The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-08-18

              Heart of the Earth Survival School
undergoes staff, administration shakeup
By Gary Blair
The Heart of the Earth Survival
School (HOTESS), a Native American alternative school in Minneapolis, recently advertised for nine teaching positions in the Minneapolis Star
Tribune, jobs that were formerly held
by Native Americans. Although the
school normally advertises all its
openings each year in the Star Tribune and the Circle newspaper, this
time only the nine teaching positions
were advertised.
As a rule, all ofthe teachers are laid-
off at the end of each school term and
then rehired in the fall. It was the
change in this year's advertising routine and information from a colleague
that alerted the group their teaching
contracts weren't going to be renewed.
Despite the fear of speaking out, a
reality in the Indian community, the
PRESS obtained information about
what has recently occurred at the
school. Sources say the police were
called by the school's newest director, Tim Woodhot, during an argu
ment with an Indian staff member that
he had just fired. The former female
employee is said to have knocked his
phone of the desk in the heated exchange.
. The school's non-Indian computer
teacher was given two days off without pay for a similar incident involving a heated discussion with Woodhot.
Additional information revealed the
school's former director, Rick Powers, resigned when he learned that he
would have to take a $5,000 per year
cut in pay if he stayed and that's when
Woodhot was hired.
One ofthe teachers who believes she
won't be called back, told the PRESS
on Wednesday she thinks the recent
layoffs are motivated by revenge, financial mismanagement and dysfunction that's out of control.
"In the early 1970's I was fired and
hired three times in one year. I thought
they'd grown up some since then," she
said. "Clyde Bellecourt and Bill
Means [board members] are the main
ones on the personnel committee and
I believe Means is being pressured by
Clyde to fire people."
Other reports say the school's bookkeeper has recently quit after a verbal
altercation with the new director.
Another teacher told the PRESS on
Wednesday, "At the start of each
school year all of the program directors are responsible for their own budgets, and every year there's money
missing from those accounts. Anyone who complains too much about
the missing funds has been pressured
into resigning and this has been occurring for years."
A former staff member says the
school has potential and is needed in
the community but it has been held
back by Clyde Bellecourt. "He doesn't
want anything to change. The school
has been a moneymaker for him. He
can't get a job anyplace else that pays
him the kind of money the school
brings in," the staff member explained. Bellecourt, who has no education beyond high school, was able
to get involved with HOTESS because
of his membership in the American
Indian Movement.
HOTESS cont'd on pg 3
HOTESS undergoes staff, admin, shakeup/ pg 1
Native artists, dancers and drummers sought/ pg 5
Reflections from Wub-e-ke-niew/ pg 5
Senate calls for cuts in Indian assistance/ pg 6
Native Amer. students learn casino mgmnt./ pg 8
Voice of the Anishinabek (The People)
1
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support: Equal Opportunity For All  People
Feud averted between largest Leech Lake
f am III SeS        Two men were questioned, but no criminal charges were filed
Founded  in 1988
Volume 7   Issue 8
August 18, 1995
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News,  1995j
By Jeff Armstrong
Despite persistent rumors to the
contrary, the apparent execution-style
assault on Mike LaRose and Pete
Jones August 13, did not escalate into
violent confrontation between families
of the victims and the alleged
assailants.
According to witnesses and
neighbors, LaRose and Jones were
clubbed and shot at by members of a
group of four to six men who
reportedly stormed at least three
resenation homes in their search for
the men. "You could hear them
screaming and see them beating on
them. They were sitting there clubbing
them," said a woman requesting
anonymity. "Then I saw a flash and
heard a boom, and I thought it was
them breaking another lightbulb, and
then someone said 'they've been
shot,'" she said. "I heard the name
Reno mentioned, and that 'I think
he's dead,' and then they took off
running up the street. The next thing
I knew, the cops were here, I mean
they were right here."
Arriving on the scene was Cass Lake
Police Chief Chuck Vikre, who seems
to have led the investigation, despite
the fact that none of the several
incidents that night occurred within
city jurisdiction. Vikre could not be
reached for comment.
Bert Headbird and Bill Croaker were
arrested in connection with the attack
several hours later, but no criminal
charges were filed as of August 16,
contributing to speculation that the
incident had some kind of official
sanction. Croaker was released from
custody without bai 1 for an unspecified
medical condition, while Headbird
was held in Cass County jail for a
probation violation.
"The only people benefitting from
this arc the RBC and the cops," said
Roxanne LaRose, community activist
and mother of Mike LaRose. "They
Fued cont'd on pg 3
Women's Peace Train makes first stop
in St Petersburg, Russia
By Heather Cummings
Heather Cummings, from Orono,
Minn., is on the Peace Train as it
makes its way to the United Nations
World Conference on Women in
Beijing, China. This is her second
installment of her experiences on the
trip.
Bustling around their "homes,"
6x6x10 foot compartments of four
people, the women ofthe Peace Train
felt the collective spirit of 250 women
from 42 countries Monday as they left
their first stop in St. Petersburg. The
next 14 hours on their way to Kiev
would be an opportunity to process all
that they had seen in Russia.
Russian women had prepared three
workshops for the passengers—disar
mament and the Chechnyan War,
Peristroika and women's role in Russia, and women and
entrepreneurialism.
In the session on disarmament and
Chechnya, the Russian hosts passed
around pictures of the war in
Chechnya. Seeing still color photos,
not just images on the evening news
flickering in and out of a television
screen, made the reality of war undeniable. Women, children and men-
young and old—lying in rows waiting
for medical attention. In another picture, a white, one-room cement home
burning from the inside and looking
like it was about lo erupt. A boy of
eight or nine years of age standing in
front of artillery smiling like a cherub
amongst weaponry was an "innocent"
child's life—in yet another photo.
The Soldiers' Mothers Organi/aiion
(SMO) spoke about their efforts to
eliminate some ofthe violence associated with war. They work to protect
young boys and men from the abuse
of the Russian army by insisting on
the enforcement of Russian military-
laws. Recently, the special police
squad OMAN forced diseased and
mentally ill young men to join the
army. Even though the constitution offers alternatives to military service,
these options have been denied. Once
conscripted, young men are tortured
and forced to perform heavy labor.
In a report this July to the United
Nations Human Rights Commission
(UNHRC), these egregious violations
of human rights by the Russian army
Peace cont'd on pg 3
Ho-Chunk Nation elects new President
Black River Falls, WI - Official results from the Ho-Chunk Election
Commission show Chloris A. Lowe
Jr. has defeated incumbent JoAnn
Jones in a runoff election to become
the new President of the Ho-Chunk
Nation. With 1415 votes cast, Lowe
had 906 votes to Jones 509. the Ho-
Chunk Election Board is scheduled to
meet tomorrow to certify the election.
In other voting, Clarence Pettibone
of Black River Falls, was elected as
the Area 1 Representative to the Ho-
Chunk Nation Legislature defeating
Wilfrid'Cleveland by 164 to 147.
Cleveland was Vice President (and
Area 1 Representative). According to
the Ho-chunk Nation constitution, the
vice-president is selected by the Ho-
Chunk Legislature from among its
members.
James Greendear (Area 2 - Tomah)
outpolled Donald Greengrass by 84
to 54 and won reelection to the Ho-
Chunk Legislature. In Area 4 (Wisconsin Dells) Robert Funmaker Jr.
defeated incumbent Alvin Cloud by a
vote of 178 to 147.
In Area 5 (At large) Dianne
Lonetree of Denver gained 293 votes
to defeat Ervin Funmaker of Milwaukee who garnered 263 votes. Area 3
Respresentative Dallas Whitewing
received more than 50% of the vote
and thereby was elected in the June
election.
Officials discuss educational needs of
Native Americans
By Randall Chase
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ State and
federal educators are blasting what
they claim is an attempt by Congress
to balance the budget on the backs of
American Indian children.
"You can't solve a budget deficit by
creating an education deficit for
American Indians," said Ed
Simermeyer, director ofthe Office of
Indian Education.
Simermeyer and other officials were
in North Carolina on Monday in
preparation for one in a series of
National Advisory Council on Indian
Education hearings on strategies to
improve Indian education.
Simermeyer cited federal statistics
showing that the Indian population is
growing at twice the rate ofthe general
population, but that Indians suffer
disproportionately from poverty and
lag behind in educational achievement
and per capita income.
"We have a long ways to go to catch
up," said Simermeyer, whose office
serves about 1,200 school districts
and 450,000 students throughout the
country, including about 17,000 in
North Carolina. "Education is one of
the ways."
The hearings, which already have
been held in New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Wisconsin and Minnesota, come amid
congressional proposals to cut some
$30 million in funding from the
federal Office of Indian Education.
The office provides funds directly
to eligible school districts based on
the number of Indians enrolled, as
well as discretionary funds for projects
that compete for federal dollars.
The government provided more
than $81 mil lion in funding last year.
The bulk of the money for local
districts is used to improve academic
achievementandto reduce thedropout
rate.
Grants to local school districts are
expected to drop sharply forthe 1996-
97 school year under the proposed
budget cuts, and discretionary funds
have been eliminated. The
discretionary funds include money
for scholarships, teacher training and
adult education.
Pending budget plans in the House
and Senate cut the Indian education
budget to less than $55 million, and
Simermeyer, a member ofthe Coharie
tribe, called that a wakeup call for
educators.
Betty Mangum, a Lumbee Indian
and instructional specialist, claimed
Indians were being paid lip service by
society while their true needs are being
ignored.
"There is a moral and legal responsibility that the United States government has to Indian people," she said.
Leech Lake home that was site of alleged shootings and beatings, police have not filed criminal charges.
Red Lake's Randy Holthusen puts in busy
summer on the hardwood
Redlake's Randy Holthusen has
spent a busy summer, honing his
ample basketball skills while playing
with the Minnesota Select Gold in
tournaments throughout the nation.
He also played with Team
Minnesota in the recent Indigenous
Games at Blaine.
The senior forward was one of two
area players on the Select Gold. The
other was Mike Voit of Rocori.
Playing with Select Maroon squad
were Chris Bjorklund of Brainerd,
Jason Retzlaff of Fergus Falls and
Thief River's Kyle Sanden. Sanden
and Maroon teammate Kevin Loge of
Morris have both committed to the
University ofMinnesota in 1996.
Holthusen received a $2,500 grant
from Red Lake Tribal Council to cover
his summer basketball expenses. He
made his presence felt scoring 19
points or more in four ofthe Gold's 17
games this summer.
To help repay the tribal council for
its support, Holthusen has spent much
of the summer addressing youth
groups on northern Minnesota
reservations about the misuseof drugs
and alcohol.
The three-sport Warrior athlete
helped lead the Redlake cage team to
a 23-2 record last winter, reaching
the 8A-1 sub-section final where it
was upset by Bagley. The Bagley
leader, Dan Fischer, has played with
the Minnesota elite teams the past
two summers. He is headed to
Northern State on a cage scholarship
this fall.
Holthusen will set his sights on
Fischer's area career scoring mark
next winter. Unofficially, he shows
1,573 points his past three seasons
including 557 each ofthe past two.
Fischer, who paced the area scorers for
three years, closed his career with 2,470.
The Gold took part in the giant
Nike National Prep Basketball
championships at Las Vegas this
summer, a meet that attracted 189
teams to compete in 14-under, 15-
under, Class A and Open Divisions.
The 80-team Open Division was
composed of All Star teams while the
A Division was made up of 69
individual high school teams.
Joining the Maroon and Gold Select
teams at the meet was the Minnesota
Streets, a team composed of Twin
Cities performers. All three teams
also had junior units entered in the A
Division which also included a
Central Minnesota unit. The state
also had one team in the 15-under
class which attracted 29 teams.
Teams entered in the Open Division
came from New England to the West
Coast and included Team Brazil and
a team from the Bahamas.
Holthusen hit 18 points in the Gold's
62-42 win over Northern Idaho,
leading the Minnesota team in
scoring.
He hit only six as the Golds lost a
low scoring affair to the Blooming
(Ind.) Red 59-42. Voit led the Golds
that game with 13.
Holthusen was one of five players
in double figures as the Gold fell to
the Dallas Slam & Jam 75-71,
finishing with 11.
Sanden hit seven and Loge only
four in the Maroon's 78-75 victory
over the New Jersey Demons.
While no details were available,
the Gold also reportedly defeated the
highly regarded Philadelphia
Freedom.
reservations about the misuseof drugs   teams at the meet was the Minnesota   Freedom.
Indigenous Games limp to the finish
Debt, logistical nightmares mar athletic event
we're still bleeding." ing foi
By Allen Short
Staff Writer,
Minneapolis Star Tribune
The last medal has been handed out,
and the playing fields at the National
Sports Center in Blaine appear no
worse for the heavy wear they received
during the 1995 North American Indigenous Games, which drew 8,000
Indian athletes to Minnesota.
The event, however, stumbled to the
finish line last weekend bruised and
battered. Organizers face a potential
$350,000 operating deficit and blistering criticism about the way some
young athletes were treated during the
weeklong event.
"It was a mess at times, I agree,"
said Ed Lohnes, chief executive officer of the games. "I'd have to say
we shot ourselves in the foot, and that
we're still bleeding."
What happened—and didn't happen—in Blaine has raised questions
about the future of the event, which
Indian nations in the United States
and Canada previously staged in 1990
and 1993 in Canada. Organizers hope
the games someday will produce a
team of indigenous athletes to com-:
pete in the International Olympics.
The event was supposed to honor
athletic excellence through competitive games and to convey Native
American cultural pride through a traditional powwow.
Instead, the Blaine edition of the
games was marred by open bickering
among organizers, frequent staff
changes, housing and transportation
crises and money problems.
It was all too familiar to some participants. During the 1993 games in
Saskatchewan, last-minute schedul
ing forced teams to wander from gym
to gym in search of games, leading to
numerous forfeits because teams
didn't show up. And there was a housing shortage.
Although the 1995 games were better funded and planning began far
earlier than in '93, the results were
similar.
The games began with $1.2 million
in cash, including $300,000 in taxpayer money in a grant from the Minnesota Amateur Athletic Commission. Another $800,000 was contributed by tribal entities across North
America. Corporate sponsors donated
about $100,000. But that clearly
wasn't enough. Lohnes estimated last
week that the games committee needs
at least $250,000 to $350,000 to break
even.
Games cont'd on pg 5