The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1988-12-14

              Northern reservior
lakes wont be
lowered as much
this winter
p
a
g
e
2
&
&
&
Abolishing reservations
would cost Montana
counties millions,
says GAO
Reagan meets with Indian leaders
Washington (AP)- President Reagan told tribal leaders Monday that
American Indians "should have the right to choose their own life" and
said he doesn't recall his controversial remarks on their "primitive"
ways.
Indian leaders, after a long-sought meeting with Reagan at the White
House, said they were willing to put the controversy surrounding his
comments in Moscow last May behind them, and look forward to
further dialogue with the George Bush administration.
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the president met with
16 tribal leaders for about 20 minutes, outlining a 1983 statement in
which he endorsed self-determination for Indian tribes.
"Indians should have the right to choose their own life. .. The right to
have a say in what happens in Indian country," Fitzwater quoted the
president as saying. "Tribes must make those decisions, not the federal
government."
Reagan was accompanied by three members of his Cabinet, along with
other government officials, who continued to meet with tribal leaders for
nearly an hour after the president left.
The session came more than six months after the president, while in
Moscow for the May summit with Soviet leader Mikail Gorbachev, said
he was willing to meet "any time" with Indians then eager to see him to
air grievances. That demand was heightened after he went on to tell his
Soviet audience that the U.S. government may have made a mistake in
allowing Indians to pursue their "primitive lifestyle" rather than
becoming citizens "with the rest of us."
Asked by a reporter Monday about his "primitive lifestyle" remark,
Reagan appeared puzzled and said, "I don't recall saying that. I tried in
response to a question to explain that theirs was a freedom, as with all
the people of America, a freedom that is quite different" from the
situation in the Soviet Union.
Canadian Indian student
at BSU to perform today
Arden B, ruyere, a Canadian Indian from the Couchiching Reservation
near Fort Frances, Ontario, will be performing in the Hobson Memorial
Union on the campus of Bemidji State University Wednesday, Dec. 14
from 1 to 2 p.m.
Bruyere is a senior at BSU majoring in music. He is a graduate of
Hibbing Community College and the head minstrel in BSU's upcoming
Madrigal Dinners production.
Bruyere's performance includes songs ranging from contemporary,
soft rock and folk songs to hard rock and roll. There is no charge for this
performance.
Ecumenical peace and
justice group to meet
The Ecumenica! Task Force on Peace with Justice will meet or:
Saturday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. in the 4 West office complex in Bemidji.
The group is meeting to discuss organizational concerns and plan
events for the upcoming year. In the past, the interfaith group has
organized a wide range of events, from speakers and concerts to craft
fairs, around its central concerns for peace and justice in the world.
Anyone wishing to attend is invited. (Please use the door facing the 4
West parking lot.) For more information, contact Vicki Schmidt at
751-2138.
The
Ojib we
Fifty Cents
News
Founded in 1988
Volume 1  Issue 30
:—TH"
Wednesday, December 14.1988
I
Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1988
A Weekly Publication
Mish-Kee-Gee-Shig speaks.
Photo by Mark Boswell
Narrative history lesson in Naytahwaush
Hearing in Walker-
By Mark Boswell
Assistant Editor
About 35 students in
Naytahwaush were treated to an
afternoon of stories about the "old
days" by six local elders last
Monday at the elementary school in
Nay tau waush.
The featured speakers were
Marvin Sargeant, Phyllis Turpin,
Mary Rose Turner, Roberta
Robinson, Ruby LaVoy, and
Myron Fairbanks; all from the
community and surrounding area
around Naytahwaush.
■ The information session was a
enjoyable journey into the narrative
history of reservation life in and
around Naytahwaush during the
last 75 years. Included in the
colorful stories were tales about
ricing camp, boarding schools,
sliding, maple syrup collection,
burial rites, and growing up poor.
Videotaped by Principal Brent
Gish and Cultural Instructor
Rhonda Estey, this was the second
such informational meeting held at
the school in as many years.
Gish hopes to continue the
sessions in order to maintain a
knowledge of the "old days", and
give local children a chance to
compare the ways and values of
their elders, like Phyllis Turpin
who gave her ripe old age at the
gathering as "26".
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Red Lake Tribal
Council fails to
file 1987 audit
By William J. Lawrence
Publisher
The Ojibwe News recently
learned that the Red Lake Tribal
Council failed to file their fiscal
year 1987 audit of federal funds
with the Inspector General's office
of the U.S. Department of the
Interior.
The Red Lake audit was due at
the Inspector General's office in
Lakewood, Colo, on Nov. 1,1988,
or 13 months after the end of the
fiscal year being audited.
The Single Audit Act of 1984, an
Office of Management and Budget
circular, requires all recipients of
federal funds to have an audit
conducted annually. The audit is to
include all of the recipient's
organizations federally funded
contracts and grants. If any
federally funded programs are
excluded from the audit, the audit
may fail to meet the requirements
of the Single Audit Act and the
recipient organization is subject to
sanctions by the federal agencies.
These sanctions can include
suspending letters of credit and
termination of contracts and grants.
The News also learned that the
Red Lake Tribal Council has also
failed to respond to the Single
Audit Act report (C-AP-MI-
BIA-126-86-IA) which listed
questioned costs and internal
contract weaknesses and other
discrepancies in the tribe's 1986
audit. In addition, the 1986 audit
failed to include audits of all
federal funded programs.
District Court hears case against MCT trespassers
By Mark Boswell
Assistant Editor
"The issues that arise by reason
of this dispute are all issues that
relate to the internal functions and
workings of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe," stated Attorney
Craig D. Diviney, to a group of
about thirty people that were
crammed into a courtroom in
Walker yesterday.
This was the opening argument
heard in Cass County District Court
in reference, to charges of
trespassing by 10 tribal members
at the MCT Headquarters in Leech
Lake last April.
Diviney went on to describe the
defendants as, "a group of
concerned members of the MCT
who have demonstrated their
intention to secure for themselves
and their children a tribal
government which is open, fair,
and incorruptible."
The arrests occurred at the
Ojibwe People for Justice
encampment in Cass Lake, which
had been erected to bring attention
to intra-tribal differences and bring
about resolution of these
differences by opening channels of
communication between this group
and the current tribal administration.
Judge Michael Haas received a
Notice of Motion and Motion; and
Memorandum in Support of Motion
to Dismiss that were presented by
Defense Attorney Diviney of the
Minneapolis law firm Dorsey and
Whitney. Also representing the
defense was Attorney Michael
Staley, who was present, and Carol
Peterson, both of Dorsey and
Whitney. Peterson was unavailable
for the hearing.
One of the defendants, Ernest
Hunt, of Walker, is being
represented by Ted Lundigren of
Pine River. Hunt's situation differs
in that he is employed as a
custodian at tribal headquarters,
and claims he was not taking part
in the sit-in.
Also presented during the hearing
were the prosecution's opening
arguments, given by Assistant Cass
County Attorney Jon Eclov who
described the arrest.
"The RBC Chairman, Hartley
White , requested that the Sheriff of
this County," stated Eclov, "remove
the occupants of the facility
center." The jurisdiction to do so,
according to Eclov, is under the
criminal statutes of Public Law
280. *
"Now, the defendants said that
this statement isn't good enough,"
Eclov added, "that we have to go
ad nauseum into the details of the
tribal structure to simply state a
case of trespass."
Diviney emphasized the fact that
the defense did not rest on an attack
on Public Law 280. "Because we
don't think we need to," said
Diviney, "and we're not making or
trying to answer all of the questions
that might come up under P.L. 280"
Diviney presented the court with
defense documents that outlined the
grounds on which the complaint
against the defendants could be
dismissed. Eclov's briefs,
supporting prosecution, will be
available to the court on Dec. 19.
The original arrest stems from a
sit in at tribal headquarters that
dismissing the complaints against
them on the grounds that
(according to the original defense
documents):
i
(1) The State of Minnesota and
the Court have no jurisdiction over
the offenses alleged in the
Complaints.
(2) The Charges should be
dismissed because defendants were
exercising their rights to free
 Mil    III!
"This court has no jurisdiction to
resolve issues under the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe Constitution and the
Indian Civil Rights Act..."
Craig Diviney, attorney
began April 18 and lasted until the
arrest at 2 a.m. on April 24th.
The defendants are: Andrew R.
Roy, 37, of Minneapolis; Leonard
;W. Tanner, 51, of Duluth; William
T. Jackson, 36, of White Earth;
Marvin J. Manypenny, 41, of
Naytahwaush; Daniel A. St. Cyr,
34, of Minneapolis; Franklin W.
LaRose, 33, of Cass Lake; Richard
C. Bellecourt, 41, of White Earth;
Walter F. Reese, 43, of Walker;
and Constance M. Ross, 48, of
White Bear Lake.
Defense has moved for an order
speech, peaceable assembly, and
petition their government for the
redress of grievances, all as
expressly guaranteed by the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Constitution and the Indian Civil
Rights Act.
(3) The Complaints disclose no
probable cause to arrest defendants
in that (a) they do not allege that
these defendants were on the
premises of another; (b) they do not
disclose that defendants were
without claim of right; and (c) they
do not disclose that defendants
refused to depart on demand of the
lawful possessor.
The prosecution contends that
"the owner or possessor is the
RBC, or its representative." And
that the representative, Hartley
White, directed that the persons be
removed.
According to Eclov, "Tribal
Ordinance number one, ( under the
MCT Constitution), does give the
RBC chairman the power to
administer and carry out the
policies and the desires and
ordinances of the RBC."
The jurisdiction problem hinges
on the distinction of where the
ownership rights lie in relation to
RBC property, specifically the
RBC facilities in Cass Lake.
"What we do answer is this: That
in this particular case, a peaceful
assembly of people on reservation
land is, under the MCT
Constitution, that in those
circumstances , P.L 280 does not
confer upon the State of Minnesota
jurisdiction to enforce criminal
trespass laws ,"said Diviney,
supporting the defense's argument
in relation to ownership laws.
Judge Haas querried the defense
by asking, "How do the various
constitutions. United States and
Chippewa Tribe, differ?"
Diyiney stated that it was not his
position to be able to interpret the
MCT Constitution, only something
under the U.S. or State of Minnesota Constitution could be legitimately interpreted by his firm.
In the final statement made by
Diviney a significant agreement
was made between the defense and
comments that Eclov said in his
argument on the jurisdiction
interpretation. Diviney stated,"It
is something with which I agree
wholeheartedly, he (Eclov) said
that the defendants raise questions
and sought protection under the
MCT Constitution and the Indian
Civil Rights Act.
"This court has no jurisdiction to
resolve issues under the MCT
Constitution and the ICRA. I
think he's correct, that was the
focus of our argument.
"But if you take it to its extreme,
the position that Mr. Eclov is
espousing is 'Well, sure your
Honor, you've got jurisdiction to
apply the criminal law of trespass
to these defendants and to put
them in jail if you find them
guilty, or if a jury finds them
guilty'"
"But; when it comes to
defenses," said Diviney, "when it
comes to the things that would be
an absolute defense to this charge,
well you don't have the
jurisdiction to hear those.
Rebuttals will be filed, and an
evidenciary hearing is scheduled
for Jan. 19
Plan for Indian-run lottery surprises federal, state attorneys
Duluth, Minn. (AP)- A plan by the Fond
du Lac Chippewa band to launch the first
lottery in Minnesota has surprised federal
and state attorneys who expressed
uncertainty over its legality.
"I didn't know about it until this
morning," Mary Magnuson, state assistant
attorney general for gaming, said Friday.
"This phone call is the first knowledge
this office has had (of the plan)," said U.S.
Attorney Jerome Arnold.
In a referendum last month, Minnesota
voters approved a state-run lottery. If the
Legislature also approves it, the state
lottery might get off the ground as early as
next fall.
Wherever a state lottery is legal, tribal
lotteries are legal under federal law. Fond
du Lac officials say the referendum gave
the blessing to lotteries.
But Arnold said he isn't so sure a lottery
is legal yet because the Legislature hasn't
approved it.
Fond du Lac made public this week its
intention to operate a weekly lottery
through the Fond-du-Luth Gaming Casino
in Duluth and on the reservation at Cloquet.
The move makes it the second Indian
government in the nation, after the Oneidas
of Wisconsin, to run a lottery, but more
tribes are preparing their own games,
officials say.
The Red Lake Chippewas near Bemidji
will begin a lottery within weeks, said
Tribal Chairman Roger Jourdain. And the
Prairie Island Sioux near Red Wing will
begin one within a year, said Tribal
Councilman Joe Campbell.
Four tribes in the Pacific Northwest also
are ready to start games, said Joe Marinan,
gaming director with Walker-Castle Inc. of
Green Bay, Wis., which handles the games
for all eight tribes.
Although there is strong legislative
opposition to a state lottery, it's almost sure
to be approved, said Aaron Ross,
spokesman for state lottery proponent Sen.
Bob Lessard, DFL-International Falls.
But Ross said he was surprised by Fond
du Lac's move. He said the referendum
purposely was worded so voters were
approving only a state-run lottery, thereby
preventing tribes from having them.
"It looks like a good opportunity," said
Fond du Lac Secretary-Treasurer Peter
Defoe. "There isn't anything like this
lottery in the state, and that's one of the
reasons we wanted to start it right away."
Federal, state and tribal attorneys still are
navigating the Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act, which became law this fall. It details
when and how the various governments
have jurisdiction over tribal gaming.
State attorney Magnuson said she thinks
the Fond du Lac lottery comes under
federal jurisdiction.
Federal attorney Arnold said he would
examine the case.
But Marinan, chuckling, said the tribes
already have looked into the matter.
"Take my word for it," he said. "There's
absolutely nothing (federal or state
attorneys) can do ... They wrote the rules,
we didn't. Wait until you see what else
we're going to do that they didn't know
they'd written into that bill."
Possibilities include selling tickets by
mail and opening off-reservation lottery
outlets, he said.
Superior and other Wisconsin cities
bordering Minnesota sell a lot of lottery
tickets to Minnesotans, said Rick Berg,
director of the Wisconsin Lottery.
Defoe said the Fond du Lac Lotto, with
its better odds and instant payoff, will
attract lottery players from Wisconsin.
Marinan said the band has developed
alternative lottery plans, when and if a state
lottery is launched, to avoid the drop in
ticket sales experienced by the Oneidas
after Wisconsin began its state lottery.
Tickets are set to go on sale Dec. 20. The
first drawing will be Jan. 4, Marinan said.