Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-12-20

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Wake up call to all
Leech Lakers
page 4
Where are
our athletes?
page 7
Open Letter to
Secretary Treasurer
Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe; Part II
page 4
Commentary
Reflections
on a year of
change in
2002
page 4
A      HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Press/ON m\\ not be
*W  jd- published on December
A       27. The next issue will
*      be January 3,2003.
LaRose seeks TRO of recall petition
By Bill Lawrence
Embattled Leech Lake RBC secretary/treasurer Arthue "Archie"
LaRose filed joint lawsuits today in
Leech Lake Tribal and U.S. District
Court in St. Paul to enjoin the recall
process seeking his ouster.
JLaRose, who was elected last Summer by what may be called by
Leech Lake standards a landslide,
told Press/ON in a telephone interview that he has been running into
increasingly stiff opposition from
the entrenched vested interests on
the reservation to his efforts to get
an accounting of tribal funds. "They
[the other members ofthe Leech
Lake RBC] have even prevented me
from hiring staff so I can do my job.
The only reason they didn't want
Majestic [Majestic Eagle Monitoring, Inc.] to do the forensic audit is
that they would know right where to
look for the misuse and theft of
funds." Had Majestic been doing
the audit, it would probably be over
by now and we would be seeing
some charges and indictments instead of more delays."
The petition to remove LaRose
was served on him on December 2,
and contained 503 signatures. According to current Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe Constitutional requirements 451 signatures are necessary for removal.
The petition charges LaRose with
three violations ofthe MCT Constitution: (1) malfeasance in the handling of tribal affairs; (2) dereliction
of neglect of duty; and (3) refusal to
comply with any provision ofthe
constitution and bylaws ofthe tribe.
LaRose adamantly denies the
charges and said he will vigorously
oppose them. LaRose also believes
the petition to remove him is part of
the retaliation for his involvement in
the recall of former Leech Lake RBC
chairman Eli Hunt on October 11.
When asked why he filed the lawsuits instead of just letting the electorate decide in a new election, LaRose
quickly responded "because the petition as accepted by the RBC contains
at least 33 signatures of persons who
do not live on the reservation and are
not eligible to sign. Considering that
only 476 signatures were certified by
the majority report, the 33 ineligible
would bring the ehgible signatures
below the 451 threshold and make
the petition illegal. In addition, the 27
persons who signed affidavits and
wanted their names removed should
have been allowed to do so. This
would drop the signature total even
further below the threshold. So you
see that the council is really denying
me my rights and 1 think I am not
only protecting my personal constitu-
tional rights but also fulfilling my
constitutional duty as a officer ofthe
band in protecting the constitution,
which I'm sworn to do."
Dee Fairbanks, Pete White win in Leech Lake primary
Associated Press
' BEMIDJI, Minn.—A primary
election among 26 candidates for
tribal chairman of the Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe on Tuesday
whittled the field to a pair of candidates who will meet in a special
election.
Deanna L. "Dee" Fairbanks received 199 votes, or 13.3 percent,
and Peter D. White received 194
votes, or 13 percent, in unofficial
returns. The vote will be certified
Wednesday by the Leech Lake
Election Board.
The candidates will meet in the
Feb. 11 special election. The win
ner will complete the remainder of
former Chairman Eh Hunt's term,
which expires in 2004. An Oct. 11
recall vote removed Hunt from office halfway through his second
four-year term.
A petition calling for Hunt's removal accused him of malfeasance
in the handling of tribal affairs, dereliction or neglect of duty and refusal to comply with the constitution and bylaws ofthe tribe.
Walter "Frank" Reese finished
third in Tuesday's voting, with 184
votes, while Fred K. Jackson was
fourth with 171.
Fairbanks, reached Tuesday
night at her home in Cass Lake,
said she had been pacing all day.
"I'm still a ball of nerves," she said.
Fairbanks, 53, said a woman has
never served as head ofthe Leech
Lake Band of Ojibwe.
White, who hves in
Chachabauning near Inger, said he
was elated with the results.
"I'm still not shocked, but happy
the people have chosen me to be
one ofthe candidates," he said. "I
told people if the Creator wanted
me to be there, he'd put me there."
White, 35, is a former District 1
Tribal Council representative.
Internal audits of Leech Lake casinos find 111 serious deficiencies
Audit findings detail possible fines and sanctions
23 findings could bring possible IRS or NIGC fines or sanctions
receiving inventory). Other purchase
orders lacked authorizing signatures
and also exceeded the dollar limits
set for marketing directors' approval.
Additionally, no policies are in place
which address conflicts of interest for
the purchasing department.
The Gift Shop also had issues relating to procedures and practices.
The Gift Shop uses a system created
by Hospitality Solutions Inc (HSI) to
track and report on inventory items.
At White Oak. tlie cost of various
items was not entered into the in.
system. Adequate inventory controls
were not in place. Inventory was
counted in a manner which could
lead tothe double counting of inventory. To make matters worse, the entire inventory was not counted and
missing items were found stored in a
garage. Finally, the accounting clerk
did not confirm orders received in a
timely manner. When items are received and not properly controlled,
By Jean Pagano
Press/ONhas recently received
details of a Leech Lake Gaming
Commission Internal Audit Report
that highlights serious deficiencies at
the Leech Lake casinos, namely
Northern lights Casino in Walker,
the White Oak Casino in Deer River,
and the Palace Casino Hotel in Cass
Lake. While the reports have not
been released to the public, the information contained therein shows multiple situations in which economic
loss may occur, National Indian
Gaming Commission fines and/or
sanctions may be levied, and Internal
Revenue Service fines and penalties
may be assessed.
The Internal Audit Report covered
individual audits that were carried out
over a period starting in early 2001
and carrying through until August of
2002. The report touched on a number of gambling topics including
vault management, the marketing departments, guest services, gifts shops,
complimentary items, and Title 31
compliance. For each ofthe casinos
listed, a number of audit findings
were highlighted. Trie importance of
the audit findings is that in each case
listed, the individual casinos are at
risk of losing money, either by neglect or by intent. In either case, the
ability ofthe casinos to properly
maintain and account for the millions
of dollars that pass through their various organizations is severely hindered.
The White Oak Casino in Deer
River accumulated a total of 24 audit
findings covering the topics of Marketing Department, Gift Shop, Complimentary Items, and Guest Services. The Marketing Department
was written up for not following
proper procedures and not maintaining adequate and required records.
Items included purchase orders written after invoices were received (as
opposed to the proper procedure of
submitting a purchase order and then
AUDIT to page 7
Jim Rosenwald
Magic on
St Croix
Amid too much mass-marketed
hubbub of frenzied holiday shopping there is still the possibility of
moments of magic, peihaps an unanticipated encounter with something rare and beautiful.
This writer is a non-consumer, the
sort of person who avoids shopping
and, when driven by occasional necessity ventures by preference to a
secondhand store or garage sale.
I'm not the sort of person who's
likely to write lyric words praising a
store (except perhaps Harmony Coop in Bemidji, where a person generally encounters very good conversation with a cup of coffee). But,
Jim Rosenwald's North Star Fur
business in Marine on St. Croix is a
surprisingly wonderful place.
Back in early October, Press/ON
ran an ad for North Star Fur's "2nd
Annual Extravaganza." In his ad,
Rosenwald Usted all sorts of miscellany, from "American Indian art and
artifacts" to 2000 year old "antique
III
f
J
11
L
glass trade beads" and'furs." I read
it fairly carefully (proofreading ads
pre-publication), but thought something on the order of "ho, hum."
I've seen enough banal stuff marketed as "American Indian art and
artifacts" that I'm not going to go
out of my way to look at more of it.
But last Friday, several of us at
Press/ON went on an expedition to
Marine on St. Croix.
Jim Rosenwald, whose forbearers
were among the early immigrant settlers of the Lac Qui Parle area and
whose grandfather was the mayor of
Madison, Minnesota, to\dPress/ON
that he "grew up trapping."
Rosenwald speaks softly, almost
shyly, a man perhaps more comfortable with the solitude of the trapline
than the hustle of modem life, but he
has mastered the nuanced etiquette
and cadences of backwoods trading,
and approaches his vocation with
the artistry of a connoisseur and the
passion of a historian.
North Star Fur sells kitschy knick-
knacks - stocking-stuffer sized polar
bears made from rabbit fur, souvenir
key chains, and suchlike - but he
also sells top-quality antique beads,
and shows his astonishing collection
of trade beads to visitors with a
knowledgeable description ofthe
role that those beads have played,
world-wide, in the expansion of
trade since the heyday ofthe Roman
Empire. Rosenwald has the most
extensive collection of high-quality
"African trade beads" (he explained
that such beads were historically
MAGIC to page 3
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
-tee<
Native *
American
Press
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For AH People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2002
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 29       December 20,2002
Photos: Bill Lawrence
Top: Red Lake treasurer Darrell Seki makes a brief presentation to state legislators as a part of the discussions
of possible State-Tribal casinos.
Bottom: Senators Richard Cohen, Mee Moua, Ellen Anderson, and Sandy Pappas (from right to left) sit in Room
123 of the State Capital during the mis-communicated December 18m meeting between state legislators and tribal
representatives from Red Lake and White Earth.
See story on page 3.
Attempted murder charges filed after Naytahwaush shooting
By Tun Kjos, Staff Writer
Three Naytahwaush men are in
custody following a shooting incident in that community early
Sunday.
Acting Mahnomen County
Sheriff Paul Brehm said Jacob
Lussier, 20, and Gishek Martin,
19, made their first appearances
in Mahnomen County District
Court Monday.
Bail was set at $250,000
against Martin, and $150,000
against Lussier.
Both men are charged with
four counts of felony second-de
gree attempted murder and four
counts of felony accomplice second-degree murder.
Mahnomen County Sheriff's investigator Brad Athmann said additional charges are pending against
Martin and Lussier.
Kenneth Jefferson, 29, was
scheduled to appear Wednesday in
Mahnomen County District Court
on at least one felony charge, being
a convicted felon in possession of a
firearm.
Brehm said two Mahnomen
County deputies were dispatched to
a Naytahwaush residence after resi
dents reported the windows in their
house were shot out around 4:15
a.m. Nov. 8.
While deputies were on the
scene, one of them reported by
telephone to Brehm that he heard
gunshots at another Naytahwaush
residence.
The deputies then went to that
residence and were stopped by
three individuals in a pickup who
stated that they had been shot at.
The rear window of the pickup
had been shot out by a 410-shot
MURDER to page 8
Clarification:
Carlton County cops shoot FDL
man in testicles
Lou Thompson called Press/
ON to clarify some ofthe details
in the article, "Carlton County
cops shoot FDL man in testicles,"
pubhshed in the December 13"1
issue. Lou told Press/ON that the
Carlton County Sheriffs "banged
on" her front door when they
came after Tippy, then pushed it
open and came in before Lou
even had a chance to answer the
door.
According to Lou, the so-
called "standoff" as the pohce entered and surrounded her house
lasted 45 minutes to an hour. In addition to the pohce in and around
the house, there were also patrol
cars parked across the highway and
on the next road.
She said that her husband Bruce
'Tippy" Thompson was sentenced
to the St. Cloud Penitentiary for a
combination of "driving charges"
and second-degree assault against
SHOOTING to page 7
Casino backers press on with talks
ByMuraliBalaji
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Hoping to bring a casino to St
Paul, leaders representing two bands
of an American Indian tribe and several community groups met Tuesday to discuss the next steps in the
plan.
Community leaders are to meet
with St Paul legislators at the state
Capitol today to discuss the city
landing a casino with the help ofthe
Red Lake band and White Earth
band ofthe Lake Superior Ojibwe,
which operate several casinos statewide and represent a majority ofthe
state's American Indian population.
David Glass, a member of White
Earth and owner of Black Bear
Crossings coffee shop, where
Tuesday's meeting took place, said
he hopes the groups can co-author
legislation to win approval for casino
and gambling ventures in St. Paul.
TALKS to page 3
St. Paul casino
on table
By Tim Nelson and Aron Kahn,
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Can slots save St. Paul?
That question is likely to be on
the agenda today when city planners and St. Paul minority business leaders talk with officials
from two Minnesota tribes about
bringing slot machines, blackjack
and other games of chance to the
Twin Cities.
A casino could be a boon for St.
Paul, which may face a budget crisis in coming years if Minnesota
cuts aid to cities: more than 40
percent ofthe city's general fund
comes from the now cash-
strapped state. Meanwhile, just up
Interstate 35, Duluth gets about $5
milhon from the Fond-du-Luth casino annuaUy — more than half of
what the city collects in property
taxes.
"In St. Paul, you could quadruple that, or even 10 times,"
says David Glass, the owner ofthe
Black Bear Crossings coffee shop
in St. Paul and an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of
CASINO to page 8