The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1989-05-30

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Indians must work
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Fifty Cents
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Detroit Lakes
page 5
Jourdain's lax case in hands of judge
The tax trial of Roger A. Jourdain, chairman of the Red Lake tribal
council, who is charged with owing $81,000 in back State Income taxes
for the years 1979-1985, was held before Judge Earl B. Gustafson of the
Minnesota tax court on May 17th in Duluth, Minnesota. Tribal attorney
James F. Bodin represented Jourdain and Assistant State Attorney
General Thomas O'Hearn represented the state of Minnesota. Both
parties presented their argument on the factual issue of domicle before
Judge Gustafson. Jourdain claims that he is not subject to Minnesota
Income taxes because his domicle is still the Red Lake Reservation.
Jourdain was forced to flee the reservation in May, 1979, under police
protection, due to the reservation-wide uprising against his policies of
corruption and mismanagement. Since 1979 Jourdain has resided at
2309 Calihan Ave., Bemidji, Minnesota, where he claimed and received
homestead property credits in all but one year since that time. At the
conclusion of the trial. Judge Gustafson took the matter under
advisement and is sceduled to rule within 90 days.
Notice of Coalition meeting
The Coalition for Open and Responsible Governments on the Red
Lake Reservation will hold their next meeting on Sunday, June 11 at
10:00 AM at the Home of Shirlynn Whitefeather in Alaska Tornship.
All concerned Red Lake Tribal members are urged to attend. Action to
be taken will include election of officers and adoption of a coalition
platform. See you there.
Notice of NAIAD Meeting
Native American Indians Against Discrimination has scheduled a
Rally against racism for Saturday, June 3rd at 10:00 AM in Library
Park in Bemidji, Minnesota. Featured speaker will be Vernon
Bellecourt of the American Indian Movement (AIM) of Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
Following the Rally, the group will conduct a march through Bemidji.
On Friday, June 2nd from 8:30-12:30 PM. NAIAD will sponsor a fund
Raiser Dance at the Bemidji VFW Club. The Band Heads-up will
appear on behaif of NAIAD.
Organizer and NAIAD chairman Joe Sayers urges both Indian and
non-Indian people who are against racism show their support by
attending both functions. More information can be obtained by calling
Joe Sayers at 751-2436.
Jury convicts Allery
St. Paul (AP) - A federal jury has convicted a former area director of
the Indian Health Service in Bemidji on a charge of defrauding the
federal government of nearly $15,000 in false travel coucher claims.
Alan Allery, who has resigned from IHS and now runs medical
services for the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe, was found guilty of two
counts of making false claims for temporary housing expenses when he
was given a promotional transfer from Aberdeen, S.D., to Bemidji in
November 1984. He was acquitted of a charge involving a third claim
for which he said he submitted all the documentation that was available
to him at the time.
Allery's attorney, Steve Meshbesher, said he will appeal the verdict.
"Allery is adamant in his innocence and has every intention of
appealing what he perceives as a perverse verdict," Meshbesher said.
Allery, 41, testified in the three-day trial before Senior U.S. District
Judge Edward Devitt that he was entitled to all the reimbursements.
He said charges against him were "precipitated" by four or five
disgruntled office subordinates whose work he had criticized.
"They wanted to create a political situation that (Washington, D.C.)
headquarters would have to deal with, so they did that by calling
congressmen, the inspector general, and things like that," Allery
testified. "They were trying to put as much heat on me as possible."
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lackner said Allery, who was indicted
in January, falsified a lease that allowed him to claim $1,500 a month in
rent, when he actually paid $500 a month. He said other fraudulent food
and lodging claims in connection with the transfer totaled $14,902. He
also was found guilty of getting an extension on his temporary quarters
reimbursements and claiming an additional'$3,000 for rent he did not
pay. Lackner said Allery used the money to renovate a basement
bathroom in the house which he eventually bought for $76,000. Allery
denied having any intent to defraud the government.
Take offensive to
protect sovereignty
Bloomington, Minn. (AP) -
American Indian tribes must launch
a legal offensive to avoid a threat to
their sovereignty by expanding
government powers such as taxation,
representatives from 12 tribes
around the country have been told.
"If you don't document sovereignty
and take jurisdiction, somebody else
will," said Robert Pirtle of Pirtle,
Morisset, Schlosser & Ayer of
Seattle and Washington, D.C.
"Use it or lose it it's that easy," he
said Wednesday.
The law firm is sponsoring a
three-day workshop on tribes and
taxation, ending Friday.
The firm has argued eight tribal
sovereignty cases before the U.S.
Supreme Court and represents -
among other tribes - the Red Lake
Chippewa tribe near Bemidji.
William Edmo, grants officer with
the Shoshone-Bannock tribe of
Idaho, attended the workshop to
learn how to broaden tribal taxation
powers.
His tribe has established a taxing
commission and soon will begin
taxing sales of ore from its
phosphorus mine - pre-empting the
state, which now taxes the tribal ore.
The money will be used for a school,
roads and other services, offered to
Indians and non-Indians on the
reservation.
Once those governmental services
are in place, the tribe can tax
property and income of residents, he
said. Tax revenues are much needed
for services and economic
development, he said.
"We want to do it in logical
sequence - a planned approach,"
Edmo said.
"We don't want to overtax, or ruin
our business, or provide inadequate
services. But we have to do it,
exercise our tribal sovereignty."
"If you're weak, the state and
federal government will run over
you," said Red Lake Chairman
Roger Jourdain.
Tribes have the power to tax
income, property, sales, real estate
and construction on reservations,
Pirtle said. But they must wrest it
from other taxing entities, which
illegally assumed that power over
tribes, he said.
Founded in 1988
Volume 1  Issue 50
May30,1989~|
1 Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1989
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Protestors were effective in closing down the White Earth RBC offices on Thursday, May 18 after a request for meeting with tribal
authorities was denied. Dale Hanks (right) explains the federal order to Becker County Police that dictated the closing of the building.
Federal Aeent Anthony Mercea of * U.S. Senate Select Committee on Tribal corruption ordered the closedown. (Photo by Mark Boswell)
White Earth protestors call for federal
investigation, Wadena's removal
What started as a request for a
public meeting with Tribal officials
in White Earth ended with the
closing of the tribal offices and what
may be the beginning of a federal
investigation into the alleged
mishandling of federal funds by a
U.S. Senate Select Committee on
Tribal Corruption.
The request for a public meeting
was initiated by a large group of
protesters who presented a petition
to Tribal Chairman Darrell 'Chip*
Wadena, Secretary Treasurer Jerry
Rawley, and District Representatives
Sharon Eid, Dan Stevens and Steve
McArthur on Tuesday May 16th at
the White Earth Reservation
Business Committte Offices in
White Earth.
The petition requested a special
meeting with the RBC on Thursday
May 18, wherein complaints could
be voiced by enrolled members of
the reservation on a number
ofissues. A public meeting with the
enrolled members of the reservation
has not been held since May of
1985.
On that Thursday protestors
gathered for the meeting at the RBC
building, but were denied entrance
to the building. After several hours
of tense negotiations, the Becker
County Sherrif s Department closed
down the offices until an area FBI
investigator could be dispatched to
settle the dispute. Sherrif Clarence
Paurus stated in the Detroit Lakes
Tribune that an official of a U.S.
Senate Select Committee on Indian
Affairs, Anthony Marcea, ordered
the shut down.
The reasoning behind the closing
of the office was, according to
protestors, that if they couldn't enter
a building they, as residents of the
reservation own, no one could.
The following Monday, employees
were admitted to the building,
effectively breaking the comprimise
that federal authorities had
established in order that the situation
be properly handled.
On Tuesday, May 23, FBI agent
Joe Ryan appeared at the RBC
offices in order to hear the
complaints and allegations of the
protestors.
The meeting, held in the RBC
gymnasium, lasted several hours and
was the forum for what many
believe to be the tip of the iceberg in
corruption and misallocation of
funds and services on the
reservation.
The areas of concern ranged from
the misspending of funds, favoritism
in everything from housing to jobs,
nepotism within the RBC heirarchy,
the embezzlement of bingo funds,
and the bungling of the negotiation
process in the 1985 Land Claims
Settlement Act by Wadena.
Ryan, who appeared deeply
concerned over many of the issues
raised, repeatedly .emphasized his
jurisdiction in these issues. "All I'm
capable of doing, " said Ryan," is
dealing with the embezzlement of
federal funds." Many protestors
replied by asking, "Aren't these
instances of embezzlment?"
Although Ryan's visit was not the
start of an official investigation by
the FBI into the allegations
presented, but it was a necessary
first step in such a process.
On Friday, May -26, District
Representative Dan Stevens
responded to the protestors and set a
preliminary meeting for Friday June
2. This meeting, as dictated by the
letter will only be open to three
enrolled members of the protest
group and will supposedly set up a
dialogue between the administration
and reservation members.
Currently, a petition is circulating
on the reservation urging eligible
voters to voice their opposition to
the alleged corruption by ousting
Chairman Wadena. Along with the
document is a letter, signed by
Wadena, that was sent to three
members of this year's powwow
committee. Ted Hoaglund, John
Boudreau, and Mark Hanson, all
employees of the White Earth RBC,
were fired because of their
association with die protest.
The petition, according to the
tribal constitution, would have to
carry 20 percent of the reservation's
eligible voters to effectively oust the
Chairman. An estimated 500
signatures are required.
Contribution discrepancy
Window Rock, Ariz. (AP) - A
tribal judge says Navajo Chairman
Peter MacDonald may have received
more campaign contributions than
allowed in the 1986 election and
may have filed a false campaign
report.  '
If so, MacDonald could face
removal from office, Judge Robert
Yazzie said in a 50-page ruling
Monday.
The ceiling for contributions in the
1986 campaign was $84,192 for
chairman and vice chairman, as
determined by multiplying the
number of registered voters by $1,
Yazzie said, and MacDonald's
expense report said the campaign
received $69,430 and spent $75,191.
However, an apparent discrepancy
arises from testimony by John
Paddock, an Arizona contractor who
told U.S. Senate investigators he
provided MacDonald more than
$39,000 in airplane flights during
the campaign, Yazzie said. Navajo
prosecutors say MacDonald's
campaign report does not reflect
those flights.
Yazzie also noted that tribal law
forbids contributions by
non-Navajos, and Paddock is not
Navajo.
Yazzie's ruling also concluded
that the Tribal Council acted legally
in placing MacDonald on
administrative leave in February,
following allegations before the U.S.
Senate committee that the chairman
received kickbacks from
businessmen.
Yazzie granted a permanent
injunction against MacDonald
exercising power.
Meantime, interim Chairman
Leonard Haskie opened the spring
meeting of the Tribal Council and
gave his first State of the Navajo
Nation address on Tuesday.
Haskie, the council's choice to
succeed MacDonald, said now that
the chairman is out, the tribe must
move to shore up its financial
situation.
"The intent... of the council is that
the government continue and that
services not be interrupted, and I
feel that has been fulfilled," Haskie
said.
He called Yazzie's ruling historic
and said it removed all doubt about
the legality of the council's action.
Thomas Hynes, MacDonald's
attorney, said it wasn't known if the
chairman planned to appeal.
The task now is to rebuild tribal
unity and stem the flow of
expenditures which caused him to
declare a state of financial
emergency May 5, Haskie said.
The top priority of the tribe's
Washington office is to develop a
budget for the 1990 federal budget,
he said.
"With the help of the division
directors, we have developed a list
that includes many vital areas, and
by this week, we will finalize the list
and begin working with our friends
in Congress to gain support," he
added.
Haskie, who met most of Monday
with Hopi Chairman Ivan Sidney,
said there were projects, requiring
joint approval, which would benefit
both peoples and could not wait until
the tribes resolved the larger
questions of land ownership.
"Under the (1983-1987) administration of Peterson Zah, the
Navajos and Hopis shook hands.
Under MacDonald, we fought, and
these projects were stalled behind
empty rhetoric," Haskie said. His
staff told reporters the session
should last about two weeks.
Outside the meeting, held in the
tribe's Education Center because of
work on a water main leading to the
five-sided council building, about 20
demonstrators carried signs
opposing Haskie.
The council convened with a
quorum of 48. Forty-nine delegates
had banded together to oust
MacDonald, and the Haskie faction
is said to have picked up four
members for a total of 53.
Haskie spokesman Duane Beyal
said the rest were expected to attend
but had been delayed by other
commitments.
Among proposals on a 22-item
agenda was one likely to draw
opposition in^New Mexico - a
request that Congress give Fort
Wingate to the tribe as reservation
land.
The fort about 10 miles east of
Gallup, N.M., is to be closed by
1995 under the military base
closings measure recently approved
by Congress.
The city of Gallup and McKinley
County have been working together
toward proposing that the 2,200-acre
base be turned into a redevelopment
area.
One concept under consideration
is making a portion of it a
detoxification center to help deal
with rampant alcoholism among
tribal members.
New Mexico also has expressed
interest in the possibility of making
it into a National Guard training
center.
Also on the agenda was a request
for $24 million from the federal
government for the financially
strapped Navajo Indian Irrigation
Project.