Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-05-28

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Support for
Goggleye, Finn
and Vizenor
page 4
Our reservation
has stalled
page 4
More spending: The
answer to all of Leech
Lake's problem
page 4
It is time to make
the right choice at
Leech Lake
page 4
Reponse to
P.O'd and
Fed Up tribal
member
page 4
"We Are Not Lost," Leech Lake Band members
respond to Larry Oakes' "Lost Youth" series
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
By Diane E. White
Cass Lake, MN—On May 25
and 26, around 100 Leech Lake
band members gathered at the
Palace Casino & Hotel to attend
a conference sponsored by the
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe entitled, "We Are Not Lost." James
Allen of the Human Resources
Department hosted the event stating the planning group wanted a
place to allow band members mi
outlet to express themselves.
"We are on the brink of recovery," one participate stated
and this became the informal
slogan. The audior of the article,
Larry Oakes was present and
he did address the audience.
In an interview near die end of
die conference, he said, "I am
very pleased, gratified, touched
mid impressed" in response to
die conference. He also said,
"[Leech Lake] has taken anger
and sadness and turned it into
resolve to help the kids."
Many Uibal members were
critical of the scries stating it
did not reflect a true picture of
Cass Lake as a whole. There
were successful young people
there like Priscilla Ross who
graduated from Cass Lake High
School mid just completed her
first year at Gustavus Aldophus
College majoring in Psychology,
who fell betrayed by the series.
As a result, she participated in a
discussion panel and stated, "I
love Cass Lake. I loved growing
up there." She felt die series put
Cass Lake into a real negative
light where nothing good came
out tiiere. She credited the Cass
Lake High School staff mid
teachers as well as her parents
mid her friends for being reliable
and good support systems for
her. She said, "My friends mid I
respected each odier s choices."
Anodier panel participate,
Tribal Police Officer Ken Washington felt stereotyped and
wanted Oakes lo apologize. Like
many others at die conference,
diere was some guilt over past
behavioral choices, and Washington slated he overcame diose
obstacles. He graduated from
Bemidji High School mid joined
die Navy. He saw opportunities
were out there. However, one
panel member, mi elder named
Lucille Wakanabo didn't feel
Oakes needed to apologize and
stated, "In fact, they are sugar-
coated stories." She explained
she was related to Heather Casey
and knew die facts related to the
case. She also addressed how
young parents role model negative behavior to their children,
citing the use of foul language
mid domestic violence as normal
activities in some households.
In response to the criticism,
Oakes staled he could not pui
one good story in for every bad
or it would take away from the
seriousness of the tragic lives of
Leech Lake's young people. He
also noted diat many of those
who were initially very critical
mid who wrote him emails had
in some cases re-read die series
and openly thanked him at the
conference.
There is no question that diis
was a very difficult problem to
address. It showed in how die
people bravely slimed their stories and spoke out in a very airing way. There is no one right
answer and all communities
mid people will need to work
together to get rid of die drug
dealers, guns, mid gangs that
are seducing young people into
their control. While waiting for
Mr. Thomas I Ieffelfinger, die
L'.S. Attorney, there were several women, all of whom Were
mothers and grandmothers, mid
they all spoke of their pain mid
suffering in not knowing who
gave their underage cliildren
alcohol and drugs and that their
children, no matter how many
SERIES to page 6
Native
American
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 49
May 28, 2004
Leech Lake dispute highlights political division,
legal hypocrisy
By Jeff Armstrong
A tribal court lawsuit by an
attorney who represented three
Leech Lake district RBC members in dieir attempt to remove
die recendy-elected secretary
.treasurer reflects the polarization into which resenation
governance has drifted. The five-
member RBC has split into two
irreconcilable camps, pitting the
two executive officers against
three district representatives.
They have not met as a body
since last February.
Elected in 2002 with nearly
60% of die vote, secretary treasurer Archie LaRose promptly
ordered an audit of reservation
finances mid backed a successful
effort to recall dien-chairman Eli
Hunt, earning LaRose die lasting
enmity of the diree remaining
RBC incumbents. The latter then
contracted with attorney Zenas
Baer on behalf of die entire RBC
to support dieir failed effort to
remove LaRose from office less
than a year into his four-year
term.
In die interim, however, chairman Pete Wliite was elected to
sene out the remainder of ousted
chaimian Hunt's term, mid
the new chairman (along with
LaRose) refused to approve pay
ment for what he contended was
an illegal mid unconstitutional
contract.
Attorney Baer, who had
signed a one-year contract widi
the three purporting to compensate Baer at a rate of $175 per
hour to "defend die Leech Lake
in all actions brought against
them," responded by filing suit
against the reservation in its
court for more than $35,000 in
claimed leg;d fees.
Existing tribal attorney Frank
Bibeau, who says he works for
a salary amounting to less dian
what Baer's contract assigns
a paralegal, was left to defend
Leech Pake in tribal court. Although die court grmitcd Baer
summary judgment in his favor
in April, Bibeau is seeking to
stay of the ruling until a legal
ediics complaint against Baer is
resolved.
Bibeau's complaint with the
Minnesota Lawyers Professional
Responsibility Board alleges in
part that Baer "is actively representing a faction of die LLBO
Tribal Council in adverse actions
against other Tribal Council
members, ostensibly under various representations mid questionable contracting mediods
suggesting representation of die
entiie Tribal Council." Additionally, Bibeau's ethics complaint
alleges that Baer engaged in dubious billing practices, including
for actions related to his pending
appeal of a tribal contempt citation for referring to the political
dispute into which he had entered as a "dog fight."
Ironically, Baer once made
the case against himself today
when he represented then-chair
Eli Hunt against RBC members
who attempted to use state courts
to enforce a dubious tribal court
judgment restraining Hunt's
political powers. In a Sept. 15,
1996 legal memorandum citing
professional ethical standards,
Baer asserted that "an attorney
for die RBC' cannot take sides in
an internal dispute between the
leaders of an organization."
Baer went on in his legal brief
to question the constitutional
legitimacy of the tribal court
system itself: "A review of the
organic documents regarding the
creation of die .\ linnesota Chippewa Tribal Court suggests that
its very existence is in question.
Before this court could rule on
whether the decision of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Court
DISPUTE to page 6
Native American graduates were honored during a ceremony May 7 for their success in attaining
a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota, Morris. As part of the ceremony, graduates
received honor blankets and were presented with an honor song by the Iron Bull Singers of Winnebago, Neb. Dave Larson of the Lower Sioux Community from Morton, Minn., was the spiritual
advisor for the event. This event is funded through the Sait Springs Endowment Fund, supporting
American Indian education at the University of Minnesota.
GOP lawmakers approve additional $32,000 for
compact lawsuit fees
Two Red Lake
women killed in
car accident
By Bill Lawrence
Two Red Lake residents,
Laurie Lynn Warmington, age
41, mid her sister, Jodi Hinden,
34, were killed in a cm accident
May 20,2004. Gilbert Lasley,
age -40, a passenger, survived the
accident. He was wearing a seat
belt at die time of the accident.
Our sources tell us Officer
Justin Nelson, of die Red Lake
Police, pulled up along side a
vehicle, a light blue van, parked
on I lighway 1, east of Old Pone mall Road. There were three
individuals standing outside die
vehicle and three in it. The Officer identified die driver as Laurie
Wanninglon.
A brief altercation took place
between Ms. Warmington and
anodier person. After die incident, Officer Nelson got out of
his vehicle. Warmington re-
tumed to die car mid sped away.
Officer Nelson pursued the east
bound van. The van was traveling in die middle of the road at a
speed nearing 75 miles per hour.
He radioed back to the I aw Enforcement Center for support.
The van swerved at die approach of a west bound school
bus, hit die shoulder and returned
to the road. The out of control
van then flipped sideways into
die ditch. Bodi Warmington and
Hinden were thrown from the
vehicle and were killed.
There were indications that
alcohol was a contributing factor in die accident. The funeral
for Warmington and Hinden was
May 26 at St. Mary's Catholic
Church. The Red Like Tribal
Council authorized expenditure
of $2000 from tribal donations
for each woman, both non tribal
members, to defray the funeral
costs.
Appellate Court Upholds
Michigan Tribe's Restored Land
Tribe was improperly delisted in 1872, court affirms tribe's
historical and cultural Connection to the land
By Jean Pagano
On Monday, the L'nited States
Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit affirmed that land placed
into trust for the Grand Traverse
Bmid of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians (Grand Traverse Band)
cmi be used for any purpose. The
ruling allows die Grand Traverse
Bmid to continue Class III casino-style gaming at its Turtle
Creek facility.
At issue was the ability to use
a property acquired by die Bmid
in 1989 as a casino. The trust
application for die parcel, vvliich
was placed into Federal trust in
1989, stated diat the land could
be used for future economic development. While it did not specifically state that the property
was being acquired for gaming
purposes, it has since become the
Turtle Creek casino. The Bmid
entered into a tribal-state compact with the State of Michigan
in 1993, allowing casino-style
gambling on tribal lands. Due to
the complicated history of the
Grand Traverse Band vis-a-vis
federal recognition, die United
States sought to declare the
Turtle Creek facility illegal and
to prevent any furdier gaming at
that site.
The Grmid Traverse Bmid
enjoyed federal recognition from
1795 until 1872, mid entered
into 4 separate treaties with die
United States in 1795, 1815,
1836, and 1855. In 1872, dien
Secretary of Interior Columbus
Delano improperly severed die
relationship between the Band
mid die United States. Delano's
faulty interpretation of the 1855
Treaty of Detroit caused die
Bmid to lose federal recognition and its land base froni 1872
until the Secretary of Interior
'acknowledged' the tribe in 1980
under the federal acknowledgement process.
Delano's debacle originated
with the Treaty of Washington
in 1836, which combined the
Ottawa mid Chippewa nations
into a joint political unit for the
express purpose of expediting
the negotiation of die treaty.
However, subsequent to.die 1836
treaty, both the Ottawa and Chippewa nations complained about
being joined together. These concerns were addressed in the 1855
Treaty of Detroit, vvliich contained language dissolving the
combination of the two nations.
When the final annuity payments
were made early in 1872, Secretary Delano read the treaty as
stating diat die tribes would lie
dissolved, not that the union of
the tribes would lie terminated.
His determination dial "tribal
relations will be terminated"not
oidy affected the Grand Traverse
Bmid, but also die Pokagon Bmid
of Potawatomi Indians, the Little
Traverse Bay Bmid of Ottawa Indians, and the Little River Bmid
of Ottawa Indians. In each case,
legitimate tribal nations were
improperly disbanded by Delano
and decades passed before they
were re-recognized by die federal gov eminent.
At issue was a provision of the
Indimi Gaming Regulatory Act
25 I ISC 2719, which prohibits
casino gambling on tribal lands
taken into trust after October 17,
1988. The Turtle Creek property
was placed into federal trust on
August 8, 1989. The Band argued diat the land was exempt
from diis provision because a)
die Turtle Creek land was taken
into tnisl as part of the "initial
COURT to page 6
By ,IR Ross
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis.-
Republican lawmakers
approved an additional
$31,885 in taxpayer money
Monday for attorney bills
from their successful lawsuit
over a gaming compact the
governor signed widi an
American Indimi tribe.
GOP lawmakers' had
capped legal fees at $62,500
when they first approved
hiring the attorneys last year.
But die Joint Coimnittee on
Legislative Organization
voted 6-4 to approve the additional payment, widi all
four Democrats on die committee opposed. The vote
will bring die lawmakers'
total bill to $94,385 for the
lawsuit.
Democrats have called die
payments a waste of taxpayers' money to fund a partisan batde against Gov. Jim
Doyle, a fellow Democrat.
But Steve Baas, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker
John Gard, R-Peshtigo, said
lawmakers were forced to
act because Doyle signed
compacts they believ ed were
unconstitutional. He also
pointed out lawmakers ap-   •
proved spending less dian
die S 125,000 Doyle paid an
outside consultant to help
negotiate die compacts he
eventually signed last year with   .
10 tribes.
"We' re spending less on outside counsel to defend the constitution than Governor Doyle
spent on outside counsel to violate the constitution," Baas said.
The state Supreme Court ruled
thisjiiiondi diat Doyle had overstepped his constitutional authority in signing a compact with
die Forest County Potawatomi.
The compact had no expiration
date mid allowed Las Vegas-style
games such as craps and roulette
in exchange for higher annual
payments to the state.
The court's raling shuck down
portions of die tribe's compact.
It did not address die nine other
compacts Doyle has signed with
Uibes, but the decision was
viewed as having a similar impact on diose deals as well.
Several tribes have now said
diey may withhold payments
to the state required under the
deals, threatening die more dian
$200 million die state was expected to take in from gaming
revenues during the current two-
year budget.
Senate Minority Leader Jon
Erpenbach. D-Middleton, said
Republicans mismanaged tax
dollars by exceeding die cap on
die fees by more than 50 percent.
The funds are die latest batch
of taxpayer money diat lawmakers have spent on attorneys' fees,
including more dian $2 million
to redraw political lines in 2002,
and hundreds of diousands of
dollars to defend lawmakers and
state employees in an ongoing
scandal probe.
"The Republicans are making
a big deal out of capping government spending. It's obvious
we're not capping legal fees die
government wants to spend,"
Erpenbach said.
Gordon Baldwin, a professor
emeritus of law at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, served
as the lawmakers' lead attorney
in die gaming lawsuit. He said
S5,000 of die fees will cover his
work on the case mid be given to
die university, where he keeps mi
office.
The rest of the money will be
paid to the law linn of Murphy
Desmond S.C. The firm billed
die stale for more than 420 hours
of work at rates of up to S235 an
hour.
Baldwin said the firm likely-
lost money working on die lawsuit despite the additional fees
lawmakers approved Monday.
He blamed the additional costs
on Doyle's attempts to have
the case move to federal court,
changes made to the compact
after the lawsuit was filed and mi
unexpected hearing.
Department of Justice employees also spent an estimated 1,008
hours defending Doyle in die
suit.
Fort Peck
tribal chairman removed,
replacement
named
Associated Press
POPLAR - The Fort Peck
Tribal Executive Board on
Monday removed Chairman
John N lorales and appointed
Vice Chairman Ray Eder to
replace him.
The vote was 10-1, widi
some council members saying Morales refused to carry
out their resolutions.
Morales said die council
acted illegally mid he would
continue conducting business
as die leader of die Assini-
CHAIRMAN to page 3
Upper Sioux gaining ground in
western Minnesota prairie
By Renee Ruble   ■
Associated Press
GRANITE FALLS, Minn.- It
takes only a few minutes to tour
die new housing development
on the Upper Sioux Indian Community. The circle of homes is a
speck in the vast prairie.
Cliildren run mid jump on
shiny new playground equipment, bracing themselves against
gusts of wind that rake die freshly
plowed soybean fields.
Helen Blue-Redncr, the band's
chairwoman; drives slowly
dirough die small neighborhood, pointing out details on the
two-story homes, the new septic
;md water systems. She motions
beyond, to die surrounding fields,
where she hopes someday to see
more homes, a store, roads.
"It's not ours yet," she said of
the land. "But it. will be."
The Upper Sioux are one
of die smallest and poorest of
Minnesota's 11 American Indimi
bands. They struggle with their
health; they worry simultaneously
about the effect of casino money
on their kids mid diat casino revenues might dwindle someday.
And they' re grateful for the help
that conies their way from their
fellow Dakota bands.
"All we're dying lo do is make
sure die Upper Sioux is here - we
have a future," said Tom Ross,
a member of the tribal Board of
Trustees. "There's no untangling
us from die area now."
Xearh all of die Upper Sioux's
414members live within 15
PRAIRIE to page 6