Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-08-02

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Hunt resists intervention by MCT court,
suspends Dan Brown pending recall vote
By Jeff Armstrong
A Minnesota Chippewa Tribe court
created in 1988 to hearelection appeals
took the unprecedented step of issuing
a restraining order July 30 against the
governmental powers of Leech Lake
chairman Eli Hunt. More than 150
people assembled outside tribal offices
the next morning to support the
chairman and block any attempt to
enforce the decision.
Hunt dismissed what he termed an
illegal, unconstitutional ruling, tearing
up the court order and taking decisive
steps to implement his program of
democratization and community
empowerment.He received a sustained
round of applause with his
announcement of the dismissal of
gaming head Charlie Brown and
personnel director Rob Aitken for
insubordination.
• "I'm here today to say," said Hunt at
the July 31 rally, "that I don't submit
myself to the authority of the tribal
appellate court and I don't submit the
reservation to the jurisdiction of that
same court."
Instead, Hunt said he would rely on
people power to overcome the
"unanimous opposition" of the four
other Reservation Business Committee
members. "We need to start organizing
and reorganizing the local councils,"
said Hunt.
"I saw my election as a mandate for
me to lead the government, to bring
the changes and reforms I promised,"
the chairman said. "When I said I
would try to do this at any cost, I meant
what I said."
Because the RBC failed to act within
the required 15 days on a legal petition
to remove convicted secretary
treasurer Dan Brown, Hunt suspended
Brown without pay until a recall vote
can be held. The chairman then called
on each of Leech Lake's 12
communities to meet and choose a
representative on a committee to select
Recall cont'd on 8
New chairmen add some life to state Indian
Affairs Council
By Gary Blair
The Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council (MIAC) held its latest
meeting July 30 at the Mystic Lake
Casino Hotel on the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux reservation,
located twenty-five miles south of the
Twin Cities.
The recent Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe elections have finally added
some much needed changes to the
council, who had up to this point been
running a close second in popularity
to that of the BIA. The three new
MIAC board members are: Chairman
Clinton Langren, Bois Forte;
Chairman Eli Hunt of Leech Lake; and
White Earth Chairman Eugene
"Bugger" McArthur.
Although the meeting was full of new
energy, the fact that all reporting was
verbal    certainly    limited    its
effectiveness. Day's oral presentation
included comments about a meeting
he had with the State's Office of
Tourism, and a program for voter
registration promoted by the DFL
party that will be offered at certain
Super America Gas Stations.
Day spoke about the recovery of
debts owed by the Indian business loan
program. Day told the group that the
Red Lake reservation had been the
most successful in that process.
He said Minnesota is interested in
expanding tourism to include its
Indian reservations. Day's information
drew fire from Red Lake Chairman
Bobby Whitefeather, who told the-
council that he was not in favor of
dealing with the state at this time. "I
am not in support of doing this; these
people are in the back-rooms trying
to discredit our Indian gaming. Not
until governor (Arne Carlson) is
willing to recognize our sovereignty,"
Whitefeather stated.
Mille Lacs chairman Marge
Anderson said she'wants the State of
Minnesota to recognize Anishinaabe
treaty rights. Host tribal chairman
Stanley Crooks, head of the Shakopee
Mdewakanton community, told his.
fellow council members, "We need to
have a number of issues cleared up
before we talk with the governor
about tourists." There was no verbal
opposition on the issue from the other
MIAC members present.
Day also announced that Ann
Glumac has been selected to fill a new
position with the governor's office.
She will become the manager of state-
tribal affairs on August 7, 1996. Ms.
Glumac will be the key person for the
governor on state-tribal issues. She
will coordinate information, policies
and communication between the state
MIAC cont'd on 3
Indians block tracks in dispute over sulfuric
acid shipments
By Robert Imrie
HIGHBRIDGE, Wis. (AP) _ Lawn
chairs and a tent rest between the rusty
tracks of a railroad line idled for a
week by Chippewa Indians opposed
to sulfuric acid shipments across their
reservation.
The protesters are camped on the
tracks, creating a human blockade in a
secluded, heavily wooded stretch of
northern Wisconsin. Days of
negotiations with Wisconsin Central
Ltd. have been unable to resolve the
dispute.
Shipments of sulfuric acid across
the old branch line to a Michigan
copper mine pose too great a threat to
the land and waters of nearby Lake
Superior should something go wrong,
the protesters say.
"If it comes down to being arrested.
I guess I will go to jail," said Alan
Couture, 46, a member of the B-»d
River band of Lake Superior
Chippewa. "I will get out and I will
come right back. Nothing goes
through."
Wisconsin Central wants the
protesters _ who refer to themselves
as Anishinaabe Ogitchida _ arrested,
but Ashland County Sheriff Mike
Hanson has no such plans. He wants to
bring in a federal mediator.
"We're going to try to mediate this
thing out. The last thing we want is to
have someone get hurt over this."'
Hanson said Tuesday.
A  mediator  from  the  U.S
Department of Justice in Chicago wa;
en route to Ashland County today a
the sheriffs request, sn ii:
regional director of the department's
Community Relations Service.
It was not immediately known when
talks would begin.
The threat of violence hung in the air
Tuesday after Hanson said some of
the protesters were armed.
Benace, a Chippewa from Cloquet.
Minn., said the group had one gun. a
Blockade cont'd on 3
Race Relations Task Force aware of court
advocate's prior conviction, defends hiring
Darrell 'Chip' Wadena taken into custody
WE Election Judge validates June election
Chair. Hunt resists intervention by MCT court
Ojibwe block tracks in dispute over shipments
New chairmen add to state MIAC Council
Voice of the People
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Hunt said he would rely on people power to overcome the opposition of the four other RBC members.
Judge Davis orders Wadena imprisoned
By Jeff Armstrong
Although a Beltrami County court
advocacy program which is being held
up as a model for the state does not
assist accused felons, its advocate was
himself convicted on federal felony
charges in 1991. The court advocacy
program is funded by $10,000
contributions each from Leech Lake,
Red Lake, the city of Bemidji, and
Beltrami County, along with a $5,000
grant from the state Department of
Corrections.
Feron James Thunder Hawk was
sentenced July 5, 1991 to eight months
imprisonment and a year's probation
for his conviction on two different
counts of bank fraud. The federal
charges carried a maximum penalty of
five years imprisonment at the time of
the offense, but in November of 1990
were changed to a 30 year maximum.
The conviction stems from Thunder
Hawk's July 16, 1990 loan financing
application to Metropolitan State
Bank of Fargo, ND, in which he forged
the signature of James Christensen to
falsely represent him as a co-signer on
a $9,268.64 loan to purchase a Nissan
300-ZX car.
At the time of the offense, Thunder
Hawk was a lower court judge on the
Pine Ridge Lakota reservation. His
jury conviction forced his removal
from the bench as a requirement of the
tribal constitution.
Nor was the federal indictment
Thunder Hawk's first brush with the
law. According to a former co-worker
familiar with the case, who wished to
remain anonymous, Thunder Hawk
was charged in tribal court in 1988
with pocketing filing fees while
employed as a researcher with the Pine
Ridge appellate court. He was
ultimately acquitted by a jury, despite
overwhelming evidence against him,
the source said.
In an interview' with the Press.
Thunder Hawk would not voluntarily
disclose his criminal record, and he
did not respond to requests to explain
his side of the story. "I want to keep
my personal life out of it," said
Thunder Hawk.
Thunder Hawk was hired Feb. 5 by
the Bemidji Area Race Relations Task
Force (RRTF), a nonprofit corporation
which serves as the self-appointed
representative of area Natives without
any input from the community.
Although the task force must ask the
county board for renewed funding this
month, they are standing by their
employee.
RRTF cont'd on 3
At a hearing this morning in U.S.
District Court in St. Paul, Judge
Michael J. Davis told Darrell "Chip"
Wadena that "based upon the evidence
that I have been presented, you are a
danger to society" and ordered him
taken into custody immediately.
This morning's hearing was a
continuation of one held last Friday
to determine whether Wadena had
violated terms of his release.
Judge Davis had given Wadena until
today to verify that he reimbursed the
band's Shooting Star casino $1,400
for hiring a band to play for his
daughter's wedding dance. When
Wadena failed to produce
documentary evidence to verify the
repayment, Davis ordered him jailed.
According to the Judge's order
Wadena will remain in custody until
his sentencing on 15 felony
convictions later this year.
WE Election Judge
validates June election
Following oral arguments this
morning on the White Earth
Reservation, Election Judge Paul Day
issued an order validating the White
Earth tribal election of June 11. In that
election Eugene "Bugger" McArthur
defeated Doyle Turner for the office
of chairman by 14 votes.
Also elected, as White Earth District
III Representative, was John
Buckanaga who defeated his nearest
rival by 106 votes. Both men have
been in office since June 25.
Wadena had attempted to set a new
election in September.
Ojibway leader Archie Mosay dies
Court rules against tribe in land dispute
BOSTON (AP) _ The Narragansett
tribe must obtain state and local permits
for a parcel of land it is developing
next to its 1,800-acre reservation, a
federal appeals court ruled.
In reversing a lower court decision
by U.S. District Court Judge Ernest
Torres, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Boston ruled the tribe
cannot escape state and local
regulation of the 32 acres it bought
two years ago.
The ruling in favor of the state and
the town of Charlestown, R.I., has
significance for Indian tribes
throughout New England, said special
assistant attorney general Alan Shoer
on Wednesday.
The decision guarantees that local
communities, including those with
gambling-rich tribes such as the
Mashantucket Pequots who own
Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Conn.,
have a say about the future of land the
tribes buy, Shoer said.
In the lower court ruling, Torres
said the Narragansetts did not have to
comply with state and local laws
regarding the housing project because
the site was a "dependent Indian
community" and thus "Indian
Country" with sovereign immunity.
Torres made one exception to that
immunity: The project had to comply
with state coastal management
regulations, he said.
The acreage is next to the tribe's
settlement area and near the
Narragansett Indian Church and other
tribal landmarks. The tribe bought the
property in 1992 with a grant from the
U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development and has begun
building 30 units of federally financed
housing on the site.
The dispute arose when the tribe
started construction without getting
state or local permits for the project.
The Narragansetts maintained that
such approvals weren't needed
because Indians have sovereign
immunity on Indian-owned land.
In the decision released Tuesday,
the court said the federal government
never intended tribes to expand their
immunity from local laws just by
purchasing nearby land.
"It seems implausible that a tribe
could obtain a valid claim to Indian
country _ and thus presumptive
sovereignty rights _ over theretofore
privately held land just by purchasing
them ..." said the court.
The court also said it can't imply
trust status for the land from the fact
that the Narragansett Indian housing
project is federally financed. The
Narragansetts have a $4.1 million
HUD grant for the housing project.
By Bill Gardner
Staff writer, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Archie Mosay, a legendary Indian
spiritual leader who served as a living
history book for Ojibway Indians in
Wisconsin and Minnesota, died Monday at 94.
Mosay was known as the Grand Chief
of the St. Croix Band of Ojibway in
Wisconsin and was treasured throughout the Ojibway world for his cultural
knowledge. He recently gave the opening address at the 23rd annual Honor
the Earth Powwow in the Hayward,
Wis., area.
Mosay spoke at hundreds of events
in Indian and non-Indian communities
and attended the Mille Lacs Powwow
at Hinckley, Minn., over the weekend.
He was traveling to a cultural camp for
St. Croix Ojibway youth on Monday
in the Balsam Lake, Wis., area when
he suffered a heart attack.
"He tried to teach as much as he
could to tell people what they were
supposed to be as Ojibway people,"
said Paul DeMain, publisher of News
from Indian Country.
Born in a wigwam in the woods,
Mosay had a very traditional Ojibway"
upbringing and spoke only his native
language until he learned English as a
teenager.
He was a strict practitioner of the
Ojibway way of life.
"He was a stone in the path of everything that was trying to change society," DeMain said. "He insisted on
conducting everything in the Ojibway
language. He insisted on strict adher
ence to Ojibway protocol."
Mosay's father, Mike, was also a
medicine man and spiritual leader. His
father died in 1971 at age 102, and
Mosay inherited the mantle of spiritual leader of the band.
Mosay earned a living for 34 years
as a truck driver for the Polk County
Highway Department.
He was the presiding elder of a medicine lodge that served many Indians
from around the nation.
A traditional funeral ceremony will
be held on Thursday. Arrangements
were incomplete.
"We're trying to locate a site big
enough to hold such a large crowd of
people," DeMain said.
This article is reprinted from the
Tuesday, July 30, J 996 edition of the
St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Council moves to support separation of tribes
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) _ An
1869 treaty placed the Loyal Shawnee
under the jurisdiction of the Cherokee
Nation. But now the two tribes could
be going their separate ways.
The Loyal Shawnee recently started
the process of applying for federal
recognition.
Don Greenfeather, chairman of the
7,000-member Loyal Shawnee, said
separation would allow the tribe to
pursue its own programs and economic
development projects apart from the
Cherokees.
"There comes a time when two
people live in a house, and sometimes
it's just time for one of them to leave,"
Greenfeather said Tuesday.
The Cherokee Council's Executive
and Finance Committee adopted a
resolution last week approving the
application of the Loyal Shawnee to
the U.S. Interior Department. The
resolution will be considered by the
full council Aug. 12.
Greg Pitcher of Vinita, a member of
the Loyal Shawnee Tribal Council, said
the Loyal Shawnee and Delaware were
moved from Kansas to northeastern
Oklahoma after the Civil War. Both
tribes signed a treaty in 1869 placing
themselves under Cherokee Nation
jurisdiction, Pitcher said.
The Delaware have been working
for about five years to break away
from the Cherokees, he said.
Petitioners must provide
anthropological proof to the Bureau
oflndian Affairs that they used to be
an individual entity, he said.
"We are hoping since our situation is
identical to the Delaware, that there's
been a precedent set and it won't take
that long," Pitcher said.
Pitcher said the Loyal Shawnee do
not intend to ask for any property
belonging to the Cherokee Nation.
Rather, they would like to secure the
land in northeast Kansas where the
tribe's reservation was once located,
he said.
Cherokee Principal Chief Joe Byrd
said he supports the concept of
separating the two tribes.
"The more federally recognized
tribes we have out there, the more
power we have," he said.