Native American Press / Ojibwe News(Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-02-23

              Leech Lake RBC backs indicted leaders
financially, legally
By Jeff Armstrong
If there were any doubts that the
Leech Lake Reservation Business
Committee is dominated by its
indicted officials, the RBC lifted them
with a motion in federal court to
suppress subpoenas for reservation
documents in the trial of chairman
Tig Pemberton, secretary treasurer
Dan Brown, and then-tribal attorney,
Sen. Skip Finn.
U.S. magistrate judge Raymond
Erickson heard testimony Feb. 21 in
Duluth district court over whether to
uphold "Rule 17"subpoenas for early
release of numerous reservation
records, including those authorizing
or requesting attorney's fees for the
defendants; records of all pow-wow
funds, from which Brown withdrew
$24,816 in cash; repayment, if any,
of court-ordered restitution to
convicted RBC member Myron Ellis;
unresolved claims against the
reservation while RRM was
operating; and all funds Finn received
from the RBC between 1990 and
1993.
In its brief, the tribal government
maintained that its sovereign status
should serve to deny subpoenas for
internal financial and other records,
which the RBC claims are irrelevant
to the indictments, available from
other sources, and not made in good
faith. "...[I]t is clear that the federal
government is on a fishing
expedition, for no legitimate reason
exists that would require production
of the documents sought," the brief
argues. "The band possesses
sovereign immunity from suit and,
absent an express waiver of that
immunity, cannot be required to
produce the documents requested in
the subpoena. Accordingly, the
subpoena must be quashed."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael
Ward told judge Erickson that the
government found the RBC's claim
of sovereign immunity "astounding"
in the context of a criminal trial in
which Leech Lake is the victim of a
$1.5 million insurance fraud
conspiracy. "I've never seen a victim
institution react as this victim has,"
said Ward. "They continue to assert
tribal sovereignty to thwart
investigation into the misuse of
Indicted cont'd pg 3
Tenants face foreclosure as Phillips
Neighborhood Housing Trust collapses
By Gary Blair
Tenants ofthe now defunct Phillips
Neighborhood Housing Trust
(PNHT) could find themselves among
the City of Minneapolis' homeless
population if a solution to stabilize
their housing is not found.
Foreclosures could start as early as
June of this year if the two banks that
hold the mortgages on the property
become impatient. One million
dollars is needed for the stabilization
plan and funds for low-income
housing development are limited
nationwide.
The Minneapolis Community
Development Agency (MCDA) is
reported to have offered funding
support for the PNHT stabilization
plan. However, those funds are not
being guaranteed. Calls to MCDA
on Wednesday indicate the PNHT
stabilization plan have been moved
to another department within the
organization and no one from that
office was available for comment
before press time.
Those who would be affected if
foreclosures occur are families with
three or more children. Nearly 25
percent ofthe former housing trust's
233 tenants are Native Americans.
Right now the Perennial
Management Company is overseeing
the day to day operations of the
former housing trust. Their office is
located in the former PNHT office
located at 2714 Chicago Avenue,
south in Minneapolis.
Alan Arthur, executive director of
the Central Community Housing
Trust (CCHT), whose organization
was called in to try to save the former
PNHT property, had this to say about
the situation: "It should be made
clear that the whole thing is very
uncertain. I also want to let people
know, that we will try our best to save
most ofthe housing, but there are no
guarantees," he said.
Arthur's organization has a
reputation in Minneapolis for
developing stabile affordable
community housing, but he says some
of PNHT's older single site housing
will need to be destroyed. "Possibly
three or four houses that will need to
be replaced with new housing. At
least that's the recommendation I will
be making to my board of directors,"
he said.
If CCHT's plan is not successful,
Arthur says, "There will be attempts
made to sell the single home to the
tenants and we will do our best to help
people find new housing."
PNHT's financial problems were
rooted in the type of housing that they
were trying to develop, says Arthur.
"If improvements are made, the
whole city block needs to addressed.
Housing cont'd on 6
Judge challenges tribal sovereignty
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune Staff Writer
No judge on the Minnesota Court
of Appeals has written anything quite
like it: a blunt denunciation of
assertions that American Indian tribes
are nations within a nation. In calling
tribal sovereignty a "myth" that
creates a "red apartheid," Judge R A.
(Jim) Randall last week wrote one of
the most unusual dissenting opinions
on the subject. The case involved an
injury at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior
Lake. But then, Randall is an unusual
and complex judge.
Even as he protests the power of
tribal governments, he maintains
close ties to American Indians on and
off reservations. He hangs out with
Indian prisoners, joins Indians in
sweat lodges and once sprang an
Indian inmate from jail temporarily
so he could attend his brother's wake.
Paintings dedicated to him by
Indian artists cover the walls of his
chambers at the Minnesota Judicial
Center in St. Paul. Dream catchers
hang from the ceiling over his desk.
A medicine bag dangles from the
rearview mirror of his car.
Yet Randall, 56, isn't another white
guy who romanticizes all things
Indian Instead, he challenges the very
identity of modern Indian tribes as
sovereign' governments.
"The present system of so-called
sovereignty sets American Indians
apart as we once set American blacks
apart," he said in an interview a few
days ago. "I'm not sure how that can
ever be justified."
Allowing tribes to run separate
governments with their own court
systems will Balkanize America and
permit rights abuses of Indians who
live on reservations and of non-
Indians who visit reservations to
gamble, he said.
Randall's beliefs — expressed in a
lengthy dissenting opinion in the
Judge cont'd pg 6
Federal judge to hear tribal case
MINOT, N.D. (AP) _ A lawsuit
stemming from theyear-long political
dispute on the Turtle Mountain Indian
Reservation will be heard by a federal
judge next week.
Minot attorney Lynn Boughey said
U.S. District Judge Patrick Conmy
has scheduled a hearing at 10:30 a.m.
Thursday in Minot on a lawsuit
Boughey filed on behalf of several
tribal members.
Boughey is representing five
recalled tribal council members, an
impeached tribal judge and a fired
tribal official. They have been feuding
with the current tribal administration
headed by chairwoman Twila Martin
Kekahbah.
The lawsuit filed Jan. 29 asks
Conmy to reinstate the five council
members and another council member
who is not a part ofthe lawsuit. They
contend they were illegally recalled
in April. The lawsuit also asks that
former Chief Tribal Judge Richard
Frederick, who was impeached in
September, be reinstated, and that the
tribe hold a runoff election, in which
the top vote-getters for each council
seat and for tribal chair in November
Govt's response to motion to quash sub./ pg 5
LL Litigat. Expense Reimbursement Ord./ pg 5
LL RBC backs indicted leaders financ, legally/ pg 1
Tenants face foreclosure as PNPT collapses/ pg 1
Judge challenges tribal sovereignty/ pg 1
Voice of the people
1
Native
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity Far All People
Founded in 1988 Volume 8   Issue 19        February S3, 1996
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A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Preee, 1996
State Sen. Harold (Skip) Finn, and Leech Lake Tribal Chairman Alfred (Tig) Pemberton.
Indian leaders voted for tribe to pay legal
billlS Move could save troubled leaders thousands of dollars
1994 would run against each other
until one candidate for each seat got a
majority vote.
The lawsuit also asks Conmy to
declare that the tribe does not have
sovereign immunity in tribal court.
John Skowronek, a Minot attorney
who represents the tribal government,
on Monday filed a motion asking
Conmy to dismiss the case, in part
because of what he states is the tribe's
immunity from lawsuits.
Conmy may issue a ruling at the
hearing or a written ruling later,
Boughey said Thursday.
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune Staff Writer
After they became targets of federal
, investigations for allegedly stealing
from their tribe, council members of
two Minnesota Chippewa bands voted
to authorize their governments to pay
legal expenses of officials charged
with crimes.
The votes could spare several
council members from the White
Earth and Leech Lake bands hundreds
of thousands of dollars in legal fees
to defend themselves against charges
of casino and insurance fraud.
The Leech Lake arrangement was
disclosed in documents filed recently
by U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug,
who is prosecuting officials of both
bands, as well as state Sen. Harold
(Skip) Finn, DFL-Cass Lake, who
worked for the band.
Prosecutors last week filed
subpoenas seeking information about
any money paid for legal-fees to Finn,
Leech Lake Tribal Chairman Alfred
(Tig) Pemberton and Secretary-
Treasurer Daniel Brown.
Finn, Pemberton and Brown were
expected to ask a U.S. magistrate
judge in Duluth today to block the
inquiry, saying the questions are a
"fishing expedition" by the
government and are irrelevant to the
criminal charges.
Prosecutors counter that if Finn and
the Leech Lake officials filled out
applications to cover legal expenses,
they would have made admissions
relevant at trial.
White Earth council members also
authorized the payment of legal bills
for tribal officials facing criminal
charges, according to tribal
documents. Federal prosecutors have
not made an issue of legal payments
in their case against White Earth
Tribal Chairman Darrell (Chip)
Wadena, Secretary-Treasurer Jerry
Rawley and Council Member Rick
Clark. They were indicted in August
on charges of bid-rigging related to
the construction of Shooting Star
Casino in Mahnomen, Minn.
Wadena made $428,000 from the
deal, prosecutors charge. Tribal
officials from both bands were
unavailable for comment Tuesday.
Precedent varies
The officials apparently broke no
laws by authorizing their bands to
Bills cont'd pg 3
State approves regulations to tax non-Indians
Bill to bar access to Indian gaming records
rejected   The bill was Intended to eliminate a conflict
By William F Rawson
PHOENLX (AP) _ An attempt by
Indian tribes to bar publig access to
records kept by the state agency that
regulates Indian gaming was rejected
by a Senate committee Thursday.
Sen. Peter Goudinoff, D-Tucson,
sponsored the bill (SB 1361) on behalf
ofthe Tohono O'odham Tribe, which
operates a casino near Tucson.
The bill was intended to eliminate a
conflict between the state's public
records law and gambling compacts
negotiated by the tribes and the
governor's office.
"The government has negotiated a
compact with the tribe that includes a
confidentiality agreement,"
Goudinoff said. "At the same time,
there is a statute that apparently is in
conflict with the agreement. From the
Indian standpoint, what are you to
think but that white man speaks with
forked tongue."
Goudinoff argued that the bill would
not have affected the ability of the
state Department of Gaming to
regulate Indian casinos, but was
intended only to protect information
that the tribes want to keep
confidential for competitive reasons.
Phoenix attorney Phil MacDonnell,
a lobbyist for the Arizona Newspaper
Association, said the bill would have
gone much further than that.
He said it would have made virtually
all records maintained by the gaming
agency secret.
"You couldn't get it," he told the
committee. "The auditor general
couldn't get it, law enforcement
couldn't get it, the general public
couldn't get it."
He said the bill also was intended to
head off formal requests for
information and potential litigation
regarding performance audits of
Indian gaming operations.
The Associated Press, The Arizona
Daily Star and The Arizona Republic
and The Phoenix Gazette have filed
public information requests with the
gaming department to release the
performance audits.
"I think the court should decide that
issue," MacDonnell said. "If you pass
this statute ... the litigation will fail
and those records will remain
confidential."
Larry Landry, a lobbyist for the Salt
River Pima Maricopa Indian
Community, said there are other state
records that are confidential and no
one seems to mind.
"If (the newspaper association)
really believe what they say, they
should go and repeal all the
confidential regulations of the
Department ofRevenue," Landry said.
"Personal income tax records are
confidential, business records are
confidential."
The bill failed 6-2.
"I think if we're going to err, we
should err on the side of caution and
openness," said Rep. Gary
Richardson, R-Tempe, as he voted
against the bill.
Richardson said he also objected to
any attempt to use the Legislature as
an "out" to avoid litigation.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The state
approved regulations Tuesday that
will allow the collection of taxes from
purchases of gasoline and cigarettes
made by non-Indians on reservations.
Without much fanfare, the state
Commissioner of Taxation and
Finance approved the regulations that
angered some Indian leaders.
"They can do it in Albany or Buffalo,
but they can't do it on our property,"
said Philip H. Tarbell, the chief of the
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, who
attended Tuesday's brief meeting.
Tarbell and other Indian leaders had
called for the decision to be put off
until the governor can meet with a
group of Indians.
Tarbell said he felt that the Indians
were left out of the process.
Tarbell said the state is asking the
Indians "to determine who is native
and who is non-native. We're not
going to do it."
State Taxation and Finance
Commissioner Michael Urbach said
the state will use a formula based on
how many Indians live on the
reservations and how many smoke to
help determine how much tax should
be collected.
"There should be a collection of
taxes," Urbach said.
Dennis Bowen, president of the
Seneca Nation, said he wasn't
surprised the state has moved to collect
the sales taxes. It's something that's
been expected since a U.S. Supreme
Court decision in 1994 that allowed
the state to collect sales taxes on
purchases made by non-Indians, he
said. Bowen said the Pataki
administration let tribal leaders know
around the middle of last week that a
change would be coming.
The Seneca leader is helping to
organize a meeting of leaders from all
the Iroquois tribes on Friday in
Buffalo. The goal is to get the tribes to
speak with an "identical voice" on
this issue, he said.
The regulations would take 120
days to go into effect. During that
time, state officials and Indian nations
could work out compromise deals,
according to Urbach.
"The governor supports the
approach and is hopeful we can reach
agreements within 120 days," said
Michael McKeon, a spokesman for
Gov. George Pataki.
Indians do not pay taxes on
cigarettes and gasoline they purchase
and non-Indians havetaken advantage
of the lower prices by shopping on
reservations.
The state estimated that it loses
$120 million in sales tax revenue
each year. Off-reservation
convenience store owners have
complained that Indian businesses
have an unfair advantage.
Three found innocent of casino bribery charges
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A U.S.
District Court jury deliberated for
about five hours before finding three
men innocent of allegations that they
offered a bribe in hope of securing an
Indian casino contract.
KevinMaulson, 34, son of chairman
Thomas Maulson of the Lac du
Flambeau band of Chippewa, testified
he received a $2 million offer in 1993
to influence the awarding of business
for a northern Wisconsin reservation
casino near Minocqua.
After several days of testimony, the
jury Saturday acquitted Madison
lobbyist Michael Brozek, Minneapolis
security equipment vendor Donald
Culver and Monona amusement
machine operator Anton Urso.
Bribe cont'd on 4