Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-08-27

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Ethel Curry
Scholarship
deadline is
October 1
page 6
Woman recreates
Sacagawea's history with
"Sacagawea Speaks"
page 5
Open letter to Leech
Lake members
page 4
Leech Laker asks
that new leadership
be given a chance
page 4
It's time for
adequate
regulation of
our Indian
gambling
page 4
TEC to meet in emergency Special Meeting to
discuss Leech Lake RBC's denial of candidates
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
We have learned that the TEC
will hold a special meeting on
Monday August 30 at Black
Bear Casino on the Fond Du Lac
Reservation to consider the allegations of MCT constitutional
violations. Four tribal officers
have requested the Emergency
Special meeting. They are Pete
Defoe Chairman of Fond Du Lac
RTC, Kevin Dupuis, Secretary/
Treasurer of Fond Du Lac RTC,
Kevin Leecy, Chairman of Bois
Forte RTC and David Morrison,
Secretary/Treasurer of Bois Forte
RTC.
The text of their letter to the
TEC follows verbatim:
We, the undersigned Tribal Executive Committee members of
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe,
by signing a request for an Emergency Special Meeting in regards
to the alleged MCT Constitutional violations of Article IV, Sec. 2.
the three criteria for candidate eligibility, because the Leech Lake
Reservation Business Committee
has denied certification of candidates, who fully meet the MCT
Constitutional requirements.
The letter by the three denied
candidates, Arthur "Archie"
LaRose, James "Jim" Michaud
and Alfred "Tig" Pemberton
requests the TEC to suspend the
current Election process until
after the meeting is held, if the
Emergency Meeting cannot be
scheduled by Friday, August 27,
2004.
The entire letter is printed in
the box.
August 26, 2004
Norman Deschampe, President
And Melanie Benjamin
Acting President in absences
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Cass Lake, Minnesota 56636
Re:  Emergency TEC Meeting
Dear President Deschampe:
Please find attached the required four Tribal Executive Committee member signatures satisfying
the requirement to call an Emergency Meeting of
the Tribal Executive Committee. The issue at hand
is the LLRBC's recent adoption of Resolution 05-
32, the day before candidate certification August
18, 2004, to deny three (3) eligible candidates from
being candidates, which violates the MCT Constitution.
If an Emergency Meeting cannot be schedule
by Friday, August 27, 2004, we request that the
TEC suspend the current Election process until the
meeting is held. We look forward to your prompt
action to bring a legal, fair and just resolution by
the TEC to this embarrassing civil rights nightmare
on Leech Lake for the people of the Tribe.
Sincerely,
Arthur "Archie" LaRose James "Jim" Michaud
Alfred "Tig" Pemberton
cc:   Tribal Executive Committee
Attachments:    Memorandum executed by Pete
DeFoe,
Kevin Dupuis, Kevin Leecy and David Morrison
LLRBC Res. No. 03-52
Wall Street Journal California comments have
relevance for Minnesota
By Bill Lawrence
The Monday, August 23, issue
of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
contained a story entitled: "As
Indian Casinos Grow, Regulation Raises Concerns." The article deals generally with gaming
on a national level and targets
new developments in California.
It has relevance for Minnesota.
What follows is an excerpted
version of the article written by
John R. Emshwiller and Christina Binkley for the Wall Street
Journal.
One of the main themes of
the article is fact of tribal gaming expansion everywhere and
raises the question as to whether
gaming regulation will be adequate to meet the new demand.
California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger recently signed
ten agreements with five tribes
allowing major expansions and
strengthening tribal monopolies.
In exchange tribes have promised $1 billion upfront and will
pay substantially more than the
current $95 million it pays to
the state. The expansion calls
for about fifty new casinos. The
tribes have accepted expanded
regulatory oversight "including
expanded rights for organized
labor, audits of certain slot machine pay outs and arbitration
of patron disputes." However,
according to the WSJ story, the
tribes will not be required to
make public any financial data.
The downside of this deal is
that gaming regulations are not
expected to expand as well. The
regulatory arm is already considered inadequate. The article
states, "The question is whether
a few additional regulatory
checks will be enough to ensure
the integrity of gambling at Indian casinos where neither the
state nor the federal government
has much clout. The expansion
will add thousands of slot machines around the state—adding
to existing concerns about the
accuracy of promised pay outs,
the adequacy of background
checks for executives and a regulatory set up rife with conflicts of
interest."
Ample evidence is surfacing
in California as to the system's
failure. Investigators for the
Attorney General's (AG) office
have raised evidence of suspected embezzlement, kickbacks and
suspicious money movements at
Indian casinos in the state. However, their bosses at the AG's
office have consistently put a lid
on such investigations and have
made agents suppress information in their reports. A senior
supervisor allegedly told one
individual, Candace Cates, "that
because Indian tribes are semi-
sovereign entities under federal
law, investigators needed 'to kiss
A—on the reservations.'"
Ms. Cates and three others
brought the problems with the
current regulatory system to
the public's attention in a now
pending lawsuit filed against the
California AG's office. They allege significant wrong doing at
the casinos and claimed they had
been "muzzled" by state officials. They further claimed their
bosses had punished them "when
they 'attempted to investigate
corruption in the Indian gaming
casinos.'"
Indian gaming is big business
everywhere and especially in
California—the biggest player
in Indian gaming with more
projects on the drawing boards.
Nationwide revenues have nearly
doubled since 1998 due to the
expansion of casinos. There are
more than 350 Indian casinos at
present in 30 states and many
more in the planning or building
stages.
It's projected that the Indian
gaming industry will surpass
non-Indian gambling elsewhere
in the U.S. within four years.
Regulations have not expanded
sufficiently to match the expansions. The possibility of more
wide spread problems is likely
to grow at the same rate as the
casino expansion.
Of interest, the article says,
"the figures show that some casinos bring in more money than
COMMENTS to page 5
Decertification of Leech Lake candidates seen as
threat to democracy in MCT
By Jeff Armstrong
Continuing to assert increasingly dictatorial powers, the
Leech Lake RBC this week
refused to allow the popular
secretary treasurer it arbitrarily
removed from office to compete
as a candidate for his own seat.
Ousted secretary treasurer
Archie LaRose and two former
RBC members, Jim Michaud
and Tig Pemberton, were denied
certification as candidates on the
basis of an Aug. 18 RBC resolution purporting to adopt criteria
contrary to the MCT tribal election ordinance. Under the tribal
constitution, all reservation elections are to be conducted under a
uniform election ordinance.
"No RBC can amend the
MCT Constitution or the tribal
election ordinance," LaRose
said. "They're making up their
own rules as they go along."
Providing a pretext for the
exclusion of candidates who had
already filed for office, Resolution 05-32 states that "in any future elections on the Leech Lake
Reservation candidates who
wish to run for an elected office
may not have a felony conviction for an offense while serving
as an appointed or elected official. . .and any candidate who
is under current investigation for
misappropriation of tribal funds
or other crimes against the band
or it's [sic] members while serv
ing as an elected or appointed
official.. .will not be eligible
for certification." Although the
resolution refers to "future elections," it was apparently applied
retroactively to candidates in
elections already underway.
In an affidavit supporting his
legal efforts to regain office,
LaRose describes Resolution 05-
32 as "an ex post facto, arbitrary
and capricious application by the
LLRBC, intentionally and specifically designed to violate my
civil rights and equal protection
guaranteees."
LaRose said the rationale offered for his exclusion was that
he was under investigation for
activities related to his term in
office. He noted, however, that
the resolution was not applied
evenly and could open the door
for the RBC to launch an investigation of any opposing candidate
as a means to keep them off the
ballot.
"They won't even specify
what I'm under investigation
for," said LaRose. "This sets a
dangerous precedent for every
tribal member on each reservation."
Citing an Aug. 5 letter from
MCT President Norman Deschampe affirming his eligibility
as a candidate, LaRose called on
the TEC to defend the integrity
of the tribal electoral process.
Under the current election ordi
nance, RBC certification decisions are final, but the TEC has
interpreted the constitution to
give it final say in such matters.
LaRose said the TEC should
investigate the Leech Lake
situation with an eye toward
censuring chairman Goggleye,
an action which would compel
the RBC to remove or subject
Goggleye to a recall vote.
"I think the TEC needs to take
a serious look at [Goggleye]
knowingly and willingly violating the constitution," LaRose
said. "The TEC as the governing
body of all six bands is the one
responsible for enforcing the
constitution, particularly when it
comes to elections. If they don't
act, who will?"
But given the TEC's reluctance to intervene, the future of
electoral democracy might rest in
the hands of chief judge Peggy
Treuer, who is reconsidering a
petition by LaRose for an injunction against his removal.
In its Aug. 20 reply to LaRose,
the RBC maintained that "the
argument that defendant Archie
LaRose presents in his brief for
reconsideration does not cite to
any compelling evidence which
would indicate that his argument
would likely win on the merits. It
appears, the opposite is true, the
argument that defendant makes
is nonsensical."
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 17 Issue 11
August 27, 2004
Francis and Karen Monroe visiting with Julie Harris, Beltrami County Veterans Service Officer.
Veterans benefit from Veterans Affairs
Compensation Fair at Leech Lake
Beltrami and Cass County
Veterans Service Officer,
and other Veterans related
agencies, held an outreach
for Native American veterans at Leech Lake Ojibwe
Tribal Headquarters Facility
Center at Cass Lake on August 10-12. The Fargo Department of Veterans Affairs,
St. Paul VA Regional Office,
along with representatives of
the AMVETS, DAV, VFW,
Minnesota Department of
Veterans Affairs also participated. The offices of Sena
tors Mark Dayton and Norm
Coleman were represented.
Through this event, veterans
were able to apply for benefits
in one location. They were able
to register, have an examination
by a VA physician to determine
compensation and rating for a
service-connected disability.
They could also enroll for medical services at the VA medical
center closest to their homes,
and visit with congressional
representatives. Social workers
provided counseling and clothing for homeless veterans.
Many were able to secure
benefits, for example pension
entitlements, service-connected
disabilities for diabetes from
Agent Orange exposure in
Vietnam, and other service-connected disabilities.
Another VA compensation
fair is scheduled for Spirit
Lake Reservation in Fort Tot-
ten, North Dakota October
5-7, 2004. Questions can be
directed to Peggy Wheelden,
Public Affairs Officer at 701 -
239-3724.
MADD tailors program to Native students
Culturally diverse prevention programs introduced to Elementary Students
By Jean Pagano
Mothers Against Drunk
Drivers (MADD) announced last week that it is
introducing a new facet of
its elementary alcohol use
prevention program, Protecting You/Protecting Me (PY/
PM), which will be culturally appropriate for Native
American students.
According to MADD
President Wendy J. Hamilton "Underage drinking permeates all races and ethnicities; its tragedies are felt in
every community across the
country. Protecting You/Protecting Me plays a crucial
role in protecting the lives
of children, and we want to
ensure all students relate to
the lessons so they can make
smart, healthy decisions
about alcohol."
The first PY/PM training
program geared specifically
towards Native students was
offered in South Sioux City,
Nebraska in June. Attendees
included teachers, community
members, prevention specialists, and counselors from the
Omaha, Santee, and Winnebago
tribes in Nebraska, along with
representatives from Rocky
Boy reservation in Montana, the
Tolono - O'Odham reservation
in Arizona, and the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA).
Although the new prevention
program will be available in
schools in Native communities
this fall, training programs for
students are already underway
in a number of communities in
Indian Country. As part of their
three-day training program, junior and senior high school students in the Omaha, Santee, and
Winnebago tribes attended an
Honoring Ceremony where they
signed a pledge to stay alcohol
and drug free and to be good
role models for other students.
MADD adapted their PY/PM
program for Natives through a
grant from the Department of
Health and Human Services,
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), including help
from the Red Road Project for
Native American Youth Leadership. Red Road Project brings
children, teens, elders, and Native communities together for the
purpose of preventing alcohol
abuse. Pat Stone, Red Road Project coordinator, stated, "We have
tailored PY/PM to reflect tribal
values and traditions."
In participating Native communities, elders who are Red
Road Project coordinators, interact with PY/PM teen helpers
to tell stories, discuss problems,
and foster links to tribal traditions that are critical in ensuring
the program's success. Coordinators incorporate Native language,
MADD to page 5
Fed look at
ways to ease
short funding
for Indian
health
Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. - With
no extra funding in sight for
Indian health services, federal officials are looking at
more ways to make money
go further, an assistant secretary for the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services said Tuesday.
"If you can't get Congress to fully fund, what's
your fallback?" Michael
O'Grady asked Tuesday as
he spoke at an annual tribal
health conference hosted
by the Montana-Wyoming
Tribal Leaders Council.
HEALTH to page 5
Orange County city shoots down
idea of Indian casino
Associated Press
GARDEN GROVE, Calif.
- The City Council voted unanimously to reject a proposal to
build an Indian casino and resort
just blocks from Disneyland.
Council members said Tuesday that a casino would not fit
into the city's family oriented
vision and would face strong opposition from the community.
~It is very clear to me that
there is widespread opposition
to gambling in Orange County,"
said Councilman Mark Rosen.
"We shouldn't take it any further
because of that."
The vote put to rest a week-
long flurry of excitement and
speculation that Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn might
want to build a mega-resort on
Harbor Boulevard.
The city, located in Orange
County, considered selling as
much as 45 acres to the Mesa
Grande Band of Mission Indians, a San Diego County tribe
that wanted to build a resort with
shopping, restaurants and live
entertainment comparable to Las
Vegas.
Wynn issued a statement last
week saying no negotiations
were underway and that talks
were "based on hypothesis on
top of hypothesis."
Council members confirmed
that they had met with Wynn
in May in Las Vegas. They said
they met with him in groups of
two and were asked to sign confidentiality agreements.
Once publicized, opposition to
the plan followed quickly from
residents, council members and
local politicians who believed a
casino would bring crime and
prostitution to the area.