Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-07-15

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Kennewick Man's
biography is written in
his bones
page 3
Boarding Schools
not a viable option
for Indians
page 4
Leech Lake is a
police state
page 4
Indians fighting Indians
destorys humanity
on rez
page 4
Today's warrior
uses words as
weapons
page 4
Leadership crisis at Red Lake Schools
By Bill Lawrence
Rumblings of unease concerning conditions at the Red Lake
School District (RLSD) continue. Press/ON has received
several alerts from reservation
residents that the financial condition of the district should be
scrutinized. There are reports
of a petition drive to remove the
superintendent.
Late 'in May, at the request of
several individuals interested in
the welfare of the schools, we
published the content of a no-confidence statement. It read: 'We,
the Community of the Red Lake
Reservation, are hereby expressing a no-confidence vote in our
Superintendent of Schools, Stuart
Desjarlait. This action is due
to his lack of integrity, honesty,
compassion, leadership, character,
knowledge, and professionalism."
The statement ended in a call for
a new superintendent. Half of the
teachers and staff of the district
It's obvious that a
school district that
overspends by better
than $2.5 million a year
is not doing well.
reportedly signed the letter.
The qualifications of the superintendent seem to be in question,
at least by the petition signers.
Press/ON finds it easy to concur
from an examination of correspondence from the superintendent to the MDE. The memo we
received shows a poor command
of grammar, style and usage by the
superintendent. We expect that a
person in that position should
show mastery of the language
and be capable of setting an exemplary example to the district's
student body.
The matter of the no-confidence
statement was supposed to be addressed at die June 22 meeting of
die School Board. We've been
told diat the subject was not discussed at that meeting.
Other sources questioned
whether die financial affairs of
die district were being managed
properly. Its been suggested that
a large amount of money (maybe
as much as $1.5 million) was
missing.
In response to these tips, we
requested from the Minnesota
Department of Education (MDE)
and received a substantial amount
of data, including die financial
statements and independent auditors' reports for fiscal years 2003
and 2004.
The reports are lengthy and
One fact stands out. The
money is there. But the
RLSD is not producing
educational results
commensurate with the
investment it receives
from the state and federal
governments.
somewhat steeped in tenns understandable primarily to insiders
but several items of concern surface and plainly show diemselves
to be of concern. The 2003 audit
states net school district assets decreased by 30.1% from the prior
year. At die beginning of 2003,
district net assets amounted to
$8.0 million. At year's end, they
amounted to $5.6 million. Overall expenses exceeded revenue by
$2.4 million.
The 2004 audit reveals a similar trend. Net assets decreased
by 45.7%. At the beginning of
the year net assets were $5.6
mdlion. By year's end the figure
had dropped to $3.0 million. (It's
interesting to report diat die actual
figures were not presented in chart
form in the 2004 audit report.)
RED LAKE to page 5
Quarterly meeting topics: $7 million deficit, restructure
By Charmain Barranco -Cass
Lake Times
A standing-room-only crowd
gadiered to listen to die quarterly
financial reports of the Leech
Lake Band at die Palace Casino
in Cass Lake Friday.
Prior to the Band's quarterly
meeting, Deb Geving and Richard
Johnson presented petitions to the
Leech Lake Tribal Coimcil
This time, the petitions were
not copies they were the original documents the council had
requested.
The'petitions ask for the removal or recall of Chairman
George Goggleye, Jr. and district
representatives Luke Wilson and
Mick Finn. Geving handed the
petitions to Secretary/Treasurer
Arthur "Archie" LaRose, who
then gave them to the chairman.
'That's die proper procedure,"
Johnson said.
Then, Geving asked the council who was the Band's secretary/
treasurer - Sharon Brown, Mck
Finn or Archie LaRose?
Tribal council members told
her and the odier people present
at the meeting that LaRose was
the Band's secretary/treasurer.
The quarterly meeting was dien
to begin with an invocation, but
the scheduled speaker declined.
There was just too much turmoil
to proceed with it, he said.
A momentary silence followed.
Goggleye then began speaking
about the Band's division directors, who have been meeting to
"design for their divisions the
direction they want to take, in
an attempt to provide better services.
"There is such a duplication
witii some division," he said.
LaRose then asked for an open
forum to be conducted during die
meeting, but die other four members of the council voted against
his suggestion.
Yet, just a few minutes later,
Goggleye changed his mind.
'As far as the open forum goes,
we're going to be here and we will
answer questions," he said.
'But the minute you start attacking us or being disrespectful I
will end the meeting again. I don't
disrespect you in that way and I
don't expect to be treated diat way
eidier."
Goggleye then continued speaking about die Band's strategic planning process now underway.
The primary result of the
process is a restructuring of the
Band's divisions and programs
from a 'hap hazard 34 to a clearly.
defined eight functional areas."
It is intended to "streamline
TOPICS to page 4
Leech Lake Assistant Police Chief
Wind court hearing postponed
By Diane White
WALKER, MN-The July 11,
2005 Rule 8 Hearing was postponed for unknown reasons to
Monday, August 8, 2005 at 1:00
p.m. A Rule 8 hearing is where Mr.
Wind will appear widi his attorney
Zenas Baer, and Mr. Baer will verify Wind understands the charges
against him. They may present
evidence at this hearing. Wind
faces Criminal Sexual Conduct
charges in die 4lh degree, with
a maximum penalty of 10 years
in prison and/or $20,000 fine;
and also with Criminal Sexual
Conduct in die 3rd degree, with a
maximum penalty of 1 year in detention and/or $3,000 fine. Wind
is still actively on duty at Leech
Lake Police Department.
Wind is free widiout bail on die
following conditions:
• No contact with victim
• No chemical, substance or
alcohol use
• Must submit to randan dnig tests
on request of law enforcement
• Must keep in contact with
lawyer
• Must be law abiding
Leech Lake buys Potts Shingobee
Island land, denies new building
By Diane White
WALKER, MN-The Leech
Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Business Committee
(RBC) authorized in a May
Special Meeting, the purchase
of land next to the old World of
Christmas building on Shingobee
Island for $375,000. Craig Potts
is the owner of the property and
is also the owner of Casino Cash
check cashing outiets in each of
the Band's three casinos. He was
previously identified as one of die
original investors into the Shingobee Marina & Gaming Empo
rium, a casino project established
by former Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe Chairman Pete White.
Potts also has a contract with the
Band for the ATM machines in all
casinos and a lucrative contract
to provide kiosk machines to die
hotel.
Despite memos from Chairman
George J. Goggleye, III, (aka
George Goggleye, Jr.), indicating
the Band was fiscally "broke," in
May they approved the purchase
of die Potts land for $375,000. In
LEECH LAKE to page 3
Leech Lake
Gaming Surveillance, Security
team up to foil
drug sales
By Diane White
WALKER, MN-A check of
the names listed in Leech Lake
Gaming's Exclusion List al Cass
County found that only two of the
85 drug related exclusions were
criminally charged tlirough Cass
County Court where die Sheriff's
department previously reported
diat most of the drug busts diey
were involved with occurred in
conjunction widi die hotel versus
die casino gaming floor. One file
was not available for review because die Judge was reviewing it.
In die odier case, a 2003 incident at die Palace Casino & Hole,
a hotel guest Alfonso Maldonado
Ramiriz, age 34, was charged
with one count of Minn. Stat.
152.022 subd(2)(l) Controlled
Substance Crime in die Second
Degree—Possession, pled guilt)'
on March 8, 2004, and was sentenced to 54 months in prison.
Ramiriz pled guilty to unlawfully
possessing one or more mixtures
of total weight of six grams or
more containing cocaine, heroin
DRUG to page 5
Adams charged
with sexual
harrassment;
steps down
Reprinted with Permission of
the Timber jay News - Vol. 16,
Issue 27, July 13, 2005
By Tom Klein [Timber-
jay     News     staff     writer]
A Bois Forte Reservation Tribal
Coimcil representative, charged
with sexually harassing a female
employee, has resigned.
District I Representative Gordy
Adams Jr. submitted his resignation on Friday, but denied any
wrongdoing and said he quit to
spare his family and the Bois
Forte Band.
"The entire incident was a
ADAMS to page 3
Some Reservation Smoking Rates Higher
Than National Average
Smokers Seem to Start Younger
By Jean Pagano
A recent article in die American
Journal of Public Healdi entided
Correlates of Cigarette Smoking
Among Selected Southwest and
Northern Plain Tribes Groups,
details the prevalence of cigarette
smoking among several tribes.
In some cases, the incidence of
commercial cigarette smoking
(as opposed to traditional tobacco
smoking) was roughly die same
as die general population. Yet in
other instances, the rate of cigarette
smoking was nearly three times the
national average. Smoking rates
among different age groups was
also quite striking.
The study selected two population groups: a Soudiwesteni tribe
and a Northern Plains tribe. The to
tal population of die 2 tribal groups
was in excess of 100,000 individuals, according to die 2000 census.
The tribes had different geographic
locations, came from different linguistic famdies, and had different
histories of migration. Yet, from a
cultural perspective, diey shared
many similar experiences as odier
Native peoples, such as colonization, the imposition of an external
governing force, mandatory boarding school education, and an active
missionary presence.
Interviews widi tribal members
were conducted between 1997 and
1999 and were restricted to tribal
members between die ages of 15
and 54, inclusive, who resided on
SMOKERS to page 3
VOICE      OF      THE      PEO  PL   E
web page: www.press-on.net
Native >mmsm
American
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A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2005
Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 4
July 15, 2005
(l-r): Lori S. Boraszak, M.D., Native American Community Clinic, Physician, Mary Riah,
Wolves Den Manager, Martha FastHorse, AIM Video Photographer at Wolves Den Coffe
Shop - E. Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis.
Wolves Den Coffee shop on East Franklin Avenue
in Minneapolis
By Vincent Hill, Mpis
East Franklin Avenue-Mpls
was where large numbers of
Anishinabeg, or American
Indians resided, during die
civil rights decades of the
50's through the 1970's. The
phrase "Franklin Avenue"
w as synonymous widi "where
diose Indians lived." And the
"North Side" and "Olson
Highway" designations were,
similarly, equated pejoratively
to American blacks.
The Bear's Den and Coral
Bar, direcdy across from each
other, were favorite "watering holes." These two bars,
in particular, were known
by Anishinabeg throughout
the state. While, no doubt,
customers came to medicate,
depending on degree of
emotional pain, yet, Franklin
Avenue widi its row of bars,
including a liquor store on
Chicago Avenue, served as a
social gadiering place, The
Chef Cafe was a gold mine:
Indians, blacks, and whites,
alike, could be seen busding,
in and out, of the Chef on late
Saturday-and into die wee hours
of Sunday. Johnny Cash tunes
added to diegaiety of night life.
"...On Sunday morning sidewalk-
Lord I'm wishing I was stoned,
kuz diere's something in a Sunday
diat, makes die body feel alone..."
Anishinabeg loved Johnny Cash,
whom, they felt had a kindred
spirit to their, often, troubled
souls.
By die mid- 1980's Franklin Avenue, widi aging buildings, was on
a serious decline. The famous Arts
Theater looked like it had been
bombed. (B-29's, B-52's, or by
Terrorists?) The Franklin Avenue
Library was becoming more obscure, widi diehard Liberals desperately keeping it alive. Ardiur's
Bar, or Arthur's hung in diere, for
die soul-spirit of die Anishinabeg
refused to vanish. Controversial
Chief of Pohce Tony Bouza liked
and understood Anishinabeg. He
supported keeping Arthur's open,
over die objection of an Anti-In-
dau City Council. Widi die culmination of hundred's of calls to die
police, Ardiur's closed! Today a
nice flower shop has replaced die
last "watering hole" on Franklin
.Avenue.
Millions of dollars have been
poured into revitalizing Franklin
Avenue in more recent times.
Theresa Carr, a Chimook , or
white woman, had laid claim
to being the "Queen of Franklin
Avenue." She is die Executive
Director of die American Indian
Neighborhood Development
Corporation. And, she is paid
well. Jim Graham, a neighborhood politician and, seemingly,
an opportunist, is considered in
some circles to be die "King of
Franklin Avenue" due to his role
in die economic and infrastructure development of Franklin
Avenue. Jim Graham is, also, a
Chimook, even diough claiming
"Indian blood," from die Soudi.
The New Franklin Avenue is
starting to show signs of life,
with a strip mall dotted widi privately owned multi-ethnic shops;
a successful Soudi American restaurant; a new Snyder Ding Store;
a German based food market diat,
appears to be getting off ground;
an Anishinabe Health Clinic,
SHOP to page 3
Judge condemns Interior
Dept. as callous, clueless
By John Hedprin
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Interior Department was ordered
Tuesday _ by a judge who
called it a "padietic outpost"
_ to admit it can't provide accurate infonnation about lost
royalties owed to American
Indians.
In a scathing condemnation
of the government's treaUnent
of American Indians, U.S.
District Judge Royce Lamberth directed die department
to enclose notices in its correspondence saying information
provided on trust assets may not
be credible.
Interior officials called Lamberth's language "intemperate
rhetoric uncommon to jurisprudence but made common in diis
case."
The notices also are meant
to alert people that they may
be members of the class-action lawsuit brought by lead
plaintiff Eloise Cobell in 19%
on behalf of more than 300,000
American Indians. Under
Lamberth's order, the notices
JUDGE to page 6
Group aims for solidarity among
American Indian women
By Emily Johns
Associated Press
MINNEAPOUS - When Susan
Masten first campaigned to lead
California's Yurok tribe, she was
up against five men. One told her
she wasn't qualified because she
was still "plaving with Barbie
dolls."
"No one would make diat kind
of remark about a tribal male,"
Masten recalled.
Though she lost that race, Mas-
ten went on to victory in 1997. But
she never forgot die insult.
Since then, Masten said she's
been intent on helping American
Indian women establish dieir own
network, supporting each odier for
jobs, working to get each other
elected, even buying goods and
services from each odier.
Last year, when her term as
cliainvoman expired, she founded
die group Women Empowering
Women for Indian Nations, which
begins a national, three-day conference in Minneapolis Thursday.
WOMEN to page 6
One pretty good bet: Gambling
debate will be back
By PATRICK CONDON
Associated Press Writer
ST. PAUL (AP) _ There were
endless headlines, hours of debate
and a hard push from Gov Tim
Pawlenty himself, but alter all that
die 2005 legislative session saw no
significant changes to the state's
gambling landscape.
But few involved in the issue
think it's going away anytime
soon.
"We know it's not over," said
Jake Reint, a spokesman for the
Prairie Island Indian Community,
which spent almost $355,000 in
the first half of 2005 lobbying
against efforts to break die tribal
monopoly on die casino business
in die state.
Prairie Island and odier wealthy
casino-owning tribes, as well as
gambling opponents from across
the political spectnim, maintained
a united front against efforts by
Pawlenty and some lawmakers to
expand gambling widi proposals
including a state-tribal casino, and
a private casino at Canterbury Park
racetrack.
While backers of expanded
gambling reheat to consider dieir
options, tribal groups said they' d
try to more effectively demon-
DEBATE to page 6