Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-07-11

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
The Battleground
Shifts to the States
page 4
Your opinion: There can be
no future in victim status
page 4
Tribes complain states
are getting greedy
page 4
Opinions strong on
Cherokees1 bid for
Smokies land
page 4
Out of respect for
Gerald F. "Butch" Brun
page 4
MN Supreme Court declines to hear tribal casino
audit lawsuit
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
In a decision dated June 25,
2003, The Minnesota Supreme
Court refused to review the decision made by the Minnesota
Court of Appeals which overturned a lower court's ruling
in April 2002 that found that
audited financial statements of
Indian casinos were not considered public information because
they were deemed to contain
"trade secrets."
This is a decision important
to tribal members throughout
Minnesota, to the State, and a
victory for and all individuals
who believe in open records
and accountability of elected
officials. The case involves
PRESS /OlST S quest for the public s right to know versus tribal
desire for confidentiality (even
to their own members) in regard
to casino financial audits.
The latest action by the Supreme Court ends a long saga
of involvement by PRESS/ON
under the leadership of Bill
Lawrence, publisher Native
American Press/Ojibwe News.
Lawrence has been involved
for the past ten years in a long
struggle to make the audited
financial statements of Indian
casinos public. It is his position that the information must
be public in order for tribal
members to know how tribal
assets, casinos in particular are
managed, how resources are
allocated, whether or not tribal
projects and programs are being
supported by the revenues, the
extent of die revenues and how
they are expended. The underlying question is "Are resources
being expended for the benefit
of the tribal membership."
Without this information tribal members are not equipped to
make assessments regarding effectiveness of tribal leadership
and judgements about whether
resource allocation is in fact being done for the greater good.
The following is a brief recap
of PRESS/ON S struggle with
this issue:
-Lawrence requested through
the Minnesota Department of
Safety- Gambling Enforcement
Division the audited financial
statements for the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians.
(Lawrence is an enrolled Red
Lake tribal member).
-Request was denied on
grounds that the information
contained in such documents
was confidential—consisting in
part of trade secrets.
-Minnesota Department of
Administration, in an opinion
requested by Lawrence, decided the audit data was public
information under Minnesota
Government Data Practices. Act.
As a result, Lawrence received
a single audit for one year only
from Red Lake. He subsequently requested similar information
from the ten other Mimiesota
LAWSUIT to page 5
Court of Appeals hears Jawnie Hough's custody case
by Clara NiiSka
Oral arguments in the continuing legal batde over the
custody of six-year old Meghan
Brun were heard at the Minnesota Court of Appeals in St.
Paul on Thursday, July 10th. At
issue is the fate of a child reunited with her modier less than
three weeks ago.
On January 10,2001, Meghan
was seized by University of
Minnesota police and taken
away from her mother: to Red
Lake, based on state "comity"
recognition of a Red Lake tribal
court order. Beltrami County
district court judge Terrance
Holter subsequently vacated
his own recognition of the Red
Lake tribal court order, writing
that "the tribal court Order created a substantial deprivation of
parental rights," and Meghan's
father, Don Brun, "did perpetrate misconduct on this court"
when he "used a tribal court
Order under a de facto Ex Parte
comity recognition process."
1 loiter Ordered that Meghan be
returned to the proper custody
of her mother, Jawnie Hough,
"before 5:00 p.m., March 10,
2002."
Don Brun, and his parents
Geraldine and Donald Brun Sr.
ignored die state court order to
return the child, and through
attorney Lawrence Nichols of
suburban Eagan, Mimiesota
argued that die June 14, 1999
Beltrami County divorce and
subsequent custody determinations were invalid, and tiiat the
state court's order to return
Meghan to her mother did not
apply because "the state district
court lacks bodi subject matter
and personal jurisdiction."
Meghan was not returned to
her mother until June 23, 2003,
and dien only because, as Jeff
Armstrong reported for Press/
ON on June 27, "informed by a
relative of her child's presence
at the Bemidji hospital, Hough
presented legal documentation
of her custodial rights to police
supervising the transfer" under
state jurisdiction. The Red
Lake tribal council, by resolution, does not recognize state
court orders.
Nichols's appellant's brief,
on behalf of Don Brun (and his
parents), centers on jurisdictional arguments, specifically
that, "the State of Minnesota
lacked jurisdiction over the
person of the Appellant... and
over the cause or controversy
and all orders of the District
Court were void" from the very
beginning. Nichols asks that,
after more than four years, the
Court of Appeals vacate the
state divorce in which Jawnie
Hough, a Leech Lake enrollce
and Beltrami County resident,
was initially awarded custody of
her daughter, as well as all subsequent court orders in the case
-- presumably including die
ex parte state "comity" order,
made at Don Brim's request,
dirough which Meghan was
returned to Red Lake. Nichols
made it clear to this writer that
he had no comment, so this
writer asked Jawnie Hough's
attorney, Frank Bibeau, about
the logic of Nichols's argiuncnt.
'They say whatever they need
to, to whatever court, to get die
HOUGH to page 6
Red Lake gaming's 2002 audit
reveals financial mess
Council acts to recover
By Bill Lawrence
At Tuesday's Red Lake Tribal
Council meeting, auditors from
the CPA. firm of Brady Martz
of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
presented an abysmal picture
of the condition tiiey found the
Red Lake Gaming books in
when they started their audit
last February. In response to
a question from the council,
Mark Miller, lead auditor for
Brady Martz responded that he
couldn't tell if the condition of
the books was done intentionally or by incompetence or neglect. He told the council "bear
in mind that this audit was done
as of the state of the books on
December 31, 2002, and essentially reflected the manner the
books were maintained under
previous gaming management
and didn't reflect the many
changes that have been make
RED LAKE to page 6
Leech Lake members file
for injunction against casino
By Jeff Armstrong
Leech Lake tribal members
filed suit in tribal court June
27 in an attempt to invalidate a
$20 million gaming agreement
signed in May by all five members of the Reservation Business
Committee. The 13 plaintiffs,
including the mother of secretary treasurer Archie LaRose,
contend the May 1 letter of
intent and subsequent enabling
resolutions were fraudulently
approved in contravention of the
tribal constitution and relevant
federal law.
Seeking an injunction from
the court against any further action on the tentative agreement
with the little-known Marketing
CASINO to page 5
Tribal College president given
excellence award
Helen Klassan honored by Harvard for
outstanding contribution to education
ByLouann Heardlof
Park Rapids Enterprise
The Harvard Graduate School
of Education recendy recognized
Dr. Helen Klassan's devotion to
helping individuals from impoverished communities access opportunity through education.
She was presented with the
2003 Alumni Council Award
for Outstanding Contribution to
Education in a pre-commence-
ment ceremony June 4 in Cambridge, MA.
Klassen uses an analogy to
describe how she felt when she
received the selection letter. She
regards the White Earth Reservation as unplowed ground on
which she has worked for decades to plant the seeds of education, including the White Earth
Tribal and Community College.
"At a time when I was feeling
discouraged about our differences with the Tribal Council,
the sun began to shine," she said.
The sun was the letter informing
her she was unanimously select
ed for her alma mater's award.
On the trip, Klassen said, she
knew she wasn't alone. She felt
die presence of others "who have
held high die vision for underprivileged communities."
Past recipients, in fact, include
Theodore R. Sizer, a professor of
education at Brown University
in Providences, RI, and author,
Mary Jo Bane, a former assistant
secretary in the US Department
of Health and Human Services;
and Thomas Payzant, US Assistant Secretary of Education.
Even as an elementary student, Klassen said, she saw the
inequities and distortions in the
curriculum being taught in northern Minnesota schools. In fact,
she was so troubled she and other
students left high school and, literally, walked back to Ponsford.
"But I didn't stop learning,"
Klassen said. She worked at
various jobs and used her money
to buy books. At 17, she earned
her GED and decided to go to
KLASSAN to page 3
Leech Lake
assembly calls
for General
Council
government
By Jeff Armstrong
Seven years after the people
of Leech Lake gathered to
replace the five-member RBC
with a system of community
representation known as the
General Council, dozens of
veterans of diat movement met
June 28 to assess the ongoing
constitutional crisis on the reservation.
The agenda of the officially-
sponsored meeting was limited
to discussion of a resolution
calling for a constitutional
convention and a proposed revision of the reservation bylaws
to define the responsibilities of
RBC district representatives, but
many called for a revival of the
General Council and movement
towards creating a confederation out of the numerous An-
ishinabe communities scattered
throughout several states and
two nations.
Ball Club local council
member Sandy Gotchie, a participant in the historic Aug. 5,
1996 assembly, blamed former
chairman Eli Hunt for failing
to carry out the mandate of die
people at that time.
"Eli was supposed to take
[the General Council proclamation] to the BIA, but halfway to
Minneapolis he chickened out,"
Gotchie said. 'They're business
committees. They're supposed
to look over our businesses, not
tell us what to do. We need to
form a General Council and
batde with them," said Gotchie,
receiving prolonged applause.
Rather than accepting the
community representatives as
the legislative branch of government, Hunt relegated them to
the status of instruments of political patronage as local Indian
councils. The decline of local
councils was highlighted by the
fact that only a handful of the
75 local council officers even
attended what was billed as a
General Council meeting.
John Jones, one of the organizers of the event, blamed die
disappointing turnout of about
50 tribal members on a perva-
ASSEMBLY to page 3
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Volume 16 Issue 4
July 11, 2003
Leo Charlie, a Thompson/Salish Indian from Charlow, participates in the grass dance during the Kyi yo powwow at the University of Montana in Missoula. Thousands of Indian dance lovers from Montana will travel the powwow trail throughout the United
States and Canada this summer. Some compete for cash and prizes, some attend for family fun and to socialize, but for all it's to
maintain a way of life. (AP Photo/Great Falls Tribune, John W. Liston)
The Cost of Cobell: Department of Justice releases
private attorney costs
By Jean Pagano
On May 21,2003, Federal
District Judge Royce C. Lam-
berth ordered defendants in
Cobell v. Secretary of Interior
(Cobell) to provide the Court
information regarding die federal government's payments to
private counsel. The report to
the court, dated 18 June 2003,
stated diat as of April 30di,
2003, a total of S3,737,945
had been paid to private
counsel to defend 80 present
and fonner officials and employees of the Departments of
Interior, Justice, and Treasury.
The Consolidated Appropriations Resolution 2003 (Resolution) put forward limits and
guidelines for die payment of
officers of die Court (namely
die Special Master and Special
Master - Monitor) and for private counsel defending the Cobell defendants. Congress passed
die Resolution on February 20,
2003. President Bush signed
the resolution into law shortly
thereafter. Section 123 of die
Resolution restricts the amount
of money to be paid to officers
of die Court:
"None of the funds in diis or
an> odier Act of die Department
of Interior or the Department of
Justice can be used to compensate die Special Master and the
Special Master-Monitor, and all
variations thereto, appointed by
the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia in
the Cobell v. Norton litigation at
an annual rate diat exceeds 200
percent of the highest Senior
Executive Sen ice rate of pay for
the Washington-Baltimore locality pay area."
Section 134 of the same Resolution allows for taxpayers to
pick up the tab for the legal fees
of 80 current and former members of the Clinton and Bush
administration:
'The Secretary of die Interior
may use discretionary funds to
pay private attorneys fees and
costs for employees and former
employees of die Department of
the Interior reasonably incurred
in connection widi Cobell v.
Norton to the extent that such
fees and costs are not paid by die
Department of Justice or by pri-
COSTS to page 4
259 state schools not making adequate yearly
progress, 8 schools with Native students on the list
By Jean Pagano
The Mimiesota Department
of Education released a list of
259 schools that are not making adequate yearly progress
towards die Federal Leave No
Child Behind (LNCB) program, as implemented in Minnesota. A total of 8 schools on
die list selected widiin die Native American/Alaskan Native
demographic were on die list.
Minnesota's implementation
of die LNCB program was
approved last month, and die
plan sets minimum standards
diat bodi schools and districts
must meet for all of their students. To qualify as 'meeting
the standard', students must
either meet or make adequate
progress towards diese goals.
Students are not only characterized by school and by
district, but also by edinicity,
income, language background,
and special education. Ideally,
all smdents across each of
diese categories will be meeting or striving to achieve these
goals.
The results were released
on July 7th, and in die 30-day
interim between the release
date and August 7di, schools
will be verifying die accuracy
of die data. A final report will
be made after die verification
process is complete.
Schools are evaluated based
upon, in part, die results of student results oil die 3rd and 5di
grade Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments in maui and reading. Schools are required to have
a certain percentage of smdents
exceeding the 'proficient' level
as well as having 95% of smdents taking die test. The 2003
evaluation is die first time diat
schools were evaluated for nine
different subgroups: All smdents,
Limited English Proficient,
Special Education, Free and
Reduced Price Lunch, White,
Black, Asian Pacific Islander,
American Indian, and Hispanic.
Previously, schools were evaluated for average academic performance for all smdents.
Schools are marked as not making progress if one of die nine
subgroups eitiier doesn't gamer
the adequate percentages of
'proficient' performers or if die
participation rate for die exams
falls below 95%. Schools diat
find diemselves on die list for
the first time suffer no consequences this year, except for
being noted as 'not making
adequate yearly progress'. If a
school makes the list a second
time, and if die school is a Title
1 school, additional consequences come into play since
die school will be forced to offer
'public school choice' for all the
smdents. 'Public school choice'
means diat the school must offer
supplemental services, such as
tutoring, to the disadvantaged
group of smdents. While schools
face consequences for failing
to make progress, diere are no
similar indications for die school
districts.
Schools not making adequate progress in die 'Native
American/Alaskan Native'
subgroup were: Bemidji, in
die Madi proficiency; Bug-O-
Nay-Ga-Shig, in both Math and
Reading proficiencies; Cass
Lake, for participation level in
bodi Math and Reading (below
95%); Fond Du Lac Ojibway,
in Madi proficiency; Heart of
Earth Charter Schools, in both
Madi and Reading proficiencies; Mahnomen, in both Math
and Reading proficiencies;
Nay-Ah-Shing, in bodi Math
and Reading participation levels
(below 95%); and Red Lake, in
Math proficiencies. All of die
schools except Bemidji are Tide
1 schools.
Heart of Earth Charter schools
SCHOOLS to page 3