The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1988-07-27

              Re-enactment of "Trail
of Tears" planned
See Page 2
BIA auditor recalled
See Page 3
Letters
See Page 4
National
Judge Issues
In j uction at
Turtle Mountain
Reservation
Fargo, N. Dak. (IPN) - U.S.
District Judge Rodney Webb
has issued an injunction that
prevents the Bureau of Indian Affairs from stopping
benefits to Turtle Mountain
Chippewas whose degree of
Indian blood has been called
into question, officials said.
The injunction ensures
that 653 members will be
eligible for at least $1,700 in
individual payments and
other benefits from an 1895
treaty with the federal
government.
The treaty, called the "Ten
Cent Treaty," required the
government to pay the tribe
10 cents an acre for land that
was taken in northeastern
North Dakota
The BIA has been trying to
determine which members
were at least one-quarter
Chippewa biodd, in order to
decide who was eligible for
shares in the payment. The
Indians who were not included in the tribal rolls after
the BIA ruled they were
ineligble, filed suit in the
federal court.
The tribal council has the
authority to determine trjbal
enrollment for the Turtle
Mountain Band created by
Congress in 1940, the Indians claim.
The amount now owed to
the the 26,000-member
tribe totals, with interest,
more than $42 million,
officials said. Tribal members
received their payment
checks last month.
Two Oneida men
sentenced for
embezzlement of
pull-tab money
Milwaukee, Wise. (IPN) -
A federal court sentenced
two Oneida men, who pleaded guilty to embezzling
money from pull-tab sales at
the Oneida Nation's bingo
hall, to five years probation.
Charles Belisle, 23, and
Conrad King, 24, were sentenced to probation by U.S.
District Judge Terence
Evans, and were each ordered to pay $30,000 restitution
plus the investigation costs
incurred by the tribe. They
were also ordered to perform 1,500 hours of community service for the tribe.
The recommendations of
tribal officials about the defendants' sentencing were
followed by Evans, said
Assistant U.S. Atty. Francis
Schmitz.
The defendants each
pleaded guilty to one count
of embezzlement on May 16.
As part of the plea bargaining agreement, they agreed
to cooperate with the
government investigation,
chmitz said.
An audit of the bingo hall
showed $395,743 revenue
was lost between Oct. 1985
and Feb. 1987, but officials
are not certain if misconduct
and embezzlement caused
the loss of the entire
amount.
"The investigation is continuing," said Schmitz. "We
don't believe these men
were responsible for all of it."
The
Ojibwe
"News by and for the Ojibwe Nation"
News
c Copyright Ojibwe News 1988
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No. 119
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Founded at Bemidji, Minnesota in 1988
Volume 1 Issue 10
Wednesday, July 27,1988
A Weekly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Meeting ofMinnesota Chippewa
Tribe Ends in Dispute
Cloquet, MN (AP) - As a
crowd of Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe members
prevented the seating of
newly elected governing
officials at a meeting
Monday, the chief
executive of the Mille Lacs
band said that band is
pulling out of the tribe.
Shouting "Don't swear
him in! We don't want that
man representing us,"
members succeeded
keeping Tribal President
Darrell "Chip" Wadena,
Bois Forte Chairman
Eugene Boshey and Fond
du Lac Chairman Robey
"Sonny" Peacock from
being seated, the Duluth
News-Tribune reported.
None of the three was
elected June 14 with more
than 50 percent of the vote
in their'respective bands.
Also not seated was Mille
Lacs Reservation Chief
Executive Arthur Gahbow,
who did receive more than
50 percent of the vote.
"Today, if I'm not going
to be sworn in, I'm going to
walk through that door -
and Mille Lacs (is out),"
Gahbow said. The Mille
Lacs band has been trying
to separate from the tribe
for several years.
Gahbow said later he
regarded Monday's
meeting as the final rift and
would not return to the
governing body.   He said
the Mille Lacs band has its
own judicial system and
doesn't need the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
Monday's meetingat the
Fond du Lac Reservation
was prompted by a recent
ruling of a judge hired to
settle an election protest
on the tribe's Leech Lake
Reservation. The judge
declared the election there
invalid because no
candidate had received
more than 50 percent of
the vote. Some say her
ruling may effect elections
in all six bands of the tribe.
The judge's decision
would have required a new
election at Leech Lake,
which   Leech   Lake
Chairman Hartley White -
the defeated incumbent -
was arranging.
Instead, Wadena, after
contacting four of the other
11 Tribal Executive
Committee members,
established an appeals
court to review the judge's
ruling. The Tribal
Executive Committee
governs the tribe.
At issue at Monday's
meeting were whether
Wadena, Boshey and
Peacock could assume
seats on the Tribal
Executive Committee even
though they didn't receive
more than naif the votes,
and whether the appeals
court has authority under
Gopher State Exposition is busy setting up the Midway for the Beltrami County Fair which begins Wednesday night and runs
through Sunday evening. (Photo by James Johnson)
the tribe's constitution or is
simply a kangaroo court
set up to circumvent the
ruling.
Wadena has come under
fire from tribal members in
recent years over several
controversial actions. His
removal from office is one
of the goals of Chippewa
protesters who have been
staging a camp-in at tribal
headquarters in Cass, Lake
since April 18.
Wadena also came under
fire from White, who
accused him of setting up a
kangaroo court. White
also said he is being frozen
out on the tribal body and
in reservation government.
"Why am I being made
an outcast?" he asked,
then added "I'm not going
to be an outcast! I'm going
to be a thorn in your side
whether I'm in here or not."
A short time later, the
Duluth newspaper
reported, Wadena slammed
down the gavel without
explanation and adjourned
the meeting.
A Tribal attorney, Kent
Tupper of Minneapolis,
remained in the
background throughout the
meeting. When Wadena
closed the meeting, people
leaving accused Tupper
and other non-Indians and
attorneys of manipulating
tribal power behind the
scenes.
The fcomments got
louder and finally Tupper
started out the back door.
People followed him
outside, and shouts
became louder as the
crowd surged in behind
Tupper. The attorney
rushed to his car, jumped
in, locked the doors and
drove over a boulevard in a
dash for the road.
Although the Tribal
Executive Committee
didn't rule on the authority
of the appeals court, the
three-man court held a
hearing Monday afternoon
in Duluth. The court
decided to postpone its
verdict until after Friday,
when attorneys on both
sides will have filed briefs.
First Annual Bemidji International Indian Fair
and Trade Exposition scheduled for Aug. 12-14
By James Johnson
Staff Writer
Bemidii, Minn. - The
Bemidii Area Indian Employment Council, in cooperation
with area civic and commercial organizations, is sponsoring the First Annual
Bemidji International Indian
Fair and Trade Exposition.
According to Erv Sargent
of the Indian Employment
Council, the event is scheduled for Aug. 12-14. Most of
the activities will take place
at the Beltrami County Fair
Grounds.
"One of the reasons that
we feel something like this
should go on in Bemidji,"
said Sargent, "is because we
have all different events
going on around Bemidji at
the reservations, but we
really don't have anything
here in town. Bemidji is kind
of the hub for three major
Indian reservations. . . We
figure this is a natural spot
for having something like
this."
The Indian fair will feature
a traditional and a contest
pow-wow, with about
$30,000 in prize money
being awarded to dancers
and for other events.
There will also be a
parade on Saturday, Aug. 13
in downtown Bemidji.
A Miss Indian Minnesota
will be chosen in a pageant
that is being held in association with the Miss Indian
America Pageant, which
takes place annually in
Bismarck, N. Dak.. The
current Miss Indian America,
Linda Kaye Lupe, will be a
featured guest of the fair. A
fashion snow will also take
place in conjunction with the
Miss Indian Minnesota
Pageant.
Other events scheduled
include a slow-pitch softbail
tournament, a golf tourna
ment, a canoe race on Lake
Bemidji, a ten-kilometer
race, an arts and craft fair
and a trade exposition.
The trade exposition is
open to tribes from throughout the U.S., and is a chance
to showcase their economic
development efforts.
"We haven't been getting
too much response to that,
said Sargent. It's only about
three weeks away and we're
still hoping to hear from the
tribes we sent letters to."
Sargent estimates it'll cost
at least $40,000 to finance
the Indian fair. He said they
received a matching grant of
$10,300 from the Minnesota
Initiative Fund.
"Also, money will be
generated from the selling of
admission buttons which will
be $5 a piece and will cover
the three days," he said.
Children 10 and under will be
admitted free.
Sargent said they are also
asking area businesses and
organizations, which they
feel will benefit from having
this event in town, to contribute. About 150 letters
have been sent out asking
for contributions.
Income will also be
generated by bingo games
and pull-tab sales for which
they have received a permit
for from the state charitable
gambling board.
"So I think things are
looking goodfor the money
end of it," Sargent said.
"We've advertised $35,000
in prizes and we want to
stick with that."
All profits from this year's
fair will go toward financing
next year's, Sargent said.
. "We hope to have a powwow group organized so
they can do it themselves
next year--they won't have
to go through the Indian
Employment Council," he
said.
Sargent conservatively
estimates that the fair will
bring about 10,000 people
into the community for the
three-day fair, which he said
would definitely be a benefit
to the local economy.
According to a proposal
the organizers drafted, one
of their goals is to, within a
four-year period, establish
the Bemidji International
Indian Fair and Trade Exposition as one of the top
five American Indian
festivals in the U.S.. Similar
events, such as the Crow
Fair in Montana and the
United Tribes International
Pow-wow in Bismarck, are
tremendously successful,
and are the premiere summer events in their respective states. The Bismarck
group has been providing
planning assistance for the
Bemidji Indian fair.