Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-10-25

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
CLASSIFIEDS
2
3
4
5-7
Leech Lake
finances
are in a dismal
condition
page 5
Historic recall election
tainted by unsubstantiated
gang allegations
page 5
Leech Lake
secretary/treasurer
requests MCT
constitution
clarification
page 5
Preserve our
sacred ceremonies
page 4
Mpz*. £wm
Commentary
Buying the status
quo is killing us
page 4
Petitioners seek financial accounting at Mille Lacs
By Bill Lawrence
Following their brethren at
Leech Lake and Red Lake who
earlier this year ousted elected
tribal officials for mismanagement
of financial affairs, Mille Lacs
Band of Ojibwe tribal members began circulating a petition this week
demanding the Band's government
conduct a special meeting to report
on the Band's financial condition.
A copy of the petition and list of
the documents and information required to be available at the special
meeting is printed on page 8 of this
edition.
Band elder and petition spokesperson Melvin Eagle told Press/
ON in a phone interview on
Wednesday this week, "we have
been hearing and reading a lot
about the financial problems at Red
Lake and Leech Lake, the bad
economy, the stock market collapse, the Enron, WorldCom and
Arthur Anderson scandals, so we
began wondering if any of this has
affected our Band. You know, if
you stop and estimate the profits
from our two casinos since we
opened the doors at Mille Lacs and
Hinckley, we should have something around $500 million invested
for us somewhere. I think it's time
we find out from our tribal officials
who invested that money, when it
was invested, what was the cost of
the investment, the investment fees
and the value ofthe investment as
of today. We need a complete report on the current financial status
ofthe Band."
"We're not really after anyone in
particular, that is why the petition
only asks for a meeting and an accounting. Of course, if Band officials don't cooperate and give us
the meeting and the information we
want or if we aren't happy with
what we find out, then we'll consider steps to remove them and replace them with people who will."
Eagle further told Press/ON, "it's
also time we find out what the
Band's corporate commission does
and what it costs us. Here we have
this huge bureaucracy and we don't
even know what it does. We also
want to know why we need all this
government we have over there at
the government center. Why we are
involved in all these PACs, why do
we need all these lobbyists, attorneys, pubhc relations firms and
participation and memberships in
all the organizations we are in? The
petition was designed to find all
this out."
According to Eagle, the petition
was brought both under provisions
of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Constitution and Band ordinance
because both give band membership certain rights the Band government must comply with. He said
petition carriers plan to go door to
door on the reservation and hold
community meetings in the Mille
Lacs area and Twin Cities. He said
that he estimated they need around
150 signatures to meet the statutory
requirements but they plan on getting a lot more than that. He also
said they will check with the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe for the exact number of signatures needed.
In the March 22,2002 edition,
Press/ON reported that the Mille
Lacs Band of Ojibwe received over
$14 million in fiscal year 2000
from the federal government to operate programs. In addition, this
publication estimates that the Band
earns over $100 milhon a year in
net profit from its two casinos.
Eagle said he estimates less than
1000 Mille Lacs Band members
hve on the Mille Lacs Reservation.
Mille Lacs chief executive
Melanie Benjamin told Press/ON
that she had not yet seen a copy of
the petition circulating at Mtile
Lacs. "If they're referring to what
was done under the past administration," Melanie said, at that time
the band "had a corporate commis-
PETITION to page 8
VOICE       OF      THE       PEO   PL   E
by Clara NiiSka
The profitability oflndian gambling operations in Minnesota depends on a state-sanctioned monopoly on casino gambling. The
pohtical volatility of such gambling monopolies has combined
with the huge cash-flow and lucrative profitability of some Indian
casinos, the BIA's historical
legacy of corrupt pohtical 'machines,' and the high costs of campaigning in television ads to
change the face of politics.
Mille Lacs band chief executive
Melanie Benjamin is among the
tribal officials against whom a formal complaints was filed with the
Federal Elections Commission on
October 23rd. Melanie's campaign
contributions to candidate James
Oberstar were in excess of the legal limits, according to the documents filed by Twin Cities activists David Hoch and Joseph
Marble. Citing information
posted online by the Center for
Responsive Politics (http://
www.opensecrets.org) and the
Federal Election Commission
(http://www.fec.gov/
finance_reports.html), Hoch and
Marble complain that, "Ms. Benjamin contributed $1,000 on 01/
15/02, and another $1,000 on 04/
05/02, both to James Oberstar's
General Election Fund, and on
094/05/02, another $1,000 to
James Oberstar's Primary Election Fund." Democratic Congressman Oberstar, whose 8"1 Congressional District encompasses
both MiUe Lacs and Leech I^ake,
explains on his campaign website
that his "number one priority as a
U.S. Representative is to improve
the quality of life for the people
who sent him to Washington DC
on their behalf."
Press/ON called Melanie Benjamin, explained that a formal
complaint had been filed, and
asked her about the campaign contributions. She said that she had
not yet seen the complaint, so this
writer read the relevant portions
over the phone. Melanie declined
to comment, explaining, "I have to
see it first, before I can respond to
it. It's only proper for me" to read
it carefully before commenting.
She said that the band's mail "is
not dehvered until 11:00." Press/
ON faxed the complaint, but
Melanie, who told this writer that
she would be leaving the office to
meet with elders, had not responded by press time.
Press/ON also asked Melanie
about the reasons for her support
for Rep. Oberstar. She responded
in terms of "government relations," explaining that "we have a
strategy of how we contribute" to
pohtical candidates. "You are
looking at one specific candidate,"
she said of Press/ONs questions
about Oberstar, "but we have a series of candidates" we support.
Hoch and Marble's complaint
also cites "failure of affihated federal PACs to report as one unit,"
specifically including two lobbyists' PACs which they say interlock with the Mtile Lacs Band's
PAC (Mah Mah Wi No Mind
Fund): Lockridge, Grindal,
Nauen, et al., and Holland and
Knight.
The other group of affihated
PACs addressed by the complaint
includes five tribal PACs which,
according to Hoch and Marble,
"are all members of the National
Indian Gaming Assoc": the
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, the
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana,
the San Manuel Mission Band of
Indians, the Pojoaque Pueblo Indian Tribe, and the Mille Lacs
Band.
Details of Minnesota campaign
contributions, compiled by Hoch
and Marble, are printed on page
8 of this issue.
Controversy over the folding
green pohtical influence being
wielded by Indian gambling enterprises and tribal governments is
not limited to Minnesota. During
UN reaffirms indigenous role in environmental defense
By Jeff Armstrong
Despite concerted opposition
from the United States, indigenous
delegates to the recent environmental summit in South Africa preserved the status they achieved at
the first such conference in 1992,
according to summit participant
Tom Goldtooth.
"We did get the declaration of
indigenous rights included in the
Pohtical Declaration [on Sustainable Development]," said
Goldtooth, director ofthe Bemidji,
Minnesota-based Indigenous Environmental Network. "There were
commitments made by all countries, including the United States."
Although the final draft from the
Johannesburg summit does not specifically mention indigenous
peoples, it reaffirms their consultative status recognized at the original Earth Summit held 10 years
earlier in Rio de Janeiro. Goldtooth
said an exhausted U.S. delegation
failed to intervene against language
in the declaration which commits
UN member nations to "effective
implementation of Agenda 21."
The relevant section of Agenda
21 states: "Indigenous people and
their communties and other local
communities have a vital role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices.
States should recognize and duly
support their identity, culture and
interests and enable their effective
participation in the achievement of
sustainable development."
But Goldtooth said the State Department resisted virtually every
substantive proposal brought to the
table, forcing the scaling back by
nearly half of a modest proposal to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions
10% by the year 2010. "They said
they had to reduce the goal to 5.7%
to avoid a global economic collapse," he said.
Goldtooth said the U.S. insists
that Natives have no collective
rights at the international level—
only individual rights under domestic law. Yet while asserting that it
represents its indigenous peoples as
citizens, the government contradictorily rejects sincere dialogue with
Native American representatives.
"They said 'we're not accountable to you. We're accountable to
the industries and Congress,'" said
Goldtooth.
The IEN director said indig-
web page: www.press-on.net
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Volume 15 Issue 21
October 25,2002
Tribal PAC contributions for 2002 Minn, elections total
$261,300 as of August 19th
(reports as of October 21st due this week)
Alleged campaign finance irregularities include Mille Lacs chief executive Melanie
Benjamin's campaign contributions to Oberstar
just the past month there have
been dozens of news reports of
campaign finance problems rooted
in 'Indian country.'
In Oklahoma, employees of the
Choctaw tribe claimed they were
pressured or "forced" to make
contributions to the campaign
funds of U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe
and Rep. Brad Carson, and campaign records show six Choctaw
tribal executives contributed a
combined $3,000 to Carson's
campaign.
In Idaho, where Indian gambling is a hot issue, Democrat
Bruce Perry fueled ongoing con-   ^
troversy over campaign finances
with his "drive for $49.90 contributions," whose donors do not
have to be identified under state
law, and tribal leaders from Coeur
d'Alene and Nez Perce have
pumped more than $2 milhon into
this year's pohtical campaigns.
In Arizona, Congressman J.D.
Hayworth has received more than
a quarter of a milhon doUars from
tribes, tribal PACs and their lobbyists in 14 states. National Indian
Gaming Association lobbyist John
Harte reportedly described
Hayworth as "a good friend of Indians."
In California, the Agua Cahente
band of Cahutila Indians has made
more than half a milhon doUars in
campaign contributions to encourage construction of a rati line
mass-transporting gamblers from
Los Angeles to their casino. The
band is being sued by the Fair Pohtical Practices Commission for
not disclosing recipients of another $7.5 miUion in lobbying
contributions, which the band was
late in reporting. Auga attorneys
argue that, as a sovereign nation,
the band is not obhgated to comply with the state's pohtical reform
laws.
In New Mexico, Democratic
gubernatorial candidate BiU
Richardson has raised hefty contributions from Indian gambling
PAC to page 6
AP Photo/Lawrence Journal-World, Thact Mender
Perched on the hood of a truck, Dominic Oldman, left, 6, and Mariah Hanna, 5, wave to the crowd
during the Haskell Homecoming Parade Friday, Oct. 18, 2002, at Haskell Indian Nations University
in Lawrence, Kan. Oldman and Hanna rode on the New Dawn NativeDancer's float, a dance troop
for American Indian youth.
enous peoples are on the frontlines
of a battle for the future of life on
earth, pointing to declining as weU
as deteriorating water supplies
across the world. However,
Goldtooth said Natives must organize on reservations independently
of tribal administrations.
"We're dealing with 500 dumping proposals in Indian Country,
coming to our lands with highly
toxic wastes. The IEN was formed
because our leaders were starting to
look at these activities as economic
development opportunities. When
we deal with the issue of toxic
wastes, we're also dealing with the
issues of decolonization, we're
dealing with internalized oppression," said Goldtooth.
Like the indigenous peoples of
the southern rainforests, the JEN is
seeking to "put a human face" on
the ecological movement by making the connection between human
rights and the environment,
Goldtooth said. The environmental
activist said he found a number of
allies among the nations of Africa,
which he said has seen a signficant
emergence of indigenous identity.
Bemidji State
aims to recruit,
retain American
Indian students
Associated Press
BEMIDJI, Minn. — Recruiting and retaining American Indian students is the top priority
of a new American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State
University.
"It is my top mission to minimize dropouts" said Lee Cook
the center's new executive direction.
The $2.6 miUion center being
built west ofthe footbaU stadium
wtil house the coUege's Indian
Studies Program, Ojibwe language minor, offices, exhibits
and a cultural area. Long-range
plans caU for an archive repository.
But right now, Cook said the
center wiU concentrate on attracting students and keeping
them in the classroom.
Bemidji State has the largest
percentage of American Indian
students than any other campus
in the state, said Cook who is a
member of the Red Lake Band
of Chippewa.
"We aren't doing recruiting,"
he said. "There are one-thousand
Indian students at Cass Lake and
we have only two. We need to
reach into the middle schools and
get younger kids tuned into college."
Cook said he's working closely
with tribal coUeges, including at
Red Lake and Leech Lake, to attract students. He's also working
with other campuses with Indian
studies programs, including the
University of Minnesota-Duluth
and the University of Wisconsin-
Superior.
"We'd like to convene national
symposiums here, at the heart of
Indian country in the state," he
said. "The center can also have
an impact on the non-Indian
community, though speakers,
musicians and poets."
Cook said he has been active
in raising some $300,000 to furnish and equip the center, which
should open at this time next
year.    ■
Tribe rebuilding Appaloosa
horse-breeding legacy lost after 1877
By Nicholas K. Geranios
Associated Press
LAPWAI, Idaho — Redwing
Two Moons hung on to the reins as
the exotic horse raced around a
smaU circular corral.
Rarely ridden, the horse known
as YeUowhand was refusing to take
orders from the 16-year-old member of the Nez Perce Indian tribe.
But after several minutes, the exhausted horse slowed to a trot, and
submitted to the teenager's wtil.
"You did good, Redwing,"
riding instructor Rudy Shebala
said. "You got the worst out of him,
that's for sure."
"You keep him running until he
acts good."
Despite the dust and the sweat,
this smaU drama was an exercise in
cultural pride. After Chief Joseph
made his famous vow in 1877 to
"fight no more forever," the U.S.
Army stripped the Nez Perce of
their prized Appaloosa horses.
It took more than a century, but
the Nez Perce are finaUy breeding
horses again.
"We are keeping up the traditions of our ancestors in our time,"
said Shebala, who runs the horse
program for the tribe.
Horses were the trademark ofthe
Nez Perce since they first acquired
runaway Spanish animals in the
1700s. EventuaUy they bred the
Appaloosa war horses that aUowed
them to become a dominant Inland
Northwest tribe.
Those horses were the ones that
helped a smaU band of Nez Perce
warriors to outrun and outfight the
U.S. Army for more than four
months in 1877.
Despite being slowed by their
women and children, the sick and
the elderly, the Nez Perce conducted an epic flight across parts of
Idaho, Wyoming and Montana
with the Army in pursuit. Only 40
miles from the Canadian border,
soldiers caught the Indians in the
Bear Paw Mountains of Montana.
Rather than see his people annihilated, Chief Joseph laid down his
rifle and the Nez Perce were taken
to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Many ofthe tribe's surviving
horses were given as prizes to soldiers and other whites, and to tribes
that helped the Army. Some of the
animals were slaughtered.
With their nomadic existence at
an end the Nez Perce found httle
use for horses in the foUowing century, even after they were resettled
on a reservation in northern Idaho.
WhUe individual Nez Perce continued to raise horses, the practice
was dormant as a tribal enterprise
until the mid-1990s, when apro-
posal was made to start a horse
farm as a "culturaUy appropriate"
business.
By then, the Appaloosa breed
had been appropriated by other
horsemen, and is now registered by
the Appaloosa Horse Club of
nearby Moscow, Idaho.
So the tribe decided to create its
own breed. They mixed western
Appaloosa mares and Akhal-Teke
stallions from Turkmenistan in
Central Asia. A new registry, the
Nez Perce horse, was launched.
"We wanted to create a modem
Nez Perce horse," Shebala said.
That's more difficult than it
sounds, because over the centuries
humans have mixed many combination of horses to create breeds,
and it can be difficult to find a new
mixture.
The first four stallions were donated to the tribe by a Minnesota
breeder.
The idea was to blend the
Appaloosa's blocky, muscular
traits, and distinctive spots on the
rump, to the slim and elegant
Akhal-Teke horse. The Asian
horses are believed to be simUar to
the original Spanish horses brought
to North America, which were the
ancestors of the Nez Perce war
horse.
The new breed — the oldest is
now 6 years old — is distinguished
by a deep chest, pronounced withers and long muscles. The horses
are taU and built for endurance.
Besides breeding horses, the
program is intended to teach Nez
Perce youth the arts of horsemanship and horse management, and
the business opportunities avaUable. Money is made by selling
horses and offering trati rides to
APPALOOSA to page 3
Tribal appeals court says felons cannot run for
Turtle Mountain Council
By Dale Wetzel
Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D.-The
Turtle Mountain Band of
Chippewa tribe may ban felons
from serving on the Tribal Council, an appeals court ruled.
The provision is not meant to
punish felons, "but instead is an
attempt at assuring the electorate
that candidates for pubhc office
wiU be of the highest moral character and integrity," Chief Justice
BJ. Jones wrote in a five-page
opinion.
Lynn Boughey, an attorney for
the Tribal CouncU, said the decision means council candidate Lee
Gourneau is no longer ehgible to
run. Gourneau was convicted of
felony aggravated assault in 1968.
Gourneau formerly served on the
council, before tribal voters approved a change to the tribe's constitution in February 1997 that made
felons ineligible to serve on the coun
cU, or to run for one of its nine seats.
Two weeks ago, Tribal Judge Richard Frederick ruled that the tribal
constitutional provision was an Ulegal
retroactive punishment The felon
ban violated the U.S. Constitution
and federal civti rights laws,
Frederick concluded.
The appeals court's decision on
Wednesday said Frederick was mistaken in invoking the U.S. Constitu-
FEL0NS to page 6