The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-12-14

              Judge rules feds have jurisdiction in tribal
corruption scandal
By Jeff Armstrong
A U.S. district judge in Minneapolis
reaffirmed tire court's prior ruling
that Minnesota state senator Harold
(Skip) Finn must face federal
conspiracy charges for alleged theft
of tribal funds, money laundering,
mail fraud, tax evasion and lying to
federal investigators.
The former Leech Lake Reservation
attorney was indicted by a federal
grand jury last June in a $ 1.5 million
corruption scandal. Along with Leech
Lake chairman Alfred (Tig)
Pemberton and secretary treasurer
Dan Brown, Finn is accused in a 38-
count indictment of embezzling nearly
$1 million through a phony tribal
insurance corporation known as
Reservation Risk Management.
According to the indictment, Finn
used the money to purchase land,
automobiles, boats, golf carts and
numerous other goods and services
for his personal use. Finn avoided
state taxes by claiming the purchases
were made on behalf of the
Reservation Business Committee.
District Judge Davis denied
numerous motions for dismissal by
Finn, who had argued that the U.S.
Government had no authority to try
the case since Congress delegated
criminal jurisdiction to the state via
Public Law 280. Finn had previously
maintained that the state had no
jurisdiction to investigate the matter,
an argument which—bolstered by his
close relationship to Senate majority
leader Roger Moe~helped postpone
ethics charges until after Finn's trial.
The indicted senator had earlier
accepted a guilty plea to lesser charges,
but withdrew from the agreement
when faced with a year or more
imprisonment and the inevitable loss
of his senate seat.
Davis sustained an Oct. 12 ruling by
magistrate judge Erickson that the
state and federal government share
concurrent criminal jurisdiction over
the reservation. The district judge's
decision was in response to a request
by the defense to review Erickson's
ruling for legal errors.
While finding the magistrate's order
"neither clearly erroneous nor
contrary to law," Davis did grant a
motion by Finn to order the U.S.
Attorney's office to immediately
disclose summaries of expert
prosecution witnesses to the defense.
Federal prosecutors must comply with
the order at least 21 days before the
scheduled Jan. 8 trial, said Davis.
Attorney Doug Kelley's latest request
for a continuance seems yet another
stalling tactic by the defense,
employed as Finn attempts to
rehabilitate his public image and
reassert his political position at the
tribal and state level.
In addition to the criminal charges,
Pemberton and Brown are the subjects
Scandal cont'd on pg 3
Judge rules feds have jurisdiction in scandal/ pg 1
Three native corps file suit against Interior Sec/ pg 1
Complete text of judge's order in Finn case/ pg 5
Cutbacks hits Santa's twelve days of Xmas/ pg 6
ICWLC needs help to fight legal doctrine/ pg 8
Voice ofthe The People
J
Conditions in the Minneapolis American
Indian community offer little to celebrate
Illative
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988
Volume 8   Issue 9        December 14, 1995
By Gary Blair
Conditions in the Minneapolis
American Indian commumty continue
to deteriorate and there appears to be
no letup in sight. After more than 25
years of "Indian programs" and
millions of dollars in foundation
grants, there are still many basic
human needs not being met. Area
foodshelves and soup kitchens are
being strained; more than 500 people
use the dinning site located next to
the Little Earth Housing Project-most
are Indian families. And now with the
Christmas season here, the pressure
on the Indian family is even greater.
Dysfunctional Indian alternative
schools have added to the commumty
pressures. The Center School Inc.
became engulfed in a heated
controversy shortly after it opened for
classes this fall. As a result the school
was closed for nearly two weeks.
During that time many ofthe families
had difficulty providing the extra meal
for the students who were at home
waiting for things to cool-off.
Turmoil at the Heart of the Earth
Survival School surfaced when many
ofthe longtime Indian teachers were
not re-hired this year ~ a good number
being single family bread winners.
Recently, some ofthe teachers who are
presently employed at the HOTESS
found their positions being advertised
in the want ads of the Star Tribune.
Nevertheless, on Friday the school's
administration will hold a Christmas
party for the staff at a restaurant in
the Pillsbury Center, downtown
Minneapolis.
A group of homeless people
recently set up a makeshift shelter on
the east side of the Minneapolis
American Indian Center. Community
members say the camp was developed
to help draw attention to the growing
Offer cont'd on pg 8
^mmwrn-mw-wmm-mm
A weekly publication.
1
Copyright. Motive American Prein,  1995
Leaders forming political action committee
By Mark A. Hutchison
StaffWriter
The Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma Indian tribal leaders are
strengthening their lobbying efforts
to ensure that this year's proposed
federal tribal program cuts won't
happen again without a fight.
And if a political action committee
being formed by most of Oklahoma's
39 tribes is successful, its leaders say
it could affect the 1996 elections.
"We're going to become a player
in politics," said Michael Dodson,
spokesman for the Sac and Fox
Nation and secretary of the new
political committee. "We need to find
out what out potential is."
Tribal rolls in August 1994
indicated there were more than
270,000 Indians in Oklahoma. By
2000, that figure is expected to
increase to 289,000.
"What really brought this home
was what's been happening in
Congress," he said. "When our
leaders saw7 the (proposed) BIA
(Bureau of Indian Affairs) cuts, they
realized that if we'd develop
political clout we wouldn't be in the
shape, politically, that we are."
Other executive officers elected to
establish bylaws for the committee
are Tyler Todd of the Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribe, chairman; Jeff W.
Rabon of the Chickasaw nation,
vice chairman; Frances Wise,
Wichita and Affiliate Tribes,
treasurer; and Dudley Whitehorn of
the  Osage  Nation,   executive
member at large.
The coordinator for eastern
Oklahoma and Muskogee area
tribes will be Charles Head of the
Cherokee Nation. Western area
tribes will be coordinated by Merle
Boyd of the Sac and Fox Nation.
Bob Musgrove of the Chcvc+ir,^-,
Arapaho Tribes will provide
administrative, organizational and
developmental services.
Dodson said members of the
committee will draft a report to be
discussed at a Jan. 18 meeting.
Among the issues the report will
address is how the group will obtain
funding and how to register Indian
voters statewide.
This article is reprinted from the
Wednesday, December 13, 1995,
edition of The Daily Oklahoman.
One of the few open water areas in the northland, the Mississippi River flows into Lake Bemidji.
Snowmobilers are advised to use caution and good judgement due to thin ice in some spots. staff photo
Jury: Tribal official made defamatory remarks
Nettie Kingsly awarded $20,000 for statements made by Dallas White Wing
By Robyn Lontz
Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids
A Wood County jury unanimously
decided Tuesday in Favor of a former
Rainbow Casino employee who
claimed a Winnebago tribal official
made defamatory statements against
her in a newspaper article.
NACPC seeks academically gifted Ojibwe students   NettieKingsiyponEdwards wm
be awarded $20,000 in damages from
Dallas White Wing, of Wittenberg,
The Native American College
Preparatory Center is seeking to
identify academically gifted Ojibwe
middle school and high school
students for its summer programs.
The Center expects to conduct a
middle school program at the
Oklahoma International Space
Academy, located on the campus of
Oklahoma City University and a high
school program at Stanford
University.
The Oklahoma International Space
Academy is considered the premiere
space program of its type in the
nation. The aerospace curriculum
prepares students for life in the 21st
century. All programs emphasize
critical and creative problem solving,
teamwork and communication, and
responsible decision-making.
Participating middle school
students will spend a week at the
Oklahoma City campus; they will,
among other things, participate in a
simulated space mission aboard a two-
story, actual size space shuttle and
conduct space operations from the
computerized control center. Lastyear
Duane Meat, who attends the Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig School at Leech Lake,
was named Outstanding Space Cadet
for his space operations squadron.
The center plans to repeat its
program at Stanford University, one
of the premier universities in the
world, for academically gifted high
school students. Students will enroll
in actual Stanford college courses and,
also, be required to take a four-unit
college level Ojibwe language course.
The Ojibwe language course is based
on the Pimsleur "Speak and
Understand Essential Ojibwe"
audiocassette course developed by the
center and is taught by Dr. Cecil King
of Queens University, Kingston,
Ontario.
Brian Dunkley, a member of the
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe,
participated in the program after
completing the tenth grade. Dunkley,
who is now serving as class president
at Pine City (Minnesota) High School,
earned ten Stanford University quarter
units and completed courses in
computer science, English and Ojibwe
language. If Dunkley participates for
two more summers, he will have
completed his first year of college
studies at Stanford University before
he graduates from high school.
Ojibwe high school students are
required to take the American College
Test (ACT). Interested students
should take the ACT in February
1996, or arrange to take a residual
ACT test at a local college or
university. For more information and
application materials, write to
NACPC, 2212 Westpark Drive,
Norman, Oklahoma 73069.
because of his statements in a Feb.
25, 1993, story in the Daily Tribune.
The newspaper was not named as a
defendant.
White Wing was not present at the
one-day jury trial but was represented
by his attorney, William Gardner.
Gardner could not be reached for
comment after the trial.
The 12-member jury made the
decision in Kingsley's favor after one
hour of deliberations late Tuesday
afternoon.
"I am really, really happy with the
decision," said Kingsley after the
verdict was delivered. "I believe this
case was fairly judged in front of an
unbiased group of people."
In a civil suit filed May 27, 1994,
Kingsley alleged that White Wing
"maliciously composed and caused to
be published" statements that she was
fired from her job as facility manager
ofthe Rainbow Casino, near Nekoosa,
Award cont'd on pg 3
Three native corporations file lawsuit
against Interior Secretary
ANCHORAGE (AP) _ Three
Alaska Native corporations have sued
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and
Ada Deer, the U.S. government's top
official on Indian Affairs, over the
administration's opposition to oil
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge.
Arctic Slope Regional Corp., Cook
Inlet Region Inc. and Kaktovik Inupiat
Corp. filed the lawsuit Monday in
federal court in Anchorage. The
corporations contend that the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation
Act of 1980 guarantees them input on
decisions about the refuge. The
corporations say they were not
adequately consulted on the issue of
development ofthe refuge.
The three corporations stand to
profit if the refuge's coastal plain is
opened to oil development.
The suit also criticizes Deer for
"taking sides" in the harsh battle
between the Native corporations and
the Gwich'in Indians who live south
ofthe refuge. The Inupiat corporations
argue the refuge can be developed
without hurting the environment or
wildlife. The Gwich'in fear it would
disrupt caribou on which they subsist.
The suit says Deer should have
considered all Native interests before
opposing refuge drilling, and said she
"exploited the minority Native view
to perpetuate the cynical myth... that
opening the Coastal Plain is opposed
by the Alaska Natives that would be
most directly affected."
Deer, a Menominee Indian from
Wisconsin, came to Alaska in October
and gave an impassioned speech
urging the Alaska Federation of
Natives not to endorse ANWR
drilling. The federation, led by Inupiat
delegates, voted 2-1 against taking a
neutral stand on the issue, and passed
a measure asking Congress to lift the
drilling ban.
The suit says the companies didn't
have enough input into a report by the
federal government critical of ANWR
development.
"Secretary Babbitt has blatantly
Corps cont'd on pg 3
Utility to serve bingo hall with territory in dispute Navajos infected with AIDS returning to tribal healing
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Wisconsin
Power & Light Co. has agreed to
provide electricity to the Ho Chunk
tribal bingo hall being built just east
of Madison _ territory Madison Gas
& Electric Co. thinks is its own.
WPL officials said the action is
justified because the Ho Chunk are a
sovereign nation, and the land
involved was "undesignated" territory
that either company was free to serve.
MGE officials said they had no
immediate reaction to the position
taken by the competing utility.
Public Service Commission staff
members said they had many
questions about the agreement.
People on both sides of the dispute
saw the agreement as a harbinger of
the kind of competition that could
become routine among Wisconsin
power companies.
The Public Service Commission is
due to vote Dec. 12 on how much to
free utilities from traditional
monopoly rate and service regulation
and how much choice to give
consumers to shop for electric power
much as they now can shop for longdistance telephone service.
"This is all about a customer making
choices based on availability and
price," saidPatricia McMahon, a WPL
spokeswoman. "This is what is to
come."
"Because the Ho Chunk Nation is a
sovereign nation, they have the
opportunity to pick their energy
suppliers," said Linda Brei of WPL.
She said her company made a lower
bid than MGE to provide power to the
bingo hall.
In addition, the bingo hall is in a
"no man's land" between WPL and
MGE service territories, Brei said.
A staffer at the PSC said the
regulatory agency was questioning
the agreement.
"How does Power and Light provide
them with service? Whose lines are
going to be hooked up to the building?"
asked Paul Newman ofthe PSC staff.
The Ho Chunk's Dejope bingo hall,
opening next spring, is expected to
consume about a million watts of
electricity at peak times _ about
enough to power 500 homes. WPL
officials said they expect to have a
power line to the hall completed this
week.
Dejope is another word for Ho
Chunk, an Indian name forthe former
Wisconsin Winnebago tribe.
By Carol Sowers
PHOENIX (AP) _ As a teen-ager,
Tony, a Native American, sat once or
twice in the stifling heat of a sweat
lodge in the back yard of his
resen'ation home.
But he was unconvinced that the
ancient purification rite cherished by
his family held meaning for modern
Indians.
Five years ago, Tony, now 32, left
his Arizona reservation for Phoenix
and ajob, shoving his tribal traditions
into the dimmest corners ofhis mind.
"I wanted to start my life," he said.
But a year ago, Tony, who is gay,
tested positive for HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS.
Now Tony and hundreds of other
infected Native Americans across the
country are rushing back to their
traditions, fighting a new curse with
old ways.
They are victims of an epidemic
that until a decade ago was almost
unknown in Indian Country.
In 1985, there were only 13 known
cases of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome among 2 million Native
Americans nationwide, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta. That number
has grown by more than 9,000 percent
overthepast 10years,to l,202_more
than double the growth rate of AIDS
among all ethnic groups.
About 60 Native Americans in
Arizona have AIDS, and 61 others,
like Tony, have been diagnosed with
the human immunodeficiency virus
but do not suffer the symptoms of fullblown AIDs.
Native American women are at
particular risk, as are all women of
low-income minority groups. Indian
women account for 15 percent of all
AIDS cases in the nation, more than
the double the rate for white women.
Twenty percent of Indian AIDS
patients in Arizona are women.
Confronting AIDS is more difficult
for some Indians, especially
homosexuals, because they may come
from cultures where there is little
understanding of the disease, AIDS
experts say.
Return cont'd on pg 3