Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-08-30

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MN Legislative auditor questions how
Human Rights complaint was handled
By Gary Blair
The Minnesota Legislative Auditor
has requested that the Commissioner
of the Minnesota Department of
Human Rights (MDHR) explain how
a complaint filed by Ronald Edwards
against the City of Minneapolis was
handled.
Edwards, an African American, is
the Chairman of Minneapolis
Firefighters Steering Committee
(MFSC), a group mandated by a
federal court order to monitor and
assist the city with the integration of
the Minneapolis Fire Department.
In a letter dated August 20, 1996,
19 days after MDHR Commissioner
David Beaulieu issued a no probable
cause finding in favor of the city,
Legislative Auditor James R. Nobles
wrote: "Dear Commissioner Beaulieu:
I am writing to request information
about how your department handled
a complaint filed by Mr. Ronald A.
Edwards in 1994 against the City of
Minneapolis. Mr. Edwards'
complaint related to hiring practices
in the Minneapolis Fire Department.
He alleged that the city was
inappropriately classifying some
employees as American Indians. He
originally filed the complaint with the
city's Civil Rights Department, but at
his request it was transferred to the
Minnesota Department of Human
Rights on September 14, 1994.
"Recently, Mr. Edwards contacted
my office and expressed concerns
about the way the Department of
Human Rights handled his complaint.
He asked us to investigate.
"The first step we take in all
situations like this is to do a
'preliminary assessment,' which
involves collecting as much relevant
information as possible to determine
whether or not a full investigation
would be appropriate.
"To facilitate our preliminary
assessment, I would appreciate your
detailed explanation of your
department's handling of Mr.
Edwards' complaint. Also, it would
be helpful if you would provide copies
of documents in Mr. Edwards'
complaint file. If the file is large,
please let me know and I will send a
staff person to your offices to examine
it.
I look forward to hearing from you,
and thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely, James R. Nobles,
Legislative Auditor."
"(Commissioner) Beaulieu is not
talking to anyone about this case,"
Edwards said this week. His
investigators never personally
interviewed any of the pertinent
people who had information that
would have clearly created a different
finding. We have since learned that his
Complaint com' on 5
MN Legis. auditor questions handling of complaint
New director's resigns from HOTESS school
LL Tribal Council feels beleaguered
Leech Lake Forms General Council
Finngate defendants to be sentenced Sept. 5
Voice of the People
1
New director's resignation further shakes
HOTESS school   .
By Gary Blair
Just as the Heart of the Earth
Survival School's (HOTESS) board of
directors was getting ready to
nominate Sid Simonson as the
school's newest principal and
executive director, he announced that
he was resigning. Reports say his
announcement Wednesday, effective
Sept. 6th, brought tears from many
who attended the school board
meeting. Simonson, who is white, had
been the school's hope for a turn
around after many years of repeated
dysfunction.
Simonson had been the school's
acting director since June, when police
escorted former HOTESS director
Tim Woodhull out of the 24-year-old
Native American alternative school
after he was fired and refused to leave.
Woodhull was terminated after the
school's board of directors received
pressure from the Minneapolis School
District, due to Woodhull's extensive
criminal background. Each year the
Minneapolis School District is
required to give final approval before
the school can receive nearly $2
million in federal education funds.
Simonson told the PRESS
Thursday that he had been planning
to resign for more than a month. "I
got sick of the 'bullshit' and the politics
at the school. It was a decision that I
did not take lightly, but it was one that
I had to make," he said. Simonson says
he is fully qualified to work as a
principal in the public school system
and that is the type of position he has
now taken.
Simonson's resignation now
accounts for three principals and two
acting principals at HOTESS in the
past two years. Eddie Benton was fired
two years ago amidst allegations that
$200,000 was missing from the
school. Clyde Bellecourt told school
board members the night Benton was
hired, "He is an old AIM buddy; I
HOTESS cont'd on 5
Tribal Council feels beleaguered
By Nate Bowe
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
The Leech Lake Tribal Council has
been feeling increasingly beleaguered
since the election of Chairman Eli
Hunt in June.
At Tribal Headquarters in Cass
Lake, council members have to step
around Hunt supporters occupying
their offices. Employees loyal to the
council have been fired and Hunt has
been able to make the dismissals stick.
Perhaps worst of all, several council
members said Wednesday, area media
coverage, tends to reflect Hunt as a
crusading reformer when it's actually
the Tribal Council that has tried to
follow the rule of law.
The council isn't fighting Hunt, it's
fighting to protect new policies and
procedures, including tribal code of
ethics, that were adopted by the
council to protect employees. It was
signed by Hunt earlier this summer,
according to council member Alfred
Fairbanks Jr.
"We're not fighting him, we're
fighting for the policies and
procedures that he's breaking. Why
would we push to have them in place
if we didn't agree with them?"
"We're the only reservation in
Minnesota with these controls in
place," said council member Jack
Seelye.
Fairbanks said he has pushed for the
protective polices for years and it was
only through a fortunate set of
circumstances that the council was
able to enact them this year. "It was
lucky, it was maybe the one chance in
10 years to do it," he said.
The Tribal Council is also frustrated
because outside agencies won't help
in the power struggle with Hunt, who
has thrown, his support to a grassroots
tribal legislature, called the General
Council, that was established Aug. 23.
The Cass County Sheriff's
Department won't get involved unless
there's violence, Fairbanks said, and
the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension won't touch th*.
situation. According to Fairbanks, the
head of the Leech Lake security office
and the head of the tribal Department
of Natural Resources are Hunt
supporters, and have the final say
when security officers and game
wardens are called to a situation.
Fairbanks accused Hunt supporters
of intimidating employees. Tribal
Gaming Director Charlie Brown, for
example, who was fired by Hunt and
replaced by Martin Jennings, was the
object of a manhunt Aug. 23.
The General Council approved a
resolution to peaceably remove
Tribal cont'd on 3
Real Americans among Democratic throng
in Chicago
By Steve Kline
CHICAGO (AP) _ Among the
thousands of flag-waving, banner-
carrying, romping, stomping delegates
to the Democratic National
Convention that opens Monday are
about four dozen real Americans.
Forty-six American Indians from 20
states are delegates to the big party
that will nominate President Clinton
for a second term. The Indians are
about 1 percent of the 4,320 delegates.
Oklahoma has eight Indian
delegates, more than any other state.
Indians in the Sooner state have formed
a political action committee, said
delegate   Debbie   Downing   of
Oklahoma City, a member of the
Choctaw Tribe and a fourth-grade
teacher.
Sen. Bob Kerrey, who represents
Nebraska _ the state where Sioux
military leader Crazy Horse was killed
_said the numbers of Indians illustrate
the party's diversity.
"The Democratic Party doesn't have
to fake it," he said.
During their convention in San
Diego, Republicans were accused of
ending a parade of women and
minorities to the podium that did not
reflect the overwhelmingly white, male
makeup of the delegates. Indians had
little orno role at the GOP convention.
In accepting the nomination of his
Reform Party, Ross Perot mentioned
By Shefali Parekh
MORRIS, Minn. (AP) _ Danaj
Battese Trudell wants to shed her
Oklahoma identity as part of "The
Muskogee Three."
Ms. Trudell, who was denied a high
school diploma for wearing an eagle
feather to graduation ceremonies in
violation of a dress code, hopes to be
a typical college freshman.
But she already has drawn attention
for choosing the University of
Minnesota campus here, a former
American Indian boarding school that
offers free tuition to qualifying Indian
students.
"People are saying I got the
scholarship because I defied the dress
code and that's not it," said Ms.
Trudell, 18, who earned a 3.98 high
school grade point average in her
hometown of Muskogee, Okla.
"I came here for a new start to leave
all that behind," she said, sitting in her
dorm surrounded by stuffed animals.
"That was Muskogee, this is
Minnesota."
The tuition waiver made Morris
attractive to Ms. Trudell, who is half
American Indian and half Hispanic.
More than a century ago, the liberal
arts college was a missionary boarding
school for American Indian children.
When the state received the land in
1909, a legislative statute affirmed
that American Indians could attend
the school without paying tuition.
The Morris campus, which touts
itself as having the highest percentage
of minorities at a four-year public
Native
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
/Vews
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 198B
Volume 8   Issue 46
August 3d, 1 99E
i
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press,   1936
General Council representatives from the various communities meet with Reservation Business Committee
chair Eli Hunt Aug. 28 to discuss respective roles of RBC and Council, and strategies for gaining U.S.
recognition. Next General Assembly (the people) mtg. 3 p.m. Monday at Palace (see back pg. for more info).
Leech Lake Forms General Council
American Indians, citing them.as an
example of a people ruined by a welfare
state.
"Look at what the Indians
accomplished before we put them on
the reservation, and look at the damage
we did to these great people by taking
care of people who had been proud,
independent hunters, warriors,
survivors and empire-builders," he
said.
That doesn't quite square with the
attitude of Arizona and Navajo
delegate Gloria Hale-Showalter of
Window Rock, Ariz. She embraces
the Democratic Party, she said,
because she ocl^ves in protecting
Chicago cont'd on 5
Student activist puts tuition waver in spotlight
college in Minnesota, is surrounded
by corn fields. Sheep graze across the
street from the entrance, and the town
population of about 2,500 people is
mainly Lutheran.
Of the 2,000 students attending the
school last fall, 13.5 percent were
minorities. American Indians made
up 5 percent of the student population.
Morris has the highest minority
percentage of the four University of
Minnesota campuses, even more than
the Twin Cities campus at 12.3 percent.
Bill Stewart, director of the Minority
Student Program, said many minorities
experience a culture shock when they
arrive at Morris.
Ms. Trudell described her first
impressions: "I saw nothing but com
Student cont'd on 3
By Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
CASS LAKE - Members of the
Leech Lake Band of Chippewa took
matters into their own hands Friday
to solve the ongoing power struggle
between the tribe's councilors and
chairman.
More than 60 people gathered Friday
at the band's Powwow Building near
the Palace Bingo and Casino to form
a Leech Lake General Council which
will assume all legislative authority at
the reservation.
But a Tribal Council member says
the action is meaningless and it will
be business as usual for the council
come Monday morning.
The General Council consists of the
chairmen from the 12 local Indian
councils that represent the
communities of the Leech Lake
Reservation, including the Twin
Cities. According to a news release
from the Leech Lake General Council.
The General Council voted Friday to
assume the legislative authority over
the band and designated the existing
five-man Tribal Council as the body
to carry out approved legislation. The
Tribal Council will continue to carry
out all duties pertaining to money and
business but will no longer be allowed
to pass any legislation governing the
tribe, according to Richard Schulman,
treasurer of the Cass Lake Local.
Indian Council. Schulman said this
was the original duty of the current
Tribal Council, which is formally
named the Reservation Business
Committee.
"Ihey will exercise the executive
WK DO HAVE A VOICE!!
LEECH LAKE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
3 P.M. MONDAY, SEPT. 2
PALACE CASINO
POW WOW GROUNDS
BUILDING
authority of the reservation," he said.
The General Council and tribal
members took action because the
tribal constitution makes the Tribal
Council accountable only to itself.
Under the constitution, council
members can only be removed by a
two-thirds vote of the rest of the
council, but Schulman said the council
will never act to remove council
members because they are protecting
each other.
He said Secretary-Treasurer Dan
Brown and Councilor Myron Ellis,
who were convicted, respectively, of
a felony and a gross misdemeanor
involving misuse of tribal insurance
funds, should have been removed
according to the constitution, but they
were not. And now Councilors Jack
Seelye and Al Fairbanks Jr. should be
removed because of their conspiracy
not to remove the other two.
Schulman said Leech Lake members
Council cont'd on 3
Raising mustangs renews Indian's ties to
spirit of the plains
By David Foster
BROWNING, Mont. (AP) _ Long
before the black clouds blow down
from the Rockies, the horses know a
storm is near.
A stallion shakes his mane and
kneads a hoof into the grass, then
breaks into a gallop. Mares and foals
join in, and soon a dozen mustangs
streak across the prairie, legs blurring
beneath them.
These are the original pride of the
Western plains: Spanish mustangs,
direct descendants of the Indian ponies
that once ran rings around the U.S.
cavalry.
Yet these hardy steeds are a rare
sight today. As the West was won, the
mustangs lost. Like the Indians who
rode them, they were slaughtered in
war and neglected in peace, their range
fenced off, their bloodlines diluted.
Now, however, Spanish mustangs
have returned to Indian country,
brought home to the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation by a father, his daughter,
and their friend.
They wanted to resurrect a bit of
history. Little did they realize what it
would resurrect in them.
Every year, 2 million tourists drive
through Browning on their way to
Glacier National Park. Most never
even stop for gas.
To an outsider, Browning can seem
depressing and dangerous, a sullen
reservation town encrusted with
poverty. There is little work and a lot
of booze. Trailer homes and junked
cars rust along the dusty streets.
But there is another Browning, a
hidden place that whispers with the
spirits of a prouder past.
Darrell Norman hears the spirits.
Born here 54 years ago, he left at age
12 when his father found work in
Seattle. For decades he was teased by
memories _ the smell of sage in a
summer rain, the wrinkled elders
telling stories. In 1991, he sold his
Seattle house and built a new one on a
hill two miles west of Browning.
Tina Norman hears the spirits.
Age 30, she was born and raised in
Seattle but never felt at ease there. It
was so crowded, so polluted, so tense.
In 1994, she visited her dad in
Browning, planning to stay two weeks,
and she hasn't left yet.
Bob Blackbull hears the spirits.
Forty-five years old and the only
Indian on the reservation with a Rhode
Island accent, he arrived by bus in
1971, seeking his place in a confusing
world. When he saw the mountains,
rising white from the plains, he told
himself, "This is it. You're home."
They are artists, Darrell and Tina
and Bob. They live in Darrell's house,
which doubles as the Lodge Pole
Gallery and is crammed with Indian
arts and crafts. They make paintings,
sculptures, beadwork, headdresses and
spears. They try to wring from the past
what is useful and beautiful for today.
It was art, naturally, that led them to
the mustangs. Blackbull heard about
Plains cont'd on 6