Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-02-11

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Purposeful
lives
page 4
Poverty stalks
the homeless
page 5
Casino Mountain and
the HI engine
page 5
Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe have a scary
task ahead
page 4
Gambling
externalities cost
Minnesota tax payers
an estimated $375
million a year
page 4
Federal awards to Minnesota Indian Tribes amount
to $137,231,846
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
Annual Federal awards expended during the fiscal year
ending in 2003 to Indian Tribal
■governments and programs
in Mnnesota amounted to
$137,231,846. This amount includes federal money expended
by the Leech Lake Reservation
Housing Authority and by the
White Earth Tribal and Community College.
A significant amount of federal, on-reservation, expenditures
and services is not included in
tlie above figure such as funding for Indian Health Services
(hospitals and clinics) on most
reservations, funding for public
school education and transportation (roads) projects.
The figure does not include .
tribal enterprises and programs
funded by Indian casino revenue
or on-reservation organizations that receive and expend
less than $300,000 annually in
federal dollars or Indian community programs and agencies
predominandy funded by State
or foundation money.
The report, produced by
tlie Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), included current
funding for ten Minnesota tribes.
Tlie Prairie Island Indian Community data is not published
since "The most current audit
fded by Prairie Island is for tlie
fiscal year ending in 2001." Tlie
amount shown for Prairie Island
is the last published figure.
Federal law requires any tribal
government expending more
dian $300,000 in federal awards
in a fiscal year to have either
a single audit or a program
specific audit. Audits must con-
FEDERAL AWARDS*
TRIBE
AWARD AMOUNT
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians
$9,919,540
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
22.674,431
Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council
4,094,044
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (6/30/2003)
20,549,929
Leech Lake Reservation Housing Authority
4,531,415
Lower Sioux Indian Community
1,624,528
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians
14,426,037
Prairie Island Indian Community (9/30/2001)
1,439,895
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians (12/31/2003) 34,814,292
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
1.263,963
Upper Sioux Community
1,436,114
White Earth Reservation
19,627.363
White Earth Tribal & Community College
830,295
TOTAL
$137,231,846
There are approximately 15,000 on-reservation tribal members according to
the 2000 census. Press/On estimates Minnesota's 11 Indian Tribes earn a net
profit of $750 million per year at their 18 casinos.
NOTE: The audits are availableon the internet at: harvester.census.gov/sac/
dissem/entity.html
*Fiscal year ending 9/30/2003 (unless otherwise noted) the following federal awards were expended.
form to federal OMB published
regulations and are available al
die Federal Audit Clearinghouse
(FAC) for the purpose of disseminating audit infonnation
to the public as well as to federal agencies. OMB "does not
verify" the financial information
in the audits and states, "the
accuracy of the information on
the data collection form is the
responsibility of the auditee and
auditor."
Fimds from 18 Federal agencies were expended. A quick
survey of die programs funded
reveals die majority of funding,
grants and loans were expended
for the following generic programs:
Department of Agriculture
provided funds for food pro
grams, including nutrition
education, school lunches, supplemental nutrition programs,
Women, Infant and Cliildren
programs; for education projects
such as research and extension
services, tribal colleges, equity
grants and endowment programs; soil surveys; loans for
buildings, etc.
Housing and Urban Development funded emergency medical
service buildings, block grants
including housing, and tribal
colleges.
Department of the Interior
awards included amounts for
tribal courts; tribal self-governance; environmental issues,
e.g. hazardous material disposal,
AWARDS to page 3
BIA budget decreased, $110 Million reduction looming
By Jean Pagano
The Bush Administration's
budget for fiscal year 2006, released earlier diis week, severely
slashes the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) budget by almost
$110 million.
Secretary of Interior Gale
Norton presented the $10.8 billion budget which reduces BIA
funding to $2.2 billion. Norton
is a defendant in die landmark
Cobell v Norton case that alleges
long-term and systemic abuses
of the Individual Indian Money
(IIM) accounts, dating back to
the Dawes Act of 1887.
Trust reform, the buzzword
for remedying the accounting
debacle diat has haunted Interior
for decades, has become a top
priority of the Bush Administration. Under pressure from the
U. S. District Court to provide a
complete historical accounting
for IIM accounts, Interior balked
at allocating needed monies, estimated in the billions, to repair
die IIM trust system. The Office
of die Special Trustee, in charge
of trust reform, is directing funds
from Native services to pay for
the government's accounting
cleanup instead of finding new
money to fix a very old problem.
As a result, the Operation of
Indian programs is reduced by
$30.8 million dollars from $1.95
billion in 2005 to $1.92 billion
in 2006. Construction projects
in Indian Country fall from $323
million in 2005 to $232 million,
a loss of over $91 million, widi
two schools retaining funds for
construction projects, namely
Crownpoint Boarding School
in New Mexico, and Porcupine
Day School in Soudi Dakota.
Government funding for Indian
Land and Water Claims drops almost in half, from $44 million to
$24 million, wliile Indian Guaranteed Loan Program allocation
decreases from $6.4 million to
$6.3 million in fiscal 2006.
Permanent appropriations for
the Indian Direct Loan Program
account and the Indian Guaranteed Loan Program account were
totally removed from die 2006
budget allocation.
Tribal Priority Allocations,
money diat tribes use to fund
their daily operations, has also
been cut in die budget request.
The $760.1 million request is
$9.4 million shy of the 2005
allocation, and has suffered a
total of $20 million in cuts since
2004.
One of die few places in the
BIA budget wliich sees a substantial increase is the Office of
Special Trustee (OST). Whde
2005 appropriations for OST
were $196 million, the amount
increases by $73 million to $269
million in 2006. Including die
proposed 2006 budget allocations, the Office of die Special
Trustee will have been funded
a total of $655 million over die
last 3 years.
Another budget increase for
the BIA in fiscal 2006 is a $19.2
million allotment to a) expand
law enforcement where violeni
crime is most severe and where
COPS grants are due to expire;
b) staff, operate, and maintain
detention facilities built with
Department of Justice funding
and certified for occupancy in
2006; c) outsource individuals
to local authorities when BIA
facilities do not comply with
national standards; and d) begin
a comprehensive program to
improve and repair facilities
owned by BIA.
A few programs receiving
funding for 2006 were originally proposed by outgoing assistant secretary 'Famous' Dave
Anderson. $2 million has been
allocated to develop a pilot
program at four BIA schools to
promote leadership academies.
Another $500,000 has been
earmarked for an Economic
Development Commission that
will study how to break down
obstacles to tribal business.
The budget will now be sent
to Congress for its review and
approval. In recent years, members of Congress from both
political parties have reversed
the Bush Administration's cuts
to Native programs.
Report finds minority women in
Minnesota are hurting
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - A new
study by die Women's Foundation of Minnesota shows diat minority women in die state tend to
be poorer, less healthy and have
higher mortality rates dian their
white counterparts.
The study also shows diat
more minority women in Mnnesota fall below die poverty line
dian minority women nationally.
"Mnnesota is failing its women of color," said Lee Roper-Bat-
ker, the foundation's president.
The 2000 census found diat 11
percent of the state's population
was minority women, Roper-
Batker said.
Tlie foundation, along with the
Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, analyzed
U.S. census data for 2000.
Among the findings, the poverty rate among black single
modiers in Mnnesota was 38.5
percent, compared with 15.5
percent for white single modiers. The report also showed diat
26 percent of American Indian
women were poor.
Gloria Lewis, director of minority and multicultural health
at die Healdi Departtnent, said
the disparities in access to healdi
care, reproductive healdi care
and disease rates for minority
women in Mnnesota are among
"die worst in die nation."
The birth rate among Hispanic
teens here is die second-highest
in die country, and black women
are 46 times more likely to have
AIDS than white women, she
said.
The report shows diat minority women in Mnnesota are
more highly educated than dieir
counterparts nationally, but still
rank lower on odier critical life
quality scores. For example,
Asian-American infants have a
mortality rate of 8.6 percent in
Mmiesota, compared widi 4.7
percent nationally.
That could be pardy because
Mnnesota's Asian population
is comprised largely of Hmong,
while Asian populations nationally include long-established
communities widi solid middle
and upper classes.
Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paid,
die first person of Hmong descent elected to die state Senate,
said many young Asian women
put off college because they can't
afford tuition increases, and are
unable to take jobs because diey
have no cliild care.
"These are dreams deferred,"
she said. "It's like someone
praying to win die lottery, but
diey can't afford to buy a ticket."
Missouri Police
Department
commends
officers for
apprehending
Harry 'PeeWee'
Hanson
Florissant, Mssouri Police Chief William Karabas is
pleased to recognize the actions
of several officers for dieir outstanding performance during
a bank robbery incident in the
City.
On 12-23-04 al about 3:55
p.m., die police dispatcher received a call for a 'robbery that
just occurred' at die U.S. Bank
located at 2100 North Highway
67. The victim advised diat the
suspect was a white male, about
50-55 years of age, leaving die
bank parking lot in a white pickup truck.
Whde enroute to die call,
Detective Sergeant Timodiy
Lowery spotted die suspect vehicle, which was occupied by
two subjects. Sgt. Lowery, in
an unmarked police vehicle, attempted to stop the suspects, at
wliich time the vehicle sped up.
Uniformed officer Garrett
HANSON to page 6
web page: www.press-on.net
Name *»«
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 17 Issue 34
February 11, 2005
White Earth
sees way
out of
poverty
with casin
Erma Vizenor, chairwoman of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, the state's largest Indian tribe, talks
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005, in White Earth, Minn., about the posibility of the state partnering with the
White Earth Band and two other northern Minensota tribes to open a new casino in the Twin Cities
metro area. "We want the chance to be self-sufficient and participate in American society, but we
have to have the financial means to do so," she said. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
By Patrick Condon
Associated Press
WHITE EARTH, Minn.
-On a recent winter morning,
heavy fog draped the snowy
hills of die White Eardi Indian Reservation, wrapping
its dilapidated homes and tall
pines in a spooky glow diat
made it look like die end of
the Earth.
For members of diis northwest Mnnesota tribe, mired
in poverty and scrambling
for a bigger share of die
state's gambling dollar, it
might as well be.
"Our unemployment rate
is around 60 or 65 percent,"
said Erma Vizenor, chairwoman of die White Earth
Band of Ojibwe, die state's
largest Indian Uibe. "I look
at die Great Depression, the
unemployment rate was 25
or 30 percent. It heralded
economic initiatives duough-
out die country. Well, we
have diat every day here."
When White Eardi residents look 225 miles to the
soudi, diey see die Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community's sprawling
Mystic Lake Casino Hotel.
Situated on the fringe of the
Twin Cities, die complex is
surrounded by sparkling Mc-
Mansion subdivisions ringed
by golf courses. In years
past, Mystic Lake has generated individual payments of
up to $ 1 million a year to
band members.
"I'm not saying die tribal
members up here should get a
milhon dollars each," said Mtch
Vogt, principal of White Earth's
Circle of Life School, where die
computer lab floods when it rains,
the gym doubles as the lunchroom and every smdent qualifies
for a free or reduced lunch.
'T3ut I question die fairness of it."
In Mnnesota, die latest state
to look to Indian gambling for
money in difficult budget times,
the difference in what tribes earn
from their casinos may be die
lever diat finally forces change.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has proposed
a state-tribal casino diat would
let isolated northern bands tap
die lucrative Twin Cities market.
Pawlenty often cites Connecticut, wliich got $400 million in
Indian gaming money in 2003,
and states like California and
Wisconsin that have also won financial concessions from tribes.
Wliile die state eyes $200
million upfront and more dian
$100 million a year from a Twin
Cities casino, the White Earth
Band sees a padi out of its economic despair.
CASINO to page 3
Poll finds three-fifths of
Minnesotans favor metro casino
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - A new poll shows about three-fifths of Minnesota adults believe Indian tribes should share casino profits with the
state to keep their monopoly on casino gambling.
By about the same margin, the copyright Star Tribune Minnesota
Poll shows respondents favor a new casino in the Twin Cities area if
part ofthe profits goto the state's general fund.
The telephone poll of 835 randomly selected adults, published   .
Sunday, was conducted Jan. 23-26. For results based on the entire
sample, one can be 95 percent confident that sampling error will be
no more than plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
The poll showed that 49 percent of those polled strongly support
Gov. Tim Pawlenty's negotiating with the tribes for more ofthe profits from their 18 casinos and 47 percent strongly back a metro-area
casino, if part ofthe profits were to go to the state.
Another 13 percent favor negotiating with tribes but not as
strongly, while another 15 percent support a metro area casino if
part ofthe profits go to the state.
Twenty-four percent of those polled strongly oppose asking the
tribes to share their casino profits and 7 percent oppose the idea,
but not strongly. On the question __. .  . .  r
6 POLL to page 5
Appeals court sides with tribe in trust land dispute
A federal appeals court
on Wednesday handed die
Narragansett Tribe a much-
needed victory in one of its
many batdes widi die state of
Rhode Island.
The tribe and the state have
been at odds over gaming, jurisdiction, taxation and a host
of other issues. Many times,
the tribe has been at die losing end of the stick.
But in a unanimous decision, die 1st Circuit Court of
Appeals backed the tribe's
bid to have 31 acres placed in
trust for a housing project. A
three-judge panel rejected the
state's attempt to block the
acquisition, wliich has been
tied up in litigation since
1998.
Tlie decision, however,
left open a key question that
is likely to lead to even more
debate. The court cautioned diat
it did not detennine whether the
slate's criminal and civil laws
will apply to die parcel.
That issue is at the heart of
yet anodier tribal-state dispute
before the 1st Circuit. On July
14, 2002, state police troopers
raided the Narragansett Reservation in order to shut down
a smokeshop deemed to be in
violation of state law.
A federal judge sanctioned die
raid, saying the state was within
its rights to enforce state criminal law on tribal lands. The 1st
Circuit heard arguments in the
case last September and a decision is pending.
The trust land and die smoke-
shop cases bodi raise similar
questions about the extent of
the tribe's rights as a federally-
recoguzied entity. Like several
others in New England, the
Narragansetts fall under a land
claims setdement act that grants
the state certain authority over
tribal lands.
Gov. Donald Carcieri, a Republican, and local officials
argued that the setdement act
bars the BIA from taking land
into trust for the tribe. But the
1st Circuit rejected this line of
thought, saying there is nothing
in the law to suggest that.
The Rhode Island Indian
Claims Setdement Act "does
not preclude die [Interior] Secretary from acquiring additional
lands in trust for the benefit of
DISPUTE to page 6