Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-07-22

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Special treatment
to VA Home loan
recipient
page 4
Stopping the
Childhood Obesity
Epidemic
page 4
"Civilized" Indians,
fools and apples lead
the way
page 4
Leech Lake
government cutbacks
affect people and
services
page 4
A week
of waiting
page 4
A foster care success story
By Bill Lawrence
A good news story today! A
caller told us about a young man
in foster care. Often calls about
foster kids are not happy ones,
but this call was an exception. It
concerned a Bemidji High School
junior named J.R.Parker. (Parenthetically, J.R. stands for junior;
he's named after his biological
father). He will celebrate his
17th birthday next month.
He has lived with Mitch and
Rochelle Johnson, his foster
parents, for six years. Mitch is a
counselor at Cass Lake Elementary school; Rochelle teaches first
grade at Northern Elementary.
Both the Johnson and J. R. are
originally from Red Lake.
J. R. is a good student, a better
athlete and an excellent family
member. He blends in beautifully in Ins foster care home. He
has a job and a busy schedule.
He owns his own car—paid for
half of it himself and pays his
own car insurance. His mom,
who has been a foster parent for
a long time, says he's probably
...a good student, a
better athlete and
an excellent family
member.
J.R. Parker
one of the only kids in foster care
who has a driver's license and his
own vehicle.
J.R.'s a conscientious student.
He's played high school basketball, football mid baseball. He lettered in baseball as a sophomore.
The coach is trying to persuade
him to join the football team tins
fall as a kicker. But J.R., whose
favorite subject is physical education, feels its time to specialize
and baseball is his game.
His foster dad, Mitch, introduced him to baseball when he
was just six. Mitch asked him if
he'd ever played ball. Hearing,
'no,' he began playing catch with
J.R. It turned out J.R. is a natural
adilete and has an excellent arm.
His foster dad built a pitcher's
mound and a backstop for him,
showed him a few pitches and
J.R.'s been pitching ever since.
He's got several class-A pitches, including die curve, the fastball, die changeup, the off-speed
and a knuckle ball that moves (his
mom's words). ,
J.R. currently pitches bodi for
the American Legion and the
VFW teams. His Legion record
is 3-1. He will be the opening
pitcher in tonight's American
Legion Championship game
against Brainard. He'll be pitching against several college players.
Parker also plays third base
and has a respectable batting
average.
Physically J.R. has the height
and weight to do well at the game.
Between the Legion and die VFW
he has been playing 6-8 games
a week. This experience should
contribute to developing his
potential as a player. Hopefully
a baseball scholarship will put
him dirough college and maybe
beyond.
STORY to page 4
Leech Lake Tribal Council accepts petitions but puts
time limit on charges
By Diane White
CASS LAKE, MN-On Friday,
July 15, die Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe (LLBO) Tribal Council
in a Special Meeting accepted
the petitions presented to diem on
July 1 at die Quarterly meeting.
See Table 1: Validation Results
for total number of signatures
submitted, number invalidated
and total number accepted. The
petitioners did meet die required
20% of resident eligible voters for
each petition.
Chairman Goggleye acknowledged receipt of the charges
from the petitioners against the
elected officials. The supporting
documentation of die petitioner's
charges was given to Executive
Director Lenny Fineday to make
copies and to delete any charges
that occurred after September
8, 2004 on order of Chairman
Goggleye. Goggleye stated his
legal team has deemed invalid
any charges against him, Wilson
or Finn if they occurred after September 8,2004. Goggleye stated,
"According to the Constitution
charges have to be supported by
Chairman George Goggleye, Jr.
District 1 Representative Burton
Lukfi" Wilson	
District 1 Representative Donald
"Mick" Finn	
Signatures
Snhmittfirl
_£5L
674
675
Invalidated
_£L
60
52
Total
ML
614
623
the signatures. Charges have to
be in place prior to the petition
start."
Goggleye states, "I am going to
ask seek some direction from the
Council, probably in die form of a
motion diat that be made. The motion lo dismiss any charges after
the petition start date of 9/8/04."
I inn made die motion and Wilson
seconded diat motion.
Goggleye and Finn sounded
unsure of themselves in how to
proceed with administering the
recall/removal process after Fine-
day asked for direction on what
to do. Goggleye informs Fineday,
"Include it because those would
be unless you want to go through
them and omit them yourself, I
diink, you probably don't necessarily have to do it today. But I
think die notice lias to go out today
and you can probably submit the
charges and copy die charges and
submit it to die three coimcil members who are being accused."
Finn asks, "Do you think we
should note it?"
Goggleye says, "Yeah, as long
as you state that in the written
notice.".
Goggleye continues on, 'Lenny,
make sure diat in die notice you
put the date of die hearing, die
charges, and also give notice that
conduct diat took place after 9-8-
04 will not be considered. So die
Council members that have been
accused are aware diat."
Fimi said diere were numerous
people who have approached him
PETITIONS to page 5
MCT requests Secretarial election to amend constitution
By Diane White
CASS LAKE, MN-On
July 14, 2005 in a letter signed
by Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
(MCT) Tribal Executive Committee (TEC) President, Norman W.
Deschampe (Grand Portage Band
of Ojibwe), die TEC requests the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to
hold a Special Election on October
11,2005. In order to allow all eligible MCT voters to cast a ballot to
amend the current constimtion, the
TEC is requesting absentee ballots
as well as same day registration
(ability to register and vote on
October 11,2005 at the polls).
The amendment to the constitution is audiorized by Resolution
70-05, passed 8 For, 3 Against,
0 Silent at a Regular Meeting on
February 17, 2005. The amendment to Article IV Tribal Elections
amends Section 2 and adds a new
section to be called Section 4.
The current Article IV Tribal
Elections has three criteria for
candidates to run for elected office: membership, residence, and
must be at least 21 years of age.
The TEC has struggled widi the
issue of felony convicts ninning
for office over die past several
years. On one reservation diose
who have been convicted of a
felony offense against the Tribe
have not been certified to run for
office and on a different reservation in the same election, die convicted felon is not certified to run
for office causing confusion over
what die criteria is versus what die
criteria should be.
The TEC is placing before the
voters—the opportunity to ban
all convicted felons from being
eligible to run for elected office
(tribal coimcil). The wording of
Section 4;
No member of the Tribe shall
be eligible to hold office, either
as a Committeeman or Officer, if
he or she has ever been convicted
of a felony of any kind; or of a
lesser crime involving dieft, misappropriation, or embezzlement of
money, funds, assets, or property
of an Indian tribe or a tribal organization.
There is one criteria that has
been upheld in the past despite not
being specified in die MCT Constitution. That is a candidate must
reside on their reservation (district)
for at least one year prior to being
eligible for candidacy. That was
enacted by ordinance. The amendment to Section 2 places the one
year residency requirement into
the Constitution. It reads:
A candidate for Chairman; Secretary-Treasurer and Committeeman
must be an enrolled member of die
Tribe and reside on die reservation of his or her enrollment for
one year before the date of die
election.
Tribes lobby to end land dispute
By Ryan Hall/The Daily Times
FARMINGTON - The Na-
vajo-Hopi Land Commission
spent this week in Washington,
D.C. lobbying against a proposal
by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
to end a more dian 120-year-old
dispute.
The Navajo-Hopi Land Setdement Amendments of 2005 would
end the federally funded relocation of Navajos living in a disputed
area of Arizona in Sept. 2008 and
effectively setde die contested territory.
The disputed land involves
approximately 1.8 million acres
in Arizona that were given to the
Hopi Indians and other Native
American tribes who occupied
it in 1882. The Hopi tribe sued
the Navajo tribe in 1958, after
Congress approved the legal action among the sovereign nations,
in order to determine who owned
what portions of die land.
In 1962, a federal court held dial
the tribes had joint ownership of
the land. The Hopi continued to
push for a partitioning of die land,
which was granted in 1974, according to a hi story of die dispute
provided by the Navajo Nation
Washington office.
That partitioning called for 100
Hopi and more dian 10,000 Navajo to be relocated off die other
tribe's land, at a cost incurred by
the federal government.
That relocation process continues today.
McCain's new bill cites the
cost of the program as a concern
and calls for die end of all of the
federally funded relocation of Native Americans from eidier tribe by
Sept. 2008.
It is estimated die federal government has spent upwards of
$400 million in relocating 12,000
Navajos and hundreds of Hopis
from die partitioned land, according to a release by the commission
and die Washington office of the
Navajo Nation.
Members of the Navajo-Hopi
Land Commission oppose die bill
on several grounds, including the
end of federally funded relocation
and die cessation of reparations for
relocated families.
Evelyn Acochlie, commission
member, said die federal government promised $60 million in reparation loans for relocated Navajos
at die time die relocations began,
hut oidy delivered $16 million.
The Commission is asking for die
balance of die pledge to be paid as
a grant and not a loan in exchange
for the hardships the relocated Navajos have dealt with.
"It has caused a lot of hardship
and suffering," Acochlie said of
the relocation.
The commission is in Washington, D.C. to inform Congress of
their objections to McCain's plan
and to introduce a list of amendments, that if added, would be
enough to get die commission's
support of the bill.
Those amendments include: a
rehabilitation program for die Tuba
City, Ariz, area, which was under a
federal development freeze for 40
LOBBY to page 4
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
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We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2005
Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 5
July 22, 2005
2005 WEWIN Officers: Standing: Rachel Joseph, Secretary; Melanie Benjamin, Treasurer; Susan
Masten, Co-President; and sitting, Veronica Homer, Co-President
First Annual WEWIN Conference a huge success
By Diane White
SHAKOPEE, MN-The
Women Empowering Women
for Indian Nations (WEWIN)
First Annual Conference was
held at die Mystic Lake Hotel
& Casino from July 14 to July
16. The conference theme
was 'Exercising & Protecting
Tribal Sovereignty dirough Effective Leadership."
WEWIN is a new non-profit
organization founded by 11 Indimi women. The women have
been or currendy are leaders in
Tribal Councils across die nation or have been or currendy
arc heading Indian non-profit
organizations and for-profit
corporations.
The officers are Susan
Masten, Co-President; Veronica Homer, Co-President;
Rachel Joseph, Secretary; and
Melanie Benjamin, Treasurer.
Odier founders include Wilma
Mankiller, H. Sally Smith,
Nora McDowell, Geri Small,
Patricia Parker, Cecelia Fire
Thunder, and Vernita Herd-
man.
The agenda highlighted die
ideals of the organization and
included workshops entided:
• Facing, Addressing and
Understanding Sovereignty
and Trust Responsibility: How the
Courts, Public Policy and Congress
Impact Indian Country - Presented
by: Charlie Wilkenson, Professor
at University of Colorado School
of Law and Susan Williams, Esq.,
Wdliams & Works, PA.
• Working Effectively with
Elected Officials: How to Improve
Your Effectiveness - Presented by:
Rachel Joseph, Chairperson, Toi-
yabe Indian Healdi Project, Inc.,
and Owens Valley Indian Water
Commission
• Media Relations and Communication: How to Manage die
Media and Get Your Message Out
- Presented by: Holly Cook Macarro, Holland & Knight and Lisa
Balk King, Holland & Knight
• Strength in Our Traditions:
Walk die Balanced Life - Presented
by Cecilia Fire Thunder, Chairwoman, Pine Ridge Reservation
• Creating Balance and Prosperity for Community and Self - Presented by: Lynn Dee Rap, Morgan
Stanley and Patricia Parker,
President/CEO, Native American
Management Services, Inc.
• Lead by Example: The Challenges of Responsible Leadership:
Bringing Honor and Respect to
die Offices We Hold - Presented
by: Elizabedi Homer, Homer Law
and Geri Small, Fonner President,
Northern Cheyenne Tribe
• Fiduciary Trust Management - Presented by: John Berrey,
Chair Quapaw Tribe and Karole
Overberg, Tribal Representative
• Keys to Take Care of Our
Bodies - Aroma Therapy - Presented by: Janet Malcolm, Certified Aroma Therapist
• Effective campaigning for
Tribal and Pubhc Positions: Get
Out die Vote Strategies - Presented by: Kaylyn Free, Esq.,
President, INDNS and Melanie
Benjamin, Cliief Executive Officer, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe,
The Non-Removal Mille Lacs
Band of Ojibwe
In addition die WEWIN founders
know how to throw a great party
including kareoke, salsa dance
lessons, and a dance with a hve
band called Westside. The Band
is an R&B group diat performed
everydiing from die Commodores,
Eardi Wind & Fire to Hip Hop.
The conference also included
door prizes including an Extreme
Makeover that included hair,
make-up and $1,000 wardrobe.
The conference finale was a
fashion show of Dorodiy Grant
Designs.
The conference drew Indian
SUCCESS to page 3
State Can
Terminate
Indian Parental
Rights, Court
Says
California courts have jurisdiction in Native American
child custody cases, U.S.
panel rules
By Carla Rivera
Los Angeles Times
In a significant case for Native Americans, a federal court
in San Francisco ruled Tuesday
diat tribes cannot stop California courts from taking Indian
cliildren from dieir parents.
The opinion in Doe vs.
Mann by a diree-judge panel
of the LI.S. 9di Circuit Court
of Appeals is an attempt by die
federal courts to determine how
much control tribes retain over
foster care and odier cliild welfare issues. Tribes around die
country have moved to assert
more audiority in recent years,
arguing that Indian children
are better off remaining widiin
dieir tribes dian being placed for
adoption.
They base dieir arguments
RIGHTS to page 4
Hearing for Jourdain in Red Lake
conspiracy case
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The fadier of
a boy suspected of conspiracy in
die Red Lake High School shootings expressed optimism about his
son's fumre after a federal court
hearing Monday.
Louis Jourdain, 16, was arrested after Red Lake student
Jeff Weise killed nine people in
March. Federal audiorities have
refused to talk about Jourdain's
case because he is a juvenile.
His father, tribal chairman
Floyd Jourdain Jr., declined to
give any details of what took
place at the hearing before Judge
Donovan Frank.
But Jourdain, who has maintained his son's innocence, said:
"It's becoming more apparent to
me that tilings will work out for
my son."
Attorneys also declined to
comment as diey emerged from
the courtroom. The hearing took
place behind locked doors, with
white paper taped over the courtroom windows.
The hearing was to resume
Tuesday.
A school counselor was asked
to bring Jourdain's school records
and appear in court on Wednesday, die Star Tribune of Minne
apolis reported, quoting Red Lake
Principal Chris Dunshee.
Dunshee didn't return calls
from The Associated Press.
The counselor's appearance indicates diat the hearing is likely
to detennine whether Jourdain
should be tried as an adult and
potentially face a longer sentence,
some local legal observers said.
"It has to be a hearing on the
question of whether he should be
transferred to adult status," said
Scott Tilsen, Minnesota's acting
federal public defender. "Those
records are relevant to diat question, and they're commonly
introduced."
Courts consider several factors when deciding if a juvenile
should be tried as an adult, including intellectual development,
psychological maturity, age, and
the nature of the offense.
"While diere are other possibilities, the presence of a counselor with school records could
indicate that the issue before
the court is whether this young
man should be tried as an adult,"
former U.S. Attorney David Lille-
haug said.
But another fonner LIS. attorney, B. Todd Jones, said the case
CASE to page 4