The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1989-07-19

              Petition to preserve
Medicine Wheel
Ceremony
page 3
i
-rr.
Traditional Pow Wow
held during Red Lake
Centennial
page 6
Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 2 Issue 1
July 19,1989
1 Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1989
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
Coalition to do outreach
work on White Earth
White Earth - The Indian Outreach Coordinator from the
Northwoods Coalition for Battered Women will be doing a volunteer
training 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 29,1989, at the Episcopal Church in
White Earth, Minn.
If you would like to be a volunteer advocate, provide transportation,
provide health care, or provide a safe home for battered women and
their children please call (218) 751-6346 and leave your name so the
Coalition has an idea of how many handouts will be needed.
A women's support group will be starting soon at White Earth. More
information is forthcoming on the support group.
Red Lake receives double
the monies for health programs
Bemidji, Minn. - Figures show that Red Lake received $6,687 million
for their 1988 health programs, representing $1586 per capita. Leech
Lake, during the same time received $3.7 million or $677 per capita and
at White Earth the figures show $3,249 million or $728 per capita was
received to run their health programs. Area average figures measure
$685 per capita spending on Indian health programs.
Grants awarded to recruit
American Indians in Journalism
Boulder, Colo. - The Knight Foundation recently awarded the Native
American Press Association (NAPA) a $10,000 grant to assist the
organizations in its effort to recruit American Indians into the field of
journalism.
Susan Arkeketa, NAPA director, said that the money will help the
organization's long-range goal of identifying American Indian students
interested in a journalism career.
Other recruitment efforts include sponsoring a high school journalism
conference in the summer of 1990 and expanding the NAPA
scholarship program.
Walker, Minn. - The Chippewa Trespass/case, which has drug on for
over a year, was dismissed in Cass County District Court. Carol
Peterson, attorney for the defense said she received a call from Asst.
Attorney Jon Eclov on July 11 saying the charges were dropped b y
request from the Leech Lake RBC.
A call to the Leech Lake RBC generated no response. Confirmation
was received by Cass County Attorney Earl Moss.
Peterson said, "the case shouldn't have been pursued this long" and
charges being dropped did come as a surprise. She added that the
defense had filed briefs in January claiming the state had no
jurisdiction, and the judge had denied that motion in March.
A countersuit may be filed by the defendants..
Ojibwe News
marks anniversary
This issue marks the first edition of our second of the Ojibwe News.
We'd like to thank our fine advertisers, our loyal subscribers, and our
steady readers who have made our first year so memorable. We have
endeavored in an effort to keep the people informed and to give the
people a voice.
Our plans are to continue to perform these functions during our
second year. We hope we merit your support during our second year,
and we look forward to serving the people during this election year.
official sente
false claims
t-tit
Minneapolis (AP) - The former
director of the Bemdiji area office
of Tndkn Health Services has been
sentenced to one year and one day
in prison and three years probation
for filing false claims against the
United States.
U.S. District Judge Edward J.
Devitt also ordered Alan Allery on
Wednesday to pay $22,320 in
restitution to the U.S. Public
Health Service.
Allery, 41, of Bemidji, had
submitted falsified travel vouchers
with die Department of Heath and
Human Services claiming more
than $28,000 in expenses for
—^—:—- ; — : : ____	
temporary quarters, according to
court records.
The investigating agent found
that approximately $14,902 went
for living quarters and the rest of
the money went for reimbursement
for taxes paid on the funds, the
court said.
Indian Health Services is an
agency within the Department of
Health and Human Services. The
Bemidji branch provides health
care to Indians in Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Michigan.
Allery, who remained free on
bond, is to begin serving his
ice Aug. 21, the court said
 ■. , :	
Among those present to commerate the signing of the 1889 treaty establishing the Red Lake
Reservation on Lower Red Lake were (from left to right )Wendall Chino, George Jones,
Roger Jourdain, Tim Stillday and Pat Ragsdale. (photo by Monte Draper)
Red Lake agreement for tribal
program control called national model
Redlake, Minn. (AP) — A historic
agreement allowing Red Lake
Chippewa officials to direct federal
programs on the Red Lake Indian
Reservation is a model for other
tribes to follow, a federal official
says.
The three-year agreement, signed
Friday, July 7th and effective Aug.
1, transfers the day-to-day
management of programs of the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs from the
BIA's Red Lake Agency to the Red
Lake Tribal Council.
"It's the first type of agreement
where the Bureau of Indian Affairs
has agreed that we would allow the
tribe to assume full direction over
the BIA operations," said Pat
Ragsdale, deputy to the U.S. Interior
Department's assistant secretary for
Indian Affairs.
"What our hope is, and consistent
with tribal objectives, that over a
period of time the tribe will be able,
to assume full control of the
operations and make the gradual
conversion of assuming the
operations here.
"I'm hopeful that they can set the
example for the rest of the tribes
across the United States," he said.
So does Roger Aitken, superintendent of the BIA's Minnesota
Agency.
"Red Lake is taking the lead
nationally in this landmark
agreement," he said. "Tribes
nationwide will be looking at the
document and watching Red Lake."
The agreement — signed on the
shores of Lower Red Lake, where
tribal and federal officials signed a
treaty 100 years ago that established
the reservation — is seen as a
short-term step toward the eventual
assumption of programs under self-
governance goals.
"We hope this is the beginning of
self-determination and prosperity
and peace and mature leadership for
the tribe," Ragsdale said.
"This is a changing of the guard,"
said tribal Chairman Roger Jourdain.
"I'm sure it will be a success. It has
to be a success."
The agreement calls for the tribe to
direct several programs, including
fire and police services, property
management, financial trust
services, road maintenance and
construction, forestry and
agriculture. Under a previous
agreement with the BIA, the tribe
already operates other programs,
such as tribal courts, housing
improvement and natural resources
development.
The tribe will have a say in the
decision making process, but the
BIA will retain final authority,
including the appropriation of
money.
"The tribe assumes direction
whereas we have direct supervision," Ragsdale said. "The only
thing that will change ... is the tribe
will assume full review and will
have an opportunity to comment
prior to the area director making any
decisions.
"If everything works properly, we
will have good communication and
instant communication of all our
decisions."
Jourdain and the 10-member Red
Lake Tribal Council will direct the
BIA programs. The agreement
allows the tribe to hire an
administrator at $56,000 a year, but
for now the council will administer
the programs, Jourdain said.
Allery cooperates with Senate Select Committee
According to information
obtained from sources who wish to
remain anonymous, The News has
learned that Alan Allery
exchanged information, about
misuse of funds by Indian Health
Service officials with the Senate
Select Committee on Indian
Affairs, for their support in
obtaining a lighter sentence from
Federal Judge Edward J. Devitt.
Allery, former Bemidji Area
Director of Indian Health Service
(IHS), was convicted on May 25,
1989, on two counts of filing false
travel vouters by a federal jury in St.
Paul, Minnesota.
One source told The News that on
June 28, 1989, Allery and his
attorney, Steven J. Meshbesher, flew
to Washington D.C. to voluntarily
appear before Senate Select
Committee staff where he gave
information regarding additional
misuse of travel and other funds
with the IHS.
Sources indicate the meeting was
held behind "closed doors" and
lasted nearly three hours. The same
source also indicates that the Allery
information will result in additional
Committee subpoenas of as many as
ten additional MS employees when
the hearing resumes.
The News further learned that the
IHS staff was unaware of Allery's
	
testimony.
In fulfilling their end of the
agreement, a Senate Select staff
attorney wrote a letter to Judge
Devitt informing him of Allery^s
testimony and his cooperation in
their investigation of misuse of
funds by IHS officials.
Judge Devitt was unavailable for
comment as to whether he gave
Allery a lighter sentence because
of his cooperation.
Red Lake overanticipates in requesting monies from IHS
By Kathy Thornes
Bemidji, Minn
Although there is only $2.5
million available nationwide to
tribes for transitional and indirect
costs to enable them to take
advantage of the government-
to-government agreement, Red Lake
has requested $3.8 million.
The Red Lake contract for their
Indian Health Service program was
up for renewal this past year.
Instead, because of negotiations on
amendents to PL93-638, Red Lake
requested an extension on the old
contract until the amendments are in
place. Marv Edevold, Acting
Director of Bemidji Area Indian
Health Service said the amendments
are expected to be published in the
Federal Register in October of 1990.
According to Edevold the tribe
, "overanticipated" in requesting the
monies for transitional and indirect
costs before the new amendments
for 638 are in place.
The strategy of the Red Lake
Tribal Council in negotiating for a
new contract before submitting a
proposal is that Red Lake wants IHS
headquarters to identify that there is
transitional monies available before
they submit a detailed proposal.
Edevold said the tribe just "short-
cutted some," by sending that
request to Dr. Everett Rhoades,
Director of Indian Health Service.
The $3.8 million requested,
Edevold said, is for a "financial
system, personnel system and their .
procurement systems, and," he
added, for "some more people in
security, some general supportive
people for taking over the program."
"The purpose of the transitional
costs is not to provide money for
costs of health providers...it is solely
for those in support of 638," he said.
In the new amendments to
PL93-638 and the new govemment-
to-government cooperative agreement, contracts become non-
procurement contracts. Edevold
"suspects" that in the negotiations
this was a tribal request. In
switching from a procurement to
nonprocurerrient contract, the tribe
will be required to report less back
to IHS, including the spending of
monies.
In the report to the Senate from the
Senate Select Committee on Indian
Affairs, Report 100-274, it is stated:
"The elimination of otherwise
applicable federal procurement law
and acquisition regulations...is
intended to decrease the volume of
contract compliance and reporting
requirements associated with tribal
contracts, and to decrease the
volume of unnecessary contract
monitoring requirements on the
Federal agencies."
Although tribal officials may see
the nonprocurement contract as a
move toward sustaining sovereignty
by the tribe, opponents are
concerned that without
accountability of monies spent to
tribal members as a whole it could
be a dangerous step.