Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-02-07

              INDEX
Leech Lake "right to
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
know" information
NEWS BRIEFS
3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
CLASSIFIEDS
7
r>r./-,n G
Open letter to Leech
Lake enrollees from
Dee Fairbanks
page 4
What are we really
doing to change
things?
page 4
Vote for Pete White
page 4
Election of LaRose as
Secretary-Treasurer, early
removal of Hunt offers a
glimmer of hope for
Leeck Lake Ojibwe
page 4
Leech Lake election set
By Bill Lawrence
A special election will be held at
Leech Lake on Tuesday, February
11"1 to fill the chairman's seat that
was vacated by the recall of Eli
Hunt in an October 11"' recall election. 527 eligible Leech Lake resident voters had signed a petition
calling for Hunt's removal and
charging him with three violations
of the IVIinnesota Chippewa Tribe
constitution, as well as seventeen
specific charges. Hunt was removed by 56% ofthe 1453 votes
cast in last October's recall election.
The candidates for chairman
who will be on the ballot in next
Tuesday's special election are
DeannaL. "Dee" Fairbanks, who
received 199 votes, or 13.3% ofthe
vote in the Leech Lake primary held
on Tuesday, December 17*, and Peter D. White, who received 194
votes, or 13% ofthe primary vote.
There were 26 candidates for Leech
Lake chairman running in the primary and the vote was fragmented.
Petitioners move to delay LaRose hearing set for February 13 until March 13
"yes" on the resolution for the any specific duties at all."
minimum ofthe three votes re- "Their actions to discontinue the
quired to adopt it. Robinson's un-      forensic audits are an example.
Attorney Zenas Baer was recently hired by the Leech Lake
tribal council due to the resignation
of former tribal attorney Joe
Plummer. According to informed
sources, Plummer was asked to resign after he refused to engage in
"unethical practices" to remove
Leech Lake treasurer Arthur
"Archie" LaRose.
Baer was hired at the Leech
Lake council meeting on January
27,2003. According to the minutes [published in full in this issue
of Press/ON], Baer was hired by
roll call vote on Resolution No. 03-
76. Luke Wilson and Lyman Losh
are recorded as having voted "yes"
to hire Baer, and Archie LaRose is
recorded as having voted "no."
Acting meeting-chairman Richard
Robinson, who according to the
Leech Lake bylaws, Ordinance 1,
Article 2, does not have a vote
when acting as chairman, voted
authorized vote raises questions
about the legality of the tribal
council's hiring Baer. LaRose told
Press/ON that, "this is just one
more in a long series of incidents
where the three councilmen have
totally disregarded the Leech Lake
bylaws and the MCT constitution.
They are acting beyond the scope
of their authority - actually, they
don't have any authority. Under
the constitution, they don't have
U scientist says it's unlikely DNA tests will prove cops'
guilt or innocence
by Clara NiiSka
At the January 29th press conference and community gathering in
response to allegations that Minne-
apolis police brutalized Ronald Lee
Johnson and mistreated the woman
accompanying him, Johnson's attorney Larry Leventhal told the
crowd that "we have evidence"
supporting claims that the pohce
had urinated on Johnson's "upper
torso and head." Longtime activist
Clyde Bellecourt said that "DNA
evidence" would convict the cops.
At a press conference the following morning, Minneapolis Pohce
Officers Federation president Sgt.
John Delmonico vigorously denied
what he called "terrible allegations"
and said that the evidence will
prove that the officers did not urinate on Johnson, according to the
Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Leventhal said that Johnson's
jacket, shoe laces and headband
were being held for possible DNA
testing, according to the Strib.
DNA testing frequently provides
decisive courtroom evidence in
rape, murder, and paternity cases.
Will it provide the incontrovertible
evidence - asserted by both sides -
to determine whether or not the two
(as yet unnamed) JVIinneapohs pohce officers urinated on the head
and shoulders ofthe man they
dumped in a parking lot at the
Little Earth housing projects?
Press/ON called the Genetics, Recombinant DNA and Botany Labs
at the University of Minnesota in
Minneapolis, and talked with biochemistry professor David C.
Laporte. "When I heard that there
was some hope of being able to do
genetic fingerprinting out of urine-
soaked clothing... it just didn't
seem very likely," Laporte said.
Laporte explained how DNA
testing, or "profiling," works.
DNA is a molecule that is found
in the cells of living beings, and
(with the exception of identical
twins) each person's DNA is unique.
An accurate DNA profile can be
done even with a very small sample,
Laporte said. The DNA in the
sample is duplicated using a technique called a Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR). "Essentially, what
PCR does, is that if there's one copy
ofthe DNA there, it will make two,
then you go back and do the second
round, two becomes four, four becomes eight... it expands geometrically." The duplicates made using
PCR are identical to the DNA in the
original sample.
The DNA molecule is shaped
something like an entire skein of
yam. The strands that form the
'base' twist around each other, forming a very long string. The DNA
molecules are wound up inside the
nucleus of each cell, but readily unwind. The "genetic code" of DNA
is "written" between the base
strands with "base pairs" of adenine
- thiamine, guanine - cytosine, and
their mirror images thiamine - adenine and cytosine-guanine. The
"precise sequence" of these base
pairs is what "makes you who you
are," Laporte explained.
The DNA profiling done by the
IVIinnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA)'s Forensic Science Laboratory and other forensic
labs uses only small fragments of
the long DNA molecule. The fragments used for profiling are called
"STR genes." Laporte said that
these are "what I like to call 'junk
DNA,' which is basically repeated
sequences of no obvious function,
therefore more likely to vary between individuals because there
will be no disadvantage" or advantage to any particular sequence.
Through a project coordinated by
the FBI, thirteen of these STR
genes have been identified as "core
loci," and are consistently used for
DNA profiling by law enforce-
Joseph Wayne White sentenced
for murder and assault
St. Paul—A 36-year old Red
Lake man was sentenced in United
States District Court for murdering
his wife and assaulting two juveniles who had come to her aid. Joseph Wayne White was sentenced
on February 4,2003, to 25 years in
prison by Judge Donovan Frank in
St. Paul.
During his guilty plea hearing in
October 2002, White pled guilty to
second degree murder and admitted that on May 28,2002, he
stabbed his wife approximately
eleven times with a kitchen knife
following an argument. He also
pled guilty to three separate assault
counts and admitted to assaulting
two juvenile girls, the victim's minor children, who attempted to
come to the aid of their mother. He
held the knife at the chin of one of
the girls, and punched the other in
the arm forcing her to the ground.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and Red Lake Law
Enforcement. Assistant United
States Attorney William Koch
prosecuted the case.
Gary Lee Wipf convicted for
aggravated sexual abuse
JVIinneapohs—Gary Lee Wipf, a
former janitor at St. Mary's Mission School on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, was convicted by
a federal jury on January 30,2003,
for aggravated sexual abuse.
Following four days of trial before Judge Jvlichael Davis in JVIinneapohs, the jury deliberated about
three hours before finding the defendant guilty of all three counts of
aggravated sexual abuse and one
count of sexual abuse of a minor.
Evidence during trial showed
that from 1991 Wipf repeated
abused a ten-year-old boy on the
Red Lake Reservation. Additionally, there was evidence that Wipf,
a youth recreation coach and
former employee at the St. Mary's
Mission School, abused another
minor who was 12-years-old.
Wipf, age 42, faces up to life in
prison on each count of aggravated
sexual abuse and up to 15 years in
prison and/or a $250,000 fine for
sexual abuse of a minor. The actual sentence will be determined by
Judge Davis based on the federal
sentencing guidelines. A sentencing date has not been set. Wipf
continues to be held without bond.
The case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and Red lake Law
Enforcement. Assistant United
States Attorney Bridgid Dowdal
prosecuted the case.
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
The next phase of the forensic audits was to focus on certain programs," LaRose continued. Some
department heads and program
managers, including "Judy Hanks,
Lenore Bareness, and current candidate for chairman Dee Fairbanks,
are some of the people that the
other members ofthe tribal council
are trying to protect." LaRose believes that continuing the forensic
HEARING to page 6
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Volume 15 Issue 35
February 7, 2003
Draft Minutes - Leech Lake
Tribal Council Special Meeting
January 27,2003
Tribal Chambers
Roll Call: Arthur LaRose, Lyman
Cass Lake, IVIinnesota
Losh, Burton Wilson.
Elders Present: Helen Curnmings,
Richard Robinson, Vice Qiairman
Butch Dahl and George Wilson.
calls meeting to order
Sandy Gotchie leaves before the
Prayer Helen Curnmings
MINUTES to page 6
ment. These DNA profiles have
been compiled into large databases.
(IVIinnesota Statutes § 609.3461 requires DNA profiling of individuals convicted of murder, criminal
sexual conduct, and certain other
violent crimes.) According to the
BCA, this kind of DNA profiling is
extremely accurate, and a matching
"complete DNA profile might be
found in less than one in one hundred billion people."
If DNA profiling is so accurate,
why hasn't "the evidence" already
provided persuasive proof of the
policemen's guilt or innocence?
DNA profiling involves a series
of steps. According to the BCA, "in
general, PCR testing can be completed within two to three weeks after the case is started, however, current backlogs make this tum-uiound
time as long as two months."
However, according to Laporte,
"I think it's going to be extraordinarily difficult to match the urine
sample with whosever's responsible, but I say that not as a forensic
scientist" but as a geneticist.
The problem is that, as the BCA
puts it, "the key to DNA testing is
the presence of cells containing
DNA." Urine, although it is a fluid
that comes from a person's body, is
not a "bodily fluid" like blood or
semen, both of which are filled
with DNA-containing cells. Urine
is made of various waste products
dissolved in water. Unless the person being tested has a bladder infection - which would result in a
DNA profile of the bacteria doing
the infecting - or some other fairly
serious disease, there are almost no
cells in urine.
Without cells, there is no DNA,
there can be no DNA profile, and it
is extremely unlikely that there will
be accurate "genetic testing" to
prove whether or not the pohce officers urinated on Ronald Johnson.
Photo: Clara Niiska
Minneapolis city councilman Dean Zimmerman addressed the crowd who came to express their concerns
about pohce brutality and law enforcement bias at the "Public Hearing of Minneapolis Pohce Misconduct toward American Indians," held at the JVIinneapohs American Indian Center on Tuesday, February 4th.
Zimmerman holds what he says is documentation of misconduct by the Minneapolis Pohce. "The sheer
mass of what is happening cannot be denied," he said. "If only 10%" ofthe complaints that have been made
to him are true, it is clear and convincing evidence of serious problems. "I enter these stories into the record,
so that they will be available."
Some ofthe Indian community members who spoke at the hearing gave wrenching stories of experiences
with Minneapolis pohce. Despite repeated admonitions by Hearing organizers to limit themselves to de-
• scnbing those experiences, many of them also addressed the problems more broadly. The problem is "not
only complaints about the Pohce Department," said Mule Lacs Anishinabe elder and writer Vince Hill, "but
also institutional racism in the City of Minneapolis and in this state. We need to get to the heart ofthe issue."
Red Lake tribal council plans governmental reorganization
by Clara NiiSka
In the context of discussing personnel issues at their regular December 2002 meeting, the Red
Lake tribal council decided that
the present organization of Red
Lake tribal government is not
working effectively, and that tribal
government "needed an overhaul,"
according to Press/ON publisher
BUI Lawrence, who attended the
meeting. "The tribal council has
to cope with the chaos remaining
from [former treasurer Dan]
ICing's mismanagement and the
legacy ofthe 'fab four's' administration," he said.
The Red Lake tribal council
has appointed a committee of
tribal council members, hereditary
chiefs, tribal administrators, and
tribal members to recommend
changes in the "formal organization
of tribal government to more
closely reflect the existing structure
and the 2003 budget," which is currently being developed. The committee members are tribal secretary
Judy Roy, tribal treasurer Darrell
Seki, hereditary chief Billy King,
hereditary chief John Sumner, Sr,
executive administrator Roger
Head, tribal administrator Francis
Brun, director of finance Randy
Redpath, human resources department Charmaine Sayers, and tribal
member Bill Lawrence.
"It has to be restructured based
upon the actual needs of the tribe,
and what the tribe can afford," one
ofthe committee members told
Press/ON. "We are going to have
to tighten our belts because ofthe
heavy casino debt load. We realize
that the state is dealing with a budget shortfall, which will impact
funding for tribes. The federal
government is also facing anticipated deficits, which will force a
reduction in Indian program spending. Governmental priorities, including the war on terrorism and
military buildup in the Middle East
and Far East, are also going to cut
deeply into appropriations for Indian tribes." Governmental reorga-
RED LAKE to page 3
Tribal leader angered by BIA deadline
Many at White
Earth share path
to Harvard
Associated Press
JVIAHNOlvIEN, Minn.— Many
students have never even heard of
Harvard University when they enter Helen Klassen's office at White
Earth Tribal Community College.
"But they learn quickly," said
Klassen, the tribal college's
founder and president.
At a glance, any connection between Harvard and White Earth appears as remote as the reservation's
northwestern Minnesota location.
But the Ojibwe band has produced an extraordinary, and some
say an unexplainable, number of
tribal members with Harvard connections — at least a dozen. Eight
of them hold graduate or undergraduate degrees from Harvard,
and at least seven earned Bush fellowships to the Ivy League school.
"There's such a strong legacy of
higher education at White Earth
that the expectations are there,"
said anthropologist Katherine
Spilde, who was raised on the reservation but is not a tribal member.
She is senior research associate for
the Harvard Project on American
Indian Economic Development.
"Going to Harvard is no small
feat," she said. "Students from
White Earth know they have a
chance because all of these skills
have been modeled."
HARVARD to page 5
Associated Press
CARNEGIE, Okla. — The
chairman of the Kiowa Tribe is angered by a deadline imposed by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying the agency's demands are politically motivated.
Chairman Clifford McKenzie
received a letter dated Jan. 27 in
which the BIA said the tribe had 45
days to comply with 24 measures
or lose control of its three largest
federally funded programs.
"I just have to ask, 'Why now?
Why is there this sudden urgency?'
" McKenzie said. "I've only been in
office for five months, and now
we're expected to correct five years'
worth of problems in 45 days.
"We've been trying to clean up
things around here. But I guess the
BIA will just have to take control
because this simply can't be done."
The BIA labeled the Kiowa Tribe
a "high-risk grantee" on June 6,
1997. An independent audit revealed deficiencies by the tribe from
1998 to 2002. The audit found that
BIA to page 5
Seminole Tribe suing suspended
chairman, manager over $30 million
Associated Press
MIAMI — The Seminole
Tribe is suing its suspended chairman and the tribe's former business manager over $30 million it
claims the pair invested without
permission.
The lawsuit filed Jan. 21
against suspended Seminole
Chairman James Billie and Tim
Cox claims the two men transferred $30 million ofthe tribe's
money to an investment account
with Raymond James & Associates without permission. The suit
also alleges the pah diverted the
tribe's money to make unauthorized payments on a jet airplane,
a hotel in Nicaragua and an
Internet gaming company.
A federal judge dismissed a
similar suit by the tribe against
Billie and Cox earlier this month
on grounds that the court did not
have jurisdiction on charges involving state laws.
A federal investigation into the
tribe's finances culminated last
month in a criminal trial of three
tribe employees, including Cox. All
were acquitted.
Cox maintains that testimony in
that trial showed he had the approval ofthe tribe's secretary treasurer, Priscilla Sayen, when he
helped set up the gaming operation.
Bilhe's attorney, Robert
Saunooke, has said tribal resolutions authorized Billie to handle the
investment accounts and purchase
the jet, and that his title authorized
him to handle all tribal assets.
Billie has been trying to get reinstated as chairman. He contends his suspension violates
tribal laws. The council has declined to do reinstate him.
He was suspended in May 2001
amid a sexual harassment lawsuit
and the federal probe into the
tribe's finances. The harassment
lawsuit was dropped.
Indian leader
urges Bush to
help tribes with
health, poverty
By Robert Gehrke
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Calling it a
time for transition, the head ofthe
nation's largest American Indian
group urged President Bush on Friday to help tribes close disparities
in living standards, health and education on reservations across the
country.
"We have come through extraordinarily trying times over these two
centuries, and we have emerged
strong," said Tex Hah, chairman of
the National Congress of American
Indians. "In the face of policies
aimed at ensuring our destruction,
we have chosen survival.
"Now we seek not just to survive, but to thrive."
But in a "State of Indian Nations" speech, the first of its kind,
Hall, chairman ofthe Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota,
painted a picture where American
Indian leaders are challenged with
high poverty rates, severe impediments to economic development
and a skeletal health system.
Nearly one-fourth of American
Indian households have no telephone service, more than 14 percent of reservation homes lack
electricity and 8 percent have no
running water, Hah said.
"These statistics are a point of
shame to this nation," Hall said. "In
2003, no American should be without access to clean water, telephone
HEALTH to page 7