Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-07-23

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Famed Santa Fe
hotel ends
tradition of Indian
jewelry vendors
page 3
Open letter from Archie
LaRose to Leech Lake
people
page 4
MCT Constitutions,
interpretations and
opinions
page 4
Indians deserve
a fair hearing on
disenrollments
page 4
Custer and Crazy
Hourse, an unlikely pair
page 4
Leech Lake RBC revives recall petition against LaRose
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Jeff Armstrong
Leech Lake secretary treasurer
Archie LaRose requested an
emergency tribal court ruling
Tuesday in an effort to block
RBC opponents from resurrecting a failed recall petition filed
19 mondis ago.
LaRose charged that die unprecedented move was a transparent attempt to circumvent the
tribal constitution in the wake of
an unsuccessful attempt by RBC
members to gain the requisite
number of signatures on a second petition aimed at removing
the secretary treasurer halfway
dirough his first four-year tenn.
He said the RBC members had
been advised by dieir own legal
counsel, Mike Garbow, diat a
new petition was constitutionally
required.
"Luke Wilson, District f rep.
and District III rep. Donald Finn
had people carrying a petition
on me for five and a half weeks.
Their petition died, so diey
nirned around and served me
widi a two-year-old petition,"
said LaRose.
If die court fails to grant his
request, LaRose faces a July 30
hearing on charges on charges of
malfeasance, neglect and failure
to comply widi die MCT Constitution. The secretary treasurer
alleges diat die conflict steins
from his early attempts to secure
a comprehensive audit of Leech
Lake financial expenditures.
In a lengthy court batde last
year, LaRose had previously
challenged die validity of a number of signaUires on the basis of
fraud and reservation residency.
He disputed die petition certification by an RBC-appointed
commission, which fiercely
split on the question, with a slim
majority finding that die petition
cleared the constitutional hurdle
of 20% of resident eligible voters.
In January of 2003, Leech
Lake judge B.J. Jones granted
LaRose a temporary injunction
against a scheduled RBC hearing
on die petition charges, finding
diat an evidentiary trial was necessary to consider die secretary
treasurer's challenge.
"Defendants are hereby restrained from taking any action
to recall die Plaintiff from office
on die basis of die recall petition
submitted on December 9,2002
and certified by die Leech Lake
Petition Validation Committee
on December 13,2002 until such
time as trial is conducted on the
complaint of [LaRose]," wrote
deputy judge B. J. Jones
After hearing evidence from
bodi sides, Jones reserved judgment on die validity of die contested signaUires, referring die
matter back to die RBC to determine whedier it intended to proceed widi die recall effort. When
both sides agreed to dismiss die
court action and leave die final
decision to die RBC, die effort
to call a public heaiing failed
for lack of a fourth vote after die
election of fonner chainnan Pete
White.
The anti-LaRose faction, now
occupying four of die five RBC
seats, contended diat die move
was intended to afford Leech
Lake voters "dieir long awaited
due process," according to an
undated press release distributed last week. In die statement,
die RBC implied that the MCT
Tribal Executive Committee had
infonnally sanctioned die action.
"It is die opinion of die Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's legal
counsel and President, and a
majority of the Leech Lake
Tribal Council, diat diis matter
concerning the removal petition
against Arthur "Archie" LaRose
is stricdy a Leech Lake Band
internal matter," die press release
stated.
Interim executive director Sally Morrison could not be reached
for comment.
LaRose said he interpreted
die statements of TEC officials
quite differendy and intends to
bring die issue before a scheduled July 29 TEC meeting on
die Bois Forte reservation. In his
legal brief, LaRose cites a May
3,2004 legal analysis by MCT
attorney Mark Anderson stating
diat die proper constitutional
recourse for die RBC was to
"petition die Secretary [of the
Interior] under Article X, Section
5. In odier words, diere cmi be an
allegation of failure to act by die
Reservation Tribal Council and
petition to the Secretary."
Myers nomination to 9th Appellate Court stopped:
Tribal opposition cited as reason for decision
By Jean Pagano
Former Department of Interior Solicitor William G. Myers
nomination to die 9tii Appellate
Court was torpedoed today when
Republican Senators could not
muster the 60 votes needed to
stop a Democratic filibuster of
Myers. Only 53 senators voted
to end debate oil Myers, including all Republicans and die two
Democratic senators from Delaware.
Myers was being nominated to
fill a not-yet-vacant seat on die
9th Circuit Court of Appeals for
a lifetime appointment to replace
retiring Judge Thomas Nelson
of Idaho. The 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals includes 9 western
states and covers 200 Indian
bibes.
The National Congress of
American Indians (NCAI) has
strongly opposed the Myers
nomination since President Bush
nominated him in May of 2003.
X lyers was a fonner lobbyist for
the catde, grazing, and ranching industries. He also served as
executive director for the Public
I ,ands Council and worked for
die National Cattlemen's Beef
Association as director. President Bush nominated Myers to
die Solicitor's post at die Department of Interior in \ larch 2001.
Myers left the post of Solicitor
in December 2003 to return to
die private sector at the law linn
of Holland & Hart in Boise,
Idaho. NCAI chainnan Tex Hall
claims, "Myers' actions and legal
advice.. .reveal an activist preference for natural resource extraction diat disrespects tribal values
and raises serious questions
about his ability to fairly and
impartially decide cases affecting
die public lands."
Reviewed by an American Bar
Association committee, Myers
was rated as "not qualified" by
almost half of die committee,
wliile not a single member rated
him as "well qualified".
Myers tenure at Interior was
marked by controversy, especially in his handling of an opinion by Solicitor Leshy relating to
die Quechen Indian Nation. This
opinion came back to haunt him
during his confirmation hearings
before Congress.
The Quechen Tribe of Arizona,
whose land is near the California
border, had long opposed development of the land in California
claiming diat die property was
sacred lands for the tribe. Glamis
Corporation of Canada had asked
to have die decision overturned
so dial development of a gold
mine could proceed. Leshy had
issued an opinion in late 1999
stating diat die Bureau of Land
Management could turn down
die proposed mine citing President Clinton's executive order
of Native American religious
freedom, standing federal law,
and die recommendation of die
Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation. The Secretary of
Interior, Brace Babbitt, protected
die sacred lands in January 2000
stating diat diere would be "unavoidable negative impacts" to
die Quechah Tribe.
In October 2001, widiout once
consulting the Quechen Tribe,
dien-Solicitor Myers rescinded
die Babbitt ruling and allowed
die gold mine to proceed. During
Myers' confirmation healings in
2001, he had stated that he had
no agenda to review his predecessors' decisions. Yet, barely 4
months into his post as Solicitor, the Quechen Tribe lost dieir
batde to retain their sacred lands.
Soudi Dakota Senators Tom
Daschle and Tim Johnson bodi
opposed die nomination of Myers to die 9di Circuit Court of
Appeals. Senator Johnson narrowly defeated fonner Soudi Dakota congressman John Thule,
largely widi the help of Native
voters. Thule is currendy challenging Daschle for die odier
Senate seat hi Soudi Dakota.
Coushatta tribal records subpoenaed by grand jury
Associated Press
LAKE CHARLES, La. - A
federal grand jury has subpoenaed records from the Coushatta
Tribe of Louisiana concerning
the tribe's payments to a Washington lobbyist and a public relations executive, a consultant to
the tribe's lawyer said Tuesday.
The tribe, which operates a
large reservation casino in soutii-
westem Louisiana, is one of
several tribes whose spending on
lobbyists is under scrutiny by a
U.S. Senate committee.
Roy Fletcher, a veteran Louisiana political consultant who
said he is working for die tribe's
law firm, said in an interview
that the requested records concern die Coushattas' hiring of
lobbyists.
"that's clear from die records" diat die grand jury asked
for, Fletcher said.
Fletcher said die subpoena issued by a grand jury in Washington, D.C., appaiendy was aimed
at getting records from at least
four tribes, including the Coushattas, and as many as 11.
According to documents obtained earlier this year by Hie
American Press of Lake Charles,
die Coushattas paid about $32
million in fees, including for an
unsuccessful lobbying effort to
keep Louisiana's 15di and final
riverboat casino license from going into Lake Charles.
Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is
using the license to build a $365
million casino resort in Lake
Charles diat will compete directly with die Coushatta's Grand
Casino at nearby Kinder.
Tribal officials, who have defended die spending, also have
said that the money was spent
in a successful effort to keep
anotiier tribe from building a
casino resort in die Lake Charles
area aid iii an unsuccessful drive
to keep a race track in die area
from getting slot machines.
The spending has triggered a
leadership fight within the Coushattas. A group of uibal members who have criticized die lobbyist spending are trying to oust
tribal leader Lovelin Poncho.
U.S. Justice Department won't appeal Kennewick
Man case
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore.-TheU.S.
Justice Department has joined
Northwest tribes in clearing the
way for scientists to study the
Kennewick Man remains.
Blain Rethmeier, a Justice
Department spokesman, told
The Oregonian that the agency
would not ask the U.S. Supreme
Court to review die 8-year-old
case. The deadline for an appeal
passed N londay.
The Umatilla, Nez Perce,
Colville andYakama tribes decided last week against appealing a ruling that anthropologists
could study die 9,300-year-old
skeleton.
vThe Umatilla's board of trustees said they would work with
odier tribes to strength the federal Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act,
which had been the focus of the
lawsuit.
"In February, a three-judge
panel of die 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals raled in favor
of eight anthropologists who
had sued die federal government
in 1996 seeking to study the
remains. The judges backed an
earlier decision by Magistrate
John Jelderks of the U.S. District Court in Portland.
"The scientists' attorney, Alan
L. Schneider, said his clients
will work widi die U.S. Anny
Coips of Engineers about the"
details of a study of Kennewick
Man, which is being stored at
die Burke Museum in Seatde.
"The nearly complete skeleton
was found on die banks of the
Columbia River on July 31,
19%. The Corps of Engineers
decided to give die skeleton to
the tribes for burial, prompting
die andiropologists' lawsuit.
web page: www.press-on.net
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 17 Issue 6
July 23, 2004
Minneapolis Police Captain Kris Arneson, 5th Precinct Inspector.
Minneapolis Police Commander honored by
American Indian community
photo credit: Vincent Hill
By Vincent Hill
Mille Lacs Anishinabe
Elder & Activist-Mpls
A "Good-By" celebration
for Captain Kris Arneson,
who was recendy promoted
as Inspector for die 5th Precinct, was held last Wednesday at die new Wolves Den
coffee shop, which is nesded
within die East Franklin Avenue strip mall in near South
Minneapolis.
The celebration attracted
a mix of high ranking police
officers, Minneapolis and
State officials, local leaders,
and predominandy Urban
Indians. According to Carla
Nielsoft, Crime Prevention
Specialist, with die Franklin
Aveime Safety Center, situated next door to die Wolves
Den, The number of real
Indian fry-bread lacos
served diat day was 130.
She estimated 150 celebrants,
whom as a group, and on a personal level, said goodby to this
remarkable police officer. (The
Wolves Den in terms of size is
relatively small, like a den as die
name implies, yet over 100 people were packed in, with 25 to 50
standing outside die door.)
Grass roots Anishinabeg from
die Litde Eardi Housing complex
nearby were on center stage this
time in honoring their police
captain patron. As usual in local
bureaucratic protocol of who is
to speak first, etc, die outsiders in
terms of residence and employment position were given die
opportunity to speak first. But
diey sensed and knew Captain
Arneson wanted to hear from
odiers and, particularly, die new
grass roots leaders from Litde
Eardi. So diey were brief...
with, of course, die exception.
There were tears. The Urban
Anishinabeg were losing their
friend, who had listened to them,
supported diem, and empowered
them in bad times and crisis periods, diat had led to demonstrations and marches to city hall.
The crime picture, as it were,
at Little Eardi and sunounding
neighborhoods, within East Phillips, is not pretty, what widi four
knifings at Litde Earth last week.
But widi new grass roots leaders
emerging at Litde Earth, such as
Lea LaChapelle, June Lussier
Mendoza, Theresa Dunkley,
and odiers, diere is hope for
positive change. And die new
leaders and residents are beginning lo trust beat cops, who now
have a mandate from high police
officials to interact with Anishinabeg, not to oppress diem,
which had been die case under
the watch of fonner Police Chief
Olson.
Legal battle with former business partners dogs
BIA chief
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Barbecue enuepreneur Dave
Anderson, who now runs die
Bureau of Indian Affairs, is
embroiled in a bitter legal
batde with fonner business
partners in a restaurant at the
Mall of America.
The dispute, which has
generated two lawsuits,
dates back to Anderson s
first days on die job at die
federal agency in Febraary,
when die owners of Koko-
mo's Island Cafe, saying
Anderson had imdennined
the venture, demanded diat
his company cover $1.3
million in construction bills,
more than half of which remain unpaid.
The Star Tribune reported
Saturday dial die lawsuits
provide an unusually detailed look into Anderson's
multimillioii dollar business
dealings, and die extent to
which he has retained a sizable stake in his businesses
wliile he heads die BIA, an
agency diat oversees 55.7
million acres of Indian-
owned lands and 562 federally recognized tribes.
Anderson, dirough his
attorneys, denied diat he
owes his fonner partners
any money or diat he hurl
the business in any way. In
nirn, he has accused his partners
of misusing money diat was intended for dieir restaurant, which
adjoins a new Famous Dave's
franchise diat his partners also
built at the Bloomington mega-
mail.
When he was confirmed by
the Senate as die Department
of Interior's Assistant Secretary
for Indian Affairs, Anderson
agreed to resign as chainnan
of die Famous Dave's chain
of 96 barbecue restaurants. He
retained company stock valued
at between $5 million and $25
million, according to financial
disclosure reports.
Anderson also stepped down
as chainnan of Famous Investments, a separate company he set
up last year to launch Kokomo's.
Famous Investments was to license the restaurant's name and
island dieme - which it owns
- and receive a 4 percent royalty
in return.
Anderson lists a holding in
the company worth between
$500,000 and $1 million, according to his disclosures. But
Famous Investments spokeswoman Jean Golden said diat all
of die business disputes predate
Anderson's job at die BIA and
dial Anderson no longer has any
active involvement iii the company's "day lo day" operations.
Government ediics rales do
not require .Anderson to divest
his private business interests,
except where diere might be a
direct conflict of interest.
BIA officials say diat since
Anderson went to Washington in
Febraary, he has worked exclusively on agency business.
"In this job, it's been 100
percent BIA," agency spokeswoman Nedra Darling said.
"He's working weekends. He's
working all die time."
There have been no allegations
to die contrary, die Star Tribune
said.
But the newspaper also said
a review of the court cases suggests diat Anderson is likely to
remain dogged for some time by
die legal flap over Kokomo's.
In a preliminary ruling last
month, a Hennepin County judge
decided in Anderson's favor,
sending one of die lawsuits
into arbitration. But Anderson's
lawyers acknowledge diat die
dispute has left him potentially
liable for much of a $1.5 million
constraction loan he personally guaranteed last year for the
build-out of Kokomo's.
"Sadly, for Dave Anderson,
diat money was drawn down,
and if diey don't pay it back,
the bank will look to him as the
guarantor," said Jack Harper,
Anderson's attorney.    •
Kokomo's principal investors are Patricia and Timodiy
BIA to page 3