Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-02-27

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Open meeting
regarding events
coverage at
Leech Lake
page 4
Leech Lake Housing
Authority Abuse
page 4
The problems at Leech
Lake are systemic
page 4
Leech Lake: A
Forgiving (Forgetting)
Nation
page 4
Press-On's
response to
criticism of
coverage of Leech
Lake issues
page 4
Red Lake Jailhouse Blues II
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
Grant money, under the Clinton
Administration, came easy to Red
Lake in late 1990s and early 2000
years. The fact that it was so easy
encouraged the development of a
grant-writing industry, peopled by
individuals whose primary concern was earning the fee.
Red Lake was in need of a new
Detention facility. And the Red
Lake political machine was powered by individuals who were
not above bending the rules to
feather (widi whitefearners) their
own nests.
Tins is the scenario diat gave
rise to the Department of Justice
(DOJ) grant application and the
subsequent award of $11.2 million for die Red Lake Criminal
Justice Complex, a new 55,760
square foot Detention Center.
The new Detention Center
meets a serious community need
and raises a lot of questions as to
the possibility Uiat insiders privately made big bucks.
Who were the players? Bobby
Whitefeather, Tribal Chair,
played a lead role. James Garri-
gan, appears in multiple roles as
BIA Branch Manager, Director
of Tribal Engineering and Acting Director of Public Works.
At the same time he was also
CEO, president and co-owner of
Northern Engineering and Consulting, Inc.(NECI).
Don Cook played die Project
Manager in die early days of
diis documentary but by early
2001 Garrigan was appointed to
this role as well. Whitefeather
and Garrigan played die major
roles. Linda Bedeau, Tribal Planning Director, Gordy and Eloise
Graves-Jallen of Red Lake
Builders, Del Olson, Construction Manager/Facilities, and John
Longfellow, Olson's assistant,
were also indispensable in leading roles.  The Tribal Council
and Red Lake Builders, with
responsibility for consunction
management, rounds out the
list of leading roles. Northern
Engineering & Consulting, Inc.,
EKM Consultants, provided die
large cast of extras.
Although die grant for die
Detention Center starts later,
die story actually begins in
1997 when the Red Lake Tribal
Engineering and Roads Department began lo receive Federal
Highway Trust fluids via the
Secretary of die Interior from
die U.S. Department of Transportation instead of from die
BIA. Tribal Engineering now
performs planning, engineering,
design, survey, road construction
and operating and maintenance
programs instead of its being
done dirough die BIA Mmiesota
Agency Roads programs. Tribal
Engineering is now responsible
for contract negotiation, monitoring, management and oversight
instead of die BIA.
James Garrigan becomes
Director of Tribal Engineering
and Roads Departments instead
of die BIA branch manager.
Garrigan worked at die Minnesota Agency as an engineering
technician. Wallace Gladstone
becomes engineer for the newly
established tribal engineering
entity instead of working for die
BIA. Bodi resigned from the
BIA.
Red Lake Builders (RIB), a
diirty-year old Uibal enterprise,
was established to do road construction and building projects
instead of die BIA. One source
of revenue is from contracts widi
the Uibe widi funds from die
Uibe. The odier source of funds
is die federal highway trust fund.
A little subplot begins to develop as James "Dino" Garrigan,
coincident widi die ending of
BIA services, charters a new corporation, Northern Engineering
and Consulting, Inc. in January
1997 widi himself as CEO. This
plan evolved, presumably with
die intention of getting business
from die Uibe with funds from
Red Lake Housing Audiority
and Red Lake Builders. The plot
becomes convoluted from this
point forward and die details get
somewhat fuzzy, but the whole
picture will eventually become
clear.
The next step is die grant application for die new Detention
Center, a complicated process,
so a grant writer is lured. Enter
Kevin Keckler, President of
EKM. The application is filed
and the tribe subsequendy receives an $11.2 million award
to build the Red Lake Criminal
Justice Complex.
Red Lake Builders (RLB)
wins die contract to provide constniction management services
RED LAKE to page 3
Leech Lake Local Indian Councils Reject Shingobee
Casino & Emporium Project
By Diane E. White
In a memorandum dated
February 13 to die Leech Lake
Reservation Business Committee
(LLRBC) from die Local Indian
Councils (LICs), diey stated, "
... die LICs cannot morally or
ethically recommend a referendum vote by die Band membership in regard to diese projects."
This opinion is die result of
die RBC, including Chainnan
White, requesting the LICs to
oversee the Shingobee Casino
& Emporium and 100 Homes
Projects in order to come up with
wording for the March 30 Referendum Vote. The LICs write,
"Specifically requested from the
LICs, was the audiorization of
the Shingobee Marina/Casino &
100 Homes Project, or a recommendation for a referendum and
ballot language for a vote by the
general band membership during
die upcoming election."
The LICs state diey could not
authorize these projects on behalf of dieir respective communities, because they needed more
information about die projects.
Plus, they had concerns of how
the projects were authorized, and
believe die projects are "not well
planned." "A critical concern is
die largely unknown current financial state of the Band, winch
makes authorizing a referendum
vote to incur more debt fiscally
^responsible."
The LICs did recommend a
Resolution to Establish an Independent Review Board. This
Board will be composed of current members of the LICs, except
for diose who may have a conflict of interest widiin the scope
and intent of the Resolution. This
Board will also allow odier such
qualified persons as identified
and nominated by the Review
Board.
The Review Board will be
mandated to review all business related business activities,
including contracts, agreements,
plans and other essential documentation related to any and all
business activities that have occurred since February 2003 in
order to provide die RBC widi a
set of recommendations concern
ing each business activity.
The proposed resolution desires to empower the Review
Board lo conduct broad business
activities on behalf of LLBO.
These activities include gathering data and failure to comply
with a Review Board request
would result in immediate suspension without pay. Should an
employee destroy or hide data,
diey will be immediately tenninated from their position.
This Resolution would suspend
all activities of die Business Corporation except for die CheWe
Mini Mart & Fuel, Office Supply, Gift Shop and Wild Rice
Company. The Resolution also
moves the activities of Central
Purchasing & Contract Compliance to be overseen by die
Property & Procurement staff
in effect prior to January 01,.
2004. The executive staff of the
Business Corporation would be
placed on unpaid suspension until the presentation and adoption
of die findings of the Review
Board are complete.
PROJECT to page 5
The Path to Truth II: Creeping Corruption or the
Wally, Richard, and Gerald Show
By Mindy Jones-Ruby and
Kay Jackson
Feb.24, 2004 Leech Lake-
Forged documents (again), false
testimony, extinguishing rights
of tribal members, de-establishing reservation boundaries lines,
and collusion to defraud tribal
members of dieir tare identities
and tribal residency in order to
enforce what Chainnan White
lias now declared is "Home
Rule", which has become die
norm for die political machine
currently known as the Executive Administration of the Leech
Lake Band of Ojibwe.
On Nov.22,2002 District 1
Representative Burton "Luke"
Wilson receives from President
of die Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe Norman W. Deschampe
a Tribal Executive Committee
(TEC) Interpretation of Article X
of the Revised Constimtion and
Bylaws of die Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Under the Revised
Constimtion and By Laws of die
Mnnesota Chippewa Tribe, only-
die TEC is able to interpretive
the MCT Constimtion. Not individual RBC members nor can
anyone else, only the TEC.
In the TEC Interpretation
Deschampe states, 'The Tribal
Executive Committee has previously considered die 2/3 vote
issue and concluded diat die affirmative vote four (4) members
of the five (5) member RBC is
necessary to remove. It would
follow, dien, diat when diere are
four (4) members, die affirmative vote of diree (3) is necessary
to meet the 2/3 requirement." l£
the above rf jpfrive had been
followed the pistrict Representatives (T™|IH have removed-
asked for a recall, or dismissed
the allegations*
The Interpretation also states,
"Article X, Section 3) provides
that [a]ny member of die Reservation from which the RBC
member is elected may prefer
charges by written notice supported by signatures of no less
than 20 percent of die resident
eligible voters of said Reservation, stating any causes for the
removal set forth in Section 2 of
diis Article, against any member
or members of die respective
RBC. You suggest that the
phrase resident eligible voters of
said Reservation might properly
be construed as df said District.
when the member is a District
Representative. I believe diat the
plain language of the Constimtion prevents such an interpretation, such diat when determining
the sufficiency of a petition diere
must be signature of 20% of all
eligible voters who reside on die
Reservation. Article X Section
3) pennits any member of die
Reservation to prefer charges
against any member or members
of die RBC. So for example even
a non-resident would be able
to prefer charges against any
member. That broad language,
coupled widi die fact diat the
concept of District representation
does not appeal- in die Constitution but radier is a function of
each Reservation's history and
traditions support a conclusion
diat resident eligible voters of die
Reservation means just diat."
The Interpretation states that
all the signatures were to be
considered valid, and therefore
a validation committee would
not he necessary.
Had die Nov. 22,2002 TEC
Interpretation been followed    ■
than the chaotic political climate
Uial was manufactured on Leech
Lake during die Sec/Treas.
LaRose petition process could
have easily been avoided. However die LLBO administration
driven by Richard Jones, Gerald
White and Wally Storrbakken,
choose to ignore die TEC Interpretation. This decision and die
decisions that followed served to
create a drain of Uibal resources,
a loss of diousand of dollars diat
could have been put to a better
use. The purpose of this decision
was to create greater tunnoil
within die reservation and keep
the political process in chaos
until die Special Election was
completed.
According to a memo tided,
"Executive Briefing Minutes
December 2,2002" under the
heading "Archie LaRose Petition -Mike Garbow [on behalf
of petitioners] entered meeting
to present Archie LaRose with a
petition for removal/ recall."
When Garbow handed the
petition to Sec/Treas. LaRose
die fifteen-day count down began. The RBC formed a Petition
Validation Committee diree days
later, consisting of Arlene Parker
and Luella Novak appointed
by District 1 Rep. Burton Luke
Wilson, Debbie Tibbets and
Butch Dalil appointed by District
2 Rep. Lymon Losh, Martin
"Mutt" Robinson and Kay Jackson appointed by Disuict 3 Rep.
Richard Robinson, and Richard
Jones who was appointed by
Sec/ Treas. LaRose.
In his deposition dated Jan.
13, 2003 Richard Jones states,"
I was appointed to provide ad-
minisUative functions to both
committees (die Eli O Hunt and
Arthur LaRose's petition validation committees) and I wrote die
reports based upon the actions
of the committee membership."
TRUTH to page 5
web page: www.press-on.net
native ,*%z2i
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 36
February 27, 2004
Emily Cramer, a scenic artist from Overland Park, Kan., applies a top coat to a coin replica of Sacagawea
that will serve as the stage for the upcoming production of "Breath of an American Spirit: Sacagawea"
Feb. 25, at the Coterie Theatre in Kasnsa City, Mo. (AP Photo/Kansas City Star, Delores Johnson)	
Premature death rates from heart disease
released: Natives have high death rates
By Jean Pagano
The Center for Disease
Control (CDC) recently
released statistics from its
study of heart disease. In
2001, heart disease accounted for 29% of deaths among
.Americans. According to the
CDC, 16.8'V of these deaths
occurred to people under die
age of 65. The study found
that minorities, especially
Native Americans Alaskan
Natives, had a disproportionate!) higher percentage of
deatii due to heart disease.
To gather statistics, the
CDC gathered death cer
tificates from 50 states and die
District of Columbia through
the National Center for Health
Statistics. Demographic data,
such as age and race 'etlmicity,
was supplied by funeral directors
or families. Heart disease-related
deadis were identified by examining codes related to underlying
causes and premature deadis
were diose that occtUTed in people less dian 65 years of age.
700,142 deaths due to heart
disease were reported in 2001.
117,346 of those deadis fell into
the category of premature. 2,402
Native Americans/ .Alaskan Na
tives died of heart-related disease, and of dial number, 865, or
roughly 36%, were premamre.
By comparison, 14.7% of premamre deaths were among white
people, representing the lowest .
percentage of all racial groups.
Alaska had die highest incidence of premaUire deaths
due to heart-related disease for
both men and women. 41.8% of
deadis occiured among men in
Alaska while die percentage for
women was 26.0%.
The breakdown among Native
peoples is as follows: 2.2% of
DEATH to page 3
Bureau of Indian Affairs staff swell ranks of tribe
now pushing for casino gambling
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
PLYMOUTH, Calif.-A
once-tiny, nearly destitute
American Indian tribe is
pushing hard to build a S100
million casino - but it's not
traditional Uibal members
gunning for riches.
Hundreds of people
have been newly added to
die lone Band of Miwok
Indians' membership rolls,
which were opened up by
regional Bureau of Indian
Affairs officials. Among the
new members are several
BIA employees and dozens
of dieir relatives.
Four congressmen have
called for an investigation,
diough federal officials have
so far declined lo intervene.
Rep. Nick Rahall, ranking
Democrat on die House Re-
sotuces Committee, called
die BIAs move an apparent
"coup d'etat" diat should
Pendleton
stands trial
today
Teen, Jesse Sander
accused of murdering
Frank Parker in 2002
By Troy Krause
Staff Writer
The murder trial of
Robin Todd Pendleton,
17, commences today
when opening arguments
are made. Pendleton
was charged by a grand
jury with the first-degree
murder of Frank Irving
Parker in Oct. 2003 in
Redwood County, more
than a year after the June
2002 killing took place.
The trial is being held
in Montevideo at the
make other tribes "tremble widi
fear."
Regional BIA officials opened
the membership against die
traditional leaders' wishes to
include members from two odier
bands in die area. The federal
officials then oversaw an Aug.
10,2002, election diat swapped
the old leaders for a pro-casino
group that includes some of die
BIA employees themselves.
Before the Bureau of Indian
Affairs became involved, die
lone Band had about 70 members living on land near lone,
about 40 miles east of Sacramento in the rolling hills of one
of California's wine regions.
Now die band's official membership has swelled to 535. None
of the new members is related to
the original 70.
• Amy Dutsclike, a member of
another American Indian group
whose family has roots in the
lone area, was die BIAs acting
regional director in June 2002
when she audiorized the lone
Band's last leadership election,
documents show.
Now Dutsclike and 68 of her
relatives are on the tribe's official list of registered voters.
They include her uncle and a
niece, who also work for Indian
Affairs, according to Uibal rolls,
a BIA employee list and opposition members.
The election was overseen by
Indian Affairs employee Carol
Rogers-Davis, whom die BIA
named chair of die elections
board. She now has diree relatives on the Uibal roll, records
show.
The election produced five
new tribal leaders, four of whom
are related to Dutsclike.
Matt Franklin, die new tribal
chainnan recognized by the BIA,
said he could provide documents
proving the legitimacy of die
tribe's expanded membership.
BIA to page 3
Interior Department, Congress
begin probe of alleged BIA conflict
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -
The Interior Department and
Congress' General Accounting
Office said Tuesday diey are
launching probes into alleged
conflicts of interest involving
officials of die regional office of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Interior Department investigators hope to fly from Washington, D.C, on Wednesday to
begin interviews and gadiering
documents, after The Associated
Press disclosed diat regional bureau officials padded the membership roll of die lone Band of
Miwok Indians and audiorized a
new leadership election.
As a result, original tribal
members have no representa
tives among die Uibe's new leadership, which now is seeking to
bmid a S100 million, 2,000-slot
machine casino in Plymoudi, in
one of California's fast-growing
wine regions.
The Interior Department's
inspector general conducted no
significant review of similar allegations raised by four congressmen two years ago.
But die office is acting now
because of die weekend AP
story; a congressman's subsequent call Monday for a renewed
probe; and a citizen's complaint,
said Steve Hardgrove, director of
die program integrity division.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf said the
General Accounting Office told
him Tuesday it would open a
PROBE to page 3