Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-04-12

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY      2
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS                 4
SMOKE SIGNALS OF UPCOMING EVENTS 5
CLASSIFIEDS                                           9
There is no need for
victims of racism to
apologize
page 4
Let's be mindful
in the elections
page 4
Filings for Leech Lake
Housing and School
Board positions are
opened
page 3
I"   £
Commentary
Funders need to
become more
involved at IHB
page 4
Onigum elder files civil rights complaint
against Leech Lake tribal officer
By Jeff Armstrong
Onigum elder Randolph White,
Sr. this week filed a three-page
complaint with the Cass County
Sheriff's Department against Leech
Lake officer Charles Lahman, who
maced and subdued White while
his handcuffed son watched in
horror from the back seat of the
squad car.
The Whites were stopped by the
tribal officer around 1 a.m. April 7
for exceeding the posted state
speed limit on their way home from
the Northern Lights Casino.
The 75-year-old White asserts
that he was subjected to derogatory
remarks and excessive force during
the course of his arrest on a
"bogus" misdemeanor trespass
warrant of which he claims no prior
knowledge. White was accused of
trespassing at his daughter's home
Sept. 8 of last year, according to a
ticket written two and one-half
months later, on Nov. 26, while
criminal charges were not filed by a
Cass County prosecutor until last
January—none of which White
received until his arrest.
In what he says was his first brush
with the law, White insisted the
officer show evidence ofthe warrant
or tell him the nature of the charge.
"I told him, 'you guys are
illegal,'" said White. "He started
hollering about Minnesota State
Law, but they can't use Minnesota
State law on us."
"[Lariman] said 'you people are
all alike,'" before the non-Native
officer forced him from the car,
White said.
Lahman writes in his arrest
report: 'T told White Sr. he was
under arrest for the warrant [in]
Cass [County]. He refused to get
submitted photo
Family photo of Onigum elder
Randolph White, Sr.
out. I repeatedly told him to get out
he was under arrest. I tried presser
[sic] point [and] he kept pushing
me back. I told him to get out of the
[vehicle] he was under arrest or he
would be maced. He still resisted
[and] I maced him. I again tried
presser [sic] point [and] he still
resisted. I told him I would mace
him again [and] he still resisted. I
then maced him again."
White, who walks with the
assistance of a hand-carved cane,
says the arresting officer further
exacerbated a leg injury for which
the Anishinabe man is due to have
surgery.
"He tried to pull me out of the
car. I got scared. I knew that he
would throw me to the ground and
handcuff me. I am waiting to have
knee surgery and my knees and
ankles don't move
fast," wrote White. "I
had to lay down
sideways in the cop
car because I could
not bend my knee."
"I was afraid he
might shoot me,"
White said. "I finally
stepped outside and he
pushed me down and
held his knee on my
back while he
handcuffed me"
White was released
the next day on $900
cash bail with the
added charge of
obstructing legal
process, a gross
misdemeanor.
White's son, Randy
White, Jr., who had
been driving the
vehicle, was held and
released without bail
on equally suspect felony terroristic
threat charges dating from July 2,
2001. Both he and his father said
Cass County deputy Robert Stein,
who is alleged to have investigated
the complaint, had been to their
home on an unrelated matter after
the July 2 incident and assured the
two men he had no intention of
submitting a complaint. The July 2
complaint is signed by Deputy
Daniel Gardner and prosecuting
attorney Gregory Bloomstrom.
"If I'd have known about this,
I' d have taken care of it a long time
ago," said Randy, who was
released without bail on the felony
charges.
Editors Note: The complaint is
reprinted on page 7.
Leona Bluestone (right) with her mother
Marie Bluestone and her sister Maude.
submitted photo
There but for the Grace of God go I
By Peter Alexander
Stories about people who suffer
from mental disorders can be
found in your daily newspaper
regularly. Many ofthe stories are
incredibly sad, a few can be
heartwarming, but all can elicit
some time of emotion in the reader.
This is a story that will probably
anger some people for avariety of
reasons but it is a story that needs
to be told.
Ixona Bluestone was bom on
the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation in southwest Minnesota on
August 26,1919. At a young age,
Leona developed epilepsy. In her
teens, as her seizures worsened, her
family found it increasingly
difficult to care for her. There were
no medications available to treat
the disorder and many families had
no choice but to lace their loved
ones in institutions commonly
referred to as "epilepsy colonies."
At the age of fifteen years, Leona
was placed in an institution in
Cambridge, Minnesota. When
institutions such as Cambridge
were closed, the residents were
moved to other medical facilities,
such as nursing homes. Leona has
spent her years since Cambridge
was closed in various facilities
around the state. She has been a
resident at a nursing home in
Franklin, Minnesota, just a few
miles from the I^ower Sioux
Community, since June 20,1996.
Sometime in the mid- 1950s,
Leona was diagnosed with
schizophrenia and later with
Parkinson's disease. Leona takes
up to fifteen different kinds of
medications each day. She has her
good days and her bad days, but at
the age of 82, she gets along
reasonably well.
There are not too many of us left
who remember Leona but that does
not mean that others do not know
of her existence; they just choose to
ignore her. Even though Leona
resides within the prescribed ten-
mile radius ofthe reservation, the
past and the current Tribal Councils
have continued to deny Leona her
per capita payments (membership
privileges under the gaming
ordinance). Their excuses vary
from, "the nursing home will get it
all," or "it's up to the lawyers," or
"Leona's needs are being met"
Minnesota Laws of 1984 established a payment system (case mix)
for residents in nursing homes and
boarding care homes certified to
participate in the Medicaid
program. The letters "A" through
"K" designate the classifications,
with "A" being the lowest and "K"
being the highest payment rate.
I^eona is classified as "B," so the
nursing home will not take all her
per capita money. It is unclear why
anyone on the council would think
it would be the decision of the
lawyers since the lawyers do what
the council wants. True, they have
LEONA to page 5
T\irmoil at IHB escalates
by Clara NiiSka
People concerned about the
escalating turmoil at the Indian
Health Board (MB) Clinic packed
the meeting room on the second floor
of the Minneapolis American Indian '
Center on the evening of Monday,
April S"1. Physicians, clinic staff,
former clinic employees, and
community activists addressed a
responsive standing-room only
crowd, and a number of patients
spoke passionately about the impact
that IHB's problems are having on
their hves.
Conflict between medical staff and
administration at the south Minneapolis urban community clinic has
apparently festered for some time.
Several physicians and other health
care providers have been fired or
encouraged to resign during
administration efforts at a clinic
'turnaround,' among them medical
director Dr. Lydia Caros, who was
suspended last October, reinstated
along with two other medical staff
during an emotional Board of
Directors meeting on November 2,
and was then fired again on February
12".
Two other physicians, Dr. Carol
Krush and Dr. Lori Banaszak, were
fired on March 29"1. According to
both the physicians and interim
director Penny Scheffler, the
physicians' publicly challenging the
administration was, as Dr. Krush put
it, "the straw that broke the camel's
photo credit: Clara NiiSka
Acting IHB Director Penny Scheffler (center) tries to defend her actions at
the MUID meeting on April 9th. MUID member Frances Fairbanks was
sharply critical of Scheffler, vigorously defending employees' rights to hold
their bosses to public accountability.
back' and led to their termination.
IHB Board of Directors chair Kim
Mammedaty spoke shortly after
Monday night's meeting began. She
distributed copies of an open letter to
community members, which stressed
that resolving the longstanding
problems at IHB "takes time,"
outlined some ofthe actions which
the "Governing Board of Directors'"
intends to pursue in resolving the
problems at IHB, and emphasized
that "the financial condition of IHB
was never in jeopardy."
Mammedaty then left, explaining that
the Board had made prior commitments to meet in conjunction with
their search for a permanent
executive director at IHB.
Clinic physicians, medical staff,
and terminated personnel who have
been actively contesting the Board of
Directors' presentation ofthe
situation at IHB gave a collaborative
presentation to the crowd. Dr. La
Combe - who at press time
apparently still has his job - listed
areas in which medical care at IHB
has been, he says, adversely affected
Others addressed other issues,
including "staff morale, which is at its
lowest point in the history ofthe
TURMOIL to page 3
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Volume 14 Issue 19
April 12,2002
Press/ON file photo
As the cycle of the seasons moves toward Spring, the days get longer and the sunlight soaks the land
with welcome warmth. Every being who has rested through the cold of Winter begins to awaken. The
birds are beginning to return, the bear cubs are making their first explorations beyond the den where they
were bom in mid-Winter, and the sap is beginning to rise in the trees. As the sugar-beet farmers in the Red
River Valley stare across acres of mud and wait for their fields to dry enough to start planting again, in the
context of Aboriginal Indigenous peoples' permacultural subsistence it's maple sugar-maJring time: cutting
firewood, washing kettles and pails... checking the first tap to see if the sap is running yet.
Although the methods used to make maple syrup and maple sugar have changed on the surface—steel
drills instead of axes to tap the trees, tin cans and plastic pails instead of birchbark containers, metal or
plastic "taps" instead of wooden ones—the basic process is still the same. The trees are tapped by cutting
or aWling through the bark into the sap-wood and the sap is collected, drop by drop, in paiJs or cans. The
maple sap, which runs sweet'enough to make maple sugar only in the northeast part of this continent, is
gathered and boiled for several hours to evaporate the water. Thirty or forty gallons of sap boiled down,
are concentrated to make about a gallon of pure maple syrup, or a few pounds of maple sugar.
The sugarbush is a time of re-awakening and it was a time of celebration of family and Spring. But,
most of all, the sugarbush is a time of renewal, companionable working-together of family and friends, of
giving thanks for the wonderful food given to us by Grandmother Earth. Sugar-making, and the stewardship of Grandmother Earth which is inherent in it, is something which is naturally a part of being human,
of our natural cycles of life, of living in balance and harmony.
Violent \lctiniization among Native Americans:
Most crimes against Natives are perpetrated by Whites
R*t Tonn I)<kiT<iii<\ TT-.10 ic Ki/for tV.*» Viirrrip»et niimVv^r r\f Aeiart/Pcir*ifir» Tclan.H^rc   Ampri/^Q
By Jean Pagano
Statistics presented by two recent
Department of Justice studies reveal
some shocking results. The studies
Extent, Nature, and Consequences
of Intimate Partner Violence:
Findings from-the National
Violence Against Women Survey by
Tjaden andThoennes, and
American Indians and Crime, by
Greenfeld and Smith, offer some
interesting and troubling glimpses
into the demographics of crime
among Native peoples.
For Native Americans aged 12
and older, there were 124 violent
victimizations per 1000 people.
This is by far the highest number of
violent victimizations among any
racial group in America. Since some
ofthe victimizations are among
intimate partners, the first study
makes the assumption that the
violence must be Native on Native.
We will see later on that this is not
the case.
In the Tjaden / Thoennes study,
three categories were examined:
rape, physical assault, and stalking.
In each of these three categories,
Native Americans were the most
victimized ofthe racial groups
studied. The racial groups consisted
of Whites, African-Americans,
Asian/Pacific Islanders, American
Indians, and Mixed Race. Under the
crime of rape, Natives were more
likely to be victimized with 15.9
percent reporting incidents; mixed
races, Whites, and African-
Americans experienced incidents at
8.1,7.7, and 7.4 percent respectively. Asian/Pacific islanders had a
rate of 3.8 percent When one
pauses to think that statistically
more than 1 in 6 Natives will report
a rape in their lifetimes, the statistic
becomes even more disturbing.
Physical assault numbers were
again high for Native peoples with
CRIMES to page 3
Rapid City group wants IHS
investigated
Associated Press
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Congress
should investigate the Indian
Health Service, according to
members ofthe Indian Health
Board of the Black HUJs, a
volunteer group that provides
oversight ofthe JUS.
Rapid City's Sioux San
Hospital and other American
Indian health centers have
ongoing problems, Indian Health
Board members said Monday.
The board members alleged a
steady decline of health care
quality for five years at Sioux San
Hospital—a—a the same time
the current Sioux San administration has been in office.
Michelle Ixach, CEO of the
Sioux San Hospital, said she
welcomes an investigation. The
hospital has nothing to hide, she
said.
A call to an official of the
Aberdeen Area MS was not
immediately returned Monday.
IHS to page 3
Investigation finds Interior Dept.
employees used gov't credit cards at
casino, to buy jewelry
By Robert Gehrke
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON- Interior
Department employees used
government-issued credit cards to
pay their rent, withdraw money at
casinos and buy jewelry and
furniture, an audit found.
Almost three-quarters ofthe
department's 79,000 workers
have government credit cards,
and the agency's inspector general
found myriad problems with use
and oversight. Some 1,116 former
Interior employees still had active
charge card accounts, but the
report found no evidence of
activity on them.
"The department and its
bureaus do not have sufficient
controls in place to minimize
abuse ofthe charge card," the
report said. Some reviews of
purchases "were done inadequately or in a_perfunctory
matter, some were not done on a
INTERIOR fo page 3
"Indians are
trapped by policy
and politics," says
gaming "expert
Associated Press
CASPER, Wyo. —An Indian
gaming expert is supporting the
Northern Arapaho tribe's effort to
expand gambling on the Wind River
Indian Reservation, but he said
gambling history has not been on
the side of American Indians.
"Indians are trapped by policy
and politics," said Dale Mason, who
teaches at the University of New
Mexico and is author of "Indian
Gaming: Tribal Sovereignty and
American Politics."
'It's not about the Indian. It's
about power and states' rights," he
said during a recent lecture at
Casper College.
He says the tribe has a good
argument for being allowed to offer
casino-type gambling, including
roulette, craps, slots, lotteries and
sports books.
The slot machines the Arapaho
are asking for are really no different
from video bingo machines played
all over the state, Mason said.
"This has been argued and fought
in many states, including Oklahoma
and California, and the tribes
POLICY to page 3