Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-05-16

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
The Sioux Today:
Self-Determination,
1975-2000
page 6
Indian Uprising
radio program airs
Sunday on KFAI
page 5
Leech Lake Band of       Leech Lake tribal at-
Ojibwe to conduct torney defends hiring
General Assembly action
page 3
page 4
Guest Commentary "Life
after per capita" by Max-
ine E. Eidsvig
page 4
RLTC appoints George "Billy" King interim chair,
votes for referendum to amend Constitution
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
While the Red Lake Tribal
Council meeting convened as it
does every first Tuesday of the
month, the primary task was to
appoint someone as Red Lake
Chairman to fill the vacancy
left by the late Gerald "Butch"
Brun
An estimated 200 people
filled the Red Lake Humanities
Center, wondering who would
fill the chairmanship.
Two motions, one to appoint former chair, Bobby
Whitefeather and current
Red Lake Representative,
Roman "Ducker" Stately,
both failed by 5-4 votes
among tlie Red Lake Tribal
Councilmen. Later in the
meeting, a suggestion by-
Secretary Judy Roy, to appoint George "Billy" King,
one of six Red Lake Heredi
tary Chiefs on tlie council.
was introduced on the floor.
Roy called for a vote and
the vote to appoint King
was a unanimous choice.
10-0.
The council also voted
unanimously on Tuesday for a
referendum to amend tlie tribal
Constitution so that council
vacancies could be filled by
special elections. Roy estimates
that each election would take
about 60 days and each cost between $15.000-$20.000.
As the meeting as called to
order and Ponemah Dist. Rep.
Clifford Hardy, who acted as
meeting Secy, read the rolls,
calling Brun's name for the last
time, those in attendance observed a moment of silence.
Secretary Roy, who served
as meeting chairperson by
unanimous request ofthe council presented a list of 5 procedural questions for council
consideration and consensus. A
consensus was reached on all
five questions.
One question involved
whether meeting chairperson
Secretary Roy had a vote. According to tlie Constitution, the
chairperson only votes in case
of a tie. but tlie council members agreed Roy could vote. As
it turned out but the Stately and
Newly appointed interim Red Lake tribal chair
man Billy King greets well wishers during a
break in the council meeting on May 13 at the
Red Lake Humanities Center.
Whitefeather nominations were
voted down and Roy didn't
need to vote.
Another issue that drew
lengthy discussion was whether
a council member appointed
as chairperson would have to
resign his position as district
representative. The council
answered that question in the
affirmative. Roy and treasurer
Seki had announced at last
Friday's open tribal meeting
that they would not leave their
current position to accept an
appointment as interim chair,
although both had strong backing for the position.
In deliberating on the ap
pointment, the council asked
for input from the Hereditary
Chiefs and listened to comments from about a half dozen
tribal members in attendance.
Chief Greeting Spears said
the interim chairperson should
be someone who speaks Ojibwe
and English and can confer
with elders. Other members
ofthe chiefs' advisory panel
recommended someone from
the council take the chairman's
position.
On behalf of his late
brother, Donald "Dutch"
Brun spoke against White-
feather's nomination, pointing out Red Lake's financial
problems developed under
his leadership.
Francis Brun suggested
each Tribal Council member
serve as interim chairman
for one month until the next
regular election.
Concerning the Whitefeather appointment, "We
have a motion by Johnson,
second by Hardy to appoint Bobby Whitefeather
as Tribal Chairman under the
Constitution. This would be
an appointment until the next
regular election, which would
be next May," Roy said to the
council. Those in favor ofthe
Whitefeather motion were four
votes by the two Redby District
Representatives, Julius "Toady"
Thunder and Al Pemberton
and the two Ponemah District
Representatives, Clifford Hardy
and Rudy Johnson, with less
than half applauding. Those
not in favor of the Whitefeather
motion included Red Lake
Tribal Treasurer, Darrell Seki,
INTERIM to page 4
web page: www.press-on.net
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American
Press
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2003
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 49
May 16, 2003
Minnesota Govenor Tim Pawlenty visits the Minnesota Gaming Equity Act Teepee located at the State capitol in
St. Paul on Thursday morning May 15. The Governor was inside the Teepee for about 20 minutes learning more
about the Minnesota Gaming Equity Act from White Earth tribal members David Glass, Georgia Lickness, and
Collins Luneberg. Also, participating in the meeting by conference call were White Earth chairman Doyle Turner  •
and Red Lake treasurer Darrell Seki. The MN Legislature is expected to consider the tribal/state and other gaming
bills during conference committee meetings as part of budget and other bills during the next couple of days. The
Legislature is required to by law to adjourn on Monday May 19.
Leech Lake judge refuses to grant injunction against LaRose, White    Tribal leaders ask DNR commissioner
By Jeff Armstrong
The Leech Lake Tribal
Court refused Thursday to issue a temporary restraining
order sought by three district
representatives attempting to
force through a recall vote next
Thursday against secretary
treasurer Archie LaRose. If approved, the legal motion would
have ordered LaRose, chairman
Pete White and their subordinate employees to release election funds they had blocked as
an illegal attempt to subvert the
MCT Constitution.
Ruling that the plaintiffs
failed to show either a threat of
irreparable harm or the likelihood of success on the merits, judge B.J. Jones ordered
both parties to comply with a
previous order for them to finally vote to accept or reject the
LaRose recall petition.
"[T]he court is not convinced
that the Petitioners herein would
prevail on the merits of their
claim that 3 RBC members can
vote to accept a recall petition
when the two remaining members of tlie RBC are not present.
The MCT Constitution at Article X, Section 2 requires a two-
thirds (2/3) vote of 'its members' to remove any officer or
member. Although it is not clear
whether this two-thirds requirement also applies to votes to
hold recall elections... the MCT
Constitution clearly refers to the
total number of members and
not just those members present
at a meeting of the RBC," Jones
wrote.
After obtaining a temporary
restraining order and presenting evidence challenging the
validity of dozens of signatures
on the petition, LaRose had
withdrawn his lawsuit in order
to force an RBC vote—which,
under a TEC constitutional interpretation, requires a 4/5 RBC
vote to uphold petition charges.
LaRose and White refused to
recognize an April 25 petition
hearing scheduled by the district
representatives, arguing that the
three committeemen have no
constitutional authority to hold
or schedule meetings without
the consent of the chainnan.
The district representatives had
previously scheduled a Jan'. 6
recall hearing in defiance of a
court order they had themselves
sought, prompting the court to
issue a last-minute injunction.
Without specifying who was
to blame for the RBC's failure
to vote on the petition, Jones
expressed frustration with the
governing body's failure to
comply with his previous court
order.
"The Court cannot understand
and will not permit the circumvention of this Court's mandate,
however, by the refusal of some
RBC members to participate in
a RBC meeting called for the
purpose of carrying out its constitutional duties under Article
X of the MCT Constitution,"
wrote Jones, ordering "that the
parties hereto are directed to
this court's mandate by holding
a RBC meeting for the express
purpose of voting either to
accept or reject the recall petition."
The court also ordered
LaRose and White to submit a
response to the plaintiffs' motion within 20 days, after which
a final hearing will be scheduled.
LaRose welcomed tlie court
ruling, charging Zenas Baer,
attorney for the plaintiffs, with
improperly intervening in tribal
affairs in order to secure funds
for representing the three committeemen. "Zenas is just trying
to get paid," LaRose said.
The secretary treasurer also
accused the district representatives of violating the MCT
election ordinance, in part by
ordering ballots from a private
company rather than requesting
them from the TEC. LaRose
pointed to a requisition by Luke
Wilson for the printing of 3,700
ballots at a cost of $336.
"They're in big time violation of Election Ordinance 8,"
said LaRose. "If Luke wants
the ballots, he's going to have
to pay for them out of his own
pocket."
Tribal college president fired again, interim leader named
By Cole Short
The Fargo Forum
The president of the White
Earth Tribal and Community
College has been removed from
office - again.
Helen Klassen was fired by
the White Earth Reservation
Tribal Council a month ago.
But four of seven members on
the college's board of trustees
voted April 26 to reinstate Klassen, stating the council had no
authority to fire her.
Klassen returned to work
April 23, but was replaced three
days later.
The ousted president said Friday that Tribal Chairmen Doyle
Turner and tribal police officers
came to the college Wednesday
to have her forcibly removed.
"I wasn't there at the time,
but everyone said it was very
frightening," Klassen said from
her home in Detroit Lakes.
She told the Becker County
Record that as many as a dozen
tribal police officers, with squad
cars and emergency vehicles -
along with four of the five tribal
council members - descended
on the tribal college.
"They used a very heavy,
heavy hand." she said. "They
burst into tlie building with the
police, the students were so
incredibly frightened - the staff
and faculty were frightened.
They rounded everybody up in
the school and put them into a
large classroom - it was totally
inappropriate the way it was
handled... it was unnecessary."
Turner denied the allegation
in a telephone interview Tuesday.
"None of it happened that at
all," he said.
There were just two tribal
police officers on the scene,
a three members ofthe tribal
council (himself, Tony Wade
and secretary-treasurer B
Heisler), he said.
"It was nothing as exciting
she said," Torrer said. "There
were no terrified people, no
rounding up. There was a leadership change and the tribal
council met with the staff up
there. KLASSEN to page 3
io resign over comments
ST. PAUL Minnesota
Leaders of eight of Minnesota's
11 tribes are demanding that tlie
state's Department of Natural
Resources commissioner resign
for remarks he made last month
likening American Indian hunting
and fishing rights to "apartheid."
The leaders made the request in
a letter to Gov. Tim Pawlenty on
Monday.
Pawlenty defended Commissioner Gene Merriam in a later
statement as "an inclusive man of
fairness and the utmost integrity."
At issue are remarks Merriam
made at an April 27 fund-raising
event for the group Proper Economic Resource Management,
which opposes tribal treaty hunting and fishing rights.
In an article in the weekly news
paper Outdoor News. Merriam
is quoted as saying, in answer to
a question regarding tlie treaty
rights, "I think that any system
of apartheid based upon race is
inherently misdirected." He also
said that his comments did not
represent official DNR policy.
The tribal leaders called tlie
remarks "offensive, hostile and
completely unacceptable" in tlie
letter.
"Comparing tlie legal exercise of treaty rights with one of
history's most brutal and racist
systems of government is outrageous and should be condemned
by all Minnesotans," tlie leaders
wrote.
It was signed by leaders of the
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, tlie
Prairie Island Indian Community,
tlie Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sionx Community, the Bois Forte
Band of Chippewa Indians, tlie
Upper Sioux Community, the
Grand Portage Band of Chippewa
Indians, tlie Lower Sioux Indian
Community and the Leech Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians.
A spokesman for the Mille
Lacs Band said leaders there
were not available for comment
Monday evening.
Merriam apologized for the
comments in a statement from
his own office, adding, "I fully
respect and recognize tlie importance of their treaty rights." He
said he hopes his relationship with
tribes "is not irreparably damaged
by these comments."
Prairie Island votes in favor of more nuclear waste
RED WING. Minn. (AP) _
Xcel Energy is another step
closer to storing more nuclear
waste at its Prairie Island
nuclear plant after the Prairie
Island Indian Community officially backed it Wednesday.
The Mdewakanton Dakota
community announced its tribal
members voted _ by a 2-to-l
margin to approve an agreement tribal leaders made with
Xcel a few months back that
supports additional storage
upon conditions, according to
tribal spokesman Jake Reint.
To pass, the agreement needed
30 percent approval.
Their approval follows Tuesday's Senate 42-24 vote to pass
a bill to allow more waste to be
stored outside the nuclear plant
near Red Wing.
Tlie House has yet to act on
the measure.
Xcel says its needs to store
more nuclear waste at Prairie
Island or it will have to close
the plant by 2007 when it
reaches tlie 17-cask storage
at Xcel plant.
limit mandated by a 1994 law.
The Senate bill allows
enough additional concrete-
and-steel casks to be stored
outside until Xcel's license to
operate tlie Prairie Island plant
expires in 2014.
The bill also would send
money to a fund supporting alternative energy and allow the
Public Utilities Commission to
authorize additional cask storage with final say going to the
Legislature on whether licenses
XCEL to page 4
Former Crow chairman asks to withdraw plea to bribery
By Becky Bolirer
Associated Press
BILLINGS - The former
chairman of tlie Crow tribe
wants to withdraw his guilty
plea to a federal bribery charge,
saying he didn't fully understand the charge or realize he
could receive prison time.
Clifford Birdinground. in an
affidavit filed this week in U.S.
District Court in Billings, said
he was too embarrassed to tell
a former attorney he didn't understand the plea agreement he
entered late last year.
He said he reads English at a
third grade level, can't read legal documents without help and
agreed to the terms as read and
explained to him by his previous attorneys "just to hurry the
process and get it over."
Birdinground. who stepped
down as the leader of the Crow
tribe last September, was indicted in what authorities called
a fraud scheme with a Billings
auto dealership.
He pleaded guilty to the bribery charge, which accused him
of accepting cash or gifts from
the dealership for helping arrange vehicle sales to the tribe
and tribal members.
Birdinground was scheduled
to be sentenced Friday.
But he said in his affidavit
that he now understands tlie
nature of the crime and "I do
not believe I am guilty because
I believed it was legal to accept
those fees at tlie time I took
them."
He also said he was told by
a fonner attorney that prosecutors were tlvreatening to charge
members of Birdinground's
family, including his wife, and
that he felt "unfairly pressured"
to plead guilty "to save my wife
from criminal charges she was
not guilh' of."
Birdinground said he believed
if he pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators, he
would not serve prison time.
In their motion to withdraw
the plea, Birdinground's attorneys note comprehension
problems they say he lias, and
they contend he entered tlie
agreement "under duress and
coercion."
"He's a proud man. He attempted to understand the agreement but clearly didn't," Paul
Matt, one of Birdinground's
attorneys, said Tuesday.
Birdinground was "quite surprised" when he realized he
could go to prison, Matt said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl
Rostad said prosecutors would
be given time to respond to the
motion and could call witnesses
to refute Birdinground's claims.
"People involved with the process would be called, that we
believe had no problem understanding tlie chainnan, or vice
versa," he said.