Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1996-11-08

              ■■'■:■■ >'<':■-■ ■f-;-:-:::-
TEC makes concessions as MCT reform
movement gains momentum
By Jeff Armstrong
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribal
Executive Committee agreed to revoke
the MCT election ordinance and
require primaries on all six
reservations, as a broad-based group
of more than 100 tribal members stood
behind demands for a return to
constitutional government at a Nov. 7
TEC meeting in Brainerd.
Tribal activists headed off a proposal
by the White Earth RBC to authorize
individual reservations to decide
whether to allow primary elections.
White Earth attorney Zenas Baer had
argued that the RBC was attempting
to deal swiftly with a heated political
dispute and to comply with the
constitutional requirement of a
majority vote.
The constitution, however, also
mandates that all tribal elections be
held under a common election
ordinance. "It has to be uniform. If we
talk about whether White Earth has to
run a primary, all of them have to run
a primary," said Dale Hanks.
"You talk about election reform and
the ordinance. Election Ordinance # 5
is totally unconstitutional," said Hanks.
"It was put together by a crooked
regime with crooked lawyers."
The TEC rescinded Election
Ordinance #5, replacing it with an
amended version of Ordinance #4
which schedules primaries 60 days
before general elections and 30 days
before special elections. Although
Leech Lake's special election
announced this week was originally
exempted from the measure, the TEC
followed up with a resolution to
include it.
Leech Lake RBC chairman Eli Hunt
introduced Election Ordinance m>,
which he said would merely set Leech
Lake's secretary treasurer elec
back 30 days. The original voting
of Dec. 19 would stand as the primary
date.
Al Fairbanks, a Hunt opponent who
filled Leech Lake's vacant TEC seat
at the meeting, said he welcomed
primaries and constitutional change,
but he refused comment on a petition
filed for his removal.
Reform cont'd on 3
Lawsuit of former Treasure Island Casino
employee continues
By Gary Blair
By seeking her day in Tribal Court
for wrongful dismissal, a former
Treasure Island Casino employee has
helped expose the continuing abuse of
sovereign immunity by tribal leaders
and the exploitation of casino profits
by appointed tribal judges and
reservation attorneys.
After two years of legal cat and
mouse games by tribal attorneys that
represent the Prairie Island Indian
Community, it appears their efforts to
increase legal fees in this case is about
to come to an end.
PRESS sources say attorneys who
represent Indian reservations charge
more for their services, because they
have to deal with Indian law.
Sally Matsch and her attorney,
Craig Greenberg, alleged in her
lawsuit against the Treasure Island
Casino the following: a breach of
contract, age and race discrimination,
fraud, statutory misrepresentation,
promissory estoppel, intentional
infliction of emotional distress and
negligent infliction of emotional
distress.
In laymen's terms, they fired her
illegally, they discriminated against
her because of age and her race (she
is white). They claimed that they did
not refill Matsch's position at the
casino after she was terminated. The
lawsuit alleges that the casino did
replace Matsch, and with a younger
person.
Greenberg says Prairie Island's legal
counsel cited case law in its appeal
that did not apply in the case and that
they had tried to offer his client a
different job that paid much less.
Matsch claims in her lawsuit that she
suffered emotional distress after
losing her job and her employer knew
and did nothing about it.
Matsch's lawsuit was filed in
Goodhue County District Court on
Nov. 18,1994. On Dec. 19, 1994, the
Court rules DWI laws apply to reservations
By Pat Doyle
Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer
The U.S. Supreme Court decision
allowing Indian tribes to run casinos
doesn't permit tribal members to drive
drunk with impunity on reservations,
the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled
Tuesday.
The casino decision "does not
support denying the state the right to
prohibit intoxicated persons from
driving, even when those intoxicated
persons are tribal members driving on
a reservation," the Appeals Court
wrote.
Judges rejected the argument of a
White Earth Chippewa woman who
said the state lacked authority to
revoke her driver's license because the
Supreme Court curbed state
regulatory power over tribes in its
1987 casino decision.
The Appeals Court said the state
doesn't regulate drunken driving but
prohibits it, so the historic casino
ruling doesn't limit Minnesota
drunken-driving laws on reservations.
Moreover, the Appeals Court noted
that while casinos advanced tribal
economic interests, "there is no
federal or tribal interest to be
advanced by permitting tribal
members to drive on reservations
while intoxicated."
In the case at issue, tribal member
Amelia Bray was stopped while
driving on a road in Mahnomen
County, which is entirely within the
Bagley police defend actions
Feds subpoena Leech Lake gaming records/ pg 5
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe to hold primaries/ pg 1
Prairie Island sued by ex-employee/ pg 1
White Earth fraud audit complete/ pg 8
Cass Lake council election results/ pg 6
Voice of the People
1
court ruled that it had "subject matter
jurisdiction in the case." Attorney
Leif Rassmussen represented the
casino/Prairie Island community
during the hearing. "Defendants
alleged that defense of sovereign
immunity did not apply to bar
plaintiff's claim; that evidence
suggests that Defendants had a
functioning tribal court in place and
that Plaintiff was required to exhaust
her tribal court remedies."
The judge agreed with the
defendants, and Greenberg then
refiled Matsch's complaint in the
Prairie Island tribal court on January
30, 1995. On Feb. 14, 1995,
defendants asserted sovereign
immunity. "That was nearly a full year
after the State Court had made its first
ruling in the matter," Greenberg says.
The following are contained in
Greenberg's statement of the case to
the State of Minnesota Court of
Suit cont'd on 3
Native
Fifty Cents
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We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded In 1988
Volume 9   Issue 4
November 8. 1996
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A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Pren,  1 996
White Earth Indian Reservation.
A police officer read her the
implied-consent advisory, and she
agreed to a breath test. The test
showed a blood-alcohol content c£
0.17 percent - nearly twice the legal
limit. Her license was revoked.
Appeals Judge Doris Huspeni wrote
that neither the White Earth Band nor
the federal government has asserted
sovereign powers to administer
drunken-driving tests on reservations.
"There is no forum other than the
state court to address this issue,"
Huspeni wrote.
This article is-reprinted from the
Wednesday, November 6, 1996,
edition of the Minneapolis Star
Tribune.
Old Crossing Treaty memorial which commemorates the location were the treaty of 1863-64 was signed,
the statue is located on the Red Lake River about seven miles southwest of Red Lake Falls MN.
Order restrains Hunt   Ruling by the mctcoun
Photo by WJL
By Nate Bowe
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
Friends of a Bagley man killed in a
murder-suicide say the police could
have done more to prevent the tragedy,
but a Bagley police officer says the
department did all it could and its
quick response time prevented more
bloodshed.
According to police reports, the
shootings occurred about 12:04 a.m.
Sunday, when Alvin Lee Neeland, 25,
broke into the home of his ex-
girlfriend and shot and killed her
roommate, Henry Earl Gibson, 20.
Natalie Godwin, his former
girlfriend and mother of his two boys,
ages 3 and 6, was in the house when
Neeland broke in, but she pushed the
.03-06 rifle away and ran out of the
home.
Neeland killed himself a short time
later with a shot to the head in a
wooded area about 100 yards behind
the house.
Bagley police should have done
more to prevent the shootings,
according to Godwin's friend, Rhonda
Bestul of Bagley. Neeland had
allegedly violated a restraining order,
had been drinking and using illegal
drugs for weeks in violation of his
• probation, but she doesn't believe the
police ever went looking for him to
arrest him.
"Hank (Gibson) did not deserve to
die, it should not have happened,"
Bestul said Thursday. "As far as I'm
concerned, he was a hero."
Neeland had a long criminal history,
including five convictions for fifth-
degree assault, two for driving while
intoxicated and one each fourth- and
fifth- degree criminal sexual conduct,
according to the Bagley Farmers
Independent.
Bestul said she was there when
Neeland violated the restraining order
on Friday.
Neeland was at Godwin's home to
take his 6-year-old son to Bemidji for
a haircut. But the boy's shoes were
nowhere to be found, and Bestul said
Neeland grew more and more angry
as they searched for the shoes. He
thought Godwin had hidden the shoes
to prevent the trip, Bestul said.
"He was calling her every filthy
name in the hook, backing her into
corners. I tried to stay between them.
The kids were there. Natalie was just
crying, she was really shaking."
Neeland left when the people he
was riding with said they were leaving
with or without him. But Bestul said
he told Godwin, "You've messed with
me, you've come between me and my
kids - you just made yourself an
enemy."
That same day Godwin and Bestul
went to the Clearwater County Court
CASS LAKE - The Minnesota
Chippewa Tribal Court has issued a
permanent restraining order against
Eli Hunt, who has been locked in a
power struggle with the Leech Lake
Band's Reservation Tribal Council
since Hunt was elected chairman in
June.
The order prohibits Hunt from
attempting to unilaterally govern the
band by hiring and firing employees
without Tribal Council approval, and
from calling Tribal Council meetings
and adjourning them without
approval, according to a news release
from the Tribal Council.
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribal
Court's order, dated Oct. 28, makes
permanent a previous temporary
restraining order, which Hunt has
ignored. The Tribal Council members
expect he will also ignore this order,
according to the news release.
"We have tried to work with
Chairman Hunt, and hope that we can
still find a way to work together to
improve the lives of our people," said
Tribal Council member Myron Ellis.
"Hunt must understand that he is not
above the law," added Tribal Council
member Jack Seelye. "There arc
bylaws, a constitution, and policies
that were developed to ensure a
decent, fair government for the people
of Leech Lake.
The court found that:
Order cont'd on 6
Shakopee membership rules up to tribe
By Pat Doyle
Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer
The Shakopee Mdewakanton
Dakota Community has sole authority
to decide who qualifies as a tribal
member and to share the wealth of
Mystic Lake Casino, a U.S. Court of
Appeals panel ruled Thursday.
The ruling allows the band to
continue enrolling people — mostly
children and grandchildren of
members — who have less
Mdewakanton blood than once
required. Others within the band had
opposed lowering the eligibility
standard and asked the federal courts
to intervene.
But a three-judge panel of the U.S.
8th Circuit Court of Appeals said the
federal government shouldn't get
involved.
"We find that this case is most
properly left to tribal authorities, in
whom the discretion over tribal
membership determinations is
vested," the Appeals Court wrote.
Disputes over membership have
occurred within many tribes over the
years, but nowhere in Minnesota are
the stakes higher than for the
Shakopee, whose casino is believed
to be among the most profitable in the
United States.
Shakopee tribal members arc
eligible to share in casino profits
estimated at more than $450,000 per
person annually.
Opponents of the lowered
membership standard argued that it
dilutes the culture of the band. The
previous standard required all but a
few people on a 1969 tribal roll to
have at least one-fourth Mdewakanton
blood.
Supporters of lowering the standard
accused opponents, including former
Tribal Chairman Leonard Prescott, of
Members cont'd on 6
Actions cont'd on 3    Turtle Mountain tribe has fourth election in two years
Cherokees appeal decision regarding Delawares separation
TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Cherokee
Nation attorneys have filed an appeal
to a federal judge's ruling that severs
the tribe's 130-year relationship with
the Delaware Tribe.
U.S. District Judge Charles Richey
in Washington upheld a U.S. Interior
Department decision to approve the
separation on Friday.
The appeal filed on Monday
challenged the agency's ability to
make the decision, saying only
Congress could divorce the two tribes.
"No impact studies were done on
the effect of the split," said Lisa Finley,
Cherokee Nation press secretary. "The
due diligence hasn't been done."
The Delawares say economic
development for the tribe is at stake.
They hailed the Sept. 23 decision by
Assistant Secretary Ada Deer that
rescinded a 1979 Bureau of Indian
Affairs decision, which treated the
Delawares as a part of the Cherokee
Nation.
"It's our contention that we didn't
buy membership in the (nation), we
just bought the right to be treated as
members of the (nation)." Russell Ellis.
Delaware tribal manager, said of the
1866 treaty that brought the Delaware
from Kansas to Indian Territory.
"Just because we moved south, we
didn't stop being one."
If the split holds up in court, the two
tribes would have to determine tribal
membership.
Ms. Finley said the Cherokees are
concerned about separation of the
lands.
"The Delawares have been made
citizens of the (nation) and treated as
members of the (nation)," Ms. Finley
said. "We have to take a look at this
from theChcrokee-Delaware position.
"Whatever decision is made is going
to affect people up there."
She noted that the 4.000-member
tribe would have a considerably lower
capacity than the 150.000-member
Cherokee tribe would to provide
services to its people.
Gina Carrigan. the Delaware's legal
counsel, questioned Cherokees' fight.
"We won. They won't let go."
BELCOURT, N.D. (AP) _
Tuesday's election on the Turtle
Mountain Indian Reservation will be
the fourth during a two-year political
struggle forthe tribal chair and council.
In addition to the 1994 general
election, tribal members also voted in
two recall elections.
This week's ballot contains a large
field of candidates, and tribal officials
are predicting a high voter turnout.
In the 1994 general election, 4,700
tribal members voted, according to
the tribe's enrollment office.
"I 'm kind of thinking it's going to be
more this year." said Sharon Trottier.
chairwoman of the tribe's election
board. "It will probably be closer to
5.000 or 6.000."
There are 6.750 eligible voters on
the reservation, according to the
enrollment office. If 6,000 vote on
Tuesday, turnout will be close to 90
percent. In comparison, turnout in U.S.
general elections usually hovers
around 50 percent.
Ten candidates are vying to replace
Tribal Chairwoman Twila Martin
Kekahbah. whose administration has
been embroiled in controversy from
the day she took office in January
1995. Kekahbah also is running aga in.
Tribal members voted six
councilmen out of office in a recall
election five months after the 1994
general election. Kekahbah and the
remain ingtwocouncil mem bers_Matt
McLeod and Gaillord Peltier _ then
appointed six replacements.
One week after the six appointees
were inaugurated, tribal members
voted Kekahbah. McLeod and Peltier
out of office in anotherrecall election.
However, those three refused to
recognize the second recall. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs later
recognized the three, along with the
appointed six council members, as the
tribe's government.
This year's race for the eight seats
on the tribal council features 80
candidates _ six more than in 1994.
For the first time, residents in each of
the four districts on the reservation
will vote for council representatives
for all districts. In previous elections,
residents voted only for representatives
in their own districts. The two
candidates in each district who receive
the most votes reservation-wide will
win the seats.
Eight candidates ran for tribal chair
in 1994.
Kekahbah acknowledged that this
year's election_ regardless of the victor
_ is not likely to end the tribal turmoil.