Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-01-18

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Goodbye to the land
of the free, hellow to
the fatherland!
page 4
An honest government
would have nothing
to hide
page 4
Race relations:
Trying 'to make do
the best we can'
page 3
Perhaps it's time to
'vote outside the box'
page 4
Commentary
'State of the Band'
plays the same old
tune - where is
accountability?
page 4
Red Lake General Fund audit confirms financial
mismanagement by King
By Bill Lawrence
According to audited financial
statements prepared by the CPA
from Brady, Martz, and Associates
of Grand Forks, North Dakota for
the 15-month period ending December 31, 2001 (October 1,2000
- December 31,2001), the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
are reported to have overspent the
General Revenue Fund by $(4,
631,702), and the Special Revenue Fund by $ (1,836,369) for a
total overexpenditure $
(6,468,071).
These overexpenditures were
based on total revenue received
for FY 2001 of $4,985,108 in the
General Revenue Fund and
$57,974,046 in the Special Revenue Fund. Transfers of
$7,924,083 from trust funds and
$1,203,490 from other sources allowed the tribe to finish "in the
black" by $2,659,502 for both accounts.
The audit report, dated September 12,2002, was reviewed and
accepted by the Red Lake tribal
council at the December lO"1 tribal
council meeting, and was made
available to the membership on
Tuesday, January 14"'.
The FY 2001 audit report pre
pared by Brady, Martz was their
first audit ofthe Red Lake General
Fund. They also audited all Red
Lake tribal enterprises the fifteen
month FY 2001, and are currently
in the process of performing the
audit for Red Lake Gaming Enterprises for Fiscal Year 2002 (January 1,2002 - December 31,
2002). The audit is required by
the National Indian Gaming Commission and must be submitted to
them no later than is the first part
of May 2003,120 days after the
close of FY 2002 business.
Press/ON had some questions
AUDIT to page 7
On a cold January day Gov. Pawlenty gets warm
reception from Indian business leaders
By M axinc V. Eidsvig
Governor Tim Pawlenty toured
the Ancient Traders Market on east
Franklin Avenue, a store that specializes in American Indian arts and
crafts. He followed up the tour with
a meeting of American Indian business owners and tribal leaders at
Maria's Cafe next door to the market.
Pawlenty, in his remarks to the audience, said Minnesota was losing
manufacturing jobs at an alarming
rate. He urged Indian leaders to support entrepreneurial efforts in a challenging economy. With the state's
$4.56 billion projected budget deficit, the governor told the audience
that sacrifices would have to be
made from many quarters.
The governor also said there was a
need to raise the bar in the educational system in Minnesota. Citing
the below state average graduation
rates of minority students, he said
communities need to ask the question, "Why aren't some of our educational institutions doing a better job?'
The stop on E. Franklin Ave. was a
part of a half-day tour of minority-
owned businesses in Minneapolis
and St. Paul on Friday morning,
January 10,2003. The governor also
met with African American leaders in photos: Ma*/™ Eidsvig
north Minneapolis, in addition to Governor Tim Pawlenty talks with American Indian business owners
Mexican American and Asian Ameri-   and tribal leaders at Maria's Cafe on E. Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis on January 10th during his half-day tour of minority owned
RECEPTION to page 5   businesses in the Twin Cities.
2003 State of the Band Address by chief executive
Melanie Benjamin, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
My fellow Band Members, relatives, and honored guests, it is my
privilege and honor to welcome you
to the 2003 State ofthe Band Address.
Every year we introduce dignitaries
at this event But keep one thing in
mind, Members ofthe Mille Lacs
Band - you are the dignitaries at this
event That is why I want to begin by
introducing the people I confer with
when I make decisions - the Elderly
Advisory Council. Please hold your
applause until all Elders have been
recognized. Will the following people
please stand up or wave if you are
here: Raining Boyd, Marene
Hedstrom, James Clark, Viola
Hendren, Oliver Benjamin, Hfreda
Sam, Lee Staples, Marie Bengston,
Julie Shingobe, Elleraine Weous,
Beatrice Taylor, and Ole Nickaboine
To these people, I offer my gratitude and I ask you to please give them
a round of applause for their service to
the Band
I also want to introduce my cabinet:
Sheldon Boyd, Chris Costello, Curt
Kalk, Samuel Moose, Alton Olson, L.
Mtch Corbine, Mary Al Balber,
Deron Dunkley, and Joyce Wedll.
Miigwetch.
Of course, I always introduce my
family: my mother, my son, and his
family.
Each year we gather to talk about
where we have been, where we stand
today, and the new path we will take
tomorrow.
Last year I talked about the battles
of our generation. I warned that soon
we might be forced to defend ourselves, yet again. Just one month later,
the Mille Lacs County Board filed a
lawsuit seeking to disestablish the
Mille I^acs Reservation. We are now
fighting for the very existence of our
homelands.
There are times when we have no
choice but to stand and fight This is
one of those times.
History usually repeats itself. An
important lesson we've learned is this:
All ofthe individuals who are fighting
us today will be dead and gone in fifty
years.
But in fifty years, the Non-Rempv-
ADDRESS to page 6
Environmental activist calls on
Midwest reservations to take
advantage of wind power
By Jeff Armstrong
Former Green Party vice-presidential candidate Winona
LaDuke says the 23 reservations
on the Great Plains are uniquely
positioned to realize the potential
ofthe region as "the Saudi Arabia
of wind power."
Speaking at a discussion in Park
Rapids Sunday on the viability of
environmentally benign forms of
energy, LaDuke said Midwestern
reservations could produce as
much as half of the current U.S.
output of electricity just by taking
advantage of their all-too-abundant winds. White Earth and Red
Lake are particularly well-suited
for such a conversion, she said,
though tribal officials have been
slow to consider the possibility of
building community-based energy self-sufficiency.
LaDuke, director of the White
Earth Land Recovery Project, said
she was forced to move her pilot
wind power turbine to privately-
held land on the reservation when
the former RBC refused to approve
her lease. However, she expressed
optimism over the receptiveness of
current reservation officials.
"Working with any government
is complicated," LaDuke said.
"[White Earth] has since taken
more of an interest in it."
The White Earth activist said
the extraction and burning of coal
ACTIVIST to page 5
Mille Lacs
County v. Melanie
Benjamin, et al.
Summary judgment hearing set
danuary24!h
Beginning at 11:00 on Friday,
January 24th, Federal Chief District Judge James M. Rosenbaum
will hear oral arguments on
Melanie Benjamin, et al.'s motion
for summary judgment in the case
Mille Lacs County v. Melanie
Benjamin, et al.
The lawsuit was filed in late
February 2002 by Mille Lacs
County. At the surface is an argument about whether or not the
Mille Lacs reservation was
"ceded, sold, relinquished, surrendered and disestablished in the
HEARING to page 5
Tribal sovereignty
causing more
conflicts as
casinos multiply
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
GEYSERVILLE, Calif.—
High on a hilltop overlooking
miles of Alexander Valley vineyards and the sparkling Russian
River, at the dead end of a twisting narrow access road, two circus-like tents front a parking lot
carved from the steep slope.
Inside, 269 slot machines
clang and chime around the
clock, powered by diesel generators until power lines can be
installed. Gamblers' waste goes
CONFLICTS to page 7
Tribe says it has say on nuclear plant
Xcel says expanding waste storage only needs state's OK
By Tom Meersman
Star Tribune
Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota leaders have warned state legislators that a 1994 law allows the
tribe to reject additional radioactive
waste storage at the nuclear power
plant in Red Wing.
The warning, issued in a recent
letter to officials, sets the stage for a
potential legal and political battle
over the Prairie Island nuclear
plant, which supplies power to
about 20 percent of Xcel Energy's
1.5 million electricity customers in
the Upper Midwest.
Xcel, the plant's owner, says it
XCEL to page 5
Native women's housing program
offers much more
By John Myers
Dulitth News-Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. — Beaten by
their men. Hooked on booze.
Homeless. In and out ofthe legal
system. Unable to take care of the
children. No high school diploma. No money. No job.
The women who come to
Oshki Odaadiziwini WaakaTgan,
Duluth's American Indian transitional housing program, are indeed desperate. Many are turned
away — the waiting list is about
HOUSING to page 5
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Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 32
January 17,2003
photo: Bill Lawrence
Shirley Cain, graduate of William Mitchell Law School and a member of the Minnesota Bar Association,
is sworn in as chief judge of the Red Lake tribal court by tribal chairman Butch Brun during the Red
Lake tribal council meeting on Tuesday, January 14th. Cain was appointed tribal court administrator at
the same meeting. She is the first Red Lake enrolled tribal member who is also a licensed attorney to
serve as a judge on the Red Lake tribal court.
At the same meeting, the Red Lake tribal council unanimously passed a resolution establishing
the tribal court as a quasi-independent agency. This does not constitute complete separation of powers, which would have to be done by constitutional amendment, but is seen by some observers of the
Red Lake tribal court as "a step in the right direction."
Sherry L.
Gendron pleads
guilty to mail
fraud
St. Paul, MN—Sherry L.
Gendron, the former owner and
operator of a northern Minnesota
title company, pled guilty January
9,2003, in United States District
Court to mail fraud in connection
with schemes that defrauded clients and a bank of approximately
$652,000.
Gendron, age 38, from Walker,
MN, entered her plea before
Judge Richard Kyle in St. Paul.
Gendron was the owner and
operator of Diversified Title Services, formerly known as Complete Title Services, a real estate
title company principally located
in Walker, MN with additional
offices in Bemidji and Park Rapids, MN. Diversified Title Services issued title commitments
and insurance policies in connection with real estate transactions.
During her guilty plea hearing,
Gendron admitted that from
January 1999 until April 2002
she transferred client funds from
Diversified's escrow trust account
to its operating account without
the knowledge or authorization of
the persons for whom the funds
were held in trust. Gendron also
admitted that on other occasions
she deposited funds received
from third parties into her
business's operating account
knowing that such funds should
have been deposited into an escrow trust account. She defrauded clients of approximately
$468,000 and used the funds to
pay operating and personal expenses.
Gendron also acknowledged
her involvement in a check-kite
scheme that defrauded the Centennial National Bank of approximately $184,000.
Gendron faces a maximum po-
FRAUD to page 5
Minority enrollment versus the politics of deny:
Bush Administration weighs in
against racial preference in admission
By Jean Pagano
Detroit - The specter of Senator
Trent Lott's plummet from the post
of Senate Majority Leader because
of racially charged remarks is
barely a month old. The patent ugliness of racial politics has shocked,
reminded, and frightened a whole
new generation of Americans.
While the Bush Administration on
one hand tries to woo minority voters to its side ofthe aisle, it speaks
a different story out of the other
side of its mouth. The President today said that he is in favor of striking down the University of
Michigan's undergraduate and law
school's policies of giving 2Q
points to minority undergraduate
students out of a 150-point system.
The President stated on Wednesday
that the policy is "divisive, unfair,
and impossible to square with the
Constitution."
The United States Supreme
Court has agreed to hear the case of
Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v.
Bollinger. The plaintiff in Grutter v.
Bollinger is Barbara Grutter, a 49-
year old mother of two who graduated from Michigan State University with a 3.8 grade point average
(out of 4.0). She did not gain entrance to the University of Michigan Law School and filed suit stating that she has a "fundamental
right to go through an admission
process that is noncusciiminatory."
At issue is the process by which
race is used as a factor in deciding
admission to colleges and universities. At stake is access to higher
education for minority students
who often times score lower on
standardized tests and entrance exams as do their white counterparts.
BUSH to page 5
Three young men face murder charges
County prosecutors wish to try juvenile as adult
by Joel Patenaude
Mille Lacs Messenger
Accused of the Jan. 5 murder of
a fellow Mille Lacs Band of
Ojibwe member, three young men
— two adults and a 17-year-old
male juvenile who may be prosecuted as an adult — made their
initial appearances in court last
week.
An autopsy confirmed Melvin
Duane Eagle, Jr., 45, died from
blunt force trauma allegedly caused
by the beating he took in his home
from the accused — Roger Duane
Garbow Jr., 20, Coleman Lee
Weous, 18, and the juvenile.
The four men were last seen
drinking together at 15873 Nay Ah
Shing Drive in the early morning
hours of Jan. 5 by a female resident
before she went to bed downstairs,
according to the police report.
Weous is alleged to have said an
argument broke out over something
Eagle said.
Garbow said, according to the
report, that after Eagle was struck
in the face and fell to the floor unconscious, he was stomped and
kicked about the head and body for
about 10 minutes by the three men.
Weous said he kicked Eagle
once and only because the other
two men demanded his participation in the assault, the county complaint states.
Investigators collected statements and bloody items of clothing from the accused, county officials said.
The deceased was the eldest son
of Melvin Eagle, 71, the hereditary
chief of the Mile Lacs Band and a
spiritual and cultural leader.
"I don't have ill feelings toward
MURDER to page 6
Redwood Gazette's coverage of
murder on Lower Sioux Reservation
called prejudicial and excessive
Attorneys for Dennis
Pendleton, Jr. and Christopher
Sander, charged with the June
2002, murder of Frankie Parker,
Jr., have requested a change of
venue in Redwood County District Court.
As reported in the Thursday,
January 9,2003 issue ofthe Gazette, the attorneys argued that
the coverage of the murder in
seven front page lead stories between June and December was
prejudicial and excessive. Eric
Newmark, attorney for
Pendleton, told Judge David
Peterson, that the Gazette's circulation of 4,200 in a county household census of 6,600 meant that
virtually every adult in the county
had access to the information.
Sander's attorney Barry Voss
asked the court to move the trial
out of the Fifth Judicial District altogether. Voss said that there was
a "reasonable likelihood" that the
jury pool was tainted by the publicity given the murder.
COVERAGE to page 5
Governor's bid
for more Indian
casino money
could mean many
more slots
by James P. Sweeney
Copley News Service
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray
Davis' decision to ask Indian tribes
to put up $1.5 billion to help balance the state's budget suggests the
governor is willing to give tribes
what they want most - more slot
machines, perhaps lots more.
For that kind of money, tribes -
CASINOS to page 7