Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-05-30

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
The Sioux Today:
Self-Determination,
1975-2000
page 6
Twin Cities Hospital
Native American
Outreach effort bring care to
Underserved Children
page 5
An Effot to Understand
Turmoil at Leech Lake
page 5
Pawlenty could use a
class in Indian law and
rights
page 4
The Law is Not So Simple
for Indian Law
page 4
Cain resigns as Chief Judge Red Lake Tribal Court
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
Despite a sincere effort by
the Red Lake Tribal Council, at
a special meeting on Tuesday,
5/27/03, to mediate a dispute
between Chief Judge Shirley
Cain and court staff, the judge
resigned her position
The dispute arose over the
judge's efforts to reform the
court system. The court had
been shut down last week following a walk out and demonstration by court employees who
rejected her attempt at reform.
During the meeting, the RLTC
appointed Aloysius Thunder
and Roger Head as mediators in
an effort to resolve the conflict
between the Judge and the court
staff in order to get the court
reopened.
Little Rock representative,
Richard Barrett, Sr., spoke on
Cain's behalf, pointing out that
she had been appointed specifically to reform the system by the
late Gerald "Butch" Brun, tribal
chair. Barrett said, "people
can't accept change because she
stepped on some people's toes,
getting them lo work.  They
were coming and going as they
pleased,"
Court employees attending
the special meeting said Cain
had treated them badly and made
work conditions unbearable.
They refused mediation.
Cain protested that the Tribal
Council listened to staff complaints without consulting with
her or hearing her reasons for the
action. She said her reputation
was being smeared.
Cain has a bachelor's degree
from Metropolitan State University and a law degree from William Mitchell College in St. Paul.
She is a licensed attorney and a
member of tlie Minnesota bar.
She is the first Red Lake tribal
member to serve as chief judge
and court administrator. She was
appointed Court Administrator
in November and was appointed
Chief Judge in January 2003.
Judge Cain said she'd had a
desire to return to her reservation
to make positive changes, that
she also held employees accountable and they resented it She had
advocated for Separation of Powers, separating the court from the
influence of Tribal Council. She
also worked to make the Court
more professional.
Upon Cain's appointment as
Chief Judge, former Chief Judge,
Wanda Lyons, was reassigned
as Detention Facilities Director.
The former court administrator, Don Cook, was terminated.
These actions fostered animosity
in staff that remained loyal to the
fonner Judge and administrator. As a result, tension grew
between new hires by Cain and
existing staff.
She agreed last week , to
Chainnan George Billy King's
suggestion, to relinquish court
administrator functions and concentrate on her judgeship. The
Tribal Council met last Tuesday
to appoint a temporary administrator until the position can be
advertised and a new administrator hired. Tribal Council has appointed Judge Dan Charnoski as
temporary court administrator.
Public defender Donna Morrison said Cain failed to abide by
the law and fulfill her duties in a
traditional, spiritual and lawful
CAIN to page 3
web page: www.press-on.net
Leech Lake Band sues "Skip" Finn in tribal court
seeking restitution for RRMI theft
By Bill Lawrence
Press/ON has recently
learned that approximately
one year ago Leech Lake
reservation officials initiated
a civil lawsuit against former
Minnesota State Senator and
Leech Lake tribal attorney
Harold R. "Skipper" Finn
in Leech Lake tribal court.
The suit seeks recover}' of
the total amount stolen from
the tribe through a phony
self insurance scheme called
Reservation Risk Management
(RRMI). Reservation sources
have told Press/ON that this
could be in excess of $2
million. The primary asset
still owned by Finn, and
directly purchased with RRMI
funds, is the 2-Points property
located on Leech Lake. One
knowledgeable source told
Press/ON the 2-Points property
is valued at over $1 million.
On April 11, 1996, a federal
jury convicted Finn of 12 felony
counts. Finn was found guilty
of misappropriation of tribal
funds, theft from federally
funded programs and mail
fraud for his role in the set up
and operation of RRMI. The
insurance scam defrauded the
Leech Lake reservation of over
$1 million. Finn is reported to
have received over $1 million in
insurance payments from Leech
Lake reservation programs
during his operation of RRMI.
Also convicted for their
roles in the insurance scam
were former Leech Lake
tribal chairman, Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton and the late Dan
Brown, former secretary-
treasurer. Pemberton received
$72,000 and Brown $43,000
as shareholders of RRMI.
Pemberton was convicted on
three felonies, including one
count each of conspiracy,
misapplication of tribal funds
and theft concerning a program
receiving federal funds. Brown
was convicted of one felony
count of conspiracv.
In September 1996, U.S.
District Court judge Michael
J. Davis sentenced Finn to
57 months in federal prison.
fined him $25,000 and ordered
him to pay the Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe $400,000 in
restitution for masterminding
the reservation self-insurance
scheme.   In addition Judge
Davis ordered Finn to serve
3 years of supervised release
upon completion of his sentence
as well as perforin 600 hours
of community service. Davis
sentenced Pemberton to 33
months in federal prison.
Brown was sentenced to one
year of house arrest due to
ill health. Davis ordered
Pemberton and Brown to make
restitution for the amounts they
received as shareholders.
In an interview September
5,1996, former U.S. Attorney
David Lillehaug told Press/ON
that his office would seek $1.1
million in restitution from Finn.
According to Leech Lake
reservation sources, Brown
is the only one ofthe three to
have made full restitution to tlie
Leech Lake Band.
THEFT to page 7
Wipf sentenced
to 40 years
Associated Press
A fonner janitor and coach at
St.Mary's Mission School in
Red Lake, Minn., was sentenced
to 40 years in prison and five
years supervised release on
charges of aggravated sexual
abuse.
U.S. District Judge Michael
Davis also on Tuesday sentenced Gary lee Wipf, 34, to
pay restitution to the victims, to
register as a sex offender and to
provide samples for the DNA
registry.
In January, a jury convicted
Wipf of three counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one
count of sexual abuse of a minor.
Prosecutors said Wipf
abused a 10-year-old boy on
the Red Lake Reservation from
1991-93.
There is also evidence, prosecutors said, that Wipf, a former
youth recreation coach, also
abused a 12-year-old.
Wipf, a member of the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa, was
fired from his job at the school
in September 2001.
Federal environmental laws could
be utilized to protect tribal resources
By Jeff Armstrong
Indigenous reservations have
long been a favored target for
polluters, due to their general
immunity from state jurisdiction, their political weakness
and invisibility, and the federal
government's lax enforcement
record. Beginning in the late
1980s, the federal Environmental Protection Agency began developing a policy whereby tribes
could exercise their regulatory
jurisdiction in conjunction with
the EPA over reservation lands.
In 1987, the Clean Water Act
was amended to allow the EPA
to treat recognized tribal governments meeting certain requirements in the same manner as
states for purposes of promulgating and enforcing environmental
codes in Indian Country. These
amendments implicitly recognized the cultural, spiritual and
economic centrality of water
resources to indigenous peoples,
allowing tribes to adopt more
stringent ecological standards
based on their unique circumstances.
The primary mechanism for
the CWA is the National Pol
lutant Discharge Elimination
System, under which the EPA,
states, or approved tribes may
adopt water quality standards
and issue permits for the discharge of waste into wetlands or
waterways. While nine of the 11
tribes within the state of Minnesota have received funding
for water pollution control, none
have applied for NDPS regulatory status. In 1990, the Clean Air
Act was similarly amended to
allow for tribal regulation of air
quality standards within reservation territory, explicitly recognizing jurisdiction over "air resources within the exterior boundaries
of the reservation or other areas
within the tribe's jurisdiction,"
though in the latter case a special
showing must be made. Today,
all major federal environmental
regulatory laws—with the exception of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, which
defines tribes as municipalities—
allow for delegation of federal
authority under the Treatment as
a State policy, yet this policy has
been strongly contested by states
RESOURCES to page 3
Constitutional Reform Series
Compiled by Wallace W.
Storbakken
On September 29-30,2001,
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
sponsored a Constitutional Hearing at die Grand Casino - Mille
Lacs. This is the fourth of 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 die testimony out
of context. We apologize that die
presentations are not in chronological order and that in main
cases the speaker is not identified. The full transcription of the
hearing testimony is available
through the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe facility in Cass Lake,
Minnesota.
Excerpts and quotes from
testimony of Faron Jackson Sr.-
Leech Lake:
"My name is Faron Jackson,
Sr. I'm a Leech Laker living in
urban areas ... I am the Chairperson for the Minneapolis/St.
Paul Local Indian Council and a
lot of our enrollees reside in metropolitan areas, so we get a lot
of comments and feedback from
our constituents. Unfortunately,
a lot of them, due to a lot of circumstances, are unable to travel
to one meeting or another, but
they do voice a lot of important
concerns that I try to advocate
for diem..."
"On die membership, there has
been a very important topic for
years, as all of us are concerned
with right now and the language
that's in the constitution, currentiy, I think leaves out a lot
of our children, grandchildren,
and unborn children, with the
wording...We believe that we
would like to see that opened up
to include all federally recog
nized tribes. Not just inclusively
the MCT Bands. As our society
grows and we become more
diverse, we travel freely around
the country, being the way we
live in the United States, we host
numerous powwows. We have
other band members from other
tribes come to our reservation.
Our people are intermarrying
with other bands ... And a lot
of them are saddened because
their children cannot be band
members. Many, many of diem
possess well over die Va blood
quantum requirements..."
'If we could set up monthly
meetings until we get this constitution reworded is, I think, essential because people have been
waiting too long now."
Excerpts and quotes from testimony of Unidentified Speaker- Reservation unknown:
"...What we need is a docu-
SERIES to page 4
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Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 51
May 30, 2003
Veterans of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe participate in the Walk of the Warriors during a Memorial
Day service in Ignacio, Colo., Monday, May 26. 2003. (AP Photo/Thp Durango Herald, Jerry Mc-.
Bride)
Indian tribes eager to capitalize on tourism from
Lewis and Clark
By Angie Wagner
Associated Press
ROCKY BOY, Mont. -
Hunched over the kitchen table
of their small house, mother
and son slowly thread colored
beads together.
It is tedious work, so slow-
going that it will take hours
before the blur of yellow, red
and blue begins to resemble
purses, but this is a family
tradition, one the Big Knife
family has done together for
generations on the Rocky Boy
Indian Reservation.
Hugh and Evelyn Big Knife
never make much money on
their crafts. But tiiey hope
that will change as millions of
tourists travel die Lewis and
Clark trail during die three-
year bicentennial of die 1804-
06 expedition across the West.
Indian tribes across the
West may not all embrace
Lewis and Clark, but diey are
hoping at least to cash in on
the tourism, and educate the
public about Indian heritage as
well.
Some tribes are developing
tour packages for visitors to
travel to reservations and learn
about Lewis and Clark from
an Indian perspective. Others
hope to sell some of their traditional handiwork.
Hugh Big Knife, 35, and
othei members of die Chippewa Cree are trying to get a
federal grant to open a store to
market tribal arts and crafts.
"Someone coming in might
like something we make," he
said. 'The arts and crafts center
could provide an education to
the public, tourists who pass
through."
In South Dakota, die Lower
Brule Sioux are training teenagers to become tour guides. At
die reservation's high school,
students are learning how to put
up a tepee and tan buffalo hides,
as well as how to tell dieir tribe's
history to tourists.
By die end of summer, the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara
Indians in North Dakota will
invite tourists to stay overnight
in earth lodges diey are building
for the bicentennial. Meriwetiier
Lewis and William Clark wintered with die Mandan Hidatsas,
and during the bicentennial the
tribes will tell their history to
tourists along the trail.
"I would hope die people
would take some time to learn
about Indian culture," said Amy
Mossett, tourism director for the
Three Affiliated Tribes. "Why
not leani sometiiing about diem
rather than continuing to believe
a lot of the old stereotypes?"
The Confederated Tribes of
Umatilla in Oregon have a CD
tourists can listen to as diey
travel the trail near die Umatilla
Indian Reservation. They also
offer a free map showing die
expedition route through tiieir
homeland along with stories
from tribal elders about Lewis
and Clark.
The Umatilla reservation is
also developing a culture village
of lodges, where Indians will
demonstrate how to dry meat,
fish and make tulle mats.
The Blackfeet in Montana are
working to erect a panel exhibit
about the tribe's history.
"We're not exacdy jumping
up and down, but the reality is
this tiling is going to happen,"
George Heavy Runner, a planner for the Blackfeet, said of the
expected influx of visitors. "We
just want to be players in that
tourism market."
Many reservations do not
have the stores, die tour guides
or other means to accommodate
visitors. So Ed Hall, national
coordinator for the Lewis and
Clark Bicentennial for die federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, is
helping tribes apply for grants to
open businesses and restaurants
and is talking to them about
incorporating Lewis and Clark's
journey into events reservations
already hold each year.
The hope is that the publicity
will lead people to visit die reservations even after the bicentennial.
"Lewis and Clark is only one
of many stories that we have to
tell," said Heavy Runner, who is
working on the Blackfeet exhibit.
"We're vibrant people. We know
who we are. We have a sense of
land, of who we are, of history,"
he said. He added: 'We think we
have something special."
Smith to continue to lead Cherokees
Associated Press
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Chad
Smith retained his seat as chief
of the nation's second largest
Indian tribe in Saturday's elections.
Smith defeated three other
competitors to stay principal
chief of the Cherokee Nation,
including fonner Chief Joe
Byrd.
According to final unofficial
vote totals, Smith got 52 percent
of the vote, while Byrd got 39
percent.
Chief candidates L.S. Fields
and Robin Carter Mayes got
seven percent and two percent,
respectively.
Smitii said his administration
will push three initiatives: retaining the Cherokee language,
building strong communities
and developing jobs in die area.
His second term in office will
begin in August.
"For me this is ratification
and approval of our fours years
of hard work and commonsense
leadership," Smith said.
"It provides the opportunity
to continue to restore the greatness and grandeur that this tribe
had decades ago."
While no mnoff will be necessary in the chiefs race, nearly
every other race on Saturday's
ballot will require one.
Joe Grayson Jr., Smith's running mate, got 38 percent of die
votes cast. Byrd's running mate,
banker Gary D. Chapman, got
33 percent of the vote.
A runoff election for that race
and several District Council
seats will be July 26.
About 33,000 Cherokees are
registered to vote, including
thousands of members who live
outside of the tribe's 14-county
jurisdiction in eastern Oklahoma. Absentee ballots were
mailed out weeks ago.
The tribe is die second-largest in the United States behind
the Navajo.
In 1999, Smith claimed 56
percent of the vote to oust Byrd,
whose last two years in office
were marked by tribal infighting. During his campaign,
Smith touted his record of restoring order to the tribe, along
with new tribal initiatives such
SMITH to page 3