Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-12-23

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
2
3
Cherokee fighting
meth with policing,
treatment
Celebrating likely victory,
Morales repeats vow to kill
anti-coca
Baucus will return
Abramoff donations
Sensible Wishes for
New Year at Leech
Lake did not ring true
2005 Editorials
- a look back
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
■
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 6
page 6
page 5
page 4
page 4
Federal Judge denies government request for
reconsideration in Mdewakanton Sioux land case
By Bill Lawreoce
In a decision dated December
16, 2005, U.S. Court of Claims
Judge Charles F. Lettow denied
the federal government's motion to reconsider his decision
of October 28, 2004. In that
decision Judge Lettow found
the federal government liable
for the actions of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs in misidentifying
the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux as beneficiaries. In the
October 28 decision Judge Lettow granted judgment liability
against the United States, defendant in the case filed on behalf
of the Mdewakanton Coalition
(Case #03-26841. . . originally
filed January 16, 2003, Sheldon
Peters Wolfchild, et al., v. the
United States of America.)
The suit claimed the federal
government breached its fiduciary trust and broke its contract
with the legitimate heirs of the
Mdewakanton Sioux, i.e. those
individuals, and their heirs forever, named on a May 20, 1886
census. The decision of the Federal Claims Court supports this
claim.
The legal documents state
"This dispute concerns the United
States' management of property
originally provided for the benefit
of those Mdewakanton Sioux
who were loyal to the United
States during the Sioux Outbreak
in Minnesota during 1862.
Judge Lettow's decision reads,
in part, "The Court grants plaintiffs' . . . partial summary judgment that (1) a trust was created
in connection with and as a consequence of the 1888, 1889 and
1890 Appropriations Acts for the
benefit of the Mdewakanton and
their lineal descendants which
trust included land, improvements to land, and monies as the
corpus; (2) said trust was neither
extinguished nor terminated by
the 1980 Act and (3) such trust
was breached by the United
States through actions taken in
December 1980 and thereafter."
What follows is a considerable
amount of actual text from the
decision: "There were three different motions fded. (1) by the
government for reconsideration
(2) filed by the plaintiffs seeking
to institute a procedure providing
notice to all lineal descendants
who are not now named parties in
the action. A third set of motions
was filed by putative amici curiae
and concerned the rule of amici in
this action.
"Three of the amici are Indian
communities in Minnesota (Shakopee, Prairie Island and Lower
Sioux) that obtained interest in
the trust property it issue pursuant to the 1980 Act. The posture
of the communities in this case
gives rise to a question whether
summons should be issued to join
them as parties....
"To prevail on its motion for
reconsideration, the government
must provide evidence showing
that one of the three traditional
elements of a trust—a trustee,
beneficiaries, and trust property—is lacking, or at a minimum
is placed in doubt....
"The government's motion
for reconsideration puts forward
several contentions that the court
had previously addressed and
JUDGE to page 3
V  O   ICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
Fry bread mountain - a modern myth
By Anne M. Dunn
It happened during the summer of 1979 that an elder woman
walked from Leech Lake to LCO.
She carried her belongings in a
small black backpack and pulled
a large wagon heaped with commodity flour and dry mil, salt,
shortening and baking powder.
She also brought a large mixing bowl which she had received
from her Uncle TeeDee, a wooden
spoon from Cousin Fanny, a long-
handled fork from Aunt Rose and a
black iron skillet that had belonged
to her own good mother.
The woman came because she
had dreamed a mountain and believed that it was her responsibility
to see the dream become reality.
When she arrived at LCO she
quickly located a likely site, built
herself a sturdy wigwam and began to raise the mountain she had
seen in the frosty twilights of her
winter dreams.
She began by mixing great
quantities of bread dough and laid
it out on birch bark mats to rest.
Then she built a stone fire pit,
kindled a friendly fire and melted
the shortening in her big black
skillet. Finally she began forming
the fry bread and laying it in the
hot fat. The oil sizzled around the
edges. Soon the dough puffed up
beautifully and cooked into perfect pieces of delicious bread.
When she had cooked enough
to fill the wagon she pulled it into
the center of the area where the
mountain would be located and
laid the bread on the ground.
Then she set about the work of
making more dough.
Within three days she had
exhausted her supply of flour.
So she pulled her wagon to the
nearest house and asked for more
flour.
The lady of the house, Tilly
Tullaby, was reluctant to give her
flour to a woman who left bread on
the ground. But when she heard
the story of the dream and how
the elder woman wanted to build
a monument to fry bread at LCO,
Tilly gave her the flour and urged
her to return for more when it was
needed.
So the elder woman was able to
continue for a couple more days.
But when the gift of flour had been
used up, she found her supply of
dry milk was also depleted.
When the elder woman arrived
at Tilly's generous door, Tilly
knew it would take more than one
source to supply all the flour and
dry milk that would be needed to
build a fry bread mountain. So she
began gathering a volunteer army
MYTH to page 3
Sentencing postponed - no new
date set in Louis
Jourdain case
By Amy Forliti
MINNEAPOLIS - (AP) Sentencing has been postponed for the
Red Lake teenager who admitted to
exchanging threatening computer
messages, according to sources
familiar with the case.
Louis Jourdain, 17, was scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday
after admitting last month to making "threatening interstate communications." He was arrested during
the investigation into a March 21
shooting rampage by 16-year-old
gunman Jeff Weise that claimed
10 lives on the reservation, but
charges directly connecting him to
the shooting were dropped.
Jourdain, the son of Red Lake
Tribal Chairman Floyd Jourdain,
Jr., was a friend of Weise, who
killed nine people before taking his
own life.
A source familiar with the case
told the Associated Press that as of
Wednesday evening, the sentencing
had not been rescheduled. Under
law, the sentencing would have to
happen within 20 business days
from Jourdain's plea agreement
- which would be midweek next
week. The case has been in juvenile
court, so all of the hearings have
been private and most of the court
documents have been sealed.
The charge Jourdain admitted to
carries a five-year maximum sentence, but U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank will have wide discretion
in determining the penalty. Postponing the sentencing is not unusual, as
parties may need more time to gather
infonnation in the case.
Ruling: Family of Red Lake
victims can't attend sentencing
By Amy Forliti
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Families of
Red Lake shooting victims will
be barred from Louis Jourdain's
sentencing hearing because they
are not direct "victims" of the
crime admitted by the teen, and
the case is a juvenile matter, a
federal judge ruled Friday.
But U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank said the U.S.
attorney's office has the discretion
to meet with family members
to discuss information gathered
about the motives and actions of
16-year-old gunman Jeff Weise.
Weise killed nine people before
taking his own life in a March 21
shooting rampage that began on
the northern Minnesota reservation and ended at Red Lake High
School.
"We, for some time, have been
developing a plan on how to share
information with the victims, and/
or, next of kin, at Red Lake," said
U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger.
"We're going to talk about the
results of our investigation."
He said it would be inappropriate to discuss details of the plan,
or the timing of it. The meeting
will be private, and would likely
include representatives of the FBI
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Heffelfinger said.
A week after the shooting, au-
RULING to page 6
Garagiola, nun aid reservation
school children
By Betty Beard
The Arizona Republic
PHOENIX (AP) _ Sports broadcaster Joe Garagiola Sr. jokes that
the little St. Peter's Indian Mission
School on the Gila River Reservation is the home of Our Lady of
Quicksand.
"Once you get in, you can't get
out," says Garagiola, 79, who has
been "in" for 10 years now, bringing in businesses, sports teams,
schools and volunteers.
The remote school in the village
of Bapchule struggled for years
until the part-time Diamondbacks
broadcaster, who knows how to
twist the arms of business people,
met the determined nun who runs
the place.
And Sister Martha, the principal, finally got some miracles she
had prayed for.
What Garagiola first saw at
the school on the dusty desert
shocked him. The school, which
only has about 215 students, was
so poor that during basketball
competitions, the girls and boys
had to share basketball uniforms,
with the girls wearing the sweaty
clothes after the boys.
When the school's van couldn't
go into reverse, the nuns just made
wide turns and didn't back up.
The girls' bathroom didn't have
doors on the stalls. The church on
the school grounds wasn't air-conditioned. Wood floors in all of the
CHILDREN to page 6
Judge orders $7 million in fees, expenses in Indian case
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A federal
judge has ordered the government
to pay $7 million in legal fees and
expenses in an ongoing lawsuit on
behalf of half a million American
Indians, saying the Interior Department had acted in bad faith
in the case.
The class-action suit accuses
the department of not properly
compensating Indians for oil
and gas production on their land,
alleging government mismanagement of more than $ 100 billion in
royalties dating back to 1887.
In the interim award of fees
and expenses, U.S. District Judge
Royce Lamberth said the government's actions entitle the
plaintiffs an enhancement of
their legal fees. The government
ignored its responsibilities to the
Indian beneficiaries and engaged
in conduct that an appeals court
concluded was unreasonable,
Lamberth wrote.
The government "made numerous illegitimate representations," the judge added. A special
master in the case found that the
Interior Department had violated
court orders by overwriting e-
mail backup tapes and destroying
potentially responsive evidence.
The amount of legal fees is
$4.5 million and the amount of
expenses is $2.5 million.
The government had opposed
the award, saying the request
for the money was poorly documented and excessive. The Indi
ans had asked for $14.5 million.
The judge agreed with part of the
government's argument, saying
there was insufficient detail to
justify some of the request.
The Bush administration has
become so frustrated with Lamberth that it has taken the unusual
step of asking he be removed
from the case.
Lamberth has held Interior
Secretary Gale Norton and her
Clinton-era predecessor, Bruce
Babbitt, in contempt for their
handling of the trust fund.
Often, an appeals court has
reversed Lamberth's opinions,
including the contempt order
against Norton.
web page: www.press-on.net
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Volume 18 Issue 27
December 23, 2005
Waiting for Justice
Dale Greene, Jr., Buddie Greene and Dale Greene, Sr. in front of the Aitken County Courthouse
waiting for justice. See article on page 4.
Oneida Tribes buys nearly 1,500
acres of land from state
Associated Press
ONEIDA, Wis. - The Oneida
Tribe bought 1,485 acres of
agricultural land Tuesday from
the state.
The tribe will pay the state
$9.1 million for the land near
the Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center. It's been owned
by the state since 1921.
"We're extremely pleased,"
Tribal Chief of Staff Bill Goll-
nick said. "We were offered
the land in the 1970s, but we
didn't have the resources then
to act in a timely manner."
The purchase helps the tribe
fulfill its commitment to reacquire its original reservation
land.
Under the purchase agreement approved last week by
the State Building Commission, the state will lease the
land from the tribe for 10 years
for $83,000 a year. The state
will retain the right to extend the
lease.
The state will retain 149 acres
that include the correctional
center, farm building and firing
range. The center currently has
110 men.
"This helps balance our budget
and provide property tax relief,
education funding and things like
that," said Sean Dilweg, state
Department of Administration
executive assistant.
The land became available
when Department of Corrections
officials realized that fewer inmates were pursuing agricultural
jobs when they were released,
Gollnick said.
All but 100 acres of the land is
in Outagamie County, with the
rest in Brown County.
Bush signs bill to settle Indian
jurisdiction issues
Associated Press
President Bush has signed
into law a measure that clarifies
who has jurisdiction over criminal cases within pueblo boundaries, a White House spokesman
announced Tuesday.
The legislation stems from a
series of court decisions that left
confusion over whether federal,
state or tribal law enforcement
officials had jurisdiction on
thousands of acres of privately
owned land within the boundaries of Indian pueblos.
Recent cases _ including a
stabbing at Pojoaque Pueblo,
a criminal sexual-contact case at
Santa Clara Pueblo and an aggravated battery charge at Taos
Pueblo - stalled in court over
jurisdiction questions.
New Mexico's congressional
delegation had pushed for the new
law, which eliminates "prosecution-free zones" and clarifies federal and state authority to try cases
linked to crimes on private lands
lying within pueblo boundaries by
amending the Indian Pueblo Land
Act of 1924.
About 70,000 acres within
pueblo boundaries in New Mexico
BUSH to page 6
On heels of Abramoff, McCain
seeks lobbying reforms
Indianz.com
Calling the Jack Abramoff
scandal an "exploitation" of
Native Americans, Sen. John
McCain (R-Arizona) on Friday
introduced legislation to reform
lobbying practices in Washington, D.C.
McCain, the chairman of the
Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said the investigation of
Abramoff has turned up "unscrupulous" tactics of certain
lobbyists. Members of Congress
and their staff were plied with
overseas trips, tickets to sports
and entertainment events and
campaign contributions, he said.
"The story is alarming in its depth
and breadth of potential wrongdoing," McCain told his colleagues on the Senate floor. "It has
spanned across the United States,
sweeping up tribes throughout
Indian Country."
In hopes of ending some of the
practices, McCain said lobbyists
need to disclose more information about their activities and in
REFORMS to page 6
Discussions
reported at
critical juncture
in Abramoff
probe
By Pete Yost
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - ARepublican
lobbyist at the center of a Capitol
Hill bribery probe could cooperate
with prosecutors if ongoing plea
bargaining negotiations proceed
smoothly in coming days, says a
person involved in the investigation.
Jack Abramoff could end up
pleading guilty under an arrangement that would settle a criminal
case against him in Florida as well
as potential charges in Washington, said the person close to the
probe.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of discussions between
prosecutors and Abramoff's lawyers.
Asked how many members of
Congress Abramoff could implicate, the person said only that
"cooperation is cooperation; it's
full cooperation."
An agreement could be reached
quickly, as early as "the beginning
of next week," though the person
cautioned that unspecified issues
remain to be worked out.
The New York Times first reported on the talks Tuesday night
in a story its Web site.
Abramoff's attorney, Abbe
Lowell, declined to comment, as
did Justice Department spokesman
Brian Roehrakasse.
Talks have been going on "a
long time, months," but only in
the past week or so have they come
"close to any kind of fruition," the
person said.
A former aide to ex-House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-
Texas, has already pleaded guilty
in the probe.
Court papers in the plea by former DeLay aide Michael Scanlon
say Scanlon and Abramoff "provided a stream of things of value
to public officials in exchange for
a series of official acts."
The court papers referred repeatedly to one of the officials as
Representative No. 1, acknowledged by his lawyer to be Rep.
Bob Ney, R-Ohio. Both Ney and
his lawyer deny wrongdoing.
Recently, members of Congress
PROBE to page 6