Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-05-23

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
The Sioux Today:
Setf-Determination,
1975-2000
page 6
Doyle attorneys say
state courts have
no say over gaming
lawsuit
page 3
State senator accused
of trying to intervene in
rapecase
page 7
Pawlenty apology fiasco
illustrates how the
system works
page 4
The Merriam
flap
page 4
Leech Lake plans ambitious $20 million project to
expand tribal gaming, housing
May 24 general assembly meeting to determine if referendum needed
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Jeff Armstrong
Tlie Leech Lake RBC has
signed a tentative agreement
with a private investment company to finance construction of
a new casino, additional reservation housing units, and a "100-
150 slot machine operation at or
near the Shingobee Restaurant
in Walker," according to documents obtained by Press/ON.
Under the agreement, a
company known as Marketing Underwriters Acquisitions,
Inc. will invest an estimated
$20 million in the projects and
provide management consulting
services, in return for 25% of casino profits for a period of seven
years and the same percentage
of slot machine proceeds over
four years. During die period
of repayment, collateral will be
provided and tlie facilities will
be collectively leased to tlie reservation as a contract for deed,
but Leech Lake will own them
outright after fulfillment of tlie
terms of the contract. As part of
die agreement signed May 1, die
RBC members pledged to hold
die tenns of die transaction in
"strictest confidence."
It is anticipated diat replacing
the existing Palace Casino and
Hotel widi one situated on Highway 2 will generate additional
revenue for the reservation.
Leech Lake has also applied for
a liquor license from the MCT
for both the Shingobee and Cass
Lake casinos, according to resolutions adopted May 13 in Ball
Club and May 14 in Cass Lake.
The number and type of housing
units to be built in the "affordable housing development" is
not specified in the proposed
agreement.
Secretary treasurer Archie
LaRose said the deal is by
no means final and may ultimately be subject to a popular
referendum vote. LaRose said
he expects die proposal to be
among the subjects of discussion
at a Saturday general assembly
meeting, to be held 10am at the
Palace Casino.
"We don't have a final agreement yet, we just have a letter
of intent," said LaRose. "If die
majority of the people [at the
general assembly] don't want it
and they want to hold a referendum, Uiat's what we'll do. I want
people to be informed about diis
before we do anything."
However, the terms of the proposal, which the RBC was given
30 days to accept, stipulate that
the agreement does not "require
the consent of any third party."
It further stipulates that "no further action is necessary on the
part of either (Leech Lake RBC
or Gaming) to consummate
the transactions contemplated
hereby."
The letter of intent grants
the company exclusive rights
for diree years to proceed with
Uie project, but does not necessarily oblige it to do so. Final
acceptance by the company is
contingent upon its credit approval, which "shall be solely at
the Companies [sic] discretion."
Tlie proposed agreement also
provides diat Corporate Commission CEO Michael Johnson,
who helped orchestrate the deal,
be granted a 21-month contract
extension to April 14,2006.
Along with Bob Goggleye and
tribal attorney Frank Bibeau,
Johnson will be responsible for
negotiating the final tenns of
die agreement, which "shall be
determined at a later date."
Federal judge dismisses civil rights suit against
Bug School
By Jeff Armstrong
The U.S. District Court of
Minnesota granted summary
dismissal of a civil rights lawsuit
against the Bug O Nay Ge Sliig
school and die Bureau of Indian
Affairs by a fonner employee,
ruling diat the Leech Lake Tribal
Court has exclusive jurisdiction
over the case. As such, the court
refused to consider die merits of
the allegations.
"[Fjederal law precludes the
exercise of subject matter jurisdiction by this Court in this
matter, because such an exercise
of jurisdiction would infringe
on sovereign immunity," wrote
disuict judge Michael Davis in a
May 16 opinion.
Stephanie Vencel filed suit
last year against the reservation
school under tiie federal Civil
Rights Act and the Minnesota
Human Rights Act, claiming
that a fonner superintendent
made unwanted sexual advances
towards her. A teacher at the
school since 1984, Vencel al
leged that when she rejected die
advances, die superintendent
retaliated against her with false
complaints and accusations.
According to die plaintiff,
she was suspended and ultimately fired from her position
on grounds of mental instability
after complaining to the Leech
Lake school board—in spite of
the fact that she had received a
favorable mental health assessment. After investigating the
incident, the school board determined that Vencel was out to get
the superintendent.
The federal court rejected
Vencel's contention diat the
school was administered by the
BIA and thus subject to federal
civil rights jurisdiction.
'The Court finds that die record in diis matter clearly demonstrates that die Bug O Nay Ge
Sliig School is operated by the
Band and under the direction of
die Bug O Nay Ge Sliig School
Board. Accordingly, the Court
also finds diat the school is not
under die operation or direction
of die BIA," Davis wrote.
Although die school receives
BIA funding, die court noted
diat the federal agency disavowed any role in its oversight
or management. Determining
diat the school is entirely widiin
die boundaries of Leech Lake
and wholly under die direction
of reservation officials, the court
ruled that any attempt to enforce
civil rights law must begin in
tribal court.
'This case arises out of events
occurring entirely in Indian
Country, and Congress has not
expressly limited the jurisdiction
of the Tribal Court," the judge
concluded.
Current school superintendent
Karen Baldwin said she was
only dimly aware of the details
of the case and dius had no comment on the matter.
Neither Vencel nor her attorney could be reached for comment.
State appeals court to consider Red Lake parental
kidnapping case
By Jeff Armstrong
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has agreed to hear an appeal from Donald Bran, Jr., a
Red Lake man who has defied a
lower court ruling for more than
a year by refusing to return his
daughter to die lawful custody of
her motiier, Leech Lake enrollee
Jawnie Hough. If granted, the appeal would preclude Minnesota
from enforcing civil judgments
anywhere in die state if die case
can be shown to arise from die
Red Lake reservation.
"Tlie Minnesota Supreme
Court answered die question in
Bran, holding diat process cannot be served on an enrolled
member of die Red Lake Nation
who resides within reservation
boundaries," Brim's brief maintains.
• Bran and his parents kept
Meghan without Hough's consent more than three years ago,
then obtained a Red Lake court
order on false pretenses. On June
19,2001, die Beltrami County
Court agreed to recognize the
tribal order without notice to
Hough, leading to a traumatic
scene in a Minneapolis hospital
seven months later as Meghan
was wrenched from die arms of
her mother, who was arrested
and charged with "deprivation of
parental rights."
Bran was ordered March 4
last year to relinquish custody
of Meghan Brun by Beltrami
County judge Terrance Hotter,
who accused Bran of "perpetrating misconduct upon diis court."
After ignoring die court order,
Bran petitioned die court to invalidate the order September 23
on jurisdictional grounds. Brun's
argument, claiming personal immunity from state jurisdiction,
was denied the following day,
but it will now be revisited by
the appeals court.
Leech Lake attorney Frank Bibeau had petitioned die court to
decline review of the case until
Bran complied with the district
court order, accusing Brun and
his attorney, Lawrence Nichols,
of misconduct and requesting
diat contempt charges and odier
sanctions be brought against the
appellant.
"[Brun] has unclean hands until Appellant returns die subject
child to die proper and rightful physical custodian," wrote
Bibeau, further petitioning the
court to arrest Brun for contempt
and assess fines against him for
misusing the courts to obstruct
legal judgment. Nichols, he said,
was in violation of professional
ethics "by not disclosing diat his
client.. .lias perpetrated misconduct on the Trial Court to wrong-
RED LAKE to page 7
Red Lake Court ceases operation
By Molly Miron
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
Tlie Red Lake Band of Chippewa Tribal Courts are closed
until 5 p.m. Tuesday under an
order issued Wednesday afternoon by Chainnan George Billy
King.
King issued die order after a
morning of protests by seven
tribal court employees and four
former employees against Chief
Tribal Judge Shirley Cain. Cain
was contracted by the late Chairman Gerald "Butch" Bran on
Nov. 18. She also served a court
administrator.
King did not attend the informal meeting Wednesday of Red
Lake Tribal Council District
Representatives Roman "Ducker" Stately and Jim White, some
court and Family and Children
Services employees and PubUc
Safety Committee members.
However, Stately co.nfened witii
King by telephone.
"Billy kind of told me he did
diat (court closing) because he
wants tilings to calm down,"
Stately said.
Cain said Red Lake Police Officer Dwayne Dow and Executive Administrator Roger Head
told her following tlie demonstrations that she would have
to leave the courthouse, even
though four people were due for
hearings.
"I said they (protesters) were
committing a crime because they
were intimidating me," Cain
said. "I was scared."
She said the protesters also are
defaming her to die tribal council.
"I'm an attorney. I know what
defamation is. They're trying to
niin my reputation," Cain said.
"They came in and said, 'Drop
everything,"' said Marilyn
Mountain, probation officer and
grant coordinator. She said she
will miss die application deadline for a $220,000-to-$500,000
grant for drug courts because of
the administrative leave ordered
by the chairman.
Cain has a bachelor's degree
from Metropolitan State University and a juris doctorate from
William Mitchell College in St.
Paul. She also served as chief
judge for die Spirit Lake Band at
Fort Totten, N.D., before returning to her Red Lake home as
chief judge.
She said Bmn and die tribal
cotmcil hired her to improve the
administration of justice on the
reservation.
"I wanted to come home and
help change in a positive way,"
Cain said.
And, until recentiy, she said
the tribal council had aUowed
the court to operate without interference.
A turning point came recendy
when she suspended Judge Phil
Smith and charged him with
disorderly conduct after he allegedly insulted her. The tribal
council voted 6A to reinstate
Sniidi.
COURT to page 7
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Volume 15 Issue 50
May 23, 2003
American Indians perform in the men's Northern Traditional dance competition Saturday,
April 26, 2003, at the 20th annual Gathering of Nations Powwow at The Pit in Albuquerque,
N.M. Over 3,000 dancers from all over the United States and Canada will take part in the
gathering which runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf)
Mille Lacs Band members denied request to review
tribal financial records
By Bill Lawrence
On March 18,2003, Mille
Lacs Band members Todd
Moilanen and Meskwa-
nakwad, believing tiiey were
exercising their rights under
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Constitution Article VI, Sec.
1(b), requested in writing to
review all financial infonnation of the Mile Lacs Band
for die years 2000 to die
present. That same day, former Mille Lacs Band Commissioner of Finance Deron
Dunkley, faxed a response
to Moilanen and Meskwa-
nakwad. He acknowledging
their letter, asked diem to be
more specific in tiieir request
to review die tribal financial
records and sent diem a copy
of Band Secretarial Order 22-
01, which deals with the release of financial infonnation.
On March 19 Moilanen and
Meskwanakwad faxed a letter
to Dunkley telling hini diat
they would be more specific
if he would provide them a
copy of die "list of die cunent
not public data, on die Mille
Lacs financial and/or related
department(s) records as of
March 20,2003."
In addition to their written request of March 18, Moilanen
and Meskwanakwad went to
MiUe Lacs Band headquarters
and met with tribal secretary-
treasurer Herb Weyous. According to Moilanen, Weyous
told them that tiiey must follow
tribal Secretarial Order 22-01
in order to review tribal financial records. On March 25,
Moilanen and Meskwanakwad
learned dial Dunkley resigned
his position as Commissioner
of Finance and became CFO of
the Corporate Commission. On
die same day, now not knowing
who to deal with, and wanting
to followed up tiieir written
requests and meeting widi Weyous, tyey sent a letter to Sylvia
Villebran, Parliamentarian for
the Mille Lacs Band. They restated their interest to review financial infonnation and reiterating dieir request for a "complete
list as of March 20, 2003 of 'not
public data.'" On March 30,
VUlebrun telephoned MoUanen
and told him that his request
for a copy of die "cunent list
of not public data" was denied.
Moilanen and Meskwanakwad
them wrote to Mille Lacs Band
secretary-treasurer Weyous, ap
pealing the denial of the "not
public data list." In their letter,
Moilanen and Meskwanakwad
cited Secretarial Order 22-01 as
the authority for appeal, arguing that "no where in the Order
does it refer to the not public
data" list as being not public
and seeking a written denial
of their request for the list."
On May 5, Moilanen received
from Mr. Dorin Lawin a faxed
statement containing a list of 10
items classified as "not public
data." Interestingly enough, the
fax transmittal sheet contained
the following note; 'This is the
attachment of non-public data
which has been developed since
the litigation, Prairie Island v.
Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Bill Lawrence
began in 2002." The list is as
follows:
This attachment of non-public
data includes, but is not limited
to, the following.
1. Audited financial statements.
2. All payroll, benefits, and
tax information that may result
in the identification of an individual and their pay, benefits,
and taxes.
MILLE LACS to page 3
Court Denies Interior Motion to Reconsider Payment of Special Master:
Judge Orders Payment for Court Officers
By Jean Pagano
U.S. District Judge Royce
C. Lamberth today denied
Secretary of Interior Gale
Norton's request to reconsider
tlie Court's order to pay Special
Master Alan Balaran in Cobell
v. Norton. As reportedliere in
Press/OrV (Double Standard
in Legal Conpensation). both
die Special Master and Special Master Monitor are paid
less dian die going rate in die
District of Columbia while attorneys representing 39 Department of Interior (DOI) defendants are being paid, at market
rates, by the taxpayers of die
United States.
The latest methodology employed by Secretary Norton
seems to be directed at attacking not only the ability of die
Special Master and Special
Master - Monitor to do their
work, but also by trying to
withhold the pay of tiie two
Court officers, appointed by
Judge Lamberth.
The Special Master was appointed on February 24, 1999 in
response to die contempt findings against Clinton-era Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt,
Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and Interior Assistant Sec
retary for Indian Affairs Kevin
Gover. The February 24, 1999
order by Judge Lamberth stated
that the Special Master "shall
be compensated at the prevailing market rate for his services
and shall be reimbursed for all
expenses inclined in connection widi die appointment. The
defendants shall bear die cost."
As also reported in Press/CW,
the appropriations bUl, enacted
by Congress and signed into
law by President Bush on 20
Febraary of this year, restricted
die Special Master and Special
JUDGE to page 6