Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-06-14

              Hunt, Landgren and McArthur new chairs
Anderson, Deschampe & Peacock re-elected
Leech Lake -1996 MCT election results
(TV = total vote; AV = absentee votes; Pet. = percentage of total votes; * = incumbent)
Chair District III Committeeman
Name
TV /(AV)
Pet
Name
TV /(AV)
Pet
Complete MCT election results/ pg 1 & 3
Wadena prosecution rests case/ pg 1
Hunt elected chair at Leech Lake/ pg 1
Suit demands account of $400 million/ pg 8
Pow Wow Trail/ pg 8
Eli Hunt                          631 (172)
34%
Myron F. Ellis*
293 (60)
22%
Walter "Frank" Reese       371 (59)
18%
Deanna "Dee" Fairbanks
242(83)
18%
Alfred "Tig" Pemberton* 281 (66)
14%
Lenore Barsness
197 (32)
15%
David "Chief' Morgan     201 (24)
10%
Donnie Headbird
162 (27)
12%
Robert Goggleye               172 (22)
9%
Dean C. Wind
120(31)
9%
Johnny Fairbanks             141 (20)
7%
Martin "Mutt" Robinson
106 (17)
8%
Robert "Punk" Wakanabo   77 (14)
4%
David "Dave" Hare
78(16)
4%
Voice of the People
J
Fifty Cents
Total Votes: 2,020 (remaining 146 votes split among
9 other candidates)
Total Votes: 1,344 (remaining 146 split among 5 other
candidates)
Wadena prosecution rests case - Ousted white
Earth Chair called as first defense witness
By Gary Blair
On Tuesday, voters on the White
Earth reservation ousted chairman
Darrell "Chip" Wadena, who is on
trial for corruption in federal court
in St. Paul, MN.
Voters replaced the twenty-year
incumbent with Eugene "Bugger"
McArthur, 43, an ardent opponent of
Wadena. Final tabulations on
Wednesday for the chairman position
showed: Wadena receiving 520 votes,
the Rev. Doyle Turner garnering 676
and McArthur obtaining a slim
plurality with 690 votes.
However, within hours of the final
ballot count, there were rumors that
an election protest would be filed
because misplaced absentee ballots
had been found by a custodian. The
ballots were reported to have been lost
during the time that an election judge
was away testifying at the Wadena
gang's trial. Closing remarks in the
trial of the Wadena gang are expected
on Friday of next week.
On Thursday federal prosecutors
called the last of more than 200
witnesses and the defense put the
gang's reported leader, Chip Wadena,
on the stand. The former chairman
denied any involvement in the gang's
activities. He said he never conspired
with his co-defendants, sec/tres. Jerry
Rawley and councilman Rick Clark,
to defraud the people of White Earth.
Wadena's attorney, John Brink, then
questioned his client about his
childhood, his work experience, and
his subsequent rise to power at both
the reservation and Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe levels.
Chip is expected to testify the
remainder of the week. He was
preceded on Thursday by long-
awaited prosecution witness Erma
Vizenor wasted no time in describing
the conditions found on the White
Earth reservation today.
She told the jury about the poverty
members live in if they do not support
Wadena. She also discussed the
methods by which Chip's gang
controlled the tribal elections and
how, as a member of a pro-democracy
group called Camp Justice, she went
to jail attempting to expose the
corruption.
Asked why she persisted in speaking
out against Wadena, Vizenor testified
that, "I got tired of seeing the tribal
council members driving around in
$50,000 trucks, and there was so
much suffering on the reservation."
Defense attorneys were unable to
shake Vizenor's testimony and jurors
listened intently and made notes.
Native
American
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Volume B   Issue 35
June 14, 1996
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Copyright, Motive American Press,   1996
Keweenaw Bay security planned armed
attacks Former Guardian Angel alleges
By Jeff Armstrong
Embattled Keweenaw Bay chairman
Fred Dakota's rhetoric has become
increasingly violent in a standoff with
opponents who have occupied the
Tribal Center for nine and one-half
months.
"The only thing that is negotiable is
how long the rope is," Dakota told the
Marquette Mining Journal.
And members of Fight for Justice
(FFJ), an Anishinabe movement to
restore democracy on the reservation,
say Dakota has shown a willingness
to back up his words with force.
Jn the early morning hours of June
12, an automobile with reservation
plates was set ablaze in the driveway
of Keweenaw Bay elders Oscar and
Ann Denomie, who have actively
supported the movement. FFJ
members who rushed to the scene
also reported hearing gunfire.
The incident comes shortly after a
tear-gas assault on the Tribal Center
was repelled by the Anishinabe
activists. Group members say they
have documented a number of attacks
by tribal police and members of a
Guardian Angels security force
employed by Dakota since shortly after
the unarmed occupation began at the
end of last August..
Fight for Justice also unveiled
recordings of former Guardian Angel
Terrance Moore at a June 13 press
conference on the Michigan
reservation. Interviewed by FFJ
attorney Alan Clarke, Moore stated
that Guardian Angels headPete Morin
asked him to carry out armed raids in
hopes of escalating the conflict.
"[Morin] come up and told me that
if I shot up to the Tribal Center, it was
a hundred dollars per bullet and a five
hundred dollar bonus. There was a
five hundred dollar bonus if a bullet
was to hit somebody-man, woman or
child, he didn't care," said Moore,
according to transcripts of the tape.
The former Guardian Angel further
testified that Morin hoped to fuel the
conflict with bombings and armed
assaults on tribal officials, which could
then be blamed on FFJ. Moore said
Morin told him, "You find somebody
who will shoot into Fred Dakota's car
and hit anybody or the car, except
Fred Dakota cannotbe hit. 'Cause he's
the one who signs our paychecks and
Photo by Mke Zerby
Timothy St Clair and Sally Lrttiewor! leave the White Earth flrehouse under the watchful eye of
Seeker County deputy Stove VEste after voting Tuesday In tribal elections.
Open records a priority
Leech Lake Chairman elect Hunt seeks to restore trust and confidence
Attack cont'd on 5
Wadena takes stand, denies wrongdoing
Tribal member testifies that corruption was rampant; official questions '94 vote
By Tom Meersman
Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer
One day after he lost his bid to lead
the White Earth Band of Chippewa
for another four years, Darrell (Chip)
Wadena took the stand in his own
defense late Thursday in U.S. District
Court in St. Paul.
But he said only three words about
other topics.
Wadena declined to be interviewed
outside the courtroom and would not
answer questions about whether he
has conceded the election. It is not
unusual for losing candidates to
protest tribal election results,
especially at White Earth in recent
years.
Instead, Wadena's attention was on
the trial, in which he, Stcretary-
the election results in response to a. Treasurer Jerry Rawley and Tribal
question from his attorney, John
Brink.
I was defeated," Wadena said
shortly after being called to testify.
The jury knew about tribal elections,
because the court recessed for three
days to allow Wadena and others to
be on the reservation for the vote
Tuesday.
After Wadena's answer, Brink
shifted his questions immediately to
Council Member Rick Clark are
charged with conspiring to misapply
funds, embezzlement, theft, bribery
and money laundering.
Rawley, Clark and tribal election
judge Carley Jasken also face charges
of vote and mail fraud in the 1990
and '94 elections.
Wadena denied the charges, and
was talkative and relaxed as he spoke
about his upbringing, education,
marriage and family and his previous
14-year career in operating heavy
equipment and cranes, including
several summers' work building
missile silos in Montana and North
Dakota.
But it was his accomplishments
and leadership positions in tribal
government that were mentioned in
greater detail, including his meetings
with four U.S. presidents, "hundreds"
of successful lobbying trips to
Washington and his membership on
boards of organizations that provide
education and drug and alcoholism
treatment for Indians.
Wadena also testified about how
the Tribal Council's workload
increased dramatically after it
decided to build the Shooting Star
Casino in Mahnomen in the early
By Nate Bowe
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
Eli Hunt, the chairman-elect of the
Leech Lake Tribal Council, says he'll
make open financial records a priority
when he begins a four-year term next
month.
"I want to restore trust and
confidence in tribal government," he
said in a telephone interview
Thursday from his home in Walker.
His main goal is to keep band
members informed through a
financial statement that details
revenues, expenditures and assets.
The band's annual operating budget
should be made public, he said.
And he said the Tribal Council
needs to listen to residents from all
areas of the reservation to prioritize
the community's needs.
"It's absolutely critical for the
community to have input in order to
identify where our most urgent needs
are and have them involved in the
budget process," he said.
That kind of community input has
not been a strong point of tribal
government in the past, he said.
Hunt suspects there are areas of
waste and abuse in the tribal budget.
"I'd like to take a look immediately
at contracts we have with outside
firms and individuals - there may be
some contracts that aren't necessary,"
he said.
"I don't have a problem working
with any of the council members that
are there, but I feel very strongly
about accountability and I intend to
have a financial statement for the
people on at least a quarterly basis."
Hunt believes that's something he
can do on his own authority when he
becomes chairman, but said some
council members may believe that
council approval is required. Hunt
Open cont'd on 8
Incumbents, challengers split MCT vote
By Jeff Armstrong
White Earth chairman Chip
Wadena, who to many Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe members came to
embody the Tribe's corrupt and
oppressive rule, was voted out of office
by a convicing margin in what may
have been the reservation's first free
election in 18 years. Wadena will be
replaced by Eugene "Bugger"
McArthur.
McArthur won the reservation vote
in each of the four previous elections
in which he filed as a candidate, but
was denied victory by a corrupt
election judge and fraudulent absentee
ballots. Ironically, McArthur won this
year largely on the strength of absentee
votes.
Also departing from the White Earth
RBC is Poncho Williams, who
received significantly more
reservation votes than the six he
claimed victory with in 1992, but
came in fifth in afield of 15 candidates.
Williams' District III seat will be
filled by John Buckanaga, who has
long advocated openness and political
reform.
Similarly, Leech Lake voters rejected
Tig Pemberton's bid for reelection in
the wake of his April 12 conviction in
the$l million "Finngate" conspiracy.
Vote cont'd on 5
Wadena cont'd on 3
Indian tribes form economic coalition
Red Lake Chippewa crackdown on violence
MADISON, Wis. (AP)
Wisconsin's 11 Indian tribes say they
have created a coalition in an effort to
build economic strength and join
forces on such key political issues as
Indian gaming.
Keith Summers, assistant director
of development for the Oneida tribe,
said Tuesday that the primary purpose
of the coalition will be to gather facts
about Indian gaming and tribal
development and present them to the
public.
"We don't want the story to be an
anecdotal one," he said. "We want to
deal in facts."
The tribes, a growing political and
economic force in the state because of
profitable gaming casinos, announced
the coalition after meeting Monday.
"It's important to the tribes to move
fonvard with building solid business
relationships," said Clarence
Pettibone, Ho Chunk legislator.
"Tribal leadership is most
concerned with developing an
economic plan that will carry their
nations into the 21st Century with
financial security," he said. The 11
tribes involved in the effort include
the Oneidas, Menominees,
Stockbridge, Potawatomi, Ho Chunk
and the sixbands of the Lake Superior
Chippewas.
"Tribes have to get the message out
to the people of Wisconsin that we are
ready to expand our economic
partnerships," Pettibone said.
Representatives of the tribes are
scheduled to meet again June 21.
The 11 tribes operate 17 casinos in
Wisconsin under the terms of state-
tribal gaming compacts. The seven-
year compacts will be up for renewal
in 1998 and 1999.
Gov. Tommy Thompson has said
he will seek more money for state and
local governments as a condition of
continued Indian casino operations.
Kevin Keane, a spokesman for the
governor, said Tuesday he hopes the
coalition has a positive impact on
state-tribal relations.
"We just hope it's a positive group
that seeks to work with the people of
Wisconsin," he said.
The Oneida tribe, the state's most
economically successful tribe,
strongly supports the coalition,
Summers said.
"We recognize that all 11 tribes
share some common goals," he said.
"Telling our story benefits everyone."
By Steve Foss
Grand Forks Herald
RED LAKE, Minn. (AP) _ Violence
is everybody's responsibility.
That's the message that was driven
home to leaders on the Red Lake
Chippewa Reservation when crime
increased in the early 1990s.
Capped by several violent deaths
and crimes over a short period in
1994, the crime surge woke up tribal
leaders, according to Tribal Secretary
Judy Roy.
"We looked around and took stock,"
she said.
Tribal leaders responded in 1995
with the Community Unity
Movement, which emphasizes that
the whole reservation is one
community.
And from the movement have come
changes: a toughening of the tribe's
criminal code, an emphasis on police
enforcement of new and existing
codes, the establishment of two anti-
crime programs and the hiring of six
new tribal police officers.
The officers were hired under a
three-year federal grant and
supplement the 13 federal police, two
criminal investigators and four tribal
conservation officers who enforce the
reservation's laws, according to the
reservation's police chief, Capt. Gary
Jourdain.
Police have more tools to use now,
Jourdain said. Since last year, about
45 laws were enacted or toughened
through suffer penalties.
Initially, more lawbreakers were
arrested because of the tougher laws
and enforcement. Tribal courts
charged 106 adults with assault in
1995, up from 75 in 1993. Child
neglect charges increased from 16 to
31 over the same period. Drunken
driving charges jumped from 55 to
117.
"That marks success," Jourdain
said.
Such success eventually led to
decreases in most types of adult crime.
Statistics show that there was less
crime each month through May in
1996 than there was for the
corresponding month last year.
Among new anti-crime programs:
_Juvenile lawbreakers also were
targeted with code changes, as well as
the Creating Restitution and
Following Tradition project. CRAFT
aims to divert juvenile criminal
activity by helping offenders return to
a traditional, tribal way of life and to
make restitution to the victim.
_The tribal community of Redby
will host a pilot project for a
community crime watch.
_A Blandin Foundation grant for
Violence cont'd on 5
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