Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-01-11

              Minority public housing residents, guests
victimized by building security, Mpls. cops
By Gary Blair
Violence in the Phillips
Neighborhood of south Minneapolis
appears to have found an even more
vulnerable victim.
However, the latest complaints of
abuse may result in a class action
lawsuit aimed at a security guard
company, a building management
company, and HUD. An attorney for
the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society
says he's not certain if they'll handle
the case or if they'll turn it over to
private law firm to pursue.
The victims are reported to be
handicapped Native Americans who
live at the Bloomington Court
Apartments in south Minneapolis or
their visitors who often look in on
them. Those accused of the abuse are
former security guards of the On
Guard Security Company that were
hired by the building's management
company, NHP Management. The
lawsuit could also include HUD,
which subsidizes the management
company's hiring of security guards
who are supposed to protect the
tenants and secure the building.
Peter Pajari, who is one of the
victims and a four-year resident of the
90-unit apartment complex at 2100
Bloomington Avenue South in
Minneapolis, contacted the PRESS
about the abuse: "The assaults started
on January 1,1994, after I had sent a
memo to the building's management
company complaining about the
harassment from the guards. Instead
of things changing, they got worse,"
Pajari said.
Public cont'd pg 3
'Injun Joe* figure causes prob. in Bloom./ pg 1
Manltok manager accused of misconduct/ pg 1
Fire damages Red Lake school/ pg 2
Minority housing residents victimized/ pg 1
'Diversity training' eff. proc. fr. false premise/ pg 8
Voice of the People
1
Manitok manager accused by former
employees of racism, misconduct
By Jeff Armstrong
Several former employees of the
White Earth reservation's Manitok
Wild Rice company say they were
forced out of their jobs by a white
manager who made racist remarks
and sexual innuendo a regular part of
the workday. But neither state nor
tribal officials have been willing to
look into the matter, despite the
possibly criminal nature of some
allegations.
White Earth member Lisa Erie was
one of three women who left Manitok
last September when the tribal council
failed to investigate numerous
complaints of abuse and fraud. Most
of the charges were leveled against
marketingmanagerDaveReinke, who
has directed the tribal enterprise since
its inception. Erie, who worked her
way up from telemarketing to
coordinating most of the company's
sales and marketing over her four
year at Manitok, charged Reinke with
falsifying travel expenses for personal
gain and subjecting staff to racially
and sexually derogatory statements.
"Our civil and human rights had
been violated to the point that we had
no choice but to resign," said Erie.
"To me, the Council is not supporting
and listening to their people. I felt
like we didn't have any rights as
Indians on this reservation, for
protecting us. Nobody wanted to
listen, nobody wanted to do anything."
As recently as February of last year,
Erie had received a glowing job
review, finding her performance
"good" or "very good" in all areas. A
Manitok cont'd pg 5
Native
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity Far All People
Founded  in 1988        Volume B   Issue 13        January 11, 1396
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press,  1996
EZ Stop owner spurns city request to remove
'Injun Joe1 figure from Bloomington store
By Gary Blair
A stuffed dummy dressed up to look
like a stereotypical Indian of the old
Hollywood movies sits quietly on the
counter of a gas station in
Bloomington, Minnesota, but the
controversial figure may have to find
a new home.
The EZ Stop - Crown Oil
Corporation, located at 319 Ulysses
Street N.E. in Minneapolis, has been
requested by the Bloomington City
Council to remove the mannequin
from the station's store in the city.
In spite of a letter being sent by the
council, however, the owner hadn't
complied with the dry's request by
press time.
The station also placed a new sign
out front reading, "Indian Joe's."
The term Indian Joe was a popular
Hollywood name for Indian movie
characters who were somewhat
assimilated into, but not fully
accepted by, the white culture. "Injun
Joe," was likewise the name of a
villain in the Tom Sawyer computer
game was sold by the Walt Disney
company a few years back.
On Tuesday of this week, Biil
Lawerence, the publisher of NAP/
ON, and your reporter visited the
station to see the racial doll. We were
told by the store's manager that we
couldn't take a picture of the doll or
have the phone number of the
corporate headquarters.
Attempts were then made to contact
Robert Mack, the corporation's CEO,
at his office in Minneapolis, but those
efforts proved futile. However, we did
speak with a company spokesperson
who said the doll wasn't meant to
offend anyone. That person was then
Figure cont'd pg 3
Prescott, Crooks vie for top tribal post
Mdewakanton will choose chairman Tuesday
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune Staff Writer
With power over millions of dollars
in casino profits at stake, American
Indian politician Leonard Prescott is
running for chairman of the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Dakota in a campaign
that includes a reference to war-torn
Bosnia.
For two years Prescott has accused
Tribal Chairman Stanley Crooks, his
rival in a clan feud, of bestowing tribal
membership and profits from the
tribe's Mystic Lake Casino on
relatives and other people to
consolidate power.
But one week before the election,
Prescott on Tuesday came to
Minneapolis and projected a more
conciliatory tone, promising a "three
point strategy" to bring political peace,
to the Shakopee Dakota Community.
"My goal is to end the factionalism,"
he said. Tribal members "want to stop
the strife."
"If Serbs and Muslims can meet to
end their war, than certainly even
Prescotts and Crookses can come
together to smoke the pipe of peace,"
Prescott said.
However, Prescott has an unlikely
resume for a peacemaker. He and
Crooks have been the main
antabonists in a tribal and family feud
that began long before the 1993
opening of Mystic Lake Casino in
Prior Lake. For years, power seesawed
between them. Crooks defeated
Prescott by a narrow margin for
chairman in 1992.
During the 1980s, while Prescott
was chairman and when the tribe ran
a bingo operation, the dispute erupted
into confrontations involving baseball
Post cont'd page 3
"Dakota Exile" to air on KTCA, later this month, tells a story of survival by Dakota people.
Mille Lacs elder leaves legacy of crafts,
Stories, language    Maude Kegg passes on at 94
Tim Stately selected Blackduck's 5th grade
student of the Month
Tim Stately was selected as Student of the Month for
December at the Blackduck Elementary.
According to Blackduck Elementary Principal Steve
Lundberg, "our faculty wants to continue to encourage
student performance, while at the same time give recognition
to students for their academic achievement, attitude,
citizenship, dependability and responsibility. To do this,
our faculty will select one student from each classroom
each month to represent 'Students of the Month' for our
school."
Students of the Month are recognized by the teacher,
classroom, and principal. They will also receive a certificate
to honor their outstanding achievement and have their
picture in the Blackduck American.
Much of the credit for student success goes to the parents.
We thank you for what you have done and ask that you
continue to encourage your child. Thanks again for your
continued support.
Editor Note: Tim lives with his grandfather Clarence
Stately of Red Lake. His 5 th grade teacher is Trina Liapis of
ONAMIA, Minn. (AP) _ As an
elder of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe,
Maude Kegg had received national
recognition for her efforts to keep
Ojibwe crafts, stories and language
alive.
Now that Kegg is dead, band
members wonder who will take her
place. "When I would say something
wrong in Ojibwe, she would correct
me. What am I going to do now? I'll
never be able to fill her shoes," said
her daughter, Betty Kegg.
Kegg, 94, died Saturday of
congestive heartfailure. She had been
ill for several weeks before dying at
Mille Lacs Hospital.
Kegg was born in Portage Lake
Township near the Mille Lacs
Reservation. She was raised in the
traditional Ojibwe culture, which
included learning techniques to create
basswood dolls and beadwork items.
In 1960, Kegg began working as a
curator at the Mille Lacs Indian
Museum. She wrote two books of
Ojibwe childhood and traditional
stories and an Ojibwe dictionary.
In 1990, Kegg was among 13 folk
artists awarded National Heritage
Fellowships, the highest award from
the NationalEndowmentforthe Arts.
A bandolier bag that she worked on
for five years is in the Smithsonian
Institution.
Don Wedll, the Mille Lacs band
commissioner of natural resources,
said Kegg had a great personality and
knowledge that allowed her to bridge
generation gaps.
"Unlike some elders, she was
bilingual and could really express
what a word in Ojibwe really meant,"
he said. "She was always willing to
talk to anybody about what it was like
to be Indian for her. She had respect
for all people."
Kegg's home was always open to
guests. John Nichols, a professor at
the University of Manitoba in
Winnipeg, became a frequent visitor
who wanted to learn Ojibwe ways. He
became so close to the family that
Kegg adopted him as a son, which is
done in Indian culture.
Besides her daughter and adopted
son, she is survived by another
daughter, Loretta Kalk, of Garrison.;
six sons, Darrell, Ernest, Herman,
Donald and Jesse, all of Onamia,
and Martin, of Minneapolis; another
adopted son, Rick Greszyk, of
Minneapolis; a sister, Dora
Whipple, of Minneapolis; and three
brothers, Tom Mitchell of Longville;
John Mitchell of Ball Club and Frank
Mitchell of Minneapolis; and 41
grandchildren.
Services were held at 10 a.m.
Wednesday at the community center
on the Mille Lacs Indian
Reservation.
Wakanabo will focus on traditional values
in bid for Leech Lake chairman
Tim Stately
Blackduck. Congratulations to all three for their work
and dedication.
Seven people charged with inciting riot in
tribal disturbance
By Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer
CASS LAKE—Bob "Punk"
Wakanabo portrays traditional
American Indian values in his art—
and now he believes it's time that the
Leech Lake Reservation also portrays
traditional values.
A self-taught artist who turned to
painting after a school bus accident
killed his only daughter about 10
years ago, Wakanabo channeled his
depression into a spiritual renewal
now reflected in his work.
Now launching his 10th limited
edition print in only three years,
"Sentinel of the North," he plans to
take a break in his art career to run in
June's election for chairman of the
Leech Lake Reservation Tribal
Council.
"The community lacks a lot of
cultural awareness," he says from the
kitchen table of his mother's home,
where he and his two brothers run
Wakanabo Associates, the family's
business that sells his original work
and limited edition prints now around
the world. "We don't go to our elders
enough. We need their teachings so
we can pass that onto our youngsters.
"Otherwise, it'll all be lost."
Bid cont'd pg 3
BELCOURT, N.D. (AP) _ Seven
people were charged Tuesday with
inciting a riot by brawling with
security guards and tribal officials at
the Turtle Mountain tribal
headquarters.
Four people, including Tribal
Chairwoman Twila Martin Kekahbah
and a Bureau of Indian Affairs
policeman, suffered minor injuries
during Monday's disturbance, BIA
police said.
BIA Capt. Delmar Langan said his
office received a phone call from
Kekahbah about 3:45 p.m. Monday,
reporting that about 30 people were
attempting to chain the building's
doors shut from the inside.
"All our officers were dispatched to
the tribal headquarters building,"
Langan said. "Seven people were
arrested and incarcerated due to the
riot situation."
Jaclynn Davis, a tribal council
member, said the council was meeting
at the headquarters when the
disturbance broke out.
"One of the tribal security guards
came in and said the doors were being
chained and locked from the inside,"
she said. "I went out into the hallway
and I saw two people fighting over the
exit doors. One was inside trying to
hold the door closed. One of our
security guards was outside trying to
open it."
Davis said several fights broke out
when security guards and tribal
officials tried to stop the group.
Kekahbah and two security guards
were injured in the scuffles. A BIA
police officer cut his leg while
RJOt cont'd pg 3
Turtle Mountain tribe looking into wind energy
By Dave Clark
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ The
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
hopes to harness the wind to supply
part of its power needs.
The tribe is starting a demonstration
project to find out whether it would be
feasible to build a wind farm on the
north central North Dakota
reservation.
A wind turbine will be built on a
ridge south of the Turtle Mountains.
It will supply power to the tribe's
water treatment plant, which is at the
base of the ridge.
Five wind monitoring sites will be
erected on the ridge in the spring,
"We feel that this is a good chance
for us to get a working knowledge of
wind energy," said Charles Trottier,
a tribal planner. "With the tribe trying
to use all its natural resources, then I
think you can't omit wind."
After the demonstration project, a
report on building a wind farm will be
written, said Jay Haley, a research
engineer at the University of North
Dakota's Energy and Environmental
Research Center.
EERC is helping the tribe with the
project. The federal Department of
Energy is paying $248,000 of its
estimated $326,000 cost, with the
tribe picking up the remainder.
"Wind energy is environmentally
friendly and harmonizes well with
the Indian ways and philosophies,"
Haley said "It may offer them a means
Wind cont'd pg4