare for big oil companies," Sen. Wellstone concluded.
REPRQGRAM MEDICARE
COUNSELING PROGRAM
FUNDING
The agreement with the Administration and Republican leadership
would provide for restoration of $5.5
million (55 percent of overall funding) in the Insurance Counseling and
Assistance Program, established in
1990. This program provides seed
money for state-based insurance
counseling initiatives that are operating in all 50 states. It is designed
to protect elderly consumers from
being ripped off by unscrupulous insurers, by advising and counseling
them to ensure they receive only appropriate supplemental coverage. The
program is a model of effectiveness,
is a public-private partnership, has
trained over 10,000 volunteers nationwide, and is estimated to save
about $14 million annually in health
care costs for elderly Medicare beneficiaries. The program also would be
reprogrammed from other accounts
in which the Administration estimates there will be excess funding for
FY 1995.
Grand Rapids company says charges of
racism are unfair, untrue
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) _
The owners of a Grand Rapids
business say they had no opportunity
to respond before the state Department
of Human Rights alleged that their
company charged higher prices to
American Indians than whites.
Had Dwight and Merry Moody, the
owners of Range Water Conditioning,
been given an opportunity to respond
before Commissioner David Beaulieu
issued a press release, they say they
would have disputed the charges.
"I have not based business decisions
on race, period," Dwight Moody said.
"I'm not guilty and I want to be
vindicated."
The company's records and
interviews with many American
Indian clients support the Moodys'
contention that Indians pay the same
price as others, the Star Tribune of
Minneapolis reported Friday.
The newspaper said the charges of
racist business practices were
triggered by a former company
secretary who has said she stole from
the company and admits she has no
proof of overcharging.
About two years before quitting,
Jean Roquet told the Moodys that she
had taken $230 from the cash register,
the newspaper reported.
"I was in a financial bind and I
needed a little bit of money. I'm not
proud of it," Roquet said.
After leaving the company, Roquet
sent a letter to Stella Mitchell, an
American Indian customer of Range
Water's in Federal Dam. Included in
the letter was the name of a Tribal
Council attorney and a complaint form
from the Department of Human
Rights.
Mitchell, with the help of Tribal
Charges cont'd on 3
Experimental school closing after two years
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) _ An
experimental school funded by the
Duluth School District and the Fond
du Lac Indian community is shutting
down after two years of operation.
Bob Peacock, chairman ofthe Fond
du Lac Reservation Business
Committee, said there wasn't enough
money to keep the Spotted Eagle
Elementary School running.
"We put a lot of time into this
school, but I just couldn't see the light
at the end of the tunnel," Peacock
said.
"We kept hoping for a white knight
or something to come riding in, but
that just never happened."
Spotted Eagle was started to sene
Indian students in Duluth. About 100
children from kindergarten through
sixth grade attended the school.
Students now will have the option
of attending other Duluth elementary
schools or going to the Fond du Lac
I
Ojibwe School on the resen'ation.
Wanda Cummings, chair of the
school's governing board and the
mother of three Spotted Eagle
students, said she was disappointed
that the school was closing.
"I wonder if the people who made
this decision really know how this
affects our kids," she said.
Peacock and school district officials
said the students will have their needs
met at other schools.