Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-10-22

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Luke Wilson
speaks out
page 4
Five basic principles
that do work
page 4
A comedy of errors
page 4
Writer responds to
Indian Education
series
page 4
Bush, Kerry
differ little on
campaign
message
page 4
Mille Lacs boundary case on writ of certiorari for
US Supreme Court
VOICE      OF      THE       PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
By Bill Lawrence
The Mille Lacs County
(County) and the First National
Bank of Milaca (Bank) have
learned that the Supreme Court
answer to their petition for a
writ of certiorari to review the
boundary dispute with the Mille
Lacs Band of Ojibwe (Band)
may be forthcoming.
County Commissioner Frank
Courteau reported at the October Meeting of the County
Board that a reply from the
Supreme Court was expected
within 30-40 days.
The County and the Bank have
petitioned the High Court to
review the earlier federal court
dismissal of their suit seeking a
ruling on the status of the 1855
Mille Lacs Reservation. Their
petition also seeks a reversal of
the dismissal.
In May 2003, the federal
court dismissed the original petition. The decision was upheld
twice by the Eighth District
Court of Appeals.
The Mille Lacs County/ 1st
Nat'l Bank suit asserts that the
original 1855 boundaries have
been disestablished by subsequent treaties and acts of Congress, and the current boundaries of the reservation contain
but 4000 acres. The Mille Lacs
Band, the Environmental Pro
tection Agency (EPA) and the
Department of Interior all hold
that the original allocation of
61,000 acres, as established by
the 1855 Treaty, is still valid.
The County contends that
the majority of the population
(approximately 90%) who own
property and live within the
extended bounds claimed by the
Band are non-members. The
Band does not affirm jurisdiction over all the people within
the boundaries of the Reservation. Melanie Benjamin, Chief
Executive of the Band, indicates
that the Band jurisdiction is
confined to enrolled members.
The Band contends that their
position regarding the number
of acres has been validated by
the federal court's dismissal
of the County/Bank case and
subsequent rulings in support of
dismissal and the fact that agencies of the federal government
also recognize the Reservation
boundaries contain 61,000
acres.
The State of Minnesota,
North and South Dakota, the
city of Wahkon, South Harbor
Township and the Lake Mille
Lacs Association have all filed
amicus curiae briefs in support
of the County/Bank position.
This action adds strength to the
County /Bank petition, however,
the probability of the Supreme
Court accepting the case is slim.
The Minnesota brief is concerned with management of
environmental laws by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Act
(EPA). Their argument centers
on whether or not the Band asserts jurisdiction to apply Tribal
Environmental Laws to all persons within the disputed boundaries.
The Minnesota brief admits
the EPA recognizes the Mille
Lacs Reservation to be the
61,000 acres designated by the
1855 treaty based on an opinion
done by a Field Solicitor, Mark
Anderson, of the Department of
Interior. Mr. Anderson, who is a
member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, issued the opinion
in 1991. The size of the Reservation becomes an issue for the
State because before an application for new programs can be
made, the State must prove that
the Mille Lacs Reservation does
not extend to that degree, but,
rather that the State has jurisdiction over those acres. The State
holds that it is impossible to
make that proof within the 30-
day application period because
of the complexity of the problem, the amount of research into
treaties, federal law, historical
CASE to page 5
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 17 Issue 19
October 22, 2004
Community tries to gather cultural data
Radio station to
incorporate Anishinabe
way into programming
By Jean Pagano
Red Cliff Indian Reservation
is the home to the Red Cliff
Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe
(Red Cliff Band), a federally
recognized tribe. Located on
the shores of Lake Superior in
northern Wisconsin, the reservation is approximately 14
miles long, one mile wide, and
juts out into Lake Superior,
somewhere between the Minnesota border and the western
edge of the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan. Incorporated in 1934,
it came into existence after a
series of treaties with the United
States, the most recent in 1854.
The 1854 Treaty, signed at
La Pointe, marked a change
in United States' removal
policies and moved to establish
homelands in the States where
Chippewa (Ojibwe) people
lived. Thus came into existence
the Red Cliff Indian Reservation. Home to between 1000
to 2000 people, mostly Native
Americans, the reservation has a
number of businesses including
a 45 slip marina, a 37 site campground, and a casino.
Red Cliff Indian Reservation
also has a small non-profit volunteer community radio station,
WRZC, at 92.3 MHz. One of
the station employees is Theresa
Brill (Ogeechedu Ekwe). Theresa is concerned about the loss of
Ojibwe identity on the reservation, and she states, "Red Cliff
has suffered extremely from the
assault of damaging policies
upon our traditional ways and
our knowledge base." She sees
a contrast between the "growing few" that practice in the
traditional manner of the Red
Cliff ancestors and the number
of people who are curious about
those ways and a culture that
seems so far removed.
Attempting to bridge the gap
between that which once was
and that which is today, Brill
is interested in broadening the
available resources that the radio station has to offer to Red
Cliff and the surrounding community. Her goal is to expand
cultural programming, to reinforce pride in Ojibwe culture,
and to increase access to and
understanding of traditions and
teachings, especially for young
people.
WRZC is currently seeking
donations of Ojibwe information, materials, music, songs,
and other Native American
objects that will enhance the
stations ability to incorporate
the Anishinabe way into its
programming. Brill says, "Red
Cliff is a poor tribe." and she is
currently working on securing
grants to support her efforts to
bring some of the rest of Indian
Country to the shores of Lake
DATA to page 6
INFLUENZA
recommendations
with the shortages of
supply
From the Minnesota Department of
Health and Cass Lake Indian Health
Service Hospital.
Vaccinations are occurring for the
following individuals at Cass Lake I.
H. S. Hospital:
•A child age 6-23 months of age
•Adults age 65 or older
•An adult or child who has:
1. Heart Disease
2. Lung disease with asthma
3. Metabolic disease,
including diabetes
4. Kidney disease
5. Immune deficiency
6. Blood disorders
• Pregnant women
•A child 6 months old to 18 years
old who takes aspirin on a
regular basis
•A resident of a nursing home or
other chronic care facility
• Someone who lives with a child
under 6 months of age (Children
under age 6 months cannot be
vaccinated)
• An out of the home caregiver of
a child under 6 months of age
• A health care worker and you
1. Provide direct, face to face
care of patients, and
2. Spend the majority of your
day or extended periods of
time with those patients.
SHOULD YOU FOREGO VACCINATION
THIS YEAR?
If you are NOT in a high risk category and are not a close contact of
a high risk individual(s), you should
not seek vaccination this year.
WAYS TO PREVENT FLU:
1. Do regular, frequent hand
washing with any contacts,
especially those that show
symptoms of colds or flu
2. Get plenty of rest. Do not
overtire yourself
3. Take a multivitamin a day
If you need more information
regarding the flu, visit website at
Minnesota Department of health @
www.mdhflu.com.
Educational center to help
Indian pupils
By Dustin Bleizeffer
Casper Star-Tribune
SHERIDAN - Tyler and Ashley Whiteman found it difficult
to walk through a room crowded
with men in suits, women in
business dresses and Chamber of
Commerce ambassadors in red
blazers.
But at 9 and 8 years old, the
brother and sister had a size
advantage. They took to their
hands and knees and began making their way through the crowd.
Both children are students at
Lodge Grass Elementary School
in Montana and were in Sheridan
on Wednesday to celebrate the
opening of the National American Indian, Alaskan & Hawai
ian Educational Development
Center.
The center provides a network
that trains and recruits teachers
who can help young Indian students excel in reading and writing, two areas where they often
struggle to keep up.
"These schools need more
than just their own resources
to get the best instructors and
the best universities around the
world to come in and work with
them on a continuous basis,"
said Craig Dougherty, executive
director of the center.
After four years, Dougherty
has achieved just that. Educators from Stanford University,
CENTER to page 6
Suit by 2 ex-Ute officials dismissed
said the tribe chose to oppose the
lawsuit because they believed it
had nothing to do with the BIA
but everything to do with Junius'
financial plan.
Possible administrative remedies include filing an appeal
to Nordwall. If no solution is
reached, they may appeal to the
Interior Board of Indian Appeals
and Dave Anderson, assistant
secretary for Indian affairs.
The suit was filed on behalf of Wopsock and Duncan,
along with Shirleta LaFram-
boise, Floyd Wopsock and Ruby
Atwine by Denver, Colo., attorney Dan Israel.
Ron Wopsock and Duncan
were ousted from their elected
posts a year ago after filing the
lawsuit. They still have a civil
rights lawsuit pending against
their four former counterparts on
the Business Committee along
with Mills in connection with
their removal from office and a
subsequent ordinance that prevented them from running again
for office for the next four years.
In their recendy dismissed
suit, the pair wanted the government to intervene in the attempt
by financial adviser John Junius
Ousted leaders had accused BIA of failing to
supervise finances
By Lezlee E. Whiting
For the Deseret Morning News
FORT DUCHESNE - A federal court judge has dismissed a
lawsuit filed by two former Ute
Tribe Business Committee members who accused the Bureau of
Indian Affairs of breaching trust
responsibilities by failing to adequately supervise John Junius,
the tribe's financial adviser.
U.S. District Judge Tena
Campbell dismissed the suit
"with prejudice," which means
that once Ron Wopsock and
Luke Duncan exhaust all of their
"administrative remedies," they
may refile the case in federal
court if no solution is reached.
The suit named BIA Western
Region Director Wayne Nordwall and BIA Uintah-Ouray
Superintendent Chester Mills as
defendants. The Ute Tribe Business Committee was not named
in the suit; however, they filed
their own lawsuit to intervene in
the dispute on the side of the BIA
and Mills.
Tribal Business Committee
chairwoman Maxine Natchees
Melanie Benjamin, chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, speaks Friday, Oct. 15,
2004, at the Rock the Rez Vote Campaign Tour at Grand Casino Mille Lacs Events & Convention Center in Onamia, Minn. Benjamin has spearheaded a state-wide initiative to get Indians
out to vote in the upcoming presidential election. (AP Photo/Brainerd Dispatch, Nels Norquist)
Long-embattled Mount Graham telescope is
dedicated Friday
By Arthur H. Rotstein
Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP)_ The
world's most powerful optical telescope had its dedication ceremony Friday night
and astronomers hope to
begin using the instrument
to look for heavenly breakthroughs early next year.
~The dedication means
that we have gotten to a
point where the telescope
has come together and it's
beginning to work," said
Peter Strittmatter, director of
Steward Observatory, which
oversees the project.
Strittmatter also is president of LBT Corp., a partnership of several scientific
institutions that built the
$120 million Large Binocular Telescope.
Controversy has swirled
around plans for the Mount
Graham International Observatory since it got its start 20
years ago atop the 10,700-
foot mountain. Opponents
contended the observatory
would cause the demise of the
endangered Mount Graham red
squirrel. And the San Carlos
Apache Tribe said development
would desecrate a sacred mountain.
Environmentalists and members of the tribe filed some 40
lawsuits _ eight of which ended
up before a federal appeals court
_ but the University of Arizona
prevailed.
The telescope and mountain
observatory, about 125 miles
northeast of Tucson, also survived two major forest fires in
eight years, the most recent one
this summer.
The LBT, largest of three telescopes at the observatory, will
be used to explore never-seen
things like planets the size of
Jupiter in solar systems 20 to 30
light years away.
It also will be able to detect
and measure objects dating back
nearly 14 billion years _ believed
to be the beginning of time.
The LBT is the latest of numerous astronomical assets in
Arizona, long prized for its fre
quently clear nighttime skies.
Only one of the LBT's two
8.4-meter minors _ each nearly
28 feet in diameter _ is in place,
with its final aluminum coating
to be applied over the next two
months. Initial test images have
been taken already.
The other minor is still being
polished and installation is unlikely before the middle of next
year, with final operation of both
minors anticipated either late
next year or early in 2006.
The result will be images that
are about 10 times as sharp as
those from the Hubble Space
Telescope, enhanced by a technology called adaptive optics to
adjust and conect for the Earth's
atmospheric turbulence.
Arizona's observatories, which
employ about 1,000 scientists
and support staff, also include
Kitt Peak southwest of Tucson,
Mount Hopkins between Tucson
and Nogales and the Lowell and
U.S. Naval observatories in Flagstaff.
LAWSUIT to page 6
National
Indian
education
study slated
for 2005
The Department of
Education, Office of Indian
Education has commissioned the National Center
for Education Statistics to
conduct a National Indian
Education Study in 2005.
The study, the first ever of
its kind, will describe the
condition of education of
American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students after
focusing on both academic
achievement and educational
experiences in fourth and
STUDY to page 3
U.S. Supreme Court lets stand
ruling on reservation jurisdiction
By Chet Brokaw
Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. - The U.S.
Supreme Court refused Monday
to use a South Dakota appeal to
clarify state law officers' powers
to pursue tribal members onto
Indian reservations.
The nation's highest court let
stand a state Supreme Court ruling that said a Fall River County
deputy sheriff had no authority
to pursue a tribal member onto
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after noticing an apparent
traffic violation outside the reservation.
The South Dakota court's
decision, issued in April, meant
that evidence gathered after the
office stopped the suspect inside
the reservation could not be used
against the tribal member, who
was charged with speeding and
eluding an officer.
Attorney General Larry Long
had asked the U.S. Supreme
Court to overturn the April ruling, but the justices refused
Monday to consider the case.
The state had argued that a
previous U.S. Supreme Court
ruling gave state law officers jurisdiction on Indian reservations
in such cases.
But the South Dakota Supreme
Court said that previous ruling
does not provide enough guidance to justify changing the way
the law is applied in South Dakota. That means a state officer
has no authority to pursue a suspect onto a reservation without a
wanant or the tribes consent, the
RULING to page 3
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