Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-01-18

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country
Commentary/Editorials/Voices
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events
Classifieds
RLTC accepts
King recall
petition, sets
election for
March 13
P9 1
King's Musings
The internet
thing
pg4
U.S. Labor law does
not override tribal
ordinance, federal
appeals court rules
pg 1
Graduation rates for
Indian children show
little improvement, less
than half graduate
pg 1
Commentary
Greed, ego
and secrecy -
Red Lake
style
pg4
Graduation rates for Indian children
show little improvement
Less than half of high school students graduate
Voice     of     t he     People
web page: www.press-on.net
By Jean Pagano
Two years ago, this newspaper
presented an article that detailed
how Indian control and increased
spending were not helping the
overall graduation rates among Indian children. While the number of
Indian children in public schools
increased over the last two years,
the percentage of students actually
graduating from grade 12 is lower
today that it was twenty years ago.
In 1981, according to the then
Minnesota Department of Education, there were 10,972 Indian students in state school districts, with
503 Indian students actually graduating from high school. Eighteen
years later in 1999, the number of
Indian student in state school districts, according to the Minnesota
Department of Children, Families,
and Learning, had grown 64% to
17,168 Indian students in grades K
through 12. The number of graduating seniors in 1999 for Indian
students was 532, or roughly the
same number as in 1981. If the increase in enrollment in state public
schools had been followed by a
proportional increase in graduation
rates, then approximately 825 Indian students should have graduated in 1999. What we see in the
statistics is a group of students
stuck with graduation rates of less
than 50% and dropout rates that
are greater than a third of the enrolled base.
Statistics for the year 2000 are
nearly identical to the information
presented for 1999. A total of
17,145 Indian students were enrolled in the public schools system
in the state of Minnesota, yet only
530 of these students actually
graduated from that very same
public school system. The issue as
to why these numbers do not seem
to improve over time given increased funding and increased Indian control will be addressed in a
subsequent article.
The trends in number of students, graduated students, students
that have dropped out, and students
continuing vary by only a few percentage points since 1996. In the
class of 1996, there were 945 Indian students enrolled in Minnesota public schools in the ninth
grade. Of this number, 37% or 350
students, graduated, 39.9% or 377
dropped out, and 23.1 % or 218
continued on with their education.
The class of 1997 had 1089 students enrolled in erade 9. Of these
1089 students, 414% or 448
graduated, 37.9% or 413 dropped
out, and 21 % or 229 students continued on with their education.
Similar trends are found with the
class of 1998, which had 1197 students enrolled in grade 9. Of these,
43.4% or 519 graduated 35.4% or
424 dropped out, and 21.2% or
254 continued on. Of the five-year
period the year 1998 showed the
best percentages of all. The class of
1999 had 1252 students in the
ninth grade and of these students,
42.5% or 532 graduated, 34.7% or
434 dropped out, and 22.8% or
285 continued. Finally, the class of
2000 had 1243 students enrolled in
grade 9. 530 students or 42.6%
graduated, 428 students or 34.4%
dropped out, and 286 or 23% of
Indian students continued on.
The statistics made public by
Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning are
adjusted figures. When a student
no longer attends school, the Department assigns one of 32 reasons
to each student. The student falls
into one of five categories: graduated dropped out, expected to continue, transferred to another educational program outside of Minnesota, or stopped their education for
reasons of illness, death, or other
unusual circumstances. The numbers presented in this article reflect
only the first three categories.
No one group of students in
fated to be restricted to a small
range of percentages of success
and failure. The reasons for the
percentages detailed in this and
previous articles will be the topic
of a subsequent article on why,
given increased funding and oversight, Indian children cannot
graduate at higher rates than in recent history.
Native *
American
Press
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2002
Founded in 1988
Volume 14 Issue 7
January 18,2002
U.S. labor law does not override tribal
ordinance, federal appeals court rules
flict with generally applicable federal statutes, the majority effectively bestows upon Indian tribes
sovereign powers tar greater than
those possessed even by states. As
a result of the majority opinion,
tribes will have unfettered power
to enact ordinances that directly
conflict with any federal statute of
general application. For example,
the Pueblo could enact an ordinance legalizing the closed shop, 3
form of compulsory unionization
the majority acknowledges was
'outlawed in 1947 by the Taft-
Hartley Act's amendment of the
NLRA,'" Murphy wrote.
But the court majority dismissed
such fears, noting that the tribe
"does not challenge the supremacy
of federal law."
■   "The ordinance as amended,
does not attempt to nullify the
NLRA or any other provision of
federal law. The suggestion that
tribes, including those that have already enacted right-to-work laws,
might 'enact ordinances allowing
precisely what generally applicable
federal law prohibits' finds no support in this record. Furthermore,
there is no danger that the Pueblo
and the State of New Mexico
might enact conflicting laws, since
state right-to-work laws are of no
effect in federal enclaves such as
Indian reservations," the court
held. "Rather, the central question
here is whether the Pueblo continues to exercise the same authority
to enact right-to-work laws as do
states and territories."
By Jeff Armstrong
Tribal ordinances contrary to
federal labor laws can be enforced
upon those working or doing business on leased reservations lands, a
federal appeals court ailed last
week.
In a 9-1 ruling, the full 10th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals rejected
an appeal by the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) and labor
union plaintiffs of an earlier decision dismissing their request for an
injunction against the San Juan
Pueblo's so-called "right-to-work"
law. Also incorporated into the
terms of the lease, the tribal ordinance—barring private contracts
which require union membership
or dues for employees—is modeled after those of several states
which are bitterly opposed by organized labor.
The NLRB and a union local argued that reservations are boimd
by the National Labor Relations
Act as a law of general applicability because tribes are not included
under the federal definition of
states and territories allowed to
adopt differing standards.
However, the 10th Circuit ruled
that there was no evidence the
United States intended to strip
tribes of jurisdiction over labor
regulations.
"We disagree and instead are
convinced by the Pueblo's argument that, as an Indian tribe, it retains the sovereign power to enact
its right-to-work ordinance, and to
enter into the lease agreement with
right-to-work provisions, because
Congress has not made a clear retrenchment of such tribal power as
is required to do so validly," judge
William Holloway wrote for the
court.
The appeals court also rejected
arguments that the Pueblo lacked
jurisdiction to apply its civil regulations to non-Natives, ruling instead that such restrictions are usually limited to non-trust land.
"in general the cases where, absent congressional guidance, tribes
have been found to lack regulatory
authority have been those involving nonmembers' activity on non-
Indian-owned fee land that was
found to have no direct effect on
the tribe," the court ruled. "These
limiting precedents, however, are
not applicable here, where the
NLRB seeks a declaratory judgment prohibiting the application of
the ordinance to all persons everywhere on the reservation, and
where the only instance of regulation cited pertains to consensual
commercial dealings between the
Pueblo and its members on the one
hand, and a lumber company operating on lands leased from the tribe
on the other."
A dissenting opinion was offered
by judge Michael Murphy, a member of the original three-judge
panel whose opposition to the majority prompted the "en banc" review by the entire circuit court.
"By holding that Congress can
never implicitly divest tribes of
their power to enact laws that con-
Indian Affairs
Council enters
telescope
controversy
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is urging the
University of Minnesota not to participate in a controversial telescope
project in Arizona.
The council unanimously passed
a resolution Tuesday to "strongly
respectfully request and urge" the
university to look elsewhere for astronomical development and not
join the University of Arizona and
its Mount Graham telescope complex.
Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. donated S5 million to the University
of Minnesota department of astronomy to purchase a share in the
powerful telescope now under construction in southeastern Arizona.
The gift, announced last week,
will guarantee access for university
faculty and students to the Large
Binocular Telescope, the world's
most powerful telescope.
The Indian Affairs Council,
which includes leaders of
Minnesota's 11 tribes, said the tele:
scope would desecrate a sacred site
of the Western Apache and continue to harm their culture and reli-
TELESCOPE to page 5
Tribe demands shutdown of
three casinos after court ruling
is part owner of MotorCity Casino.
The third casino is operated by Las
Vegas-based MGM Mrage.
"With the preference, the ordinance is fatally unfair, and the casino licenses Detroit lias issued to
date are illegitimate," the majority
opinion said.
The decision came in a lawsuit
filed by the Lac Vieux Desert Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, based in the western Upper
Peninsula, which claimed the Detroit ordinance was discriminatory.
Tribal spokesman Bob Kolt said
Friday the court mling means the
three casinos are operating illegally.
Lac Vieux Desert wants the Michi-
By John Flesher
Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - A
federal appeals panel Friday struck
down the procedure under which
Detroit's three casinos were licensed, and the American Indian
tribe that challenged the policy said
it would try to shut them down.
In a 2-1 ruling, the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati
found the Detroit licensing ordinance unconstitutional because it
granted preferences to two companies that had campaigned for approval of gambling in the city.
The groups - Greektown Casino
LLC and Atwater Entertainment
Associates LLC - received licenses
and are operating casinos. Atwater
RLTC accepts King recall petition,
sets election for March 13
Photo credit: Bill Lawrence
Red Lake community members filled the tribal council meeting room and overflowed into the
hallway during the Saturday, January 12 tribal council meeting to consider the petition to recall
tribal council treasurer Dan King. As one member present put it, "some of them were after King's
scalp." In accordance with Resolution No. 18-2002, passed 8:1 at Saturday's meeting, the recall
election will be held on Wednesday, March 13, 2002.
Sp) liili Lawrence
Before a packed council chamber on the afternoon of Saturday
January 12, the Red Lake Tribal
Council (RLTC) voted 6-3 to accept the recall petition of treasurer
Dan King. Ponemah representative Hardy made the motion to accept the petition and Redby representative Thunder seconded.
Those voting to accept the petition
were secretary Roy and representatives Hardy, Johnson, Thunder,
Pemberton and Cook. Those voting against were treasurer King
and representatives Beaulieu and
Lasley. The petition had been
originally presented to the RLTC
at a special meeting on December
21. However, due to nine signature challenges raised by treasurer
King the council gave the petitioners 21 days to cure the challenges before they would act on
the petition. The petitioners resubmitted the petition to the council at its regular monthly meeting
on January 8. But since the 21
days' challenge period didn't expire until midnight on Friday
January 11, chainnan
Whitefeather recessed the January
8 regular meeting until noon on
Saturday to take up consideration
of the King recall petition. The
petition as resubmitted and considered at the January 12 meeting
contained 1700 verified signa
tures. According to Red Lake
tribal recall ordinance 1-2001,
1665 signatures or 25% of the
registered voters of the Band are
required on a petition to recall a
tribal council officer.
Prior to the council's vote on
acceptance of the recall petition,
Treasurer King tried unsuccessfully to get the council to amend
the recall ordinance to extend the
period of the recall election from
60 to 90 days. He said the 30
days extension is necessary to ad-
• equately notify off reservation
voters. He said if it were extended to 90 days he wouldn't oppose it. He stated "he did nothing
to be ashamed of and that he and
the other council members who
have been supporting him have
done nothing wrong."
Surprisingly, King did not make
any effort to challenge the two
charges made against him in the
petition: 1) that he failed to perform his constitutional duties as
treasurer, and 2) that he spent
tribal funds without proper authorization from the council.
Representative Pemberton asked
how long does a regular election
take and secretary Roy responded
by stating "90 days." She also
said, "regular elections take
longer because there are candidate
filing periods and the requirement
to screen and certify them."
King made a motion to amend
the election ordinance to require a
90 days election period and to accept the petition. The motion was
seconded by representative
Beaulieu. The motion was defeated by a vote of 5-4. Those
voting against the motion were
Roy, Hardy, Johnson, Pemberton
and Thunder. Voting for the motion were King, Beaulieu, Lasley
and Cook.
The council voted 8-1 (King
opposed) to set the date of recall
election of treasurer King for
March 13,2002. The council also
voted to give notice of the recall
and removal from RLTC of treasurer King by a yes or no question
on the ballot by a vote of 8-1
(King opposed). And to accept the
recall election ordinance as presented at the January 12 meeting
by a vote of 7-2 (King and
Beaulieu opposed).
Prior to the close of Saturday's
meeting due to a large and vocal
group of Little Rock district residents, chairman Whitefeather
agreed to meet with them later in
the month to discuss the filling of
their vacant Little Rock council
seat.
Despite protests by several
tribal members present the council
took no action to suspend treasurer King during the recall elec
tion period.
SHUTDOWN to page 5
Hull calls for new gaming
compacts with tribes
By Scott Thomsen
Associated Press
PHOENIX - Gov. Jane Hull
asked state legislators Monday to
create a new process for the state
and Indian tribes to set rules for
gambling on reservation land.
" Arizona tribes operate casinos
under gaming compacts that start
expiring next year, but U.S. District Court Judge Robert
Broomfield ailed July 3 that the
compacts had been negotiated ille
gally by the state.
His decision came in a lawsuit
brought by the state's horse and dog
racing tracks, which feel threatened
by growth in Indian gaming.
Experts say the legal defects with
the compacting process can be remedied by an act of the Arizona Legislature or by a ballot initiative.
Hull wants to be able to sign
new compacts that limit casino-
style gambling to the reservations
COMPACTS to page 5
Ordinance unconstitutional,
appeals court rules
By John Flesher
Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The
city of Detroit violated the U.S.
Constitution by giving two companies preferential treatment when issuing licenses for casinos there, a
federal appeals panel niled Friday.
In a 2-1 mling, the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned a federal judge
who had upheld the Detroit ordinance and returned the -case to the
lower court for further consideration.
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians,
based in the western Upper Peninsula, filed suit challenging a city
ordinance that determined how casino operators would be chosen.
The ordinance followed statewide voter approval of a 1996 ballot measure allowing ofT-reserva-
tion gambling in Detroit. The measure specified that only three casinos could be built.
The ordinance contained a built-
in preference for two of the groups
that helped support the measure:
Greektown Casino LLC and
Atwater Entertainment Associates
LLC, which owns part of
MotorCity Casino.
The Greektown and Atwater
groups were awarded licenses and
are now operating casinos. A third
casino is run by MGM Grand,   ■
which won its license without receiving preferential status.
Atwater and Greektown were
leaders in the campaign to approve
casino gambling in Detroit. They
helped place initiatives on the city
ballot, then organized support for
the statewide referendum, known
as Proposal E.
The city ordinance said that in
awarding licenses to operate casinos, preference should be given to
developers who "made significant
contributions" to bringing gambling to Detroit "by actively promoting and significantly supporting" the ballot initiatives.
In its suit, the Lac Vieux Desert
tribe argued that the ordinance discriminated against it for failing to
take the correct position in the political debate over legalizing off-
RULING to page 5
Morongo
Indians plan
largest bottling
plant in nation
Associated Press
MORONGO INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif. - Construction has
begun on a S26 million Arrowhead
Mountain Spring Water bottling
plant on the Morongo Indian Reservation.
The economic venture will allow
the Morongo tribe to diversify its
economy beyond gaming through
the sale of spring water to Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, a
subsidiary of The Perrier Group of
America. Perrier is the nation's
largest water bottler and its Arrowhead label, the leading seller in the
West, is distributed throughout
California, Arizona, Nevada, the
Rockies and the Pacific Northwest.
The arrangement helps the tribe
diversify its economy, tribal chairman Maurice Lyons said. The tribe
operates a casino and several small
businesses along Interstate 10, 80
miles east of Los Angeles.
MORONGO to page 6