Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-05-03

              Jury selected in White Earth conspiracy
trial for theft of WELSA funds, vote fraud
By Gary Blair
Jury selection was completed this
week in the trial of the White Earth
Reservation's notorious Darrell
"Chip" Wadena gang.
Charged last fall in a 44-count
federal felony indictment were the
gang's leader, tribal chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena, secretary/treasurer
Jerry Rawley and council member
Rick Clark. Wadena was charged
with bid rigging, receiving kickbacks,
income tax evasion and money
laundering. Rawley and Clark were
charged with similar offenses,
including election fraud.
Also indicted for election fraud
was Wadena's paid election judge,
Carley "Baby Doll" Jasken and two
public notaries, Henry "Crock"
Harper and Leech Lake enrollee Peter
Pequette.
Harper was not present in court for
the jury selection, but will stand trial
at a later date. His attorney reported
to the court that Harper is suffering
from a heart ailment.
Seated at the defense table for the
start of jury selection on Monday were
Chip, Rawley, Clark, Baby Doll and
Pequette. Also seated among the gang
members were eight attorneys and a
juror analyst who helped pick the
jury-
Seven ofthe eight defense lawyers
present were retained with
reservation funds. Pequette's attorney
is a public defender. Three of the
attorneys are representing Chip.
The trial is scheduled to start on
May 13, 1996, at 9:00 A.M. and is
expected to last four to six weeks. A
group of tribal members say they plan
to protest against Wadena in front of
the federal courthouse in St. Paul on
the day the trial starts.
Wadena told a Duluth News
Tribune reporter four years ago, after
he declared himself an election
winner for the fourth time, "To the
winner goes the spoils; the rest can
suck eggs!" Demonstrators plan to
carry signs that read: "Who is sucking
eggs now, Chip?"
The jury is composed of thirteen
whites and one African American,
with two others serving as alternates.
Federal Judge Michael J. Davis will
preside during the trial, as he did in
the Leech Lake trial of Harold "Skip"
Finn, Alfred "Tig" Pemberton and
Daniel Brown. The trio was convicted
Trial cont'd on 3
Certified candidates for MCT elections
Fond du Lac
Chairman:
1. Robert "Sonny" Peacock (inc.*)
2. Louis J. Higbee Saaristo
3. Connie Higbee Saaristo
4. Roger A. Higbee
5. Albert "Joe" Martineau
6. DonWiesen
7. David Michael DePoe
8. Jerrold D. Ojibway
9. Juanita "Nucka" Martineau
District I ~ Cloquet
1. Clifton Rabideaux (inc.)
2. Frank S. Thompson
3. Terry Bassett
4. LesNorthrup
5. Robert "Bob" Diver
6. Don "Tony" Savage
7. Carl"Jr." Abramowski
8. Harold "Art" Diver
9. Harvey DeFoe
10. Dean Ray Reynolds, Sr. '
ll.Kathy"Bubbie"Peil    .
District III -- Brookston
1. George B. Dupuis (inc.)
2. Lavern "Koon" Shotley
'incumbent
House panel
adoption law
By Philip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A House
committee has rejected an effort to
make it more difficult for Indian tribes
to block non-Indians from adopting
the children of tribal members.
On a voice vote, the House
Resources Committee on Thursday
stripped from a larger adoption bill a
section that would have stopped tribal
courts from having a say in some
adoptions of Indian children.
Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho,
said the law has had "tragic
consequences for children across this
country."
An Idaho couple recently won a 6-
year battle with the Oglala Sioux Tribe
of South Dakota over a child whose
father was a tribal member. Court
records said the father refused to
3. Alan W. Abramowski
4. Dawn LaPrairie Sutton
5. Freeman Barney
(Signed) Peter J. Defoe, Secretary/
Treasurer April 23, 1996
Mille Lacs
Chairman:
1. Marge Anderson (inc.)
2. Steve (Mushkooub) Aubid
3. Melvin Eagle
4. George V. Lafave, Sr.
5. Lee E. Staples
6. Herbert Weyaus
7. Natalie Y. Weyaus
District I Representative
1. Peter Gahbow (inc.)
2. Myron Garbow
3. Melissa C.Hill
4. Ernest L. Kegg
5. ArleneWeous
6. Kenneth Weyaus
Nay-Ah-Shing School Board
1. Chairperson, Frances Boswell
2. Dist. I, Louise Boyd-Day
3. Dist. II, MarySue Bohanon
White Earth
Chairman:
1. Darrell "Chip" Wadena (inc.)
2. Lowell Bellanger
3. Albert Anthonly Bellecourt
4. Orville E. Bower
5. Calvin E.Clark
6. Marguerite J. Dalve
7. Eugene "Bugger" McArthur
8. Lyman C. Roberts
9. Doyle Turner
10. John V. Williams
District III
1. Paul "Poncho" Williams (inc.)
2. Ivy Jean Norcross Ailport
3. Donovan L. Bellanger
4. Allen (Brad) Beaupre
5. Donald O. Berry
6. Terri Warren-Boyer
7. Kenneth Brown, Sr.
8. Charles Valerian Buckanaga
9. John B. Buckanaga
10. Eugene J. Clark, Jr.
Election cont'd on 6
rejects changes in Indian
acknowledge the child, wouldn't pay
support and took no part in the court
proceedings.
The committee chairman, Rep. Don
Young, R-Alaska, said the legislation
would be a "massive change" in a
1978 law that put special restrictions
on Indian adoptions to stop the
breakup of native families. Indian
groups strongly opposed the change.
The idea isn't dead, however. Young
said the House Rules Committee is
likely to allow the bill's sponsors to
propose the change in Indian law
when the adoption bill reaches the
House floor.
The Rules Committee chairman,
Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., is a
cosponsor of the adoption bill.
The 1978 law, known as the Indian
Child Welfare Act, gives extended
families and tribes of Indian children
first adoption rights and allows tribal
courts to intervene in adoptions
involving tribal members. At one time,
an estimated one of every four Indian
children were adopted or living in an
institution or foster care.
But the law's critics say it has
allowed tribes to break up adoptions
of children whose parents had no
contact with reservations or interest
in having them raised as Indians.
"This law is not working," said
Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash. "I
understand the rights ofthe tribe. But
I understand .the greater rights ofthe
child to permanency."
But opponents ofthe change said it
would undermine the 1978 law.
"It's not that aren'tsomeproblems,"
said California Rep. George Miller,
the committee's senior Democrat.
"We have to be very deliberate in how
we approach these problems."
Jury selected in White Earth conspiracy trial
List of certified candidates for MCT elections
State drops lawsuit over tribal land transfer
American Indian Month Activities calender/ pg 8
Voice ofthe People
1
Native
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity Far All People
Founded  in 1988
Volume 8   Issue 29
May 3, 1996
1
A weekly publication.
Cadette Girl Scout Troop 1830. Back, left to right: Arika Pamonicutt, Cheryl Willey, Gina Downwind,
Rachelle Smith, Cherish Bush-Robertson. Center: Patricia Wennell. Front: Kelly Brown, Melissa Greene.
Girl Scouts Troup goes to national pow-wow
"You have the gift of life, second
only to the Creator. You have a big
responsibility," native elder woman
Pat Wennell told three Native
American Girl Scouts at their last
troop meeting. What would have been
you reaction if you were told "you
have the gift of life" at age thirteen?
This is just one of the many things
girls of Sanford Junior High Girl
Scout Troop 1830 are learning as they
dig deeper into their Anishinabe
culture and prepared for the
Gathering of Nations Pow-wow in
New Mexico.
Cadette Girl Scout Troop 1830, also
self-name "Native Unity Girls
Group," went on a trip to
Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 25-
28, to attend the Gathering of Nations
Pow-wow. It's the largest pow-wow
in North America and draws native
people from across the continent.
Kelly Brown, Cherish Bush-
Robertson, Melissa Greene, Arika
Pamonicutt, and Rachelle Smith
learned more about themselves and
their culture through dancing, and
about other tribes and their traditions.
They attended the Miss Indian World
Pageant, hiked the Bandolier Ruins
and Acoma Pueblo Ruins, met and
shared traditions with Navajo girls,
visited the Pueblo Cultural Center,
went sightseeing, and sampled lots of
food! They have prepared all year for
the event, making their dancing
dresses and learning more about their
traditional culture.
At their April 5th troop meeting,
troop leader and Girl Scout staff
member Gina Downwind invited her
family—brother Harlan Downwind,
Troup cont'd on 8
Justices refuse to intervene in Navajo-Hopi
State drops lawsuit over tribal land transferland dispute
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The
creation of a rule making it easier to
challenge the federal transfer of land
to trust status for Indian tribes has led
the state to drop a lawsuit, Attorney
General James Doyle said today.
The state filed suit last month
against the Interior Department,
whose Bureau of Indian Affairs is
being asked by the Ho-Chunk Nation
to grant trust status for 724 acres of
Sauk County land near Wisconsin
Dells.
Doyle said he plans to refile the
lawsuit if the tribe's application is
granted.
Tribal President Chloris Lowe did
not immediately respond to a
telephone message left at his office by
The Associated Press seeking
comment.
Doyle contends that letting the
Interior Department place real estate
in federal trust is an unconstitutional
delegation of legislative power. Trust
designations provided land for
destitute Indians during the Great
Depression but are no longer
necessary, he argued in the suit.
The Interior Department on
Wednesday issued a new rule
requiring it to provide 30-day advance
notice that it has approved a tribe's
application to provide an opportunity
for a court challenge before it places
the land in trust, Doyle said in a
written statement.
The BIA previously notified
municipalities that an application for
trust status was filed, but there was no
further notification until after the title
was transferred to the federal
government, Doyle said.
Doyle said the new rule fails to
ensure that state and local taxpayers
are not hurt by trust land designations.
The Ho-Chunk Nation applied for
trust status for 14 parcels of land,
mostly along U.S. 12 in the town of
Delton between the tribe's Lake
Delton casino and an Interstate 90-94
interchange.
Sauk County officials and the town
of Delton say placing the land under
federal trust would remove it from
local property tax rolls.
The acreage has an equalized value
of $2.4 million and represents $54,376
per year in property taxes for public
schools and local government.
The county would still have to pay
for law enforcement and other
emergency services on the property.
By William F Rawson
PHOENIX (AP) _ The U.S.
Supreme Court refused to get involved
Monday in the century-old tug-of-
war between the Navajo and Hopi
tribes over millions of acres of land
adjacent to their northern Arizona
reservations.
The justices, without comment, let
stand rulings that gave the Navajos
control of most ofthe land claimed in
a 1974 lawsuit by the Hopis. The
ruling also leaves in place a 30-year-
old construction freeze that has
prohibited hundreds of Navajo
families from making even basic
repairs to their homes.
Lawyers for the 11,000-member
Hopi tribe, whichappealeda9thU.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to the
Supreme Court, accused lower courts
of ignoring legal principles to appease
the Navajo tribe.
"To take Hopi land without paying
for it, and to do it in the name of law,
is a gross miscarriage of justice," the
Hopi appeal contended.
The Hopis are surrounded by the
sprawling Navajo reservation, which
covers much of northeastern Arizona
and extends into New Mexico and
Utah. The Navajo tribe is the nation's
largest, with nearly 200,000 members.
Hopi Chairman Ferrell Secakuku
said he was not surprised by the
Supreme Court's decision, but was
disappointed that the case will not be
reviewed.
"The Hopi tribe continues to feel
that the courts have given insufficient
attention to the traditional Hopi land
claims," Secakuku said.
Navajo President Albert Hall said
he was pleased that "this lawsuit is
working its way toward a conclusion."
"The most important effect is the
so-called Bennett Freeze should soon
Dispute cont'd on i
Ho Chunk vote to triple payouts to tribe members
Supreme court justice to speak at
sovereignty symposium in Tulsa
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor will speak June 4 at the
ninth Sovereignty Symposium in
Tulsa.
The event is sponsored by the
Oklahoma Supreme Court, the
Oklahoma Indian Affairs
Commission and Sovereignty
Symposium, Inc.
The announcement was made
Wednesday by Oklahoma Supreme
Court Justice Alma Wilson. Vice
Chief Justice; Yvonne Kauger is co-
coordinator ofthe symposium.
A reception is scheduled June 4 at
the Philbrook Museum for Justice
O'Connor, Sen. Kelly Haney of
Seminole, noted Indian artist, and
Grace Thorpe, daughter of Olympic
champion Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox
Indian.
The symposium will last through
June 6.
White Earth
defendants begin
trial Monday, May
13,1996,9:00
a.m.,
U.S. Federal
Courthouse, St.
Paul, MN., 7th
floor, courtroom 3.
BARABOO, Wis. (AP) _ It will
likely take a year before members of
the Ho Chunk Nation see their annual
dividends tripled because the plan
must be approved by the federal
government, tribal leaders say.
The tribe Saturday voted to increase
the amount of money paid to each of
the 5,041 members annually from
$4,000 to $14,2*45, said Steve
Camden, chief financial officer of the
Ho Chunk Casino.
Chloris Lowe Jr., the nation's
president, campaigned on the
measure, called the 80-20 plan
because it gives members 80 percent,
or nearly $71.8 million, ofthe tribe's
estimated annual revenue available
for distribution.
Although the tribe takes in about
$100 million a year, about 8 percent
of that is dedicated to special programs
for the elderly, housing and economic
development, said Barbara Jo
Blackdeer-Mackenzie, Lowe's
spokeswoman.
Members currently receive nearly
$20.4 million of the tribe's annual
revenues from casinos, convenience
stores, printing operations and hotels
and motels, Blackdeer-Mackenzie
said.
"This is a historic moment for our
nation," Lowe said after the vote of
665 for, 32 against and 22 abstentions.
"To have the kind of support we've
had  here  today is  personally
overwhelming for me."
Blackdeer-Mackenzie said it likely
will take a year before tribal members
get their money because the
amendment must first be approved by
the secretary ofthe U.S. Department
of the Interior and the head of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Opponents of the plan left the
meeting at the bingo hall ofthe Ho
Chunk Casino in Baraboo by the
hundreds before the vote Saturday,
threatening the quorum necessary to
pass constitutional amendments such
as the 80-20 plan.
The nation needed 648 members,
or 20 percent of eligible voters, to
Triple cont'd on 7