The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1988-12-21

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Swimmer to resign BIA post
Washington- U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer isn't
interested in keeping his job as head of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs
under President-elect George Bush's administration.
The BIA said Swimmer has submitted his resignation to President
Reagan.
Swimmer, however, said he recommends to his successor that the BIA
should be phased out over 10 years to an agency acting only as a trustee
for individual Indian interests.
"The money ought to be going directly to the tribes — not funneled
through a bureaucracy at the central office, area and agency levels,"
Swimmer told The Tulsa World, the BIA said. Tribes should, become
less dependent on the federal government.
"The government is spending billions but the social and economic
problems continue to worsen," Swimmer said. "It is not a money
problem. Money gets in the way of solving problems sometimes."
Tribal governments must be held accountable and have a responsibility
of improving the quality of life for their members, he said.
Human Rights Department
representative will be in Bemidji
An investigator from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights will
be holding office hours in Bemidji, Wednesday and Thursday, December
28 and December 29 1988.
The Minnesota Department of Human RightsRepresentative will be
available to answer questions regarding potential discrimination
complaints. Persons interested in filing discrimination complaints, as
well as employers or landlords who have questions relating to the
Minnesota Human Rights Act, are encouraged to contact the Department
of Human Rights Representative on these dates.
The Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the areas
of: employment, housing, education, public accommodations, public
services, and credit. Persons are protected on the basis of race, color,
creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to
public assistance, disability, age, and familial status.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights Representative can be
contacted in Bemidji on Wednesday and Thursday, December 28 and
December 29 1988, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Job Service
Office, 1819 Bemidji Avenue, Bemidji, Minnesota, (218) 755-2936.
Persons wishing to contact the Department of Human Rights at times
other than the above-scheduled dates maycall information in St. Paul at
the toll free number l-800-65279747. Ask for the Human Rights
Department, then ask for information.
Bemidji woman dies in house fire
Bemidji, Minn.- A woman died Saturday in a fire at a home 2 1/2 miles
east of Bemidji, authorities said.
The victim was identified as Virginia Louise Smith, 46, who was
found dead on a bedroom floor after the fire was extinguished. She was
alone in the house, which was destroyed, authorities said.
The Bemidji fire department and the Beltrami County sheriff's
department were called to the scene about 7:30 a.m. and said the house
in flames when they arrived.
The cause of the fire had not been determined.
Bemidji City Council
still refuses to accept
federal housing grant
Plan to study housing needs
; • • ■       ■ ■   .       ■ ■ ■
A petition to reconsider a grant
for low income housing was signed
by 634 Bemidji residents and
ignored by the Bemidji City
Council Monday night at their
regular weekly meeting.
The $1.5 million dollar federal
grant would have been used for
housing large, low-income
families, many of whom are Native
Americans.
The council rejected the proposed
grant because "we don't feel the
city of Bemidji wants to be in the
home ownership business," said
Council Member Rosemary Given
Amble.
According to the Bemidji
Pioneer a six-month study was
authorized by the'council to
research the possibility of
low-income housing in the Bemidji
area. The price tag connected to
the research is estimated at $25,000
to $30,000.
The grant that was turned down
during Monday's meeting would
have been used to buy 20 three-,
four-, and five-bedroom homes
that need little repair and would
have been turned into public
housing for some of the 180
families on the Housing and
Redevelopment Authority's rental
assistant waiting list. According to
Jim Klein, director of the city's
Housing and Redevelopment
Authority, 50 or 60 of these
families need three bedrooms or
more.
The waiting list, according to
Klein, is two to three years long,
and "realistically, some of those
people will never see housing."
Nevertheless, the council voted
down the project on Nov. 14, and
turned down the petition on
Monday night.
This comes after the city
expressed interest in a grant to
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build 20 houses of three bedrooms
or more, but was told that it had
little chance of winning a grant for
that purpose from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD). Instead,
HUD approved a $1,468,400 grant
to buy existing homes in October of
this year. This was the grant turned
down by the Bemidji City Council.
According to the Pioneer, the
petition was presented to the City
Council by Barb Katt, a member of
Bemidji Friends for a Non-Violent
World. The petition asked the
council to reconsider its position in
order "to address the serious
housing needs of Bemidji."
There were some problems in the
methods that the Coucilors
requested for documenting the need
for the low-income housing.
Coucilor Bruce Atwater noted that
he's never heard of a government
grant application without proper
documentation. Although the
funding for the project could have
been made available, it was denied
because of "inadequate
documentation".
According to the Pioneer, "If the
federal government doesn't want
the study, this city council does,"
said Mayor Doug Peterson, who
believed that funding for a future
project would be made available
after a proper documented study
would be made.
The current situation is the next
step in a series of proposals that
have been presented to the city
council since July.
Preliminary plans for the study
include existing land use in the
city; family size; employment
trend;, post-secondary school
enrollment; neighborhood
demographics; and housing type,
value and cost.
Fifty Ccr.:.~
Ojib we
News
Volume 1 Issue 31
Wednesday, December 21,1988
i
Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1988
A Weekly Publication
Bernadette Gotchie. of Bemidji, and her soon-to-be 3-year-old son Michael did some last minute Christmas
shopping Tuesday evening. Photo by James Johnson
Court says Wisconsin Chippewa subject to
boat registration rules when off reservation
Madison, Wis. (AP) - The state
can require the Chippewa to
register boats operated outside of
reservation waters without
interfering with the tribe's treaty
fishing or right of self-government,
the Wisconsin Supreme Court has
ruled.
'The high court on Wednesday
reversed a lower court decision in
ruling that boats owned by the Lac
du Flambeau band must be
registered with the state when used
oif the reservation.
The state can require registration
even though the boats in question
were registered with the tribal
government and are operated on
lands ceded by the Chippewa in
19th century treaties.
The 7-0 decision said registering
with the state did not discriminate
against the treaty-protected rights
of the Chippewa.
Nine members of the Lac du
Flambeau were cited by state
authorities in April 1986 for
operating unregistered motorboats
outside their reservation.
Although registered with the
tribal government, the boats did not
have valid state stickers.
The nine defendants filed a
motion seeking dismissal of the
citations. Rulings in their favor
were handed down in Oneida
County Circuit in September 1986
and later by a state appeals court
panel.
The trial court had contended the
treaty fishing rights of the tribal
members were violated by the state.
The appellate court said further
that state enforcement of boating
regulations also infringed on the
tribe's right of self-government.
But the Supreme Court noted that
recent U.S. Supreme Court cases
have shifted away from the concept
that Indians retain inherent
sovereignty to bar a state's
authority.
The state has jurisdiction to
enforce boating regulations as the
protector of state waters and no
federal regulation prohibits the
state from exercising that authority
over tribal members outside
reservations, the high court said.
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
RLTC to
contract
public
schools
By William J. Lawrence
Publisher
According to information
obtained from various sources, who
wish to remain anonymous, the
News has learned that the Red Lake
Tribal Council plans to take over
administrative control of the Red
Lake Public Schools.
On Dec. 8 tribal education
director Verna Wood and tribal
education consultant Pat Locke,
presented a code of education
standards to Red Lake school
officials for review and comment.
Based upon the school officials'
response to the code, the sources
indicate that the tribal council
intends to file an application to
contract administration of the
school district with the Red Lake
Board of Education.
A source said that one of the
main reasons that the tribal council
wants to take over the schools is to
get rid of the three unions. Other
sources have indicated that the real
reason is so the council can take
control of the schools' funds.
The schools presently have an
enrollment of nearly 1,000 students
and consists of two elementary
schools, a junior and senior high
school, and a vocational school.
The district currently employs 82
certified teachers and has a support
staff of approximately 80 people.
The school budget for the 1988-89
school year is nearly $8 million.
The News contacted Leonard
Nachman, of the school management branch of the Minnesota
Department of Education,
regarding the legalities of tribal
operation of public school district.
Nachman said he was not aware of
any application on file with the
department from the Red Lake
Tribal Council. He indicated that
according to current regulations, he
believed the tribal council could
contract with the Red Lake School
Board to administer the schools.
Several Red Lake reservation
sources expressed concern that the
tribal council's possible politicali-
zation of the school system could
result in a mass exodus of children
being moved to other schools by
their parents. According to the
Minnesota Open School Law,
students can enroll in schools
outside of their district of
residence.
The News was unable to learn if
any time table had been established
by the tribal council to contract the
Red Lake school.
Chippewa tribe can't run
lottery says U.S. Attorney
Minneapolis (AP)- The Fond du
Lac Chippewa tribe is prohibited
by state and federal laws from
running a planned lottery, says
Minnesota U.S. Attorney Jerome
Arnold.
Tribal officials had said they
would begin a lottery on Tuesday,
selling $1 lottery tickets toward a
weekly jackpot of $25,000. The
tribe contended the game was
legalized by a general election
vote approving a state
constitutional amendment
authorizing the Legislature to
create a state lottery'.
But Arnold said Thursday the
vote itself did not create a lottery
and current state law prohibits
such games.
"They cannot conduct a lottery
until such time as the state of
Minnesota makes it legal to
conduct a lottery," he said. "All
the amendment did was give die
Legislature the power to legalize
lotteries."
The Chippewa lottery also
would violate a federal law, signed
by President Reagan in October,
which gives the federal
government jurisdiction over state
gambling law violations, Arnold
said.
However, Mary Magnuson said
that the federal Indian Gambling
Regulatory act means mat the state
doesn't have jurisdiction to
penalize the tribe for starting a
lottery on the reservation.
Arnold said his office on
Thursday told lawyers for the
Minneapolis office of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs that they should
notify the tribe that it cannot run
the lottery. He did not say what
action he would take if the lottery
were started.
Nationwide, several Indian tribes
operate for-profit bingo games on
their reservations, and the
Chippewa and the city of Duluth
run a bingo operation in a Duluth
building that has been declared
part of the Chippewa reservation.
The tribe has said it intends to
start Tuesday selling lottery tickets
at mat building, called the Fond du
Luth Gaming Casino, and from
outlets on the reservation at
Cloquet.
Magnuson said that under the
new federal law, a reservation will
be able to have a lottery if the
Legislature approves a lottery bill
and after the tribe and state agree
on how the lottery is to be run.