Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-01-02

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Leadership or
dysfunction?
page 4
We elected
these clowns
page 4
NBC used
poor judgment
page 4
Native American
newspapers: Telling
uncomfortable truths in
tribal journalism
page 4
So long 2003!
Hello 20041
page 4
Leech Lake Shingobee Casino & Marina OR
a restaurant?
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
By Diane E. White
On Tuesday evening from 5:
00 to 8:00 at the PikeBay Town
Hall in Cass Lake, Leech Lake
tribal members gathered for a
meeting to come up with recommendations on how to challenge
Chairman Pete White's regime
and reckless spending. All three
District Representatives were
present in what appeared a unified front stating to the large
crowd how they have been cut
off from accounting records and
business contracts, and have
even been threatened with bodily
barm and death from die White
regime.
The meeting was lead by Randy
1 'inn, a Leech Lake tribal member, who began die meeting by
reviewing all significant contractual events that took place surrounding die current construction of Shingobee Casino & Marina Emporium. Finn reported
after all die current contracts
and consU'uction, die sovereign
people of Leech Lake will be in
debt by over $ 114,000,000 payable over 20 years.
Finn showed die audience
a $42 million loan agreement
signed by die Leech Lake's Reservation Tribal Council (RTC)
widi die Mdewanketon Sioux
which refinanced the previous
loans held by Bremer Bank
originally to finance the Northern Lights Casino & Hotel. In
dial agreement, Leech Lake is
prohibited from re-collateral-
izing Gaming revenues which
represents die current collateral
to diat $42 million loan. If Leech
Lake completes another loan
package with another lending
organization pledging the same
collateral, Leech Lake will be
in breach of diat contract. At the
public meeting held on December 11, the White regime is set
to move forward with signing
the $14.6 million loan with The
Marshall Group.
Half way through Tuesday's
meeting, Archie LaRose, Secretary-Treasurer of die Leech Lake
MN Supreme Court to weigh legality of state-tribal
law enforcement agreements
By Jeff Armstrong
After facing years of legal
and political challenges by
grassroots tribal members to the
establishment of state-sponsored
reservation police forces, Minnesota state courts are at last
beginning to evaluate die legality of "cooperative" law enforcement agreements. At least one
such case. State v. Manypenny,
' is now headed for the Minnesota
Supreme Court.
Many tribal members, particularly diose who have participated
in die Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe's nearly two-decade long
struggle for tribal constitutional
reform, contend diat neither state
nor tribal officials possess the
authority to establish reservation
law enforcement systems without the consent of the affected
people.
At least since 1987. MtT
members have actively resisted
granting police or judicial authority to tribal or reservation
officials under the existing top-
down political structure, calling instead for a constitutional
convention to establish a more
democratic form of government. They maintain diat such
audiority rests exclusively in die
people, who retain dial power
unless and until diey delegate it
to a subordinate body such as the
RBCs or TEC by amending the
MCT Constitution. Rather dian
seeking such a popular mandate,
successive tribal administrations
have instead bargained Secretly
widi dicir state and federal counterparts for police and judicial
audiority over die heads of dieir
consdluents.
The courts, however, have not
been overly receptive lo such
arguments, which have also
Famous Dave goes to Washington
By Renee Ruble
Associated Press
EDINA, Minn. - Dave Anderson said he just kept cooking
ribs while awaiting confirmation
to head die Bureau of Indian Affairs.
It took months, but now the
man behind Famous Dave's
restaurants is eager to drop die
apron and head to Washington.
Among his goals: resolving a
long-running lawsuit over die
government's mismanagement of
an Indian trust fund, and gaining
die trust of die nation's tribes.
Anderson is the first to say
he was surprised that die Bush
administration called on him
to take over die BIA, which is
responsible for managing almost
56 million acres of land held in
trust for American Indians.
"I'm not a tribal leader. I'm
not a bureaucrat. I'm not a historian or an attorney. I've pretty
much been in business my whole
life." said Anderson, a Choctaw
and Chippewa and an enrolled
member of the Lac Courte
Oreilles Lake Superior Band of
Ojibwa.
Many people have questioned
why he would want to oversee
the much-criticized agency, Anderson said. He says he considers
it an obligation, after his own
success following bankruptcies,
alcoholism and substance abuse.
In an interview with The
Associated Press at his Edina
home, where he sat amid bric-a-
brac that included a giant Elvis
.figurine and a large collection
of rock-and-roll memorabilia,
Anderson was thoughtful and
deliberate in fielding questions
about his new role.
The trust fund lawsuit, which
alleges die Interior Department
mismanaged billions of dollars owed to more than 300,000
American Indians, is an opportunity to establish trust between
tribes and die government, Anderson said.
"That is something diat does
need to be settled, and I'm hopeful we can get diat done during
this administration because we
really need to address die responsibility die BIA has so that
this never happens again," he
said.
Anderson would not discuss
anodier lawsuit _ calling it a policy question_ that seeks $25 billion from die federal government
Guided by a spirit, investigators work to solve old slaying
By Pauline Arrillaga
Associated Press
DENVER - The arrest warrant
was burning a hole in Detective
Abe Alonzo's pocket. He knew
he needed to turn it over to the
fugidve unit, but Alonzo wanted
one last chance to nab die guy
himself.
He had worked too long and
hard on tliis one to let it go now.
Alonzo swung his unmarked
car onto Colfax Avenue, past die
tattoo parlors and bars diat had
turned die corridor near downtown Denver into a hangout for
vagrants and drunks. Maybe,
just maybe, his suspect would be
roaming the street diat was one
of his favorite haunts.
Then he saw someone: A
short man, coat bundled up to
his neck, knit cap tugged to his
eyebrows. Alonzo pulled into die
Conoco, got out and flashed his
badge.
"Police. Let me see some
identification." The man raised
his head.
Alonzo could hardly believe
his eyes, or his luck. Nor could
die patrolman who arrived at die
scene soon afterward.
"This guy's wanted for murder," die stunned officer said.
Still standing on die street,
Alonzo punched Bob Ecoffey's
number into his cell phone. He
couldn't wait to break the news
to his friend, die man whrj introduced him to die case diat had
consumed diem both.
How to tell him diat after 27
years dieir first suspect was finally in custody?
"Bob," he said simply. "I've
got Arlo."
The arrest came on her birthday: March 27,2003. Anna Mae
Pictou-Aquash would have been
58 had she not been shot in the
head and left to die in a lonely
ravine on Soutii Dakota's Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation.
Ecoffey assured Alonzo the
timing was more dian mere coincidence.
"It was meant to happen," he
said. "It was always meant to
happen."
Once, Alonzo would have
been skeptical. He was unfamiliar with die Indian way until he
met Ecoffey, an Oglala Sioux
who grew up at Pine Ridge. At
first, the detective had scoffed at
his beliefs.
Anna Mae changed all diat.
A member of die Mi'kmaq
Tribe of Canada, she came to
Pine Ridge in die early 1970s
when the American Indian
Movement was gaining strengtii
widi its calls to reassert tribal
sovereignty.
She participated in the 1973
occupation of die village of
Wounded Knee, S.D., a 71-day
standoff between AIM activists
and federal agents. Working bodi
as a guard and supply courier,
she established herself as a key
player in the group.
The FBI considered AIM
an extremist organization, and
planted spies and snitches in die
group. In early 1975, die bodyguard of an AIM co-founder
revealed himself as an FBI informant.
Doubt soon shrouded Anna
Mae - a Canadian "outsider"
who always seemed to be around
when busts went down.
Tensions escalated in June
1975 when two FBI agents
searching for a robbery suspect
at Pine Ridge were killed in a
gunfight widi AIM members.
That November, police stopped a
motor home carrying die alleged
shooter, activist Leonard Peltier.
Peltier eventually was convicted
SPIRIT to page 5
web page: www.press-on.net
Band appeared in die audience
answering many hard questions about die current state of
financial affairs. He took a lot
of grief from audience members
about his lack of participation in
Chairman While's report on die
Band's Financial State of Affairs
meeting held last September,
because it was completely based
on blue sky revenue forecasting. LaRose was also held accountable for his self-reported
lack of knowledge about many
highly publicized payments
made to Craig Potts, owner of
Cash Systems Inc., Bob Boyd,
unlicensed Contractor for the
100 Homes Project, and Norson
Construction, current builders of
the Shingobee Casino. LaRose
attempted lo dodge questions
surrounding his knowledge of
whether and how much was paid
out so far regarding these grand
plans by slating he did not sign
the contracts, but that Michael
Johnson, did. LaRose then stated
LEECH LAKE to page 3
man
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been hampered by the reluctance
of court-appointed attorneys to
raise diem. In Manypenny and
other like cases, die core legal
positions were put forward by
the legally untrained defendants
themselves in supplemental prose briefs often brushed aside by
die courts.
Kristin Manypenny was convicted of fourth-degree assault on
a peace officer when she resisted
arrest on misdemeanor charges.
Basing her arguments lamely on
Public Law 280 and the tribal
constitution. Manypenny maintained diat die police force was
illegitimate because the state
did not relrocede jurisdiction to
die federal government or to the
tribe. She contended diat her arrest was thus invalid and that the
White Eartii officer could not be
COURT to page 3
Mayor Rybik selects Datin/Ohio Police Chief, McManus
Ohio Police Chief McManus clearly best
choice to lead Minneapolis Police Department
(joinu into the second half     these middle class Anishina-
on behalf of perhaps thousands
of Indian students allegedly
abused at BIA boarding schools
around the country.
Yet when asked if he thought
abuse occurred, Anderson said
yes. His own father, he said, was
whipped as a child with switches
for speaking his language at a
BIA boarding school in Lawrence, Kan.
Anderson has been in business
since he was 18, including selling wholesale plants to florists in
Chicago and traveling the powwow circuit selling homemade
jewelry alongside his mother's
fry bread stand. From those
beginnings, he went on to serve
as chief executive for his Lac
Courte Oreilles Band and co-
founded Grand Casinos Inc., die
former casino management company for the Mille Lacs Band of
Ojibwe in central Minnesota.
But he tiiinks Washington will
be one of his biggest challenges.
"I'm a business person and
I'm used to getting things done,"
Anderson said. "It remains to
be seen how much the political
atmosphere in Washington, D.C.,
DAVE to page 3
ot his mayoral term, .<. I
bak has vastly improved as
a politician. He has attended
many meetings in diverse
racial and edinic neighborhoods throughout the Twin
Cities. His response in coming up widi a specific socioeconomic agenda widi housing needs, as a number one
priority area, shows he has
donned real listening ears. I le
is still learning, of course, but
die fact, that he can say that
pis is not necessarily ready
for a black police chief, shows
R. T to be fearless, when die
occasion demands it. It should
also be noted that Hispanics
(majority being indigenous
Mexicans) are the largest racial group in the near Soudi
Mpls Phillips Neighborhood.
Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and those from
die Middle East outnumber
American Blacks, at least, at
a three to one ratio.
Fifty percent of American
Indians between 1990 and
2000 moved out of die Phillips Neighborhood. Many
of diese families are middle
class families, having relocated in wards, under elected
city council members, Gary
Schiff and Robert Lilligren.
Considerable numbers of
Ods," (white
and Indian) and do not have a
full-blood Anishinabe physical appearance. I would remind
the reader that Anishinabeg or
American Indians in 1990 had
been the single largest racial
group in the south Mpls Phillips
Neighborhood; The Mexicans
are ijow the single laregest racial
group in the Phillips Neighborhood, followed by American
blacks. Increasing numbers of
working blue collar and white
collar Hispanics, Asian, and
diose from the Middle East regions, including Anishinabeg,
reside in the Seward, Longfellow, Corcoran, and Powderhorn
Neighborhoods.
The Mpls City Council is split
on wanting an outsider verus an
insider to run the Mpls police
department (MPD). Politics enters the picture, in that women
want in on die action; sexual orientation is, also, an issue, though
not openly discussed as problematic. Sharon Lubinski and Lucy
Gerald, bodi deputy chiefs, with
the MPD, are the inside favorites.
R. T Rybak did not select tiiese
insiders, and did not succomb
to a seeming fad of selecting a
black to run a large metropolitan
police department. He chose, instead, William McManus, who is
white, and currently the Dayton,
Ohio Police Chief.
McManus is married to a
Peruvian immigrant. Spanish is
spoken in die McManus household.
McManus has a good track record in dealing with blacks, and
he knows how to run a police
department I think he will back
his front line troops when called
upon to do so; at die same time,
his record indicates dial he will
discipline his troops when they
get out of line. Since McManus
has demonstrated an ability to
deal widi blacks at Dayton, Ohio,
in a positive way, he will do the
same here. And, I am confident
that he will recognize that Anishinabeg have been the most
mistreated of all racial and ethnic groups in Mpls.
I wish to conclude widi a
congratulation to City Council
member, Paul Zerby, whom, I
think more than any body at City
Hall, got die ball rolling on die
Memorandum of Agreement,
between die Unity Community
Mediation Team and the MPD.
This agreement diat was signed
on December 4, 2003, is already
having positive effects in segments of our Anishinabeg communities. Now, if McManus can
be approved by die Mpls City
Council, an open hunting season
on American Indians will stop.
Andpeopleof color will begin to
have confidence in die MPD.
Red Lake
walleye fishing
could resume
by 2006
Associated Press
BEMIDJI, Minn. - With
a restocking project running
ahead of schedule, anglers
could be pulling walleye out of
Red Lake as soon as 2006, according to outdoors officials.
Five years ago, the Department of Natural Resources and
the Red Lake Band of Chippewa closed die Upper and
Lower Red Lake to walleye
fishing after years of overfishing. They then began a massive restocking effort.
Millions of walleye fry were
added to die lake in 1999,
2001 and 2003. The fish diat
were added in 1999 are now 16
inches to 20 inches long and
will spawn for die first time
next spring, officials said.
"We're very excited," said
Henry Drewes, regional fisheries manager for die DNR.
"The walleye population is
WALLEYE to page 3
American Indians see rapidly
climbing AIDS infection rates
Associated Press
PHOENIX - The remoteness
of many American Indian reservations largely protected tribes
from die full force of HI V and
AIDS for years, but that has begun lo change.
In 2001, then-Surgeon General David Satcher warned AIDS
was a ticking time bomb for
American Indians. Now, Indian
infection rates are 1.5 times that
of white Americans.
More than 30 new cases were
identified on die Navajo Reservation this year, including the
first documented cases of transmission on die reservation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closely
tracking the numbers.
Cases for all groups, including
American Indians, peaked in
1996 and then dropped widi die
introduction of new medications.
But cases for all groups are on
die rise again.
American Indians are infected
widi AIDS at a rate of 11.7 per
100,000, more than 11/2 times
die rate for whites and twice
die rate for Asians, according
to die CDC. The highest infection rates nationally are among
blacks and Hispanics.
Satcher said the death rates
for American Indians are also
higher than those of some other
groups.
"I tiiink it's a combination of
later diagnosis and less access to
aggressive treatment," Satcher
said.
Jeanne Bertolli, an epidemiologist in the CDC's National
Center for HIV, STD and TB
Prevention, said HIV and AIDS
may be even more devastating
in American Indian populations
because it comes on top of other
healdi risks, including higher
rates of diabetes, alcoholism,
homicide, suicide and accidental
death.
"Native people are vulnerable," Bertolli said. "The conditions exist that can allow the
spread of the disease, including
high rates of sexually transmitted infections and illicit drug
use."
AIDS to page 3