The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1988-06-01

              Pine Point
Reunion
see Page 2
White Earth
Land Theft
see Page 6
Ojibwe
"News by and for the Ojibwe Nation"
News
© Copyright Ojibwe News 1988
THIRTY-FIVE CENTS
Founded at Bemidji. Minnesota in 1988
Volume 1  Issue 2
Wednesday, June 1,1988
Bemidji, Minnesota 56001
Treaties
Must Be
Honored
Ojibwe News Pulled From
"America has an obligation to
uphold and defend promises and commitments made in its treaties with the
same respect and commitment that, we
as a nation, have for our
constitution. "—Jesse Jackson
No American racial group faces
more economic and social injustices
than the American Indian. On Indian
reservations, where a majority of
American Indians live, unemployment
averages 40 percent (according to conservative estimates) and double that in
many areas. Three-quarters of Indian
families on reservations live at or
below the poverty level. Only a quarter
of reservation wage earners earn more
than $7,000.
There is a critical shortage of doctors; in certain areas, Indian rates for
some diseases are almost 10 times the
national average. A disproportionate
number of reservation schools are
understaffed and underfunded. Over
40 percent of Indian families live in
substandard housing (compared to 12
percent nationally).
These conditions foster an
alcoholism rate that is nearly four
timci   thejjational   a- rid   a
Many of these problems are faced by
Indians living off the reservation, including poor housing, poor health, low
educational attainment and high incidences of drug and alcohol abuse, as
well as discrimination.
The federal government must
reverse the policies that have created
these conditions. We need policies that
will preserve and develop both the
human and natural resources of its
original people, the American Indians.
There can be no justice in this nation
until we right those wrongs committed
Tribal Store    Shelves
against the American Indians. We
must show this nation, the world and
our future generations that we are a
nation of people with courage to do
what is right and just.
To insure justice for the American
Indians, I propose to:
Recognize Treaty Obligations
This nation must honor the treaty
commitments it makes to all nations,
and we can do no less than honor those
treaties made with American Indian
nations.
A presidential treaty commission
should be established to determine the
obligations of the United States under
treaties made with American Indian
nations and report their findings to the
U.S. Congress and the Administration.
As one step in the right direction, we
support the Black Hills bill, which
would return the land to the Sioux.
Promote Economic Dev't
We need to insure that American Indian tribes arc afforded the opportunity to determine their own course of
economic development, a course which
is respectful of their land, their culture
and their choice. Current federal administration of Indian programs has
stifled the will of the people through
bureaucratic paternalism and inefficiency. Instead, the government must
act as a supportive partner to the
American Indian tribes. At a
minimum, the Bureau of Indian Affairs must be restructured and
streamlined to be more responsive to
American Indian concerns. And we
should study seriously the proposal to
phase out the Bureau of Indian Affairs
and replace it with a system of direct
block—grant funding.
We must also stimulate the development of the private sector of the Indian
tribal economy by providing the
necessary capital and technical
assistance to Indian-owned business
enterprises. And under a Jackson Administration, oil and gas companies
will no longer be allowed to wrongfully
appropriate billions of dollars of oil
and gas belonging to Indians; billions
more in royalties that have not been
paid to the government and the Indians
will be collected.
Protect Rights of Indians
The unique relationship that
American Indians have with the people
of the United States must be recognized and reaffirmed. They have a right to
expect that they will be treated fairly
and honestly. We must insure that
American Indians are proteel
the ugly spectrum of racism that often
disguises itself as seeking to
mainstream Indian people. American
Indians have to remain who they are,
and we must insure this right is protected.
The right of American Indians to
fully exercise their traditional religious
beliefs and cultural practices must be
protected and any barriers to the free
exercise of traditional religion must be
removed. Freedom of religion is a constitutional right afforded to the citizens
of this nation and it must fully apply to
American Indians.
(Continued on Page 3)
By RAYMOND C. BEAULIEU
News Staff Writer
RED LAKE, MN—The Ojibwe
News, northern Minnesota's newest
Indian was taken from the shelves of
ihe Red Lake Trading Post shortly
alter ii was delivered.
The Trading Post is a tribally owned
and operated store on the Red Lake
reservation.
Trading Post manager, Tony Klaers,
when contacted said thai the decision
to pull the newspaper was his decision.
Klaers, a non-Indian commutes daily
lo ihe reservation to work ai the
Trading Post. When questions further,
Klaers refused comment.
Of the one hundred copies of the
Ojibwe News dropped off at the
Trading Post, nearly thirty were sold.
The News had run a front page story
on an overpaymeni mady by the Tribal
Council   to   ihe   Red   Lake   Housing
Finance Corporation, composed mainly of Tribal Council members. The
News printed that the Board of Directors and the Credit Committee
members had overpaid themselves in
per diem and honorariums. The state
of Minnesota, in a letter dated June 2,
1986, charged that the Red Lake Tribal
Council knowingly paid its Housing
Program Board and Credit Committee
members $250 and $200 per meeting,
respectively. The overpayments were
made in spite of a memorandum sent
to the tribe limiting per diem and
honorarium to $35 per meeting.
Tribal Council representative,
George Jones, also head of the Red
Lake Housing Program, was present
when employees of the News dropped
ihe Ojibwe News at the Trading Post.
Klaers   said   that   Jones'   visit   had
nothing to do with his decision to pull
the News.
Though there may be First Amendment (Freedom of Speech, Freedom of
Press) violations, the News will not
spend time, money or energy legally
fighting the Red Lake Tribal Council
and whoever's decision it was to pull
our newspaper from the tribally-owned
store. We will, instead, focus on the
news. As William Lawrence, publisher
of the News, stated, "We will let this
non-Indian, non-Member, pull the
newspaper. We have plenty of other
places to distribute it. It is sad, though,
that the Tribal Council allowed this
non-member to dictate to Red Lakers
what they can or can't read."
Indian Newspaper
Ceases Operation
Protestors Cited
for Illegal Fishing
By BOB JOURDAIN
Ojibwe News Correspondent
As camera crews and qther news
media watched from shore, two Leech
Lake band members were cited for netting without permits. The two men,
Franklin Larose and Warren Tibbetts,
are part of the protest group known as
the Ojibwe People for Justice. The
group have an encampment outside of
tribal headquarters.
Gordon Buchanan, of the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources, stated that his authority to
issue citations came from the 1972
agreement between the State and
Leech Lake Band. But the protest
group indicated that they do not
recognize the agreement because it had
been made without the input or consent of the people.
The Ojibwe People for Justice also
made it clear they will continue, in the
Indian tradition, to net fish without
permits "as the need arises."
Accompanying the netters were
other canoes of supporters who went
out to keep boaters from getting entangled in the nets.
On shore, presidential candidate
Lenora Fulani and the Ojibwe People
for Justice stood in support. The
voices of a young drum group went out
clearly over the waters of Cass Lake.
Even though he had just received a
citation, Franklin Larose remarked,
"It felt good to come off the lake, to
hear the drum and see supporters standing there."
The group plans another fishing excursion, but this time with members of
all reservations panicipating.
BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP)— Publication of a fledgling Indian weekly
newspaper serving the Minnesota
Chippewa tribe has been suspended,
and an attorney for the Ojibwe Times
published would not say Friday
whether publication would resume.
Suspension of operations at the
1,700 circulation weekly published in
Bemidji was confirmed by Jeffry Viken
of Rapid City, S.D., attorney for the
newspaper's publsher, Tim Giago.
Viken would not say why publication
had stopped.
"All 1 can tell is that the Ojibwe
Times has suspended operation,"
Viken said.
Giago, of Custer, S.D., could not be
reached for comment Friday night, but
his attorney said Giago was referring
all questions to him. A prize-winning
Indian journalist, Giago is president of
Native American Publishing, which
owns the Ojibwe Times and The
Lakota Times.
Viken said he is exploring "legal
remedies" in connection with the
Ojibwe Times, but declined to
elaborate except to say he was doing so
on behalf of Giago's 7-year-old
flagship    newspaper,    The   Lakota
:1ritmkiriri*ir*
Times,   of Martin, S.D.
Ojibwe Times suspended publication
without notice after last week's May
llth edition, the 48th issue, and a
month beofre what would be the
publication's first birthday on June 17.
On the front page of last week's
issue, a four-paragraph story told
readers and advertisers that another
weekly publication, Ojibwe Times'
managing editor, Raymond Beaulieu
of Bemidji, said staff members on
Monday packed up supplies and
removered computerized printing
equipment from the office. He said recent telephone calls to the office went
unanswered though service had not
been disconnected.
"They didn't even publish a goodbye issue or nothing," Beaulieu said.
Amandy Broken Rope, an associate
editor of the Lakota Times, declined to
comment on the suspention.
"I'm not authorized to say anything
about it," said Broken Rope, who was
in Bemidji for the past month working
as acting editor of the Ojibwe Times.
Connie Jacobson, general manager
of The Pioneer in Bemidji, said lhai
she was not informed of ihe suspension,   though   The  Ojibwe   Times  is
printed on contract at her plant.
"Their priming date was yesterday,
but they didn't show up," Jacobson
said. "I made myself a note to call
Giago because they've never missed a
week since they started."
She said she talked with Giago
several weeks ago and he said his plans
were to relocate the office from the
Paul Bunyan Mall site to downtown
Bemidji "because his overhead was too
high."
This week's suspension of publication is another marker in an 11-month
roller-coaster startup year that saw
high staff turnover, name change and
an unsuccessful effort by the Red Lake
Chippewa band to buy ihe newspaper.
Originally The Red Lake Times, ihe-
weekly's name was changed by Giago,
who continued lo publish and continued to offer ii for sale.
Tribal Chairman Roger Jourdain
and Giago had disagreed earlier this
year over the lermination of several
staffers.
Jourdain unsuccessfully sought ihe
return of a $25,000 newspaper siart-up
loan granted lo Giago by the band.
(Reprinted with permission from
The Sho-Ban News).
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I In Indian Country \