Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-03-21

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Sandy Lake Indian
Reservation
page 4
No "full faith and
credit" for tribal courts
page 4
Does the University
of Oklahoma
discriminate against
Indians?
page 4
A health care crisis in
Minnesota and
across the nation
page 4
Commentary
This week in
Indian country
page 4
Election turmoil at LLBO
By Diane E. White
On Thursday, March 13, Arthur
"Archie" LaRose, Secretary-Treasurer vs. District Representatives,
Richard Robinson, Lyman Losh and
Burton Wilson Tribal Court Trial
began with B J. Jones serving as
Judge. Last week's Native American Press reported this case. Since
the Trial was so limited in scope
members of the Election Board
wanted to be heard. In addition, Richard Jones plead the "5*" to
whether certain Petition Validation
Committee / Election Board members received pohtical payola for
their service. As for this story, Richard Jones is still taking the "5th".
The Leech Lake Election Board
has always been made up of one appointee per Reservation Business
Committee (RBC) member. In
April, 2002, the election for Secretary-Treasurer and District I and II
committee representatives appointed to the Election Board:
• Election Judge, Louella Novak
• Election Administrator, Susie
Dvorak
• Election Teller, Kay Jackson
• Election Cleric, April Greene
• Alternate, Bernice Pemberton
Richard Jones, Government Relations Specialist, presented the board
members with the Policies & Procedures that govern the election process and outlines various duties. Not
every member accepted the guidelines and would not follow them;
however, they may not have been
officially accepted by the RBC. The
RBC has governed the election
board as a general practice, even
though the position of "Secretary"
generally means oversight ofthe
election process. These positions are
temporary, full-time (except the Alternate, who serves as needed), and
the hourly wage range is $15 - $17
per hour.
Given the constraints, it is not
hard to understand how this board
became so politically motivated
over the next year when the
Reservation's inner-turmoil occurred. One ofthe Board members
indicated that after the completion
ofthe June, 2002 election, they did
not receive notice informing them
their temporary positions were over
and so they collected a weekly paycheck even though they had no official duties.
• Then the Petition to Remove Eli
O. Hunt created the first Petition
Validation Committee, which was
made up with two appointees per
RBC member and one alternate.
The RBC did not allow any person
who signed the Petition against Hunt
to serve on the Committee, however, they did allow members ofthe
Election Board to serve on this
Committee. Novak and Pemberton
served on the first Petition Validation Committee. Ultimately, this
Committee was unanimous in their
final outcome of accepted "resident
eligible voters." This lead to the
ELECTION to page 6
S.F No. 258, as
introduced: 83rd
Legislative Session
(2003-2004)
[Posted on Feb 3, 2003]
H.FNo.509
[Posted on Feb 20, 2003]
A bill for an act relating to government operations; transferring
authority over certain Indian
scholarship programs from the
commissioner of children, families, and learning to the higher
education services office.
Be it enacted by the Legislature
ofthe State of Minnesota:
Section 1. [transfer of powers.]
All powers, duties, and obligations of the commissioner of children, families, and learning with
respect to the Indian scholarship
program under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.84, is transferred to the higher education services offices under Minnesota
Statutes, section 15.039. The office for administering the program shall be located in the city
of Bemidji.
Sec. 2. [revisor's instruction.]
The revisor shall renumber
Minnesota Statutes, section
24D.84, as Minnesota Statutes,
section 136A.147, and correct
references to this section in Minnesota Statutes and Minnesota
Rules. The revisor shall delete
"commissioner" and "commissioner of children, families, and
learning" and substitute "higher
education services office" in
Minnesota Statutes, section
124D.84.
Sec. 3. [effective date.]
This act is effective the day following final enactment.
Red Lake WINS Quarterfinals 64-46!!
Warriors beat Vikings, 64 -
46 in Class 1A quarterfinals at
the Hibbing Memorial Arena on
Tuesday. At the end of the lsl
quarter the score was tied at 14
a piece. The Cook County Vikings started the game with a
quick 3 pointer and each team
went point for point throughout
the first quarter, each team playing great defense. At the half,
Red Lake took a six-point lead,
(28-22) and the packed arena of
mostly Anishinabeg spectators
cheered so loudly it was deafening.
The Red Lake Warriors brings
together Anishinabeg from all
over Minnesota and even Native
Americans neighboring states.
They bring together good feelings and pride to Indians
throughout the State!
Over the course of the 3"1 period, the Warriors out-scored the
Vikings by only 2 points, but
they were ahead 8 points at the
end of the 3rd period. In the 4th
period, Red Lake played hard
and fast and out-scored the Vikings and took a lead of 20
points at one point. In the end,
the Cook County Vikings were
only 10 points behind. Red Lake
finished the game with an 18-
point lead and spectacular play
that kept the crowd on their feet.
The Red Lake Team scored as
follows: Challenge Johnson 3,
Matt Graves 12, George Bailey
13, Rowdy May 11, Charles
Goodwin 9, Dominic Johnson
12, and Dan Jourdain 4. The
Cook County Vikings scored as
follows: Markstrom4,
Wallerstedt 2, Tavernier 4,
Futterer 10, Hudler 16, Norman
3, Smith 4, Muus 3.
The Warriors head to the
semi-finals on Friday, March
21, game time at 3:00 pm at
the TARGET CENTER in
Minneapolis. They are playing
Ellsworth who have a 28-2 season while Red Lake has a 23-8
season. The winners move onto
the Championship Game on
Saturday, NOON, at the Target Center. The losing team
plays for 3rd place at WILLIAMS ARENA on Saturday at
10:00 a.m.
Congratulations! And GOOD
LUCK to the Red Lake Warriors!!! You can DO IT!
"The entire tribe is behind this
group of young men and we wish
them all the best. We couldn't be
any prouder of them. They are like
are sons and grandsons to the
whole tribe. It is wonderful to see
them achieve their dreams."
- Red Lake Tribal Council
Double Standard in Legal Compensation:
Congress compensates Department of Interior attorneys
better than court officers
By Jean Pagano
According to a Notice of
Supplemental Information filed by
the plaintiffs in Cobell v. Secretary
of Interior (Cobell), a recently
passed Congressional Resolution
unfairly favors the attorneys employed to defend the Secretary of
Interior and other contemnors in
the Cobell case while authorizing a
less than fair compensation for the
court appointed Special Master and
Special Master-Monitor. The Special Master and Special Master-
Monitor were previously appointed
by Judge Royce C. I^amberth to assist with various duties relating to
the Cobell litigation.
The Consolidated Appropriations Resolution 2003 (Resolution)
was passed on February 20,2003
and several ofthe items in the resolution specifically dealt with the
Cobell case. According to Section
132 ofthe Resolution:
"None ofthe funds in this or any
other Act ofthe Department of Interior or the Department of Justice
can be used to compensate the Special Master and the Special Master-
Monitor, and all variations thereto,
appointed by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the Cobell v. Norton
litigation at an annual rate that
exceeds 200 percent of the highest Senior Executive Service rate
of pay for the Washington-Baltimore locality pay area."
According to supplemental
documentation provided by the
Plaintiffs, the highest Senior Executive Service rate for the Washington-Baltimore area is
$142,500, or roughly $71.25 per
hour. At the no-more-than-200-
percent rate quoted by the Resolution, the maximum that the Special Master and Special Master-
Monitor can be compensated is
$142.50 per hour.
Additionally, Section 134 of
the Resolution states:
"The Secretary ofthe Interior
may use discretionary funds to
pay private attorneys fees and
costs for employees and former
employees ofthe Department of
the Interior reasonably incurred
in connection with Cobell v.
Norton to the extent that such
fees and costs are not paid by the
Department of Justice or by private insurance. In no case shall
the Secretary make payments under this section that would result
in payment of hourly fees in excess of the highest hourly rate approved by the District Court for
the District of Columbia for
counsel in Cobell v. Norton."
This situation is a boon for
lawyers representing Secretary
Norton et al., who may be paid, at
taxpayers' expense, hourly rates of
around $370.00 per hour, while
Court appointed legal professionals
are limited to about half that
amount. While a portion ofthe
work ofthe Special Master and
Special Master-Monitor has arisen
because of irregularities and problems relating to the defendants in
the Cobell case, it is the attorneys
representing the defendants that are
reaping the greatest rewards. And,
ironically, when the presiding judge
orders the Secretary of Interior to
pay lawyers' fees for the plaintiffs,
it is the taxpaying pubhc that foots
the bills for not only the plaintiffs'
legal expenses, but those ofthe defendants as well.
American Indian
and environmental
groups put telescope
project on hold
ByLynnDucey
Associated Press
PHOENIX— A plan to build
one ofthe world's largest gamma-
ray telescope systems has been put
on hold after American Indian and
environmental groups filed appeals
to prevent its construction in a national forest.
The groups say construction
would kill wildlife and its habitat,
destroy the beautiful location and
interfere with American Indian
TELESCOPE to page 6
Navajos sue U.S. over water from the
Colorado River
Associated Press
PHOENIX— The Navajo Nation has asked a federal judge to
block the Interior Department from
allocating any uncommitted water
from the Colorado River.
The move could unravel dozens
of agreements between Arizona,
Nevada, California and other Indian tribes.
Chief among the casualties if the
tribe prevails: Arizona's interstate
water banking program and a fragile deal that would allow Nevada
and California to take more than
their legal share ofthe river while
they develop alternate sources.
More broadly, the tribe wants its
claims on the river quantified, even
if that means taking water from
Arizona's allotment.
Federal officials declined to
comment until they could study the
complaint, which was filed Friday.
Navajo Nation officials were unavailable to answer questions. But
the former director of the Arizona
Department of Water Resources
said the tribe's case won't be easy
to prove.
"Their reservation does sit on the
Colorado, but there's the argument
that they're not historically an
agrarian culture," said Rita
Maguire, now president ofthe Arizona Center for Pubhc Policy.
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A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2003
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 41
March 21,2003
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The Science Museum of Minnesota hosts its third annual "American Indians in Science" event on Saturday,
April 5, from 1.-4 pm. At the event, museum visitors will get the opportunity to meet with scientists, try out
their own science experiments, and chat with presenters about pursuing successful careers in science.
This year's presenters include: Faith Bad Bear, Science Museum ethnologist, who will share techniques
for preserving Native American artifacts; Adam Weston, Heart of the Earth School, who will erect a teepee
in the Science Museum's lobby and talk with visitors about its artistic and scientific significance; Dr. Lori
Banaszak, family practice physician, who will share ideas on promoting wellness in Native American communities; Ben Blackhawk and Jim Rock, educators, who will give a presentation entitled 'Thinkin' Incan
and Applyin' Mayan," to introduce visitors to interdisciplinary and intertribal science and math technologies;
and Joe LaGarde, tribal archivist, and Karl Lorenz, artist, who will give a presentation "exploring the relationship between wild rice and the Anishinaabe people."
Bemidji woman
stabbed to death
Sharlene Denise Lussier, 37, of
Bemidji, was stabbed to death
Monday, apparently by her husband, pohce said. She was found
dead in her kitchen at 1721
Delton Ave. N.W.
Pohce were called to the
bloody crime scene by the
woman's 11-year-old son, who
witnessed the stabbing, Bemidji
Pohce Chief Bruce Preece said.
According to the criminal complaint against file against Lussier
on March 19"', when Pohce Officers Ortness, Winskowski, and
Sheriff's Deputy Cross arrived at
the scene at approximately 2:00
pm on Monday, they were "told
by people in the yard that 'she is
dying, she's been stabbed, she is
dying'."
"The husband, who is the suspect, was standing close to the
victim with a knife in his hand,"
Preece told the Bemidji Pioneer.
"He attempted to cut himself also.
He had a couple of knife wounds
on his neck."
STABBING to page 7
Legislation to return Indian Scholarship
office to Bemidji advances in House
by Clara NiiSka
Minnesota Legislature — On
Monday, March 17th, the House
Committee on Education policy
recommended that HF 509 be
passed and re-referred to the higher
education services office.
HF 509, and its identically
worded companion bill in the state
Senate, SF 258, will, if adopted by
the Legislature and signed by the
governor, transfer the Indian scholarship program from the Department of Children, Families and
Learning (CF&L)^ and mandate
that program offices be re-located
back to Bemidji.
House legislative analyst Lisa
Larson, in a legislative analysis
posted online at http://
www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/bs/
83/HF0509.html, rephrased the text
of the bill to explain that the pending bill "transfers the powers, duties, and obligations ofthe commissioner of children, families and
learning related to the Indian post
secondary scholarship program to
the higher education services of
fice. Establishes Bemidji as the location for administering the program."
As a part of the Ventura
administration's $8.5 milhon budget cuts to CF&L, then-commissioner Christine Jax announced
closure ofthe Bemidji and Duluth
Indian education offices, effective
June 28,2002. Services provided
by both offices were to be moved
to the CF&L's head offices in the
Twin Cities suburb of Roseville.
The Leech Lake band of Ojibwe
filed suit in the 9lh District Court in
Bemidji, seeking to prevent the closure ofthe Bemidji office. (Joe
Aitkin, then head of the Bemidji office, is a Leech Lake enrollee.) On
July 26th, Judge Paul Benshoof held
an all-day hearing on the pending
closure, including testimony by
nearly twenty witnesses, and arguments by attorneys Joe Plumer and
Frank Bibeau, at that time both attorneys fortfie Leech Lake Band.
The Bemidji office closed on
OFFICE to page 6
Prairie Island reaches tentative agreement with Xcel
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - The Prairie
Island Indian Community reached
a tentative agreement Monday
with Xcel Energy for additional
nuclear waste storage at Xcel's
Prairie Island nuclear plant, pending approval by the Minnesota
Legislature.
Xcel would pay $1 milhon per
year to the tribe as long as the
plant operates. It also agreed to a
health study, to help with an
evacuation route in case of an
emergency and to fund land for
tribal members who wish to move
farther away from the nuclear
plant.
Eligible members ofthe
Mdewakanton Sioux community
will vote by mail in the next few
weeks whether to approve the
agreement. Results are expected by
April 17.
However, the agreement hinges
on the Minnesota Legislature,
which must approve additional
nuclear waste storage on Prairie Island. Current state law limits the
storage to 17 casks, but Xcel says it
needs more or else it will have to
shut down the plant in 2007.
Prairie Island President Audrey
Bennett has said the tribe must approve any changes beyond the
original 1994 legislation that allowed Xcel to store waste. The
plant is roughly 600 yards from the
southeastern JVIinnesota reservation.
"We can either try to manage the
threat to our community by enforcing the storage limit or we can try
to manage it by accepting an agreement that improves our safety,"
Bennett said in a statement Monday night. "Our Tribal Council believes this agreement is the best alternative for our people."
Xcel must move the nuclear
waste from Prairie Island as soon
as an alternative site is available
XCEL to page 7
New law gives Indian tribes political advantage over rival
gaming interests
By Sharon Theimer
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Some Indian
tribes with gambling halls rivaled
Las Vegas casino interests in their
level of pohtical giving in the last
election - and the nation's new
campaign finance law will give
them new advantages over their
competitors in 2004.
While companies are now
banned from donating out of their
treasuries, tribes can, and with no
overall limit. In addition, tribes are
free of new restrictions on political
advertising in the law. Unlike corpo
rations, they can use treasury money
to run ads on issues or candidates
close to the 2004 primaries and general election.
Tribes gave at least $7 milhon to
federal candidates, party committees
and political action committees in the
two-year election cycle that ended
with last year's elections, an Associated Press analysis of figures compiled by the Federal Election Commission and PoliticalMoneyLine
campaign finance tracking service
found.
While unlimited-size donations
known as soft money are now out
lawed for everyone, including the
tribes, the campaign finance rules'
special treatment of Indian nations
has some competitors crying foul.
"They can give money unlike
any American businesses," said
JVIike Sloan, senior vice president
for the Las Vegas-based casino
company Mandalay Resort Group.
"It's a disparity that Congress has
created, probably unintentionally,
and it's the result ofthe explosion
of Indian gaming."
Tribal advocates, including the
ADVANTAGE to page 6