The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1989-12-06

              t fit
ses new Federal
Committee pr
 Senate Special Committee on Investigations concludes two year study
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After two years of investigation
that included staff visits with more
than 70 tribes in 16 states, 2010
interviews, analysis of 1,140,000
documents, subpoena of 307
individuals and corporations, 65
sworn depositions, 26 grants of
limited use immunity and testimony
of 172 witnesses in public hearings,
the Senate Special Committee on
Investigations calls for "New
Federalism For American Indians".
The Committee's bipartisan and
unanimous proposal would allow
Indian tribes to completely take over
both the resources and the functions
of current federal Indian programs,
including the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA).
"Under A New Federalism for
American Indians," said Sen. Dennis
DeConcini (D-AZ), the Chairman of
the Special Committee, "the billions
now wasted on self-perpetuating
federal bureaucracies will belong to
the tribes themselves, to determine
their own destiny."
"Our tax dollars are being
squandered on federal bureaucracies
that are ensnarled in red tape,
grossly mismanaged, and completely
incapable of serving the American
Indian people," said Sen. John
McCain (R-AZ), the Special
Committee's Co-Chairman. "All
Americans will benefit from a
program that allocates federal
resources to the people they are
intended to serve, rather than to
inept bureaucrats and corrupt
officials."
Noting that past congressional
investigations have resulted in
insignificant restructuring of the
federal Indian bureaucracies, Sen.
DeConcini declared, "the time for
tinkering is over. The time has come
to allow tribal governments to stand
free—independent, responsible and
accountable."
In two years of investigation, the
Committee found that federal
agencies knew of possible oil theft
from Indians but refused to stop it,
hired teachers at reservation schools
despite their known records of child
sexual abuse, and failed to heed
warnings that their minority
contracting programs were
dominated by fraudulent shell
companies.
"In almost every federal agency,"
said Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD),
"officials knew of the abuses, but
did little or nothing to stop them.
When executive agencies are aware
of problems but refuse to act, we in
oongress must question their very
existence."
The Committee also documented
kickbacks and other illicit financial
dealings by certain tribal
governmental officials, including
Chairman Peter MacDonald of the
Navajo Nation.
"We must amend the federal
criminal code and beef up law
enforcement to ensure that no Indian
is deprived of the honest services of
tribal officials by improper
' payments or gratuities, conflicts of
interest, concealment of records, and
other wrongdoing," said Sen.
DeConcini.
Sen. McCain blamed Congress'
"attitude of benign neglect" for the
failures uncovered by the
Committee: "On the one hand, by
allowing tribal officials to handle
hundreds of millions in enforcement,
Congress has left the American
Indian people vulnerable to
corruption. On the other hand, for
years. Congress has tolerated the
clear administrative breakdown of
federal agencies."
"Indians currently have no one to
turn to when their concerns are
ignored or their resources pilfered,"
explained Sen. Daschle. "The
federal agencies blame the tribes and
vice versa. American Indians
themselves can hold no one to task.
If no one is responsible, then no one
is accountable. And the American
Indian citizen suffers the
consequences.
The Committee's proposed "New
Federalism for American Indians"
would enable the President and any
tribe, on a voluntary basis, to
negotiate a mutual agreement that
gives the tribe the freedom to assess
its own needs, set priorities, and
design budgets to address those
priorities.
The federal government would
provide an annual Tribal
Self-Governance Grant (TSGG)
equal to the tribe's proportional
share of the current federal Indian
budget, as a permanent entitlement,
in lieu of federal services from the
BIA and other agencies.
The tribe would be required to
adhere to appropriate standards of
fiscal accountability and operate its
government in accordance with a
written constitution that has been
democratically-approved by a
majority of the tribe's members.
To begin a new era of commitment
to tribal self-government and
federalism, the Special Committee
will propose legislation to create and
fund the Office of Federal-Tribal
Relations (OFTR), within the
Executive Office of the President.
The OFTR will be responsible for
negotiating new, formal agreements
with federally-recognized Indian
tribes and overseeing the implementation of those agreements. Each
new agreement will be signed by the
tribal chairman, chief executive or
other duly authorized representative
of the tribe and the President of the
United States and must be ratified by
both Houses of Congress. The
agreements will allow any tribe that
so chooses to exit the current
bureaucracy of federal Indian
programs and, instead, receive and
use at its own discretion a
proportional share of the current
federal Indian budget.
New agreements will have no
impact on tribal governments current
legal status or jurisdiction vis-a-vis
the state, county and municipal
governments, school systems or
agencies. Nor will they affect the
water rights, land claims, or hunting
or fishing rights of any individual or
goveniment, Indian or non-Indian.
Funds for the OFTR, as well as the
TSGG's will be transferred directly
out of the budgets of current federal
Indian programs. The OFTR will be
required to enforce the tribes'
compliance with the requisite
standards of accountability, and
share information and coordinate
with federal law enforcement to
guarantee that criminal sanctions
against corruption are fully
enforced. The OFTR also will be
charged with collecting and
disseminating to all American Indian
households data comparing the
progress of tribes under the new
system of agreements with that of
tribes choosing to remain under
current federal Indian programs.
To usher in the New Federalism
for American Indians, the Special
Committee also recommends that
each House of Congress create a
permanent full Committee on Indian
Affairs, with additional staff
specifically assigned to perform
oversight and investigations.
A synopsis of the committee's
recommendations are as follows:
(See page 11 for the complete text of
the committee's recommendations).
Tribal Accountability
Strict accountability is essential to
ensure that Tribal Self-Governance
Grants, as well as funds given to
tribes under current programs, are
not misappropriated.
Indian Preference Contracting
To increase the economic
opportunities for Indian-owned
businesses, the Special Committee
recommends passage of the "Indian
Preference Act of 1989," as drafted
by the Special Committee and the
Select Committee on Indian Affairs,
and already reported favorably by
the Select Committee to the full
Senate on September 15,1989.
Preventing Child Abase
To confront and deter the tragedy
of child sexual abuse on Indian
lands, the Special Committee
recommends passage of the "Indian
Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act."
Indian Natural Resources and
Related Royalty Income
Under the New Federalism for
American Indians, tribes may
ultimately choose to assume all
royalty accounting, auditing, receipt
and on-site inspection functions
from the federal government.
Legal Representation
To increase the responsiveness of
the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) and the Solicitor of the
department of the Interior (Solicitor)
to Indian needs, and expedite the
Solicitor's cases involving Indian
matters, the Special Committee will
propose legislation to make both the
Secretary and the Solicitor subject to
dual confirmation by the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources
Committee and the Select
Committee on Indian Affairs.
The Indian Health Service
Under the New Federalism for
American Indians, tribes may
ultimately choose to take full
responsibility for the delivery of
health care to tribal members.
Indian Housing
Under the New Federalism for
American Indians, tribes may
ultimately choose to assume full
responsibility for Indian housing
projects.
Fifty Cents
Founded in 1988
Volume 2 Issue 10
December 6,1989
' Copyright, the Ojibwe News, 1989
A Bi-Monthly Publication
Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
The watchful eye of a Native American statue erected to commemorate the site of the Lake Traverse wintering
post. The trading post was opened in 1832 and Lake Traverse was later renamed Lake Bemidji, after Ojibwe
Chief Bemidji. Photo by Mark Boswell
Bois Forte Secretary-Treasurer refutes
charges amid reservation turmoil
By Mark Boswell
Contributor
Bois Forte Reservation's
Secretary-Treasurer Lester Drift,
Sr. has been charged with
malfeasance by that reservation's
business committee because of
questionable practices conducted
with tribal monies and powers.
Drift defended his position and has
refute all of the charges because of
what he calls "unprofessional" and
"abusive" attitudes and actions of
other members of the Bois Forte
RBC.
In recent months Bois Forte has
been wracked by political
infighting within the workings of
it's tribally elected executive
committee. Frustrated by the
difficulties and the virtual standstill
of its business operations and
social services, the five elected
officials of Bois Forte voted last
month to put themselves up for
re-election in order to put an end to
the conflicts within that
organization.
"What was decided at the latest
meeting was that the board decided
to put all of the RBC positions on
the line, "explained Drift, "This
would then be presented to the
Tribal Executive Committee." He
believes that the TEC would go
against all of the current members
if they decided to do this.
Drift sees such drastic measures
as the only alternative available in
such a volatilie situation.
"We haven't officially conducted
business since Aug. 18," he said.
"We're going on four months
without any decisions being made.
Our programs are failing. People
are quiring and being replaced and
these decisions are being made by
the staff and not the RBC. If they
continue to do a good job...there
will be no reason for a RBC in Nett
Lake."
According to Drift, problems at
Bois Forte go back to February
when fellow committeeperson
Jacqueline McKeon "turned her
back on her supporters."
Accusations began to surface in
memos and documents. On Aug.
20 a petition to remove McKeon
was presented to Drift. The petition
"Ii they continue this
and if they do a good
job...there will be no
reason for an RBC
in Nett Lake."
-Lester Drift, Sr.
included the names of 75 eligible
voters and represented 41 percent
of the voting population.
According to the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe Constitution, 20
percent of the eligible voters are
necessary for such a petition to be
considered.
"We had a meeting on Sept. 25,"
explained Drift, "In that meeting
McKeon was allowed to respond to
each of the charges brought against
her by the people." He believes
that she did not respond
sufficiently to deny such charges.
A similar move to oust Drift was
brought against him on Nov. 7.
"I was given notice of a
meeting," explained Drift, "I'd like
to emphasize that it stated
distinctly 'meeting'. When I got to
the meeting the document that was
presented to me stated: 'This is a
special meeting conducted for the
sole purpose of conducting a
hearing."
Drift believe that he was "set up"
for the hearing charging him with
malfeasance of tribal affairs. He
alleges that the hearing was
conducted in response to the earlier
petition submitted to oust McKeon.
Drift defends himself against the
charges by explaining the situation
at Bois Forte: "There's never an
RBC member around up there to
get approval for anything. The
staff knows that I try to do things
by procedure, but if you can't find
the correct authorization for
something that has to be done
immediately, you just do it."
Drift believes that other members
of the RBC have been shirking
their duties. "The Chairman is
never around," he said, "he comes
in, gets the mileage and he's gone.
In a whole week he was in all of 10
minutes."
In an interview with the Duluth
News-Tribune Chairman Eugene
Boshey stated otherwise. "It's hard
for me to hold meetings because
there aren't enough members for a
quorum," he said.
"I hope it will work out," said
Boshey. "We've got two factions,
two separate groups of people and
two apparent leaders, but I was
elected to represent the people."
"They're playing a little game
there,"said Drift, "sort of a 'you get
me' and 'I'll get you'. If you start
slinging mud, you'll get dirty."
Found innocent of shoplifting charge
Edward Hanson of Richfield, a 42
year old Red Lake member, was
found innocent of a shoplifting
charge by a Beltrami County jury on
Nov. 21,1989.
According to Hanson, he was in
the Bemidji area to prepare for and
attend his aunt's funeral on the Red
Lake Reservation last May.
After going to the funeral home in
Bemidji, Hanson, his brother Marvin
Douglas Hanson, and their cousin
Edward Lussier stopped to make
grocery purchases at Lueken's Food
Store at the Village Mall.
While Marvin Hanson shopped for
grocery items, Ed Hanson and Ed
Lussier went to the cigarettee stand
and each selected two packages of
cigarettes.
A security guard of one week,
Greg Naughten, observed the pair
from an office behind a one way
mirror. According to Naughten's
testimony, Ed Hanson took an
additional two packages and put
them in his jacket pocket.
Ed Hanson did not have enough
small change to make the purchase,
but from his jacket pocket he gave
Lussier three dollar bills toward the
purchase. Lussier paid for the four
packs with a ten dollar bill of his
own, and both men picked up two
packs each, refusing a bag but
accepting the receipt.
Naughten followed the three men
outside where he then told Ed
Hanson to return to the store.
Naughten then accused Hanson of
stealing two packs of cigarettes. In
the embarassment and confusion of
the moment, Ed said he thought
Lussier had paid for the cigarettes,
but if they weren't paid for, he'd pay
for them himself.
Marvin Douglas Hanson and Ed
Lussier returned to the store where
they attempted to show the guard the
receipt. The guard refused, claiming
there were six packs involved.
A Bemidji police officer was
called to the store and Ed Hanson
was charged with shoplifting, a
misdemeanor in the state of
Minnesota.
Oddly enough, neither the security
guard nor the city policeman
bothered to check the receipt, talk to
the checkout girl, or realize that had
Hanson taken four packs he would
still have ,been carrying four packs
when he was arrested because he
had been observed the entire time by
the security guard from a distance of
approximately ten feet.
All attempts to clear up this matter
by Hanson and others were refused
by Lueken's store employees in
spite of the fact that John Hanson,
father of the defendant, had a
personal relationship with the former
owner, Hank Lueken, and the
defendant's brother, Marvin Douglas
Hanson, was a participant in a
summer volunteer program at
Lueken's under the present owner,
Joe Lueken.
Edward Hanson is pursuing this
matter with the Minnesota State
Department of Human Rights.
Allery doubles travel budget during
tenure as Bemidji IHS director
According to an investigation report of
the office of the Inspector General, US
Department of Health and Human
Services, dated Feb. 14, 1989; during
Allery's four year tenure as area director
(1984-1988) the Bemidji area offices
travel budget more than doubled from
$400,650 in 1984 to $924,028. For a
more detailed examination of the IHS's
record see page 10 and 11.
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