Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-03-29

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY     2
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
SMOKE SIGNALS OF UPCOMING EVENTS 5
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Everett Rhodes
defends IHS
page 4
Watch the signs, it's
election time
page 4
Chairman Jourdain
laid to rest
page 3
Political candidates:
Fred Jackson, Jr. and
Sandi Savage
page 5
Commentary
Roger leaves a
mixed legacy
page 4
Is a tribal court's ex parte banishment legal?
or "patently unconstitutional"?
US District Court rules "the action of summary eviction... with
absolutely no due process ranks right up there with summary execution"
by Clara NiiSka
Can a tribal court order the
banishment of a non-Indian:
forcible removal from her place of
employment at a state-chartered
non-profit organization on fee
patent land, forcible removal from
her home on white-owned fee
patent land? Can a tribal court
banish a non-Indian from state
highways? Is the county sheriff
obligated to enforce such a tribal
court banishment order, particularly
when he has personal laiowledge
that at least one of the reasons
given by the tribal court for
banishment is false? And—given
'tribal sovereignty'—is there
anything that a person banished
without even a pretense of any fair
hearing by the tribal court, can do
about it?
On July 24,1998, the Standing
Rock tribal court issued an ex parte
order, based on one person's
complaint and decided without a
hearing, banishing Margaret Penn
from the Standing Rock reservation. According to court records,
Penn is 1/8 Turtle Mountain
Chippewa, not enrolled and not
enrofiable, legally "a non-Indian
and nonmember of the Standing
Rock Sioux Tribe."
Maggie Penn, who has a law
degree, worked as a tribal prosecutor on the Standing Rock reservation. As Press/ON reported in a
February 19,1999 article by Julie
Shortridge, Penn brought charges
against tribal court chief judge
Mike Swallow for unethical
conduct in May 1996. Three
months later, Penn was fired by
Swallow. In September 1997 Penn
sued in tribal court for wrongful
termination from her job. The
same month, Swallow was voted
out of his judicial office; when his
term expired in January 1998 he
was hired by the tribal council as
in-house attorney, with a substantial
increase in his salary. The ethics
charges against Swallow were
apparently never fully heard by the
tribal court, and Perm's wrongful
teirnination lawsuit was still
pending when she was banished.
Penn had worked as a part-time
grantwriter and bookkeeper at
Tender Hearts women's shelter
since 1995. Hergrantwritingsldlls
brought in more than $600,000 to
fund the facility. Penn also
conducted seminars around the
nation on Indian law and domestic
violence. Tender Hearts Against
Family Violence, Inc., was a nonprofit organization incorporated
under state law and located on fee-
patent land, the "old Warrior
Motel" converted into a battered
women's shelter in Ft. Yates, South
Dakota. It received more than $40
thousand in federal money for
fiscal year 1998. During the first
half of 1998 Penn remained on
Standing Rock reservation,
working at Tender Hearts.
"The Tender Hearts program
was embroiled in some controversy
of its own," according to US Senior
District Judge Patrick Conmy in his
March 6*, 2002 Opinion. On July
24,1998, Faith Taken Alive
requested that her uncle, tribal
court judge Isaac Dog Eagle,
banish Penn from Standing Rock
reservation. Shortridge reported
that the banishment request was
"motivated by Taken Alive [and
others] conspiring to seize control
of Tender Hearts, Inc., in conjunction with illegal activities of three
Tender Hearts Board members ..."
Dog Eagle issued the banishment order ex parte, without a
hearing, and without an opportunity
for Penn to respond to Taken
Alive's allegations. The order
provided a hearing would be held
within thirty days, "but no such
hearing was ever scheduled or
held," wrote Judge Conmy in his
recent Opinion.
The banishment order was
served on Maggie Penn at work, at
the Tender Hearts shelter in Ft.
Yates, South Dakota, by BIA police
officer Captain John Vettleson,
assisted by Sioux County, North
Dakota, Sheriff Frank Landeis.
TRIBAL COURT to page 6
Red Lake actions in child custody dispute
may violate Violence Against Women Act
By Jeff Armstrong
Despite receiving at least
$298,000 in grants under the
federal Violence Against Women
Act (VAWA), Red Lake officials
appear to be in violation of
provisions of the act by failing to
enforce a state court order against
a tribal member who wrongfully
took custody of his daughter.
Donald Brun, Jr. was ordered
by Beltrami County District Judge
Terrance Holter March 4 to return
five-year-old Meghan Brun to her
mother, Jawnie Hough no later
than March 10.
Hough was first granted sole
physical custody of Meghan in a
May 5,1999 state court Order for
Protection filed against Brun for
alleged domestic violence. In
effect for one year, the OFP
specifically states that the order is
enforceable on the reservation.
After his parents took Meghan
to the reservation March 15,2000
and failed to return the child,
Brun petitioned the Red Lake
Court for custody without
notifying Hough on April 13 of
that year—while the protection
order was still in effect.
Under the terms of VAWA, the
reservation is obliged to apply
state protection orders to the same
extent as a tribal court judgment:
"Any protection order issued by
a state or tribal court...shall be
accorded full faith and credit by
the court of another State or Indian
Tribe...and enforced as if it were
the order of the enforcing State or
Tribe," the statute stipulates.
The law also bars courts from
granting retaliatory protection
orders to spouses who had such
orders filed against them, unless
both parties were allowed to
testify and the court found there
was no self-defense involved.
Brun requested an Order for
Protection against Hough on May
17,1999—less than two weeks
after he was ordered to refrain
from contact with his ex-wife—
without apparently explaining the
cause for his action. Although
Hough was not notified of the
hearing, Judge Bruce Graves
granted Bran's request June 16,
1999.
In fiscal year 1998, Red Lake
received a $214,392 grant for its
Women's Advocacy Program/
Shelter to "address the legal issues
associated with facilitating interjurisdictional enforcement of
protection orders for Native
American Reservations in
Minnesota...and policy implications of complying with the full
faith and credit provision of the
Violence Against Women Act."
That same year, the reservation
was awarded $84,000 under
VAWA'sStop Violence Against
Indian Women program. Tribal
council chairman Bobby
Whitefeather is listed as the
contact person for both efforts.
Timeline of Hough Case:
• May 5,1999 Hough granted
custody of Meghan Bran in OFP
limiting paternal visitation due to
concerns father would flee with
child.
• May 17,1999 Brun files for
restraining order in RL Court
against Hough without serving
notice upon her.
VAWA to page 5
Does the Extra Money Yield Better Results?
Per Student School Spending Highest at Indian Schools
By Jean Pagano
Schools in Minnesota that have
a predominantly Native population have some of the highest per
pupil spending of any school
districts in the state. If one goes
with the assumption that the more
money is spent on students the
better they do in school, then they
may find themselves surprised by
the reality: while schools with
significant Native populations get
more money per student, they
have the highest dropout rates in
Minnesota.
According to the Star Tribune s
"Doing the math: What Minnesota
school districts spend" chart
[published March 24,2002, online
at www.startribune.com] the
predominantly Native schools
rank high in per student spending.
Red Lake, Cass Lake, and
Mahnomen school districts each
receive many times more funding
than the least funded school
district, Russell. Red Lake is
allocated $12,893 per student,
Cass Lake receives $9,942 per
student, and Mahnomen gets
$10,173 per student. Contrast this
with the Russell school district,
which gets $4,320 dollars per
student.
One might be tempted to
beheve that students at Red Lake,
Cass Lake, and Mahnomen do
about 2 to 3 times better than the
Russell students, if there is a
relationship between spending and
results. Sadly, this is not the case.
As previously reported by this
writer, dropout rates for Native
students far surpass the rates for
non-Native across the state.
According to the most recent
figures released by the Minnesota
Department of Children, Families
& Learning (CF&L), dropout
rates at Red Lake are 11.43%; at
Cass Lake 16.6%, and at
Mahnomen 17.12%. These are
frightening rates considering that
all other schools districts range
from 1.2% to a high of 9.89% in
Minneapolis.
Higher funding for schools with
higher Native populations has not
yielded the expected results. Some
may even consider this strategy a
failure. It is hard to determine
what would happen if the funding
to these school districts were cut:
would the resulting cutbacks yield
results similar to the other school
districts statewide. Does too much
state money have a deleterious
effect on students? Would they
students do worse with less
money, or perhaps would they fare
better than they currently do?
These are difficult questions, yet
in a year when school districts are
RESULTS to page 3
Kahnawake reserve, Canada:
still waiting for the promised
referendum
'To punish us for trying to preserve
our rights, the Canadian Government has now pretended to abolish
our government by Royal Proclamation, and has pretended to set up
a Canadian-made government over
us, composed of the few traitors
among us who are willing to accept
pay from Ottawa and do its
bidding."
—1924 speech by Deskaheh,
speaker ofthe Council ofthe Six
Nations
By Jeff Armstrong
The Mohawk nation has long
been among the most forthright
among the Haudenosaunee in
asserting the confederacy's
uncJiminished sovereignty over its
reserved lands on both sides of the
Canada-US. border. That assertion
of self-determination rights relies
heavily on the 1794 Canadaigua
Treaty and the Two Row Wampun
Belt Agreement The 18th century
treaty with the U.S. acknowledges
the Six Nations' reserved lands "to
be their property" never to be
claimed or disturbed by the
government, while the latter depicts
a mutual understanding that the
Iroquois and European peoples had
distinct life paths which were not to
intrude upon the other.
REFERENDUM to page 7
Gambler
challenging tribal
court system
Associated Press
BOSTON—A Massachusetts
man who beheves he was cheated
out of a jackpot by a Connecticut
casino has filed a federal lawsuit in
hopes of overturning the sovereignty oflndian tribal courts.
Vasilios Milios, a 67-year-old
Greek immigrant and burger joint
owner in Oxford, has waged a four-
year legal battle with Foxwoods
Resorts Casino. But he's lost every
step of the way, so now he's turned
to U.S. District Court in Boston.
Milios claims he should have
won $158,000 at a Foxwoods
*
GAMBLER to page 3
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
tees
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 17
March 29,2002
(/APfile Photo/The Pioneer of Bemidji, Monte Draper, file photo)
Former Tribal Chairman of the Red Lake Band Roger Jourdain, left, is shown here with
Wendell Chino tribal leader of the Mescalero Apache in this 1989 file photo on the shores
of Red Lake, Minn. Jourdain died Thursday, March 21, 2002 in Bemidji, Minn. He was 89.
Roger Jourdain, longtime Red Lake tribal
chairman, dies
Associated Press
BEMIDJI, Minn. - Roger
Jourdain, who for 31 years was
tribal chairman of the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa, died
Thursday night at a Bemidji
hospital. He was 89.
He worked as a heavy
machinery operator on such
projects as the Alaska Highway
and the Bemidji airport. Jh
1959, after the Red Lake Band
passed a new constitution
requiring direct election of
leaders, Jourdain was elected
chairman.
He became a leading voice
on Indian affairs in Washington
and held the post until 1990. In
1986, Jourdain was named
Indian Man of the Year by the
American Indian Heritage
Foundation.
But his tenure was also marked
by controversy, including a two-
day riot and takeover of the
reservation in 1979 that led to an
FBI investigation, the burning of
his house and car and threats
against his life.
Bill Lawrence, owner-editor of
the Native American Press/Ojibwe
News and a godson of Jourdain's,
battled frequently with him over
such issues as defendants' rights in
tribal courts.
"I had my differences with him
over the years," Lawrence said.
"He had complete control of that
council — you didn't get anything
done unless you agreed with
Roger."
After his tenure ended,
Lawrence said they became
friendly again. "I realized that he
was a consummate politician,"
I^awrence said. "He brought home
a lot of programs. He also
established a strong tribal
government and worked tirelessly
toward self-determination."
Jourdain had been hospitalized
for about a month at North
Regional Hospital in Bemidji. In a
statement, the Red Lake Band
Tribal Council said he died of
natural causes.
Jourdain is survived by a son,
Roddy of Red Lake; a sister, Ruth
Fevig of Redby; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren and
three great-great-grandchildren.
A funeral was held on Wednesday, March 27, on the Red Lake
reservation. (See story on page 3.)
Plaintiffs seek further contempt
sanctions against Interior
Secretary Norton
By Robert Gehrke
Associated Press
WASHINGTON—A federal
judge has been asked to hold
Interior Secretary Gale Norton in
contempt for allowing the
destruction of electronic documents in a lawsuit over mismanaged American Indian money.
U.S. District Judge Royce
Lamberth already is considering
whether to find Norton in
contempt for failing to comply
with a court order to fix a system
that manages $500 milhon
annually in royalties from Indian
land and for concealing her
department's failures.
Plaintiffs in a class-action suit
i
over the department's mismanagement ofthe Indian money claim the
electronic documents and e-mails
were purged as a further cover-up.
An Interior Department
spokesman had not seen the
motion, filed late Wednesday, and
could not comment Thursday.
The motion claims Norton and
other Justice and Interior officials
and lawyers failed to prevent the
document destruction.
"It was willful, it was systemic
and it was done to cover up," said
attorney Dennis Gingold, who is
representing the Indians in their
claims that the government     „
NORTON to page 5
Largest Indian
water settlement
expected to be
signed soon by
federal
government
Associated Press
PHOENIX — The federal
government is expected to soon
sign the largest Indian water
settlement in U.S. history, an
agreement with the Gila River
Indian Community that will all but
complete decades of negotiations
with a dozen Arizona tribes.
Those tribes, whose combined
population falls short of 80,000,
SETTLEMENT to page 5