Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-05-07

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
White Earth, get out
and vote on June 8
page 4
What does an elected
convicted felon say about
a once proud, honorable
people?
page 4
Klinkhammer accuses
tribal court employees
page 4
Al Pemberton, the
DMR gopher, doesn't
deserve another term
page 4
Reflections on
"Lost Youth of
Leech Lake" series
page 4
House Tax Committee defeats Tribal/State gaming bill 9-13
Former Red Lake Treasurer Dan King speaks against the bill
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
A bill that would have allowed the Red Lake and White
Earth Bauds to build a casino in
Minneapolis failed to pass the
House Tax Committee in a late
vote Thursday. Rep. Bill Haas
(R-Champlinj sponsored the
bill. He acknowledged that tins
is a major set back but intends to
have the bill brought to the floor
of the House for debate. House
leaders have indicated the bill
may still have a future as leverage for one or more of the other
gambling bills under consideration.
Former Red Lake Tribal Treasurer Dan King appeared at the
Minnesota House Tax Committee in opposition to the Red Lake
and White Earth Bands' gaming
proposal on Wednesday. King
is currently employed by Treasure Island Casino. He said the
Red Lake Band's casino profit
problems are the result of disorganization and mismanagement.
King was removed from the
Treasurer's position by a recall
petition. The charges included
failure to provide Tribal Council
with financial reports and acting
without Council authority in a
$14 million expenditure to cover
overruns on the River Road Casino expansion project.   King
was the first tribal official in
Red Lake history to be recalled.
Because of his removal from office he is constitutionally barred
from ever holding tribal office
again.
King, who managed Red
Lake Fisheries Association in
the mid-90s until he was elected
Treasurer in 1998, has also been
named as being one of those primarily responsible for the closing of Red Lake to fishing. Under his management the perch
harvest was exploited. This
depletion of fish led to the collapse of the fishing industry at
Red Lake and caused irreparable
harm to many Red Lake families
and to the tribal economy.
A $160 million deficit is the
energy behind a series of gambling bills before the Legislatare
this session. There may be
as many as twenty seven bills
dealing with expansion of gaming, particularly to benefit the
State of Minnesota, before the
House.   The Tax Committee
heard testimony regarding Rep.
Haas' bill on Wednesday. The
bill is opposed by nine other
Indian Tribes who contend that
further expansion of gaming in
Minnesota will further diminish
gambling revenues, meaning it
will be bad for their businesses.
Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-
Virginia) also opposed the bill.
He argued that the northwestern
casinos in Red Lake was a draw
to tourists from North Dakota.
He saw this increase in tourism
to rural areas as a good tiling.
Further, a casino in Minneapolis
would decrease travel by Twin
Cities residents to other outlying
casinos, decreasing the opportunity for bringing tourism dollars
into rural areas.
Lawmakers took issue
with the Tribes that opposed
BILL to page 7
NIGC meeting with Leech Lake Tribal Council
By Diane E. White
CASS LAKE, MN—The
following taped discussion is a
meeting between the full Leech
Lake Tribal Council and John
Gerber, Field Investigator of the
National Indian Gaming Commission. Also present at that
meeting were Executive Director, Gerald White, Executive
Assistant Dale Green, Attorneys,
Frank Bibcau and Heidi Drob-
nick, and Controllers, Veldon
Baird and Dan Erickson. Gerber
was meeting with Leech Lake
regarding a report on internal
matters.
This taped discussion is part of
(lie Demand Petition delivered to
the Tribal Executive Committee
last week by Randy Finn, Mindy
Jones-Ruby, Burton "Luke" Wilson, and Johnny Jones. The following is a continuation of that
taped discussion:
John Gerber: "Looked at
Mike Johnson contract. What I
saw in the contract of note was
basically that he couldn' l enter
into a contract with somebody
outside, without your concurrence, without your consent.
I noted that everybody here
signed it. Then I started looking at the interactions with Mr.
Potts. Don't know where that
might be going. To the FBI. I
don't know, 'ion're Mr. Potts has
gotten into an awful lot of staff
and much of it has turned out
to be 'duedy.' Excuse my talk,
I looked at some of those, the
original information I'd gotten
where he was gonna be a partner
with you all, building a new casino. That's line! That's perfectly
legal. You know as long as you
set up the percentage you get, I
think, it's, you get 60 and he gets
40. Perfectly good. There was
a question whether in fact that
was Trust land down there. Well,
that really isn't ours. That's up
to the Department of Interior to
decide whether that is. What did
concern me when I saw that N Ir.
Potts all of a sudden bought a
piece of property after deciding
he was going to go in with you,
you all. I le was privy to what
were going to build, what you
needed to buy, and he ended up
with a piece of property. That
concerns me, but if, as I've been
told, he ain't gonna be making
any money off it without someone back here squealing, then
it is not a problem, you know.
If he only makes what he paid
for it, okay, that's fine. Next
tiling, I looked at was the basic
financial agreement that you all
had with them. 1 see, these, a lot
of these contracts arc signed by
one person and it varies, some
were signed by Rodney, Chairman signed one, and some were
signed by Mike. No indication
whether in fact the council had
voted on this. I don't know.
I've asked. That's up to you all
if you have problem, then you
have problem with each other on
it. The financial sen ices tiling
where I looked at all of a sud-
NIGC to page 6
Native children to not be left behind
Finally President Bush signs executive order for education funds
By Jean Pagano
On April 30th, President Bush
signed an Executive Order to
allow Native children to better participate in the Leave No
Child Behind Program. According to die Executive Order, "the
puipose of diis order is to assist
American Indian and Alaskan
Native students in meeting die
challenging student academic
standards of die Leave No Child
Behind Act of 2001 in a maimer
dial is consistent with tribal traditions, languages, mid cultures."
The administration of the Executive Order will be carried out
by the Department of Education
and will set up an Interagency
Working Group on American
Indian and Alaskan Native Education. This working group will
be comprised of the heads of the
Departments of Education, Interior, Healdi and Human Services,
Agriculture, Justice, and Labor.
Secretaries Paige from Education
and Norton from Interior will
be die co-chairs. The working
group is tasked with overseeing
the implementation of die Order
and has 90 days to develop a
federal interagency plan diat recommends initiatives, strategies,
and ideas for future interagency
actions. The working group may
also consult widi representatives
of Native American and Alaskan
Native tribes and organizations.
In essence, die purpose of this
group is to formulate widi ideas
that future interagency groups
will address at a later time.
The Secretary of Education
will conduct a multi-year study
that, in conjunction widi the
Working Group, will help im-
BIA head recuses himself from
key bureau decisions
By Lolita C. Balclor
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The head
of the federal Bureau of Indian
Affairs is removing himself from
any decisions on tribal recognition or Indian gaming to avoid
die appearance of any conflict of
interest.
Dave Anderson, who co-
founded Grand Casinos Inc.,
asked Interior Secretary Gale
Norton to delegate authority for
;ill matters related to tribal gaming to BIA's deputy assistant
secretary Aurene Martin. The order, obtained by The Associated
Press on Tuesday, was signed
last month and took effect immediately.
In an accompanying memo,
Norton said Anderson, con-
finned by the Senate last December, initiated the change.
"He didn't want to have any
possibility diat his past associations would call into question
any of his decisions," said
spokeswoman Tina Kreisher.
The move drew criticism from
Connecticut Attorney General
Richard Blumenlhal, who protested diat critical decisions will
now be made by someone not
subject to Senate confirmation.
"I am deeply troubled diat
Mr. Anderson will be unable to
perfonn some of the key responsibilities of die office for which
he was nominated mid confirmed
by Congress," said Blumendial.
He added that recusal on individual cases is appropriate but,
"such general, across the board
delegation is severely problematic, raising constitutional and
statutory questions about overbroad illegal delegation."
While Anderson will have no
influence in recognition decisions, gaining matters or issues
related to tribes taking land into
trust for casino piuposes, Kreisher said that he will continue
to have other duties as the head
of BIA. He will oversee social
welfare programs, other land use
issues, and the 184 BIA schools
located in 23 states.
Bhunenthal has been a frequent critic of die BIA, and he
appealed die last two federal
recognition decisions made by  t
the agency in Connecticut cases
_ the recognition of the Eastern
Pequot and Schaghticoke tribes.
The appeals are pending.
Anderson, of Edina, Minn, is
die founder of Famous Dave's
barbecue restaurant chain, which
now has 90 outlets. Prior to
diat, he and his former business
partner Lyle Berman founded
Grand Casinos. Anderson left the
company in 1996 to launch his
restaurant chain.
Berman has several big casino
projects awaiting BIA approval.
When Anderson was confirmed
by die Senate, he said he would
recuse himself from diose decisions.
prove Native students' abilities
to meet the "challenging student academic standards" of
the Leave No Child Behind
Act (LNCBA). The study will
include die compilation of
comprehensive data on Native
students' achievements mid progress towards LNCBA. The study
will also include identification
and dissemination of research-
based practices and methods in
raising academic achievement,
especiady reading achievement,
for Native students. Also included will be an assessment of
the impact and role diat Native
languages and culture can play
in improving academic achievement. Finally, die report attempts
to develop mediods to increase
die high school graduation rates
ORDER to page 6
Senator calls
for Indian
affairs chief
to resign
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A Connecticut senator called yesterday for the head of die
Bureau of Indian .Affairs to
resign because he is no longer
.  making critical tribal recognition decisions.
Assistant Interior Secretary
for Indian Affairs David W.
Anderson, who co-founded a
gaming company but left in
1996, has stepped aside from
all recognition and gaming-
related decisions to avoid die
appearance of a conflict of
interest.
'There was no indication
that this guy was going to get
the job and take himself out of
the picture," Sen. Christopher
J. Dodd, a Democrat, said
yesterday. "He should not have
accepted die job to begin with.
I diink he's got to resign."
House members, during a
Government Reform Committee hearing, also questioned
Anderson's move, grilling BIA
counselor Theresa Rosier. She
said many of his rcspousibtii-
tics remain, including oversight
of tribal schools, health care
and other social issues
[Note: See Anderson's
memo printed on page 6.]
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 46
May 7, 2004
Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry
receives warm welcome from Minnesota DFLers
by Delvin Cnee
After Presidential DFL
candidate, John Kerry arrived in die Twin Cities on
Monday, May 4,2004, he
was greeded by more dian
3,500 supporters at a fundraiser being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Kerry first met widi 500
V.I.P. Guests in a private reception. In his speech there,
He mentioned the late Paul
Wellstone, "I'm glad to be
here in Wellstone Country":
The presidential candidate
also recognized that Minnesota is going to be one of die
battleground states. He lias
a slight lead over President
George Bush in a recent
Minnesota poll. Kerry does
seem optomistic he will win
at the polls at election time.
At the bigger event that
same evening, Kerry took
several jabs at the Bush
administration. In one statement he said he had, "Never
seen a group of people in
Washington who are faking it as much as they do.
They're taking politics to
the lowest common denominator rather than lifting
people up."
Kerry managed to collect
one million dollars for his   .
campaign and die national
Democratic Party diat evening. He is going to spend
25 million dollars in the
mondi of May on advertising alone.
According to his website,
Kerry is die only candidate
widi a comprehensive agen-
Photo by Delvin Cree
Pictured above is Presidential Candidate, John Kerry. He shook
hands and signed autographs after giving his campaign speech
in a private V.I.P. reception held in the "All Seasons Room" at the
Minneapolis Convention Center. Kerry would later address a bigger crowd of 3,500 in the same convention center.
da to improve the lives of Native
Americans. He also says he will
work everyday to promote tribal
sovereignty.
On a different note, In a press
release dated November 17,
2003 Kerry says, '\As President,
I will work with you to create an
unprecedented partnership with
tribal governments to improve
die lives of Native Americans
all over America. That has been
far from die case with George
W. Bush. He has forgotten, abolished, turned back on the good
work that President Clinton did
to bring justice to Native Americans - and I will tarn that around.
There are many success stories
in Indian Country and I want to
work widi you all as President so
that we can hear about more of
diese successes."
Tribal housing: Officials fault donated houses
Structures contain lead, asbestos
By Curt Woodward
Associated Press
B1SN1ARCK - Tribal officials trying to cure a housing
crunch worry about health
risks and die cost of cleaning
up donated Air Force houses
laced with asbestos and lead.
Since die late 1990s, the
Turtle Mountain reservation
in Rolette County has received more than 100 homes
through a program diat redistributes housing from Air
Force bases.
Most of those houses have
lead paint on die walls and
asbestos-based glue under
die floors - expensive problems diat were not disclosed
to tribal officials, said Richard Schroeder, die Turtle
Mountain Housing Autiiori-
ty's business manager.
"They painted a pretty
pictare," Schroeder said. "If
Hundreds walk
to celebrate
American
Indian Month
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Nearly
400 people from at least
50 tribes and organizations
participated hi a nine-block
walk to kickoff American
Indian Month.
"As an American Indian,
I am deeply moved by the
amount of people out here.
It means we care about our
community," said Valerie
Larsen, 55, who grew up on
die Leech Lake Reservation
and lives in Crystal. "We're
here, we're present and
we're thriving, This is our
home. We have no place to
go back to."
The walk Monday along
WALK to page 3
somebody told you Tin giving
you a house,' well, you'd take
it."
The California-based nonprofit group Walking Shield American Indian Society helps distribute the surplus homes from Air
Force bases to American Indian
tribes.
Walking Shield has sent about
900 homes to American Indian
tribes in the Dakotas, Montana
and Minnesota since 1996, director Dennis Wynott said.
The Turtle Mountain Band
of Chippewa has about 11,800
members living on and around
die reservation in north central
North Dakota.
A population boom has
stretched housing diin, making
die donated homes look attractive, said Andy Leverdure, die
tribe's housing authority director.
But the tribe lias spent thousands
of dollars renovating the air base
homes, which were built in die
1960s.
Schroeder said repairs for
50 houses cost die tribe about
$20,000. The renovations include
repainting or stripping areas with
lead-based paint and installing
new floors to seal off floors contaminated widi asbestos.
The housing authority is
searching for federal grants diat
will help pay for more repairs,
Leverdure said.
"It's just like in the 1800s,
when they were giving smallpox
blankets to the Indian people.
Just a different kind of blanket,"
he said.
Federal officials attending a regional conference on lead problems Wednesday in Bismarck
said they are trying to figure out
if disclosure rules were followed
in the housing transactions.
They are not sure if the non-
ASBESTOS to page 5
Murderer of Indian activist
appeals, asks for mental evaluation
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-The
lawyer of a man sentenced to life
in prison for the 1975 killing of
American Indian activist Anna
Mae Pictou Aquash has appealed
die conviction and renewed a request for a mental evaluation of
his client.
hi motions filed Monday in
U.S. District Court in Sioux
Falls, Cleveland lawyer Terry
Gilbert again asked for a mental healtli test on Arlo Looking
Cloud. Gilbert also filed a notice
of appeal to die 8th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
A Rapid City jury convicted
Looking Cloud in February of
first-degree murder committed in
the perpetration of a kidnapping
for Aquash's slaying. He was
sentenced April 23 to a mandatory life prison tenn and remains
jailed in Pennington County.
Gilbert tried unsuccessfully
to get an evaluation done before
Looking Cloud was sentenced,
saying his client had abused
drugs and alcohol for years.
LJ.S. District Judge Lawrence
Piersol denied die request because it appeared Looking Cloud
was lucid during a videotaped
confession and he earlier refused
to cooperate widi a mental healdi
expert. Piersol has not yet ruled
on the latest request.
hi his latest motion, Gilbert
said an evaluation was needed
before Looking Cloud could be
placed in a federal prison and
rehabilitated.
Before Looking Cloud was
arrested in March 2003, he was
living homeless in Denver.
Gilbert could not be reached
Tuesday for comment.
APPEAL to page 3