Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-11-01

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Vistas for a new
millenium: an
interview with
Elizabet Sahtouris
page 5
MIEA names Priscilla K.
Ross "Oustanding
American High School
Student of the Year"
page 3
Do we need a self
serving school
board member?
page 4
Leech Lake, Red
Lake mourn over
loss of Senator
Wellstone
page 4
Commentary
Paul's legacy
page 4
Supreme Court hears arguments and testimony:
Should there be full faith and credit for tribal courts
in Minnesota?
by Clara NiiSka
The Minnesota Supreme Court
convened on Tuesday, October
29*, to hear testimony and oral arguments about the petition submitted by the Minnesota Tribal Court/
State Court Forum to amend
Minnesota's rules of court and
grant a presumption of validity and
"full faith and credit" to any "judgment, decree, order, apprehension
order, protection order, warrant,
subpoena, record, or other judicial
act" of any "tribal court of a federally-recognized Indian tribe."
If the Supreme Court accepts the
proposed "full faith and credit
rule," then orders, judgments, and
other acts of any tribal court will be
rubber-stamped into the Minnesota
court system, and will presumably
carry even more legal force than a
comparable decision of a Minnesota district court, since the district
court decision can be appealed but
the tribal court decision will be immune from 'collateral attack.'
According to the proposed rule,
a person objecting to a Minnesota
court's acceptance of a tribal court
order, judgment, etc., will have the
burden of proof of demonstrating
that a tribal court lacked jurisdiction, that the order was "obtained
by fraud, duress, or coercion," that
there was insufficient notice, or that
except for emergency orders, that
the "order or judgment is not final
under the laws and procedures of
the rendering court." It is not clear
whether or not "personal or subject
matter jurisdiction" would be
evaluated under the often broad jurisdictional claims in tribal codes.
This proposed full faith and
credit rule grants sweeping power
to tribal courts - any tribal court,
not just Minnesota tribal courts -
and effectively extends the jurisdiction of tribal courts to anyone in
Minnesota whose business touches
any reservation. Thus, for example, if any newspaper, not just
the Native American Press/Ojibwe
News, published an article critical
of any tribal government, the newspaper could be sued for alleged libel in tribal court (no tribal constitution in Minnesota protects freedom of the press), and the tribal
court's judgment enforced through
the Minnesota courts. The proposed rule does not require that
tribal courts seeking a Minnesota
'full faith and credit' rubber-stamp
adhere to either Minnesota or federal standards of proof, so alleged
"libel" could well be determined by
whatever the tribal chairman said it
was in the chairman's own tribal
court. The proposed full faith and
credit rule does not require that
transcripts and court records be
filed with the state court, and in any
event under "full faith and credit,"
the tribal court's decision would be
unrebuttable as a "final judgment"
of an aUeged court of law, and
countersuit by the newspaper
would be barred by tribal sovereignty.
The Minnesota Supreme Court
heard testimony and oral argument
for an hour and a half on Tuesday.
Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz
convened the court. Judge Robert
Schumacher
ofthe Minnesota Court of Appeals
and co-chair of the Tribal Court/
State Court Forum, introduced the
full faith and credit petition. Judge
Schumacher favors adoption of the
petition. "This is the right thing to
do," he said, and supported the
forum's petition by mentioning the
support of the Minnesota Bar Association and other organizations lobbied by the forum. Judge
Schumacher was followed by forum co-chair Henry Buffalo, tribal
court judge at Shakopee and attorney representing the Lower Sioux
tribal council. Buffalo said that the
forum disagreed with the recommendations ofthe Supreme Court's
advisory committee that the proposed rule not be adopted, and
claimed that tribal courts "protect
the civil rights of litigants" through
the Indian Civil Rights Act. Minnesota 4"1 District (Hennepin
County) Court Judge Robert
Blaesner, a member ofthe Tribal
Court/State Court forum, also advocated the proposed rule.
David Herr, reporter for the Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice, began by saying that "on be
half of the committee, we want to
make sure that we are properly put
on record as not being opponents
of this. We studied the issue at the
court's request and looked it. We
did reach the conclusion that we
didn't support it, but it's not with
any sense of opposition to it.... We
did not do it as a clear-cut issue, I
would say." He "recognized the
substantial amount of work done,"
and "reviewed the largest volume
of materials submitted to an advisory committee in my recollection." The Advisory Committee,
Herr said, has "reached the conclusion that the Court should not adopt
this rule at this time."
If the Court is to adopt a rule,
Herr said, "the committee would
not recommend adoption of this
rule," and explained that proposed
rule did not address the
committee's fundamental concerns
about the rule, most importantly
that the rule is a "substantive rule,"
that "goes to the very issue of telling the district judge what she or he
is supposed to do with the judgment when it is presented, what answer is supposed to come out ofthe
[court's] process."
Herr was followed by Jon
Dukstad, president of the Minnesota State Bar Association, which
filed a majority report favoring
adoption of the proposed rule and a
minority report advocating further
study.
Testimony was also given by:
• Bill Lawrence, owner and publisher of this paper, opposing the
rule
• Randy Thompson, attorney opposing the rule
• Laura Guthrie of the White Earth
Citizens for Lawful Government,
in opposition to the rule
• Earl Mauss, Cass County Attorney, speaking on behalf of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, in opposition to the rule
• Kevin Washburn, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, speaking on behalf of several Indian Law professors (at least one of whom, Mary
Brooks-Hunter is a tribal court
judge in Wisconsin), in support of
TRIBAL COURTS to page 6
Tribal PAC c
legislative cand
contributions to Minnesota
idates as of October 21, 2002
Total tribe
PAC contrib.
1995-2002
PAC
number
2002 as of
8/19/2002
Contributed
between 8/19
and 10/21/2002
Total through
10/21/2002
Bois Forte
30563
$2,500
$3,750
$6,250
Fond du Lac
30315
$57,500
$28,500
$86,000
Leech Lake
40889
$500
$2,500
$3,000
Lower Sioux
30327
$39,500
$25,000
$64,500
Mille Lacs
30348
$77,300
$52,900
$130,200
Prairie Island
40550
$29,750
$50,500
$80,250
Shakopee
40550
$54,250
$36,200
$90,450
TOTAL
$261,300
$199,350
$460,650
Lake PAC, Sally Morrison treasurer, for example, are listed on
the form as a September 2002
contribution of $5,000 from the
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The Leech Lake report also
listed $2000 in contributions for
federal campaigns in late September: $500 each to the Democratic National Committee, Jim
Oberstar for U.S. Senate, Tim
Johnson for South Dakota, and
the Wellstone for Senate campaign. Federal campaign contributions to candidates for the
U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and to national political committees, do not have
to be included in the State reports.
Schedule Bl of the disclosure
form lists total expenditures.
For example, the expenditures
for Mah Mah Wi No Min fund I,
a Mille Lacs PAC (with Minneapolis address), include "other
miscellaneous spending, campaign contribution" of $250 to
Joe Erickson's campaign for
Minneapolis School Board,
$500 to Janelle Kendall's campaign for Stearns County Attorney, $300 to Roger Dunkley's
campaign for Mayor of Hinkley,
and $300 to Bob Szrot's campaign for Mille Lacs County
commissioner, as well as
$130.70 in banking services and
charges for blank checks.
Schedule B2 of the disclosure
form lists "Contributions made"
to candidates for Minnesota
PAC to page 5
Cass County corrections officer sentenced for sexual
assault of inmate
By Jeff Armstrong
Former Cass County corrections
officer Robert Stoneking was sentenced Monday for the Jan. 1
sexual assault of a handcuffed
Anishinabe woman he was transporting back to jail from the Cass
Lake Hospital.
Stoneking was remanded into the
custody of state Department of
Corrections after being sentenced
to a six-month jail sentence, which
he will serve at a facility other than
that of his former employer.
Stoneking was charged April 30
with 3rd degree criminal sexual
conduct after DNA tests ofthe victim and the officer supported her
allegations against Stoneking.
County Attorney Earl Maus said
the 58-year-old Stoneking also re
ceived a stayed prison term of 48
months and stringent probation
conditions applicable for 15 years.
In addition, the former jail transport
officer must complete sex offender
treatment, submit to DNA testing,
and complete sexual offender treatment, said Maus.
Elaine Gamache, a sexual assault
victims' advocate for Cass,
Beltrami and Hubbard counties,
expressed hope that the case will
encourage victims of similar incidents to report the offender to authorities.
"I think that victims might feel
more confident coming forward
when they see that one law enforcement officer has actually been
charged and convicted," said
Gamache.
Gamache said plea agreements
are    a mixed bag for sexual assault victims.
"On one hand it's a rehef for victims not to have to testify in court,
but on the other hand they have to
settle for a less stringent penalty,"
she said.
Maus said he was confident that
Stoneking's prosecution would
send an equally strong message of
zero tolerance to corrections and
law enforcement employees.
"This kind of behavior, obviously, is not tolerable," said Maus.
"Certainly on this level, the conviction should definitely send that
message to anybody who was even
thinking about it."
VOICE
O   F
THE
People
web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.    Copyright, Native American Press, 2002	
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 22
November 1,2002
Submitted photo
Congratulations Bug O Nay Ge Shig Knowledge Bowl team! The M.I.E.A. 2002 Knowledge Bowl team
championship was held at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, on the White Earth reservation. Team
members, from left to right: Coach Bruce White, Savanna Smith, Dallon White, Queta Flores, and Mike Donnell.
2002 Tribal PAC contributions to Minnesota state
candidates total $460,650
By Bill Lawrence
According to reports which
are required to be filed with the
Campaign Finance and Pubhc
Disclosure Board by October
21s1, PAC contributions made by
seven Minnesota tribal Pohtical
Action Committees (PACs) totaled $460,650. In addition,
money is contributed by the
tribes to lobbyists and law firms.
These figures were not available
at press time, nor were the
breakdowns by candidate or
party organization.
Press/ON looked through a
hefty stack of paper at the offices ofthe Campaign Finance
and Disclosure Board, Suite
190, Centennial Office Building,
at 658 Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul. Each PAC was
required to file a "Report of Receipts and Expenditures for Po- -
litical Expenditures for Political
Committees and Political
Funds" covering the period between January 1 and October
21, 2002. These reports were
due on or before October 28,
2002, and are public information, meaning that any interested
person can go look through the
forms. The PAC number, listed
on the accompanying chart, is
necessary to retrieve the forms
for any particular PAC.
The Campaign Finance disclosure forms include a list of
"Contributions Received,"
schedule Al, and the contributions received by the Leech
Election
watchdog adds
new allegation
against Agua
Caliente tribe
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO —
-California's elections watchdog
proposed Tuesday to add a new
allegation to a lawsuit it has filed
against one ofthe state's biggest
campaign contributors.
The Fair Political Practices
Commission said the Agua
Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
failed to include a $ 125,000 contribution it made in support of
Proposition 51 in a midyear donation report filed July 31.
Proposition 51 is a Nov. 5 ballot
measure that would earmark 30
percent of the taxes on the sale and
leasing of motor vehicles for a variety of transportation-related
projects, including $120 million
for rail passenger service between
Los Angeles and Indio.
One of the stops on the line
would be adjacent to the tribe's casino in Palm Springs.
The FPPC initially filed the
lawsuit on July 31. On Tuesday it
asked the Sacramento County Superior Court for permission to
amend the suit to include the
Proposition 51 allegation. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for
Nov. 26.
The suit already alleges the
tribe:
—Made $7.5 million in contributions to California candidates
and pohtical committees in 1998
but did not file major donor reports disclosing the donations until
late in 2000.
—Failed to properly disclose
more than $1 million in so-called
late contributions made between
July 1,1998 and June 30,2002.
Late contributions of $ 1,000 or
more that are made in the days
leading up to an election are supposed to be disclosed within 24
hours.
—Filed four quarterly lobbying
reports in 2001 that failed to disclose the bills and state offices that
were being lobbied on its behalf.
FPPC Chairwoman Karen
German said the commission tried
to resolve the matter informally
but was rebuffed by the tribe on
WATCHDOG to page 3
Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs's emails destroyed
Special Master Balaran wants to know why
By Jean Pagano
Special Master Alan Balaran,
named in the Cobell v. Secretary of
the Interior etai, wants to know
why Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs Neal McCaleb's emails have
been destroyed for the past 10
months. Balaran, named to the Special Master's position by U.S. District Court Judge Royce C.
Lamberth, was recently notified that
McCaleb's emails have been deleting before they were printed and
filed.
The Department ofthe Interior
has reportedly retained the services
of ZANTAZ to recover the deleted
emails. ZANTAZ will attempt to recover the deleted emails from
backup tapes. It is uncertain whether
the information will be recoverable
from the backup media
The emails in question, dated from 1
December 2001 through 1 October
2002, were deleted without being
properly printed and filed. While the
deletions had been ongoing for a period of 10 months, the office ofthe
Special Master was only notified on
October le"1 ofthe problem. This
led Balaran to state, in a letter to Peter B. Miller at the Department of
Justice (DO J) that "I am deeply concerned that Mr. McCaleb's incoming e-mails were destroyed in the
first place.. .That the destruction of
e-mails received by a senior Interior
official could take place for such an
extended period of time suggests the
absence of effective policies and
procedures that ensure the preservation and retention of electronic correspondence."
One of the central issues in
CobeU v. Secretary ofthe Interior
. has to do with the retention and security of electronic Individual Indian
Money (UM) account records. This
lack of oversight by the very department that is supposed to oversee the
establishment ofthe security procedures demonstrates the poor quality
of stewardship resident in the Department of Interior pursuant to this
matter.
Balaran has further requested that
the Department of Interior explain:
1) who destroyed McCaleb's emails
for a period of 10 months, 2) why
the emails were not printed and filed
for the period of 10 months, 3)
when the destruction of the emails
was first noticed, 4) who discovered
the destruction ofthe emails, and 5)
how the destruction of emails went
unnoticed for 10 months.
Judge Lamberth's September 17"'
Order for the Special Master instructed Balaran to investigate the
Plaintiff's March 20,2002 Motion
for Order to Show Cause Why Interior Alleged Contemnors and Their
Counsel Should Not Be Held in
Contempt for Destroying Email.
The issue ofthe alleged destruction
of email has been an ongoing issue
in Cobell v. Secretary oftfie Interior.
Ponsford man shot, wounded, in
Pine Point
By Tim Kjos
Becker County Record
A Ponsford man was hospitalized Saturday after being shot at a
Pine Point residence.
The Becker County Sheriff's
Department is searching for a
Ponsford man believed to have
shot Jeremy Harper, 27.
Deputy Brett Anderson said
Monday that Harper was struck in
the cheek area by a ,22-caliber bullet fired from a rifle. The incident
took place around 3:30 am.
Harper was taken to St. Joseph's
Hospital in Park Rapids, and then
transferred to MeritCare Hospital
in Fargo. A condition report was
unavailable Monday.
Anderson said the incident apparently began sometime on Friday
evening at a Pine Point residence
with a fight between several individuals.
Several persons returned to the
residence early Saturday, one of
whom was armed with a .22 rifle.
Words were exchanged outside the
residence before someone fired a
single round from the rifle.
Anderson said a juvenile present
at the confrontation was arrested,
and is being charged on matters unrelated to the shooting.
Anderson said the department
was assisted by the White Earth
Tribal Pohce Department and
Ogema Pohce Department.
Jury convicts two in Turtle Mountain embezzlement case
By Jack Sullivan
Associated Press
FARGO, N.D. —A former
Turtle Mountain Band of
Chippewa chairman and a
man he named to lead a tribal
business have been convicted
of embezzling more than
$100,000 from the tribe.
"This is the first step in
bringing to justice the people
responsible for the systematic
looting of tribal and federal
entities on the Turtle Mountain reservation," U.S. Attor
ney Drew Wrigley said Wednesday.
The verdicts against Raphael
Decoteau of Belcourt, who
served as Turtle Mountain chairman in 1997 and 1998, and
Ronald Morin were returned
Tuesday after a six-day trial in
U.S. District Court in Minot.
They were not immediately sentenced.
Five other people, including
the acting chairman and other   •
tribal officers, are facing em
bezzlement or theft charges, and
Wrigley said the criminal investigation is not over.
Decoteau and Morin were accused of fraudulently transferring an old bus garage owned by
the tribe to Morin. Prosecutors
say Decoteau then directed
Uniband, the tribe's data-processing business, to pay $77,000
to rent the building in 1998 from
the Belcourt/Dunseith ATA
Black Belt Academy.
VERDICTS to page 6