The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-10-29

              Midwest Indian Gaming Conference & Expo
meets in Minneapolis
By Mel Rasmussen
For three days delegates and members
from numerous gaming facilities and
tribes will meet in Minneapolis at the
Midwest Indian Gaming Conference
and Expo. The location of this event is
the Hyatt Regency in downtown
Minneapolis. Myron Ellis, MIGA
chairman said that the trade show is an
opportunity for tribal officials and
gaming industry leaders to share
information and discuss strategies to
protect Indian gaming.
Ellis further stated, "Tribal gaming is
the most effective economic
development tool Indian people have
ever had...It's also been a boon to
hundreds of rural communities, not only
in Minnesota but nationwide. Across
America, tribal gaming accounts for at
least 30,000 jobs. In Minnesota alone,
our casinos have generated more than
10,000 jobs - 73%of which are held by
our non-Indian neighbors. That's a
success story worth protecting."
The agendafortheconference includes
someinterestingpanels which will cover
many areas of the Gaming industry.
However it is important to note that
there is no outside involvement from
concerned band members about the
problems with Gaming. All of the
speakers and moderators appear to be
from inside the industry and it is
apparent that the discussion will be
limited to their agendas only.
The Midwest Indian Gaming
Conference & Expo
October 28,29 & 30,1993
Agenda
Wednesday, October 27
1:00 p.m. - MIGA Meeting
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Conference
Registration
Thursday, October 28
7:30 - 8:45 a.m. - MAICC Breakfast
Speaker: Dan Tucker
9:00-10:00 a.m.-
OpeningCeremonies
Grand Entry and opening remarks
Al Paulson, Myron Ellis, Stanley
Crooks,
Dan Tucker, John McCarthy
10:00 a.m. - Noon - General
Session
NIGA/MIGA General Membership
Meeting (open):
Indian Gaming - National Overview
77m Wapato, NIGA Executive
Director
NIGA Task Force Negotiations
Report
Sharon House & Task Force
NIGA PR Task Force Report
Gay Kingman & Task Force
Noon - 2:00 p.m. - MIGA Awards
Lunch
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Breakout
Sessions
Bingo & Pull Tabs: Protecting
Your Bottom Line
Moderator Bob Larson, Bingo
Palace & Casino
Panelists:
Mark Tsugi, Leech Lake
Larry Nehring, Fond du Lac
Russell Metoxin, Oneida
Dan Tucker, Sycuan Band
Electronic Gaming Devices, Class
II Update
Moderator Henry Buffalo,
Jacobson, Buffalo Law Office
Panelists:
James Maida, Gaming Laboratories Int'l
Maryellen Muir, Lodging Systems
Anthony Pico, Viejas Indian
Tribe
Internal Controls: A System You
Cant Survive Without
Moderator John McCarthy
Making Compacts Work
Moderator: John Jacobson
Panelists:
Jim Townsend, Dorsey &
Whitney
Kurt Campbell, Prarie Island
Gaming
Allen Johnson, Sisseton
Wahpeton Sioux
Mike Le'rthen, Wisconsin
Winnebago
4:00 p.m. - Trade Show Opens
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Cocktail Reception
Agenda/See Page 4
Dr. Hll urges Indians to become Physicians/Page 3
Minnesota's version of "Roots" comes to Historical Society/Page 5
Wellstone Aide to speak to Minnesota HONOR/ Page 3
Hennepin County Detox comes to forefront again/ Page 1
Jimmy "Ironlegs" Weaver rousted in Union County, Ohio/ Page 1
Midwest Gaming Expo gathers in Minneapolis/ Page 1
Voice of the Anishinabeg
■■■■ "~^
—,—__ 1
Fifty Cents
OJibwi
News
We Support: Equal Opportunity For All
Founded  in 1988 Volume 5   Issue 1B October 29, 1993
A weekly publication.
Copyright:, The Ojibwe Mews, 1993
1
Hennepin County officials shut down
temporary detox facility at county hospital
By Gary Blair
The old saying goes,' 'Things went
from bad to worse," and it appears
that is what's happening to Native
Americans in need of detoxification
services in Minneapolis. This week,
Hennepin Comity officials closed the
last of their detox facilities. This one,
located at Hennepin County General
Hospital, was utilized largely by Native American chemical dependents.
Last fall, the former detox center at
1800 Chicago Avenue was hit with
numerous allegations of client abuse.
In November of that year, the County
entered into an agreement with the
State which closed the Chicago Avenue site and required Hennepin
County to give up their other detox
health care licenses. However, it allowed the Countyto maintain the small
detox unit at Hennepin County General Hospital. Since that time the
possibility ofa Native American controlled and operated detox have been
alluded to, but a year has gone by now
and the possibility is still an illusion.
About six months ago the County
gave the Minneapolis Salvation Army
$500,000 to operate a sobering station
knownas Harbor Lights. Indian people
the PRESS spoke to this week say they
don't want to use that facility because
of cultural and ethnic differences.
However, Harbor Lights reports that
30% of their count admitted for detoxification last month were Native
Americans.
Last Tuesday evening, the People
ofPhillips (POP) office on Franklin
Avenue was the site of more discussion of the detoxification problems
facing the South Minneapolis community. Frustrations ran high at the
meeting attended by a small cross-
section of community members.
The discussion began with the focus on the past client abuse at the
former Chicago Avenue detox and
the County's attempts to avoid the
issue. Once again, no progress was
made as Hennepin County officials
continued to try and sweep it under
the table and members ofthe community refused to let that happen.
Joe Estrada, a member ofthe board
of directors for the New Visions
Chemical Dependency Treatment
Program, fielded questions about his
organization's role in developing a
culture-specific detox facility for Native Americans in Minneapolis.
According to Estrada, Hennepin
County approached New Visions
about a year ago wanting the organization to develop a detox facility. He
stated, "What we really wanted was
to be out at Fort Snelling and also
operate a wet/dry facility. When that
didn't work out they offered us the old
detox center."
Before Estrada arrived at the meeting, the New Visions program was
accused of attempting to enter into a
secret agreement that would have
given Hennepin County officials complete control over what would have
been billed as a "Native American
detox''. In reality, what that agreement would mean is that New Visions
would hold the detox license and the
County would pull the strings. In
addition, before New Visions were to
accept the agreement they would have
to be willing to overlook the past
client abuse.
At the end of the meeting.Robert
Albee and Wayne Raske, who had
been actively involved in the discussion, were forced to admit they had
been working to help New Visions
reopen one wing of the Chicago Avenue detox facility and that it is
scheduled to open on January 1,1994.
Up to this point, they had not offered
this information to the group, lending
strong support to the accusation that the
deal was meant to be done in secret. In
effect, this would prevent other members of the community from being
involved in the decision-making process.
Raske is a state employee and claims
tobeworkingforwhateverisbestforthe
community. Apparently, that means
deciding for the community instead of
allowing other's concerns to be addressed.
Irene Wade, one ofthe former detox
center staff who first reported the abuse
challenged Raske,' 'Come on, Wayne,
tell us the truth. Areyouworkingforthe
State orareyou really tryingto help«s.''
Pictured is Jimmy "Ironlegs" Weaver on his long walk through Ohio
Ironlegs roughed up by deputy sheriff in Ohio
Jimmy's belt and took it off and threw
it to the ground and then found a
lighter in his back pocket and pulled
that out and threw it to the ground and
stated, "Is that another knife?" The
deputy detained Ironlegs for approximately 25-30 minutes and continued
to question him. The deputy stated,
"What are you doing on this road?"
He requested identification for
Ironlegs and for his wife's driver's
By Diane £. White
Jimmy "Ironlegs" Weaver, 72 years
old, experienced some trouble while
headingtoWashington,D.C. Ironlegs
was roughed by a Union City, Ohio
Deputy Sheriff last Thursday evening
at approximately 5:00 p.m. Mrs.
Weaver said that she was driving just
ahead of Jimmy and lost sight of him
on when she noticed a squad car pass
her going the opposite direction. She
instinctively knew that something was
Bouza promotes freedom of the press,
praises media
By Melissa Kleingartner
Staff Writer
[Reprinted with permission of the
Bemidji Pioneer]
Potential gubernatorial candidate
and former Minneapolis Police Chief
Tony Bouza promoted freedom ofthe
press and praised medica for being
public servants and law enforcement
watchdogs during a presentation
Monday on crime and the media at
Bemidji State University.
' 'A chief at war with the media is a
chief at war with the public'' because
the media keeps the public informed
as to what is happening on that right
to keep people informed, infringes on
the people's right to know, he said.
Bouza spent 24 years in the New
York City Police Department, including that of police chief in the Bronx
and as second-in-command of the
subway police. He came to Minnesota
in 1980 where he remained until he
retired nine years later.
The media are powerful because
they are vehicles for ideas and ideas
are unbelievably powerful phenomena that makes things happen when
force fails, he said.
For example, in the last year, capi
talism and freedom are the "two little
ideas that created a revolution and the
collapse ofan enormous empire."
People often question the motives
ofthe media because they are afraid of
and loath the power ofthe media has
to hold people up the scrutiny ofthe
world, Bouza said.
This is the main reason why the
professions of law enforcement and
the media don't go hand-in-hand.
Law enforcement is a sealed society
that resists inclusion and is highly
secretive, while it's the media's job to
report the negative news and invade
this enclosed culture, he said.
In all his years as an officer ofthe
law, Bouza said he has never had a
problem with something the press
has written. On a balance, the press
has honored and flattered Bouza for
things he doesn't deserve more than
ridicule him for things he does, he
admitted.
However, he does have one quarrel
with the press and that is it is doesn't
dig up enough negative or wrongdoing and isn't "foaming at the mouth
enough," Bouza said.
News is your neighbor falling off
the roof, not someone buying a new
house because there's a certain joy we
drive from witnessing someone else's
tragedy. "We are, in many respects,
a wonderful peopleand in many, many
respects, we are cruel people," he
said.
Bouza views attempts to censor the
press as an infringement on the freedom provided under the First
Amendment. "The firmest pillar of
our society is free press... every single
right in the United States Constitution can be limited. The question is to
restrict the limitations and give as
much freedom as we possibly can,"
he said.
"Your freedom stops more or less
where my nose begins, when someone's actions start to affect other
people, it starts to become a crime.
However, the injury has to be tangible, like monetary or physical, because
hurting someone's feelings and emotions isn't a crime," he said.
Americans want to be free and look
to the Constitution to give that freedom, but people recognize certain
necessary limits, Bouza said. The
tough part is in deciding at what point
freedom begins and ends.
"In short answer, allow as much
freedom as we safely can consistent
with societal well being," he said.
amiss and turned around on the two
lane highwayjust outside of Highway
31 in Canton, Ohio. She drove back
to find Jimmy being frisked by a
young deputy.
Ironlegs said the deputy sheriff detained him because he had a complaint
that'' someone was walking down the
highway carrying a spear.'' The deputy unnecessarily placed Jimmy in
the "up against the squad car'' position and frisked him carefully. The
deputy found a pocket size knife on
Ironlegs/See Page 5
U.S. given OK to side with tribe in lawsuit
By Pat Doyle
Staff Writer
[Reprinted with permission of the
Star Tribune.]
A federal magistrate judge ruled
Friday in St. Paul that the U. S. Justice
Department can intervene on the side
ofthe Mille Lacs Chippewa Band in
its lawsuit against the state over fishing, hunting and gathering rights in
east-central Minnesota.
"Courts have long recognized that
the United States has an interest in...
actions involving Indians by virtue of
its special relationships with the Indians," said U.S. Magistrate Judge
Jonathan Lebedoff.
He referred to cases dating to 1831,
"in which the federal courts have
recognized that a trust responsibility
exists between the federal govern
ment and individual Indians and Indian tribes."
He also cited a department argument that intervention would help
"promote and enforce federal Indian
policy which affects all Indians.'' The
department says other fishing and
hunting disputes could be substantially affected by the outcome ofthe
Mille Lacs case.
Don Wedll, the band's commissioner of natural resources, said the
government's intervention should
bolster the band's treaty claims.
' 'We basically have two parties to a
contract, the band and the U.S., and
they're both saying, 'This is what the
agreement is,'" Wedll said.
The states said it will appeal the ruling
to U.S. District Judge Diana Murphy,
Who is scheduled to hear the case.
The band's suit, filed in 1990, asserts
rights to fish, hunt and gather without
state regulation outside the reservation in all or parts of 12 counties. The
band says it would regulate it members.
The band ceded the area to the
federal government under an 1837
treaty, but the band and the federal
government say the accord preserved
broad rights for Indians to fish and
hunt and to gather wild rice. The area
includes Lake Mille Lacs, the most
popular destination for Twin Cities
anglers, who say the tribal claims
would harm, sport fishing.
Nine counties and some landowners have joined the state as defendants
in the suit, saying tax receipts and
property values could decline. The
defendants say an 1855 treaty and
other accords and acts extinguished
privileges granted by the 1837 treaty.
Jackpot Junction manager leaving
Dennis Prescott, manager of Jackpot Junction Casino near Morton,
Minn., said Thursday that he is leaving effective Dec. 1, to pursue other
job opportunities.
Prescott, manager since April 1992
and assistant manager before that,
will be replaced, temporarily at least,
by Brian Pendleton, currently the assistant manager. On Nov. 1, two or
three representatives from the Hurrah's casinp chain in Nevada and
Atlantic City will beginfull-time work
at the casino as part of a six-month
consulting contract.
Prescott said that he has felt pressure from many people ona variety of
issues while managing the 130,000
square foot casino, but that he was not
pressured to quit. He said he is considering other jobs, including casino
jobs in Colorado.
"There's always political pressure," Prescott, 37, said yesterday.
"That's not my main reason for going. I'm looking for a change."
The casino at Morton, just east of
Redwood Falls, has faced adversity in
recent years, Jackpot Junction was a
pioneer in the Indian gaming business, becoming Minnesota's first
major casino to open with more than
justbingo.Butcompetitionfrom large,
new facilities in Shakopee, Hinckley
and other areas closer to high-population centers has hurt Jackpot
\
Junction. Since last year, it has cut its
work force from about 1,000 to 877
today, Prescott said.
The casino, owned by the Lower
Sioux community, also has been at
the center of several recent controversies. Some community members
demonstrated to force leaders to share
casino profits with more members.
And early this month the Star Tribune reported that Jackpot Junction
was one casino that has provided cash
or vouchers good for cash to officials
from the Bureau oflndian Affairs on
several occasions. The inspector general's office ofthe BIA is investigating
those incidents, and the casino is
cooperating, Prescott said yesterday.