Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-12-10

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Leech Lake
Special Primary
Election Results
page 7
Details of giant
spending bill Congress
sends to Bush
page 6
Fingerprinting,
sensors to tighten
northern borders
page 3
Letter to Vince Hill
on an empty
Peacemaker Center
page 4
Leech Lakers
give LaRose
another chance
page 4
Appeals Court rules on Cobell matters: Information
technology issues sent back to Judge Lamberth
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Jean Pagano
The United States Court
of Appeals for the District of
Columbia ruled last week on
several matters pertaining to the
landmark Cobell v. Secretary of
Interior case. In question were
U.S. District Judge Royce C.
Lamberth's action on information technology issues, and
whether or not the Cobell case
is inherently a trust issue. Secretary Norton and the Department
of Interior have been critical of
Judge Lamberth's close scrutiny
of many aspects of Interior's
handling of Individual Indian
Money (IIM) accounts.
At issue was Judge Lamberth's March 15, 2004 temporary injunction which disconnected the Department of
Interior (DOI) from the Internet.
Former Cobell Special Master
Alan Balaran had previously
reported to Judge Lamberth that
the Department of Interior computers were prone to hacking and
therefore did not have adequate
safeguards to insure the integrity of the data stored on them.
Both the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of the
Special Trustee (OST) have been
disconnected from the internet
since Decmber 2001.
The Appellate Court ruled that
while Judge Lamberth was correct in holding the Secretary of
Interior Gale Norton liable for
trust data held on DOI computers, it found that the judge had
"erred by placing the burden of
persuasion upon the Secretary,
disregarding Interior's certifications on the state of IT security,
and for failing to hold an evidentiary hearing prior to entering the
injunction."
Judge Lamberth entered a temporary restraining order against
DOI access to the internet on
July 28,2003. DOI then filed a
response to the issues on August
11, 2003 and the matter was not
addressed again until the March
15,2004 temporary injunction
superseded the one from July 28.
Judge Lamberth rejected Interior's August 11th finding on procedural grounds. The Appellate
Court ruled that the temporary
restraining order is only temporary and that Judge Lamberth
should have "conducted a hearing on the evidence in dispute".
Since this hearing was not held,
the Court vacated the March 15,
2004 order and remanded die
issue back to the disUict court.
While die three judge panel
found that Lamberth had erred in
not holding an evidentiary hearing, it was still critical of the Department of Interior: "Given the
admissions in the Consent Order
of Interior's past gross computer
security failures., .the district
court had audiority to require the
Secretary to propose a workable
plan."
The Court also touched upon
Interior's claim that it should be
viewed as an administrator of
the IIM Trust and not as a trustee. By claiming that it acts as an
administrator, Interior attempted
to state diat its handling of the
IIM accounts is beyond the
scope of the district court. The
Appellate Court did not agree
with this assumption. The Court
stated diat "the Secretary has an
"overriding duty... to deal fairly
with Indians and the Secretary's
actions must be judged by the
'most exacting fiduciary standards' in this litigation. The Secretary cannot now try to 'escape
h[er] role as trustee by donning
the mande of administrator' to
claim diat the courts must defer
to h[er] expertise and delegated
audiority."
In an earlier Cobell riding,
Judge Lamberdi mandated diat
Interior must have a full historical accounting of IIM accounts
by June of 2007. The Department of Interior has fought diis
court-imposed timetable and
has spent considerably more
time trying to evade its obligations as trustee dian it has
attempting to fix a 117 year
old problem. As die Appellate
Court stated, "there is a record
of agency recalcitrance and a
resistance to die fulfillment of
its legal duties."
No. 2 Interior official resigns; pleased with record
on energy
By John Heilprin
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Steven
Griles, the fonner lobbyist who
oversaw the Bush administration's push to open more public
land to energy development, said
Tuesday he was resigning as die
Interior Department's No. 2 of-
5 ficial.
Griles, the department's
deputy secretary, said he plans
to leave office by die end of
January and remrn to private
business. In a career shuttling
between regulating private energy interests and lobbying for
them, he secured a reputation as
the go-to broker running Bush's
program to lease out vast oil, gas
and coal reserves below federally owned land in die West.
VVI have been a regulator almost all my life. And, yes, I was
on the private sector side, and
it did have oil and gas in it. But
that taught me about what the
government does right, and what
die government does wrong," he
told The Associated Press in an
interview Tuesday.
To environmentalists, Griles
personified die Bush administration's cultivation of the coal
industry and its players, and diey
questioned many of his dealings,
particularly widi former lobbying clients. During nearly half
his tenure at Interior since July
2001 he was being investigated
by the department's inspector
general.
Inspector General Earl Devaney ultimately concluded Griles
didn't appear to violate ediics
mles by arranging meetings
between Interior officials and
his former lobbying clients and
partners, or in the award of $ 1.6
million in Interior contracts to a
former client.
But Devaney described Griles'
behavior as an example of vvan
institutional failure" among Interior officials who potentially
eroded public trust by failing to
consider die perceived impropriety of dieir actions.
Griles continued to receive
$284,000 a year, in addition to
his Interior salary, as part of a
four-year severance package
from his former lobbying and
consulting firm.
He called the charges against
him vva political gambit," made
by people opposed to the Bush
administration from the very
start.
VXI have had some very difficult issues to make in my
career," he said. VT think I've
always been fair and balanced. I
have never denied any environmental or conservation groups or
activists access to my office."
The Wdderness Society calculates that Interior, under Secretary Gale Norton and Griles, has
opened at least 160,000 public
Extradition hearing begins for man accused in
1975 Aquash killing
Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The extradition hearing
of a Canadian man wanted in
Soudi Dakota in the 1975 killing
of an American Indian Movement activist began here with a
tale of kidnapping and deadi.
Anna Mae Pictou Aquash was
tied up at a house in Denver,
Colo., driven to Soudi Dakota
and killed with a shot to the back
of her head, a Canadian prosecutor told a Supreme Court of British Columbia judge.
Arlo Looking Cloud and
Graham were charged with first-
degree murder in March 2003
widi the killing of Aquash on die
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Her body was foimd in Feb. 24,
1976.
Clad in a gray shirt and jeans,
Graham sat calmly, his arms
crossed, a beaded feadier twirling between his fingers. Dozens
of supporters attend die hearing.
vvMs. Aquash was executed
because she was involved in the
American Indian Movement,"
Debra Strachan told Justice
Elizabeth Bennett. vvShe was
believed by some leaders of that
movement to be an FBI informant.
~The allegation is that Mr.
Looking Cloud and Mr. Graham
forced her off die side of a road
and Mr. Graham shot her in die
back of the head.
vvShe was crying and praying
for her cliildren," Strachan said
Looking Cloud lias stated.
Looking Cloud dien took the
gun - a .32-caliber revolver - and
fired die remaining rounds into
die ground, Strachan said.
The gun was dien buried, she
said. It has not been recovered.
Later, Strachan said, Graham
spoke of the incident with medicine man Al Gates.
vvGraham indicated he didn't
know whether what he did was
right or wrong, she said.
But, she said Gates added diat
Graham told him:vv When everydiing comes out, I'll have a lot of
people to go widi me."
Strachan said during a 1975
meeting at a Denver home, it
was decided that Pictou Aquash
was to be taken to die offices of
die Wounded Knee Legal Defense Committee in Rapid City,
S.D., to deal widi allegations she
was an informant.
She was tied up and driven to
Soudi Dakota by Looking Cloud,
Graham and another person,
Strachan said.
One AIM member was told
diey were going to get rid of
Aquash because she knew too
much, Strachan said.
Looking Cloud was convicted
in Feb. 6 in die slaying. He must
serve at least 10 years before becoming eligible for parole. Looking Cloud admitted he helped
drive Aquash from Denver to
Rapid City and eventually to the
place where he said Graham shot
her. I Ie insisted he did not know
she was going to be kiUed.
Graham pleaded not guilty and
is fighting extradition from Vancouver.
Graham has told The Associated Press die delays in Ins extradition hearing beginning have been
good for his case. It would allow
his legal team time to assess the
appeal of co-accused Looking
Cloud, he's said.
Graham was arrested in April
2003 but is currendy on bail with
strict conditions. As Graham listened to the opening of die case
against him, AIM Grand Governing Council member Vernon
Bellecourt took a seat at die back
of the courtroom.
Bellecourt is critical of bodi
die Looking Cloud trial and
Graham's extradition case.
vvFrom the beginning, it was
a trial of die American Indian
Movement, he said outside die
courtroom.
He said Looking Cloud had
beenvvcoerced, coached and
intimidated" prior to his vvsham"
trial.
VVI assume die same thing
will be going on here," he said.
v They use die so-called notoriety _ winch exceeds the reality
_ of die American Indian Movement to cloak die proceedings."
Bellecourt said he had come
to Canada to try and prevent the
same from happening to Graham.
In extradition cases, die Canadian govenunent represents die
country seeking extradition in
die courts.
"This young man is being
cloaked with the American Indian Movement," he said. "They
AQUASH to page 5
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 26
December 10, 2004
acres of potential wilderness,
mainly in Utah and Colorado, to
oil and gas drilling.
vvHe saw himself as implementing die Bush-Cheney
agenda on oil and gds," Dave
Alberswerdi, a Wilderness Society resource specialist, said of
Griles. vvHe did a great job for
his industry patrons in the oil,
gas, coal energy industry. That's
what he was diere to do."
Griles said he's proud of encouraging energy development
along the Rock) Mountain Front {
and odier areas, and of improved
cooperation between the government and private conservation
efforts.
"LTnder the president's watch,
our air is cleaner, our water is
purer, our parks are better managed, our wilderness is protected
and we're adding wedands once
again for our wildlife," he asserted.
One of Griles' main preoccupations, bodi in the office and
the courtroom, has been die massive Indian tnist case alleging
that tens of billions of dollars in
royalties due Indians were stolen, lost or never collected.
"We have 130 years of neglect
that we're trying to conect," he
said. "But I think" we're beginning to see die light at die end of
the tunnel."
Archie LaRose excited by primary election results
By Bill Lawrence
We congratulate die winners of the Leech Lake
Primary Election. Archie
LaRose was die front-runner
and Donnie Headbird was die
runner up out of a field of 14
candidates. The election was
held to detennine who would
fill die two years remaining
of die Secretary/Treasurer position after Archie LaRose's
removal from office. Since
no candidate received 50% of
die vote, die two top vote getters must face each other in
die General Election February 15,2005.
Press/ON met widi Archie LaRose. We found
him energized by the 437-
173-vote win, yet gracious
about the outcome. He was
forthright in expressing his
views on a variety of questions. He was articulate in
expressing his beliefs and
his responses to our questions were often original
and insightful. The results
of the interview follow in a
question/answer format.
What did you do in this
campaign that helped you
to be the winner? T worked
8 10 hours each day on my
campaign, somedays 12-13
hours. I went door to door,
visiting widi die people.
From diem I found out about
dieir needs and wants. After
I finally received certification I only had about six
weeks to campaign. People
helped me too. I had a campaign coimnittee made up of
young people and people in
dieir middle years. Elders
also served on my campaign
and helped me in many
ways.
What will be different
Arthur "Archie" LaRose
for you on the Council this
time if you win in the General
Election? I believe in keeping
the people infonned about what
is happening at the Council. I
will rely heavily on having public meetings so die people can
be infonned about what is going
on. I feel sure the people wdl
participate if asked. I will use
the radio, the Native newspapers to advertise die meetings.
I will disuibute flyers too so
everyone wiU know in advance
about the meeting. By attending diese meetings die people
wiU know what's going on. I
believe every weighty decision
should be made at diese public
meetings, in front of the people.
I. will insist on the right to
hire my own auditors and a
controller. Although it was a
usual practice for new RBC
members to be allowed to make
dieir own hires, I was denied
that privilege after my 2002
victory. It's important that die
Secretary/Treasurer has a staff
that is qualified and tmstworthy.
I will continue to push for
forensic audits. When I was
elected the first time it was
because of my promise to have
professional audits. If the RBC
won't support the audits, won't
pay for diem, I'll seek grant
funds to do them.
Aside from supporting public meetings, I am not making
LAROSE to page 6
Leech Lake Primary Victory for LaRose
Cass Lake, MN- The results of the primary special election reveal a
convincing victory for Arthur "Archie" LaRose. The total number of votes
cast was 1,355 of which LaRose tallied 437, or 32.3%. The runner-up was
Donnie Headbird with 173 votes, or 12.8%. LaRose and Headbird will face
off in a general election to be held on February 15,2005.
The election was necessary because of the July removal of LaRose,
from his position as Secretary-Treasurer, by the other members of the
Reservation Business Committee (RBC). The removal was the RBC
response to LaRose's attempt to conduct an independent audit of the
reservation's finances. Rather than put the question of removal before
the voters the RBC opted to remove LaRose themselves. This allowed the
four RBC members to ignore the wishes of the 1,158 Leech Lakers that
voted for LaRose in 2002. An analysis of the election indicates that LaRose
retains substantial support from the people of Leech Lake.
- Wallace W.Storbakken
Trump wants
$500 million to
drop lawsuit
against tribe
Associated Press
NEW LONDON, Conn. -
Donald Tnunp got fired. Now
he's asking for $500 million.
The real estate mogul and
television star is offering to
drop his breach of contract
lawsuit against die Eastern
Pequot tribe and the casino
investors who replaced him in
exchange for a half a bdlion
dollars.
vvThe figure was arrived at
very carefully by people in die
Trump organization who de-
tennined what likely income
woidd have been generated
had the Trump organization
gone forward widi die Eastern
Pequot casino," Trump's lawyer, Robert I. Reardon, told
The Day of New London.
The Eastern Pequots' attorney, however, says the tribe is
not interested in die deal.
VVI think a more appropriate valuation is die one he
(Trump) put in his bankruptcy
filing, which is zero," Lawyer
Robert D. Tobin said.
Trump invested more dian
$10 million through one of his
subsidiary companies in an
effort to help a faction of the
tribe open a casino.
Assets for the subsidiary
are listed as $0 in last mondi's
Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing
by Trump Hotels & Casino
Resorts Inc., which mainly
consists of diree Adantic City
properties and a riverboat casino in Indiana.
Trump and Amalgamated
Industries of Windsor made a
deal widi die Paucattick Eastern Pequots, the smaller of
TRUMP to page 3
Means files suit to postpone Fire
Thunder's inauguration
By Dirk Lammers
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-
American Indian activist Russell
Means has filed a federal lawsuit
seeking to postpone die Oglala
Sioux Tribe from swearing in
the woman who beat him for the
uibal presidency until his election appeal is heard.
Cecelia Fire Thunder defeated
Means in die Nov. 2 election on
die Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
But Means, in a lawsuit filed
in U.S. District Court dus week,
contends that Fire Thunder
should have never been a candidate because she doesn't live
within the exterior boundaries of
Pine Ridge, as required by law.
Fire Thunder lives in the town of
Martin in Bennett County, which
shares its nordi and west borders
widi Pine Ridge.
Means' suit asks die court to
issue a temporary restraining order and require the tribe's Court
of Election Appeals to hear his
and other residents' appeals contesting the election.
xvThat's what we're asking
for, is an appearance before the
Court of Election Appeals," he
said Thursday.vv Because we've
appealed it. And we named in
die lawsuit the different people
who have appealed and have
been totally ignored."
Fire Thunder could not be
reached for comment Thursday.
She told the Lakota Times
newspaper last month diat she's
not concerned widi Means'
complaints about her residency
because she contends Bennett
County is within die boundaries
of die Pine Ridge resenation.
She's scheduled to be swoni
in, along with odier tribal leaders, at the Littie Wound School
in Kyle on Dec. 11.
Means said he went to the
federal courthouse Thursday
afternoon and was given an order
from U.S. District Judge Karen
Schreier saying the suit could
not be considered because his
motion failed to include a brief
containing specific points of law.
Means, who wrote the brief
himself, said it's not an issue of
points of law and quickly jotted down a handwritten motion
before the courthouse closed
Thursday asking the judge lo reconsider.
Fie said he simply wants die
federal court to intervene, on
behalf of the voters, to get die
courts on die reservation to live
up to their own laws.
VVA11 we're asking the judge
to do is to make die courts down
diere obey dieir own rules," he
said.
Election Board Chairwoman
Melanie Grey Eagle could not be
reached at die uibe's election office Thursday.
Means' campaign was his
third mn at tribal president. He
started an acting career after his
involvement in die American Indian Movement's confrontations
with the U.S. government in the
1970s and remains outspoken on
Indian rights.
Means grew up on the Pine
Ridge reservation and maintains
a ranch there.
Fire Thunder was bom on Pine
Ridge, moved to California when
she was a chdd and reninied 24
years later in 1987.
She went to nursing school
and eventuady became part of an
effort to provide free health care
to people who couldn't afford it.
After returning to the reservation, Fire Thunder has worked
for a hospital, the tribe, state
MEANS to page 3