Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-06-25

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Lost government
officials
page 4
Legislature to Pataki
(again): Collect Indian taxes
page 5
Secretary/Treasurer
LaRose submits
open letter to
Leech Lake people
page 4
^Wk,
Buck Jourdain's
political platform
is a lot like
cotton candy
page 4
. Happy July 4th!
Note: No July 2 issue.
Publication will resume July 9.
uMi^y
Leech Lake government takeover
By Bill Lawrence
Two days following the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal (MCT)
Elections on June 8, 2004, a political faction of the Leech Lake
Tribal Council grabbed control
of governmental operations on
the reservation.
Defeated Chairman Peter White
resigned and three District
Representatives, Luke Wilson,
Lyman Losh and Richard Robinson, seized political power based
on an Emergency Ex Parte Tribal
Court Order issued on June 10
by Judge Anita Fineday. Newly
hired tribal attorney Michael
Grabow appeared in Tribal Court
on behalf of the three Representatives.
In a subsequent Tribal Court
Order issued June 22, Judge
Fineday made it clear to the
District Representatives that "the
Secretary-Treasurer, Arthur "Archie" LaRose shall be allowed to
perform his duties of office. The
Secretary-Treasurer may withhold his signature if he deems
appropriate."
Secretary-Treasurer LaRose
stated, "I've been told that
vouchers for payments and actual checks are being authorized
and issued under my signature
without my knowledge or
consent. I've been told many
payments have been authorized
solely by an illegal 'Acting
Chairman' Wilson." LaRose asserts that "The Reps have been
secretly meeting without me to
hire and fire employees, including firing and hiring the Controller position who works directly
for me." He said nearly a dozen
employees are not at work. It's
rumored that more firings are
possible.
Acting Chairman Wilson issued a memo June 17, 2004,
directing Controllers and employees "to disregard the Memo
from Secretary-Treasurer, Arthur
LaRose, in which he withdrew
his signature authority.   That
memo was not authorized by the
full Leech Lake Tribal Council."
In yet another memo, dated June
24, 2004, District Representatives issued another employee
termination. It included Treasur
er LaRose's name in typed form
but not his signature. It stated
that "due to the Business Corporation being eliminated the following employees are terminated
for just cause as of Wednesday,
June 24 [sic], 2004." The Business Corporation has been shut
down, employees have been terminated and an investigation has
been ordered into its activities.
Norman Deschampe, MCT
President, in a letter dated June
22, 2004, to Michael Grabow,
stated: "In February I responded
to Council member Wilson's
request that I review his purported suspension. Last week
I was asked whether the same
principles of due process applied
to the Secretary/Treasurer. My
response has been consistent: if
an elected official is going to
have the rights and privileges of
elected office taken away it has to
be done through the process set
out in the [MCT] Constitution.
Except for Eli Hunt's re-election in 2000, there has not been
a smooth transition of the Leech
TAKEOVER to page 5
VOICE       OF.   THE       PEOPLE
Leech Lake court retreats from order against
secretary treasurer LaRose
By Jeff Armstrong
Leech Lake secretary treasurer
Archie LaRose obtained an apparent reversal Tuesday of a June
10 tribal court order purporting
to strip him of his constitutionally assigned financial oversight
duties. The ruling essentially returns Leech Lake to the pre-June
10 status quo, restoring signature
authority over reservation checks
to the secretary treasurer.
LaRose responded by ordering an immediate internal audit
of financial expenditures since
June 10, alleging that more than
$60,000 in reservation funds was
improperly spent. The secretary
treasurer said he also argued in
court for a far more comprehensive federal fraud investigation.
"I asked in court if we could
have the OIG (Office of the
Inspector General) and the FBI
come in and do a whole investigation, from not just the past two
years when I've been in there but
back through the last six years,"
LaRose said.
On the basis of unsubstantiated fraud allegations against
LaRose by district representative
Luke Wilson, Leech Lake judge
Anita Fineday issued an ex parte
ruling (held in the absence of the
defendant) temporarily prohibiting the secretary treasurer from
accessing reservation financial
records.
Noting that Wilson and the
other two district representatives
had nearly two weeks of sole
access to reservation documents
prior to the June 22 hearing,
LaRose said the plaintiffs were
nonetheless unable to produce
any records implicating LaRose
in any questionable transactions.
"Michael Garbow, their lawyer, stated that they would have
evidence and witnesses there
to testify to their case, and they
failed to do that. It should have
been dismissed, outright dismissed," said LaRose.
Continuing to press his claims
of conflict of interest on the part
of judge Fineday, LaRose said
the judge's reversal was far more
reflective of the weakness of the
plaintiffs' case than of the integrity
of the tribal court.
"Any other judge would have
dismissed the whole thing if they
would have heard that ex parte
hearing," charged LaRose.
In a pre-trial motion to remove
Fineday from the case, LaRose
identified several grounds on
which to recuse the judge for
suspected prejudice. In 1996,
LaRose's aunt, Pauline Wilson,
filed an ethics complaint against
Fineday over the latter's legal
representation of Wilson's juvenile
son. The Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility ultimately
determined that Fineday's "unprofessional conduct warrants the
issuance of an adminition."
LaRose further charged that
when he complained to Fineday
of her fairness in considering his
election protest in 2000 due to her  v
relationship with former chairman Eli Hunt's brother, she stated,
"Blood is thicker than water."
No Child Left Behind, Unless They Are Native:
Oversight Committee discusses Native education
By Jean Pagano
Senator Ben Nighthorse-
Campbell (R-Colo) chaired a
group of administrators assembled to discuss the state of Native education in relation to the
No Child Left Behind (NLCB)
Act. This Oversight Hearing,
held before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, addressed
the implementation of the No
Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act
on Native Communities-.
Vice Chairman Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) stated in his
opening remarks that while the
NCLB A was enacted to provide fair, equal, and significant
opportunity for all children to
obtain a high quality education,
the implementation has taken
a "one size fits all approach",
which is causing problems in
Indian country. Senator Inouye
said that the rural nature of many
Indian schools makes it difficult
to recruit and retain high quality
teachers, and insufficient funding
prohibits achieving the high stan
dards that the Act requires. As a
result of the dearth of funding,
only core skills are being taught,
and critical thinking skills are being left behind. Additionally, Native languages are "taking a back
seat" to the English language.
Native students are falling
behind - only 16% of Native
American and Alaskan Native
fourth grade students score at
or above the proficient level in
reading. Senator Inouye stated
"In order to fulfill the government's trust responsibility for the
education of Indian children, the
NCLB must consider the unique
needs of Indians on a tribe by
tribe basis (emphasis added).
Curricula, teaching, and testing
methods must be culturally relevant."
Theresa Rosier, Consul to the
Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, testified before the committee and stated that education is
her top priority at Indian Affairs.
She believes that high drop out
rates, suicides, substance abuse,
and unemployment exist on reservations because children have
lost "HOPE". Ms. Rosier said
"Our native youth need to realize that the American Dream has
been made available to them."
Rosier offered an aid to implementing NCLB in BIA schools,
namely incorporating a "Success
101" curriculum to encourage
"student achievement, leadership, business investment, home-
ownership, and personal responsibility" among Native youths.
She also wants to pioneer the
concept of the Leadership Academy in BIA schools to transform
the mission of the school into
one of personal and academic
excellence. These goals seem
rather lofty for schools in which
children are having difficulties
with basic reading and writing
skills.
Victoria Vasques, Director of
the Office of Indian Education,
offered some statistics concerning Native students: 16% of
CHILD to page 5
Suit over White
Earth vote
rejected
Associated Press .
Charges that newly elected
White Earth chairwoman Erma
Vizenor received votes from
deceased and non-enrolled
tribal members were dismissed
Wednesday by a judge who
upheld Vizenor's June 8 victory
over archrival Darrel (Chip)
Wadena.
Judge Betty Laverdure of
North Dakota's Turtle Mountain
Reservation rejected eleven
complaints by Wadena, who
accused the election judges of
misconduct. Observers described Wadena as being quiet
and reserved upon hearing the
judge's ruling at the closed meeting at the Shooting Star Casino
in Mahnomen, Minnesota, said
Gary Padrta, a tribal spokesman.
Vizenor received almost 60
percent of the vote in the election, defeating Wadena 1930-
1319.
Wadena's complaints were not
disclosed, but Vizenor said he
VOTE to page 3
Casino fight is big-money battle
By Brian Bakst
Associated Press
ST. PAUL - Groups and companies with a stake in this year's
gambling debate at the Capitol
combined to spend more than $1
million on lobbying, and Caesars Entertainment Inc. was by
far the highest roller.
But being the biggest spender
doesn't ensure success. Despite
devoting $636,000 to the effort,
the Las Vegas-based Caesars
failed to make much headway
in its bid to put a private casino
near the Mall of America.
The owners of the Canterbury
Park horse racing track put
$78,500 toward lobbying for slot
machine privileges at the Shakopee track. They had the backing
of the Republican-led House but
didn't get very far in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Interests backing expanded
gambling outspent those trying
to maintain the American Indian
monopoly on casino ownership
by more than 2 to 1. Together,
the main tribal groups spent
more than $320,000.
The spending is documented
in reports filed this month with
the Campaign Finance and
Public Disclosure Board. The
reports cover lobbying expenses
from January through May and
account for things like advertising, phone calls, travel and
preparation of materials. They
don't necessarily include salaries
for lobbyists themselves, meaning the actual spending could
be much higher when full year
reports are filed next March.
But these reports offer further
proof of mounting pressure on
the tribes. Some lawmakers and
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a longtime
opponent of expanded gambling,
want them to share their profits
with the state. Pawlenty hasn't
ruled out proposals that would
open the market to private companies willing to give the state a
cut.
That helps explain why Caesars is waging such an aggressive
fight.
Robert Stewart, senior vice
president of corporate communications, offered no regrets for
Caesar spending as much as it
did. He contends the state would
benefit from a private casino
through hundreds of jobs and
BATTLE to page 3
web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 17 Issue 3
June 25, 2004
-
■
" after refreshing oursehes we proceeded on
to the top of the dloldlng ridge from which      i
I discouered Immence ranges of high mountains
stiff to the West of us with their tops partially
covered with snow.   I now decended the mountain
about %of a mile which I found much steeper
than on the opposite side, to a handsome bold
rurimg Creek of cold Clear water,   here l first
tasted the water of the great Columbia riuer."  «
LEWIS JOURNAL
August 12,1805
Schwarzenegger signs tribal gambling agreement
worth $1 billion
By Jennifer Coleman
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed new Indian gambling
compacts with representatives of five California tribes
in a deal that's estimated to
bring in at least $1 billion
for the current budget and
annual payments afterward
of between $150 million and
$200 million a year.
About 300 people attended the ceremony Monday in
which Schwarzenegger and
tribal officials signed the
compacts on a stage and then
presented each other with
gifts. The governor received
a ceremonial blanket, while
he gave the tribes a crystal
statue etched with a redwood
tree.
With the new money, Schwarzenegger moves a step closer to
settling this year's budget, and
he's able to follow through on a
campaign promise to have tribes
pay a greater share of their income to the state.
The deal also allows the tribes
to increase their casinos' number
of slot machines beyond the current 2,000-per-tribe cap. Those
extra machines are expected
contribute between $150 million
and $200 million a year through
the length of the compact, which
expires in 2030.
To pay make the $1 billion
payment, the tribes will sell
bonds that they'll repay over 18
years. Then the tribes will make
direct payments to the state until
the end of the compact period.
In return for the $1 billion
payment, the tribes get a guarantee they'll be the only ones who
can offer casino gambling.
"This is a fair deal for the
tribes and for the state," Schwarzenegger said. "It solidifies a
partnership based on their exclusive gaming rights and I am
hopeful other tribes will join us."
Schwarzenegger's budget plan
incorporates the higher fees from
tribes with casinos, and administration officials have said much
of the money will go to repay
money borrowed from the transportation trust fund.
The tribes are the Pala Band
of Mission Indians, the Rumsey
GAMBLING to page 5
Indian prisons
need overhaul,
official testifies
Associated Press
Washington D.C. - The
Bureau of Indian Affairs
should immediately take
steps to turn around a poorly managed Indian prison
system that has seen at least
10 inmate deaths and hundreds of escapes and suicide
attempts over the past three
years, federal investigators
said Wednesday.
Inspector General Earl
Devaney of the Interior
Department told a Senate
panel that potentially life-
threatening conditions at
many of the 74 detention
centers on Indian reservations pose dangers for inmates and guards alike.
"Nothing less than a Herculean effort to turn these
conditions around would be
morally acceptable," Devaney testified at a hearing
held by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, after
summarizing the preliminary findings of his office's
on-going investigation of
the state of Indian prisons.
Dave Anderson, the Min-
nesotan who became assistant secretary for Indian
affairs in February, agreed
prison conditions are "totally unacceptable." "We have
not treated this as business
as usual," he said.
Meeting on Saturday to discuss
off-reservation gambling
Associated Press
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The
North Dakota Indian Gaming
Association board has called a
meeting of tribal officials to discuss the Turtle Mountain Band
of Chippewa's proposal for a
casino here.
The meeting is scheduled
Saturday in Hankinson. J. Kurt
Luger, executive director of
both the state association and
the Great Plains Indian Gaming
Association, said he was not
comfortable discussing the issue
until after the meeting.
In Minnesota, the Indian gaming association officially opposes off-reservation gambling,
said its executive director, John
McCarthy.
"We only have nine of the 11
Minnesota tribes involved with
our association right now," he
said. "That is because of the issue of off-reservation gaming.
We are not happy with this issue.
We would much rather be unified as one group."
If off-reservation gambling
were approved; it would open
the "floodgate," possibly making gambling available to non-
Indian entities and running rural
Indian gambling facilities into
the ground, McCarthy said.
"It would mean the beginning
of the end for all tribes in the
state," he said.
Turtle Mountain Chairman
Leon Morin said an off-reservation casino in Grand Forks
would not be detrimental to other
tribes in the state.
He said one of the problems
North Dakota casinos and their
customers face is distance _ the
longer the drive, the more business casinos lose.
"Basically, we're after the
market that (the other tribes) are
not capturing," he said. "Jhe
real issue is that because (tribes)
don't have a casino in any of
the major cities in the state, our
tribes and the state lose out on
hundreds of millions of dollars in
revenue. It's money that is being
taken out of the state and out of
our tribal casinos."
McCarthy said most of the
seven or eight associations he is
aware of are opposed to off-reservation gambling. Morin said
that will not matter.
"If (state) laws are changed
that would allow off-reservation
gaming, there isn't much that the
gaming association can do," he
said.
"We are just exploring opportunities," Morin said. "When we
consider the economic impact
that a city casino would have, it
is a win-win situation for all of
the entities involved: our tribe,
the city and the state of North
Dakota."
He also said that if any other
tribe in North Dakota wanted to
pursue the idea of off-reservation
gambling, the Turtle Mountain
Band of Chippewa would be
supportive.