Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-04-25

              Wrongful death lawsuit filed against the
City of Minneapolis
By Gary Blair
The May 10,1956, death of George
Bellanger, of Beaulieu, Minnesota,
while in police custody has resulted
in a wrongful death lawsuit filed this
week against the City of Minneapolis.
In Sept. of 1994, the PRESS carried
the story about Bellanger's suspicious
death that occurred 40 years ago.
Glen Bellanger says the family's last
name is also spelled (Bellonger)
according to his dad's birth
certificate. The last name of
Bellonger is used in the lawsuit.
George Bellanger was raised at
Beaulieu and Ponsford, Minnesota,
on the White Earth reservation. He
was a Veteran of World War II.
Glen Bellanger, who filed the
lawsuit on behalf of the remaining
heirs, says all that he wants now is
the truth about how is father died and
who was responsible for his death. He
says money is not the issue. "I suspect
my dad was beat up by the police,"
he said.
The lawsuit that was filed on
Wednesday of this week reads as
follows: "3. That on or about April
25, 1956, Decedent George
Bellonger, a Minnesota resident of
Native American descent, was
arrested by Minneapolis Police
Department Officer Washburn on a
charge of public intoxication in the
City of Minneapolis, County of
Hennepin, State of Minnesota and
placed in the custody of the
Minneapolis City Jail. (See,
Coroner's report attached herein as
Plaintiff's Exhibit A)
4. That the Decedent was
subsequently sentenced to serve a
term of (20) twenty days in jail to be
served in the Minneapolis City
Workhouse. (See, Workhouse
Records attached herein as Plaintiff's
Exhibit B).
5. That Decedent was placed in the
Minneapolis workhouse on April
30,1956. Jail records clearly indicate
that decedent was in good health
upon entry into the workhouse. (See,
Plaintiff's Exhibit B).
6. That on approximately May 2,
1956 at 12:58 PM, the Decedent was
admitted to the Minneapolis General
Hospital. (See, University of
Minnesota Autopsy Report attached
herein as Plaintiffs Exhibit C.)
7. That the Decedent was
diagnosed with a massive cerebral
hematoma ofthe right temporal lobe,
(the side of his head was pushed in 1
1/2 inches) a left parietal skull
Death cont'd on 3
Celebrate Earth Day & Arbor Day 1996
Indian elders face health care crisis/ pg 6
Wrongful death suit filed against City of Mpls.
MCT candidates for June 11th, elections/ pg 2
Voice of the People
1
Leech   Lake   heads  toward  election
Controversy Pemberton, Ellis certified by RBC
Native
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity Far All People
By Jeff Armstrong
Outnumbered by a field of more
than two dozen tribal office seekers
and other political opponents, the
Leech Lake Reservation Business
Committee caved in to pressure for a
new election board at an April 25
certification meeting.
But it is uncertain what affect,, if
any, the move will have on reservation
elections scheduled for June 11. Tribal
governments of the six-reservation
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe have in
the past asserted broad powers to
overturn unfavorable election results
or rulings by their appointed judges.
District III candidate Deanna (Dee)
Fairbanks quickly took charge ofthe
meeting, nominating, accepting and
tallying votes by candidates on who
should oversee the election. Fairbanks
was herself fired as an election appeals
judge in 1992, when she agreed to
hear a Fond du Lac.candidate's appeal
against the wishes ofthe RBC.
Surprisingly, the RBC generally
approved the recommendations, but
kept control of many of the 12 local
precinct boards. Helen Cummings and
Jim Cloud were selected as general
election board judges, replacing Dawn
Smith and Nancy Whitebird.
Whitebird, whose arrest on felony
theft charges was noted in the Bemidji
Pioneer that day, was supported only
by incumbent RBC members. "She
does have the experience," said Myron
Ellis, who presided over the meeting.
Ellis was certified as a candidate for
reelection in District III, despite the
requirement that employees and
Founded  in 1988
Volume 8    Issue BB
April 26, 1996
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Preaa,  199G
Election cont'd on 3
Minnesota Supreme Court stays dismissal
of lawsuit against Little Six
By Gary Blair
allow the Cohen suit further review
pending the high court's final
disposition involving an earlier action
The Minnesota Supreme Court has filed by former Mystic Lake Casino
stayed the dismissal of a lawsuit filed guard Jill Gavle. Gavle's suit alleges
by Sylvia Cohen against Little Six, she was wrongfully dismissed from
Inc., operators ofthe Mystic Lake her job after she became pregnant by
Casino, afterthe state's appellate court then-director of Little Six, Inc.,
upheld the Shakopee Mdewakanton Leonard Prescott.
Sioux tribe's claim of sovereign      According to Cohen's attorney,,
immunity from suits. Clinton Collins, his client's lawsuit
Cohen's lawsuit alleges she was openly challenges the Shakopee
injured last summer when a stool she tribe's right to claim sovereign
was trying to sit on at the casino immunity from litigation. "Cohen's
slipped, throwing her to the floor.       suit is different from Gavle's," he
The April 16,1996, court order will said. "Gavle's lawsuit alleges the tribe
gave up its claim to sovereign
immunity when they (Little Six, Inc.)
filed with the secretary of state office
to do business in Minnesota under the
rules of a foreign corporation."
Craig Greenberg, attorney for
Gavle said of the high court's order
to stay the Cohen case, "I believe the
Supreme Court's latest action
indicates they're.taking a hard look
at protecting the rights of both
employees and patrons of casinos in
Minnesota," he said.
Little Six, Inc. attorney Steve
Olson did not return our phone call
by press time.
'Skip'  Finn  quits  Senate  Lawmaker awaiting
sentencing on 12 felony convictions
after meeting with Senate Majority
Leader Roger Moe and Senate
By Jim Ragsdale
St. Paul Pioneer Press Staff Writer
State Sen. Harold "Skip" Finn,
awaiting sentencing on 12 felony
convictions for stealing from his tribe,
said Wednesday he will resign from
the Senate on July 1.
Finn became the first American
Indian member ofthe Senate when he
took office in 1991. In a St. Paul
courtroom three weeks ago, he was
convicted of conspiracy, theft and mail
fraud, believed to be the most serious
criminal convictions ever lodged
against a sitting legislator.
Senate lawyers said he would likely
have lost his position at sentencing,
which has notyetbeen scheduled. But
Minority Leader Dean Johnson on
Tuesday, he said he decided to call it
quits because the legislative session
has ended.
"To me, a legislator's job is to
legislate," Finn said from his home in
Cass Lake. "When the session is over,
there's very little left of our job.
"I feel I've done my job. If it satisfies
those who want another pound of
flesh from me, it's better for me and
my family to give it to them."
Finn's decision was announced at
the Capitol by Moe and Johnson, who
also said they want to bring another
senator's legal case to an end. They
called on Sen. Florian Chmielewski,
DFL-Sturgeon Lake, who was
sentenced to community service and
repayment on Monday for allowing
relatives to make state-paid telephone
calls, to voluntarily face disciplinary
hearings before a Senate ethics panel
this year.
Finn, 47, a lawyer and member of
the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa,
was elected in 1990 as a Democratic-
Farmer-Labor senator from Senate
District 4, including Bemidji and a
wide swath of the lakes region of
central Minnesota. A soft-spoken,
well-liked legislator, he tried to make
his mark on issues affecting poor
people and American Indian tribes.
Quits cont'd on 4
Bob "Punk" Wakanabo releases 10th print in series, titled sentinel ofthe North.
Ex-Mahnomen deputy pleads guilty some
charges dropped in exchange for plea agreement
"You get into the issue of do you sooner if a probation officer decides
gain anything by going to trial...if Penner is law abiding and ho longer
you can come to a reasonable requires monitoring,
resolution." Following an investigation last year
In the plea agreement, Penner by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
admitted committing two counts of Apprehension, the former deputy was
By Christopher Sprung
The Forum
Twelve counts of criminal sexual
conduct and dozens of other charges
against a former Mahnomen County
sheriffs deputy were dropped Monday
in exchange for a plea agreement that
will send the officer to jail for 10
months.
During a hastily arranged court
appearance, Kevin Gary Penner, 31,
pleaded guilty to three felonies and
five lesser counts.
"Some ofthe cases had challenges
in terms of proof," said Polk County
Attorney Wayne Swanson, who acted
as special prosecutor in the matter.
unlawful use of tear gas and one of
bribery.
The remaining five counts, all gross
misdemeanors, are the same charge:
misconduct of a public officer.
In addition to the jail time, Penner
will be placed on up to 10 years of
supervised probation and must
perform 500 hours community
service, Swanson said.
While the maximum is 10 years, the
supervised probation could end much
charged with 40 -crimes alleged to
have taken place from 1991 to 1995.
Most serious among the charges,
which also included assault, bribery
and perjury, were allegations that
Penner had forced two different
women into sex acts.
A 24-year-old woman said she was
forced into repeated sexual encounters
between spring of 1991 and winter of
Pemberton resigns as chair
of Leech Lake Band
ST. PAUL (AP) _ Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton has resigned as chairman
ofthe Leech Lake Band of Chippewa
following his conviction for
embezzling money from the tribe.
Pemberton was convicted last week
along with state Sen. Harold "Skip"
Finn and the tribe's secretary
treasurer, Daniel Brown.
The Leech Lake Reservation Tribal
Council  accepted Pemberton's
resignation on Thursday. It became
effective at noon Friday.
Tribal district representative Myron
Ellis was chosen to preside over
council meetings. Ellis pleaded guilty
in 1995 to misapplying tribal funds
and was sentenged to 90 days in federal
prison.
District representatives Jack Seelye
and Alfred Fairbanks were picked to
handle financial responsibilities for
the band.
White Earth
defendants begin
trial Monday,
April 29,1996,
9:00 a.m.,
U.S. Federal
Courthouse, St.
Paul, MN., 7th
floor, courtroom 3.
Deputy cont'd on 6
Browler plans bill to give states control over
Indian gambling
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) _U.S.
Rep. Glen Browder has prepared
legislation that would give states final
jurisdiction over Indian gambling
within their borders.
"The people of Alabama and
elsewhere must have a voice in
deciding whether there is to be
gambling on Indian land or any land
in their states," Browder said at a
Statehouse news conference Monday.
The Jacksonville Democrat
represents an east Alabama district
that borders Elmore County, where
the Poarch Creek Indians want to
develop a casino on tribal lands in
Wetumpka.
Creek Chairman Eddie Tullis said
he could not comment on legislation
he hadn't seen, but he said it sounded
similar to a bill U.S. Rep. Terry
Everett, R-Ala., introduced in 1995.
Everett's bill, which would give
authority to local communities to
approve or reject Indian casinos, is
pending in a House committee.
Everett, who represents Wetumpka,
said he "would support any effort that
would halt unwanted gambling," but
believes "the decision should
ultimately be made on the local
community level" rather than the
federal or state level.
Browder said the U.S. Supreme
Court's ruling last month on Indian
gamblingleftthe authority over Indian
gambling muddled. He said the bill is
aimed at keeping the Interior secretary
in Washington from negotiating a
gambling compact with Indians that
people in a state don't want.
AtBrowder's news conference, his
legislation drew praise from several
Alabama Baptist leaders and the Rev.
Dan Ireland chairman ofthe National
Coalition Against Legalized
Gambling.
"He will become a leader of a number
of officials in states across America
who want something done on this
matter," Ireland said.
Navajos see themselves in tribe from Siberia s        indicted on Mquorsmuggling charges
MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah
(AP) _ For Navajos Don Mose and
Bill Todachennie, the song had a
familiar ring to it.
"Beauty above me," the elderly man
seated in the middle of a circle of
people chanted as he motioned
skyward. "Beauty below me, beauty
all around me."
The words sounded like the verses
of a sacred Navajo song, one that
embodies the American Indian tribe's
spirituality. But Mose and
Todachennie were in Asia, half a
world away from their southeastern
Utah homeland. They had found a
little bit of Navajo heritage in the
ancient song of the Khanty, an
indigenous tribe in a far-flung
Siberian village 12 time zones from
Monument Valley.
"I was amazed," says Mose, one of
11 San Juan County educators who
visited the village of Kazym in
January. "Even though we didn't
speak the language, we immediately
connected, like a magnet. We had a
sense we were actually with our own
relatives."
Adds Todachennie, vice president
of the San Juan School Board: "We
just fit right in. You'd see them and
think they were Navajos."
So when Khanty natives arrived at
this Utah community of the Navajo
Nation, it was nothing less than a
family reunion.
"Ya 'at' eeh," Mose greetedRimma
Potpot in Navajo as he hugged the
Khanty cultural specialist, oneof eight
people from Siberia and Moscow who
attended the Southeastern Utah
Bilingual Conference last weekend at
Navajos cont'd on 8
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ Seven
people were arrested or being sought
Monday for money laundering in a
liquor smuggling operation on the St.
Regis Indian Reservation in northern
New York, federal authorities said.
A two-year investigation by federal
and state authorities along with
Canadian police resulted in the arrests,
which were announced by the U.S.
attorney's office in Syracuse, where a
sealed indictment was returned by a
federal grand jury.
Charged with money laundering
were: Wayne Stehlin, 42, Patricia
Tarbell, 45, Carl Tarbell, 49, and
Arthur Tarbell, no age given, all of
Hogansburg, N.Y.; Lyle DavidPierce
III, 29, of Cornwall Island, Ontario;
Regina Pierce, 30, of Rooseveltown,
N.Y., and Robert Trapilo, 46, of
Islemorada, Fla.
Federal authorities said the
defendants conspired to smuggle
liquor into Canada for sale on the
black market.
Bail for Lyle Pierce was set at
$40,000, while Carl Tarbell was
released on $75,000 bail. Patricia
Tarbell was being held on $75,000
bail. No bail was set for Stehlin, who
remained in custody pending a
Wednesday court appearance.
Federal authorities said Trapilo is
expected to surrender while Regina
Pierce and Arthur Tarbell remained
at large.
The St. Regis reservation straddles
the U.S.-Canadian border and
encompasses Hogansburg and
Cornwall Island.