Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-04-25

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
Cigarette Taxes
and the Poor
NEWS BRIEFS
3
commentary/editorials
4
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 5
Del Cree Community Negotiating
Team - contact him!
page 4
Free reservation
press
page 4
Red Lake Warriors are
an outstanding group
of young men
page 4
Zimmerman starts
process to
decriminalize
homelessness in
Minneapolis
page 4
Secretary Norton Under Fire: Department of Interior's Lack of
Credibility Stretches to the Top
By Jean Pagano
Department of Interior (DOI)
Secretary Gail Norton came under
attack from two sides this week relating to the seven-year-old Cobell
v Secretary of Interior lawsuit.
This landmark case seeks an accounting of Individual Indian
Money accounts held in trust by
DOI. The Department ofthe Interior has allegedly mismanaged the
300,0001TM accounts for over a
century.
The first salvo in the barrage
against Secretary Norton came
from Democratic Representative
Frank Pallone, Jr. from the 5^ District in New Jersey. Pallone has
asked Norton to "cease and desist
from any further implementation
of your trust reorganization" until
U.S. District Judge Royce C.
Lamberth has a chance to rule in
early May. A trial has been or
dered by Judge Lamberth starting
on 1 May to evaluate trust reform
plans presented to date and to decide upon a course of action for
trust reform. Trust reform is required under the American Indian
Trust Fund Management Reform
Act.
Representative Pallone stated
"It has recentiy been brought to
my attention by tribal leaders that
you are proceeding to reorganize
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
in the name of trust reform even
though Indian Country is overwhelmingly opposed to your efforts."
Pallone further states that he is
concerned that Norton will waste
further monies in implementing
her plans for reform since the
court and Judge Lamberth has not
reviewed and approved her plans.
Pallone joins a number of Repre
sentatives and Senators that have
voiced concerns about the ongoing Cobell litigation. While some
members of Congress are outright
hostile to trust reform, others
would like to see the Department
of Interior and the Cobell defendants work out some compromise
in the landmark case. A previous
agreement, arrived at in the latter
days ofthe Clinton Administration, was not acted upon when the
Bush Administration arrived in
Washington in 2001.
On a separate but similar front,
court-appointed Special Master
Alan L. Balaran presented the
U.S. Court of Appeals his Interim
Report Concerning DOI's Eighth
Quarterly Status Report on Trust
Reform. In this 57-page document, Balaran claims supplemen-
N0RT0N to page 6
Constitutional Reform Series
Part 1: Testimony of John Morrin
Compiled by Wallace W.
Storbakken
On September 29-30,2001, the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe sponsored a Constitutional Hearing at
the Grand Casino - Mille Lacs.
Beginning with this issue the Native American Press will publish
a series of "quotes" based on oral
testimony at the hearing. The testimony has been edited to conserve space, while attempting to
include the major points, opinions, and ideas of the speaker.
Every effort has been taken so as
to not present the testimony out
of context. We apologize that the
presentations are not in chrono
logical order and that in many
cases the speaker is not identified. The full transcription ofthe
hearing testimony is available
through the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe facility in Cass Lake, Minnesota.
Excerpts and quotes from testimony of John Morrin- Grand
Portage:
"... I am fully aware, as
many of the people before me, of
how the present system came
about and it has always been one
of my concerns that our people
have really never had a say for
many, many generations and I
would even dare to say going
back to the clan system, when we
had a system of what we called
checks and balances and accountability that leaders had to be accountable to their people, otherwise somebody else took their
place..."
- "[W]e really have to be sure
that there are some safeguards for
our future generations and our
children... I am fully aware that
it is kind of a document that our
people adopted in the early 60's
and it would be fair to say that
many of our people voted for it
without really understanding
TESTIMONY to page 6
Three Affiliated Tribes faces questions about bison herd
Associated Press
1VIANDAREE, N.D.— Bison on
the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation are being mismanaged and
some are starving, some tribal
members say. Those in charge of
the herd deny the allegations, and
say they are inviting inspections.
Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall, in a statement issued
through his public relations office,
said the bison herd is being well
cared for, though ofthe animals
have died due to normal winter
stress.
One former tribal official alerted
federal and state authorities to what
he said is the precarious condition
of up to 1,000 bison in a corral and
pasture near the town of Mandaree.
Nearly a dozen fly-covered
bloated carcasses could be seen
Monday behind a corral, among
the bones of bison that died some
time ago. Live bison looked thin,
some with ribs clearly showing
where the hide had rubbed off.
Ted Lone Fight HI, the Mandan-
Hidatsa-Arikara Bison Project
manager, said the bison are not
starving.
"The animals are doing fine,"
Lone Fight said. He took over their
management March 1 and made arrangements to buy $10,000 worth
of hay last week, he said.
Lone Fight said it is not uncommon for some animals to die when
they are put through a chute system
and loaded for the sales bam. A
shipment of bison cows and yearling calves was sold April 12.
Stan Savelkoul, president ofthe
North Dakota Buffalo Association,
helped handle the tribe's bison. He
said the animals were hungry.
"We had some hay down there
and they were eating hay pretty
steady," he said. "I could tell they
were thin, but I didn't see anything
that caught my eye that I should
call the humane society."
Jerry Nagel, a former tribal
judge, contacted authorities after
looking at the herd last week.
"The buffalo took care of us a
long time ago," Nagel said. "The
least we can do is take care of them
when they're in our care."
Nagel contacted the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, the state
Board of Animal Health and the
National Park Service.
The bison come to the Three Affiliated Tribes from Theodore
Roosevelt National Park, on condition that the tribe properly care for
them and make half die herd available to other reservations. The animals are rounded up and culled
from the park's herd when their
number exceeds what park grazing
QUESTIONS to page 3
Federal agents seize records from Goshute tribal offices in Utah
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY- Federal
agents investigating allegations
of corruption in the leadership
ofthe Goshutes' Skull Valley
Band seized records and computers from tribal offices in
South Salt Lake, and have subpoenaed witnesses.
The allegations of embezzlement, fraud and other crimes
were voiced amid a dispute for
leadership posts during the past
several years. The tribe has been
trying to make a deal with a
consortium that wants to store
nuclear waste at the Goshutes'
Skull Valley reservation in western Utah.
Tribal Chairman Leon Bear
did not return calls seeking comment.
A lawyer for the tribe said the
Goshutes were cooperating.
"The band has always been
cooperative with the investigations," said attorney Tim
Vollmann, who was quoted in a
copyright story in The Salt Lake
Tribune.
The agencies involved in last
week's search declined to comment.
"There is nothing we can
say," said Melodie Rydalch,
spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City.
Former tribal Vice Chair
woman Mary Allen, who lost a
re-election bid in 2000, and her
brother, Rex Allen, who has
been trying to claim the title of
tribal secretary, have been called
to testify before a federal grand
jury, the newspaper said.
The Aliens, along with Bear,
were the tribal leaders who
signed a 1997 deal between the
Goshutes and Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of utility companies that has leased 820 acres
on the tribal reservation.
PFS is attempting to secure a
federal license to store spent
nuclear-fuel rods on leased reservation land.
RECORDS to page 2
Red Lake chairman hospitalized
Red Lake tribal chairman Gerald
"Butch" Brun became ill last weekend, and has been hospitalized at
the Altru Hopital in Grand Forks,
North Dakota.
Neither the hospital, nor his family, has released any information regarding his condition, and information from the tribal council had not
been received by press time.
Brun was also hospitalized last
July 19th after a stroke, and at that
time spent six days in the hospital
in Bemidji.
Press. ON file photo / Bill Lawrence
Red Lake tribal chainnan Butch Brun swore
in newly-appointed ShirleyCain last January
14th at the tribal council chambers.
Cash-strapped states increasingly look at
Indian gambling revenue
By Erica Werner
Associated Press
Gov. Gray Davis angered California Indian tribes when he asked
for $1.5 billion in casino revenue to
help close the state's $34.6 billion
budget deficit, but he was only the
latest governor to reach for a share
of tribal gambling money.
With Indian casinos booming
and budget deficits hitting capitals
nationwide, more and more states
are looking to tribal gambling for
help.
"The change in the economic environment has wrought a new view
of Indian gaming as being a new
source of revenue for state governments," said Michael Lombardi, a
tribal gambling consultant in California. "It is a significant change in
the Indian gaming environment nationwide."
In Arizona, voters approved a
measure in November that will allow tribes more slot machines and
Nevada-style blackjack while giving the state a share of gambling
revenue for the first time, up to
$102 milhon per year.
In Wisconsin, tribal revenue is a
GAMBLING to page 6
How Connecticut
got a big payoff
from Indian gaming
By Robert Imrie
Associated Press
WAUSAU, Wis. — Why can't
Wisconsin be like Connecticut and
get a bigger payoff into its state
treasury from Indian casinos?
It's not that simple, says the man
who helped negotiate Connecticut's
lucrative deal about 10 years ago.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
was very generous, said Jackson
King, a tribal attorney. It had to be
to overcome significant political
hurdles in gaming compact talks
with then-Gov. Lowell Weicker to
be able to get a casino with slot machines.
Added tribal lobbyist Charles
Duffy, "People need to be careful
about comparing any of these situations. They are all unique.... That
was 10 years ago in an entirely different time."
No one knew then how successful Indian gaming would become,
he said.
Two tribes in Connecticut pay 25
percent of their gross operating revenues of slot machines and video
games — the money wagered mi-
PAYOFF to page 6
VOICE      OF      THE       PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
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American
Press
Ojibwe News
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A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2003
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 46
April 25,2003
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Sam English, Them Two Contestin' (left); Joe Geshick, The Healer (right)
Native Sons exhibit showcases two Ojibwe artists
The works of Sam English (Turtle Mountain and Red Lake) and Joe Geshick (Bois Forte) will be featured
in Native Sons, an exhibit at Ancient Traders Gallery, May 9"1 - July 7"1.
Opening in honor of American Indian Month, the exhibit begins with an artists' reception at the gallery,
1113 East Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, May 9"\ The event is free.
The American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation is backing the exhibition as a part ofthe
Jvlitakue Oyasin / All My Relations community-based arts program. According to special projects director
Shirlee Stone, "each artist brings a unique, deeply spiritual and riveting style of painting to then vision of
American Indian people."
^Sam English, who lives and works in Albuquerque, "paints intertribally - 'because we share the gifts.'" He
says that he honors American Indians, "for the integrity that they espouse, their spirituality, tradition, families,
and extended families."
Joe Geshick, who lives and works in Ely, Minnesota, "reaches into traditional Native ceremonies and
emerges with a sense of celestial stillness, often captured in a single figure. His paintings - richly textured
layers of vibrant earth tones - reflect the healing power of ceremonies and his gratitude for their impact.
"Through five years of sundancing, he says, his spirit developed as he became firmly rooted in traditional
ceremonies, bringing a new understanding to his life."
On the web: Sam English's online gallery: http://www.samenglish.com.
Joe Geshick's online gallery: htup://www.sundancefinearts.com/
Kids Count survey: Fewer Minnesota children in poverty, pregnant
By The Associated Press
Minnesota children are doing
better overall than a decade ago,
with fewer teenage mothers and
youths involved in serious
crimes, according to an annual
report released Wednesday by
the Children's Defense Fund.
But the director of the Kids
Count report warns that cuts to
day care, after-school and other
programs under Gov. Tim
Pawlenty's proposed budget
could hurt children and their
families.
"This is a really important time
to look at how at how Minnesota
kids are doing," said Diane Benjamin, who directs the annual report of 11 health, economic and
education statistics that address
the well-being of Minnesota's
children.
According to the Pawlenty administration, its proposal to fix
the projected $4.2 billion deficit
would largely spare basic classroom funding and programs that
direcdy serve children — cuts are
aimed at adults without children.
"The governor's intent is to
provide a stable environment for
families and business," said
Kevin Goodno, the state Human
Services commissioner.
Benjamin acknowledged the
governor didn't propose funding
SURVEY to page 6
Looking Cloud
trial set for June
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-A
June trial date has been set for
one ofthe men accused of killing a member of the American
Indian Movement in 1975.
Arlo Looking Cloud is
scheduled to stand trial June
24 in federal court in Rapid
City, though that date could be
pushed back.
His next hearing will be next
month.
He and John Graham are
charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Anna Mae
Pictou-Aquash, who vanished
from a Denver home in late
1975. Her frozen body was
found on South Dakota's Pine
Ridge Reservation in February
1976. The 30-year-old woman
had been shot in the head.
Looking Cloud was transferred from Denver, where he
was arrested last month, and
pleaded innocent to the charge
Monday. He would face a
mandatory life sentence if convicted.
Graham, who is also known
as John Boy Patton, has not
been arrested and is thought to
be in Canada.
Looking Cloud will be held
in the Pennington County Jail
in Rapid City until his trial.
Looking Cloud is a Lakota
Sioux who grew up on the
Pine Ridge reservation. He
was arrested March 27.
Hudson Casino Proposal: Three tribes
lose federal lawsuit
By Todd Richmond
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — Afederal
judge ruled Wednesday state governors can veto off-reservation tribal
casinos, ending a lawsuit three Wisconsin tribes filed in 2001.
The ruling essentially preserves
governors' powers to approve off-reservation casinos granted by the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The tribes filed the lawsuit after
former Gov. Scott McCallum
blocked them from turning a former
dog track in Hudson into a casino.
Under the federal act, the U.S. Interior secretary can approve off-reservation gambling if it is in the
tribe's best interest. The law also
says state governors must agree.
The Lac Courte Oreilles and Red
Cliff bands of Lake Superior
Chippewa and the Sakaogon
Chippewa argued giving governors
the final word prevents Congress
from fulfilling its responsibility to
economically disadvantaged tribes.
The tribes also alleged the act
violates the U.S. Constitution because it delegates power to state
governors, who don't operate within
the federal government
But U.S. District Judge Barbara
Crabb ruled the act expresses the
will of Congress and doesn't compel
governors into federal service because it gives a governor a choice:
agree with the Interior secretary or
do nothing. If the governor chooses
not to approve a tribe's application,
the governor is simply preserving
the general federal prohibition on
off-reservation gambling. "It was
doing nothing more than giving the
governors an opportunity to be
heard on matters that affected the interests of their citizens," Crabb said
in the ruling.
Bob Friebert, an attorney for the
tribes, said he hadn't seen the decision late Wednesday and declined to
comment. Dan Leistikow, a spokesman for Gov. Jim Doyle, said
Doyle's office was reviewing the decision.
Debate over state-operated casinos is all
about money
By David Phelps
Minneapolis Star Tribune
It's all about money.
The Legislature's renewed debate on whether to allow one or
two, or even three, new casinos in
the Twin Cities area is built on dollar signs for all involved: campaign
contributors, high-profile lobbyists,
business interests and ultimately the
state treasury.
A state-operated casino is a key
element in House Republicans'
plan to balance the budget. But Republican Gov. Tun Pawlenty opposes the idea, and the Senate DFL
is less than lukewarm about it.
Still, a casino to generate state
revenues is a force in this year's
session, slowly gaining momentum
DEBATE to page 6
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