The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-10-01

              Palace Bingo & Casino
robbed
CASS LAKE, MN At 4:25 a.m. this
morning the Palace Bingo & Casino
was robbed by three armed mea There
was a fourth man waiting in a dark
colored Camaro. According to Gaming
Director, Charlie Brown, "The
vehicle's license plates had been
distorted.'' The three armed men took
an undetermined amount of cash and
jewelry from the casino. The men were
dressed in dark coveralls and dark ski
masks.
' 'No one had been injured during the
robbery," Brown also stated, "Thatthe
casino is open for business as usual."
The Palace Bingo & Casino is located
2 miles northwest of Cass Lake. Cass
County Authorities, along with Cass
Lake Police and Bureau of Criminal
Apprehensionare investigatingthe robbery.
Patient confidentiality violations and denial
of services alleged atthe Indian Health Board
By Gary Blair
It appears the problems now being
exposed at the Minneapolis Indian
Health Board (MB) involve more than
employee racial discrimination,
financial mismanagement and
excessive staff salaries.
This week the PRESS learned that
patient confidentially is being violated
and clients are being refused services.
On September 24,1993, the PRESS
contained an article entitled
' 'Christmas comesearly atthe Indian
Health Board: Hand says, "She'll
take the money with her..." The article
described a community feast and
giveaway sponsedby IHB's executive
director, Norrine Smith, to help build
support for her troubled
administration.
The day this article appeared, staff
at the clinic reported that Norine
Smith, requested and obtained the
medical records of the PRESS reporter
who wrote the article. In it, a
conversation between Virginia
Schuster, the medical clinic's
administrator, and two PRESS
reporters was mentioned. What was
not mentioned is that the writer told
Ms. Schuster that he had been a client
of IHBand IHB staff say it was
SchusterwhoaccompaniedSmithinto
the records room when she asked for
the confidential medcial charts.
Clinic staff say Smith has requested
client and clinic staff records before.
Records that are required by state and
federal law to be kept confidential
unless the written permission of the
client is obtained.
The PRESS learned on Tuesday of
this week that the intake count at IHB
has been down for sometime. In fact,
the client count has dropped off so
dramatically that the clinic's doctors
have been counting talks with groups
of children to help increase their client
encounter numbers. These numbers
are used by IHB to request funds from
the U. S.Department of Public Health
Service. Problems with maintaining
confidentiality has been cited as one
of the reasons for the decline. In
addition, some former clients of IHB
report to have been treated with little
respect or courtesy. They describe
being asked by staff to state out loud
the reason for their visit, even when
there are other people near, and being
shown contempt when they try to
maintain their privacy.
Other problems recently brought
out by staff and community members
include the inflexibility and
inefficiency ofthe WIC (Women with
Infants and Children) program which
is a government sponsored nutrition
program for children under six years
of age. Reportedly, mothers who come
to the clinic to utilize the WIC
program are sometimes turned away
because they don't have an
appointment to see the doctor. They
are told,' "The doctors can't see you,
Smith/See Page 5
Two Indian gaming operations deny infiltration
efforts by Mafia
By Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer
Officials with two American Indian
gaming operations in Minnesota
vehemently deny infiltration efforts
by the Mafia, and charge the media
with responsible reporting of the
industry.
The officials, part of a panel discussion
on Indian gaming last week at the
Associated Press managing Editor's
annual convention, said American
Indian gaming is closely scrutinized by
the FBI and by the states.
"Because this is the biggest economic
tool we have, why wouldwe messitup?"
asked Leonard Prescott, president of
Mystic Lake Casino, a tribally run
operation by the Mdewakaton tribe.
"As a public company, we are under a
lot of scrutiny," said Thomas Brosig,
president of Grand Casinos Inc., the
management firm hired by the Mille
Lacs BandofChippewa to runits gaming
operations. "For our executive staff, the
dossier goes back to their 21st birthday.
Our company is clean."
American Indian gaming is governed
by the federal Indian Gaming Act and
by compacts entered into by tribes and
state governments.
"There is more speculation of mob
crime because of the history of Las
Vegas," Prescott said. "There are
assumptions thatsinceithappened there,
so it could happen in Indian country."
Paul Demain-Oshscabewis, president
and managing editor of anauonal Indian
newspaper and president ofthe native
American Journalists Association, said,
"the greatest protection... is to make sure
youhavetribalmembersintheoperation
and trained for upper management."
"In lOyears, the FBIhas not been able
to find organized crime on reservations
in Minnesota," Prescott said.
Both Prescott and Brosig said
Minnesota has strong controls on
Indian gaming, such as random
monitoring of video gaming
machines. "We also have our own
regulatory abilities," Prescott said..
"There are lots of internal controls."
With continuing interest of the
Gaming/See Page 5
Another IHB employee files charges
By Delvin Cree
The PRESS learned this week that
there will be additional charges of
discrimination filed with the State of
Minnesota Human Rights Department
by previous an employee ofthe Minneapolis Indian Health Board. The
charges are being brought against
Norine Smith, Executive Director of
IHB, and IHB's Board of Directors.
Twenty-two-year-old Winona
Spaulding, who worked at the Health
Board for one year andeight months
as a secretary in the Mental Health
Unit, said that she recieved a notice
on September 13, 1993, stating that
her position was no longer needed at
the Health Board.
According to Spaulding, the termination was a measure of retaliation by
Norine Smith. Spaulding stated, "I
know I was being retaliated against
because my mother had previously
filed charges of discrimination against
Norine." She explained that her
mother, Diana Sanders, worked at
IHB for two years and was let go in
December 1992.
Spaulding went on to explain that
the reason she and her mother were
treated differently by Smith was because they are part African American.
Her mother is half Native American
and half African American. She included this in the report to the State
Human Rights Department.
In one incident, Spaulding reported
Norine had put together a feast for
Martin Luther King Day in January
of 1992. She said,' 'Me and my mom
were standing in line at the feast and
Norine came up and told us because
were black we should go to the front
of the line. Then she pulled me and
my mom to the front." Spaulding
said that she did not attend the feast
this year because of being singled out
by Norine last year.
The PRESS also talked to Diana
Saunders. She said that during her
tenure at the Health Board she was
harrassed and intimidated by Norine
Smith. "After I spoke up and defended myself against Norine, I was
continuously harrassed and was put
on probation numerous times for no
good reason," she recalls.
She also reported being humiliated
by the incident at the Martin Luther
King Day feast. "Even after that,"
Charges/See Page 4
Management, financial problems dominate
IHB board meeting
By Bill Lawrence
The regularly scheduled meeting of
the Indian Health Board of
Minneapolis Board of Directors was
held Monday, September 27, at the
Bloomington Holiday Inn. The
meeting was dominated by the Board's
attempt to getahandleon the financial
and management problems recently
reported in the local media. Board
members present were: Dr. Thorson,
Patrick Lundy, Carol Marquez-
Baines, Paul Day, BUI LaRoque, John
Smith, and board chariperson
Charlotte Roberts. Member Douglass
Fairbanks was absent.
Hostilities were apparent even
before the meeting began as board
members appeared to be surprised^
that the agenda sent to them by the
executive director referred to the
meeting as a board training session
rather than the previously scheduled
board retreat. In addition, most ofthe
board members were annoyed that
the executive director, Norine Smith,
had not consulted with them,
particularly with chairperson
Charlotte Roberts, in preparing the
agenda.
The meeting, which lasted eight
hours, began with discussion of a
response to last week's NAP article
describing IHB's financial situation.
NeilLapidus, ofthe C.P. A. firmLurie,
Besikof, Lapidus & Co., took issue
with NAP's position that the financial
status of IHB had deteriorated over
the last three years. He presented the
net results of IHB's status over a five
year period which improved the
picture somewhat. However, it still
didn't explain the downward trend in
net worth over the last three years so
that in 1992 IHB ended up in the red
(expenses greater than revenues)
which, in our opinion, reflects a
deteriorating financial condition. Mr.
Lapidus continued his explanation by
stating that the deficit reported in the
financial audit on file at the Attorney
General's office was covered by a
$100,000 transfer of funds. What he
failed to say was from which account
this $100,000 came from. He also
failed to explain why an incomplete
financial audit report was filed with
the Attorney General's office.
In response to the allegation in the
NAP article that the IRS form 990s
were submitted to the Attorney
General's office unsigned, Lapidus
told the board that the 990s were not
required to be signed. He couldn't
verify whether the copies sent to the
IRS were signed or not. He said he
assumed they were because he hadn 't
hear anything to the contrary.
Despite this explanation, the fact
remains that an incomplete audit
report was filed with the Attorney
General's office, an audit report that
is missing 26 pages of opinions on
compliance, internal controls, and
detailedbreakdown of expenses. This,
coupled with the unsigned 990s, does
not easily lend itself to the appearance
of propriety.
Following the financial discussion,
the board was directed through a
session on communication by a
professional consultant from
Rosemount, Inc.
It was apparent as the meeting
progressed that the majority of the
board of directors had lost confidence
in the ability of executive director
Meeting/See Page 4
Indian Health Board's CPA audit is questionable /Page 4
American Indian Center groundbreaking at BSU/ Page 4
Minneapolis Diversity Job Fair scheduled/ Page 6
Grave robbing conies to the northland/ Page 1
IHB board appearing to lose confidence in Noreen Smith/ Page 1
Noreen Smith appears to be violating patient confidentiality/ Page 1
Voice ofthe Anishinabeg
1
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We
Opportunity For All
Founded  in 19BB
Volume 5   Issue 14
October 1. 1993
1
Copyright:, The ajpbwe Mews, 1993
Photo by Mel Rasmussen
Pictured, 1-r, is Earl Sergeant, Paul Little and David Sogard as they discuss their options.
Grave Robbing is alive and well in the North
By Mel Rasmussen
It was a cold, windy, rainy day and
it seemed that the ancestors and spirits
were crying. The site is a large burial
mound near Big Falls, Minnesota and
it had been violated by person(s)
unknown. Down through the top and
through the sides were fresh signs of
digging where someone had been
excavating. What they were seeking
were the remains and funerary relics
ofNative Americans buried there.
To approach this site and see this
desecration brought feelings of rage
and anger and a very sick gut
wrenching feeling within ones inner
self and heart. Whether it be
anthropologists, archaeologists or just
plain grave robbers the feelings would
be the same as you saw your heritage
and ancestry torn apart for no reason
at all. The sanctity of these ancestors
had been violated and it was up to a
small group of individuals to try and
repair this circle of sanctity for their
spirits.
Earl Sargent of the Minnesota
Indian Affairs Council has been
dealing with this issue for over twenty
years and as he simply put it that it
was not natural for the human race to
allowthis type of desecration ofburial
grounds or cemeteries. But there are
those who will descend to these depths
of depravity for monetary gain.
Sargent had brought a crew of people
together to seal up these diggings and
have an elder bless the remains and
release these disturbed spirits. Mr.
Paul Little of the Fort Totten
Reservation had been brought here to
say the prayers and provide the
cleansing ofthe site and the recovery
ofthe dignity of these ancestors.
Little is the current Cultural
Heritage Director for the Fort Totten
Reservation. He preserves the history
and cultural treasures of the tribe and
works hand in hand with the Tribe,
State and National Park Service. He
stated that there is not enough funding
out there for the continuance of these
repatriation projects but somehow he
has been able to succeed in continuing
on with this project.
Other team members at this reburial
procedure included four members of
the All Nations Cultural Resource
Preservation group representative and
David Sogard, General Counsel for
Minnkota Power Cooperative. The
Minnkota representative was present
as the burial mound is located on the
power company right of way. Sogard
indicated that the company was very
concerned about this grave
desecration and wanted to help in
whatever way possible to correct this
desecration.
As the rain poured and the wind
blew Little with the help ofthe group
gathered to smudge the burial mound
and sing the songs and say the prayers
for these violated spirits and their
final resting place. Little talked about
the desecration and told those present
that the individuals who did this will
have to pay the price for it. He stated
that these individuals will suffer in
the future for this desecration and the
Creator would deal with them in his
own fashion.
After the ceremonies were finished
the All Nations crew proceeded to fill
in the tunnels and holes that had been
dug into the mound. They used over
ten yards of fill that had been provided
by Minnkota Power. The purpose of
the fill is to discourage any further
vandalism and disturbances to the
specific burial mound.
David Sogard was asked how his
company was handling other burial
sites on their right of way properties.
He stated that the company wasn't
aware of any other sites and had only
been told of this one approximately
one year ago. The company didn't
know that the site existed and
contacted Earl Sargent about the
mound and went with him to find out
what was occurring. Sogard was then
questioned about the companies
activities in identifying any further
•mounds. Sogard stated that they are
now aware of these issues and will
handle them as they arise on an
individual basis. He also stated that a
Minnkota area lineman that travels
through this territory will report any
disturbances at this site.
Sogard felt that as he looked around
he felt a loss in how to best protect
these mounds. He stated that he wasn't
sure of how you would do this. When
asked if there was any thought of
coordinating local law enforcement
and Minnesota Department ofNatural
Resource and seeking their help he
stated that he had not thought of this
option yet. Sogard stated that as far as
he knew there has been no such
coordination efforts whatsoever. Earl
Burial/ See Page 6
The   All   Nations   Cultural   Resource
Preservation Corp. is a hidden treasure
By Mel Rasmussen
The All Nations Cultural Resource
Preservation corporation (ANCRP) is a
new company which has grown from
the need ofprotecting culturally sensitive
archaeological finds and site
preservation. This company in its own
unusual and specilized manner has
combined the sensitivity and
understanding of Native American
values and how to implement this
experienceintotoday'sbusy world. They
have developed an approach ofbeing in
contact with agencies dealing with
Indian affairs and withNative American
spiritual elders who give them an
expertise with which to deal with the
issues of cultural interpretation and
dealing with culturally sensitive
problems.
ANCRP is a 100% Native American
owned comany and has nine permanent
employees, five men and four women.
Their history began with the Leech
Lake Reservation Heritage Sites
Program which was established on the
Leech Lake Reservation. One of the
goals of this program was to train Native
Americans in doing archaeological
surveya and other related cultural
resource management work. Most of
these individuals started with the tribal
training but like in most instances, they
Nations/See page 5
7
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