The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1988-09-28

              STATE:
Son of AIM co-founder is
leader in his own right
page 2
NATIONAL:
Church bars powwow
page 3
HEALTH:
Associated Press
health special
page 6
News Briefs
Deputy fired
for pointing
revolver at
motorist
St. Paul (AP)- A Ramsey
County deputy sheriff was
fired after authorities said
he pointed his revolver at
a motorist he was trying
to pass.
"It's completely false,"
Deputy Charles S. Wilson
said of the report, which
authorities released
Monday.
Wilson said Sheriff
Charles Zacharias is
trying to get rid of him
because he opposed
Zacharias In the last
primary election.
"I know he's revengeful
person, but I didn't think
it was that serious,"
Wilson said.
Zacharias could not
immediately be reached
for comment, but Chief
Deputy George Katseres
said politics had noting to
do with Wilson's
dismissal.
"That's ridiculous,"
Katseres said. "Charley
'son didn't even get
very many votes. That
had nothing to do with it."
Katseres said an
Internal investigation
substantiated claims by a
S t. Paul man who
reported that Wilson
waved a gun and then
pointed it at him on July
11.
Wilson, 42, was
suspended for 20 days
without pay in 1986 for a
similar incident in which
he allegedly pointed his
.38 caliber revolver at a
motorist in Maplewood
while he was off duty and
not in uniform, Katseres
said. Wilson denies that
allegation.
Foster
mother
charged
with child
negelct
Minneapolis (AP)- A
Minneapolis woman who
has serveda-s a
state-licensed foster
mother for the past 14
years has been charged
with child neglect after
her two teen-age sons
were accused of sexually
molesting their 8-year-old
sister and the woman's
7-year-old foster
daughter.
Jacquelynne Sandra
Whitner, 44, whose family
has cared for more than
12 Hennepin County foster
children, is free pending a
court appearance Friday.
Whitner's attorney said
Friday that she will plead
innocent to the gross
misdemeanor.
Whitner was arrested
this week after her
daughter and two former
foster children told police
they had complained to
her about sexual abuse
that began about a year
ago, according.to a
complaint filed in
Hennepin County District
Court.
Whitner's attorney, Gary
Pang, said Friday that
Whitner says she was not
Informed of the allegations
until child protection
officials approached her
about it last month.
The
Ojibwe
News
"News by and for the Ojibwe Nation"
Copyright Ojibwe News, 1988
THIRTY-FIVE CENTS
Founded at Bemidji,
Wednesday, September 28,1988 \
A Weekly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
t
Native Americans
Against Discrimination
begins fund raising
By James Johnson
Editor
Native Americans Against
Discrimination (in the North-
country) will be holding their
second meeting on Oct. 8 at
1 p.m. in the Leech Lake
Bingo Palace in Cass Lake.
The group, which is headed
by Clarence "Joe" Sayers of
Bemidji, was founded
recently to combat what was
seen by some as overt
discrimination by local
officials, including law
enforcement, and social and
city services.
Sayers said they are still
trying to organize more
people and that since their
first meeting on Sept. 17, a
few people have come
forward to voice their
concerns.  '
According to Sayers,
NAAD is organizing a number
of fund raising activities to
pay for legal assistance.
On Oct. 1 there will be a
Indian taco and rummage
sale at 701 America Ave.
from 10 am. to 4 p.m.
The group is also sponsoring a raffle. Members will
be out selling tickets and the
drawing is scheduled for Nov.
13. First prize is a color
television; second prize is a
car stereo; third prize is $25
cash, fourth prize is $15 and
fifth prize is $10.
Sayers said the group is
also planning on having a
benefit dinner and dance.
Sayers said the group's
anti-discrimination activities
are going to be focus on the
Bemidji are for now, but as
they get more support and
funding, they hope to spread
out and attack discrimination
throughout the northcountry.
The Chief Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig football team lost to the Redlake team last week.
Submitted photo
American Indian Movement leader jailed
Minneapolis (AP)-
American Indian Movement
leader Vernon Bellecourt has
been jailed in Alexandria,
Va., for refusing to testify to
a grand jury investigating
activities or alleged Libyan
foreign agents.
Bellecourt's attorney,
Ronald Kuby of New York,
said the Minneapolis AIM
leader surrendered to U.S.
marshals Wednesday, a
week after he lost an appeal.
"I stand steadfast in
upholding the First Amendment right of free associa
tion, expression and travel
and the right to be free of
censorship," Bellecourt said
Thursday.
Bellecourt faces up to 18
months in jail, plus additional
time for failing to turn himself
in 24 hours after the court
denied the appeal on Sept.
14, Kuby said. Bellecourt was
in Europe at the time and
returned this week, Kuby.
said.
Bellecourt and Bill Means,
director of the Heart of the
Earth Survival School in
Minneapolis, were subpoe
naed to testify in July. Both
refused and appealed the
contempt of court citation.
Eight men have been
arrested and charged with
illegally diverting money
intended for Libyan students
in the United States to
activities that supported
Libya's government in the
wake of the federal grand
jury investigation.
The FBI has reported that
most of the men were
members of the People's
Committee for Libyan
Students, a group the Libyan
government created in 1981.
Some of activities included
bringing minority group
leaders, such as Bellecourt
and Means, to Libya for tours
and, in some cases, for
rallies opposing U.S. policies.
Bellecourt organized a trip
to Libya in April 1987 and
spoke at a rally that marked
the first anniversary of the
U.S. bombing of Tripoli. The
trip was largely paid for by
the Libyan government. He
said in an interview last
month that he has been to
Libya at least seven times
since the early 1980s, but
declined to specify how many
of those were paid for by the
Libyan student group.
Means said last month that
he went to Libya once, in
1984, and the trip was
sponsored by the International Indian Treaty
Council, a nongovernmental
body at the United Nations
representing 99 nations from
North and South America.
The council paid for his
expenses, said Means, who
is its executive director.
Conservation code questioned
Manypenny held in contempt of court
By Mark Boswell
Assistant Editor
Marvin Manypenny is
an of conviction.  He hi
s a
man ot conviction. He nas
repeatedly questioned the
current tribal government on
the White Earth reservation,
sought reform, and found
himself labeled as a troublemaker and heretic. He has
constantly run into a wall of
bureaucracy and what he
considers a corrupt system.
An outspoken member of
the White Earth based group
Anishinabe Akeeng and a
past candidate for Secretary-
Treasurer, he has taken a
stand where most Ojibwe
people would remain silent.
Manypenny has asked
questions that most would
think twice about asking. -
Recently, during a conservation court hearing in White
Earth, he asked one too
many question and was cited
for being in contempt of
court, was arrested, and is
now serving a ten day
sentence for the crime.
Originally scheduled on
Sept. 6 as a hearing for two
men accused of poaching
deer, the courtroom became
a place that Manypenny
thought he could use as a
sounding board against the
authority of the court for the
persecution of his two
friends. The two men, John
and Frank Thompson had
been accused of poaching
deer, Manypenny and other
members of Anishinabe
Akeeng were present at the
hearing that was held in the
conservation department
Headquarters in White Earth.
His questioning of the
authority of the Conservation
Court arose out of the
distinction between civil and
criminal proceedings. The
question was directed toward
the conservation court judge,
Richard Tanner of Cass Lake.
Tanner dismissed the
comment and proceded with
the trial of the Thompsons,
both are residents of the
Twin Cities and relatives of
Manypenny.
Again, Manypenny asked
the question, Where is the
authority to do this? You
can't incarcerate these
guys." Judge Tanner warned
Manypenny that if he did not
"shut up" he would be held in
contempt of court.
the morning of Sept. 20
Manypenny was served with a
warrant. He sought legal
advice and, along with otner
members of the Anishinabe
Akeeng, began seeking a
writ of habeas corpus, which
would have released him from
his jail sentence. The
document is essentially an
argument containing the
reasons why a court's
decisions were questioned,
this document would be the
foundation of a case against
the conservation department.
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"Whoever begins to
challenge this system
better be prepared
for a long and
complicated battle."
-Stephen Zachary, attorney
According to court
transcripts Manypenny
responded by saying, "Well,
hold me in contempt then."
Tanner then charged him
with contempt of court and
sentenced him to pay a $100
fine or serve 10 days in jail.
Cathy Goodwin, clerk of
court for the hearing stated
that she presented the
amendment that proves the
jurisdiction to Manypenny.
Apparently, he did not think
the document was valid and
was held in contempt of
court for that reason.
The trial for the two
Thompsons was postponed
because of the Manypenny
charge and rescheduled for
early October.
Two weeks passed and on
According to Richard
Bellecourt, a friend of
Manypenny and a resident of
White Earth, it was too
complicated to file such a
document in such a short
time. Manypenny was taken
into custody later that day.
Dale Boyer, a game warden
from the WhiteEarth reservation transported Many-
penny to the Nett Lake
reservation jail where he is
now serving the ten day
sentence.
The question that he
brought forth in the conservation court still remains.
Bellecourt also believes that
the transfer of power from
civil to criminal has not been
ratified,"We tried to get this
new one (the conservation
code) that they've done the
transfer from civil to criminal
in. The conservation department said it was unavailable
because it had not been
ratified."
Richard Bellecourt believes
that that the conservation
code is invalid without a
committee to oversee its
operation. "Over and over in
here (the conservation code)
it tells you right out that this
conservation committee has
the authority." According to
Bellecourt the document has
no validity without the
conservation committee.
The committee was
dissolved several years ago
and the decision making
body of the conservation
department reverted to the
Tribal Executive Committee.
According to Stephen
Zachary, an attorney from
the Twin Cities who was
contacted to handle the
processing of the writ of
habeas corpus, "We would
have loved to argue this if we
would have had the time."
"The unfortunate thing is
that the information wasn't
given to us in enough time to
do anything," said Zachary.
According to Zachary, a
writ of habeas corpus and
the creation of a legitimate
case against the conservation department, would
take a lot of time, probably
more time than the ten days
that Manypenny's jail
sentence would take. If
Morrin and Ray Bellecourt
had contacted him
immediately after the original
sentencing, Zachary believes
they would have had a good
case. Several things can be
questioned within the pages
of the White Earth conservation code, Zachary went
on to explain, "Where was
the jurisdiction for that court
to enforce that provision?
Where was that court's
authority to set bail? (For the
Thompson case) Where are
the provisions for defining
contempt of court?'
Zachary declined the
request of Ray Bellecourt
and Morrin to challenge the
conservation departments
incarceration of Manypenny,
so they sought legal help
elsewhere.
At the time of this writing
Morrin and Ray Bellecourt
have contacted Ed Peterson,
an attorney from Bemidji
who is aiding in the writ of,
habeas corpus.
But, as Zachary
commented in a telephone
interview, "Whoever begins
to challenge this system
better be prepared for a long
and complicated battle."
Notice:
The newsstand price
of the Ojibwe News will
go up to 50 cents beginning next week. Subscription rates are also
going up (see ad inside).
Also, our address has
changed. Our new
address is: The Ojibwe
News, 1819 Bemidji Ave.
Bemidji, MN 56601. Our
phone number is (218)
751-1655. Both news
and advertising inquiries
should be directed to
this address and phone
number.
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