Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-10-04

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AIHCA loses funding as audit reveals up to
$500,000 missing
By Gary Blair
The American Indian Health Care
Association (AIHCA), which moved
its office from St. Paul to Denver over
a year ago, has lost its funding from
the U.S. office of the Indian Health
Service.
At one time AIHCA had been the
research arm for 36 urban Indian
clinics throughout the United States.
Francis Miller, AIHCA's former
executive director, says the health
service's audit revealed that $300,000
to $500,000 was missing from the
organization.
"The money that's unaccounted for
was received in the early 1990's and
a lot of it was used by the board of
directors (AIHCA's) and executive
staff to travel and lobby for unrelated
association business," Miller said.
When asked who the chair and
director of the organization were
during that time period, Miller
answered. "Noreen Smith was
AIHCA's board chairperson and Carol
Marquez Baines was the group's
executive director," he said.
Attempts to reach Smith and
Baines, who operate the Indian Health
Board in Minneapolis, for comment
were unsuccessful. However, a phone
call to IHB's attorney, Mr. Louis
Brenner of Bloomington, MN, was
favorable. Mr. Brenner's office asked
that a faxed copy of this article be sent
to him before they would consider
commenting. In a telephone interview
after faxing the article, attorney
Brenner disputed the accusation by
Miller about Smith using AIHCA
travel funds by stating that the AIHCA
still owed the IHB money for travel
performed by Ms. Smith on their
behalf.
For more than two years, the
Inspector General's Office of the U.S.
Public Health Service has been
conducting an investigation of the
Minneapolis Indian Health Board
(IHB). More recently, that probe has
included AIHCA. However,
according to IHB attorney Brenner,
the IHB has never been contacted by
the OIG regarding the AIHCA
investigation.
Miller says he was dismissed as
AIHCA's director after he fired the son
of chairperson Marjorie Bear Don't
Walk of the organization's board of
directors. "He was being paid nearly
$50,000 per year for an unrelated
health care position," Miller says. "I
had the office locks changed after the
person was let go. Then when I was
AIHCA cont'd on 3
Grand   Rapids  business  cleared  of
discrimination charge
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) _
The Minnesota Human Rights
Commissioner has dismissed a
discrimination charge against a Grand
Rapids business he accused last year
of charging American Indians more
than non-Indians.
Commissioner David Beaulieu has
acknowledged that his agency found
no truth to the charge he made against
Range Water Conditioning and its
owners, Dwight and Merry Moody.
Human Rights investigators found
that 26 customers, including an
American Indian, paid the same price
for one model softener and that 66
customers from all over northern
Minnesota paid the same price for the
company's most popular model.
The Moodys say they are relieved
but angry that Beaulieu didn't
announce their vindication via a
statewide news release like the one he
sent out in May 1995 at the time he
filed the charge. News of the dropped
charge this time came from the
Moodys' attorney, John Undem.
"It's the worst miscarriage of justice
caused by a bureaucracy I've ever
seen," Undem said.
Beaulieu admitted Friday the case
was handled badly and that he changed
department policy on news releases
soon after a story about the case
appeared in July 1995. He said the
department won't announce a case to
the news media until after it "has an
answer from the respondent and the
file is in order."
Charge cont'd on 8
Cass Lake-Bena School superintendent
promises better English work
CASS LAKE, Minn. (AP) _ Many
American Indian students in the Cass
Lake-Bena School District aren't
proficient in English, and the U.S.
Justice Department says the district
must develop a program to help them.
Rather than objecting to the
department's orders, though, the
district's new superintendent says she
welcomes them as a chance to improve
education forall the district's students.
The Justice Department recently
upheld complaints against the Cass
Lake-Bena School District filed in
1994 and 1995 by American Indian
parents.
The parents complained, and the
Justice Department's Civil Rights
Division agreed, that the district has
failed to properly assess the language
needs of Indian students, who make
up 65 percent of the student body, and
to provide a program to meet those
needs.
"While most Native American
parents in the district identify English
as their primary language, children in
the community are raised by parents
and grandparents who speak the tribal
language, Ojibwe, or a variant of
Creole English, 'Indian English.'"
Assistant Attorney General Deval
Patrick said in a letter to the district.
"Native American children in the
Cass Lake-Bena public schools begin
elementary school with a language
deficit and lack exposure to standard
English," he continued. "These
children do not recover from the
deficit, which becomes progressively
worse as the child approaches the 12th
grade."
Mary Helen Pelton, who has been
Cass Lake-Bena Superintendent since
May, said district officials will go to
Washington this month to meet with
Narragansetts hope next
overturn Chafee provision
By Melissa B Robinson
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Narragansett Indians have put their
faith in an ardent defender of Indian
rights, Sen. Daniel Inouye, to overturn
a law blocking them from opening a
gambling hall in southern Rhode
Island.
"We are confident that this grossly
discriminatory action, which singles
our tribe out from all other federally
recognized tribes, will be reversed,"
said Randy Noka, the tribe's first
councilman, Tuesday.
Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii
who is vice chair of the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee, has promised
hearings during the 105th Congress,
which will convene in January, on the
provision, said Noka.
Noka said the tribe may also pursue
court action but he needed to consult
further with lawyers and other
members of the tribal council before
deciding.
"Narragansetts should not be treated
Time runs out on adoption legislation
WASHINGTON (AP) _ One of the
casualties of the early campaign-year
House recess was a bill to change the
rules for nontribal parents to adopt
American Indian children.
The Senate approved the legislation
late last week, but the bill didn't have
the depth of support needed to crack a
crowded House calendar.
Tribes, adoption attorneys and
lawmakers spent months negotiating
changes to the Indian Child Welfare
Act demanded on behalf of parents
who encountered difficulties adopting
children with scant Indian ancestry.
Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, led
the drive on the House side, and Sen.
John McCain, R-Ariz., negotiated the
compromise that passed the Senate.
Pryce told The Columbus Dispatch
the bill's failure this year created an
opportunity to push a different version
next year.
"I felt that something was better
than nothing, but at the same time I am
glad it did not move," she said in a
story published Tuesday.
The issue is complicated because
the tribes are sovereign, with special
status conveyed by treaties with the
U.S. government.
Backed by the Justice Department,
tribes objected to any legislation that
would dilute their sovereignty, while
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Loren
Omoto, former news director at
Minnesota Public Radio, will become
the first non-Indian administrator to
head the Native American Journalists
Association.
Omoto, an Asian American, has been
named executive director, the
association announced this week.
The Native American Journalists
Association, which bills itself as the
oldest organization serving American
Indian, Alaska native and Canadian
aboriginal journalists, has been without
an executive director since Ruth Denny
resigned in February.
The Minneapolis-based association
also announced that Paul DeMain
succeeds Keith Skenandore as
president. Skenandore, who resigned,
remains on the 11-member board of
directors.
AIHCA loses funding after audit reveals missing $
Finn, Pemberton report to prison; BIA denies vote
Historic meeting addresses Laramie treaty/ pg 3
Gambling regulator under fire at hearing/ pg 3
A Seventh Generation Amendment/ pg 8
Voice of the People
1
as second class citizens," Noka said at
a Capitol Hill news conference. "Our
tribe existed long before European
contact. We have a govemment-to-
government relationship with the
United States, like other tribes.
"Congress intended the (Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act) to apply to
all tribes, as the courts have ruled,
including us," he said.
At issue is a provision by Sen. John
Chafee, R-R.I., newly enacted into
Overturn cont'd on 8
adoption organizations wanted no
changes that might end confidentiality
for birth mothers and the National
Right to Life Committee wanted no
changes that would make adoption
more difficult and increased the
likelihood of more women choosing
abortion over adoption.
Pryce became involved in the Indian
adoption issue because of a Columbus,
Ohio, family whose attempt to adopt
twins who are 1/32 Porno Indian led to
extended litigation because the
children's ancestry was not revealed
by the parents, who live in California.
The Supreme Court has been asked
to hear the case.
Non-Indian to head Native American Journalists Association
Native
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Justice Department officials and
discuss their recommendations.
The school district will find out what
has worked elsewhere and bring in
consultants to enhance whatever new
programs are developed, she said.
"All we're looking for is changes in
the way the district is run to make sure
Indian students get a fair shake," said
attorney Steve Hirsh, who represents
the Indian parents. "I hope the district
sees this as an opportunity to make
changes they've needed to make for a
long time."
The superintendent said the Justice
Department findings may help the
district obtain funding to improve its
language programs.
"We can apply for a statewide grant
for teaching English as a second
language," Pelton said. "I didn't apply
for that this year because I thought our
children spoke English."
congress will
DeMain said the unanimous decision
to select Omoto sends a message that
the board is willing "to step outside its
traditional boundaries, if that's what's
best for the organization and its
members."
Omoto said he will resign as
president of the Minnesota chapter of
the Asian American Journalists
Association to avoid any possible
conflict of interest.
.^kip Finn, pictured here at a 1994 DFL fundraiser behind the wheel of one of his many purloined vehicles, began serving
a 57-month sentence October 3 at the Duluth federal prison camp. Tig Pemberton also started his 33-month stint.
Finn, Pemberton report to prison; BIA
denies vote on fellow convicts in office
By Jeff Armstrong
On the same day Leech Lake's ousted
chairman and a former tribal attorney
and judge reported to a Duluth prison
to begin serving time on federal
corruption charges, the Bureau of
Indian Affairs announced it would not
act on a petition to subject their coconspirators to a recall vote. According
to the federal regulations the Bureau
has loosely followed, its decision is
final.
The ruling exacerbates a political
crisis on the reservation and within the
six-reservation Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe, whose Executive Committee
(TEC) meets 2 p.m. Tuesday, October
8 in Hinckley to discuss the already
volatile issue of tribal land claims.
Ex-chairman Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton and former Leech Lake
attorney Harold "Skip" Finn reported
to the minimum security penal camp
around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 3. About
two hours later, acting BIA area
director Larry Morrin released his
decision that the Bureau would not
comply with its constitutional mandate
to schedule a reservation vote on
whether Dan Brown and Myron bills
—both of whom were convicted in the
same $1.1  million embezzlement
scheme—should remain in office.
While Morrin did not dispute the
validity of the signatures, or the fact
that the petitioners constituted the
required 20% of reservation adults, he
suggested that only the RBC itself could
make such a determination.
"Chairman Hunt noted he had
appointed a 3 person panel to validate
the petitions. The Constitution states
the Tribal Council (sic) 'shall consider
such notice,'" said Morrin. "The
Constitution provides no basis for the
procedure used to certify the Petitions.
Therefore, the petitions are being
Report cont'd on 3
Supreme court to decide Indian tribal court rights
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Supreme Court said Tuesday it will
decide whether an Indian tribal court
has the authority to preside over a
lawsuit stemming from an on-
reservation traffic accident involving
two non-Indians.
The justices voted to review a federal
appeals court ruling in a North Dakota
case that said no such authority exists.
The lower court's ruling is being
challenged by the Three Affiliated
Tribes of Fort Berthold in North
Dakota.
The tribe's reservation stretches
across about 1 million acres in the
west central portion of the state. North
Dakota Highway 8 passes through the
reservation, and was the scene of a
Nov. 9, 1990, collision between a car
driven by reservation resident Gisela
Fredericks and a gravel truck driven
by Lyle Stockert.
Mrs. Fredericks, wife of a tribal
member, sued Stockert and his
company, A-l Contractors, in tribal
court. The lawsuit, filed in behalf of
Mrs. Fredericks and her five children,
alleged negligence and sought $2
million in damages.
A-1 Contractors was working on the
reservation under a contract with a
construction company owned by the
tribe.
A federal judge and a three-judge
panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that the tribal court had
the authority to preside over Mrs.
Frederick's lawsuit.
But the entire 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals overturned those rulings
by an 8-3 vote.
"Because we have concluded that
no tribal interest... exists in this case,
we conclude that the tribe does not
retain the inherent sovereign power to
exercise ... jurisdiction over this
dispute through its tribal court," the
appeals court ruled.
In the appeal acted on Tuesday,
lawyers for the Three Affiliated Tribes
argued the tribe has a keen interest in
"ensuring safety on its highways on its
reservation."
The case is Strate vs.  A-l
Contractors, 95-1872.
U.S. approves Navajo-Hopi land settlement act
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The. U.S
House has approved legislation aimed
at ending a longstanding land dispute
between the Navajo and Hopi Indian
tribes in northern Arizona.
The House on Saturday night approved
the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute
Settlement Act, which passed in the
Senate a day earlier, said Rita Sebastian,
a lobbyist for some 250 Navajo families
who live on Hopi Partitioned Land.
While the passage of the bill drew
praise from Arizona's senators,
Sebastian said the settlement was a blow
to the Navajo families living on Hopi
land.
"Fundamentally, the rights of these
people are being taken away," Sebastian
said Sunday from Washington. "There's
been a lot of harassment during this
negotiation process."
Sebastian said she and other opponents
were rallying to try and stop President
Clinton from signing the bill.
Under the act, the Hopi tribe will drop
several lawsuits against the federal
government and allow the Navajo
families to keep living on the HPL under
75-year leases, which include conditions.
In return, the government will give the
Hopis $50.2 million, which they may
use to buy up to 500,000 acres of trust
land in northern Arizona. The land would
then be considered part of the reservation.
The Navajo families have been told to
sign the 75-year lease or face eviction by
Dec. 31, even though the deadline is
much later, Sebastian said.
Officials for the Navajo and Hopi
tribes could not be reached for comment
over the weekend.
The two tribes have been quarreling
over the land since the 1800s. The
settlementwasworkedoutafterafederal
judge in 1991 ordered the tribes to reach
an agreement on their longstanding
battle.
The Hopis must get 85 percent of the
Navajos living on the HPL to agree to a
75-year lease in order to receive the full
$50.2 million from the government.