Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-09-20

              :■
Judge Davis sets Finn's restitution at
$400,000 reduces fine to $25,000
By Gary Blair
U.S. District Court Judge Michael
J. Davis has reduced former
Minnesota State Senator Harold R.
"Skip" Finn's fine that he imposed
during his recent sentencing of the
Leech Lake band member.
Davis tempered his original
$100,000 fine to $25,000 and set
Finn's restitution requirement at
$400,000 instead of the $100,000.00
that the U. S. Attorney's office in
Minneapolis said it had requested.
The imprisonment portion of the
order reads in-part as follows: "The
defendant is hereby committed to the
custody of the United States Bureau
of Prisons to be imprisoned for a term
of 57 MONTHS on each of counts 1,
2,4,5,7, 10, 11, 13, 14,20,21 and
22, to be served concurrently (at the
same time).
"The Court makes the following
recommendations to the Bureau of
Prisons: that the defendant be
incarcerated at the facility in Duluth,
Minnesota. The defendant shall
surrender to the place of incarceration
designated by the Bureau of Prisons,
or if no place of incarceration has been
designated by the following date, to
the office of the U.S. Marshall in St.
Paul, MN by 12:00 noon on Thursday,
October 3, 1996."
The court order date Sept. 16,1996,
reads in-part as follows: "The
defendant shall pay a fine of
$25,000.00. This fine includes any
costs of incarceration and supervision.
This fine (plus any interest required)
shall be paid immediately.
"In ordering restitution be made,
this Court shall consider the amount
of loss sustained by the victim, the
financial resources of the Defendant,
the financial needs and earning ability
of the Defendant and his dependents,
and other factors the Court deems
appropriate. The Defendant shall
make restitution to the following
persons in the following amounts:
Name of Payee, Leech Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians, R.R. 3, Box 100,
Cass Lake, MN 56633. Amount of
Restitution, $400,000.00.
"Payments of restitution are to be
made to the Clerk of U.S. District
Court for transfer to the payee.
Restitution shall be paid in quarterly
installments, to be completed by the
end of the defendant's term of
supervised release."
The court order also says Finn will
serve 3 years of supervised release
after    he    is    released    from
Finn cont'd on 6
Leech Lake attorneys argue for state
court intervention against chairman
By Jeff Armstrong
Cass County district judge John Smith
heard oral arguments Wednesday in a
civil suit filed on behalf of the
Reservation Business Committee
against its chairman, Eli Hunt.
Filed Aug. 28 by attorneys under
contract with Leech Lake, the
complaint requests state intervention
to enforce a tribal court order
restricting the chairman's authorities
and reversing his appointments to top
administrative posts.
"The plaintiff has moved the court to
recognize and give effect to the ruling
of a three judge panel of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe," said Leech Lake
attorney Steve Thorne. "The plaintiff
does not believe that the underlying
tribal law issues be relitigated in this
court."
Hunt's attorney, Zenas Baer, argued
that the state has no legal authority to
determine the respective powers of
Leech Lake officials, nor to enforce a
ruling from a court with no adherence
to constitutional norms.
"It seems to me the court must first
determine whether this court has
subject matter and personal
jurisdiction before it can even entertain
the notion," said Baer, seeking
summary dismissal of the suit. In a
similar case last year, a federal judge
ruled that New York had no right to
intervene in a Seneca Nation
leadership dispute, although a faction
opposing recently elected president
Dennis Bowen brought the issue to the
state Supreme Court.
Citing Thome's own brief and a
subsequentjudge's ruling for dismissal
of a federal suit by tribal members
against indicted Leech Lake officials,
Baer said the disaffected RBC
members should utilize the same
removal/recall petition process
validated and served upon three of the
four plaintiffs. "This court has no more
jurisdiction to interfere in an intratribal
dispute than the federal government."
Although a recall petition has been
circulated against Hunt without
apparent success, Thorne said such a
move would be "like dropping an atom
bomb on Canada over a fishing
dispute." At the same time, however,
his brief alludes to violence if the
court fails to act.
Baer noted that the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribal Court, also known
as the Tribal Appellate Court, was
State cont'd on 4
tribal law issues De reiitigatea in tnis   suosequenijuagesruiingioruisinis;>ai   ^icii^ oui iiuunt
Missing HOTESS money the focus of a
channel 2 report
By Gary Blair
An Aug. 30, 1996, article by the
PRESS, entitled, "New director's
resignation further shakes HOTESS
school," received additional attention
this week in a report that aired on Twin
Cities Public Television's News Night
Minnesota program.
The news segment reported by Ken
Stone featured Sid Simonson, who
recently resigned as director of the
Heart of the Earth Survival School
(HOTESS), and Clyde Bellecourt,
chairman of the school's board of
directors. Simonson had told the
PRESS three weeks ago that there was
an undisclosed amount of money
missing at the 24 year old Native
American alternative school whose
annual budget had been nearly three
million dollars.
Simonson had been the troubled
school's third director in less than
three years. Sources at the school say
the amount that's reported to be
missing is $88,000. However,
Simonson said during his interview
with Stone that the amount could be
even higher.
Just over three years ago, former
HOTESS director Eddie Benton
resigned after $200,000 was alleged
to be missing at the school. Sources
at the school who said they were
scared to have their names used
reported that after Benton left the
"books were cooked for three
months."
Annual enrollment for the K-12
school is just over 200 students and
nearly 2/3 of the funds that the school
has received are federal dollars. This
Judge Davis sets Finn's restitution at $400,000
LL attorneys argue for state court intervention
Missing HOTESS money the focus of report
Red Lake Tribal Council minutes/ pgs 5 & 8
MCT attorney & law firm dangerous/ pg 6
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year Simonson reported that the
school's budget is down by $90,000
with some hope of raising additional
support. "There will be teacher
layoffs if we cannot raise the needed
funds," he said the day after he
resigned from the school.
However, sources presently
employed at the school, who ask that
their names not be used out of fear of
Clyde Bellecourt, say the budget
shortfall is due in large part to a
lawsuit that was filed against one of
the foundation funders by former
HOTESS director Timothy Woodhull.
They "say the rest is due to recent
government cutbacks that have
affected the school.
News Night Minnesota has covered
other controversies which occurred at
Report cont'd on 6
Treaty issues continue to be an explosive issue, as in the times of Chief Joseph and Col. W.F. Cody.
Photos from a recent 8 part series on PBS entitled "The West." Check your local listings for times.
Clinton administration issues veto threat
over Chafee amendment
By Melissa B Robinson
WASHINGTON (AP) _ U.S.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will
ask President Clinton to veto the 1997
spending bill for his, agency if it
includes a freeze on new Indian casinos
next year.
At issue is an amendment drafted by
Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., that would
block the Narragansett Indians from
launching high-stakes bingo on their
tribal lands in southern Rhode Island.
More broadly, the amendment would
also impose a one-year moratorium
on other, new Indian gaming compacts.
That could, for instance, delay the
Wampanoags' plan for a casino in
New Bedford if the state and tribe
reach agreement next year and seek
federal approval before Oct. 1, 1997.
Babbitt told Chafee, in a Sept. 12
letter, that he will recommend that
Clinton veto the bill if it includes the
amendment, which Chafee is expected
to offer on the Senate floor this week.
The amendment would "unfairly
single out an individual tribe (the
Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island)
by permanently denying them the
ability to engage in any gaming on
their reservation," Babbitt wrote.
Also, the moratorium on new
compacts would deny tribes the ability
to use gambling revenues to improve
theirpeople's lives, Babbitt said. Since
Clinton cont'd on 5
Judge dismisses Menominee treaty claim Oneidas feud over land purchases
By Michael C Buelow
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The
Menominee Indian tribe gave up their
hunting and fishing rights on millions
of acres of eastern and central
Wisconsin, a federal judge ruled
Tuesday.
The 7,000-member tribe claimed in
a January 1995 lawsuit that it never
gave up those off-reservation rights
on public lands it ceded to the federal
government 150 years ago.
U.S. District Court Judge Barbara
Crabb said the tribe gave up those
rights in treaties signed in 1831 and
1848, even though historical records
indicate that the tribe may have been
misled about the ramifications of the
first treaty.
"No matter how bad the deal, it is
not within the court's province to
rewrite it," Crabb said.
State officials applauded the
decision, saying it would help avoid
conflicts like those that resulted in the
late 1980s on northern Wisconsin boat
landings over Chippewa Indian treaty
rights, and fishing and hunting quotas
on non-Indians.
"It is one of the few cases in this
century that a judge has ruled that the
language of the treaty was clear on its
face" and stands today, Attorney
General James Doyle Jr. said. "It is
one of the most significant, important
decisions for the state of Wisconsin in
many, many years."
Crabb said the tribe had 20 months
to research the treaties and find facts
to support their claims, but failed.
The tribe argued that its 19th century
ancestors relied so heavily on hunting
and fishing to live, that it would have
never given up those rights.
But Crabb ruled it did and a mistake
doesn't release it from the treaty.
She also said the 1831 treaty allowed
the tribe to exercise its rights on lands
it ceded to the government until the
lands were "surveyed or sold by the
president," which occurred in 1834.
The tribe appeared to understand the
meaning of that term, she said.
Crabb did note that historical records
indicate the tribe may have been misled
about the ramifications of the 1831
treaty.
Menominee Chief Gau-a-tau said
during treaty negotiations in 1831 that
the government told him that land
west of the Fox River "would remain
the tribe's as long as its members
Treaty cont'd on 6
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) _ The
Oneida Indian Tribe of New York is
accusing its Wisconsin branch of
breaking a promise not to seek to buy
reservation land in New York while a
land claim is still pending.
The New York Oneidas contend
Wisconsin tribal officials are willing
to undo years of sensitive negotiations
that led to a possible $300 million
settlement of the claim. The case stems
from the 1700s, before the Wisconsin
Oneidas moved here from the east.
Tim Close, a public affairs consultant
for the New York branch, said the
New York Oneidas discovered that
their Wisconsin counterparts were
planning to buy land in New York.
Close said the New York Oneidas
want the Wisconsin tribe to live up to
a pledge they made in 1990.
He referred to a letter dated Sept.
26, 1990, from Rick Hill, then
chairman of the Wisconsin Oneidas,
directed to Chief Ray Halbritter in
New York.
"Our government has no intention
of establishing a Wisconsin Oneida
government in New York," Hill told
Oneida Chief Ray Halbritter in New
York in a letter dated Sept. 26, 1990.
A 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
voided a 1795 treaty transferring the
Oneidas' lands to New York State.
Halbritter said the move by the
Wisconsin Oneidas may jeopardize
settlement of the dispute.
"We finally have within reach a
reasonable way to end this, a way to
protect our rights to our land and that
generously compensates the other
parties to the lawsuit who haven't lived
in New York for a long time,"
Halbritter said. "It is disheartening to
think all of this may be sacrificed by
leaders who in the past have said they
Oneida cont'd on 5
Court says brewer can use Crazy Horse name
Tribal leaders upset with nuclear-waste
storage recommendation
ST. PAUL (AP)_Top staff members
of the Environmental Quality Board
have recommended that the proposed
site for nuclear-waste storage in
Goodhue County be rejected.
The staff members this week
proposed dropping the Florence
Township site, leaving the radioactive
spent fuel at Northern States Power
Company's Prairie Island plant for an
indefinite amount of time.
The EQB staff members concluded
that NSP's proposed storage site in
Florence Township just southeast of
Red Wing is not "comparable" to the
existing area on utility property at
Prairie Island because of the risks of
handling and transporting highly
radioactive wastes.
Although the recommendation is not
a final decision, it will carry
considerable weight with the 15-
member EQB when it votes on the
issue next month.
Prairie Island Dakota tribal members
consistently have opposed storage of
nuclear wastes near their community
for health and safety reasons. Tribal
leaders on Thursday said they were
upset with the recommendation.
The Legislature in 1994 directed
NSP to search for an alternative site in
Goodhue County away from the
reservation. NSP has spent $2.5
million so far on searching, proposing
and reviewing the alternative site, said
NSP regulatory projects manager Jim
Alders.
Tribal Vice President Darelynn
Lehto said if the EQB follows the
recommendation, the tribe will take
the necessary legal steps to protect its
interests.
By Rochelle Olson
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ A
Minnesota law banning the use of the
name Crazy Horse for malt liquor
violates the First Amendment right to
free speech, the state Court of Appeals
ruled.
The court said Tuesday that the
Legislature failed to explain why
prohibiting only the use of American
Indian names protected the public from
misleading names.
The court said the 1994 law is
"impermissibly content-based, and,
therefore, invalid."
The law allowed the state to reject
or revoke registration of a malt liquor
brand label if it states or implies a
false or misleading connection with
an actual American Indian leader,
living or dead. The state ordered Crazy
Horse banned in late 1995.
Officials with the estate of Crazy
Horse pledged to continue the fight
against the use of his name, especially
because the revered 19th century Sioux
leader opposed alcohol consumption
and predicted devastating
consequences for his people if they
drank.
An attorney for the Minnesota Civil
Liberties Union working on behalf of
Hornell Brewing Co. of Brooklyn,
N.Y., which sold "The Original Crazy
Horse Malt Liquor," said the court
made the right decision.
"This (the law) is nothing more than
a pretext for suppressing speech that
people were offended by," lawyer
Randall Tigue said. "It makes no
difference whether it's racist."
Robert Gough, an attorney for the
estate of Crazy Horse in Rosebud,
S.D., said he was disappointed, but
that no decision had been made with
the state attorney general's office on
whether to appeal to the state Supreme
Court.
"It's unfortunate that Indian people
have to go to these lengths to protect
the names of their political and
religious leaders, but if anything this
would be a minor setback in the overall
effort to remove the name of Crazy
Horse from a malt liquor bottle," he
said.
A similar matter is pending in the
tribal courts in South Dakota.
"We're sure ;hat this will help there,"
said Francie Patton, a spokeswoman
for Hornell. "It's all based on the right
of First Amendment."
Gough also was optimistic, saying
"Crazy Horse has been a hero of the
people for over a hundred years and a
few years of litigation is certainly not
going to change that."
Crazy Horse, whose name in Lakota
was Tasunke Witko, was killed at Fort
Robinson, Neb., in 1877.