Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-06-20

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
CLASSIFIEDS
2
3
4
6-7
Cherokee Nation's
supreme court
upholds election
outcome
page 3
New clinic opens on Pine
Ridge Reservation to help
war veterans
page 5
violence devastating
Indian people
page 4
What's a nation when
you can't depend on
leaders
page 4
Court reform dead
at Red Lake, look
out for Star
Chamber
page 4
"Honoring" tribal court orders and judgments:
Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee
drafts new rule
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
by Clara NiiSka
The Minnesota Supreme
Court's Advisory Committee
on tlie General Rules of Practice has revived consideration
of accepting Uibal court orders
andjudgments as valid legal
decisions enforceable under
Minnesota state law. At dieir
Wednesday, June 18 meeting,
the Advisory Committee unveiled a Draft Rule mandating
that Mimiesota courts "shall
give appropriate recognition to
orders, judgments, and other judicial acts of tlie tribal courts of
any federally-recognized Indimi
tribe."
The proposed Rule of Court
was written by Michael B.
Johnson, Senior Legal Counsel
for the State Court Administration, after what he described as
a "two-hour conversation with
Andrew Small." Small, an attorney for tribal governments
and gambling interests as well
as a tribal court judge, has long
been active in lobbying efforts
to expand the influence of tribal
courts. Johnson described die
proposed rale as "valuable" because it "serves to educate."
The proposed two-section
rule ('Tribal Court Orders and
Judgments To Be Honored" and
"Procedures for Enforcement")
is slated for fast-track efforts toward Supreme Court acceptance
- in time for inclusion in the
2004 edition of the Minnesota
Rules of Civil Procedure. As
one Committee member put
it, "We need to get it up to the
[SupremeJ Court in September," to meet the October 1st
publication deadline for die
2004 Rules. "Everyone vyould
like to see it, if in fact we are
headed down the right path."
The new proposed Rule,
which corporate attorney and
committee member David Herr
emphasized was just a "first
draft, it needs input," will be
revised during die next week,
and is scheduled for public
comment at the Advisory
Committee's August 13lh meeting. The Committee expects
Uiat Rule will be adopted by die
Minnesota Supreme Court, and
"effective January 1st."
The proposed Rule, as now
written, falsely implies that
state court acceptance of tribal
court orders andjudgments
has much broader support than
slate and federal statutes actually mandate, and die "Advisory Committee Comment"
section includes legal citations
diat reflect the interpretation
of tribal attorneys like Small,
radier than legislative intent or
slate and federal case law.
The proposed Rule also creates die misleading impression
dial tribal courts are "courts
of law," and ignores both the
complex nuances of Indian
jurisdiction and the problems
involved in upholding Minnesota's constitutionally-mandated
civd rights protections as tribal
courts' orders andjudgments are
entered into state courts.
The Minnesota Supreme
Court, in its March 5th Order rejecting the "full faidi and credit"
rule previously proposed by the
Tribal Court   State Court Forum, requires that its Advisory
Committee consider "input from
all interested parties" in writing a new rule involving state
courts' acceptance of tribal court
orders and judgments. The Supreme Court also "encouraged"
die Advisory Committee lo "explore with the Minnesota Tribal
Court/State Court Forum a tribal
court/state court compact to assure reciprocal commitment lo
any new rule."
Public notice of Wednesday's
meeting was sent out just two
days beforehand, and'die meeting was sparsely attended. Only
eight of die seventeen Committee members were present, and
this writer was the only person
in the audience. When asked
if a quorum was required to
conduct Advisory Committee
business, staff attorney Johnson
explained that it is "up to the
chair of the committee to make
RULE to page 6
Court dismisses
charges against
former Red
Lake police
officers for lack
of jurisdiction
According to criminal complaint filed on May 20,2003,
tribal prosecutor Michael
Klinkhammer charged former
Red Lake criminal investigators
Jason I .awrence and Donovan
Wind with theft of Red Lake
tribal funds.
In the complaint, on behalf
of the Red Lake Band, Klinkhammer "alleges that Jason
Lawrence did wrongfully
obtain for himself or herself
or another the possession of
property or the performance
of service by a diird party by
DISMISS to page 4
Constitutional Reform Series
Compiled by Wallace W.
Storbakken
On September 29-30, 2001,
tlie Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
sponsored a Constitutional
Hearing at die Grand Casino
- Mille Lacs. This is the seventh
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
tlie 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 many cases tlie
speaker is not identified. The
full transcription of the hearing
testimony is available tiirough
die Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
facility in Cass Lake, Minnesota.
Excerpts and quotes from tes- •
timonv of Al Paulson- White
Earth:'
"... 1 want to diank the
members of die TEC and all
die officers and everyone here
for really trying to conic together. I know it is a tough deal.
But 1 tliink we have got to get
through this. I diink we have to
struggle and if we come up with
something after all this pain
and anguish, 1 know we have
tried diis before, but I tliink this
is a time that we need to come
together and we need to make
some progress mid improve this
Constitution."
"I diink as Indian folks one of
our problems diat we have always had has been the problem
of trying to work together and
stick together for die common
good. And it is like the worms
coming out of the jar. We stmt
coming up mid we pull each
other down mid, unfortunately,
SERIES to page 5
The high court ruling and its ramifications for
Indian gambling
By Joel Stashenko
Associated Press
ALBANY, NY. - Judges on
die state's highest court have
revealed some serious disagreements among themselves over
whether Indian-run casinos are
legal in New York.
The seven Court of Appeals
judges, in a 60-page ruling on
Thursday invalidating a compact fonner Gov. Mario Cuomo
reached with Mohawk Indians
in 1993 to run a casino near
Hogansburg, sent mixed signals
about the broader question of the
validity of Indian gambling.
Three of the judges indicated
in a dissent that they believe the
federal Indian Gaining Regulatory Act supersedes die state
constitution mid permits Indian-
run casinos. One of tlie judges
said flatly the constitution prohibits casinos in New York. The
other three judges seemed to
consciously avoid tipping their
hmids.
Ultimately, their opinions me
crucial to the face of state-sanctioned gambling in New York.
A state Supreme Court justice is
expected to decide a case soon in
Albany directlychallcnging die
constitutionality of Indian casinos. It is widely believed in legal
circles that it will become the
make-or-break case on the question of the casinos' legality when
it reaches the Court of Appeals.
There me currently diree Indian casinos in New York: the Mohawks' casino, which the slate's
highest court essentially said on
Thursday is operating illegally;
the Oneida Indians' Turning
Stone casino near Utica; mid the
Seneca Indians' new casino in
Niagara Falls.
The court last week said die
Mohawk compact is illegal because it has never been ratified
by the state Legislature. The
judges said lawmakers emi do so
at miy time, validating the Mohawk casino after the fact.
The lawyer who is arguing
against the casinos in both the
case decided last week and in die
pending case in Albany, Cornelius Murray, said he wants the
number of legal casinos to stay at
three. Lie said he is not seeking
to have existing casinos closed
mid people dirown out of work.
'They me already open,"
Murray said. "They spent a ton
of money. There are a lot of
people employed. You just can't
rewrite history. If diis were just
starting and we were looking for
prospective relief we could say,
Tley, don't open.' But I do empathize with the Indimi tribes."
Murray also probably realizes
that there are very few, if any,
judges that would order a thriving enterprise like Turning Stone
to close. About 5,000 people
work at the three existing Indian
casinos.
Court of Appeals' Judge
George Bundy Smith was unequivocal last week about what
the constitution says about casino gambling.
"The constitution forbids
gambling, except for limited
exceptions, and prohibits commercialized gambling," Smith
wrote in a concurring opinion
Thursday. "Commercialized"
GAMBLING to page 3
Young sponsors bill to expand Native American
health services
Associated Press
FAIRBANKS - Rep. Don
Young has introduced a bill to
reauthorize mid expmid healdi
care services for Native Americans.
The Indimi Health Care Improvement Act, which guides
federal healdi mid education
spending for Native Americans,
lias expired mid must be updated
this year, according to Young.
The federal government will
spend $2.9 billion this year to
provide healdi care to 2 million
Native Americans, an average of
$1,450 each.
A national steering committee of tribes mid other interested
groups brought togedier by the
federal Indimi Health Service
created the first draft of the reauthorization bill.
Young said his proposed update would:
- Seek to expmid the number
of Native health care professionals through more scholarships,
training programs, loan repayments and other incentives;
-Audiorize a wide variety of
health promotion mid disease
prevention services, including a
program focused on diabetes;
- Authorize facility construction, widi a provision allowing
tribes that do the work to waive
prevailing wage law if the tribe
has its own rules;
- Prevent money spent on
Social Security health benefits
for Natives from being deducted
from spending on other health
care programs;
- Require the secretmy of the
Interior to help tribes enroll Natives in Medicare, Medicaid and
the children's healtii insurance
progrmn;
- Clarify rules guiding how
tribal healdi programs me reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid
mid insurers;
- Approve healdi service centers in urban areas instead of just
villages and reservations;
Combine substance abuse,
mental health mid odier social
service progrmns "to enhance
performance mid efficiency."
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Volume 16 Issue 2
June 20, 2003
David Herr, Chair of the Minnesota Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice, presents a draft version of the proposed court rule "honoring" tribal court orders and judgments and prescribing "procedures for enforcement" at
the Committee's June 18'" meeting. Minnesota Courts' senior legal counsel, Michael Johnson, sits to Herr's right, and Minnesota
Supreme Court Justice Hon. Sam Hanson sits to Herr's left.
photos: Clara NiiSka
Members of the Advisory Committee chat before the Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon. Also attending the first part
of the meeting was Susan Ledray, pro se services manager for the Hennepin County District Court, who gave a presentation
concerning a proposed Rule of Court formalizing "self help" programs for litigants acting as their own attorneys. "Recognition
of Tribal Court Orders and Judgments" was the second item on the June 18"' agenda; the Committee also considered a court
rule would limit "Attorney Fees in Default Matters."
Tribal leaders
discuss
improving
federal relations
Associated Press
PHOENIX - American Indian leaders say they want to
change policies that result in
tribes getting less money from
the federal government.
One such federal policy
shortchanges tribes by making
diem get dieir homeland security money from states, Indian
leaders said Saturday at the
Native American Tribal Leaders Summit.
The purpose of the summit,
held at the Gila River Indimi
LEADERS to page 7
St. Cloud State
looking to
expand
programs on
tribal planning
Associated Press
ST. PAUL - St. Cloud State
University and an American
Indian-owned company in
St. Paul have collaborated on
an education program geared
toward tribal pi mining and
gaining.
St. Cloud Stale has been
working with Marketplace
Productions, which is owned
bv Al Paulson, a member
of the White Earth Band of
Ojibwe, to offer an education
progrmn for tribal leaders and
employees.
They started by offering a
noncredit certificate progrmn
EXPAND to page 7
Native veteran group sponsors
petition, walk to capitol for
educational justice
By Jeff Armstrong
Petitions calling for the incorporation of indigenous history
and treaties into Minnesota's
educational curriculum will
be presented to Gov. Pawlenty
in August at the conclusion of
a "Justice Walk" from Leech
Lake to the state capitol in St.
Paul.
Organizers of the event,
sponsored by the North Central
Native American Veterans Outreach mid Resource Center, say
widespread public ignorance of
Native history is a leading cause
of racial discrimination and
conflict.
"Radier than learning about
inherent rights, a lot of people
tliink Indians are getting something for nothing," says organizer Feather Rock. "When the
adults me ignorant mid they say
tilings in front of their kids it
influences diem adversely."
As die petition states,
"Because racism, discrimination and prejudice against the
aboriginal people residing in
this region of these United
States of America is fueled by
ignorance mid misunderstanding of treaty law mid historical
events leading to federal Indian
policies, past mid present, especially in those areas of the slate
surrounding Indimi Reservations, we believe diat all smdents in die state of Minnesota
(American Indian and non-Indian) should be taught die true
history of this territory."
Rock said even tribal schools
are deficient in this regard, ex-
PETITION to page 7
Fond du Lac stakes future on
health and education
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
CLOQUET, Minn - Each
morning Ferdinand Martineau
steps outside, offers tobacco mid
says his prayers. Then he hops
into his black SUV and heads
to his office on the Fond du Lac
Reservation.
He passes ancient mounds and
a new Ojibwe school, towering
pines and a sprawling tribal government building. He sees faces
with the traits of his Anishinaabeg ancestors and faces diat
are new to the reservation - die
county's top employer.
He sits at a picnic table outside
his office mid watches the traffic.
Most people me no longer driving past, they're stopping - at die
new cultural center, the cardiovascular clinic, the pharmacy and
the library.
These days, Fond du Lac barely
needs highway signs to show
travelers the way in; they can just
follow the trail of construction.
"Don't judge us from what you
know as Indian, judge us by what
we do as Indimi people," Martineau said. "We're a lot different.
We're not the same old Indimi
from the Western front."
It is here - inland from the
mouth of Lake Superior and at die
crossroads of die St. Louis River
- that is home to the Fond du Lac
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
As with many of the 10 other
reservations in Minnesota, casino
FUTURE to page 6