The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-08-20

              Man with White Earth ties denies mob
connection
By Susan Stanich
Duluth News-Tribune
The owner of the management
company at White Earth
Reservations's Shooting Star Casino
is the subject of a continuing
investigation by the FBI regarding
his connection with a Pennsylvania
crime family, the U.S. News & World
Report magazine reports.
Angelo Medure, the president of
Gaming World International, denied
Monday in a press release that he has
any mob connections. Ed Donofrio,
Gaming World director of Marketing,
sales and public relations, said
Monday his firm is considering "very
seriously" taking the magazine to
court for libel.
The article connects Medure to the
Michael Genovese crime family
through a building he was leasing in
Pennsylvania. Lessee Henry "Zebo"
Zottola was using the building for a
pasta firm, the magazine reports.
Zottola also was collecting payments from loan sharks, bookies and
drug dealers for the crime family,
according to the Pennsylvania Crime
Commission. An investor and employee in Zottola's pasta business,
Louis Raucci Sr., was convicted in
1990 for racketeering, narcotics and
tax violations and is serving a 27-year
jail sentence.
The pasta company hasn't renewed
the lease this year, Donofrio said. He
believes the firm is in the process of
moving out of Medure's building.
In a story to be published Monday,
the weekly magazine reports Medure
initially denied knowingZottola, then
said he had met him but didn't know
his background.
The advance copy ofthe U.S. News
article was sent to newspapers in regions where Medure does business.
Zottola called Medure last winter to
discuss selling him video poker machines to be used at White Earth, the
magazine reports. Medure told the
magazine reporter he wasn' t interested in Zottola's offer.
Donofrio said Monday that Gaming World regularly gets offers from
people selling video machines, and
rejects most because machines must
first be cleared by Minnesota authorities.
On Monday, Medure prepared a
formal statement in response to the
article:
"I categorically deny any association with organized crime, now or in
the past," he wrote..."There is a concerted effort to discredit Indian
Gaming, Native Americans and now
hottest Italian Americans involved in
Indian Gaming...I have never had
any knowledge of any supposed ties to
organized crime concerning the renters of the building. Any conversations
I have ever had with the renters or their
representatives was purely concerning the lease or improvements to the
building itself...This malicious and
slanderous attack...is pure fabrication by detractors of Indian gaming
and inept unscrupulous reporters."
White Earth Chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena, in a formal statement from the reservation Monday,
called the reports "the unprovable
fantasies of publications who hide
Medure/See Page 3
ALF meets with Mille Lacs Band Assembly at
East Lake
By Mike Chosa
At 10:00 a.m. August 12, the Mille
Lacs Band Assembly convened a
meeting at East Lake community
Center with the Mille Lacs 12, the
group of Ojibwe Natives who took to
their canoes this spring at Mille Lacs
Lake to exercise their religious rights
to harvest spawning walleye.
The purpose of the meeting was to
consider an invitation by thevMille
Lacs 12 to Mille Lacs Band to testify
affirmatively at meeting was the lead
attorney for the Mille Lacs Band in
their treaty litigation, Mr. Mark
Slonim, who flew in from Washington state for the occasion.
After much presentation and deliberation, it was mutually decided that
an informal declination on the part of
the Mille Lacs Band was in order, due
to the possibility that any testimony
by the Band might hurt their already
weakened case due to recent U.S.
Supreme Court decisions against
Native Americans under the THOMAS court ruling in South Dakota vs.
Bourland.
However, the Band Assembly stated that it would be desirable to
maintain open dialogue between the
Mille Lacs 12 and the Mille Lacs
Band on the matter of treaty issues.
As a process in the continuation of
dialogue, the AHNISHINABE LIBERATION FRONT (ALF), which
spearheaded the spring harvest, has
issued a two-point challenge to the
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwes.
1. To those members of Mille Lacs
Band who care about their rights to
hunt, fish, and gather in the ceded
lands, ALF challenges them to present
a PETITION to the Mille Lacs Band
Government, requesting an INJUNCTION during this litigation in order
that Mille Lacs members may gather
without harassment from the State of
Minnesota.
2. To the Mille Lacs Band government, ALF challenges them to receive
this petition in good faith, and to
present this petition to the Federal
District Court at the earliest time, in
defense of their membership and their
inherent sovereign and religious
rights.
In further developments, ALF has
again called has again called for a
MAJOR ceremony to be held at the
Mille lacs County Courthouse on August 26, 1993 at 11:00 a.m. This
ceremony will include a Pipe Ceremony, a Traditional Drum, and a
Traditional Feast. The Mille Lacs 12
will appear in court at 1:00 p.m. on
that date. All Native Americans and
supporters are urged to attend this
event.
At this gathering, ALF will announce important plans to further the
cause of Treaty Rights for Native
Americans, especially in the Minnesota area.
Inquiry focuses on senator, gaming official,
reservation chairman
By Susan Stanich
Duluth News-Tribune
A federal grand jury has been
hearing testimony during the past
week that could implicate a state
senator, the chairman ofthe Minnesota Indian Gaming Association
and the chairman of the Leech
Lake Reservation.
According to a taped telephone
conversation last week between
two Leech Lake Reservation employees, the federal government
is investigating the activities of
Sen. Harold "Skip" Finn, DFL-
Cass Lake, Myron Ellis, who also
is a councilor on the Leech Lake
Reservation, and Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton, reservation chairman.
Ellis' attorney, Michael Colich of
Minneapolis, confirmed Thursday
that a grand jury has been convened, and Ellis has been asked to
appear.
Finn is a Leech Lake member,
Walker attorney, and attorney for
the Bois Forte Reservation. He
formerly served as attorney for
Leech Lake and the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, and as tribal
judge. He's founder and stock
holder of a firm called Reservation Risk Management, Inc.
Duluth News-Tribune received
a transcribed copy of a taped telephone conversation between two
Leech Lake tribal employees who
are accountants, one of which had
returned from being interrogated
by federal investigators and was
reporting to the other about his
experience. They apparently
didn't know they were being taped.
During the lengthy but focused
conversation, they said Ellis had
been paid $13,300 of Reservation
Risk Management money the firm
was founded by Finn, who is a
member of the Leech Lake reservation, which is west of Grand
Rapids. He's also an attorney in
Walker and attorney for the Bois
Forte Reservation, which is near
Orr. He formerly served as attorney for Leech Lake and the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, and
as tribal judge.
Risk Management had a 10-year
contract with Leech Lake, to expire in 1995, which paid Finn's
firm $400,000 a year for insuring
Leech Lake against employee injuries and other liabilities. Finn
Sen. Harold Finn, DFL
was the only incorporator, and
Alfred "Tig" Pemberton, then
Leech Lake secretary-treasurer
and now chairman, was listed as a
board member ofthe firm.
Ellis was given $7,600 in May
1992, and $5,700 in August 1992,
the employees said. Leech Lake
elections, in which Ellis and
Pemberton were candidates but not
opponents, were withfti that period.
One accountant said in the tape
that he had told the federal in-
Finn/SeePage3
Wellstone Indian aide under attack by tribal
leadership
By Mel Rasmussen
Recently the PRESS applauded the
appointment of Ms. Diane Seegar as
his new Native American Legislative
Aide. Ms. Seegar has been in this
position for approximately three
months and has succeeded in
establishing a rapport with the Native
American Community.
During this short period of time she
has met with tribal leaders, community
members and leaders, inmates and
those who are less fortunate or without
hope sometimes within the Native
American Community.
Ms. Seegar during her short tenure
single-handedly has stated her
position that she is an Indian advocate
and would not be bought off or coerced
by any one group. Nor would she be
manipulated by any one group also.
Her job has been to be the eyes and
ears for Senator Wellstone on Native
American issues in Minnesota and on
the Washington scene. Unfortunately,
she is now under attack by tribal
leaders of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe. It is now time to look at their
past activities and why she is under
attack.
The bottom issue for Ms. Seegar's
position is one of accountability and
for the human rights of the Native
American community. This is the
position of the PRESS and we had
hoped for the same type of response
by the leadership within the different
reservations and internally within the
Wellstone office.
Ms. Seegar was selected from a
field of candidates and was Senator
Wellstone'spick in the end. His choice
of commitment for the Native
American Issues was reflected with
this type of individual. Seegar has
stood up and stated unswervingly to
some ofthe Senator's staff that she
was not a token and would not be put
into a position of lesser status as an
aide to the Senator. She would not
allow the issues from the Native
American community to be literally
whitewashed by the internal views
that have occurred within the
Seegar/ See Page 5
Gary Farmer interviews with PRESS/Page 3
Lushootseed language is preserved/Page 5
BIA money mishandling discessed/ Page 5
Bighorn survivors studied/ Page 8
Grandpa discusses gaming technique/ Page 8
lave you seen this elder? He is still lost and the PRESS is looking for him
Voice ofthe Anishinabeg
1
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988        Volume 5   Issue 8 August SO, 1993
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1993
Photo by Kiel Rasmussen
Leech lake Tribal members show their displeasure with current RTC activities
Tribal band members meetto discuss alleged
misuse of funds on Leech Lake Reservation
By Mel Rasmussen
MONDAY, August 16, 1993, 1:00
p.m., a peaceful assembly of enrolled
members of the Leech Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians was held at the Cass
Lake Facilities Center. Approximately
60 enrolled members met to discuss the
current events and what we can do as
citizens of the Leech Lake sovereign
nation to discontinue alleged criminal
activities currently underinvestigation.
Many of the concerned members expressed a strong desire to suspend the
tribal officials who are currently suspects of criminal activity under the
Departmentof Interior investigation.
Mr. Frank Annette, Superintendent
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose
offices are in the basement of the Cass
Lake Facilities Center spoke to the enrolled members stating, "I do not know
anything about Skip Finn's Risk Management. That contract did not go
through the BIA offices. Our office is
purely administrative." Later Mr.
Annette stated to the Press," We do not
make moral judgments of the tribal
lawyers."
Mr. Gary Frazer also addressed the
crowd regarding the MCT Constitution. The enrolled members requested
that Mr. Frazer gather the TEC and
freeze theassets of the tribe and suspend
the tribal members under scrutiny. Mr.
Frazer stated, "A meeting was already schedule and they would address
the issue."
The enrolled members requested
an emergency meeting to address these
important issues. Mr. Frazer also stated, ' 'That if any tribal council member
is found guilty of a felony then he
wouldbe automatically removed from
office as dictated by the MCT Constitution." Additionally, Mr. Frazer
quoted several other reasons and ways
in which to impeach any tribal council official. For example, another
reason to impeach any tribal official
is due to his gross misconduct and/or
misuse of his tribal authority, office
and the other way to impeach a tribal
official is to create a petition where
the enrolled members need approximately 300 signatures from enrolled
members living on the reservation
and to add to that a 2/3 tribal council
vote.
The petition is not a problem, however, the tribal council will not support
this type of petition in any way and has
on other occasions used this effort agai nst
the petitioners. Understandably enrol led
tribal membcrsare hesitant toengage in
this effort and present such a petition
before the tribal council.
Mr. Waller "Frankie" Reese, who
has been voluntarily serving as a representative of all enrolled members
(who are currently not a part of the
RTC) and two witnesses presented
Mr. Jim Michaud, Secretary/Treasurer (who was the only tribal official
at the reservation headquarters at the
time of presentation), with a letter
requesting copies of tribal affairs,
bonding, and gaming affairs. These
documents are accessible to tribal
members pursuant to the MCT Constitution, Article VI, Section l(a)-(f),
and Section IX, Section 1. Mr.
Michaud responded to the request
letter by giving the representative
and his eyewitnesses some maple
syrup. Mr. Michaud did indicate
the requests ofthe enrolled members will be addressed at
Wednesday's tribal council meeting when Mr. Pemberton and Mr.
Ellis will be in the office.
Enrolled members are very concerned with accountability of
gaming operations, accountability of tribal operations, self-governance,
unfairemploymentpractices, and inappropriate use of funds,
commonly referred to as tribal donations.
Another unspoken tribal policy is to
threaten employees with termination of
employment if they attend, listen to, or
participate in any type of meeting, protest or media coverage regarding their
tribal affairs concerns.
Wednesday meeting with Tribal Council appears to be a fantasy
Enrolled members of the Leech
Lake band gathered at 8:00 a.m. at
the Leech Lake Reservation Tribal
Headquarters to show support for their
10 point request letter, and to
demonstrate their displeasure with
the ongoing indications of fraud and"'
abuse by officials of the Leech Lake
band and Sen. Harold "Skip" Finn. A
scheduled 9:00 a.m. Reservation
Tribal Council (RTC) meeting that
Jim Michaud had earlier indicated
would be held was not to come about.
When asked of Michaud's
whereabouts, it was determined that
he was out-of-state at some other
function.
The RTC member, Michaud,
promised to address the 10 point
request to review tribal documents.
Two band members went inside the
RTC building to detcrmi ne the proper
location ofthe meeting and were told
that none had ever been scheduled.
Alternatively, the two enrolled
members requested to speak to their
District Representative, Mr. Myron
Ellis, who was in the office. Mr. Ellis
agreed to meet with Mr. Reese. The
other band member, Ms. Diane White
was originally denied access to Mr.
Ellis' office, but was not thrown out after
she had reached his office with PRESS
reporter Mel Rasmussen. The band
members asked about the possibility
of Ellis' resignation and/or
impeachment ofthe District III office.
Ellis laughed and said, "it would never
happen." When confronted with the
possibility of the band members
having enough votes to order a recall,
Ellis laughed and said, "We'll deal
with it when it comes to a head, all
right. Never happen and never will."
Ellis was asked about his gross
violations of the constitution and he
stated, "How are you going to prove
it? Let them testify. I don't care."
Ellis was asked to come out and talk
Leech Lake/See Page 3
To Report Instances of theft, embezzlement and misuse of you r gaming funds, call the U.S. Department of Interior Inspector General's
Hotline at 1-800-424-5081. Your calls will be kept confidential
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