The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1988-07-06

              Kids Korner
See Page 3
U.S. Constitution
See Page 6
The
Oji bwe
"News by and for the Ojibwe Nation"
News
c Copyright OjibweHews 1988
THIRTY-FIVE CENTS
Founded at Bemidji, Minnesota in 1988
Volume 1 Issue 7
Wednesday, July 6,1988
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
National
Oneidas Still
Claim Jurisdiction
Over Landfill
Green Bay, WI (IPN) - A
Fort Howard Corp. 293-acre
lagoon and landfill, which the
Oneida Nation claims they
have jurisdiction over, has
been placed on a proposed
Superfund cleanup list.
the landfill acreage was
once part of the original
Oneida reservation. The tribe
had previously offered to
negotiate a possible deferral if
Fort Howard would join in a
lawsuit over tribal jurisdiction.
The company refused.
Corporate Vice President
Jeffrey Eves said several
Environmental Protection
Agency officials in Chicago
stated they would defer
inclusion of tne landfill on the
list if the Oneidas were also
willing.
The threat of groundwater
contamination is one of the
EPA's criteria in deciding
whether to include a site on
the proposed Superfund list,
kaidEves. The lagoons are in
la location that would require
(groundwater to flow uphill to
se contaminated, he said.
Eves said the company
spent $6 million to make the
ste safer, but "none of these
mprovements have been
factored in or considered in
the determination about
whether the company ought
to be on that list.
"Despite these steps, the
Oneidas have persisted in
their complaints and have
undertaken an active political
agenda to have our landfill
designated as a Superfund
site," he said.
Sioux Man
Performs Rain
Bringing Ceremony
Clyde, OH (IPN) - A Lakota
Sioux man came to Clyde and
conducted Indian ceremonies
in hopes of bringing rain to
relieve the killer drought that
has besieged the midwest,
said a florist who arranged
the Indian's journey.
Leonard Crow Dog, 49,
performed ceremonies of
pipe-smoking, grass-burning,
and prayer during the
weekend, said florist Clifford
Doebel, who paid $2,000 to
bring the Indian to Clyde.
Crow Dog performed a fire
ceremony before an audience
of about 2,000 people.
"He prayed before the fire,
took a hot coal and carried it
in his mouth to the east and
west and north and south,"
Doebel said. "He smoked his
pipe, returned to the fire and
put some of the sweet grass
and wafted it with the eagle
feather."
Some experts are
predicting that the drought,
which is now in its third
month, will destroy at least
half of this year's agricultural
production in the United
States.
Crow Dog predicted rain
would come by June 22 or
23, said Doebel.
(Continued on Page 2)
James Johnson Joins Staff
at the  Ojibwe   News
James Johnson, an enrollee
of the White Earth
Reservation and a mass
communications student at
Bemidji State University, will
be lending his skills to the
Ojibwe News this summer as
our newest staff member.
Johnson, 23, was born in
Minneapolis and graduated
from Waubun (Minn.) High
School in 1982.
After graduation, Johnson
enrolled at BSU to study
journalism. In December,
1982, Johnson became a staff
writer/ photographer for the
Northern Student, the weekly
campus newspaper at BSU.
Three months later he was
promoted to photography
editor and held that position
through the following year.
During that year, the
Northern Student won several
awards in the 1983 Minnesota
Newspaper Association's
College Newspaper Contest;
including first place for
General Excellence, first
place for Typography and
Design, and second place for
Best Use of Photography.
In the spring of 1984,
Johnson left BSU to take a
job as a public relations
officer for the White Earth
Tribal Council. Following
that, he worked as a staff
writer/photographer for the
Valley Journal in Halstad,
Minn.
In March 1986, Johnson
returned to BSU. A year later
he returned to work as the
managing editor of the
Northern Student.
During the past school
year, Johnson was editor of
the Northern Student, and
was president of the BSU
Chapter of the Society for
Collegiate Journalists. While
editor, the Northern Student
won second place for General
Excellence in the MNA's
College Newspaper Contest..
Johnson plans to graduate
from BSU next spring with a
degree in mass
communications.
Johnson currently resides in
Bemidji with his wife Barbara,
27. They met last year while
she was working as copy
editor for the Northern
Student. They were married
in October. Barbara will begin
her second year at BSU this
fall where she is studying
English and History. She is
originally from Fremont, Neb.
A Bill To
Enforce
Accountability
at Red Lake
At a meeting held on July 5,
I988, representatives of the
^ed Lake People's Council
massed a resolution to restrict
federal agencies from
contracting Fiscasl Year 1989
funds with the Red Lake
Tribal Government.
The People's Council
alleges that the Red Lake
Tribal Council withholds
constitutionally guaranteed
financial documents from
:>and membership. A
spokesman for the People's
Council claims that Tribal
Council Chairman, Roger
Jourdain regularly ignors
requests for audited financial
statements of the tribe. He
also claims that Bureau of
Indian Affairs officials, all the
way up to Assistant Secretary
of the Interior for Indian
Affairs, Ross Swimmer, have
failed to act upon their
requests. Even a 1985 case
filed in Federal Court (Lussier
vs. BIA) failed to get the
financial documents released.
In view of the recent requests
for more welfare and health
care related costs by the Red
Lake Tribal officials,
something has to be done to
find where all our money is
going. This resolution will put
he ball right in the court of
those responsible for Indian
Affairs. This resolution is not
an attempt to shut off all
PINE POINT REUNION
Pine Point School held its
first reunion on Saturday,
June 11,1988. Approximately
400 former and present Pine
Point students and residents
attended the day's events.
The reunion honored and
recognized the sixty (60)
college graduates from the
Pine Point community. Forty
college graduates from all
parts of tne country traveled
to Pine Point to be honored.
Thirty-five elders from the
Pine Point community also
received certificates of
appreciation for their
contribution to education and
Indian people.
Recognition was given to
Joan crark Turney and her
son for traveling the farthest.
They came from Germany.
The Dona Fairbanks Emerson
family from Prescott,
Michigan, received the family
recognition for traveling the
farthest. Fred Weaver, age
87, and Irene Vizenor, age
85, who were present,
received the eldest male and
female senior citizen's award,
respectively.
J /neal of roast beef and
turkey with potluck was
enjoyed. Friends and
relatives reunited. A key
organizer for the event, Violet
Annete Harper commented,
"This day was a success.
The goal of bringing people
together was accomplished. I
like to see people together
for happy times. This makes
me feel good."
(Continued on Page 2)
I        r \
r A
vll
CATCHING  UP!
Diane Hatlen, Mpls, MN; Carol Annette Smith, Pine Point;
and Margaret Boldt Wolfe, Wisconsin (left to right)
TALKING OLE TIMES!
Tom Magoris, Isle, MN (former teacher at Pine point) and
Sullivan Tted" Adams, Pine Point (member of Pine Point
School Board)    (left to right)
Red Lake People's Council
Sponsors Resolution
funding or delivery of services
to the Red Lake people, but
just those programs that the
federal government contracts
with the Red Lake Tribal
Council. The resolution is
designed to allow the affected
federal agencies to bypass
the Tribal Government and
deliver the services directly to
the Red Lake people. In this
way no hardship would be
experienced by the people
themselves."
In a somewhat related
matter, the "News" learned
that early this year
representatives of the Red
Lake Tribal Council
expressed an interest in
purchasing the Holiday Inn of
Bemidji. m addition tne Red
Lake Tribal Council was
reported to have attempted
to purchase a large parcel of
land near the reservation's
southeastern boundary.
Fortunately for the Red Lake
people neither of these
misguided moves resulted in
the expenditures of Tribal
Funds. It is incongrous to the
"News" that any responsible
government would even
consider the above purchases
and then go around begging
for money from the local
taxpayers. The resolution to
enforce accountability is as
follows:
A RESOLUTION REQUESTING
THAT THE MINNESOTA
CONGRESSIONAL
DELEGATION RESTRICT
FEDERAL AGENCIES FROM
CONTRACTING FISCAL YEAR
1989 FUNDS WITH THE RED
LAKE BAND OF CHIPPEWA
INDIANS UNTIL THE
GOVERNMENT OF SAID BAND
COMPLIES WITH ARTICLE VII,
SECTION 1 (a) OF THE TRIBAL
CONSTITUTION.
WHEREAS, the Red Lake
People's Council is an
organization composed of
enrolled members of the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa
Indians, and
WHEREAS, the Red Lake
People's Council was
organized to promote
constitutional, representative
and responsible government
on the Red Lake Reservation,
and
WHEREAS, members of the
Red Lake People's Council
and others have tried
unsuccessfully for years to
obtain constitutionally
guaranteed financial
documents from the Red
Lake Tribal Council, and
WHEREAS, the Constitution
of the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians was
adopted by a majority vote of
the enrolled members of the
Red Lake Band on October
14,1958, and later amended,
and    .
WHEREAS, the said
constitution was approved by
a delegate of the secretary of
the Interior on October 15,
1958, for and on behalf of the
U.S. Government, and
WHEREAS, the said Red Lake
Tribal Constitution as
approved by the Secretary
serves as the contractual
basis for the federal and tribal
government relationship, and
WHEREAS, the Secretary of
the Interior as Trustee of
Indian Tribal governments is
charged with the
responsibility to uphold and
enforce the federal and tribal
government relationship, and
WHEREAS, in the case of the
Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Indians, the Secretary of the
Interior has failed to carry out
his Trust responsibility by
allowing the Red Lake Tribal
Council to withhold tribal
financial documents from
tribal members in violation of
Article VII, Section 1 (a) of the
tribal constitution, and
WHEREAS, members of the
Red Lake People's Council
and others have attempted to
obtain copies of the said
financial documents by
written request to the Tribal
Council, to the Secretary and
by court action, and
WHEREAS, the Red Lake
Tribal Council is reported to
expend funds from the Tribe's
General Fund account in the
amount of $4,000,000.00 to
$5,000,000.00 on an annual
basis, and
WHEREAS, it has also come
to the attention of the Red
Lake People's Council that
agents for the Red Lake
Tribal Council recently
requested funding from
Beltrami County to pay for
certain health care related
costs, and
WHEREAS, the Red Lake
People's Council believes
that the increased welfare
and health care related costs
should be funded from the
$4,000,000.00 to
$5,000,000.00 Tribal General
Fund budget, and
WHEREAS, the Red Lake
People's Council is convinced
that a fair and independent
examination of the Fled Lake
Tribal budget would support
this conclusion, and
WHEREAS, in addition to the
General Fund Budget
described above the Red
Lake Tribal Council also
receives in excess of
$7,000,000.00 per year in
grants and contracts from
Federal agencies, and
WHEREAS, the Congress of
the   United   States
(Continued on Page J)