The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1989-03-08

              A°'
& Chippewa preparing
for constitution
changes
p
a
g
e
2
/
Tribal leaders
don't want BIA
abolished yet
p
a
g
e
3
Welfare mothers
urge increase in
monthly grants
p
a
g
e
7
Native American arts
program seeks input
The Native American Cultural Arts Program, a partnership between
COMPAS, a community arts agency, and the Minnesota Indian Art
Community, is requesting input in the development and design of a
program to enable artists, writers, storytellers and performers of every
creative discpline of art to share their visions and needs as artists.
The program has scheduled meetings to meet with artists in the
following communities:
March 21: Grand Portage Lodge, Grand Portage, Minn, at 1 p.m.
March 22: Indian Club Room, 118 CINAlHall, UMD at 3 p.m.
March 23: McKnight Room, Min-No-Aya-Win Clinic, Cloquet,
Minn, from 5-7 p.m.
March 27: Cass Lake High School, Cass Lake, Minn, at 4 p.m.
March 28: Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minn, at 4 p.m.
March 29: Red Lake High School Library, Red Lake, Minn, at 3:30
p.m.
March 30: Circle of Life School, White Earth, Minn, from 3:30 to 5
p.m.
March 31: Pine Point School Library, Ponsford, Minn, from 2:30 p.m.
to 4 p.m.
If you are unable to attend the meeting in your area, please call Louis/
Juanita, collect, at (612) 292-3257 to schedule another time.
Refreshments will be provided. Funding is provided by the Bush
Foundation.
Boswell recognized in MNA contest
Paul V. Boswell, formerly of Waubun, was among the journalists
recently recognized in the Minnesota Newspaper Association's Better
Newspaper Contest. \
Boswell, 29, serves as city editor at the International "Falls Daily
Journal, which won two first-place awards in the contest.
Out of 58 entries in the non-metro dailies category, the Journal took
the top prize for best local news story for its coverage of the Boise
Cascade Paper Co. expansion announcement on June 10,1988.
Writers that wrote the Boise Cascade expansion story were Boswell,
Laurel Beager, Russ King and Tom Klein.
The Journal also took top honors for its 1988 special section titled,
"Voyagers: A Portrait Of A National Park." The special edition took the
first-place award out of a field of 16 entries.
Staff writers that contributed articles to the special section included
Boswell, Beager, Klein, Gary Gunderson and Chris Todd.
Boswell had previously won three MNA awards while employed at
the Grant County Herald in Elbow Lake, Minn. He won awards for
news reporting in 1982, feature writing in 1983, and advertising in
1984.
A graduate of Waubun High School and Bemidji State University,
Boswell is the son of Bud and Maxine Boswell of rural Waubun and the
grandson of Catherine McDougall of Naytahwaush. He and his wife,
Pam, have three children.
BoswelPs younger brother, Mark, is the assistant editor of the the
Ojibwe News in Bemidji.
Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 1  Issue 42
March 8, 1989
Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1989
A Weekly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Indians from several Wisconsin tribqs Jance during th opening ceremonies of the 17th Annual American Birkebeiner 55-kilometer cross country ski race
The ceremony was held in the Tefn^jR Lodge Colosseum where the race finished after starting in Hayward, Wise
largest cross country ski event.
The Birkebeiner is North America's
AP/Wide World Photos.
Indian student center proposed for BSU
By Larry Adams
Correspondent
A new Indian student center is in
the works at Bemidji State
University. BSU President Ted
Gillett and the Vice President for
Development David Tiffany are
spearheading the fund-raising
initiative for the proposed center
which will serve the university's 195
Native American students.
It is hoped that the money raised
from local organizations will
encourage various foundations and
corporations to assist the project
financially. Fund-raising will
continue through the spring of 1990.
If that effort is successful, the
building project is expected to be
completed by the fall of 1991.
Don Day, director of Indian
Student Services, and Kent Smith,
director of the Indian Studies
program, are the co-chairmen of the
Indian Center Committee, which
consists of 14 people from the BSU
faculty and staff, as well as area
community members.
Day said that three of four
locations are being considered for
the center. The most popular,
however, is the southeast corner of
the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex.
The goal of the Indian Center
Committee has been to develop a
proposal for submission to various
local agencies, foundations and
corporations. It has already been
presented to six different
foundations and four corporations,
all based in Minnesota. It will be
presented to two or three
corporations every month until
funding is completed.
According to Day, many of the
services available to the Indian
students at BSU will move to the
proposed center.
"At this point in time," said Day,
"we anticipate having Indian Student
Services, the Indian Studies
department, Native Americans into
Medicine, the Council of Indian
Students and the Ojibwe Language
programs all move over to the new
building."
The approximate amount of space
needed is 17,576 square feet. The
plans for the center include office
space for personnel, a student
lounge, a computer/writing lab, a
quiet study area, a 200-seat
auditorium, a.kitchen facility for CIS
use, two conference rooms and a
walkway to Bangsberg. The center
of the octagon-shaped facility will
house a museum totaling 2,500
square feet. It will feature Native
American artifacts, photos and
costumes.
The cost of the project at this point
is estimated at $2.4 million, which is
expected to rise in the future due to
inflation.
According to Smith, the center
will serve as a multi-purpose
facility.
"What we're trying to do at the
center is use it for a number of
things," said Smith. "First of all, it's
a retention tool to keep students in
school, mostly by giving them a
place to gather. Then it's as much
symbolic as a real center. As a
symbol, it functions as the
university's commitment to Indian
students and their educational needs,
and to the Indian students, it's a
place they can take pride in. It's
something out of their cultural past
in a modern form, and it may well
also display a lot of the traditional
arts of the Ojibwe from the
university's collection so they can
see the things that were done in the
past and put together things that are
right now."
Smith emphasized that the center
would build a bridge between the
traditional culture of the Indian
students and the present-day
DNR deer-feeding program
may lead to problems later
Barb Johnson
Staff Writer
The State Legislature made a
special appropriation of $300,000 on
Thursday to provide additional funds
to sustain the whitetail deer in
Minnesota. Feeding programs for
the Region One zone, which
encompasses Bemidji and
surrounding areas, have reached the
total of $300,000, according to
estimates provided by Leon Johnson
of the Department of Natural
Resources in Bemidji. For a total of
the three zones, Johnson
approximated a statewide total of
$700,000.
Feeding programs are expected to
continue until snowfall ceases to
obstruct the deer's natural food
sources.
"Ideally, the state program would
last through mid-April, until the
snow recedes," noted Jim Ziegler, a
biologist for the White Earth
Conservation Department.
The average animal requires 10 to
12 pounds of food intake per day to
satisfy biological needs; however,
frigid temperatures and food
shortages retard metabolism, which
allows the deer to survive the
characteristically harsh winters in
Minnesota.
The pelletized feed distributed by
the DNR contains a high level of
protein and it supplies this nutrient
at a higher rate than the deer's
natural diet. The feed, produced by
Deer/ page 2
Low interest loans made available
to Minnesota Indian businesses
community. He hopes to introduce
audio-visuals, such as slide-tape
shows or videotapes. "It could even
be a tourist attraction during the
summer," he said.
Tiffany feels positive about the
progress of the fund-raising efforts.
He said that the time-line is "right on
target." Fund raising will be the
most challenging aspect of the
committee's goals. However, the
outlook is promising. So far
representatives from at least two
corporations have inquired about the
ambitious project.
Tiffany said he thinks the Native
American students "don't have a
good place to meet together." He
said he feels the Indian students
need to talk with their fellow
students about college life, which
will prove extremely beneficial.
Other possible center activities
may include meetings with Native
American groups from the
immediate community, the region
and out-of-state.
Elementary and high school
groups from the surrounding
reservations and Canadian reserves
will be invited to tour BSU to
present them with a positive image
of college life.
The Oski Anishinabe Family
Center, the current meeting place for
CIS and Anishinabe Alcoholics
Anonymous, and the Bald Eagle
Center next door, will eventually be
torn down to make room for an
addition to the Bangsberg parking
lot at BSU.
By Mark Boswell
Assistant Editor
The Indian Business Loan
Program is now providing
Minnesota-based Indians with the
opportunity to establish or expand a
business enterprise through
low-interest loans.
The program enables Minnesota-
based projects greater resources for
management and/or techinical
assistance for Indian business
interests.
Eligibility requirements for the
loans require that the applicant must
be 1/4 or more Indian and be an
enrolled member of a Minnesota
band or tribe.
Eligible applicants include
individuals enrolled in the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Red
Lake or the Sioux communities.
Funding for the program, which
has been in operation for several
years, comes from the 25 cents per
acre taxation of severed mineral
interests held by individuals,
corporations or organizations in
Minnesota.
The loan program will fund up to
25 percent of the total project costs
provided that the applicant has 5
percent or more equity to insert into
the project, depending on the criteria
established by the tribal council
Loan/page 6
South Elevation
Drawings by Thomas Vesely Associates—Architects of Duluth
RLTC receives $279,845 for
Indian Business Development
By William Lawrence
Publisher
According to information
obtained by the News, the Red
Lake tribal council has recently
received authority from the
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
to administer $279,845 for Indian
Business Development loans.
The money comes from the 25
cents per acre taxation of severed
mineral interests held by
individuals, corporations and
organizations in Minnesota,
The legislation authorizing this
program is Minnesota Statute
116J.64, which was enacted into
law  in  1979  by  the  state
legislature.
The RLTC did not sign up for
the program until late in 1988
despite the fact that most other
state tribal governments joined in
1983.
According to sources at the
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council,
45 loans have been made from the
program's funds.
One loan of $103,245 was
recently made to the Red Lake
Trading Post, an enterprise owned
and operated by the RLTC, for
expansion of a retail store at
Ponemah, Minn.
According to Red Lake
RLTC/ page 6