Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-06-24

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Blackfeet Council
removes Talks
about chairmanship
page 6
Oberstar Nominee is
first female Leech Lake
Tribe Member to enter
West Point
page 5
Transcript of
Proceedings:
Wallace Willard
Storbakken
page 4
Leech Lake Chairman
George Goggleye, Jr.
a convicted felon
page 4
Good guys come
in first at last
page 4
Campaign finance watchdog wins a couple
By Bill Lawrence
A Minnesota watchdog made the
news again this week in two different ways, but over the same subject. David Hoch, founder (along
with Joe Marble) of Minnesotans
for Responsible Gaming (MFRG),
and other citizen watchdog organizations, filed a complaint with the
Minnesota Campaign Finance and
Pubhc Disclosure Board (MCFB)
Monday, June 20. They allege that
the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community (SMSC) failed to disclose the amount it spent on media
during the first half of this year.
Hoch and his partner Joe Marble
have made it their business to inform the Minnesota pubhc about a
number of serious issues. The two
have exposed the fact that Minnesota Indian tribes and bands have
neglected to give correct reports to
the MCFB in the past. They have
studied the campaign disclosure
forms over the past few years and
revealed that some tribes have
och and his partner
Joe Marble have made
it their business to
inform the Minnesota
public about a number
of serious issues.
given erroneous information or
have failed to disclose certain
expenditures, for example media
buying infonnation. They have
also made public the amounts
donated by tribal political action
committees (PAC) to individual
candidates and to political parties.
Regulations governing Minnesota gaming require disclosure
by the tribes and bands of information concerning their lobbying
and campaign finance activity.
The requested information asks
how much was paid, by category
and to whom.
In a review of recent filing,
Hoch discovered a discrepancy.
Documents filed for the Mystic Lake Casino, owned by the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, did not indicate they
had had any expenditure for media
advertising. Yet an intensive advertising campaign was aired by
the SMSC while the Minnesota
Legislature was in session opposing the Governor's proposed
State/Tribal casino plan.
The fact that the Prairie Island
Dakota, owners of Treasure Island Casino, reported Uiey spent
$346,000 on media advertising
during the same January 1 to May
31,2005 period called attention to
the omission of like information
by the Mystic Lake owners. On
behalf of Minnesotans for Responsible Gaming, Hoch filed a
complaint with the MCFB.
Spokesman Andrew Kozak, one
of six registered lobbyists for the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Community, characterized the omission as
an "oversight or confusion." He
said, "We'll total it up and file right
away. . . . We'll get it done and
then it will be public record."
This is similar to what the Mille
Lacs Band (MLB) of Ojibwe did
to defend their omission and failure to disclose information back
in 2003.
This brings us to the second
piece of news this week about David Hoch. At the end of the 2003
reporting period, he discovered a
piece of information that raised
his suspicions. His interpretation
of the information filed by the
Mille Lacs Band seemed to indicate that the Woodlands National
Bank, which is owned by the Band,
made contributions to the Band's
PAC. Minnesota law specifically
prohibits such activity. Penalties,
upon conviction, can amount to
$40,000 as well as other administrative procedures, including loss
of banking charter.
Hoch raised die possibility of
improper political contributions
COUPLE to page 4
Leech Lake Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's
Petition Update    Assistant Police Chief arraigned
CASS LAKE, MN—The Leech
Lake petitioners met on Wednesday, June 22,2005 at the old Leech
Lake RBC Headquarters conference room. The number of interested parties is growing. Attorney
Frank Bibeau advised the group
to be patient and follow die legal
platform of petitioning the Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Some in the group want to see a
take-over of the Leech Lake headquarters, facility center, and gaming, however, that plan of action
was not favored by an overwhelming majority of petitioners. Instead
the petitioners are seeking greater
input from interested voters and is
working to improve the civil rights
of all tribal members.
The charges against Chainnan
George Goggleye, Jr., District 1
Representative Burton "Luke"
Wilson, and District III Representative Donald "Mick" Finn
was presented on the petition as
Malfeasance in the handling of
tribal affairs; dereliction or neglect
of duty; and refusal to comply with
any provisions ofthe Constitution
andBylaws of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT). However, the
leaders of the group did not want
to provide to the pubhc the more
specific evidence to go along with
the charges. One member allowed
people to review the evidence behind these three charges, however,
the evidence was just as broad and
undefined as the charges are.
From the comments made
by some members of the group
who wish to keep the evidence
unpublished, because they feel
the charged parties will work
to cover up their "crimes." It is
unclear how the group wishes to
attract greater numbers if the cause
is left in the dark.
The petitioners are meeting with
the B.I.A. in Bemidji on Thursday,
June 23, 2005 and have been in
contact with the B.I.A. Superintendent Gale Norton in Washington,
D.C. as well as area contacts in
Minneapolis. The petitioners
agreed to wait until they hear back
from Gale Norton's office and
spokewoman Deb Geving stated
UPDATEto page 3
By Diane White
WALKER, MN—On Monday
afternoon, June 20, 2005, Leech
Lake Assistant Police Chief Alvin John Wind, Jr. was quickly
arraigned in Cass County Court
in front of Judge Smith. The
prosecutor in the case was Greg
Bloomstrom who generally
prosecutes traffic court citations.
Zenas Baer is representing AL-
vin John Wind, Jr., (a/k/a "John
Wind,") but Baer was not in court
for Monday's arraignment hearing.
It was hot and muggy outside
and thunder could be heard booming from time to time in the courtroom. Several Leech Lake Band
members filed into the courtroom
to hear the proceedings against
John Wind. Wind entered the
courtroom just before the proceeding began along with his
wife, Dawn, and several odier
family members and friends.
Wind faces Criminal Sexual
Conduct charges in the 4th
degree, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or
$20,000 fine; and also with
Criminal Sexual Conduct in the
5rd degree, with a maximum penally of 1 year in detention and/or
$3,000 fine. Following die court
hearing, Judge Smith ordered
Wind to die Sheriff's office to be
booked for die charges, including
fingerprints and photo.
Smith ordered Wind to appear in
court on Monday, July 11,2005 at
1:00 for a Rule 8 hearing. A Rule
8 hearing is where Mr. Wind will
appear widi his attorney Zen*
Baer, and Mr. Baer will verin
Wind understands the charges
against him. They may present
evidence at diis hearing. Wind
was released him on his own
recognizance without bail on the
CHIEF to page 3
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
Lawyer's professional review board
lacks subject matter jurisdiction in
LaRose's complaint
By Diane White
CASS LAKE, MN—In a letter dated June 14, 2005 signed
by die Senior Assistant Director,
Timothy M. Burke, the Minnesota
Lawyer's Professional Review
Board dismisses a complaint filed
by Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
(LLBO) Secretary-Treasurer Arthur "Archie" LaRose by indicating that the complaint lacks subject
jurisdiction. They further indicate
they forwarded the complaint to
the LLBO Reservation Business
Committee.
The original complaint was filed
on June 8,2005 with the Lawyer's
Professional Review Board as well
as with die federal Department of
the Interior's Office of Inspector
General. Interestingly, both the
Board and the Inspector General
have received and acted upon a
complaint regarding former Leech
Lake attorney Harold "Skip" Finn
in which Finn was disbarred by the
Review Board.
The complaint against Fineday
regards bodi unediical behavior as
a tribal court judge and financial
concerns stemming from the
Band's Court Administrator's
concerns over die amount of time
Fineday had charged the Band for
legal work.
LaRose complained that in
a June 10, 2004 court hearing,
Tribal Legal Director Michael
Garbow told Fineday to strip
him, the Secretary-Treasurer
of his constitutional authority.
LaRose requested Fineday to
remove herself from die case due
to prior complaints the LaRose
family made against Fineday to
the Review Board. LaRose indicated Fineday did strip him of his
constitutional audiority on June
10,2004. Furthermore, a couple of
mondis later she served the Band
as an Election Judge, but was seen
shaking hands at a public forum
REVIEW to page 4
Hearing in Washington on Indian Education:
McCain exasperated with lack of results
By Jean Pagano
Senate Indian Affairs Committee chairman Senator John McCain (R-AZ) held a hearing late
last week on the state of Native
education in the United States. He
was extremely critical of the Bush
Administration and its do-nothing
attitude towards Native students.
The No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 called for improvement
of public education and Bureau
of.Indian Affairs (BIA) schools,
yet in the ensuing 4. years, precious htde has been done to ease
the plight of the nation's Native
students.
Testifying in the first panel in
front of the committee were Jim
Cason, associate deputy secretary
of Interior and acting assistant
secretary for Indian Affairs, and
Victoria Vasquez, director of the
Office of Indian Education at the
department of Education. Both
Cason and Vasquez testified that
Native education is a priority of
theirs, yet when it comes to re
sults, Native children are being
left behind much the same today
as they were 4 years ago.
Director Vasquez, in her testimony, offered that while Native
students aren't doing well in dieir
studies, they are stiU doing better
than their Hispanic and African-
American counterparts. 15% of
Native students drop out of high
school, once again less than die
near 24% of Hispanics that do
not graduate high school. These
numbers, while offering a comparison, do litde to solve the problems that No Child Left Behind
is supposed to remedy. Whde the
federal government has increased
the amount of statistics available
on Native smdents, the solutions
to the problems that Native smdents face are seemingly nowhere
to be found. Senator McCain at
one point said to Vasquez "It's
interesting that you were testifying about die tilings you're gonna
do to comply with No Child Left
Behind (NCLB), what have
you done so far to implement
NCLB?"
Vasquez also mentioned President Bush's Executive Order
13336, which recognizes the
unique educationally and culturally related academic needs of
Native American students. She
stated diat diis Executive Order
will help the Department of Education implement NCLB. While
the goals of the Executive Order
are lofty, die results are harder to
quantify.
Dr. David Beaulieu, President
of the National Indian Education
Association (NIEA), testified
on some of the shortcomings
of NCLB. He stated that while
Indian Country supports many
of the provisions of NCLB, there
are numerous obstacles that stand
in the way of its success. One of
the challenges that Beaulieu
identified is inadequate financial
resources. Native schools, like
HEARING to page 5
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American
Press
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Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 2
June 24, 2005
Eva Castillo, 42, stands in front of her hogan and the newly installed solar and wind
powered system, left, that provides her home with electricity on the eastern Navajo Nation in
northwestern New Mexico, May 26, 2005. Fifty homes on the Navajo Nation have electricity
for the first time from solar power systems built and installed by Sacred Power Corp., an
American Indian owned company in Albuquerque. (AP photo/Melanie Dabovich)
Enterprise:
Abramoff's web
of influence
By Adam Nossiter
Associated Press
ELTON, La. - Though far
removed from Washington,
the Coushatta Indian tribe
quickly learned the cost of
influence in the Capitol:
"Wire all funds. Professional
Services. $3,405,000.00," one
of the tribe's .lobbyists, now
under investigation, wrote die
Coushattas in 2002.
Other invoices such as this
one from Michael Scanlon, a
business partner of lobbyist
Jack Abramoff, carry similar
commands for large sums. Before it was all over the tribe had
spent $32 million of its casino
profits on a lobbying effort diat
many now question as exorbitant, and tribal members had
ousted their leadership.
Along the way, Abramoff
directed the tribe to make tens
of thousands of donations and
once directed tribal leaders to
cancel $55,000 in checks to
House Republican leader Tom
DeLay and divert diem to other
groups.
DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority and Americans
for a Republican Majority
never reported receiving any
checks from die Louisiana tribe
to federal or state regulators,
their reports show. The donations, however, are recorded in
memos and ledgers kept by die
tribe.
"Enclosed please find a
check for $10,000 to die Texans for a Republican Majority.
This check needs to be reissued
to America 21," Abramoff, now
under criminal investigation,
wrote the Coushattas in a May
2002 letter obtained by The
Associated Press.
America 21 is a Nashville,
Tenn.-based Christian group
focused on voter turnout diat
helped Republican candidates
in the pivotal 2002 elections
that kept DeLay's party in
control of the House.
Months earlier, the tribe
was asked to cancel a $25,000
check to Americans for a Re-
ENTERPRISE to page 5
American Indians offer to settle
suit against government for
royalties for $27.5 billion
By John Heilprin
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - American
Indians suing die Interior Department for more dian a century's
worth of lost royalties said Monday they were willing to setde for
$27.5 billion if Congress agreed
not to draw the money from odier
Indian Country programs.
The class-action lawsuit has
lingered in U.S. District Court
here for nine years. During dial
time a federal judge has held both
Interior Secretary Gale Norton
and her predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, in contempt for failing to
come up with an accounting of
what the American Indians are
owed.
A group of American Indian
plaintiffs filed die suit in 1996
on behalf of 300,000, accusing
the department of mismanaging
oil, gas, grazing, timber and odier
royalties from American Indian
lands dating back to 1887.
Elouise Cobell of Montana's
Blackfeet Indian Reservation,
the lead plaintiff in the case,
said American Indian leaders
have agreed on 50 "principles"
for a settlement, including a calculation diat die royalties plus
compounded interest on them
total $176 billion.
While American Indians have
periodically received payments
from the trust funds, it could
take at least several years and
SETTLE to page 5
Navajo leader takes anti-alcohol
campaign to American Indians
By Anna Marias Aguayo
Associated Press
CHINLE, Ariz. - Navajo Nation
first lady Vikki Shirley speaks
from experience when she shares
die pain of losing a daughter killed
by a drunken driver, and the audience is riveted.
The 40-year-old matriarch of
die nation's largest Indian tribe
frequently tours villages on die
sprawling reservation (hat spans
portions of Arizona, New Mexico
and Utah, cautioning crowds about
driving intoxicated and underage
drinking.
"Every year, my grandson still
says, T don't want Christmas
presents, I just want my modier
back,'" reveals Shirley. Now, her
fervor against alcohol abuse is
having an influence that reaches
beyond tribal borders.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
recently asked Shirley to serve
as spokeswoman in a national
campaign to reach many of the
country's 500 registered American
Indian tribes about MADD's mission to help victims and prevent
crashes.
"She's got passion, patience and
perseverance. She's an incredibly
gende spirit," said Wendy Hamilton, MADD's national president.
American Indians face a
greater risk of dying in alcohol-
related crashes than Americans
as a whole. About 75 percent of
all highway fatalities are alcohol-
related among American Indians,
compared with 40 percent of
deaths for non-Indians, according
to MADD statistics.
"This is an alanningly high rate
of preventable deatiis," Hamilton
said. "As a result of these tragedies, coundess families whose
loved ones have been killed or injured don't know where to turafor
comfort or how to take action."
Navajo Nation President Joe
Shirley Jr. has called drunken
driving a plague. Some Navajos
drink to cope widi the despair
of living in a community where
the unemployment rate hovers at
about 50 percent, he said. His wife,
however, reminds people that llieir
ancestors did not condone using
alcohol to treat social ills.
"We are told stories by our
medicine men from die time we
are young about how corn is part
of our essence," Vikki Shirley said.
"But we are never told stories
about using alcohol."
Awareness of cultural nuances
that speak to American Indians are
NAVAJO to page 5