Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-09-13

              - — —    _«_—*_. _
New Wet/Dry facility opens in Minneapolis
Will house primarily American Indian chronic alcoholics
By Gary Blair
The opening of the Anishinabe
Wakiagun (the people's house) was
held on Sept. 11,1996, and more than
two hundred people attended the
event.
The newly constructed 40 unit Wet/
Dry facility for primarily American
Indian chronic alcoholics is located
just northeast and to the rear of the
Minneapolis American Indian Center.
The building has full amenities, with
a lunchroom and an administrative
office area on the entry level of the
building.
A photo exhibit of former homeless
American Indians in the Twin Cities
was displayed on the walls of the
lunchroom for the Grand Opening
ceremony that included a feast. The
brightly colored pictures told some of
the stories of why the shelter was
needed.
One of the pictures that was
noticeable in the collection was that
of a winter homeless camp in
Minneapolis that resembled a fishing
camp in mid-winter. Some of the men
in the photo managed to smile for the
photographer as they huddled around
their cement blocked fireplace that
appeared to be under a bridge and not
near a lake in northern Minnesota.
Obviously missing from the display
were the numerous pictures of
American Indians who were abused
as clients of the old Hennepin County
detoxification center shortly before it
was forced to close nearly three years
ago. Also missing were the pictures
of Indian people who continue to be
beaten by certain members of the
Minneapolis Police Department just
because they're Indian and drunk.
Many of the people who particpated
at Wednesday's activities were the
same "Wooden Indians" who never
said or did anything about the client
abuse that eventually closed the old
Hennepin County detox center nearly
three years ago. Some of those who
spoke were also the same politicians
who did nothing about the client abuse
at the old detox center. In fact, one of
them even tried to cover up the client
mistreatment after it was first exposed.
Facility cont'd on 4
New Wet/Dry facility opens in Minneapolis
Turner declares self victor in W.E. election
Interview with VP candidate Winona LaDuke
MN Board of Educ. denies desegreg.-rule/ pg 3
Police abuse threatens sovereignty/const./ pg 5
Voice of the People
1
White Earth election protestors hold election
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP) _
White Earth tribal members who
protested results from three months
ago held a new election Tuesday,
although current leaders deemed it
meaningless.
Winners of the June election on the
White Earth Indian Reservation would
not let organizers use the regular
polling stations, so people voted "in
motor homes, R Vs, any place we could
get a polling place in," said Lowell
Bellanger, who was running for
chairman.
Doyle Turner also was running for
chairman after he lost his bid for
chairman in June to Eugene "Bugger"
McArthur by 14 votes. Former
Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena,
convicted of federal charges, was third
in the previous election.
McArthur took office early,
declaring a state of emergency existed
following Wadena's and other tribal
leaders' convictions. The U.S. Bureau
oflndian Affairs recognized McArthur
pending the outcome of election
appeals.
A judge appointed by Wadena
ordered Tuesday's election. Also
running fortribal chairman was Boone
Wadena, a nephew of Darrell Wadena.
McArthur said Tuesday's vote had
not been authorized by any federal or
tribal government.
"It's being held by candidates who
lost the election and are having a
difficult time accepting reality," he
said.
Meanwhile, John Terronez, a federal
conciliation specialist from the U.S.
Department of Justice in Chicago,
arrived Tuesday on the northwestern
Minnesota reservation.
"I'm up here to see if they've got
some ideas on how to resolve these
issues," Terronez said.
Terronez, who said he was not
involved with the election, was asked
to mediate by U.S. Attorney David
Lillehaug.
Native
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
Mews
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988
Volume 8  Issue 48
September 13, 1996
I
A weekly publication.
Copyright.  Native American Press,   199E
Oglala to reclaim administration of county
within reservation boundaries
PINE RIDGE RESERVATION - In
November Shannon County voters
will decide if Pine Ridge formally
becomes the County seat. Last week,
the Shannon County Commission set
up a ballot measure for a 1996 vote
that could rename the county.
Shannon County lies entirely within
the boundaries of the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in southwestern
South Dakota and the Oglala Sioux
Tribe has jurisdiction over law
enforcement. These new initiatives
help move the Oglala Sioux Tribe
toward complete autonomy.
According to County Commission
Chairman Walter Big Crow, this is the
only example of shared county
administration in South Dakota, where
there has never been a county
controlled by its Indian constituents.
Shannon County currently
reimburses Fall River County for
services provided by the auditor,
treasurer, sheriff, register of deeds,
director of equalization and veteran's
services offices based in Hot Springs.
The establishment of full county
administrative offices on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation will
provide new employment
opportunities and make unnecessary
the purchase of administrative
services from Fall River County.
November's election will decide the
location of the new county seat, the
county commission having proposed
Pine Ridge. County residents will have
until August 1997 to make
nominations for their new county
name, and the author of the winning
name will receive a $500 savings
bond. The formal county name will be
determined by voters in the 1997
general election.
Mr. Big Crow hopes that these
changes toward full autonomy wfy
encourage a large voter turnout and
help establish an American Indian
identity for the area.
Turner declares self victor in White Earth election
Greening Turtle Island: an interview with
Green Party candidate Winona LaDuke
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP) _ A
federal mediator brought in to resolve
an election controversy on the White
Earth Indian Reservation described a
calm atmosphere Wednesday after
meeting with one side.
"There seems to be a healing process
going on here," said John Terronez, a
federal conciliation specialist from the
U.S. Department of Justice in Chicago.
Terronez arrived on the northwestern
Minnesota reservation on Tuesday,
the same day protesting tribal members
held an election that was deemed
meaningless by current leaders.
Doyle Turner lost his bid for tribal
chairman by 14 votes in June to Eugene
"Bugger" McArthur. Late Tuesday,
Doyle declared himself the winner of
the new election.
McArthur said Tuesday's vote had
not been authorized by any federal or
tribal government.
"It's being held by candidates who
lost the election and are having a
difficult time accepting reality," he
said.
Terronez said he wasn't involved
with the election and was invited by
U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug to try
to help resolve the dispute.
Terronez met with McArthur's
people Wednesday and planned to
meet with the other side Thursday.
Navajo president to seek tribal death
sentence legislation
PHOENIX (AP) _ Prompted by the
slayings of four girls, Navajo Nation
President Albert Hale says his tribe
should authorize federal authorities to
seek a death sentence for people who
kill children.
Under current law, the strongest
penalty available if Norman Yazzie is
convicted of killing his four daughters
is life imprisonment without parole.
Yazzie, 33, also is charged with
having wounded a fifth child, his 11-
year-old son Rhyan, in the shootings
in the family's Dennehotso home the
evening of Sept. 1.
"My feeling is that we should support
the death penalty, in situations like the
one that occurred at Dennehotso," Hale
told The Arizona Republic.
Under the Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement Act of 1994,
federal prosecutors cannot seek a death
penalty for offenses on a tribal
reservation unless tribal government
has approved legislation supporting
capital punishment. The one exception
is the murder of a tribal police officer.
Joe Lodge, special assistant for tribal
relations forthe U.S. Attorney's Office
in Phoenix, said no Arizona tribe has
approved such legislation.
"I wasn't aware of this until just
recently," Hale said Friday.
Because of the Yazzie case, the worst
mass slaying on the reservation in 20
years, Hale said his office will draft
legislation for the Navajo Nation
Council that would allow the death
penalty for adults who murder children.
"Our traditions don't dictate the
concept of an eye for an eye but instead
focus on forgiveness," he said. And
since capital punishment never has
been considered by the council, Hale
said, some Navajos may object to it.
But as more details of the shooting
emerge, Hale said, Navajos may be
shocked enough to support the death
penalty for adults who kill kids.
Rhyan said his father told the
children he was going to kill them,
investigators said. They said Yazzie
then took his .22-caliber rifle, only
recently retrieved from a pawn shop,
and began shooting his children one
by one, from oldest to youngest.
Rhyan was the third to be shot. He
remained conscious and played dead
as his father finished the first round of
shootings, then reloaded in a bedroom
and shot all five children again,
authorities said.
Green Party vice presidential
nominee Winona LaDuke is a 3 7-year-
old activist from White Earth who, as
a founder of Anishinabe Akeeng,
helped draw national and
international attention to the struggle
of the Anishinabe people to recover
illegally expropriated reservation
land.
LaDuke was one of many people
who fought against the White Earth
Land Settlement Act, which cleared
title to thousands of acres of stolen
land with the sole consent of convicted
former chairman Darrell "Chip"
Wadena. Although Akeengwas unable
to block the legislation, the group's
efforts resulted in a human rights
award to LaDuke in 1989 from
Reebock Corporation, which she used
to establish the White Earth Land
Recovery project.
The project began purchasing
reservation lands and setting up
cultural programs, later broadening
its agenda to include taking on
reservation clearcutting by
corporations such as Potlach and
blocking the desecration of Native
burial sites. LaDuke is also a founder
of the Indigenous Women's Network,
and a board member of the
international ecological action group
Greenpeace and the Seventh
Generation Fund, which provides
grants for indigenous environmental
organizations.
LaDuke challenges Native people to
participate in a political system she
says is designed to keep them out. "I
think the process excludes Indian
people. I think that's inherent in the
system because the thief makes the
rules." she said.
LaDuke is interviewed here by Jeff
Armstrong:
What has been the major
accomplishment of the land
recovery project, and what kind of
relationship have you had the past
and present tribal council?
Part of what we do is acquire land,
which we hold in trust. We challenge
the tribal council to match us dollar
for dollar or acre for acre. So in the
past few years we bought about 270
acres of land and the Wadena
administration only bought 30. We've
worked with the past administration to
try to recover the management and
hopefully even the Tamarac Refuge
itself. A third of the reservation is held
by government agencies, and we
believe that land should be returned to
the White Earth band.
I'm hoping that the McArthur
administration will take more of an
interest in land and environmental
issues. McArthur said in part of his
campaigning that it was a major priority
with him. So I'm hoping that he lives
up to his word.
I had a working relationship with the
tribal council. I worked with them on
some issues, I lobbied them on others,
and argued with them on others.
LaDuke cont'd on 3
States want more control over gambling
Tribe prepares to change administration
of law enforcement
POPLAR (AP) _ Struggling with
crime that includes a murder rate 13
times greater-than the state figure,
tribal leaders at the Fort Peck Indian
Reservation intend to take greater
control over law enforcement, starting
Oct. 1.
That is when the Executive Board
for the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes
will have a contract for Bureau of
Indian Affairs police work.
BIA officers now provide law
enforcement on the reservation and
will continue doing so, but under the
new contract, the board will have the
final say over how the police force
operates.
For police officers, one of the first
orders of business will be eliminating
late-night house parties and get-
togethers at the New Bridge, a popular
hangout on the reservation. There, up
to 100 men and women have been
known to gather in the wee hours,
sometimes setting fire to a heap of
tires for warmth.
Three years ago, the tribal board
went on record with instructions for
the BIA to break up the parties, but to
no avail.
"Probably 90 percent of the murders
occur after 2 a.m., after the bars close,"
said Stoney Anketell, one of five
people elected last fall to the 12-
member Executive Board. "If we
continue to allow these all-night parties
where people drink themselves into
oblivion, then you won't see a
reduction in our murder rates."
In the last 1 1/2 years alone, 12
murders have occurred on the
reservation. Over the last five years,
Change cont'd on 6
By Leslie Zganjar
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _
Gambling on Indian reservations
should be prohibited, two of the major
candidates in the U.S. Senate race said
Monday.
State Rep. Chuck McMains of Baton
Rouge and businessman Bill Linder
ofMandeville, both Republicans, told
the Baton Rouge Press Club that the
federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
should be repealed.
The statute, passed in the early
1980s,    allows    gambling    on
reservations.
"The act was a big mistake,"
McMains said. "There is no historical,
legal, economic reason or rationale
behind treating gambling on Indian
reservations differently than you do
anywhere else in the state."
He also accused former Gov. Edwin
Edwards of using the federal law as a
way to increase gambling in Louisiana.
Five other Senate candidates who
appeared before the Press Club did
not go as far, saying the state, not the
federal government, should determine
whether Indian reservations can have
gambling.
And, they said if Louisiana allows
tribes to keep slot machines and other
games of chance, the activity should
be taxed.
David Duke, a Republican and
former Klansman, did not appear.
State Rep. Woody Jenkins said he
would vote to change the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act and give states
more authority over reservation
gambling. He also said he would work
Control cont'd on 3
Narrangansetts try to thwart anti-gambling effort
By Melissa B Robinson
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Angry at
Sen. John Chafee's proposal to stop
their plan for high-stakes bingo in
southern Rhode Island, the
Narragansett Indian tribe is looking
for ways to thwart Chafee's efforts.
"I'm quite alarmed at this_ very, very
much alarmed," Medicine Man Lloyd
Wilcox said at a news conference
Tuesday.
Members of the tribe and their
attorneys are working Capitol Hill to
find sympathetic lawmakers who could
help them block Chafee's proposed
amendment to the 1997 spending bill
for the Interior Department.
The amendment is to be offered on
the floor of the Senate when the
spending bill is considered, probably
later this week or next.
It's too early to say whether the
Narragansetts will succeed, although
at least one senator who's a strong
supporter of tribes.,Daniel Inouye of
Hawaii, the ranking Democrat on the
Indian Affairs Committee, is on their
side.
"An assault on one tribe is an assault
on every tribe," said a senior
Democratic aide to the committee,
echoing remarks Inouye made earlier
Effort cont'd on 8