Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-02-01

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 7
Juvenile offenders
given a chance to
clean up their lives
pg3
Guest Commentary
Tribal chairman:
no to state-owned
casinos
pg4
Senate Majority Leader
Roger Moe may support
casino bill
P9 1
Counting Costs:
The true nature of
casinos
pg 1
Mille Lacs,
Prairie Island
argue casino
audits should
be secret
pgi
Mille Lacs, Prairie Island argue
casino audits should be secret
Voice     of
the
People
by Clara NiiSka
Press/ON publisher Bill
Lawrence went to court on
Monday, January 28, representing himself and this newspaper
in the legal cases Mille Lacs
Band of Ojibwe Indians v. State,
et al, and Prairie Island Indian
Community v. Department of
Public Safety, et al. The two
cases were heard jointly by
Judge Louise Bjorkman in
Ramsey County District Court.
Also appearing before Judge
Bjorkman were John Garry, of
the Office of the Attorney General and representing the State
of Minnesota, Mille Lacs Band
lawyer Wallace G. Hilke of the
Minneapolis law firm Lindquist
and Vennum, and Prairie Island
Indian Community lawyer Julie
Ann Fishel, of the St. Paul law
firm Winthrop and Weinstine.
Attorney Mark Anfinson, representing the Minneapolis Star
Tribune, had previously sought
to participate as an amicus curiae ("friend of the court").
The immediate issue before
the court on Monday was Mille
Lacs' and Prairie Island's motions for summary dismissal,
which would make the temporary restraining orders they had
previously obtained permanent.
The TROs temporarily restrain
the. state from releasing Indian
casino audits, which the Attorney General's office has ruled
are public information under
Minnesota state law. The TROs
were requested by Hilke and
Fishel and issued by the court
pending the outcome of the lawsuits filed by the Indian gambling enterprise attorneys
against the State of Minnesota.
The Mille Lacs and Prairie Island attorneys sued to prevent
the State from releasing Indian
casino audits filed with the State
Department of Public Safety
(DPS) in accordance with the
requirements of the State-Tribal
gambling compacts. Press/ON
requested the audits under the
provisions of the Minnesota
Data Practices Act nearly a year
ago. According to legal determinations by both the Department of Administration and the
Office of the Attorney General,
the audits are public information.
Monday's courtroom hearing
was scheduled to begin at 9:00
a.m. At about nine o'clock the
participants, along with Mille
Lacs attorney Anita Fineday,
met with the Judge in her chambers (office). Pretrial, the attorneys had filed thousands of
pages of documents, and shortly
before the hearing was scheduled to begin a "Second Affidavit of Julie Ann Fishel in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for
Summary Judgment," along
with six attached exhibits, was
added to the stack of paper. In
addition to the publicly available documents, Judge
Bjorkman has reportedly been
provided with copies of the disputed casino audits to study in
her chambers.
After apparently coming to
agreement about "procedural
matters" in pretrial conference
with the Judge, the participants
returned to the courtroom.
Judge Bjorkman formally entered the courtroom, and the
hearing began. Fishel and Hilke
had, along with other Indian
gambling enterprise attorneys
involved in the casino audit dispute, made a broad-spectrum
series of arguments in their efforts to prevent the release of
the audits, including that the At
torney General's office had a
"conflict of interest" in representing the State of Minnesota.
Mille Lacs Band attorney
Fishel's last-minute "Second
Affidavit" reiterated some of
the conflict of interest allegations. It included excerpts from
a late-December deposition of
DPS Commissioner Charlie
Weaver, which was taken as a
part of the federal lawsuit in
which the Shakopee and Lower
Sioux Indian Communities and
Grand Portage Band are suing
the state. That lawsuit was also
filed in attempts to bar the release of casino audits.
Solicitor General Alan I. Gilbert, the Attorney General's
Chief Deputy, had emphatically
rejected the allegations that
there was a conflict of interest
in his December 5th letter to
Judge Bjorkman, writing, "Pursuant to the laws of the State,
this office will continue to represent the State's legal policy in
this matter."
Fishel raised the 'conflicts of
interest' allegations again, in her
January 28lh courtroom appearance. Judge Bjorkman responded, "We're not going to
fire the attorney general."
Fishel also repeatedly pointed
to the State's shifts in policy after the Department of
Administration's April 2001 ruling that Red Lake casino audits
were public information. Her
courtroom presentation included
a large chart detailing the state's
policy changes over time, and a
quote from DPS Commissioner
Charlie Weaver emphasizing the
cozy relationship between Indian gambling enterprises and
the Minnesota agency charged
AUDIT to page 6
Counting Costs: The true nature of casinos
Do the crushing social costs justify the arguments concerning casinos
By Jean Pagano
*Earl L. Grinols and David B.
Mustard explain in their recent
study: Business Profitability versus
Social Pmfitability: Evaluating Industries with Externalities, The
Case of Casinos, that casinos
cause crime (Casino, crime, and
community costs, PRESS/ON
January 25,2002 by Clara Niiska).
There are, however, a number of
other social costs relating to casinos, other than crime. Of all the social costs, the link between crime
and casinos has been studied more
than any other. Yet, it is important
to briefly examine the remaining
eight social costs.
One important social cost is
business and employment costs.
Included in these figures are lost
productivity at the workplace, lost
time and unemployment, such as
sick days off for gambling, extended lunch hours, leaving early
to gamble and returning late after
gambling. Problem and pathological gamblers add a cost burden
onto their employers by either being an unreliable presence and/or
reduced productivity when they
are at work. Between 21 and 36%
of problem gamblers reported losing a job because of their gambling. When one considers the lost
productivity that comes from firing
an employee along with the costs
of the former employee being
without a source of income, it is
staggering to think that between a
fifth and a third of all problems
gamblers lose their jobs to gambling.
Pathological gamblers impose a
huge cost upon personal resources,
the selling of insurance policies,
possessions, and borrowing from
family to pay their gambling costs.
Bankruptcy happens to 20% of
compulsive gamblers generating
costs in terms of trying to collect
debts, losses to creditors from
bankruptcy, and the court costs involved in these proceedings.
Grinols and Mustard suggest
that suicide among problem and
pathological gamblers may also
factor into the overall societal costs
of gambling, but, because of a lack
of reliable social costs estimates,
suicide is merely alluded to and not
included in their breakdown of social costs.
Illness presents a multifaceted
array of social costs in relation to
gambling. Depression, stress-related illness, chronic or severe
headaches, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, intestinal disorders,
asthma, cognitive distortions, and
cardio-vascular disorders span the
spectrum of psychological and
physiological costs. While these
costs are often the responsibility of
the gambler, once the gambler
seeks treatment, they become societal costs.
Social service costs are also factored into the overall social costs of
gambling. Therapy, unemployment, and other social service
costs, such as welfare and food
stamps are real costs that arise
when problem and compulsive
gamblers are tempted by the candy
store attnosphere of the casino.
The government incurs Government Direct Regulatory costs.
CASINOS to page 3
Majority Leader
Roger Moe
Senate majority
leader may
support bill
Associated Press
ST. PAUL— Senate Majority
Leader Roger Moe long has been
the Legislature's staunchest supporter of the
monopoly
Minnesota's
American Indian tribes
have on casinos here.
But the
Erskine
DFLer says
the benefits of
that monopoly
have not been
shared equally with all Indians —
especially members of the Red
Lake and White Earth tribes in his
northwestern district, the two largest bands in the state. Those
Chippewa tribes have received
some casino jobs but not the
greater economic benefits, he said.
As a result, Moe may support a
move to authorize a state-owned .
casino in the metropolitan area that
would share profits with have-not
tribes.
Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL-
Tower, is sponsoring the bill that
would authorize a state-operated
casino, run by the Minnesota State
Lottery.
Any tribe could join, sharing in
the cost of construction. Revenue
would be split 50-50 between the
BILL to page 3
Indian sovereignty in
America
by David A. Yeagley
FrontPageMagazine.com
January 14,2002
Tribal "sovereignty" is a hot
subject in Indian country these
days. Many white Americans are
offended by the concept. They
think Indians mean to break away
from the United States.
But they should set aside their
fears.
There is nothing more American
than a confederation of sovereign,
independent states. There is also
nothing more Indian than that.
Many readers have probably
heard that the American Constitution was inspired by the Iroquois
Confederacy. And many have
probably heard this claim debunked by "conservative" scholars
such as classicist Mary Lefkowitz
of Wellesley College.
The Founding Fathers would not
have debunked it though. The
Iroquois Confederacy was their
neighbor- a regional power with
which they had to contend economically, militarily and diplomati-
1 cally.
Yes, they read the Greco-Roman
classics. They drew lessons from
Rome, Athens and the confederation of Swiss cantons.
But there is no question that the
Founding Fathers took note of
Iroquois statecraft and admired it.
There is no question that an
Iroquois spirit animated early
.American government.
David Weintraub documented
this fact in his award-winning re
search in Court Review (Winter
1992).
Five Indian nations (in today's
New York state area) - the .
Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, and Oneida - had established a League of Peace among
themselves, long before Europeans
arrived. They ran a "Congress-like
council," a government with
checks and balances, "protected
freedom of speech, and gave
women power to choose office
holders," says Weintraub.
In a retort to Mary Lefkowitz in
the Aph\\0,\991 Wall Stteet
Journal, Professor Brace E.
Johansen of the University of Nebraska at Omaha noted that, "I
have researched this idea for more
than two decades with my co-author Donald A. Grinde, Jr. of the
University of Vermont, and published four books on the subject...
We do not advocate that anyone ignore the Enlightenment, the
Greeks, or the rest of our European
heritage. We are adding an
Iroquois role to the picture.... We
can have our Greeks, and our
Iroquois, too."
Johansen further wrote:
"A complete description of the
evidence for an Iroquois role is beyond the scope of a letter to the
editor, but is available in our book
Exemplar of Liberty (University
of California, 1991). Lefkowitz
may wish to examine a speech by
the Iroquois sachem Cannasatego,
AMERICA to page 3
web page: www.press-on.net
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 9
February 1,2002
"Bear Clan," a drawing by Leech Lake tribal member Sharon L. White, is among her illustrations
for Ojibwe author and storyteller Anne M. Dunn's book, "When Beaver Was Very Great."
Sharon White says that she has been intereste din art since childhood. She studied art in
Minneapolis, and has a Commercial Art Degree from Minneapolis Technical College and an
Associate Degree from Minneapolis Community College. Ms. White returned home to the
Leech Lake Reservation to establish Little Bay Arts and Crafts in Walker, Minnesota, intending
to "support and market the work of local artists of all backgrounds."
Supreme Court to decide property rights dispute
^/Dale Wetzel
Associated Press
3ISMARCK, N.D. - A patch
of land in Cass County's Maple
River valley is the focus this
week of a monumental legal
struggle about property rights
and the power of North'
Dakota's local, state and tribal
governments.
"This is a case which dramatically, and directly, affects the
sovereignty of the state of North
Dakota," said Charles Carvell,
an assistant attorney general.
The case, which the North
Dakota Supreme Court is hearing on Wednesday, is a dispute
about whether the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa tribe can
be forced to sell 1.43 acres of
Cass County land.
The land is located on the east
bank of the Maple River. A
county water board has sued to
condemn the property as part of
its efforts to build a "dry dam,"
to hold water away from the
river during heavy rains or
spring ranoff.
However, the lawsuit's implications are more far-reaching,
attorneys in the case say. Some
lawyers say if the tribe's arguments prevail, opponents of any
dam, street or sewer line could
stop construction by enlisting an
Indian tribe to buy land that was
needed for the project.
The state of North Dakota, as
well as associations representing city and county governments, have filed briefs in the
case.
They want the Supreme Court
to overturn a decision by East
Central District Judge Georgia
Dawson, who ruled that North
Dakota state courts do not have
jurisdiction over condemnation
lawsuits filed against Indian
tribes.
"Taken to its logical conclusion, the position of the (Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa)
would effectively mean that any
public project could be held
hostage," said Steven
McCullough, a lawyer for the
Cass County Joint Water Resource District.
Carvell said Dawson's decision would be a loss of state
control over its own territory.
"It is just as though a small part
of the state of North Dakota had
been removed from the map,"
he wrote in a court filing. .
Tribal lawyers counter that
the water board, or any state or
local government agency,- cannot seize property owned by a
tribal government unless the
tribe agrees.
The land in question includes
Chippewa burial grounds, says
one of the tribe's attorneys,
Jerilyn DeCoteau of Boulder,
Colo. She is a former administrator at Turtle Mountain Com
munity College in Belcourt, and
holds degrees from Mayville
State University and the University of North Dakota.
The tribe's opposition to the
land seizure "is to protect its
cultural resources," she said in a
court filing.
"The tribe is not about the
business of blocking public
projects," DeCoteau said. "The
tribe has a legitimate governmental interest in this land,
upon which its ancestors
roamed, took sustenance, died,
and where they will remain for
eternity."
The Three Affiliated Tribes
has filed a court brief supporting the Turtle Mountain Band.
The tribe's property rights became enmeshed in the dispute
when rural Enderlin farmer
Roger Shea, whose family had
owned the land for almost a
century, sold the 1.43 acres to
the tribe in July 2000. He accepted Indian blankets and
beads as compensation.
Shea kept grazing rights on
the property after the initial
transaction, but gave those up in
February 2001, court documents say. He told reporters his
reason for selling the land was
to "stop the dam ... stop it
dead."
The Cass County water board
offered to buy the land for
DISPUTE to page 3
Ambitious gambling initiative
would loosen restrictions allow
non-Indian casinos
BySethHettena
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO - A group is pushing an ambitious ballot initiative
that would loosen the state's restrictions on gambling and end the
monopoly of Indian tribes in the
casino business.
Under current law, casinos are
only allowed on Indian lands, and
those are restricted to offering card
games and a limited number of slot
machines. No craps or roulette are
pennitted.
The state also lias 34 horse-racing tracks and 113 card clubs,
where people can gamble on card
games.
Under the proposed measure,
called the Gaming Control Act, all
licensed gambling establishments
would be free to offer most forms
of gambling, including craps, roulette, unlimited slots and sports wagering.
Supporters are planning a $2
million petition drive to get the
proposal on the November ballot.
Craig Marlar, a spokesman for the
group, said he is in the beginning
stages of gathering signatures.
Marlar declined to provide any
details about the people behind the
initiative. He said they wanted to
remain anonymous until the measure, an amendment to the state
constitution, receives the more
than 670,000 valid signanires
needed to qualify for the ballot.
Under the proposal, anyone 18
or older would be allowed to place
bets at casinos, which could serve
alcohol and be open 24 hours a
day. New state agencies would be.
set up to license and regulate gambling operations. The state also
would require the state to treat
problem gamblers.
The Attorney General's office
has estimated that widespread
gambling could generate hundreds
of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
With backers choosing to remain
INITIATIVE to page 3
Tribe moves to
block transfer
of federal coal
to Montana
Associated Press
BILLINGS - The Northern
Cheyenne Tribe has asked a federal court to keep the Otter Creek
federal coal deposits out of
Montana's control until the tribe is
assured of some protections.
The coal was promised to Montana as payment for the 1996 deal
that pre-empted the construction of
Crown Butte's New World gold
mine just outside Yellowstone National Park. Gov. Judy Martz has
said she intends to develop the
coal.
The tribe's complaint, filed in
Washington, D.C, asks the court to
prevent Interior Secretary Gale
Norton from giving the state title to
the Otter Creek coal tracts until she
abides by all applicable laws.
"Development of the Otter
Creek coal resources would impose severe environmental, socio-
COAL to page 3