Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-01-03

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
A proud family
wishes to share their
good news with the
Native American
community
page 4
Cops and the
Community:
Mediation in
Minneapolis
page 4
Attempt to fulfill
reform promise road
blocked
page 4
In response to Mike
Garbow's letter to Leech
Lake Secretary Treasurer
page 4
The jail drum
page 4
.-
H ■
Leech Lake RBC attempts
LaRose seeks new
By Bill Lawrence
According to court documents
Press/ON received just prior to
press time, attorneys for the Leech
Lake RBC filed a motion dated
January 2,2003 in Leech Lake
Tribal Court to dismiss Arthur
"Archie" LaRose's request for an
emergency Temporary Restraining
Older (TRO) based upon tribal
sovereign immunity. The Motion
appears to be in contravention of
Leech Lake Tribal ordinance No.
97-01, which purports to waive
sovereign immunity in favor of the
Leech Lake Tribal Court concerning disputes between officers of the
Leech Lake RBC.
In addition, the Leech Lake
RBC is challenging LaRose's claim
that 13 of the petition signatories
are not residents of the Leech Lake
Reservation, the RBC alleges that
to hide behind sovereign immunity in LaRose TRO suit
TRO hearing
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
Plaintiff LaRose acted in "Bad
Faith, Bad Acts," by "making unsupported allegations and defamatory statements" with regard to
some of the defendants and disputes LaRose's claim that he
wasn't legally served with notice of
the December 30 hearing date.
LaRose denies the RBC's allegations.
With regard to the stipulation
that was requested by attorneys for
the RBC and agreed to by LaRose
and the three RBC members, to
stay the RBC hearing until one
week after the Tribal Court hears
the pending petition on or about
January 15,2003, attorneys for the
RBC stated in their Motion in response to the TRO that "The Council Members effectively revoked
the authority previously granted to
the Tribal Attorney to execute the
stipulation to maintain the status
quo and to continue the removal
hearing."
In response, LaRose's attorney
Randy Thompson of St. Paul filed
a new Motion for an Emergency
TRO stopping and staying the hearing of the RBC for the Removal/
Recall of LaRose which has been
rescheduled by the RBC for 10:00
am on January 6,2003.
LaRose's TRO documents requests the Leech Lake Tribal Court
to hear the TRO on January 6,
2003 at 9:00 a.m.
Leech Lake tribal attorneys
Frank Bibeau and Joseph Plumer
are representing the three Leech
Lake RBC members. The Leech
Lake tribal attorneys had not returned Press/ONs phone calls by
press time, and LaRose's attorney
is out of town.
Leech Lake RBC defies tribal court, orders Monday
hearing on LaRose recall petition
By Jeff Armstrong
In violation of a tribal court order
to withhold action on a petition to
remove secretary treasurer Archie
LaRose pending a court hearing, the
three Leech Lake RBC district representatives scheduled a Jan. 6 public hearing on the charges, which
stem from the secretary treasurer's
attempts to procure a wide-ranging
audit of reservation finances.
Characterizing the recall petition
as an unconstitutional attempt to
block the second phase of a forensic
audit scheduled to begin Jan. 7,
LaRose called on all tribal members
supportive of building democracy
and fighting corruption to attend the
10 am meeting Monday at the Palace Casino's Paradise Room.
LaRose, who attracted nearly
60% of the vote in last June's election and indirectly in the October recall of Eli Hunt, warned that the
RBC might go so far as to remove
him from office outright on Monday
without submitting the petition to
reservation voters. While disputing
the validity of the petition, LaRose
said any fair hearing would conclude that he is being taken to task
for performing his duties as secretary treasurer to 'Procure an independent audit of the accounting
records of the Band at least once a
year," as defined by the MCT constitutional bylaws.
"All I've ever asked for was for
due process," said LaRose. "I still
haven't gotten it."
LaRose filed for a tribal court injunction against the RBC recall effort
on Dec. 19, basing bis challenge in
large part on the inclusion of off-reservation voter signatures by the
RBC-appointed validation committee—in contravention of the express
terms of the MCT Constitution,
which under Article X requires the
petition signatures of 20% of the
reservation's "resident eligible voters."
According to a minority report by
three dissenting members of tiie
validation committee, the committee
certified ofF-reservation signatures
from voters in Walker, Deer River,
Grand Rapids, Cohasset, and even
Minneapolis who "feel they live on
the reservation." Four of the seven
committee members certified 476
signatures, slightly more than the
451 required to constitute 20% of
the actual on-reservation eligible
voters (without including off-reservation members with a subjective
sense of residency). The Dec. 13
minority report, however, stuck to
the constitution and struck an additional 33 signatures as invalids—including one apparent forgery—and
approved only 443 of (he 451 required names.
Petition opponent Jessica Tibbetts
of Bena said she was outraged that
"Race" a fiction used to justify slavery and conquest,
experts write
by Clara NiiSka
For federally-recognized Indian
people whose identity depends on
politically certified "blood quantum," government-sanctioned pedigrees, and likely soon-to-come
DNA analysis underwriting certain
claims to "Indian-ness," notions of
biological "race" might easily seem
to be a bedrock aspect of reality.
"Race" as understood by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century
anthropologists was instrumental in
forming federal "Indian" policy.
Most Indian people in Minnesota
are aware of the arrogant use of
"white blood" as a defining characteristic of legal competence in the
Clapp amendment [Act of June 21,
1906,34 Stat, at L. 325, chap.
3504]. U.S. Courts' presumption
of white racial supremacy and acceptance of "the competency of the
white man and the incompetency of
the Indians" underlay white judges'
"reasonable" assumption "in making a classification based on blood
to include in the competent class all
who have more than one-half white
blood and in the incompetent class
all who have more than one-half
Indian blood." Holy Trinity Church
v. United States, 143 U.S. 457.
The purported potency of "white
blood" in engendering "competent"
people was stretched even further
in United States v. First National
Bank of Detroit, Minnesota;
United States v. Nichols-Chisholm
Lumber Company; United States v.
Nichols-Chisholm Lumber
Company, 234 U.S. 245 (1914).
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
any "Chippewa Indian having an
identifiable admixture of white
blood, however small, is a 'mixed-
blood' Indian within the meaning
of the Clapp amendment," and thus
"legally competent."
At stake in the lawsuits leading
to US v. First National Bank of Detroit [Lakes] was deterrnining
which - and how many - Indians
were "competent to handle their
own affairs" by selling their allotments to the speculators and swindlers who flocked to the reservations. By "removing restrictions
imposed by the [allotment] act of
February 8,1887, upon alienation
of Chippewa allotments as to
mixed bloods apply to mixed
bloods of all degrees and not only
to those of half or more than half
white blood," the Supreme Court
facilitated the wholesale alienation
of land on many of Minnesota's
reservations.
The importance of "degree of Indian blood" in determining a
person's legal status before the Supreme Court's decision in 1914
(and the similar importance of a
person's genealogy afterward) impelled some vigorous research efforts, particularly at White Earth.
Albert E. Jenks, anthropologist
(and somewhat discomfiting
founder of the anthropology department at the University of Minnesota) was among those measuring peoples' noses and skulls, indexing their skin pigmentation, and
examining their teeth as a means of
"scientifically" determining who
RACE to page 5
Outgoing SD
governor pardons
Russell Means
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow has pardoned
American Indian activist Russell
Means, wiping away a felony conviction from a 1974 riot at the
Minnehaha County Courthouse.
The pardon gives Means, 63, the
chance to pursue a career in politics.
He lost a bid for the presidency of
the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation last year.
"It wasn't a tough decision,"
Janklow said Wednesday "I sat
down and talked to him. He wasn't
found guilty. He pleaded guilty to an
offense that took place almost 30
years ago. He makes a lot of noise,
talks a lot, but it is the only crime he
has ever been convicted of.
"People who did a lot more than
he did have had their records
cleared over the years. This comes
at a time when you put things behind you if you can. I am a believer
in that," said Janklow, who will be
sworn in Jan. 7 as South Dakota's
lone member of the U.S. House.
Means, a co-founder of the
MEANS to page 3
Murder on Lower Sioux
Reservation top story in 2002
Redwood Falls—The Monday,
December 16,2002 issue of The
Redwood Gazette listed the top 50
stories of 2002 with the murder of
Frank Parker on the Lower Sioux
Indian Community at the top of the
list. According to the Gazette,
ranking was based on over-the-
counter sales and only the issue in
which the story broke was included
on the list This story broke on
June 13. Dennis Pendleton and
Christopher Sander from the Indian
Community are awaiting trial on
murder charges in connection with
the case. The two men maintain
their innocence.
Number two on the list was a
story in the December 16th issue of
witness tampering in an arson case.
Micah Boyle was arrested and
charged in connection with at-
MURDER to page 5
Leech Lake housing update
According to Leota Hardy, the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Housing Corporation (MCTHC) has appealed the November 26th tribal
court decision by Margaret Treuer.
Tmer ruled that the MCTHC could
not foreclose on its loan to a family
which refused to pay for a shoddily
constructed $83,000 home (Press/
ON, November 22 and December
13,2002).
The MCTC apparently filed its
appeal on December third. Leroy
Whitebird, the plaintiff, received
notification of the appeal a month
later, on January 2,2002.
According to Whitebird, the
MCTHC had thirty days to file its
opening brief, and Whitebird has
ten days to file his response. The
MCTHC is claiming that Treuer's
decision is not supported by a "preponderance of evidence."
Hardy told Press/ON fast, she and
Whitebird have been to tribal court
on this matter three times, beginning
in August 2002. She said that the
MCTHC "did not show up" for the
first official hearing in tribal court.
Had the MCTHC ignored a scheduled hearing in State or Federal
court, they would have automatically lost the case by default
White Earth tribal court judge
Anita Fineday will be the judge for
the appeal.
web page: www.press-on.net
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Volume 15 Issue 30
January 3, 2003
her name is being included on the
petition, though she has continually
protested it as a fraud.
"I thinks it's bullshit. Somebody's
got something to hide if they need to
forge people's names," said
Tibbetts.
In a Dec. 23 motion for a continuance of the tribal court hearing,
RBC attorney Joseph Plummer
drafted a stipulation adopted by the
Leech Lake court to reschedule a
Dec. 30 hearing to validate the petition "to a date no earlier than one
week following the hearing on
plaintiff's motion" and "to maintain
the status quo between the parties
until the hearing by the Tribal
Court." However, the RBC defied
its own stipulation and went ahead
with the Dec. 30 meeting, validating
the contested petition and serving
LaRose notice of a final hearing the
following day. A tribal court hearing
is not scheduled until Jan. 15.
Tribal activist Roxanne LaRose,
mother of the secretary treasurer,
said the district representatives' actions highlight their hypocritical manipulation of their own institutions.
"They want everyone to think
that's a valid court. But when it
doesn't suit their purposes, they say
it's invalid," said LaRose. "Itt> still
just trying to get these guys to follow the constitution."
Photo: Pat Christman, Mankato Free Press
Fern Cloud prepares to hand off a staff of eagles' feathers to her daughter Raine, both descendants of Dakota
Indian chief, Little Crow. Running along Hwy 169 south of St. Peter, Dec. 26,2002 in the 17th Annual Memorial Run.
The run commemorated the 38 Dakota men who died on December 26,1862, in the largest mass hanging
in the history of the United States. The 38 men were condemned for their part in the Dakota War of 1862.
The runners departed at midnight from Fort Snelling Stockade on December 25, and proceeded to downtown
Mankato, to the site of the hanging at Buffalo Plaza.
Leech Lake
tribal court asserts jurisdiction,
orders RBC to
'Maintain Status
Quo and Continue Hearings"
in tribal court
On January 3ri, tribal court
judge Margaret Treuer asserted the
jurisdiction of the tribal court over
the dispute between Leech Lake
secretary/treasurer Arthur "Archie"
LaRose and defendants Burton
"Luke" Wilson, Lyman Losh, et al.
over the validity of a number of
signatures on a petition to remove
the secretary/treasurer.
Treuer ordered that "both parties shall abide by the Stipulation
 RBC to page 2
Fannie Mae
invests in
MMCDC bank
Ogema—In an effort to enhance lending to underserved
populations, Fannie Mae has
made a $100,000 equity investment in the Community
Development Bank, formerly
known as the State Bank of
Ogema.
The investment will enhance
the bank's ability to address
the lending and financial service needs of tribal members
living on the White Earth Reservation, which encompasses
parts of northern Becker
County.
In addition, the Fannie May
has awarded a $5,000 grant to
the White Earth Tribe to expand home ownership oppor-
FANNIE MAE to page 3
Supreme Court still silent on
"full faith and credit" proposal
On December 18lh, the Minnesota Supreme Court notified the
Members of the Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee
on the General Rules of Practice
and others who had requested ongoing notification of developments
from the Court that it has adopted
the advisory committee "recommendations to rules 145 and 522
without change." Rule 145 involves "Actions on behalf of minors and incompetent persons,"
and Rule 522 is about "Pleadings
in district court," mandating that,
"The pleadings in conciliation
court shall constitute the pleadings
in district court."
At press time, the Court had not
yet ruled on the State Court / Tribal
Court's proposed rule granting full
faith and credit to tribal court orders, judgments, and other actions.
Michael Johnson, Senior Legal
Counsel for the State Court Administration, told Press/ON, "the court
has yet to issue its decision on that
proposal, so we're still waiting for
PROPOSAL to page 3
Rail heirs help Indians reclaim land
By Stephanie Strom
New York Times
LEECH LAKE RESERVATION, Minn.(AP) — Richard
Robinson Jr. said he remembers
how much his grandfather Martin
Bobolink, a hospital janitor,
looked forward to retiring and returning to his land here.
"He told us there was buried
treasure there because his dad
had put up gangsters," said
Robinson, acting chairman of the
Leech Lake band of the Ojibwe
tribe.
But Bobolink quickly learned
that the land and any loot that
might be on it was not his. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs told him
he had signed the land over to the
United States in exchange for a
few thousand dollars.
"He swore until he died that he
never received a check and never
signed any papers," Robinson
said. "He was dead certain."
The story is a common one in
what used to be Indian country,
HEIRS to page 3
Yakama Nation's utility tax riles
non-Indians
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Tunes
A new utility tax levied by the
Yakama Nation is taxation without
representation, say non-Indians, who
may wind up paying the tax on everything from electricity to telephone,
natural-gas and cable-TV service—
on top of municipal utility taxes.
The tax has raised the ire of the
Stand Up Committee, an organization of residents that says the tribe has
no jurisdiction over non-Indians on
the reservation, which lies in Yakima
and Klickitat counties.
"It sets an ugly precedent," said
Elaine Willman, executive director of
the group. "Non-Indians are paying
this to a tribal government that
doesn't even represent them"
Tom Nelson, attorney for the
Yakama Nation, said the tribe is
aware of and sensitive to the criticism. "A lot of people are saying
'Wait a minute, I'm not even on In-
YAKAMA to page 3