Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-09-13

              INDEX
Grant links Fond
BIA employees among
Your Money:
America - a golden
Commentary
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
du Lac College
recipients of the
Starting your own
age for the human spirit
New council at
NEWS BRIEFS
a
with major
Departmental Service
business - real life
Red Lake takes
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
universities
Awards
obstacles
wkr~' I
steps toward
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 3
page 3
page 4
page 4                                  MkM
recovery
page 4
Audits confirm financial mess at Red Lake
By Bill Lawrence
A little more than four years ago
former Red Lake tribal chairman
Bobby Whitefeather was swept
into office by a 42-vote majority on
a "great leap forward" economic
development platform. Comer-
stones of the great leap forward
were a modular home manufacturing plant, a door and window plant,
a bottled water operation and a hotel/water park expansion at the
River Road Casino in Thief River
FaUs (TRF).
In an article in the Bemidji Pioneeron July 17,1998, one week
before the tribal election,
Whitefeather is quoted as saying
that "The tribal council often heard
ideas, but they later fizzled without
follow-through. Now the tribal
council has a plan of action and a
timetable to implement these
projects." "Now we have a methodology," he said.
At the most recent regular
monthly meeting ofthe Red Lake
tribal council on Tuesday, Septem
ber 10, auditor Ron Romero of
RSM McGladrey, Inc. made a slide
presentation ofthe status ofthe forensic audit, to date, ofthe River
Road casino expansion.
Romero explained to the council
and tribal members in attendance
that he was still waiting for documents from some of the financers
and others involved with the
project before he could finalize all
the numbers. He said that he
hoped to be able to get those documents in the near future. He also
said that everyone had been cooperative with him in doing the audit.
He said he wasn't in a position to
comment on whether he had come
across any fraud, waste or abuse
yet
Romero's presentation and the
handout made available to tribal
members confirmed the fact that
River Road hotel/water park casino
development was overspent by
nearly $12 milhon. The amount
authorized by council resolution
was $26,507,000 and the amount
spent was $38,295,000. Romero
told the Council that "what really
hurt the band was that over $8.5
million ofthe $12 milhon overspent came out of tribal operating
capital. Right out of funds that
should have been available to run
tribal programs." Romero explained that the breakdown on the
amount spent was as follows: water
park $7,344,000; hotel
$22,279,000; TRF casino expansion $8,672,000. In addition,
Romero estimated that interest on
the development was about
$10,000,000. Chairman "Butch"
Brun told Romero that he calculated the numbers and he came up
with interest costs of more like
$20,000,000. Romero responded
that his estimate was very conservative and the final figure could
very well be close to the chairman's
$20,000,000 estimate.
Romero discussed management
concepts for developments like the
AUDITS to page 6
McGaa ousted in primary by 885 votes
by Clara NiiSka
According to unofficial results
posted Thursday, September 12th,
about 18.5% of Minnesota's registered voters showed up to vote for
U.S. Senate candidates in the September 10th primary. The 481,294
voters tabulated by the Secretary of
State were only about 23% ofthe
voters who showed up for
Minnesota's 1998 general election.
Yet, there were 6,017 votes cast on
Green Party primary baUots:
85.48% ofthe total Green vote in
the 1998 general election. Last
Tuesday's extremely high primary
turnout on the Green Party ticket
— in comparison only about 3.5%
of Independence Party voters,
about 41% ofthe DFL voters, and
29% of those who voted Repubti-
can in 1998 voted in the primary
— may reflect the Green Party's
growth in the last four years, but
likely also is a measure of what
Green Party candidate for U.S.
Senate McGaa caUed the
"WeUstone crossover" vote.
Ed McGaa, who was perceived
by some poUtical analysts as potentiaUy taking key votes away from
incumbent Paul WeUstone in one of
this year's tightest U.S. Senate
races, has been facing strong opposition from WeUstone supporters
ever since his endorsement at the
Green Party convention, where a
coahtion urged that the Greens not
nominate any candidate to oppose
WeUstone in his bid for a third term
in the U.S. Senate.
The unofficial results posted
Thursday moming by the Secretary
of State's office on the official
website at httpj//
electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/
ElecRslts.asp?M=S&Races=0103
show a shght disparity between the
number of voters who signed in at
the polls (481,294) and the number
of baUots cast (481,324). According to Kent Kaiser of the pubUc information center at the Secretary of
State's office, the reason is that
counties file voter turnout information separately from the election results, and while baUot counting is
automated, tabulation of voter turnout requires hand counting precinct
voter sign-in rosters. When the final count is in, Kaiser assured
Press/ON, the number of voters
wiU be greater than or equal to the
number of baUots cast. 'They have
to match," Kaiser said, "it's part of
the double-checking process."
Press/ON reached Ed McGaa
early Wednesday, September lllh,
in Rapid Cit^South Dakota, where
his sister is ciy^ig of cancer. 'I
wanted to geJshere" and be with
her, McGaa s;.id.
Press/ON asked the endorsed
Green Party Senate candidate if he
was disappointed in the primary results. McGaa—who has run a
grueling campaign in the crossfire
between the DFL and his own
party's "Greens for WeUstone," re-
phed "absolutely not — I'm re-
Ueved" that it's over.
"The 'WeUstone crossover' did
the decisive voting. I did a good
job, but the Green Party did not
support me aU the way through."
McGaa said that he had run a good
campaign, "ever since the endorsement, we've had great issues," but
that he was going to take a break
from pontics. "I'm going to go
back to [writing] my books, and
not catch aU ofthe flack I've gotten
since the endorsement." As far as
McGaa is concerned, there are "no
MCGAA to page 6
Local Native Elder files suit against North Side Landlord:
'Property Expert' allegedly harassing and taking
unfair advantage of homeowner
By Jean Pagano
A MinneapoUs Native elder is
filing suit in Hennepin County
against a longtime local landlord,
a city of MinneapoUs employee,
and a mortgage speciaUst for defrauding, swindling, and deceiving
the plaintiff out of her home and
Ufe savings. The MinneapoUs homeowner and Leech Lake en-
roUee, Ms. Deloris Wakefield, is
charging that the three named individuals have intended to financiaUy exploit her. AdditionaUy; allegations of fraud concerning the
three defendants have also been
raised.
According to a complaint filed
with the Minnesota Department of
Commerce, the so-caUed 'property expert', Mr. Steve Meldahl
and his company, S J.M. Properties, along with Ms. Katrina
Deloach, a city of MinneapoUs
employee, and John Curtis, working under the assumed letterhead
WeUs Fargo Reverse Mortgage
Inc, have had questionable deal
ings concerning the Wakefield
residence in MinneapoUs.
The case was brought to the attention of a local law firm by the
head of the American Indian
Housing and Community Development Corporation (AIHCDC),
Mr. Paul Moen. The AIHCDC became aware ofthe situation with
the Wakefield home through MinneapoUs inspections and through
Mr. BiU Carter, an American Indian advocate for the City of MinneapoUs. According to the complaint, Mr. Meldahl claimed that
he had invested $32,000 in reha-
biUtation work on the Wakefield
property although he had no
signed contract with Ms.
Wakefield, nor were either
Meldahl or S.J.M. Properties
Usted on any of the permits in
force.
A Hennepin County Property
Information Search result listed a
Ms. Katrina Deloach as the taxpayer for the Wakefield home.
When Ms. Deloach was contacted
by the AIHCDC, she aUegedly
stated that she had no knowledge
of how her name came to be on
the Wakefield property and that
she was also Usted as a taxpayer
on 5 or 6 other properties in the
city of MinneapoUs. Ms. Deloach
also aUegedly informed Mr. Moen
that she was Usted as payer of the
gas account for the property and
that she also works for the gas
company in Minneapolis. According to Diana Buckanaga, Housing
Advocate for the City of MinneapoUs, there have been a number
of occurrences where someone
has caUed Minnegasco to put accounts into tenants' names relating
to units pertaining to Meldahl and
SJM Properties.
Moen has also claimed that
Meldahl and S.J.M. Properties
"work under a guise of a 'helping'
organization for the disadvantaged
[but] are actuaUy setting up situations where the homeowner or ten-
LAWSUITtopage7
Hearing for recall of Leech Lake
chairman Hunt set for September 13
As reported in the September
6th issue of Press/ON, the Leech
Lake RBC scheduled a hearing
for Friday, September 13lhat 1
p.m. in a meeting room at the Palace Casino Hotel at Cass Lake, to
evaluate the charges made against
council chairman Eli Hunt in the
recaU petition. The recaU petition
with 512 valid signatures filed on
Thursday, August 22nd with the
RBC, charges Hunt with malfeasance in the handling of tribal affairs, dereUction or neglect of
duty, and refusal to comply with
the constitution and bylaws ofthe
tribe.
FoUowing the hearing, the Leech
Lake RBC can vote by a two-thirds
majority to remove Hunt from office or order a recaU election within
30 days.
The charges arose foUowing the
June tribal elections, when new
secretary-treasurer Arthur "Archie"
LaRose tried to initiate an audit of
the tribal payroU but was stopped
by the Tribal CouncU.
Chairman Hunt issued a statement in the September issue of
DeBahJiMon, which reads as follows:
Statement of chairman Hunt,
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
HUNT to page 6
Lower Sioux
Court of Appeals
to hear case at
William MitcheU
College of Law
St. Paul—The Lower Sioux
Court of Appeals wiU hear a case at
the Wiltiam MitcheU CoUege of
Law auditorium on Monday, Sept.
23, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The event is free and open to the
pubhc. Proceedings wiU start
promptiy at 9:30 a.m., and there
wiU be no admittance after that
time. Professional attire is required.
CASE to page 6
Shirley, Begaye to square off for tribal president
Associated Press
WINDOW ROCK Ariz. —A
Chinle man was the top-place finisher in the Navajo Nation primary
election, getting double the votes of
the current tribal president.
With 108 of 110 Navajo chapters reporting unofficial results, Joe
Shirley Jr., chairman of the Apache
County Board of Supervisors, garnered 15,910 votes to 7,257 for the
second-place finisher, current Navajo President Kelsey Begaye.
Finishing third was Navajo
CouncU Speaker Ed T. Begay, with
4,311 votes, foUowed by Edison
Wauneka with 3,275. Thirteen
other candidates for the presidency
traded with lesser numbers.
Shirley and Begaye wUl face
each other in the tribe's Nov. 5 general election.
The primary election Tuesday
also chose candidates for the general election for Navajo Tribal
CouncU.
The results ofthe primary wiU
not become official for 30 days.
Shirley's supporters greeted him
with cheers and whistles Tuesday
night as he entered the Window
Rock Sports Arena. Shirley, who
visited 84 ofthe chapter houses
during his campaign, said the margin of victory "boggled the mind."
Shirley, a former 12-year Navajo
CouncU delegate, finished second
ELECTION to page 6
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
<t&e,
Native
American
Press
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2002
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 15        September 13,2002
Patricia Campbell Glenn
photo: Clara NiiSka
Minneapolis considers federal mediation to
resolve police - community relations problems
Patricia Campbell Glenn,
Senior Mediator with the Chicago office ofthe U.S. Department of Justice Community
Relations Service talks with
reporters after Minneapolis
City Council met on the August 29lh to consider police-
community relations. Glenn
spoke for about ten minutes to
the City Council, which then
adjourned for lack of a quorum before making any deci
sions on mediation proposals at
that meeting, held before a standing room only crowd of community members concerned about
pohce brutality and other problems. Glenn also met informaUy
with several community groups
during her late August trip to the
Twin Cities.
Glenn returned to meet with
the Minneapolis City Council
again on Thursday, September
12lh at 10 a.m. to continue dis
cussing the feasibiUty of federal
mediation. A number of community groups, including Communities United Against PoUce Brutality, have been pressing for federal
mediation ofthe long-festering
problems between the Minneapolis police and minority communities.
Glenn's first assignment in her
career as a federal mediator was
at Red Lake in the wake of the
1979 revolution there.
American
Indians hold
healing
ceremony to
cope with 9-11
By Jon Krawczynski
Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON, Minn.— It
is a sacred ceremony reserved for
mourning tragic events. A healing
tradition aimed at removing the
pain from traumatic experiences
in one's Ufe.
Spiritual Elders ofthe Lakota/
Dakota Nations led the "Wiping
ofTears" ceremony at MaU of
America Tuesday for victims of
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and
those stiU struggling to comprehend the events.
It was part ofthe MaU's "11
Days for Understanding" series
hpnoring the first anniversary of
the attacks.
"We are here today in memory
of those who are grieving and the
loved ones we lost a year ago and
overseas," said Chris Leith, a
Lakota Elder. "We have to pray
for peace and dignity of our
people, and for healing throughout the world. We have to put
aside our negative thoughts and
think of what we can do to heal
ourselves."
Over 150 people attended the
program, which included stories,
songs and the "Wiping ofTears"
procession.
"I was in New York shortly after 9-11 to do the same ceremony," Chief Arvol Looking
Horse said. "It can help us today
as it did then, and help our chUdren as weU."
After several songs and stories,
Leith and Looking Horse invited
the pubhc to participate in the
procession. Participants lined up
in front of the stage and received
a cup of food — a mixture of
salmon and chocolate that is sacred to the Lakota. They then received a cup of water — "The
medicine of Life," Looking
Horse caUed it — and were
brushed down with feathers to
"sweep away the fear and worry
CEREMONY to page 5
Dodd, Lieberman offer amendment
to halt Indian recognition
By MeUssa B. Robinson
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph
Lieberman, both Connecticut
Democrats, introduced a measure
in Congress Tuesday to halt future
federal Indian recognition decisions until the process for making
such decisions is changed.
The measure, proposed on the
Senate floor as an amendment to a
larger bUl, is not expected to be
considered until later in the week.
Connecticut lawmakers have
complained that the current federal
tribal recognition process adminis
tered by the U.S. Bureau oflndian
Affairs is poUtical, inconsistent,
lengthy and doesn't fuUy take into
account the views of aU interested
parties.
"This measure recognizes this
and ensures that the BIA doesn't
continue to plod ahead before taking the steps necessary to put its
house in order," Dodd said.
Dodd, Lieberman and Rep. Rob
Simmons, R-Conn., have proposed
legislation to change the recognition process to increase pubUc involvement and to ensure that tribes
DODD to page 6
Senate committee schedules hearing
on Indian recognition
Associated Press
WASHINGTON—The Senate
Indian Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing for next Tuesday to
examine the federal process for recognizing Indian tribes.
Among the witnesses scheduled
are Connecticut Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal, North
Stonington, Conn., First Selectman
Nick MuUane and representatives of
tribes and the U.S. Bureau oflndian
Affairs, which handles federal recognition.
Connecticut towns and lawmakers have complained that the current
recognition process is inconsistent,
and that interested parties often
don't have the funding to effectively
participate.
Most recently, the BIA's decision
to recognize two Connecticut tribes,
the Eastern Pequots and the
Paucatuck Eastern Pequots, as one
tribe has come under scrutiny, with
members of Connecticut's congres-
SENATE to page 6
Gerald Phillip
May, Jr. charged
with two counts
of assault
MinneapoUs—Twenty-eight
year old Gerald Phillip May, Jr.
from the Red Lake Indian Reservation was indicted today by a
federal grandjury assault with intent to murder and assault resulting in serious bodily harm.
The grandjury alleged in the
indictment that on August 28,
2002, May assaulted another
member of the Red Lake Tribe,
CoUeen Rae Johns, a/k/a Colleen
May, resulting in serious bodily
ASSAULT to page 6
Irene Ann Weiss
sentenced on
three counts
burglary
MinneapoUs—Irene Ann Weiss, a
30-year-old resident ofthe Red
Lake Indian Reservation, was sentenced today in United States District Court on three counts of burglary in the first degree and one
count of assault
Weiss was sentenced to 37
months in prison by Judge David
Doty in MinneapoUs. She also was
ordered to pay $3,740 in restitution
to the victim in the case. Weiss was
convicted by a federal jury in May,
BURGLARY to page 7