Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-12-24

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Free subscription
appreciated
page 4
LaRose seems busy
on the campaign trail
page 4
Where we were,
where we are, where
we are headed
page 4
Negative issues
outweighed
positives
in 2004
page 4
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
NA TIVE AMERICAN PRESS/OJIBWE NEWS
NOTE: NO ISSUE ON DECEMBER 31
Lawsuit attempts to enforce civil rights on Leech
Lake Reservation
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
by Bill Lawrence
Earlier this month, eleven former Leech Lake governmental
employees sued for enforcement
of dieir civil and constitutional
rights in the Leech Lake Tribal
Court. The Complaint (for Civd
Rights and Liberties) charges
tribal officials with multiple
violations of federal civil rights
laws. Specifically for: 1. depriving these employees of
Equal Rights under the law;
2. conspiring to deprive equal
protection of the laws; 3. violation of protections under the
Indian Civil Rights Act, such
as denial of due process, using
intimidation to create a' chill'
on the peoples' right to lawful
assembly, the unlawful use of
police to search and seize during the termination process, and
for humiliation of the Plaintiffs
during the termination process;
4. for tribal officials' failure to
act when they knew and had the
power to prevent wrongs and
neglected to do so; 5. violations
of the equal protection and due
process clauses of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribal and the United
States Constitutions; 6. wrongful
termination; 7. defamation and
intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit does not weaken
or attempt to get around the sovereignty of the tribe, but rather
uses civil rights laws to hold
elected officials and governmental employees accountable, or
liable, for improper and intentional misuse of governmental
powers that result in the abuse
and violation of the rights of
people on Leech Lake Reservation.
Plaintiffs said in an interview
last week in the Cass Lake
Times "if we don't respect ourselves, we can't expect others
to respect us eidier. And if we
don't make a safe environment
for the employees, we can't all
prosper together."
In addition to seeking a judgment in excess of $2 million
dollars, the ex-employees want
to enter into a Consent Decree to
develop an independent civil service commission to establish a
merit system for equal rights hiring practices and a termination
review board to provide for due
process review, free of political
interference.
Fairness and stability are two
essential ingredients missing in
tribal government which negatively impact the personal lives
and livelihoods of die Anishinabe people.
Typically, politicians are
elected to set policy and goals;
governmental employees
carry out the work. Wasting die
people's resources to publicly
defame and ridicule employees
must stop.
If die lawsuit is successful it
may serve as a model for protections for all of Indian Country's
governmental employment
whenever long-term, non-probationary, tribal employees
have been arbitrarily terminated
following elections as part of a
political purge or agenda.
The entire memorandum of
law fded by the Plaintiffs in support of their Complaint for Civil
Rights and Liberties on LLR follows on page 3.
Fire destroys
Cass Lake
home and office
A Cass Lake couple lost
dieir home and belongings in
a fire Monday afternoon. The
couple, Bernard and Feather
Rock, also lost dieir collection
of American Indian culuiral
material. Their home also
housed the office for die North
Central Minnesota Native
American Veterans Outreach
and Resource Center.
A fund to help the center
has been set up at Wells Fargo
Bank in Bemidji.
Bernard, a candidate for
kidney transplant at an Oregon
Veterans' hospital, expects die
surgery to happen in die next
several mondis. A fundraiser to
help the couple is being organized. Details will be
fortlicoming.
Las Vegas Pauite Tribe lawsuit ruling
A bruising five-year batde
diat ripped apart the Las Vegas
Paiute tribe has led to a decision that's likely to set national
precedent in Indian law. A tribal
judge has ruled that 14 members
of the Las Vegas Paiutes, who
were kicked out of the tribe five
years ago, must be reinstated.
The channel 8 Eyewitness
News I-Team has followed the
story from the beginning and reports diis fight is less about
blood than it is about money.
As a little girl, Gloria Wilson
lived with her family on die
downtown Paiute reservation
in a tarpaper shack. There was
no running water or electricity.
Her mother was a founder of
the tribal govenunent. In diose
days, other Paiutes weren't exactly clamoring to join the Las
Vegas tribe. But that changed in
the 1970s when the tribal smoke
shop opened and die money
started rolling in.
Newcomers claiming Pauite
blood joined the tribe and essentially took over. In 1999, the new
tribe decided to get rid of the
old tribe altogether. One tactic
diat was used — blood records
were obliterated with white out,
and then rewritten.
The tribal council voted to
oust 14 members because they
simply weren't "Paiute" enough.
"We'd been there forever, and
we're the ones booted out," said
Gloria Wilson.
Deborah Faria is also a Las
Vegas Paiute. She said, "They
basically took my Indian blood
away from me. Til fight for my
heritage as long as it takes."
The tribal council says the
ouster was prompted by a desire to set the record straight,
but those who were kicked out
RULING to page 8
Fort Lewis Professor to step down after writings
about American Indian students
The Associated Press
DURANGO, Colo. - A
professor whose article on teaching American Indians sparked
accusations of racism will give
up instructing and step down as
head of the Fort Lewis College
Center of Southwest Studies.
Andrew Gulliford will step
down April 1 after five years as
center director, Brad Bartel, college president, said Wednesday.
"There is a sacred trust between faculty and smdents in the
classroom," Bartel said. "Faculty
cannot disrespect the dignity and
privacy of smdents."
School officials said he will
take up a non-instructional position doing fund-raising and
outreach work in die Office of
Rare accident
happens all too
often on Leech
Lake reservation
Associated Press
CASS LAKE,Minn.-It's
a kind of accident that's rare
in most places. It happens all
too often on the Leech Lake
Indian Reservation.
People get so drunk diat they
pass out on the highway or
stumble into die padi of a car
and are run over and killed, or
at least seriously injured, the
Star Tribune of N linneapolis
reported N londay.
On die huge, poor reservation in northern Minnesota,
some people have lost dieir licenses or have no car. So they
walk, often at night, and too
often drunk, the newspaper
said. Now and then, someone
passes out on the road, and
die driver of an oncoming
vehicle fails to notice until it's
too late.
According to figures from
the Minnesota Department of
Public Safety, Cass County,
which contains most of the
reservation s population, is
one of the state's 14 worst
counties for alcohol-related
traffic fatalities.
Cass Count} had 26 alcohol-related fatalities in the
ACCIDENT to page 3
Community Services. Gulliford
was not avadable for comment.
His article, "The Kokopelli
Conundrum: Lessons Learned
from Teaching Native American
Students," was published in the
October edition of American
Studies International. Several
Indian students said it exhibited
racism, stereotypes and was a
violation of student privacy.
In the article, Gulliford said
"teaching native smdents has
brought me some of the most
meaningful and satisfying professional experience in a 25-year
teaching career. I am so grateful
for die opportunity to five and
learn here, but for an Anglo or
non-native, teaching native smdents, especially about Indian
issues, can be bodi difficult and
rewarding. There are frequendy
cross-cultural complications and
conundrums."
He also says Indian smdents
are "quiet, well-groomed" or
"impeccably polite"   —   statements students said seemed to
assume they would be otherwise.
They were also unhappy widi
a quote from an unidentified
student who says, "My parents
didn't teach me anything because they were frequendy drunk
with their car in a ditch."
Gulliford apologized, but a
school investigation concluded
the article violated student privacy under federal law because
it included testimony and state-
PROFESSOR to page 8
Washoe Tribe reaps benefits of
solar energy
Associated Press
GARDNERVILLE, Nev. - The
Washoe Tribe of Nevada and
California is reaping big benefits
from solar energy.
Since September, solar panels
installed on a tribal office in
Gardnerville has been absorbing
energy and sending it into Sierra
Pacific Power Co.'s grid.
In return, the tribe has received
a $33,185 rebate from Sierra
Pacific for its investment in solar
energy. And it's saving big on its
electricity bdl. Last month's bill
was 93 cents.
The rebate is the first in the
state's SolarGenerations demonstration project approved by
the 2003 Nevada Legislature to
encourage renewable energy use.
Sierra Pacific customers who
install the photovoltaic panels
are eligible for rebates based on
TRIBE to page 4
Two small counties hit harder
by alcohol
Associated Press
DULUTH, Minn. - Two
sparsely populated comities
in northern Minnesota have
alcohol-related traffic deadis
of about 20 times diose of the
busiest metro-area county, state
figures show.
Both counties, Mahnomen and
Cass, are rural and contain parts
of the state's two largest reserva
tions for American Indians, who
have been afflicted disproportionately by substance abuse.
Between 2001 and 2003,
Mahnomen County had die
highest alcohol-related fatality
rate and die highest rate of DWI
arrests, with one arrest for every
six residents and one death for
every 865 people, the Star Tribune reported Sunday.
Mahnomen County is home to
the White Eardi Ojibwe Reservation. Sheriff Brad Atlunann said
the numbers don't surprise him.
vvWe have a high rate of poverty and a high rate of unemployment," he said. vvThere's too
much drinking going on, a lot of
drinking and driving."
Cass County, home to part of
the Leech 1 .ake Ojibwe reservation, had 26 deaths in 2001-
2003, more dian metro-area
Anoka, Dakota and Washington
counties each had, despite the
vastly greater numbers of people
and cars.
"There's no denying that alcoholism and drug use is a huge
problem for our people," said
Lila George, coordinator of die
Addiction and Dependency program on die Leech Lake Ojibwe
ALCOHOL to page 4
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Volume 17 Issue 28
December 24, 2004
Thanksgiving in Spain's
Basque country
Minnesota group in Basauri by the Bay of
Roxanne Gould is not
used to seeing her pictures
splashed everywhere. But she
got a taste of celebrity when
she spent diis Thanksgiving in the Basque region of
Spain as a member of a Minnesota contingent invited
by die Basques to participate
in a festival that highlights
the history and culture of
North American Indians. The
two-mondi festival, called
Planet Basauri, is one of the
biggest events of the year in
Basauri, a small industrial
city of 50,000 people about
200 miles nordi of Madrid
by the Bay of Biscay. To promote die festival, organizers
printed thousands of posters
feamring die Minnesota visitors and pasted them all over
Basque country.
"The posters of us were
everywhere," said Gould, an
Odawa/Ojibwe and coordinator
of die LPs Circles of Indigenous
Nations and the Basque/Native
exchange. "I even saw one on
die condom shop window."
The Basques celebrate a different culture at the festival each
year. This year they are highlighting the plains and woodland
American Indians, especial the
Dakota and Ojibwe. and invited
the Minnesotans on an all-expense paid visit. The first Minnesota contingent representing nine
Native nations included Gould,
LI instructor Jim Rock, smdents,
performers, artists, elders and
representatives from die Science
Museum, the Minneapolis Arts
Instimte and the Minnesota Historical Society, die diree organizations in charge of setting up
the exhibits during the festival.
At the opening ceremony, a
blessing and traditional pipe ceremony took place followed by
dance performances and storytelling. The Minnesota Native
dancers performed with Basque
countries' top dance troupe.
The Minnesota contingent
also stages a Native exhibit at
Basauri's 1,000-year-old museum, conducted workshops with
children on dance, music and
storytelling, visited sacred sites
and met die locals. Everywhere
diey went, tiiey were treated to
Basque's hospitality.
"They were very respectful
and very interested in who we
are," Gould said of her hosts.
"Many people didn't speak
fluent English but tiiey would
come up and thank us and ask
how diey could learn about our
people."
Gould also learned much
about die Basques, the oldest
indigenous peoples in Europe
who live in France and Spain.
SPAIN to page 4
Interview: BIA head Anderson says hands
full despite recusals
By Frederic J. Frommer
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Dave Anderson made more headlines
in his first year as cliief of die
Bureau of Indian Affairs for
what he didn't do dian what
he did. Anderson removed
liimself from any decisions
on tribal recognition or Indian
gambling to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest, because of his past work
in the gambling industry.
Anderson founded Grand
Casinos Inc., the fonner casino management company
for the Mille Lacs Band of
Ojibwe, in central Minnesota,
before leaving die company
to launch lus Famous Dave's
barbecue restaurant chain in
Minnesota.
Some critics say diat Anderson should not be BIA chief
if he can't handle gambling
and recognition decisions. But
Anderson, 51, says diere are
more important tilings for him
to focus on as BIA cliief. He
sat down last week with The
Associated Press to discuss his
first year on die job.
AP: Do you plan to stay
through a second Bush administration? Anderson: I
very definitely do. I think this
is an incredible opportunity
to get some things done. One
of die reasons T m here is to
help create die change that's
needed in the bureau.
AP: Now that you're not
handling gaming and recognition, what are the things that
you are spending most of your
attention on? I take issue with
people who try to say diat
gaming is the only high priority in Indian country. I would
say a great majority of die tribes
are not in areas where gaming
would be a significant economic
base for them. When we are in
meetings widi tribes, the tribes
tell us dieir priorities are law
enforcement, healdi, education,
infrastructure and administration
of the tribes."
I really believe that one of
die reasons that I'm here is the
vision diat I have for turning
bureau schools into leadership
academies. I really believe we
have an incredible opportunity,
more dian we' vc ever had before, because of technology, that
our cliildren can access local
resources and dirive in a global
economy.
We will be holding our first
Vision Conference on mining
bureau schools into leadership
academies. By next fall, we will
be having four schools developed into prototype models.
AP: How will a leadership
academy be different from a
regular school? Our cliildren,
many of diem are growing up in
dysfunctional communities. One
of die dungs we want to start
doing is creating nourishing environments for our smdents. My
idtimate goal is to have 100 percent acceptance of all of our high
school smdents and universities
- and it's doable.
One of die schools we're looking at is the Harlem Boys and
Girls Choir Academy (formally
known as The Choir Academy of
I Iarlem). Last year, they had 100
percent acceptance into colleges
and universities. So it tells mc,
diis is not some pie-in-the-sky
dream, but this can acmally happen.
AP: WUl additional funding be required for these types
of schools? I don't think it's
additional funding, I think it's
a change of philosophy. ... We
have gone out and found die best
of die best, die top schools in the
country, for creating die model
for our bureau schools. I have
spoken to almost 4,000 Indian
educators in the last four months,
and have received outstanding
support for this idea.
AP: You've been on the job a
little under a year. What would
you say are your most notable
accomplishments? For the first
time in hi story, we put together
a book on what we have done
in Indian country _ if you can
believe that! For die first time in
history, we now have a repository in Kansas, outside Kansas
City, where 150,000 of our boxes
of historical records are now
kept. Before, diese records were
just kind of floating all over the
bureau offices. We are in the process of putting in state-of-the-art
computer systems in die bureau,
which will help us provide better
service to our Indian people.
I'm really excited about our
economic development efforts. I
believe that if tribes are going to
be sovereign, we need to be economically independent. We are
in die process of revamping our
economic branch of the bureau,
and elevating it to a higher priority ...
AP: What are some of your
biggest frustrations? When
people are challenging me, diey
say diat I tend to look at things
through rose-colored glasses,
diat F m Pollyannaish. Like my
positive mental attitude quotes
all over. They're used to seeing Indian pictures on this wall.
INTERVIEW to page 3