Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-11-22

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Garrisson Keillor
page 4
Against Police Brutality ■
update
page 5
Red Lake's influence
on public policy
dims
page 4
The rez is for the
people
page 5
Commentary
RLTC to face
difficult budgeting
priorities for 2003
page 4
Addressing the probate backlog in Bemidji
by Clara NiiSka
The BIA realty department in
Bemidji, put under mandate from
the Department ofthe Interior, has
contracted with DataCom Sciences
to assist in reducing the probate
backlog on Individual Indian
Money (IJM) accounts and individual tmst interests in land.
The Department of the Interior's
efforts are being "strongly influenced" by the Cobell v. Norton
lawsuit, according to a spokesperson for DataCom.
On Monday, November 18th,
government attorneys filed an appeal of five contempt and misconduct charges against Secretary of
the Interior Gale Norton and BIA
head Neal McCaleb. The charges,
filed September H"1 by U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth,
stem from longstanding problems
with the BIA's administration oflndian tmst money and property and
the DOI's failure to solve those
problems.
The eleventh "Status Report to
the Court," reporting on the DOI's
efforts to comply with court orders
to reform its administration oflndian trust property, was released
earlier this month. "A problem a
century in the making will not be
solved quickly," the DOI explained, "serious challenges remain. For example, me unfortunate
division of land ownership into tiny
fractions continues at an exponential pace Also in this report are
instances of additional challenges
DataCom founder and owner
Gregg Wadley
such as inadequate resources, inadequate training, insufficient policy
guidance and inaccessibility to the
Internet."
The BIA has a significant backlog of unprobated Indian trust "estate accounts." According to Tmst
Reform Specialist Marinus
Heymering, Jr. in his agency's report to the Court, "The Tmst Funds
Accounting System (TFAS), as of
the end of September 2002, contains 25,404 open estate accounts.
Of these, 13,481 are classified as
official deaths, where OTFM has
confirmed the death but the case
has not been recorded as sent to
probate. Another 7,617 of these
accounts are classified as unofficial
deaths, where OTFM has received
some indication of death which has
not yet been confirmed."
Heymering notes that there may be
"additional" unprobated estates,
since there are "at least 10 known
major defects" in the Case Location and Status (CLS) database system the DOI presently uses for locating and tracking probate cases,
and further, the TFAS systems used
for tmst fund accounts not been
"reconciled" with the incompletely
compatible CLS computer systems.
DataCom, a privately owned
company based in Albuquerque
and Oklahoma City, is contracting
with the BIA to help straighten out
the government's Indian tmst administration systems. DataCom
did an "initial site assessment" in
September and October of 2001
for the Bemidji Area Office of the
BIA, according to an informed
source. "At this time, the Minnesota Agency of DataCom is trying
to locate heirs for more than 500
pending probates on DM accounts
and individual tmst inventories in
the northcountry area. In addition
to probates in northern Minnesota,
alot ofthe probates spill over into
Canada, Wisconsin, and Michigan." The probates handled by the
BIA's Bemidji Area Office mostly
involve tmst property initially held
by members ofthe Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, and are separate
from the DOI probates of settlement funds arising from the White
Earth Reservation Land Settlement
Act(WELSA).
BACKLOG to page 7
Leech Lake members face tribal court eviction
from faulty MCT house on family land
By Jeff Armstrong
A Leech Lake family whose trib-
ally-financed home has been found
in two separate inspections to have
several serious—possibly health-
threatening—constmction flaws is
facing a foreclosure action in the
reservation tribal court. Leota
Hardy and Leroy Whitebird say the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Housing Corporation (MCTHC) is taking them to court to avoid its responsibility for allowing an aUegedly unlicensed contractor to over-
bill them for materials while cutting
comers on construction costs.
"We're hving in a condemned
house—a new condemned house at
that—and we're supposed to pay
$83,000," says Whitebird, who has
hved in the house since Feb. 16,
2001 with Hardy and their four
young children.
Whitebird says Leech Lake
judge Peggy Treuer's decision is
due sometime next week. The first
and only hearing was held Nov. 5,
nearly six months after reservation
pohce served the family a tribal
court summons and three months
after MCTHC attorney Larry
Kimball failed to show up on the
initial court date. In most courts,
failure to appear in a civil case generally results in default judgment
against the absent party.
An April 29 inspection by Jim
Naber of Park Rapids identified
dozens of structural problems in
the home, including inadequate
ventilation, use of untreated wood,
waiped and unfinished walls, an
oversized furnace in violation of
the state energy code, and mold in
the bathroom which has since
spread to a bedroom closet. While
Naber's report observes that the
"interior ofthe house is covered
with only a primer paint," the
couple claims they were billed
some $700 for indoor painting supplies.
The family refused to approve a
$2900 installment ofthe loan payment when they began noticing discrepancies between the billing and
the actual materials used. In a Feb.
20,2001 mediation meeting between the family, the MCTHC and
the contractor, John Conner of Nett
Lake, the latter acknowledged
overbilhng nearly the entire
amount, including, Hardy asserted,
a payment for some 632 extra 2 x
4s. Hardy and Whitebird maintain
that the contractor was building
two other houses simultaneously—
one on behalf of RBC member
Luke Wilson—and may have
billed the couple for supplies used
elsewhere.
"There was no $40,000 (the
amount billed for materials) that
went into our house," Whitebird.
The MCTHC itself acknowledged deficiencies such as "excessive moisture that is creating the
mold problem" in an Aug. 15,
2001 letter from housing specialist
Dave Ross, who also noted that the
contractor, failed to provide warranties or receipts for the heating,
MCT to page 5
College serves as gateway to opportunity for tribal leader
"I had always considered college
for 'other people,'" recalls Melanie
Benjamin. "The way we promote
education today was never done for
Indian people when I was a teen."
As a high school dropout, Benjamin
had married young and then became
a widow at 23. A single parent, she
had tucked the thought of going to
college in the back of her mind.
Now 46, Benjamin is the elected
chief executive for the Mille Lacs
Band of Ojibwe, responsible for
governing all aspects of reservation
life, including legal issues, business
ventures, health care, education, job
training and employment, and preserving cultural traditions and language.
College education has been her
gateway to opportunity. "Power is
found in knowledge, being educated
to understand why we do the things
the way we do," Benjamin said.
Her journey of accomplishment
includes earning a bachelor's degree
in business administration from
Bemidji State University, one ofthe
34 Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities, and studying tribal
governance and natural resources at
the University of Colorado Law
School in Boulder.
Benjamin was the fifth-oldest of
12 siblings and the first to attend
college. Bom in Siren, Wis., she
grew up in St. Louis as a result of a
Melanie Benjamin
federal government program that relocated Indian families from the reservation to urban areas to promote
assimilation into white society.
Her family eventuaUy moved to
Minneapolis, and whUe she worked
for an apron factory she learned
about a scholarship program
through the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe. With the scholarship, she was
able to enroU in a clerical program
at what is now Minneapolis Community and Technical College, another ofthe Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.
She graduated in 1979 and was
hired as a secretary-receptionist by
the Metropotitan Economic Development Association, an organization
that works with minority communities on business development
"They promoted education to the
staff," Benjamin said. "Nancy
Glassman, one ofthe managers at
MEDA encouraged me to pursue
more training."
After a year, Benjamin returned
to the reservation and went to work
for the Sandstone school district.
Soon, aspiring to do great things to
help her people face the chaUenges
ofthe 21st century, she made a pact
with a brother that they both would
go to coUege and they picked
Bemidji. He enroUed at what is now
the Northwest Technical College
campus, also part ofthe Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities.
She enrolled at Bemidji State
University in business, influenced
by her experience working at
MEDA. With her son entering kindergarten, Benjamin scheduled
classes in the morning and studied
whenever there was a moment - at
lunch, in the afternoon and between
dinner and putting her son to bed.
The campus CouncU oflndian
Students and its director, Don Day,
played a strong supportive role for
her and other American Indian stu-
BENJAMIN to page 5
Minneapolis
housing
commissioner
resigns after
drug charge
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS- A Minneapolis public housing commissioner
has resigned after taking marijuana
into a state prison where he volunteered as a reUgious worker.
Steven D. Chapman pleaded
guilty last month to a felony charge
of introducing contraband into a
prison. His Nov. 6 resignation letter
was released this week by the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
RESIGNS to page 7
S.D. man to lead National
Indian Gaming Commission
Associated Press
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The U.S.
Senate has confirmed the nomination of a South Dakota man as the
next chairman ofthe National Indian Gaming Commission.
PhU Hogen, 58, of Black Hawk,
could assume his new duties as
soon as this week
One of the panel's greatest challenges is overseeing a greatly expanded Indian gaming industry,
said Hogen, a member ofthe
Oglala Sioux Tribe.
"The challenge is to make sure it
expands in a proper and orderly
fashion, that it stays squeaky clean,
that the economic development
benefits go to the tribe, and to
make sure the folks that play at the
gaming facihties get a fan shake,"
Hogen said. "It wiU be a continuing
challenge."
President Bush nominated
Hogen for the job, and the Senate
approved the selection Friday
night. The commission governs
gambling operations conducted by
the nation's 562 federaUy recognized American Indian tribes.
Hogen, a Kadoka native and
former U.S. attorney for South Dakota, is currently associate solicitor
for Indian affairs at the Department
of Interior.
The tribal gaining industry has
outgrown the commission's re-
C0MMISSI0N to page 6
VOICE       OF      THE       PEOPLE
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tee'
Native
American
Press
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A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2002
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 25       November 22,2002
Dr. Lori Benaszak
Vaccinating elders against the flu
Dr. Lori Benaszak, one of three
physicians at the new Native
American Community Clinic
'(NACC), gave free flu shots to elders at the Upper Midwest American Indian Center on November
20*.
Dr. Benaszak told Press/ON
that, "the flue can be dangerous for
anyone over age fifty," as weU as
for people with diabetes, asthma,
and other long-term illnesses. She
urged Indian elders who have not
been vaccinated in preparation for
this winter's flu season to get a flu
shot. "I'm a big believer" in preventative medicine hke vaccinations, she said.
NACC recently received a
$24,000 grant to help immunize Indian elders against the flu. Dr.
Benaszak explained that lack of adequate preventative medical care is
among the serious "health disparities" killing Indian people, and that
the new clinic's providing free flu
shots for elders is in keeping with
NACC's mission: "to promote
wellness and regular health maintenance in Native American famUies,
decreasing the health disparities of
Native Americans in the metropolitan area and assuring access to
quality health care regardless of
ability to pay."
The NACC clinic, at 1213 E.
Franklin in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis, is currently scheduled to open this coming January. Dr. Benaszak said that
clinic organizers have run into unanticipated delays with the Minneapolis "zoning and planning bureaucracy," but that they have finaUy gotten their buUding permit,
and "we have the money to rehab
the buUding, as weU as for the first
three months of operating expenses."
NACC doctors wiU also be giving free flu shots to elders at the
Migizi 25th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, December 3rd,
from 6-8 p.m. (at the comer of 3 Is'
and Lake Street), and that, "depending on how much flu vaccine
photo: Clara NiiSka
we have left," they wiU schedule
free vaccinations at other sites in
the Twin Cities Indian community.
The NACC doctors bought 300
doses of influenza vaccine, and
have been giving free flu shots to
elders at community agency sites
throughout the Twin Cities. "It's
been a lot of fun to meet with
people from the community," Dr.
Benaszak said, adding that she has
really enjoyed seeing some ofthe
people who were her patients at the
south Minneapohs IHB clinic. Dr.
Benaszak was one of three doctors
fired for apparentiy poUtical reasons last spring. "The IHB is still
firing good doctors," she said, and
drew this writer's attention to an
October 2002 letter to the editor in
another paper from psychologist
Dr. Marsha Fields about Fields's
recent termination.
Elders who would like more information about additional vaccination locations may contact Dr.
Banaszak at (763) 559-3055.
Minnesota
American
Indian women
more often
victims of assault
BY Renee Ruble
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — On a
reservation or in the middle of
a city, American Indian women
are more likely to be raped
than other women.
That fact is behind this
autumn's creation of the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual
Assault Coalition — one of
only a handful in the nation —
that wants to change a system
many Indian victims don't
trust and to open up communities that tend to keep quiet
about sexual assault.
"We are taught Indian
women and children are sacred, and they are not being
treated that way," said Nicole
Matthews, coordinator of the
coalition that is based at the
Minnesota Indian Women's
Resource Center in downtown
Minneapolis.
American Indians are more
likely to be raped or sexually
assaulted than blacks, Asians
or whites. And in nine out of
10 cases the assailants were
white or black, according to
1999 statistics by the U.S. Justice Department, the latest figures released.
Almost aU of Minnesota's
11 reservations have sexual assault programs that are taking
part in the new statewide coalition. It also includes repre-
ASSAULTtopage6
Heart of Earth School come to life
again: Out of challenge comes a
new course
By Jean Pagano
Transformations are rare in a
cynical world. Yet, at Minneapohs' Heart of Earth Charter
School, a transformation, a rebirth, has occurred. From the
brink of censure and closure, a
new day has come to Heart of
Earth.
There is a new principal at
Heart of Earth, Dr. Darlene
Leiding. Dr. Leiding joined the
staff of Heart of Earth in August
of last year and in January became the school's first licensed
principal in the 29-year history of
Heart of Earth. There was tittle
fanfare for Dr. Leiding, and the
good news of a new principal was
overshadowed by bad news from
aU directions.
In January, a representative
from the Minnesota Department
of ChUdren, Families, and Learning (CFL) informed the principal
that the school was in statutory
operating debt (SOD). Statutory
operating debt is the condition
where a school is more than 2.5
percent over budget. Heart of
Earth was 17.3 percent over budget. CFL gave Heart of Earth until January 31 to come up with a
financial plan.
During the same time period,
the state fire marshal deUvered a
notice of violations to Heart of
Earth, most notably were problems with the school's sprinkler
systems. To make matters even
more chaUenging, Dr. Leiding
was notified by Minnesota Public
Schools that both finances and
academic scores were unacceptable and could impact the
school's renewal of its charter
school hcense.
Leiding enlisted the help of
new financial director Joel
Pourier, a Lakota Heart of Earth
teacher with a master's degree in
business finance, to help
straighten out financial matters.
Leiding also cut the staff by almost 30 percent to save money
and maximize existing resources.
The school is meeting its challenges head on. "The combination of people and gains is making us credible," says Dr.
Leiding. Attendance at the school
is up. The school is almost out of
statutory operating debt. The
Minnesota Pubhc Schools' probationary period ends in June
2003. A new sprinkler system is
in place. Lots of sheetrock and
other fire code miracles came together during an aU-night push by
the principal and staff. And there
is renewed trust from the Native
community.
Today's Heart of Earth school
is the result of a transformation
from a private American Indian
Movement (AIM) school to an
alternative school to today's charter school status, a designation
gained in 1999. The charter
school today stands alone, with
its own board, separate from the
Heart of Earth Survival School
(Survival School) whUe the Survival School owns the property of
which Heart of Earth Charter
School is located, the charter
school makes lease payments to
the Survival School.
The similarity of names between the Survival School and
SCHOOL to page 6