The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1989-03-16

              Leech Lake Health
receives grant to produce
teen-parenting video
page 2
QIA
DlA
acknowledges
investigation
page 3
Founded in 1988
Volume 1  Issue 43
March 15, 1989
' Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1989
A Weekly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
MCLU opposing use of Indian nicknames	
Mahnomen Hiah Sch
By Mark Boswell
Assistant Editor
The entryway to the recently
remodeled Mahnomen School shows
a painting of an Indian in a headdress, prominently placed high
above the foyer in a sky-light.
In the hallway, teenagers, white
and Indian, crowd one another
between classes, some proudly wear
hard-earned lettermen's jackets,
proof that they have excelled in
athletics or other interests. On the
back of each, in bold-type is the
word "Indians." Farther down the
til
I mascot comes under attack
hall are showcases of Native
American, Norwegian, and Japanese
culture and art. All are lavishly
presented and, in an age of
increasing interdependence, they all
show signs of pride in their
uniqueness. Farther on are giant
murals depicting scenes from the
past, when Ojibwe culture was the
predominant way of life in the
region.
On this-particular day, there is also
a "Heritage Festival." Various
European and Asian booths show
the cultural diversity of those far off
locales alongside a booth presenting
local Ojibwe culture and lifestyles.
Despite the "cultural awareness" of
such events, the school mascot
name—"Indians" has come under
attack as being derogatory,
insensitive and racist by the
Minnesota Civil Liberties Union.
Minnesota's education
commissioner is urging schools to
drop Indian nicknames, despite local
criticism and refusal to do so.
"If your school district has an
Indian mascot, emblem or symbol,
please report your progress toward
removing them," Commissioner
Ruth Randall and state Board of
Red Lake Fisheries Association to hold annual meeting
Education said in a letter two weeks
ago.
The Mahnomen High School
Principal, Les Johnson explained
that the school wants to retain the
mascot.
Phil St. John, a member of
Concerned American Indian Parents,
is leading a campaign against using
Indian names as mascots, said such
names are derogatory and portray
Indians in "an animalistic, warlike
image."
An opposing view is held by
Darrell "Chip" Wadena, White Earth
Reservation's Tribal Chairman, who
would like the mascot name retained
because of the school's large
number of Indian  students.
Mahnomen currently has a
population that is 38 percent Indian.
Wadena emphasized his stance by
stating that Indian themes are not a
problem if handled with respect.
Local parents explained that there
have been incidents in which the
"Indian" mascot had been used
ignorantly, but these minor
situations were quickly corrected by
pointing out the irreverence of such
acts.
Although many schools, including
Mahnomen, have retained their
Indian nicknames and mascots, they
claim that they do so out of honor
and respect for the Indian and the
Indian culture. St. John states that he
doesn't buy into that idea. If
anything, St. John said he sees it as
the non-Indians way of celebrating
their victory over the Indian people.
He further emphasizes that Chip
Wadena was presumptuous about
the beliefs of Native Americans. "He
didn't have the right to speak for the
people of White Earth," said St.
John.
Last month, the Minnesota Civil
Liberties Union threatened to sue 50
public schools for civil rights
violations if they don' change their
Indian mascots.
See page four for related
commentary and cartoon.
By William Lawrence
Publisher
The Red Lake Fisheries
Association will hold its annual
meeting on Saturday, March 18 at
the association's facility in Redby,
Minn. The meeting will start at 2
p.m. and will ruVi until business is
completed.
The purpose of the meeting is to
review the past year's financial
operations, make plans for the
coming fishing season and to elect
its board of directors.
The current board is composed of
Robert Head Sr. who is chairman,
Philip Johns, Herbert May, Rudy
Johnson and Delwyn Holthusean.
James Eisenrich, of rural Bemidji,
has been the association's manager
since 1957 and will preside over the
annual meeting.
According to information obtained
by the News, the association
harvested a record 950,000 pounds
of walleye during the 1988
commercial fishing season. Perch
harvest was down nearly two-thirds
to 100,000 pounds. Total receipts for
the 1988 season were a
disappointing $1.5 million. The
News has been unable obtain a copy
of the association's 1988 audit, and
is therefore unable to ascertain the
reason for the lower than anticipated
1988 income.
1988 membership in the
association was up by 140 members
and now totals nearly 500
commercial fishermen.
1989 will mark the association's
50th of operation.
Members of the association and
interested tribal members are urged
to attend this annual meeting.
Officials looking at growing minority population
Minneapolis (AP) Predictions that
Minnesota's minority population
could increase 65 percent from 1980
to 1990 have a number of agencies
examining ways to handle the
changes.
"We like to tout nationally about
our willingness _to_accep.t others, but
we've had a small minority population to embrace in the past," said
William Davis, chairman of the
Metropolitan Council's Minority
Issues Advisory Committee. "How
is that going to change as the numbers increase?"
About 200 policymakers at a
conference last week that examined
demographic trends affecting
Minnesota repeatedly cited
increasing ethnic diversity as a
burgeoning issue for education,
health and medical care, social
services, the economy and housing.
The State Planning Agency
recently pronounced the growth of
minority populations as one of nine
key emerging issues for Minnesota
in the 1990s.
The Metropolitan Council, in a
new report examining the Twin
Cities in the next century, warned
that parts of the region's culturally
homogenous population could find it
difficult to "accept a greater degree
of diversity and to share power with
cultural and racial minorities."
Statewide, experts predict, the
number of blacks, Hispanics,
American Indians and Asians could
increase 65 percent from 1980 to
1990, to 250,000 of the state's 4.3
million residents.
"Minnesota is going to become
more like the United States is today,
not like the United States will be,"
said James Vaupel, director of the
Center for Population Analysis and
Policy at the University of
Minnesota. "The United States is
rapidly becoming a truly multiracial
society."
Still, officials preparing for change
are hurt by a lack of up-to-date
information.
The only detailed statistical
portraits of the state's blacks,
Hispanics, American Indians and
Asians are nine years old. New
information about their income, age,
education and housing, gathered in
the 1990 census, won't be available
until at least 1992.
The planning agency's report used
up to four methods to calculate the
figures, indicating the state's uncertainty on how to measure the growth
since 1980. Only state-level figures
were published, leaving Minneapolis
and St. Paul without firm estimates
of minority populations.
The statistics situation is expected
to improve after 1990. State
Bill would combine
welfare programs
St. Paul (AP) Three welfare
programs should be combined to
help eliminate conflicting
eligibility rules, provide more
incentives and ways for families
to get off welfare and lessen
paperwork, a legislative panel was
told.
Tuesday's hearing before a
House Health and Human
Services subcommittee was the
first for a state bill to help
establish a program that would
combine food stamps and Aid to
Families with Dependent
Children.
Endorsement by the Legislature
is deemed essential for
congressional approval, which the
state has "a reasonable chance" of
getting this year, John Petraborg,
assistant human services
commissioner, said in an
interview.
Washington state is the only
state that now has federal approval
to combine food stamps and
AFDC.
Under tbe proposal, families
with children would be eligible for
cash assistance if they met certain
limits on income and assets. By
contrast, AFDC basically goes to
single-parent families, although in
Minnesota and some other states
an intact family can qualify if the
major breadwinner has a work
history and is chronically
unemployed.
The new program would give
cash payments equal to the
combined value of AFDC and
food stamps. Individuals or
couples without children would
continue to get general assistance
and food stamps.
Work allowances and benefit
formulas would ensure that a
family would be better off
working than depending solely on
welfare, not always true now.
Cash aid under the new plan
would decline only after earnings
pushed family income 20 percent
above the basic benefit. Parents
with small children would not be
exempt from a contract requiring
them to train to get off welfare,
and those who refused or ignored
the contract would get a 10
percent grant reduction.
Christine Davis, a Hennepin
County economic assistance
financial worker, said most
applicants for AFDC and food
stamps have to deal with 10
brochures, 17 notices and 15
forms, including one form 10
pages long.
DFL Rep. Lee Greenfield of
Minneapolis, the bill's House
sponsor, said current paperwork is
burdensome partly because the
federal government is "worried
that somebody is going to cheat us
out of a nickel or two." Much
time-consuming verification and
report-filing could be eliminated
without net loss of taxpayers*
money, he said.
Demographer Tom Gillaspy said his
office plans to use new census
figures to produce statewide
projections of minority populations.
The Met Council plans to produce
comparable projections for minority
populations in the seven-county
Twin Cities aiea. V
And beginning this year, the
Minnesota Department of Health
will begin to record birth statistics
for those of Hispanic origin. In the
past, the breakdowns included white,
black, American Indian and several
Asian ethnic groups. The change
was made after several years of
lobbying by Hispanic officials in the
state. The classifications are used to
help determine levels of risk to
disease and death.
"It has taken a long time for public
policy decision-makers to
understand the changes in the
demographics of the minority
communities," said Jose Trejo,
executive director of the Spanish
Speaking Affairs Council.
"Can you imagine not keeping
(figures for Hispanic) births until
this year?" Trejo asked.
Paul Gunderson, director of the
Department of Health's Center for
Health Statistics, said the delay
stemmed from a slow response by
federal agencies and states to a 1976
federal directive to keep track of
Hispanic births, and disagreements
with Hispanic officials over how to
code ethnic groups.
Gunderson said counting ethnic
populations every 10 years "is not
adequate in this state because we are
such an attractive area ... for these
immigrant groups." However,
statisticians don't have satisfactory
methods for estimating the size of
the populations between censuses,
he said.
Mihnomen High School Principal Les Johnson in front of the Mahnomen Indians' mascot mural.
Mahnomen High School letterman jackets bare the "Indians" logo.
Photos By Mark Boswell
Lottery legislation passes first test in House
By Mary R Sandok
Associated Press Writer
St. Paul (AP) A lottery bill
approved by a House subcommittee
would allow winners of $50,000 or
more in the proposed Minnesota
state lottery to remain anonymous.
Thursday's approval of the bill by
the Gaming Division of the House
General Legislation, Veterans
Affairs and Gaming Committee
was the first action by a House
panel on legislation which would
establish a state-run lottery. The
, Senate lottery bill, which differs in
some major respects from the
House bill, was sent to its third
Senate committee on Wednesday.
The House bill, authored by Rep.
Joseph Quinn, DFL-Coon Rapids,
was sent by the division to the full
committee on a voice vote after two
amendments were approved.
Three other amendments offered
by lottery opponents were defeated,
including one which would have
required tickets bearing a statement
comparing the odds of winning the
lottery to the chance of being
attacked by a shark while on
vacation.
The amendment allowing the
lottery director to classify as
private all personal data on a lottery
winner of $50,000 or more, if
requested by the winner, was
approved on a divided voice vote.
Offered by Rep. Gil Gutknecht,
IR-Rochester, the amendment aims
to protect winners of major lottery
prizes from being sought out by
people seeking donations for a
variety of problems and projects
and from thieves.
Quinn, who supported the
amendment, said after the hearing
that he didn't know whether
keeping the names and addresses of
big lottery winners secret would
harm the integrity of the lottery.
"I never considered that"
possibility, he said, adding that a
compromise might be found
between the desire to protect an
individual's privacy and the need
for the public to know who wins
lottery prizes.
Also adopted was an amendment
which would require the lottery
director to specify in lottery
promotional material that prizes
may be paid in installments.
Rejected were three amendments
offered by Gutknecht and Rep. K.J.
McDonald, IR-Watertown, two of
the Legislature's most vocal lottery
opponents.
The shark-attack amendment,
offered by Gutknecht, was
overwhelmingly defeated.
Quinn said he opposed the
amendment because determinations
about what specifically should be
stated on a lottery ticket should be
left to the lottery director.
"If the director chooses the great
white shark comparison (should be
on tickets), he could do that,"
Quinn said.
Also defeated was a Gutknecht
amendment which would have
limited the top lottery prize in any
game to $1 million.
Gutknecht said lottery jackpots
that exceed $1 million may prompt
people to spend their
house-payment and rent money on
tickets.
Quinn said it would cripple the
lottery to disallow big-money
games.
Predicting that the jackpot limit
amendment would fail, McDonald
accused lottery supporters of
knowing "it's a con-game under
which the government must
continue enticing people to play."
McDonald's unsuccessful
amendment would have required a
warning on lottery tickets similar to
the health warning on cigarette
packages. McDonald suggested the
warning read: "The state treasurer
has determined that you have
nearly no chance of winning this
lottery. The treasurer has also
determined that playing this game
may be hazardous to your financial
health because it may promote
compulsive behavior."
Other committee members said
the state treasurer has not
conducted a study on the impacts of
playing a lottery and wondered
what McDonald would propose if a
study were conducted and it was
determined that the proposed
warning was inaccurate.
"I'm confident the treasurer could
find nothing else" than that some
people could become compulsive
lottery players, McDonald said.