Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-08-15

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CUSSIFIEDS 7
Faction fights
eviction from tribal
homes
page 3
Indians could face long,
costly road to casino in
Pennsylvania
page 3
Washoe Tribe returns to       Don't talk to me about
Tahoe roots with land crooked, inept or
unethical politicians
page 4
page 4
Changes
at Press/ON
page 4
RLTC meeting proves controversial and productive
By Bill Lawrence
The Red Lake Tribal Council
leld its regular monthly meet-
ng August 12 at the Red Lake
Tribal Headquarters. All council
members were present. Tlie
meeting was called to order by
Chairman Billy King at 9:15
im. and adjourned after 7 p.m.
because of what was described
by several council members as a
full agenda." From the length
of the agenda, it appeared that the
meeting would extend into two
days, but as it went on, council
members were determined to
conclude all business in the one-
day session.
Although most items on the
agenda (printed in full on page
6) were routine business, five
items became quite controversial.
This resulted in a split vote of the
Council, an event that doesn't occur often. This Council however
has become more split on issues
than previous councils have been.
The five controversial issues
are:
1. A proposal to enter into
a joint venture with Integrity
Homes of Bemidji to manufacture and market modular homes.
The proposal presentation
inspired a lengthy discussion
regarding the risk to the tribe, tlie
funds it would take to get such a
project underway.  The manufacture of homes at Red Lake Industries would involve completion of 2 Vi units that are incomplete. The council authorized a
six month project which would
finish tlie incomplete homes and
MEETING to page 6
Leech Lake court denies injunction against Casino
expansion project
By Jeff Armstrong
Ruling that tribal members
have no legal standing to contest
the authority of the Reservation Business Committee or its
members under a 1997 RBC
ordinance, Leech Lake chief
judge Peggy Treuer denied a petition for an injunction against a
controversial $20 million casino
project.
Treuer held that wliile ordinance 97-01 waived sovereign
immunity and conferred jurisdiction upon the court to hear tlie
complaint, it limited authority
to present such questions to sitting RBC members. She ruled
that the plaintiffs had also failed
to make strong enough claims
of potential damage. The judge
further denied demands for the
production of official documents
as prematurely filed.
"Contrary to die assertions of
the Band Counsel in its Memorandum of Law, this Court finds
that Ordinance 97-01 as well
as the judicial code confers sufficient jurisdiction on this Court
to hear and decide questions
of tribal law and to interpret
governing documents. Further,
Ordinance 97-01 waives die
sovereign immunity the RTC, its
members and other Band Executive staff would otherwise have.
However, the deficiencies of the
petition as set forth in tlie Findings herein require dismissal,"
wrote Treuer. 'The petition does
not allege facts establishing irreparable harm if the injunction
requested is not granted."
Lead plaintiff Randy Finn
and 12 other Leech Lake enrollees had argued that the RBC
unconstitutionally approved
the proposal in illegal, secret
sessions without obtaining the
requisite federal approval of
what amounted to a management
contract under die LI.S. Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.
As a result, the plaintiffs
maintained, the RBC's ac
tion ultimately jeopardized die
reservation's multimillion casino
business. According to the terms
of a May 1 letter of intent signed
by die five RBC members, a
corporation variously known as
Marketing Underwriters Acquisitions, Inc. and W.D. Larson
Companies would invest $20
mdlion in a new casino on Highway 2, a 100-150 slot machine
facility, and public housing units
in return for 25% of revenues
and repayment for construction
costs.
Treuer ruled that complaints
regarding alleged violations of
federal law would be better directed elsewhere.
"It is not the job of die Tribal
Court to enforce federal laws
such as IGRA. Concerns regarding alleged IGRA violations
are better addressed to IGRA
officials. For that reason, those
portions of the petition are dismissed with prejudice,"Treuer
wrote.
Garbow on trial for Melvin Eagle Jr.'s murder
Mothers of victim and accused hug, cry in courtroom
by Joel Patenaude
Messenger Staff Writer
Too drunk to defend himself
from his three assailants, Melvin Eagle Jr. was beaten and
stomped so badly the coroner
couldn't tell which blow killed
him.
"Iliac was no fight following
their drinking togedier because
a fight requires mutual combat,"
Assistant Attorney General
William Klump Jr. said in his
opening statement at the trial of
Roger Garbow, 20, on Aug. 7.
Defense attorney Barbara
Rudquist conceded her client,
Garbow, and two cousins "in a
frenzy of alcoholic rage, leaving
all reason to the wind, punched,
kicked and stomped Melvin
Eagle Jr. to death" on the night
of Jan. 4.
But she said Garbow and the
others did not intend to kill Ea
gle in the home of his girlfriend,
Debra Smith, sister of Garbow's
mother, Beverly. "This was a
tragedy to family and friends due
to alcohol abuse," Rudquist said.
Garbow and his cousins
— Coleman Lee Weous, 18, and
a 17-year-old juvenile, who are
similarly accused of ganging up
on Eagle — were friends if not
relatives of the victim.
All four men, members of
the close-knit community of the
MiUe Lacs Band of Ojibwe, were
allegedly drinking late that night
when Eagle said something offensive about a niece of one of
the others. Eagle was struck in
the face, knocked to die floor
unconscious, and then repeatedly
stomped on and beaten widi a
board, chair, and metal dustpan
for approximately 10 minutes.
Faimly ties may explain why,
after tearfully testifying for the
prosecution, Delores Eagle,
Melvin's modier, stopped before
leaving die courtroom to hug
Beverly Garbow, modier of die
first defendant to go on trial for
murder.
The day-old trial stood still for
several seconds as the women
embraced, weeping. Tears could
also be seen on the face of Roger
Garbow, standing with his b;>
to the two heart-broken mothers.
Evidence shown
A Mille Lacs County jury witnessed this scene as well as autopsy photos of die 45-year-old
victim's injuries and videotape
of the crime scene taken shortly
after Eagle was found dead at
15873 Nay Ah Shing Drive on
the Mille I^acs Indian Reservation on the morning of Jan. 5.
With puncture wounds to his
head, 17 fractures to 16 ribs,
TRIAL to page 4
Red Lake man
sentenced for
domestic assault
Minneapolis—Twenty-eight-
year-old Gerald Phillip May,
Jr. from die Red Lake Indian
Reservation was sentenced on
Tuesday, August 12, 2003 to 97
months (eight years) in prison
for a brutal domestic assault.
May was sentenced by U.S.
District Court Judge Ami Montgomery in Minneapolis. Judge
Montgomery departed upward
from the sentencing guidelines,
stating diat the crime was particularly heinous and that the victim had suffered permanent and
unusual psychological harm.
May pled guilty in November
2002 to assault with intent to
murder. During his guilty plea
hearing, May admitted that on
August 28, 2002, he assaulted
another member of the Red
Lake Tribe resulting in serious bodily harm. The victim
RED LAKE to page 3
Caleb Johnson sworn in as the new
vice chairman of Hopi tribe
(Reprinted from Aug. 6,2003
issue of Tutuveni)
On Monday, July 28,2003,
Caleb Johnson was officially
sworn into the Office of the vice-
chairman by the Honorable Hopi
Tribal Judge Delfred Leslie. The
swearing-in of Johnson took
place before the Tribal Council
went into session to include the
Vice-Cliairman in the roll call.
Johnson was elected into office in a Special Election held
on July 16. Johnson replaced
Elgean Joshevama, who was
removed from office by the Hopi
Tribal Council, which alleged
that Joshevama had "committed
serious neglect of duty."
Vice Chairman Johnson
thanked all the people who voted
in the general and primary election. He said, 'This is a democracy, you have the right to vote."
Johnson said that diere needs
to be changes made in the tribal
government. 'There are changes
that need to be made," he said,
'Things that have been going on
for too long need to change."
T am not the type of person
diat jumps to conclusions," he
said about making the best decisions for die Hopi people, T wdl
pray about it and make a decision."
During his speech to the Council and the audience, he introduced Ernie Sakewa and Dorothy
Denet as die new members of his
staff. He said he would be adding on more people to his staff as
he setdes in and sees what areas
he needs assistance.
He also introduced his wife
Nancy of 42 years, daughter
Rebecca and sons Michael and
David to die audience.
The new Vice Chairman invited the public to come into his
office. "My office will be open
to all who come around. Come
in and talk," he said.
Trial begins in tribal embezzlement case
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. - A northern Wisconsin American Indian
tribe says its accounting firm
shoidd have uncovered an embezzlement scheme that cost the
tribe nearly $1.8 million.
The Sokaogon Chippewa
Community is suing die Green
Bay accounting firm Shinners,
Hucovski and Co. for malpractice. The trial began Monday in
Brown County.
Tlie tribe said in a 2001 lawsuit that the firm failed to meet
its obligations to the tribe and
government regulators.
The claim centers on an embezzlement scheme by Richard
Derickson, a former tribal
planner who was convicted in
federal court of embezzling
nearly $400,000 from die tribe
between 1995 and 1997.
As a result, the tribe was
twice forced to temporarily shut
down its casino and lost $1.4
million.
Mdwaukee Attorney Brian
Smigelski said the tribe's 1991
gaming compact with the state
laid out specific guidelines for
the casino's financial audits.
He said the tribe hired the
accounting firm in 1993 to perform audits and guarantee compliance with those requirements,
which included protecting die
tribe from organized crime.
The accounting firm breached
its duty by failing to question
and investigate a septic system
project that was running signifi-
candy over budget, Smigelski
said.
"By die time the scheme was
done, $522,000 had been spent
for a $150,000 septic system,"
Smigelski said.
Smigelski also said the firm
failed to advise the tribe that
one of the casino's accounting practices made its profits
vulnerable to embezzlement
schemes.
The firm's attorney, Winston
Ostrow, said it did everything
possible to investigate the suspicious expenditures, but was
blocked by corruption within
the tribe.
Tlie firm immediately reported audit discrepancies to the
casino's general manager, who _
unbeknownst to the firm _ was
receiving bribes to overlook the
embezzlement, Ostrow said.
The trial is expected to conclude next week.
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Volume 16 Issue 9
August 15, 2003
Soaring Spirit is now open in the Paul Bunyan Mall.
Soaring Spirit opens in Paul Bunyan Mall
By Bill Lawrence
Soaring Spirit, a body
piercing jewelry retailer, is
now open in Bemidji s Paul
Bunyan Mall next to K-Mart.
The mall's newest retailer
features a large selection
of navel posts and danglers
made out of sterling silver,
surgical steel, ultra-violet
titanium, and even a flexi-
plastic. The jewelry is intricately designed and afford-
ably priced. In addition, there
are nipple danglers, nipple
shields, and barbells for
tongue piercings.
Soaring Spirit also sells
labrets, nose screws, and 16
guage eyebrow pieces in all
the same materials, an incredible selection of ear plugs and
tunnels in sterling silver and
precious stones, and Playboy
brand necklaces, earrings, and
body jewelry, too.
The business, wliich opened
on August 2, is owned and
operated by Diane White,
a member of die Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe. Diane and
her father Randy White purchased most of the jewelry
dirough personal funds, and also received a $5,000 micro-loan
from the Leech I^ake Band of
Ojibwe's Microloan program.
"My dad has been an incredible support and strength
to me," said Diane, "not only
financially, but in giving me pep
talks when I think tilings are not
going very well."
"My family is very supportive and they help out around
die house by cooking and doing
chores," she continued. 'People
don't diink a regular household
routine means a lot until they
are so busy everyone has to
pilch in. Even through all the
stress and excitement, I am extremely happy."
To own and operate her own
business has been a life long
goal of Diane's. She plans to
expand the business into additional kiosk carts selling the
same product line under the
same name. Those plans include franchising out to rural
mall locations and possibly casino hotel lobbies.
The cart in die Paul Bunyan
Mall will always be unique
because it also sells prepaid
cellular phones, including the
latest phones available on the
market, and will continue to
service those phones by selling
STORE to page 6
Lummi Nation, desperate to survive, considers
banishment
Associated Press
LUMMI NATION, Wash.
- In die old days, Lummi
Indians considered a danger
to the tribe were told to point
their canoe toward Vancouver
Island and start paddling.
Now, the Lummi Nation is
thinking about turning more
often to banishment, this
time as a way to deal with die
rampant drug use that is destroying the tribe's culture and
killing its members.
In die past 18 mondis, diis
tribe of 4,026 people has had six
drug deadis, one involving a toddler. There have been five drive-
by shootings. Thirteen babies
were bom addicted to drags. .And
33 tribal members have been
arrested, many for attempting
to smuggle drugs from Canada.
More than 1,800 Lummi arc in
need of treatment, including 500
addicted to prescription drags
and 200 addicted to heroin.
Some leaders say banishment
- used by the Lummi only five
times in the past 70 years - could
help.
"Until we realize the dealers are an enemy of the people,
we are not going to change diis
situation," Jewell Praying Worf
James, a tribal council member,
told The Seattle Times.vv We are
going to use die old laws and
drive them from the commu-
LUMMI to page 3
Bill will send more gambling
money to state's poorest tribes
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - Each
of California's poorest
tribes will get an additional
$680,000 this year under legislation that shifts die money
from some of the long-term
gambling tribes.
The tribes were supposed
to get up to $ 1.1 million under the 1999 tribal gambling
compacts, but were paid only
about $410,000 because the
fund fell short.
To make up the difference,
the legislation Gov. Gray
Davis signed Monday but announced Tuesday will shift
$51 million from a separate
fund from tribes that operated
casinos before die compacts
were signed.
Another $3 million from
the fund wid go to establish
an Office of Problem and
Pathological Gambling,
which will conduct public
awareness and prevention
campaigns, operate a tod-free
help line for problem gamblers,
and train casino and health care
workers.
Legislators are negotiating
over two other bills diat would
shift some of the remaining tribal money to local governments
to cover dieir costs from casinos
widiin their jurisdiction.
Gambling tribes have become
the state's top political contributors, and bodi Davis and
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante are
poised to benefit as they ran in
the Oct. 7 recall election. Davis
also is negotiating with gambling tribes to contribute more
to help trim the state's budget
deficit.
But diose tribes aren't die
ones who will benefit from
Tuesday's legislation, said Barry
Goode, Davis' legal affairs secretary.
'What you're talking about
are some of the poorest tribes
BILL to page 3
Rocky Boy
native named
director BIA
education
programs
Associated Press
HAVRE - Edward Parisian, a
Rocky Boy native and longtime
educator, has been appointed
director of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs.
Parisian will oversee a BIA-
funded education system that
consists of 147,000 students
at 185 schools in 23 states.
Parisian held die same position
from 1989 to 1992, but stepped
down for famdy reasons.
Parisian told the Havre Daily
News Friday diat he wants to
focus on making sure the Bush
administration's "No Child
Ixft Behind" education plan
is implemented at reservation
schools.
"I think it's very important
BIA to page 3