The Ojbwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-09-17

              BINGO! dollars go to work to perserve
Ojibwe heritage
Lake Mille Lacs, MN - For hundreds of Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
parents, the opening ofthe new Nay
Ah Shing schools is a historic landmark for tribal sovereignty and
economic self-reliance ~ a bold step
toward rebuilding the fabric of the
Ojibwe community by helping the
children rediscover their cultural heritage.
But for the more than 150 Ojibwe
boys and girls entering the Mille Lacs
School's circular skylit lobby for the
first time, the opening ofthe $6 million primary and secondary schools is
even more special.
For them, Nay Ah Shing is an unprecedented opportunity to learn the
Ojibwe culture and language of their
ancestors, through an integrated Indian education program spanning
early childhood education through
Grade 12. "To have a state-of-the-art
school on the Mille Lacs Reservation,
a school of our own, is a real showcase
for the concept of tribal self-determination," says Duane Dunkley,
Commissioner of Education and a
member ofthe Mille Lacs band.
Now we can teach our youngsters to
remember their past through our
shared Ojibwe language," adds
Dunkley.
"It's a rebirth for our community,
a chance to regain Ojibwe cultural
values that could have been lost. We
know that controlling our destiny as
Indians depends on educating our
children, so they can work with us to
safeguard the future of our people,
our culture, and our way of life."
According to National Indian Gaming Association officials, the Mille
Lacs school project marks the first
time they're aware of that an Indian
tribe has relied on gaming proceeds to
pay the complete cost of constructing
a school. The schools were financed
from profits of the Band's Grand
Casino operations in Hinckley and
Mille Lacs. No federal or state tax
dollars were involved.
The two schools, located in a woodland setting 10 miles north of Onamia,
also represented the first time that the
Mille Lacs/See Page 5
New movement for accountability in Indian
country continues to gain momentum
By Gary Blair
mapastPRESSarticfedatedFebruaiy 19,
1993, Kathleen Messinger publicly an-
nounced for the first time her intentions to
challenge Hennepin County Commissioner PeterMclauglin, for his seatontlie county
board Eight months later Messinger says
her intentions haven't changed "Indian
people aren't heard at any levd of government in this state," she told the PRESS on
Wednesday.
Messinger came to the forefront of human
rights issues in the Minneapolis Native
Amerkancommumtymthewakeofallegations of long standing client abuse at the
Hennepin County Detox Center. Allegations ofabusetbatweretolater dose the old
1800 Chicago Avenue South site in late
November of last year.
Messinger said "Since that time,
Mdauglin and the county board haven't
known what to do to get their detox center
cpmagaia They've been so usedtofinriuig
someonemthelndancommunirywillu^
help them cover-up the mistreatment of
Indian people that this time they are at a
loss." Messinger serves as spokes-
person for the Native American Coalition
forCivil Rights (NACCRXagroup initially
formed to address the detox center client
abuse
In the PRESS article in which Messinger
ancuncedhercaKlklacy&rHznnepmCcun-
ty Commissioner, she went after the former
State Representative and first term Commissioner as uraigh the elections were to be
hdd this year. She stated how Commis-
sionerMclauglin promised todo something
abouttheaetoxabusebefcretheelectionand
then once he had won his bid for office did
nothing Messinger stated in the article,
' 'He's only been in office less than a month
and already he's responding to Clyde
Bellecourt and Frances Fairbanks."
Bellecourt is the self-proclaimed
AIMkader are! director of the "Peacemaker Center" and Fairbanks is the
Executive Director of the Minneapolis
American Indian Center. Two individuals
that Messingerstated have been part of the
reason for the continuing abuse of
NauveAmericans in Minneapolis.
This week the outspoken Native American woman from the Turtle
MourttainReservation in North Dakota
broadened NACCR's scope of battle. She
sakl, "ThereasonNACaihasradhouble
working with the state and tte county on the
detox issues has been because we aren't
'politically correct' They want somebody
\vl» is willing to lalk nice lothcm,"she said.
' They want the same type of Indian people
that they have always had Indians who are
only willing to look cut for themselves,"
Messinger continued "Just take a look
It's all true. The Indian Health Board isjust
the latest organization to be exposed for
corruption. First we had certain Indians
working at the old detox center who hdped
coverupuKabuseofthehownpeople. Next
we learned that Clyde Bellecourt was also
invohedmthat cover-up. Right after that it
was Frances Fairbanks. She'sbeen helping
cover-up the Indian Center's mismanage-
mentforyears. After Fairbanksitwas Clyde
Belkxxnt again duetohis lack of concern for
the safety of our youth at the Peacemaker
Center. Lack of concern for our youth that
NACCR will soon take to his funders,"
Messingerstated
"Within weeks, Indian Fanuly Services
wastenexttobeexpe^feftneurnistrcat-
ment of our elderly," an issue Messinger
says will most likefyerdupatthedoorsofthe
Minneapolis United Way and Hennepin
County, the socialservice program's two
inajor funders. "Itseemstliesepeoplethink
Messinger/See Page 5
Madeline Island Museum wants to give back
Indian items, but how?
By Susan Hogan/Albach
News-Tribune staff writer
LA POINTE, Wis. - Hanging on
the wooden walls of the Madeline
Island Museum are ceremonial pipes
and an eagle feather belt used in
sacred Chippewa rituals.
Inside glass display cases are small
beaded pieces of cloth and earrings
likely taken from Indian graves. Chippewa from nearby reservations want
them returned. A federal law may
require the museum to oblige them.
But returning the items poses a
sticky problem for area bands and
museum director Steve Cotherman.
Because no records were kept on most
of the items, the museum isn't sure
which area Chippewa should receive
them.
"It isn't that the museum doesn't
want to give them back,'' Cotherman
said. "We just don't have a clue where
a lot of this stuff actually came from.''
The museum was built in the 1950s
and is operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. Its sacred
holdings are especially significant to
Chippewa because the island was their
spiritual center before the 17th century arrival of Christian missionaries.
Chippewa from nearby reservations
have complained for years about some
of the displays, which comprise a
fraction of the museum's holdings.
Some sense that, for the first time, the
museum is sympathetic to their position.
"My feeling is that the museum
wants to do the right thing," said
Andy Gokee, a Chippewa from the
Red Cliff Reservation nearby Bayfield.
Gokee, a lawyer, has been actively
negotiating the items' return.
"I believe that eventually repatriation will occur," he said. "But the
bands have got to consider the appropriateness of the displays, the
disposition and, perhaps, reinterment
of some ofthe items there."
Chippewa spiritual leaders and elders from the 11 Lake Superior bands
may meet soon to try to resolve the
problem. If the bands can't agree
where the items should go, the museum will be left to decide between
them, Cotherman said.
The issue here isn't new. It echoes
an ongoing movement by tribes nationwide to force museums to return
buried remains, grave goods and sacred ceremonial items. Only recently
has the federal government support-
Island/ See Page 3
Concerned Native Americans form new
coalition
By Mel Rasmussen
Indian Health Board financial condition is questionable/ Page 1
Native American religious freedoms discussed/ Page 3
Nay Ah Shing school in Mille Lacs opens up/ Page 5
Shamanism, new and old is reviewed/ Page 5
Clyde catches it again on the Opinion page/ Page 4
Grandpa applauds Circle Editor's position/ Page 6
Voice of the Anishinabeg
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Founded In 1988   Volume 5 Issue 12     September 17, 1993
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1993
Photo by Gary Blair
Fcturcd is the Indian Health Board in Minneapolis, Minnesota
PHS freezes funds at Minneapolis Indian
Health Board
IHB forced to borrow $50,000 to meet payroll
By Bill Lawrence employed as a weekend maintenance man and her daughter is a
According to information re- bookkeeper at IHB.
cently obtained by the PRESS, the According to audited financial
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) statements prepared for the IHB
recently placed a freeze on the use by the CPA firm of Lurie, Besikof,
of its funds at the Minneapolis Lapidus & Co. of Minneapolis for
Indian Health Board (IHB). Sourc- the year, 1990, 1991, and 1992,
es   who    prefer    to    remain the PRESS learned that the finan-
anonymous told the PRESS that cial picture at the board has
the reason for the freeze is that deteriorated. In 1990, the audit
PHS is questioning spending and reflects the board ended the year
the rate of spending of its funds by $236,799 in the black; in 1991
IHB. The program in question is $142,094 in the black; but in 1992
titled "Earth Winds" and is bud- the IHB ended in the red (expens-
Wisconsin Historical Society in
Madison. Thirdly, the group will start
Several Native Americans have to work at the return of all of the
come together to form a coalition that Apostle Islands back to the rightful
will be dealing with the issue of ownership ofthe Tribes,
repatriation of sacred items back to Members of this new coalition
the Anishinabe Nation. They are  include such activists as Esther
tentatively calling themselves the
Madeline Island Repatriation Project.
Their ultimate goal is threefold. First
they will go after the return of all
sacred items and bones that are
currently in the Madeline Island
Museum. Secondly, they will seek the
return of these same items from the
Nahgahnub, Sylvia Cloud, Chuck
Whitebird, Archie Mosay, Frank
Montano, and Andie Gokee. These
individuals have for a number of years
pursued different ideas in setting up
the return of these sacred items. Now
with the passage of the Native
American Grave Protection and
Repatriation Act of 1990 this group
has the vehicle to fulfill their dreams.
Frank Montano, a Red Cliff Band
member, has been in contact with the
new museum curator, Steve
Cotherman, for a number of months
about this very issue. In an interview
at Lac du Flambeau, Montano stated
that Cotherman approached him and
sought his advice in the returning of
these items to the Anishinabe Nation.
Montano has met with other
individuals and is working to help
geted to receive $290,790 for the
period April 1, 1993 to March* 31,
1994. In addition, another program, believed to be titled the
"Adolescent Youth Gang Prevention Project" funded at about the
$140,000 per year level is also
frozen.  Calls to the PHS and
es    exceeding    revenue)    by
($81,723).
The IHB's audit reports, which
are purported in the CPA cover
letter dated October 28, 1992, to
have been conducted in compliance with government auditing
standards and OMB Circular A-
Health and Human Services ad-  133, do not contain the usual
ministrations agencies were not provisions dealing with the board's
Project/See Page 3
White Earth Land Recovery Project seeks
time extension on GEIS
By Mel Rasmussen
returned. The PRESS also determined that Norine Smith is
currently in Washington, D.C. trying to free up this money and
explain her actions.
IHS board member Patrick
Lundy did confirm in a telephone
conversation with the PRESS that
he was aware ofthe $50,000 loan
that was used for last week's pay-
compliance with certain provisions of law, regulations,
contracts, grants, political activity, civil rights, cash management,
and federal financial reports. In
addition, the audits make no reference to whether or not the
board's internal control system
used in administering the federal
financial assistance programs or
Native American religious sites and
burial grounds. While the report has
Winona LaDuke, Campaign been circulated by the EQB, it was
director for the White Earth Land never circulated widely throughout
Recovery Project, recently sent a letter the Native American community. -
to Mr. Bob Dunn, Chair of the State LaDuke has taken exception to the
of Minnesota Environmental Quality timing that occurred with the
Board (EQB). The letter was a request scheduled public hearing. She stated
for a 60 day extension on the public that many Native Americans were
comment period concerning the new awayfromtheirhomesandthatschool
Generic Environmental Impact Study was not in session. She went on to
(GEIS)that is being presented by the state that with most ofthe people being
State of Minnesota. back and classes beginning statewide, it
During the last three months there  was possible that interested individuals
have been numerous public hearings   may spend more time with the GEIS
concerning this new GEIS. However,   documents in order to add their views
there are several references with the  to the public record,
document that pertain directly to   Inherlettershestatesthefollowing:.
"To not extend the written comment
period, in view of the fact that the
issuance of the draft GEIS and
supporting documents were more than
one year late, would not only be a
violation of your public-trust
responsibility as Chairman ofthe State
ofMinnesota Environmental Quality
Board, but would also lend credence
to the rumors that this study isbiased.
To allow this rumor to continue
unchequed (by not extending the
comment period) will mean that
the quality and objectivity of the
entire GEIS study will repeatedly
be called into question by many in
the scientific and public
community in the future."
roll. The loan was taken out at a the major federal financial assis-
local financial institution in Min- tance programs is in compliance
neapolis. The PRESS contacted with federal auditing require-
three other IHB board members ments.'
and all indicated they were un- In view of the above omissions
aware of the loan or the frozen it appears that the IHB audits are
fund situation. In fact, none ofthe something less than the unquali-
four IHB board members contact- fied audit that the IHB  1992
ed by the PRESS were aware that
IHB Executive Director, Norine
Smith's salary for 1992 was
$97,122; for 1991 it was $88,811;
and for 1990    was $78,019. In
Annual Report claims in their
statement on the second to the last
page. Another questionable aspect
ofthe IHB's compliance with government  financial   reporting
addition, it is reported that her requirements is that none of the
husband and daughter also work IRS form 990s filed with the Min-
at the IHB and are paid a com- nesota Attorney General's office
bined $40,000 to $50,000 per year were signed by an officer of IHB
salary. Smith's husband Paul is or their CPA firm. This obviously
raises the question of why would
an IRS form 990, that is required
by the IRS to be signed by both the
taxpayer and their preparer, be
filed with the State of Minnesota
unsigned. Since IRS Form 990
filing is a matter of public record
and can be obtained by anyone,
the PRESS has requested a copy to
see if there is any differences between the two filings.
The PRESS called Neil Lapidus
ofthe CPA firm of Lurie, Besikof,
Lapidus & Co. for an explanation
and with questions about the audit. Lapidus declined to comment
and referred all questions to
Norine Smith. The PRESS called
Smith, who was in a meeting at
the time, and left a message with
her secretary. She was asked to
return the call, but she has not
responded.
In addition to the audited financial statements and state of
Minnesota Charitable Organization Annual Report, the PRESS
was given copies of IHB financial
information by a source who desires to remain undisclosed.
The financial information reveals ah organization with
spending nearly out of control.
Large amounts of money, $66,299
in 1992 and $83,025 in 1991, was
spent for staff and family retreats,
travel and ceremonies. Also, larger amounts were questionably
spent on bonuses, loans, overtime,
temporary employees, and from
the records appear to be charged
off to a miscellaneous account in
the amount of $43,704 in 1992.
One former IHB employee told
the PRESS that functional expense
reports that she used to receive on
a monthly basis were usually adjusted to make the administration
account that covered the executive eirector's operation look more
favorable.
Smith/See Page 4
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