Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-08-23

              -'•'£"-"&'-&''>'
Camp Truth blockades FDL construction
site to force referendum vote
By Jeff Armstrong
About two dozen members of an
Anishinabe encampment on Fond du
Lac risked arrest and possible injury
to block construction on a
controversial administrative center
until the Reservation Business
Committee complies with a
referendum petition on the issue.
After three days of pickets and
blockades beginning Aug. 19, Camp
Truth, a movement for democratic
change, succeeded in its goal of
suspending construction and forcing
the RBC back to the bargaining table.
"I shirt the whole project down
completely," said construction head
Dennis Olson, "until this thing is
settled."
Erecting makeshift barricades and
utilizing mobile units of picketers,
Camp Truth blocked most heavy
equipment   from   entering   the
construction site to the estimated $ 10
million project, but did not interfere
with Native workers. Non-Native
employees, who Kraus-Anderson
construction supervisor Bud Augst
said made up about half the crew,
were informed, however, that their
presence was not welcome.
"You're trespassing on tribal land,"
Camp Truth memberLuella Divertold
a white construction worker who barely
concealedhis hostility to the protesters.
Although most confrontations were
verbal, one tribal employee drove a
forklift into a small line of protesters
who vainly attempted to hold it off.
Chairman Sonny Peacock and
Cloquet police officials had warned
the demonstrators that they faced
possible criminal trespass charges if
they continued to block the access
roads. City Police on the scene said
they were first called in by construction
security guards who had reported
interference with employees.
But camp members maintained that
they were acting in accordance with
the tribal constitution and that state
law enforcement had no jurisdiction
to interfere in the intra-tribal dispute.
"[T]he land on which we are currently
occupying is our own property and we
cannot be cited by State, County, City
laws," the group stated. "The three
mentioned authorities have no Subject
Matter Jurisdiction on any of the
regulatory citations that may occur on
our own commonly held property or
for that matter not anywhere within
the boundaries of the Reservation."
Shirley Davis said the failure of state
law enforcement to arrest tribal
demonstrators was a historic occasion.
"That's the first time they didn't
intervene," said Davis. "I was
surprised, really surprised. I thought I
was going to be arrested."
Camp Truth was launched Aug. 2
Camp cont'd on 3
Finngate defendants to be senten. Sept. 5/ pg 8
Camp Truth blockades FDL construction site
Sovereignty confer, fails to attract tribal leaders
No visit, but LL casino investigation continues
Sovereignty, inhr. rights belong to Anishinabe/pg 5
Voice of the People
1
Sovereignty conference avoids hard
issues, fails to attract tribal leaders
/Matii/e
Fifty Cents
Ojibn/e
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
By Gary Blair
The first annual American Indian
Issues Symposium on Sovereignty was
held August 19-23 at the University
of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The five day event found no local
tribal leaders and few program
directors in attendance, though the
theme of the conference has been at
the center of heated controversy in
Minnesota. Less than fifty people
attended the opening day of the
conference, and more than half of
them were non-Indians.
In spite of the low attendance, the
symposium was similar to the days of
the late 1960's when Indian people
first started to gather publicly to
discuss issues which affected their
lives. However, in those days there
were more tax dollars to fund Indian
programs intended to assist in that
process. With the recent funding cuts
it appears that our Indian leaders'
interests have shifted to watching their
casinos and addressing the growing
discord among tribal members who
are finally demanding change.
According to one of conference
facilitators, David Larsen, former
tribal chairman of the Lower Sioux
reservation, as few as one thousand of
the state's 50,000 Indians benefit
directly from casino dollars.
Each day's session of the
symposium began with a Native
American speaker who tied their
presentation   to   the   issue   of
sovereignty. Afternoon sessions
consisted of classroom discussion
groups, led by a facilitator who
expanded on the speaker's earlier
message.
Conference activities also included
a banquet on Monday evening with
keynote speaker Gregg Bourland,
chairman of the Cheynne River Sioux
Tribe. It appears that none of the local
tribal leaders were asked to speak, or
that they refused the invitation.
On Wednesday a traditional dance
exhibition was held in the conference
area's auditorium following the
afternoon discussion groups.s This
year's symposium was the first of five
scheduled conferences on American
Issues cont'd on 3
Founded in 13BB
Volume 8   Issue 45
August 33, 1 336
\
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press,   1996
No visit, but casino investigation continues
By Nate Bowe
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
Sieve Thorne of Minneapolis, an
attorney for the Leech Lake Tribal
Council, said Thursday a federal
gaming investigator may not be
coming north in person, but he has
nonetheless been investigating the
band's gaming license controversy via
a series of teleconference calls.
The National Indian Gaming
Commission had threatened last week
to close or fine the Palace Casino and
Bingo near Cass Lake and the
Northern Lights Casino near Walker
after NIGA Commissioner Phillip
Hogen said he was unable to contact
Tribal Chairman Eli Hunt.
Hogen said it appeared top
gambling officials at the casino had
not met licensing or background
checks. Hunt had sought to appoint
two of those officials, but members of
the Tribal Council disputed his
authority to do so.
Hunt named Martin Jennings as
gambling director and Burton Howard
as comptroller to replace men favored
by other council members.
Tribal Press Secretary Dee
Fairbanks reported Wednesday that
Hunt has talked to Hogen and the
investigator will not be sent to the
reservation. She said Thursday that
teleconference discussions were
ongoing.
"It was misleading," Thome said of
Fairbanks' earlier statement. "In fact
they've assigned an investigator to it
His travel schedule got changed and^
he quickly reorganized the session to
be a teleconference."
Hunt had no authority to fire or hire
the gaming employees, and has no
authority to issue temporary licenses,
Thorne said. That authority rests with
the entire Tribal Council, he added.
The council is currently at odds,
with four of its members apparently
sided as a coalition and its fifth
Casino cont'd on 3
Sentencing date for Harold R. "Skip" Finn, Alfred "Tig" Pemberton and Daniel Brown for September 5.
Canadian Court rejects aboriginal rightto sell fish
Protesters abandon track blockade
HIGHBRIDGE, Wis. (AP)_ Parties
involved in a dispute that led to a 28-
day blockade on an American Indian
reservation announced Monday that
they plan to celebrate the progress
being made in negotiations.
A feast scheduled for Tuesday at the
Bad River Tribal Community Center
is to "honor the good faith progress
that has been made to date by all
parties," according to a news release
by the tribal government and
Wisconsin Central Ltd.
The dispute between American
Indian protesters and the railroad
centers on shipments of toxic materials
through the reservation to a copper
mine in Michigan. After a 1 1/2-hour
ceremony Sunday, protesters, calling
"themselves the Anishinabe Ogitchida,
ended a 28-day blockade of railroad
tracks. The blockade had been set up
in a backwoods area of the northern
Wisconsin reservation.
They objected to shipments of
sulfuric acid to the Copper Range Co.
copper mine in White Pine, Mich. The
acid is used to leach copper from mine
tunnels.
The protesters first allowed trains to
again move over the tracks Aug. 13 _
provided the freight included no
hazardous material.
An official from Wisconsin Central,
based in Rosemont, 111., said Monday
he feels good about the negotiations,
but the railroad's eventual goal is to
agai n I iaul sulfuric acid over the tracks.
"We're in business to haul the freight
that our customers want us to ship,"
said Reilly McCarren, Wisconsin
Central's executive vice president
and chief operating officer.
The news release said the railroad
and Bureau of Indian Affairs have
presented several documents including
an inspection report for bridges on the
tracks and an emergency response
plan.
McCarren said he was aware that
Wisconsin Central had agreed to fund
development of an emergency
response plan, but did not know if it
had been completed.
Tribal Chairman John Wilmer did
not immediately respond to a message
left by The Associated Press seeking
comment Monday.
Edward Benton-Benai, a Chippewa
spiritual leader, said Sunday that the
Bad River tribal government would
continue negotiations.
"The warriors have done their job....
Now it is up to the tribal government to
fulfill what they have started," he said.
Indians met last week in Chicago
with U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency officials, asking for an
environmental investigation of the
mine. The leaching process, they said,
could pollute ground water and nearby
Lake Superior.
Railroad officials say the lines have
been inspected and are safe for
transport.
The discussions have been
monitored by the U.S. Bureau oflndian
Affairs and a mediator from the U.S.
Justice Department.
The railroad asked authorities to
clear the rails last month, but the
Ashland County sheriffs office said it
preferred to let federal mediators deal
with the demonstrators.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia
(AP)_The Supreme Court of Canada
has rejected claims by British
Columbia Indian tribes that they have
an aboriginal right to sell fish outside
the conventional commercial fishery.
Non-Native fishing groups say the
ruling Wednesday should end the
federal government's policy of trying
to entrench a separate aboriginal
commercial fishery along Canada's
West Coast.
But aboriginal spokesmen say just
the opposite. They say the high court
MN Indians ask court to ok off-res. claims
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)_ Chippewa
Indians have asked a federal judge to
authorize.off-reservation fishing and
hunting without waiting for a trial in
which Mimiesota landowners plan to
fight the tribe's claims.
Critics of the request by the Mille
Lacs band of Chippewa say Indians
have enough income from casino
gambling and no longer need the food-
gathering rights guaranteed in an 1837
treaty.
The Mille Lacs and six Wisconsin
bands of Chippewa announced an
agreement July 23 with the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources to
establish   a   conservation   code
containing bag limits, seasons, size
limits and weapons restrictions.
Submitted to federal Judge Michael
Davis, it would generally keep hunting
out of state and county parks, and
would limit Indian catches offish and
game.
The agreement did not resolve the
question of who has final authority
over hunting and fishing in territory
ceded to the government, and how the
fish and game would be allocated
among Chippewa and non-Chippewa.
Under the i 837 treaty, the tribe ceded
land in a 12-county area of east-central
Minnesota. A federal court ruled in
1994 that the treaty's food-gathering
rights remained in effect.
Several briefs were filed Friday in
U.S. District Court in anticipation of a
trial in 1997 on how to allocate the fish
and game.
Davis has scheduled a hearing Oct.
! 8 on the new motions.
Besides the Mille Lac, seven other
bands of Chippewa have made treaty-
rights claims to the same territory.
They too are involved in next year's
allocation trial.
Without waiting for the trial.
Chippewa asked Davis to authorize
off-reservation fishing and hunting
now.
Marc   Slonim,  an  attorney
Claims cont'd on 3
ruling clarifies the test they must meet
to prove their right to sell fish
commercially. And they think it's a
test they can meet easily.
They still expect Ottawa to negotiate
fishing agreements as part of overall
British Columbia treaty settlements
and will go back to court if it doesn't.
"We wouldn't have embarked on
the treaty process if we didn't feel
there was a solution here," said Chief
Steven Point, a Sto:lo representative.
But opponents see it as a clear-cut
victory for one, integrated commercial
fishery.
"There is no uncertainty about
aboriginal fishing in the Fraser," said
Phil Eidsvik of the Fisheries Survival
Coalition. "We wonhandsdown. It's
over."
The Sto:lo First Nation, which fishes
the lower Fraser River, had challenged
the conviction of Dorothy Van der
Peet, a Sto:lo who sold 10 salmon.
In a second case, NTC Smokehouse
Ltd., owned by the Sheshaht band
Right cont'd on 8
Wisconsin lawmaker calls for cooperation
By Chet Brokaw
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) _ States
and Indian tribes must cooperate to
solve problems instead of fighting
costly, divisive battles in court, a
Wisconsin lawmaker said Monday at
a conference of Midwestern
legislators.
Court battles delay solutions, cost a
lot of money and create, discord
between Indians and non-Indians, Sen.
Robert Jauch said during the annual
meeting of the Midwestern Legislative
Conference.
"In essence, it is better to
communicate than it is to litigate,"
Jauch said. "Litigation is a poor way
to solve public problems!"
Issues of tribal sovereignty are at the
heart of many disputes between states
and tribes, but states must recognize
that sovereignty is important to Indian
people, said Jauch, who represents an
area in northern Wisconsin that
includes six Indian reservations.
"Indian tribes are like nations amidst
the states," he said.
States and tribes frequently disagree
on issues such as gambling and
authority to enforce laws or collect
taxes in reservation areas.
The Rev. Webster Two Hawk, a
former chairman of the Rosebud S ioux
Tribe in south central South Dakota,
also said states and tribes should work
together more to solve problems and
increase understanding.
"Tribes and states have been working
against each other for a long time,"
Two Hawk said.
Both sides have to live with federal
treaties that gave tribes certain rights,
he said.
The states and tribes should
cooperate as much as possible on law
enforcement, the protection and
development of natural resources,
education and other issues, Two Hawk
said.
Jauch said the establishment of
casinos on Indian reservations in recent
years has created more conflicts
between states and tribes, but the
Cooperatecont'don3
Regulators say tribe balking at wager report
LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis. (AP)
_The state's top gaming official has
vowed to personally audit the Lac du
Flambeau Indian tribe's gaming
records if officials fail to submit a
wager report by Friday.
The tribe has refused to state the
amount bet at its casino last year,
stalling payments owed by all tribes to
cover the costs of state gaming
regulation, Gaming Commission
Chairman F. Scott Scepaniak said.
"This refusal has been a deliberate
effort on their part to disrupt our
operation," Scepaniak said Friday.
"It's been very frustrating."
Tribal officials are disputing the
definition of "gross annual handle"
and want to report their net gaming
handle, which is the tribe's gaming
profit after expenses, Scepaniak said.
"That is a considerably different
number," he said.
Scepaniak said he would go to tribal
headquarters himself to audit the
gaming records if the tribe did not
report its 1995 gross handle by Friday.
If prevented, court action could follow,
he said.
"All the other tribes have been very
cooperative. They understand what
the compacts call for and they have
complied," Scepaniak said.
The tribe operates the Lake of the
Torches casino in Lac du Flambeau.
Telephone messages left Saturday
at the tribal center and the homes of
Tribal Chairman Tom Maulson and
Lac du Flambeau attorney Terry Hoyt
were not immediately returned.
Compacts between the state and 11
tribes with gaming operations require
a 5350,000 annual payment to help
cover the state's cost of overseeing
American Indian gaming.
Each tribe's share is prorated based
on a total gross gaming handles _ the
total amount of money wagered at a
tribe's casinos during the previous
fiscal year, Scepaniak said.
No other tribe has disputed the use
of gross annual handle in determining
reimbursement payments, Scepaniak
said.
Scepaniak said he has been
wrangling with tribal officials for
months and has met with Mau lson and
the tribal council to discuss the matter.
"We have no ability to suspend
licenses or impose some type of
forfeiture as we can do with the pari-
mutuel industry," Scepaniak said.
"There's no enforcement mechanism."