Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-05-24

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY      2
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
SMOKE SIGNALS OF UPCOMING EVENTS 5
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Red Lake resolution
passed to boycott
Bemidji McDonald's
page 4
No Happy
Meals here
page 4
Open Letter to
supporters of Kenny
Brown, John
Buckanaga, Ralph
Goodman, Bill Hanks
page 5
Public Statement:
Metropolitan Urban
Indian Directors
page 4
Obituary:
Joel William
Lawrence
page 4
State Courts & Tribal Courts
Attorneys face off in Hough v. Brun
by Clara NiiSka
On Monday, May 20*, Jawnie
Hough and her attorney Caryn Ye
appeared in state court in Beltrami
County. The scheduled purpose of
the hearing was for Donald Brun, Jr.,
to show why the court "should not
hold you in contempt'' for his failure
to return Meghan Brun to her mother
Jawnie Hough. On March 4,2002,
the court had ordered that Meghan
be "promptly returned to the proper
custody [of Jawnie Hough] before
5:00 pm, March 10,2002."
Meghan Bran remains at Red
Lake, in the custody of her paternal
grandparents Geraldine and Donald
"Dutch" Brun, Sr.
The court was also scheduled to
consider a proposed order authorizing both state and federal law enforcement agencies to return
Meghan to the legal custody of her
mother, and imposing criminal sanctions on Donald Brun, Jr. for his failure to return the child.
A few days before the hearing,
Bran's attorney Lawrence Nichols
filed papers objecting to the proposed order on the grounds (hat Public Law 280 exempted Donald Brun,
Jr. from the jurisdiction ofthe state
court - even though the original cus
tody order had been issued by the
state court, and even though Donald's
parents Geraldine and Dutch Brun
had violated the state court's order,
issued in 1999, that prohibited taking
Meghan to Red Lake for the purposes of asserting Red Lake Indian
jurisdiction.
There is a kind of ceremony to the
legal process, and four generations of
Jawnie Hough's family came to the
courthouse to support her, although
Jawnie's grandmother waited outside
the courtroom with her grandniece
because children are not generally allowed in the courtrooms.
There was an extra-solemn atmosphere in the Beltrami County Courthouse on Monday: retired Judge
James Preece had died unexpectedly
on May 14"', and his funeral was
scheduled an hour and a half after the
Hough v. Brun hearing was scheduled. Courthouse staff were dressed
with somber formality, and a wreath
stood outside the door ofthe adjoining courtroom. Pn?.?.5/CWpublisher
Bill Lawrence, grieving with the sudden death of his only son Joel on the
evening of May 17"', was also present
far Hough v. Brun hearing.
Dutch and Geraldine Bran, accompanied by their daughter, also
showed up for the hearing, although
neither Donald Brun, Jr. nor Meghan
Brun was there.
The hearing itself was relatively
short Donald Bran, Jr. 's attorney,
Lawrence Nichols, presented a surprise motion - to vacate the entire
proceedings based on lack of "subject matter jurisdiction." The present
custody hearings are, legally, a continuation ofthe custody determination made as a part of Jawnie
Hough's 1999 divorce from Donald
Bran, Jr. Nichols argued that his client, a Red Lake tribal enrollee, was
immune from state court actions, including the personal service ofthe
1999 divorce papers, and that therefore the entire proceedings were
void—going all the way back to
1999 and even invalidating the divorce.
Should the courts accept Nichols's
legal theory, it would be almost impossible to divorce a Red Lake enrollee - except in tribal court.
The attorneys proposed that time
be granted for legal briefs to be filed
and responded to, and presiding
Judge Terrance Holter gave Nichols
thirty days to write his brief, and Ye
twenty days to respond.
State Supreme Court reverses
traffic jurisdiction ruling
By Jeff Armstrong
In a 4-3 decision the Minnesota
Supreme Court last week reversed
the judgment of an appellate court
panel in State v. Busse, ruling the
state does in fact have jurisdiction to
enforce driving after cancellation
charges against tribal members
within reservation boundaries in certain circumstances.
Although the high court failed to
alter its holding in Stone that no state
driver's license can be required of
tribal members on a reservation, it
determined that courts could consider the cause of the cancellation to
evaluate whether a serious public
safety issue was involved which
could trigger state jurisdiction.
"[TJn Stone.. .we cautioned
against adopting a rigid framework
that attempts to characterize all driv-
wgwteted-stafcrtes-as'eml or criminal," the majority held. "Thus, looking at the underlying basis for a license revocation or, in this case,
cancellation, is not prohibited when
determining whether the offense involves heightened pubhc policy
concerns."
The supreme court had considered and rejected virtually the same
argument in State v. Johnson, in
which driving after revocation was
found beyond the scope of state authority on reservation lands.
"As each offense is triggered by
different and unrelated conduct the
issue might then arise whether fairness should dictate that the nature of
the subsequent offense, for purposes
ofthe Stone analysis, not be measured by the nature of the prior offense, because if it were the offender
could be subject to being sanctioned
twice for the prior offense," the
court ruled in Jolmson.
In its latest ruling, the court reasoned that its statement in Johnson
was merely an abstract consideration.
"Using tentative language, we
simply raised the question whether
the issue might arise whether fairness precludes considering the underlying offense because the offender could be subject to being
sanctioned twice for the prior offense," the majority wrote.
Basing its ruling on the assumption, contested by the dissenting justices, that hcense cancellation can
only be applied to multiple DUI offenders, as was the case with Busse.
"[TJhe offense of driving after
cancellation as inimical to pubhc
safety implicates the necessarily
greater concern regarding a person
who repeatedly (by statute, at least
three times) violated Minnesota's
driving under the influence laws,
and yet continues to drive. The legislature and the commissioner have
determined that such persons pose a
continuing hazard to pubhc safety
on Minnesota roads and should
have their driving privileges revoked or cancelled," the court determined.
Significantly, Myron Busse, Jr.
was not even driving when questioned by a Clearwater County
Deputy who had seen him driving
earlier that day, nor was it alleged
that he was drinking. Questioned as
a passenger in the car, he admitted
driving previously in the belief that
such conduct was outside of state jurisdiction. After the district court asserted jurisdiction, Busse mistakenly
pleaded guilty as a means to further
his appeal, rather than putting forward his intended not guilty stipulation of facts as provided in
Lothenbach.
Dissenting justice Russell Anderson, joined by justices Page and
Stringer, argued that the court
should be bound by its logic in
Johnson to dismiss for lack of juris-
COURT to page 6
The Mystery of
Pete White:
The Long and
Winding Money
Road
By Jean Pagano
When Leech Lake Tribal Council
member Pete White resigned on
March 31,2001, White claimed that
his departure was to 'get an education' . New infonnation has come to
the attention of Press/ON that implies
that Mr. White's problems were indeed personal as well as financial.
Let's follow the money trail and see
where it goes:
Mr. White's resignation cost the
Tribe a total of $76,278.24, quite a
considerable sum of money. As a
Tribal Council member, Pete White
helped pass a resolution to the effect
thatonly if a Council M.-ml
ishes their term are they entitled to
severance in the amount of six
weeks' pay. Yet when White resigned, he was given severance for
the amount of $8,769. This payout
was not allowable under the terms of
the resolution since he did not finish
out his term. There were other alleged improprieties going back to
1998 and 1999: Mr. White demanded payroll advances from the
accounting department starting on
June 16,1998 and ending on April
12,1999. White even received
$ 1,500 before he was even sworn
into office. The RTC ordered White
to pay back funds totaling
$10,897.66, of which he is still
$2,100 in arrears.
Tribal Referral is a program offered by the Tribe for its needy members. Pete White was earning a salary
in the mid-$70,000 range, yet he
somehow managed to take advantage of this program for needy
people. Between February 19,1998
and December 8,1999, White re-
WHITE to page 6
Green Party of Minnesota endorses Pentel for
governor, McGaa for Senate
By Steve Kamowski
Associated Press
ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The Green
Party of Minnesota endorsed longtime party activist Ken Pentel as its
candidate for governor Saturday, but
a failed push by supporters of Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone threw a
wrinkle into the third party's choice
for U.S. Senate.
Delegates gave Pentel 409 votes
on the first ballot followed by 84 for
Nick Raleigh 10 for Brace Freeman,
eight for Ray Tricomo and one for
"None of the Above."
Pentel reminded the delegates that
he had traveled the state to help build
the party and organize 12 local chapters. He said he found a' 'passion''
among Minnesotans "to reconnect
with their democracy.''
In the Senate race, a number of
Wellstone supporters spent the day
urging a vote for "None ofthe
Above." They argued that Wellstone
is the closest thing to a Green in the
Senate, and that control ofthe Senate
is at stake, since Wellstone is in a
tight race with Republican Norm
Coleman and Democrats have only a
one-seat majority.
But by the time delegates finally
voted late Saturday night only 64
opted for no endorsement while Ed
McGaa won 221 votes and 190 supported Tim Davis. Since neither candidate had the two-thirds majority
needed to win on the first ballot the
voting went to a second ballot where
voters could choose only between the
two candidates. McGaa then crossed
the threshold to secure the endorse-
Photo©Chris Spotted Eagle2002
Ed McGaa talking with Ken Pentel (right) at the Green Party
convention before McGaa was endorsed
ment with 323 votes under a complicated system that allowed delegates
to vote for second choices as well.
"You are the Green people, the
Green tribe," McGaa told the delegates after greeting them in the
Lakota language. He's a Sioux Indian, veteran of Korea and Vietnam,
holds a law degree and has written
books published by Harper/Collins
on spirituality and the environment
Those calling for no endorsement
said that while they don't agree with
Wellstone on everything, keeping
him in the Seriate is vital to the causes
they hold dear.
'To sacrifice Paul Wellstone by
splitting the progressive vote is too
high a price to pay," said Greg
Human, a delegate I roi n
Maplewood.
Also backing Wellstone was
Winona LaDuke, an American Indian activist from Minnesota who
was Green presidential candidate
Ralph Nader's running mate two
years ago.
'Tf Wellstone loses this November,
it is a defeat for the Green Party, for
all progressives, and for the agenda
we share,'' LaDuke wrote in an open
letter to delegates.
Among those urging the Greens to
endorse their own candidate was
Pentel, who said political parties need
to ran candidates if they're going to
advance their platforms.
'T want to get away from fear,"
Pentel said. "I want to get to the position where we are participating in
what we believe in and voting for
PENTEL to page 5
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
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Press
Ojibwe News
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Founded in 1988
Volume 14 Issue 25
May 24,2002
Picket line along highway in Bemidji on Saturday, May 18""
McDonalds
boycott
demonstration
reveals potential
power of
Bemidji Natives
By Jeff Armstrong
Northern Minnesota Natives
turned out in force for a May 18
demonstration to support a boycott
of a Bemidji McDonalds restaurant
which was the scene of an apparently racist incident last January.
About a dozen indigenous protesters maintained a picket line along
the street and sidewalk next to the
southside McDonalds entrance for
the duration of the four-hour demonstration, while more than 100
gathered in a nearby parking lot to
hear speakers outline strategies for
unraveling the fabric of racism
which they said pervades the legal,
political, educational and economic
system in Bemidji.
The demonstration, organized by
the Anishinabe Coalition for Peace
and Justice, brought restaurant business to a virtual standstill on a Saturday afternoon. During a two-hour
period of monitoring by this re-
Photo credit: © Chris Spotted Eagle 2002
^^■H ^^B?^      ~* l'$%™ iBfci*n»        *-:.i-s8JPfe..
Photo © Chris Spotted Eagle 2002
Patrick Tahahwah Jr. and Denise Stately, grandmother (Shantelle's mom)
porter, just 25 vehicles entered the      mother into custody in handcuffs on
McDonalds parking lot Several
drivers turning into the restaurant
changed their minds after reading
signs urging them to "boycott racism" and at least 200 passing motorists honked their horns in solidarity with the protesters.
In the Jan. 27 incident a Native
family was forced by the restaurant
manager to leave the building after
a Caucasian man began physically
threatening the grandmother of a
two-year-old child he had referred
to as a "sick animal." When the
family attempted to depart, police
stopped the vehicle and took the
an unrelated warrant for failing to return rented videotapes.
Denise Stately said her grandchil
dren were traumatized by the incident and accused city police of treating the victims like criminals.
' They never asked if we wanted
to file charges and they let them stay
in there when they had us leave.
They only ran (warrant) checks on
us," said Stately. "All the lads were
crying. They cried all the way home.
Now they get scared any time they
see the police."
BOYCOTT to page 5
Turtle Mountain tribal chairman
removed from office
Associated Press
BELCOURT, N.D. - Richard
Monette says he has been removed as chairman ofthe Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa by
the Tribal Council.
Tribal Judge Sharon Malaterre
upheld the council's action.
Council members accused
Monette, who took office two1
years ago, of neglecting his duties
and exceeding his authority.
"The judge ruled that I am restrained from going into the
chairman's office at the Tribal
Council and acting as chairman
temporarily," Monette said.
He said payroll issues and the
tribal budget also led to the council resolution to oust him.
"When I was removed by resolution, there was no administrative hearing record, no legislative
record, or no judicial hearing of
facts. How it got into court, I
don't know, since there is no
complaint, but we had a so-called
proceeding.
"How can I argue a case that
has no factual record or otherwise
from this body? There is nothing
written on what I supposedly did
wrong. How do I appeal? What
do I go on?"
Monette said 2,600 people had
voted him into office "and six
people removed me from office."
Acting Chairman Mike Lenoir
and Councilman Doug DeLorme
said the council's focus was on
economic development. "(Richard) Monette did not agree with
our agenda," Lenoir said.
Monette acknowledged that
some decisions.he made were not
popular, including trips to Washington, D.C, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, and Bismarck. He said
he acted in the best interests of
the tribe.
Hull calls for end of special session
on Indian casinos
By Scott Thomsen
Associated Press
PHOENIX - Gov. Jane HuU
called Thursday for the Legislature
to end its special session on Indian
gambling, but lawmakers pressed
ahead with their deliberations.
Hull and 17 tribes have negotiated a deal to extend casino operation agreements for up to 29 years.
Legislators have been considering a
bill with those provisions for the
past six weeks. The Senate passed it
without the two-thirds majority necessary to protect it from a referen
dum election. It is still pending in
the House.
Without approval from the
Legislature this week, Hull said
new casino agreements could not
obtain needed approvals from the
U.S. District Court and the U.S.
Department of the Interior before
the deadline for filing signatures
to place an initiative on the fall
ballot.
"The Legislature has failed to
act and it is now time for the
HULL to page 6
American Indians
want voice in wild
rice genetics work
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
As University of Minnesota researchers map the wild rice genome,
they hope the information could lead
to more nutritious, disease-resistant
crops that help
feed the world.
But decoding the genome has upset many American Indians, who say.
they have been shut out ofthe research and warn that manmade alteration of the plant is
"cultural and spiritual genocide."
"The sustainability of our rice is
contingent on its diversity," said
Winona LaDuke, an Ojibwe and a
former Green Party vice presidential
candidate. "It's central to our cultural
well-being, spiritually as well as economically." Tribes in Minnesota,
Mchigan and Wisconsin have
passed resolutions declaring that genetic research and patenting of wild
rice compromises traditional, cultural
and spiritual tribal values. Several
dozen Indians demonstrated Monday
outside
the annual conference ofthe National
Agricultural Biotechnology Council.
Scientists around the world are unraveling the genetic structure of
scores of disease-causing germs, insects and other animals that transmit
diseases to humans, as well as the genomes of nutritionally or medically
important plants.
Minnesota ranks second behind
California in wild rice production,
selling about 4 million to 6 million
pounds a year.
The University of Minnesota has
RICE to page 3