The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-09-08

              Finn's land transaction could violate state
ethics act or result in felony charges
By Susan Stanich
State Senator Harold "Skip" Finn
didn't report his ownership of some
property on a state ethical practices
form during any ofhis first three years
in office.
State officials are required to report
their holdings each year; intentional
failure is a gross misdemeanor,
punishable by up to 1 year in jail and
a $3000 fine.
But the so called "two points"
property could cause even bigger
headaches for the Walker DFLer, who
already is under federal indictment for
swindling his own Leech Lake band
out of $ 1 million through what federal
prosecutors called a fraudulent
insurance company.
Federal investigators think Finn
might have faked a two point property
deed, which actions violate two state
laws and comprise felonies carrying
punishments totaling up to 13 years
in prison and $25,000 in fines.
The two points property in Cass
County formerly belonged to Zenith
Dredge Company of Duluth. In 1987,
Finn arranged to buy the property for
$90,000. He paid with money drawn
on the Leech Lake Reservation
Business Committee, doing business
as Reservation Risk Management-
the allegedly fraudulent insurance
firm.
On July 29, 1987, Finn had a deed
made out in the name of Reservation
Risk Management; a second deed
dated the same day, shows the
property being transferred from
Reservation Risk Management to
Finn and his wife. In late 1992, he
had the property put into federal trust
for himself, and apparently it remains
in trust for Finn. '
The two points land is secluded,
surrounded by state and federal
forested land, overlooking a bay of
Leech Lake. It has about 2000 feet of
lakeshore and now has a hunting
lodge. In 1989 and 1990, Finn paid
about $14,500 with Reservation Risk
Management checks to have the land
surveyed and a road built into it,
according to the federal indictment.
Although the second deed is dated
1987, federal investigators suspect it
was backdated, and that's why it didn't
show up on Finn's state financial
disclosure forms until 1983. The seal
of the notary-Finn's personal
secretary-expired in August of 1993,
which would have been too recent to
notarize a 1987 transaction.
Walter "Frank" Reese of Walker, a
Leech Laker whose suspicions of
Reservation Risk Management helped
lead to the federal investigation, said
the land still belonged to Reservation
Risk Management in 1992, when he
checked into it at the Cass County
recorder's office. He said the land
wasn't being taxed because the
recorder was under the impression it
was Indian trust land. Reese said he
explained to the recorder that it
actually belonged to Finn as owner of
Reservation Risk Management.
"So they hit him on back taxes and
that's when he put it in trust," Reese
said.
State law prohibits filing,
registering, or recording a false
document relating to real estate in
public office and carries and
punishment of three years and $5,000.
It also prohibits "falsely making a
writing with intent to defraud," which
carries a punishment of up to 10 years
and $20,000 in fines.
The PRESS contacted Senator
Finn's attorney Doug Kelly for
Finn cont'd on pg 5
r
Finn's land transaction could violate state ethics act
or result in felony charges/ pg 1
White Earth tribal members start legal action/ pg 1
Anishinabe activists occupy building in protest/ pg 1
Peace Train makes final leg of journey to Beijing/ pg 2
Voice of the Anishinabek (The People)
I
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Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded  in 1988 Volume 7   Issue 1 1        September 8, 1 995
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White Earth tribal members start legal
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News,  1995
action against indicted leaders
rollee, Peter Pequette Jr. sponsibilities to the tribal members.
As a result ofthe U.S. Justice   It appears they were co-conspirators."
Department's action and the refusal      "Earl Barlow, (former BIA area di-
By Gary Blair
The August 29th federal indictments of three top officials on the
White Earth reservation may mark the
end of twenty years of despotic rule.
The charges allege corruption involving the construction of the Shooting
Star Casino at Mahnomen and election fraud involving absentee ballots
and the use of the names of deceased
tribal members. The latest indictments may only be a sign of more
charges to come for the northwest
Minnesota reservation.
Charged in the 44 count indictment
are reservation chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena; secretary treasurer,
Jerry Rawley; councilman, Rick
Clark; election judge, Carley "Baby
Doll" Jasken; Leech Lake enrollee,
Henry Harper and White Earth en
of Wadena and the others to step
down, some tribal members are now
moving to take legal action aimed at
stopping reservation officials from
continuing to govern.
On Wednesday of this week retired
federal judge Miles Lord, now in private practice, outlined for the PRESS
what actions he plans to take for the
White Earth group.
"We'll be writing to the BIA, Ada
Deer and others asking them to appoint a trustee to oversee the resen'ation until this matter can be looked at
more closely," Lord said. "If they
refuse, then we'll file a 'Writ of Mandamus,' an order to force a public official to take action."
Lord continued, "I also plan to sue
the BIA for not meeting their trust re-
rector) was bought-off," he added.
Lord said of Wadena and the others who are reported to be "unaffected" by the indictments, "They're
going to be in for a big surprise if they
don't take things seriously."
While praised by many white people
who live within the boundaries ofthe
reservation, Wadena's signing of the
White Earth Land Settlement Acti
(WELSA) is seen by tribal members
as a sellout which dashed their hopes-
of recovering lands they say were sttH
len from them shortly after the turn
of the century.
Lowell Bellanger, a White Earth activist opposed to Wadena, says, "He's
been in the back pocket of the politi-
Action cont'd on pg 3
Grass dancers put on their moves at a local pow wow.
Submitted photo
Anishinabe activists occupy building to end Thousands of BIA workers face layoffs
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dictatorial rule
By Jeff Armstrong
Despite continued threats, arrests
and assaults—including videotaped
police beatings and a Sept. 1 bombing-
-members of the Keeweenaw Bay
Anishinabe reservation in Michigan
moved into the third week of an
occupation of tribal headquarters
holding strong to demands for political
reform. A group known as Fight For
Justice (FFJ), ranging in size from
50-200 members ofthe Lake Superior
band, has blocked the tribal council
from removing official records and
has effectively shut down most
government functions.
The Aug. 21 takeover of reservation
offices was triggered by Chairman
Fred Dakota's tribal council decision
the previous day annulling the results
of December elections. Dakota also
stripped nearly a quarter of the
Keeweenaw Bay electorate of voting
rights after they rejected his plans to
create a private casino management
corporation which would lease the
tribe's own slot machines back to
them.
FFJ activist Rose Edwards said the
group is calling for direct negotiations
with the Dakota government after the
apparent failure of mediation efforts
by theU.S. Justice Department. "Right
now our proposal is sitting on Fred's
side. So far he doesn't want to talk,"
Edwards said.
According to Edwards, the first offer
by the chairman was to create a
separate tribe out of the 202 purged
members, who would also receive a
$1 million payment to build a casino.
Thisproposal was rejected out of hand
by the protesters. A second offer left
some room for negotiation, but was
presented to the group with only a 15
minute deadline for acceptance. FFJ
instead submitted a counterproposal,
to which Dakota has failed to respond,
said Edwards.
Edwards said Dakota has used his
control of tribal courts, police and
employment to retaliate against
occupation supporters, which she said
represent a majority of reservation
members. "The police have been
harassing us left and right. They've
Occupy cont'd on pg 3
Marine general visits Cheyenne River Sioux
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. (AP) _
American Indians have fought and
died for the United States in wars, and
a top military leader remembered their
sacrifices during a visit to the
Cheyenne River Sioux reservation.
"Every single time this nation has
gone to war, American Indians have
answered the call, in disproportionate
numbers," John J. Sheehan, a four-
star Marine general, said Sunday. "A
number of them fought in World War
I, and they didn't get citizenship until
1924. How many people do you know
who would fight for a nation when
they aren't even citizens?"
Sheehan, who commands NATO
forces in the Atlantic, broke ground
for a veterans center on the
reservation. Also, tribal members
honored Sheehan at a powwow by
giving him a Lakota name that means
"Four Star."
An estimated 12,000 American
Indians served during World War I,
44,500 in World War II, an unknown
number in Korea, 42,500 during
Vietnam and 3,000 in the Persian
Gulf War. Up to 20 percent of the
Indian population has served in the
military, Sheehan said, adding that a
1985 study found there were nearly
160,000 living Indian veterans.
The general and his staff
participated in a pipe cerefnony
Sunday at the site of the veterans
center.
Gregg Bourland, tribal chairman,
gave Sheehan an eagle feather, a
carved figure of a Lakota warrior and
a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe flag.
Sheehan gave the tribe and its
veterans groups some World War II
Marine cont'd on pg 8
WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) _ The
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) plans to
lay off between 2,600 and 4,000 of its
12,000 workers, the most severe personnel cuts any federal agency has undertaken in the current round of budget
reductions.
Assistant Interior Secretary Ada Deer
said the cuts-will reduce the agency to
"a shell of an organization" and have a
devastating impact on Indians. Under
Senate guidelines, nearly 6,000 BIA
education workers will be protected,
but that still leaves one out of every two
remaining BIA employees at risk of
losing their jobs, Deer said. The agency
will send out layoff notices by Sept.25.
Deep cuts to the BIA's grants program may force tribal governments
across the country to fire 2,300 local
workers as well, creating what one
official called "a double whammy" on
many Indian reservations, which long
have been suffered higher unemployment levels than the rest of the nation.
"There are inefficiencies in the BIA
and it is an agency that has been fraught
with problems," said JoAnn Chase,
executive director ofthe National Congress of American Indians. "But this is
not the solution."
Deer and her senior staff said Wednesday that the agency believes it has no.
other recourse but to send out reduc-
tion-in-force notices in late September
because ofthe deep reductions voted by
the House and Senate. Federal workers
have to be given 60-day notices of
possible staff reductions.
Deer and other Indian leaders blamed
the agency's budget problems on the
widespreadperceptionthatlndian tribes
suddenly have become rich by running
gamblingoperations. Deer called that a
myth and said that only 20 of the 554
federally recognized tribes are "doing
fairly well" with gaming operations
and they cover only 1 percent of the
Indian population.
Indian leaders reacted angrily to the
proposed budget cuts and threatened
layoffs, accusing Congress of abandoning peace treaties the federal government signed more than 100 years ago
that mandated care for Indians. Albert
Hale, president of the Navajo Nation
said the Republican Congress is so
obsessed withits Contract With America
that it has forgotten the government's
"first contracts with America."
About 200 tribal leaders are expected
to begin arriving in Washington today
for a weeklong effort to pressure legislators to reverse cuts that would shrink
the BIA's proposed $1.7 billion budget
by $434 million, a 25 percent cut
. Freiderich Klein, president of the
National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents many BIA
workers, condemned the planned layoff notices as "premature and based on
speculation." But he conceded: "What
they are doing is addressing what they
believe is the inevitable."
The jobs to be cut from the BIA
include law enforcement, fisheries and
social workers. A BIA spokeswoman
said the layoffs would have a devastating economic impact on small communities such as Aberdeen, S.D., where
the BIA is a major employer.
Red Lake tightens tribal code
Cherokee Chief sues former chief over tribal funds
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) _ The
Cherokee Nation is suing former
Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller over
funds she gave to 11 outgoing aides in
what she said was separation pay.
The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S.
Eastern District Court accuses
Mankiller of authorizing severance
pay to tribal and Bingo Outpost
employees who resigned before
Principal Chief Joe Byrd took office
Aug. 14.
Byrd has said the payments totaled
more than $318,700. But Mankiller
said Byrd exaggerated those figures
and that the actual amount was closer
to $80,000 or $90,000.
The lawsuit asks the court to require
Mankiller to account under oath for
the expenditures and pay attorney
fees, costs and interest.
Mankiller has an unlisted phone
number and couldn't be reached for
comment Friday.
Mankiller previously said it has
been customary since she became chief
in 1987 for tribal officials to receive
separation pay when they are fired or
leave by mutual agreement.
The employees believed Byrd would
fire them when he took office based
on statements made during his
campaign, she said.
Lisa Trice, director of public affairs
for the Cherokee Nation, said not all
ofthe severance checks have cleared
the bank, indicating some employees
may not have cashed them yet. None
ofthe separation pay has been returned
to the tribe, she said.
Mankiller's predecessor, Ross
Swimmer, said Friday he believes the
lawsuit is the first the Cherokee Nation
has filed against a chief.
Byrd has said the two top officials
of the tribe's Bingo Outpost, Chief
Executive Officer Tommy Thompson
and manager Rick Smith Jr., received
checks for about $74,000 and $80,000,
respectively.
He also said bingo floor managers
Neva White and Cindy J. Bunn
received some $26,000 each.
The Red Lake Tribal Council has
tightened the tribal code tocrackdown
on juveniles, adult criminals and dead-
beat parents, and to make it easier to
serve civil process papers, according
to the tribal newsletter, The Red Lake
Nation.
The changes were generated by a
Code Comittee established after a
series of community meetings and a
day-long Community Unity Day, and
were then enacted by the Tribal
Council.
Changes affecting juveniles:
♦Children detained for breaking
curfew will be held up to 72 hours,
until the next tribal court session,
unless they post $100 bail and are
released to a parent or guardian.
Breaking curfew may earn a juvenile
a $ 100 fine for the first offense and up
to $200 for repeat offenses.
*It will now be easier for the court to
try a juvenile as an adult, and the
youth will keep his adult status if
charged with future offenses. A
juvenile's court date will be speeded
up so it's held within five days of
detention.
♦Juveniles can now be fined up to
$500 and their trust accounts can be
seized and used for restitution. For
serious crimes, a child may now be
detained for up to one year for
treatment and therapy.
♦Juveniles will now have to post bail
to be released, up to $500 or more if
warranted. Those who don't live up to
bail requirements will lose their
money.
♦Kids who frequently skip school,
run away from home or habitually
commit other petty offenses can now
Code cont'd on pg 3
Officials: State checking Indianslot payoffs;
no violations known
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Officials
will look into questions of whether
slot machines at Indian casinos are
paying out a proper percentage of
earnings to players, the chairman of
the Wisconsin Gaming Commission
says.
"We received several inquiries
Friday, but we have no indication of
any violations," said Scott Scepaniak.
"The machines are monitored, and
there have been no violations
discovered.
"While I'm confident there are no
violations, I'll be sending auditors
out into the field to make checks."
Agreements between the state and
11 tribes require the machines to be
set at payouts from 80 to 100 percent
of earnings.
"I have confidence in the
independent auditors and state
inspectors who" have inspected the
machines," Scepaniak said.
The payoff is set by a computer-like
chip installed in the machine.
"We have a record of every slot
machine in the state and every chip in
those machines," Scepaniak said. "If
the chips are changed, we must be
notified."
Machines' payoffs are checked
when the machine is initially installed
and during routine audits, Scepaniak
said.