Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-10-17

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Rohnert Park
approves larger
Indian tribe casino
page 4
Sakakawea expected to
take prominent place in
Capitol collection
page 3
Mille Lacs Band attorneys reply
to appeal: 'Jurisdiction' has
applied to band land, members
and vendors only
page 4
Mille Lacs Band
member intimidated
for asking questions
page 4
Klamath Tribe
reject private land
proposal; want
forest
page 4
Red Lake Tribal Council Votes 7-3 reinstating
Martell as witness
By Bill Lawrence
The Red Lake Tribal Council
at its regular meeting, Tuesday,
October 14, 2003 voted 7-3 to
overturn the Red Lake Tribal
Trial and Appellate Court decisions that denied Clifford Mar-
tell the opportunity to participate as a complaining witness.
Clifford Martell, Criminal
Investigator for the Red Lake
Tribal Police Department,
brought a criminal complaint
against Roderick Sayers, Jr. in
Red Lake Tribal Court. Donald
R. Cook, Sr., Lay Counsel for
Sayers, moved for dismissal on
the grounds that Martell was
not qualified to be a witness
because of an incident that occurred in 1982 which resulted in
Martell's being convicted of a
misdemeanor.
Judge Dan Charnoski dismissed the case against Sayers
and Martell was not allowed
to testify in Court. Such action
prevented him from performing
his duty as a police officer and
put his job in jeopardy.
This in turn led to Martell being demoted from his status as
criminal investigator.
On September 3, 2003,
Captain Dewayne Dow issued
a temporary reassignment to
Martell, effectively demoting
him. Mr. Martell appealed the
demotion, contending the Red
Lake Courts and his supervisor
had discriminated against him.
When the charge against Sayers was dismissed, Chief Prosecutor Michael Klinkhammer,
acting in accord with his statutory duty to challenge the dismissal, filed an appeal. The
case was heard 10/3/03 before
Appellate Judges Al Thunder,
Catherine Van Wert and Loretta
Hurd.
The Appellate Court entered
an order: "That it is the decision of the Red Lake Court of
Appeals to stand by and accept
the Red Lake Court's decision
that any charges filed in Trial
Court by Clifford Martell as a
Police Officer is and will not be
recognizable by the Red Lake
Court until such time the Red
Lake Band recognizes and concurs with Minnesota State Law,
recognizing Clifford Martell as
a misdemeanor offender."
Martell was not notified of the
date or time that his case would
be Heard.
Consequently he was not
present to offer his testimony
regarding the case.
Michael Klinkhammer ap
peared in his capacity as Chief
Prosecutor; Donald Cook represented Roderick Sayers, Jr.
On October 10, 2003, Patrick
Mills, Director of Public Safety,
informed Martell ".. .the Appeals Judges Order makes it
impossible for you to perform
your duties and responsibilities as stated in your position
description....Therefore, I am
hereby advising you that if we
can't get this order from the Appeal Court Judges overturned
within ten (10) days I will address your employment status
with the Department.. ..I will
also be requesting the Red Lake
Legal Department to review
this matter on the appeal court's
order. At this time I don't know
where to refer you for any type
of grievance."
The case evolved from a criminal case against Roderick Sayers to a demotion and effective
dismissal of Clifford Martell
from employment as a criminal
investigator for the Red Lake
Tribal Police. Martell appealed
to the Tribal Council to hear his
case in executive session at the
October 14 meeting. He further
requested that the Tribal Coun-
RED LAKE to page 7
Howard pleads guilty to assault
St. Paul, Mn. - Joseph William Howard, age 38, from the
Red Lake Indian Reservation
pled guilty to assault resulting
in serious bodily harm. Howard
entered his plea on Tuesday, October 14,2003 before Judge Paul
Magnuson in St. Paul.
During his guilty plea hearing,
Howard admitted that on July
14,2002, he assaulted a juvenile
female. The incident occurred
in the Redby district of the Red
Lake Indian Reservation.
Howard faces a maximum
potential penalty of ten years in
prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
The actual sentence will be determined by Judge Magnuson
based on the federal sentencing
guidelines. A sentencing date
has not been set.   Howard continues to be held without bond.
The case is the result of an
investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and Red
Lake Law Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorney
Clifford Wardlaw prosecuted the
case.
Fired WE Land Recovery Project employee must
repay benefits, court rules
By Jeff Armstrong
In an unpublished 2-1 decision, the Minnesota court of
Appeals tiiis week ordered a
former employee, of the White
Earth Land Recovery Project,
Cindy Lindsay, to repay $6,235
in unemployment benefits she
received after being terminated
by the nonprofit organization
from her position as administrative assistant.
A dissenting judge, however,
ruled that the restitution law
itself was unfair and contrary to
the purposes of the law.
According to the appellate
court's account of the case,
Lindsay took a medical leave
of absence for workplace stress
and depression after reading
what appeared to a job listing
for her position in a newspaper.
Though assured by her supervisor that she was not being terminated, Lindsay was advised
in a series of letters from a
physician not to return to work
until the issue was resolved
through a meeting with the
board of directors. The chairman said the board would not
address the issue and instructed
Lindsay to meet with her supervisor, which she declined to do.
Several months later, Lindsay
was dismissed. An unemployment law judge determined that
Lindsay was eligible for benefits due to her medical excuses,
but the decision was overturned
on appeal by a representative of
the Commission on Economic
Security.
The court of appeals ruled
that Lindsay's failure to meet
with her supervisor "or otherwise take steps to return to work
constituted misconduct," which
under state law rendered her
ineligible for unemployment
benefits.
In dissent, Judge Robert
Schumacher argued the Lindsay's insistence upon a meeting
with the board prior to returning to work was based upon
her belief in the validity of her
medical excuse. He further
contended that the provision of
unemployment law requiring repayment of benefits overturne<3v_"-
on appeal is unjust.
"To require individuals to
repay these benefits, which are
presumably spent on basic necessities as they are received,
because a prior determination
by an unemployment judge is
subsequently reversed strikes
me as a penalty contrary to the
beneficent public purpose of
the Minnesota Unemployment
Insurance Program. A benefits
claimant should not be made to
assume financial responsibility for an unemployment law
judge's decision. The legislature
should correct this anomaly,"
wrote Schumacher.
Lindsay was represented by
Anishinabe Legal Services,
while her former employer hired
an attorney from the Minneapolis law firm of Faegre and Benson.
Howard pleads guilty to assault
St. Paul, Mn. - Joseph William Howard, age 38, from the
Red Lake Indian Reservation
pled guilty to assault resulting
in serious bodily harm. Howard
entered his plea on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 before Judge Paul
Magnuson in St. Paul.
During his guilty plea hearing,
Howard admitted that on July
14, 2002, he assaulted a juvenile
female. The incident occurred
in the Redby district of the Red
Lake Indian Reservation.
Howard faces a maximum
potential penalty often years in
prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
The actual sentence will be determined by Judge Magnuson
based on the federal sentencing
guidelines. A sentencing date
has not been set.   Howard continues to be held without bond.
The case is the result of an
investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and Red
Lake Law Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorney
Clifford Wardlaw prosecuted the
case.
BIA nominee Famous Dave to avoid conflicts of interest:
Former business partner casino deals await
BIA approval
By Jean Pagano
Famous Dave Anderson, local
rib entrepreneur and President
Bush's nominee to head the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),
is seeking to avoid any conflict,
of interest due to his former
business partner having three
projects in front of the BIA for
approval or clearance.
BIA nominee Anderson, an
Edina resident, is chairman of
Famous Dave's of America, an
Edina-based corporation. Plymouth resident Lyle Berman is
well known for his casino and
resort development projects,
and currently has three projects
in front of the BIA awaiting approval. Berman's current company, Lakes Entertainment is
based in Minnetonka. These two
gentlemen also have a couple of
other items in common outside
of their BIA involvements: they
are friends and former business
partners.
Anderson and Berman co-
founded Grand Casinos Inc.
Grand Casinos Inc started off by
managing several tribal casinos
in Minnesota, including Grand
Casino Hinckley and Grand Casino Mille Lacs. Both of these
casinos were affiliated with the
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa.
Nominee Anderson left Grand
Casinos in the mid 1990's to
form Famous Dave's, a well-
known barbeque chain with over
80 restaurants nation-wide. Former partner Berman owned stock
in Famous Dave's but sold it after Famous Dave's initial public
offering in 1996.
The Associated Press is reporting that Anderson recently .liquidated his position in a fund and
received shares of Park Place
Entertainment Corp. as part of
the deal. Park Place is a gambling concern and is made up of
parts of the former gaming arm
of Hilton Hotels and also parts
of Grand Casinos, Inc, Anderson
and Berman's one-time company. It is reported that Anderson
will divest himself of shares of
Park Place if he is confirmed as
the head of BIA.
Hearings on the Anderson
nomination will be held in front
of the Senate Committee on
Indian Affairs on October 22nd
and a full vote on the Senate
floor could come as soon as
early November. Anderson has
stated that he will recuse himself
in any case where he has a previous relationship.
Berman's Lakes Entertainment
has lost millions of dollars in
the past several years due to the
expiration of prior casino management contracts. The approval
of the casinos currently under
review by BIA would allow
groundbreaking to begin on new
gambling facilities potentially
paving the way for new management contracts for Lakes Entertainment.
It is not uncommon in governmental circles for former
partners, associates, and friends
to have to deal with one another
again. It is certainly possible that
the relationship between Messrs.
Anderson and Berman may be
further explored at the Senate
Committee hearings later this
month.
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Volume 16 Issue 18
October 17, 2003
Photo by Diane White
Leech Lake Business Corporation building 25 homes in District 1 and in District 2 and 50 homes
in District 3. Private investor loans $5,000,000 to Tribe for project in return for 25% of Shingobee
Casino gaming net profits for 7 years.
Controversy surrounds Leech Lake 100 Homes Project
By Diane E. White
Cass Lake-The 100
Homes Project is off and
running on the Leech Lake
Reservation and on the surface
appears to be a major political coup for Chairman Peter
White.
Unfortunately, upon closer
inspection, the project's motto
should be, "Caveat Emptor"
which means "Buyer Beware!"
Bob Goggleye, Vice President of Leech Lake's Business
Corporation stated that private
investor, Craig Potts invested
$5,000,000 in the 100 homes
project which originally was
planned to be 100 modular
homes each to cost between
$40,000 and $50,000. However,
the plans changed for stick built
homes, which increased the
building cost of a three- or four-
bedroom home.   Craig Potts is
the owner of "Check Systems,
Inc." check writing business at
each of the Band's casinos.
Goggleye credits Mike Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of
the Business Corporation with
the idea of building these 100
homes.
The 3 bedroom homes are approximately 1,200 square feet
and the 4 bedroom homes are
1,568 square feet and will not in-.
elude a basement, but will have a
crawl space and a small front
porch. According to sources
close to the project, an additional
$10,000 per home is required to
build necessary septic systems
and landscaping. This additional
$10,000 per home cost is being
paid for by Leech Lake casino
gaming proceeds. The Tribe's
workforce will benefit directly
as the Leech Lake Public Works
(Roads) Division has agreed to
this contract.
The current building plan cost
for either home style is currently
around $70,000 which will cut
the number of homes to be built
from 100 to an estimated 70, according to Goggleye; however,
according to other sources close
PROJECT to page 6
Mille Lacs hosts first regional economic summit
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
East Central Energy has
brought power to east-central
Minnesota longer than any
other company, but its executives never learned much
about the Mille Lacs Band of
Ojibwe who sat in the middle
of its 14-county service area.
The co-op served the reservation from its time as one of
the poorest areas of the state
through the gambling boom
to its current status as the
county's top employer and a
regional economic force.
Yet throughout it all, East
Central's knowledge of the
band never caught up with
its new economic clout. The
same could be said about
other local businesses and
governments in the region.
Mille Lacs hopes that will
change when economic leaders meet at the reservation for
the first East Central Minnesota Business Development
Summit. It starts Tuesday.
""We're all neighbors," said
Henry Fischer, East Central
business and community manager. "We all live here, we all
work here and the summit is a
positive way to.unite everybody
together toward a common
goal." -
For two days, about 175
people from private business,
government agencies and other
organizations will work together to study the region's labor
force and business community
and try to determine east-central Minnesota needs.
It will be the first time some
groups will sit down together
to discuss partnerships, particularly with the band, in hopes
of creating living-wage jobs
and economic durability for the
region on the northern rim of
the Twin Cities' approaching
growth.
Similar summits have been
taking place frequently in Indian Country, said Pete Homer,
chairman of the National Indian
Business Association.
At a national Indian economic
development summit last year,
Indian leaders set the goal to
create 100,000 new jobs on or
near reservations by 2008 and to
develop sustainable economies
on the reservations by 2020.
Tribes recognize the importance of expanding beyond casinos to ensure a sturdy economy.
Right now, there are only 20
viable manufacturing companies
tribally run in the United States,
Homer said.
In order to attract big business to rural areas, he said tribes
need community support, while
communities need to take advantage of unique tribal benefits
like preference in federal contracts and tax exemptions.
vTm tired of preaching,
'You've got to go and contract
with Indian tribes,'" Homer
said.
SUMMIT to page 6
Tribe may demand diploma before sharing
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
Members of the Upper Sioux
Community who are now in
ninth grade must earn a high
school diploma to receive their
share of casino profits under
a band policy under consideration.
Tribal Chairwoman Helen
Blue-Redner said Wednesday
that the band hopes the policy
will prevent crime and lower
the dropout rate, which ranges
from 50 percent to 70 percent,
at the west-central Minnesota
reservation, which is near
Granite Falls.
The Upper Sioux hopes to
implement the requirement
by year's end. Band members would have until age
18 to complete a high school
education. If they don't, the
band would hold the casino payments in a trust account until
they are older or the community
decides what is fair.
The graduation requirement is not new to the Upper
Sioux. Members of the Mille
Lacs Band of Ojibwe also must
have a high school education
to receive casino payments that
are held in a trust fund until age
18. Those who do not qualify
must wait until they are 21 to get
the money.
"That gives them an incentive
to go ahead and get a diploma."'
said Sheldon Boyd, administration commissioner of the north-
central Minnesota band.
Tribes rarely disclose the pay
ment amounts, and each band can
set its own requirements. For example, at the Lower Sioux Community, enrolled members must
live within a 10-mile radius of
the reservation. At age 18, band
members gain access to a portion
of the payments held in a trust
account, receiving the remaining
money when they reach 21.
At the Prarie Island Indian Community, casino payments are given
to enrolled members when they
reach 18 regardless of where they
live. The Grand Portage Band of
Ojibwe doesn't distribute any casino payments.
The Upper Sioux has about 430
members, about one-fourth of
whom live on the reservation.