Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-10-10

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Report says
preventing diabetes
takes community
effort
page 3
Leech Lake's
"White House"
page 4
McGaa response to
Emily Johns
page 4
South Minneapolis:
American Indian
killing field
page 4
Irony, the Mille
Lacs gambling
audit
page 4
Mille Lacs Casino audit report reveals gross
revenue for FY 2000 of $280 million
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
In August, Press/On requested, under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), copies
of the Single Audit Act Reports
on the eleven Minnesota Indian
Tribes from the Secretary of the
Interior. We received the reports
in September.
The Single Audit Act requires
federal money recipients that
expend $300,000 or more in
Federal awards annually to have
audits conducted in accordance
with the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133. That means that
a certain amount of data on the
eleven tribes is public information and available through the
Department of Interior.
Press/On has been trying to
obtain the audited financial
statements for the tribal casinos
as well as the information on
tribal general funds since 1994,
believing that tribal members
have a right to know about the
financial position of the tribes.
The quest for the information
led to a series of decisions and
reversals by the State of Min
nesota regarding the matter, and
through the courts, ending up at
the doorstep of the Minnesota
Supreme Court. The end result
of this activity has been a legal
decision that the audited financial information of the tribal
casinos is in fact public information. The Mille Lacs Band
of Chippewa Indians was one
of the major players in the legal
battles. They have fought very
hard and spent a great many
tribal dollars to keep this information confidential. It turns
out they have spent this time,
money and effort protecting information that is already public
and has been at least since June
2001.
Generally speaking, the
Single Audit Act Reports contain information limited to
disclosure on Federal grants and
contracts, however, included
in the Statement of General
Purposes of the financial information submitted by the Mille
Lacs Band is the financial information regarding the casinos
and other business enterprises.
These reports contain a con
siderable amount of interesting
information that tribal members
have likely never had access
to before. This is information
tribal members have been trying to receive for a considerable
amount of time.
In October 2002, Press/On
reported on a petition drive
initiated by members of the
Mille Lacs Band to obtain financial disclosure. Members
were saying "...we should have
something like $500 million
invested for us somewhere...
. We need a complete report on
the current financial status of the
Band." The petitioners wanted
a public meeting where they
would be given an accounting
of the financial facts. The Chief
Executive, Melanie Benjamin,
said that in the past the Band
had "had a corporate commissioner who had approval to
expend the money the way they
wanted to. That commissioner
is no longer here." She added,
"we no longer practice that kind
of management at the Corporate
AUDIT to page 5
Sale of Black Mesa Coffee held up
By Delvin Cree
It's been a month since Tony
Genia closed his business, Black
Mesa Coffee. Genia, a first
time American Indian business
owner, closed down unexpec-
tantly on September 12th, 2003.
After a successful 2 1/2 year run
in the coffee business. The business was located in the Ancient
Traders Market mall on Franklin
Avenue in Minneapolis.
The closing of Black Mesa,
has many residents and community members, questioning, why
the coffee shop they've come to
know and patronized, has closed
it's doors. One community resident stated that she felt "Black
Mess served almost as a "hub" in
the Indian Community". Another
stated, "Black Mesa was a place
were you could to have a cup of
coffee, read the newspaper, attend a meeting (a meeting room
was provided free of charge), but
more importantly a place were
you felt comfortable and welcomed."
According to Genia he
planned to sell his business
because there has been great
demand by the community to
extend his hours into the evening
and be open on the weekends, a
request that he cannot honor at
this time. He did point out that he
did not want to end the existence
of the coffee shop but wanted
to find buyers that would continue to run it just as it was and
increase its operating hours in
the community. "I am saddened
by the closer of the coffee shop
because it became established
as a great community asset that
served as a gathering space for
American Indians. It was a place
that American Indians could
be proud of and many visitors
stopped there to point it out to
their friends", he said.
However, selling his business
has not been easy. There have
been potential buyers interested
in purchasing Black Mesa but
they been unsuccessful in obtaining a lease to continue operating
the coffee shop at its current
location. When interested buyers
met with Theresa Carr, Director
of the American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation [ATNDC] they were told
that mere were other applicants
for the space and Maria's cafe
was the front runner for the coffee shop location. Maria's Cafe
owned by Maria Hoyas is also
located in the Ancient Traders
Market mall.
In an informal discussion with
Maria Hoyas; Hoyas, indicated
that she had no intention or interest in acquiring the Black Mesa
location. According to Hoyas she
has no knowledge that she was a
favorable candidate for the Black
Mesa Coffee shop location and
was not aware that Carr was conveying this information to potential buyers. Hoyas, did however,
point out that she was interested
in leasing space in the Ancient
Traders Market for a banquet
hall, but that the Black Mesa
Coffee shop was not a location
that she was considering.
SALE to page 3
Leech Lake Housing Authority sued
By Diane White
Cass Lake, MN - Teresa
Stangel is a single parent of
three children between the ages
of 11 and 16. She is currently
unemployed and fighting to
get her job back at the Leech
Lake Housing Authority where
she was fired in July, 2003 for
requesting an early paycheck
in order to pay her rent. She
worked as Tax Credit Specialist where she was responsible
to sign tenants up for housing which required they meet
certain criteria. She liked her
job which included completing housing inspections and
preparing quarterly and annual
reports to tribal, state and federal governments. Teresa is a
member of the Leech Lake Band
of Ojibwe and had worked at
the Housing Authority for 15
months.
Teresa requested a $400 payroll advance to Marlene Mitchell
verbally and was informed to
request the payroll advance in
writing to the Housing Authority's Board of Directors. On June
19,2003 Teresa requested in
writing a $400 payroll advance
to be used to make her rent payment. She states, "I didn't think
it was such a big deal, because
payroll advances were a common practice utilized by the
Interim Housing Director [Marlene Mitchell] and the Board of
Directors."
The next day, Teresa followed
up by calling Jennie Wind Reyes,
because she is one of two Board
members who represent the largest District on the Reservation.
Reyes told her the request was
denied because if the Board authorized this request, they would
have to authorize every employee's payroll advance request.
Teresa "punched out" of work
and went to visit the other District 3 Board member, Martin
"Mutt" Robinson about the
payroll advance. He told her the
same thing.
Teresa responded to him,
"Why did Marlene Mitchell get a
$700 payroll advance for a computer that was delivered to her
home?" Mutt stated, "That approval never went to the Board."
That payroll advance had just
occurred according to Teresa's
co-workers, all of whom have
access to this information via the
computer system.
On July 15, at approximately
3:30 p.m., Marlene called Teresa
into her office and gave her a
backdated (to July 3, 2003) unsigned letter terminating her
employment from the Board of
Commissioners. Teresa asked
whether she had a right to an
appeal and Marlene pulled, out a
personnel policy handbook stating
Teresa can appeal to an Ad Hoc
Committee (which consists of one
randomly selected board member,
the Personnel Director and randomly selected employee).
On July 17, Teresa submitted a
Grievance/Appeal to Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe's Executive
Director, Gerald White, Marlene
Mitchell, Interim Housing Director and the Board of Commissioners.
On July 23, Archie LaRose,
the Band's Secretary-Treasurer
and Lyman Losh, the Band's
District 2 Representative both
signed a letter stating that the letter of termination was unsigned
and therefore "unofficial" and
they advised her to report back
to work until any action becomes
official in the capacity of the
Housing Director's office or the
Board of Commissioners. Teresa
then provided the RBC letter to
Mitchell who said, "Are they going to pay you?"
Teresa said, "I don't know, I
imagine it would be Housing."
Mitchell responded, "I don't
know why they (Leech Lake
Reservation Tribal Council]
think they can just put you back
to work when they have no
LAWSUIT to page 7
Man charged with sexual assault of juvenile
By Jeff Armstrong
Bemidji State University
student Francis Tenczar was
released the day of his arrest
Monday after posting $5,000 bail
on charges that he raped a 16-
year-old Native girl he arranged
to meet on the internet.
Tenczar, a 21-year-old white
male, was charged with third-
degree criminal sexual assault
and accused of "using force or
coercion to accomplish the penetration."
According to police and court
reports, Tenczar met the girl in
town and drove her to the Beltrami County Fairgrounds, where
he allegedly assaulted the victim.
"There the defendant began
kissing her and as the defendant
began to escalate the conduct,
[the girl] told him to stop. The
defendant did not stop and sexually penetrated [her]," the criminal complaint states.
Although he operated under
the assumed name Jason in online communications, Tenczar
was arrested when a friend of
the victim emailed the alleged
assailant and asked him to meet
her. Police were waiting with a
description of the vehicle and
detained the defendant, who confessed under questioning to having sex with the girl but claimed
the victim consented to the act
and had asserted her adulthood.
However, the mother of the
victim, requesting anonymity,
said Tenczar should have been
charged with a more serious
offense and disputed any confusion over the girl's age. She
said Tenczar also threatened her
daughter if she reported her assault to the pohce.
"She does not even look like
16, much less 18.1 don't know
how he this guy can say he didn't
know how old she was," the
victim's mother said. "I think he
should have been charged with a
more serious crime."
Under Minnesota statutes, the
use offeree and coercion in the
act constitutes grounds for charges of first-, second- or third-degree sexual assault. Third-degree
sexual misconduct carries a
maximum sentence of 15 years
imprisonment, second-degree a
maximum penalty of 25 years
prison time, and first-degree
stipulates a mandatory sentence
of 12 years and a maximum of
30.
Under the terms of his release,
Tenczar was ordered by the court
to refrain from using the internet
except for academic purposes
and to have no contact with the
victim or witnesses.
An omnibus hearing has been
scheduled for Oct. 20.
web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2003
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 17
October 10, 2003
Photo by Diane White
"The Shingobee Inn restaurant located on Shingobee Island south of Walker, Minn, was torn down
last week to make room for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's proposed new casino and marina.
The new casino and marina is targeted for opening during April 2004.
Shingobee Casino & Marina groundbreaking
By Diane White
Walker, MN - On Wednesday, October 8 at noon, the
groundbreaking ceremony
was underway at the site of
the newest Leech Lake Band
of Ojibwe casino. For many
years the Shingobee Island
, building has been an eyesore
and economic development
disaster for the Band, but
today, amidst balloons and
many supporters, the first
shovel broke ground with an
expected Casino & Marino
completion date targeted for
April, 2004.
The Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe is working with Cass
County, the State Department
of Transportation and the
Shnigobee Township to resolve several issues including
purchasing or exchanging a
small tract of land owned by
the County located between
Highway 371 and the Band's
property. The County authorized
an appraisal process for the piece
of land which is essentially the
ditch to the end of the frontage
road that leads to the shoreline.
Since the land was placed in
Trust with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, the County cannot enforce the 10U foot rule where
new buildings cannot be located
closer than 100 feet from shore.
The Band demolished the
Shingobee building and plans to
build in the same spot. The Band
must comply with Pre-Treatment
System requirements since the
current sanitary district will not
be able to accommodate the
expected increased useage stemming from a large, public facility.
The Department of Transportation and the Band have to also
agree on how to handle the
increased traffic on this already
heavily used stretch of Highway
371 (just south of Walker). The
County also issued a conditional
use permit to the Band for the
property that is considered
non-Trust land. The County
indicated they do not have any
contracts in place nor has any
discussion occurred regarding
fees or taxes in lieu of the additional road and pohce support
the Band will require with this
new venture.
The Band is purchasing
other tracts of land on Shingobee
through private investors, Craig
and Kristine Potts of Henderson,
Nevada. The couple purchased
the Shimer property for 375,000
and the Band has identified this
piece of land to be their future
parking lot and identified the couple as their "private investors."
There are several more tracts of
land on the island that the Band is
planning on purchasing.
Crime rate on
Indian
reservations
much higher
than U.S.
Associated Press
PHOENIX - An analysis of
violent crimes on Indian reservations reveals that the murder
rate is five times higher on
reservations than in the United
States as a whole.
Using tribal enrollment
figures, preliminary numbers
from the Indian Country
Crime Report, being prepared
by the U.S. Attorney's Office,
snowed a murder rate of 29
per 100,000 people, compared
with a national rate of 5.6 per
100,000, The Arizona Republic reported.
"The cases we've been getting more recently can just be
brutally violent," said Diane
Humetewa, tribal liaison and
victim-witness supervisor for
the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Phoenix.
Some figures from the report, which is expected to be
released within the next week,
also suggest that tribes around
the Phoenix metropolitan area
face more violence than other
American Indians in the state
and nation.
With six killings among
6,405 tribal members, the Salt
River Pima-Maricopa Community homicide rate is 17
times the national average, according to the report.
The Gila River Indian Community, with 11,257 enrollees,
counted 11 murders.
By comparison, major
metropolitan cities averaged
slightly more than seven killings per 100,000 last year.
CRIME to page 6
Federal judge rules in health
care dispute
Associated Press
ABERDEEN, S.D. - The federal government owes South Dakota $1.3 million in unpaid state
Medicaid claims stemming from
health care American Indians received between 1998 and 2000,
a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Charles B.
Kornmann said South Dakota
could make claims for care American Indians received at Indian
Health Service facilities as well
as facilities patients were referred
to for essential treatment.
"Essential health care includes serious trauma care and
any services to be rendered by
specialists," Kornmann wrote.
"In the more than eight years
I have been on the bench, I have
not seen a serious injury case in
which the patient was not transferred to a non-IHS facility," he
said. "In the absence of such
transfers, the patient in almost
every case would not survive."
Kornmann's ruling in the civil
case stems from a dispute over
compensation between the South
Dakota Department of Social Services and the federal Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The ruling lets the state receive 100 percent reimbursement
for American Indian health care.
The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services had previously rejected the 100 percent
claims and said only about 66
percent of the expenses would be
covered. The Departmental Appeals Board of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had upheld the decision.
The state sought $4 million
for state Medicaid claims from
Oct. 1,1998, to Dec. 21,2000. It
DISPUTE to page 3
BIA to manage law enforcement
on Pine Ridge reservation
Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. - The Bureau
of Indian Affairs and the Oglala
Sioux Tribe have agreed to put
tribal police under bureau supervision in a program aimed at
improving law enforcement on
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
"This is a positive story, a
good development," said Robert
Ecoffey, deputy director of the
BIA Office of Law Enforcement
Services. "People will see a   '
difference, a much more professional approach and uniform enforcement. It's from dispatch to
detention. We've worked a long
time on this."
Ecoffey and Tribal President
John Steele negotiated the
agreement, which was effective
Wednesday.
It calls for bureau supervision
of the tribe's Department of
Public Safety and promises on-
site technical help to upgrade
the tribe's law enforcement
programs. The bureau will take
administrative control of the department budget.
Two BIA employees, Acting
Police Chief James Two Bulls
and Duane Yellowhawk, an Indian self-determination specialist for financial programs, will
be on the reservation as part
of the agreement. Ecoffey said
Two Bulls and Yellowhawk are
expected to be involved in the
program for the next two years
while the changes are made.
Staff from the Indian Police
Academy in Artesia, N.M., are
BIA to page 7