Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-07-29

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Violation of Leech Lake
Code of Ethics
page 5
Something Is wrong
usnniarKi,
Leech Lake
page 4
Reporter responds
to negative, vile and
hateful Dawn Wind
letter
page 4
Top 10 Signs you
are on a BAD
RESERVATION
page 4
Are you more or
less self-sufficient
today then you
were a year ago?
page 4
Ojibwe youth to compete in area 4-wheeler races
By Bill Lawrence
We were introduced this week
by a reader to a young man who
has ten years of experience riding
a four-wheeler and who's been racing them for the past two years.
He races every weekend, winter
as well as summer. He rides two
different custom built machines.
He has won so many trophies
he's had to give some away to his
sponsors. He's been described as
"one of the winningest four wheel
racers in the state."
Tins individual is Ryan Young,
and he is just 14 years old. He
started riding when he was four
and started racing two years ago.
He was introduced to us by his
grandfather, Ron Head, a Red
. Lake member. Ryan's mother is
from White Earth.
He loves riding four wheelers; he
loves racing four wheelers. Many
of the racers he participates against
are twice his age. He would like
to do professional racing but is not
old enough.
Although he wears full protective gear while racing, he has
experienced a number of rather
serious injuries during his races.
He's suffered a broken nose and
three torn knee tendons. When a
major crash occurs, he just gets
back on and finishes the race.
In a race last year a rival four-
wheeler smashed Ryan's leg
against the frame of his machine.
His knee was so badly injured he
couldn' t stand on it. Nevertheless
he got back into the race and ended
up in first place.
The start of a race can be particularly wild. At the first turn,
amid anywhere from five to
fifteen riders, two or three often
wipe out on the first turn because
they are all vying for position. On
a straightaway, Young will hit 60
miles per hour.
Four wheels riding involves
aerial jumps. A newspaper article
provided by his grandfather gives
this description, "Ryan blasts off
die top of the dirt about 40 or 50
feet in die air. He'll travel about
100 feet before he lands."
This week Ryan raced in Pine
River on the 27, In Bemidji on the
28, and will race in Brainerd on
Friday, July 29.
Leech Lake Chairman Goggleye felony charge
reduced to misdemeanor
By Diane White
WALKER, MN- Based upon
the expiration of a Stay of Imposition that was part of the original
court order against Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe Chairman George
Goggleye, Jr., Cass County Judge
Harrington's determination, and
paperwork finally being completed,
Goggleye is no longer considered
a felon according to Cass County
Court Administration.
On September 17,1993, Goggleye was charged with felony 5di
degree assault, which held a
maximum sentence of 5 years in
prison and/or $5,000 fine. Goggleye plead guilty on November 18,
1993 to die felony for 5di degree
assault and was placed on probation widi conditions.
Despite having probation violations for not fulfilling court-ordered anger management and for
failing to be cooperative and truthful with his probation officer, on
July 5,2005, years after Goggleye
was released from probation and
years after the stay of imposition
expired, Cass County Court Judge
Harrington ordered the reduction
in charges from felony status to a
misdemeanor status.
The reduction occurred because
after Goggleye was released from
probation, but still on a Stay of
Imposition, he had no further
criminal charges in Cass County
It was dien up to a Judge to reduce
the charges from felony to misdemeanor. In Goggleye's case, Judge
Harrington determined the probation violations were not serious
enough to keep the felony charge
as a felony charge.
Reducing felony charges is done
on a case-by-case basis and had Cass
County known about charges in other counties the felony charge might
not have been reduced according to
Cass County Court sources.
However, once an individual has
been convicted of a felony they
have established a corrections
point worksheet that will always
show a felony conviction in points
and should the person re-offend
and be convicted again their consequences will be harsher because
they accumulated points.
Finally, once a felony is dropped
to a misdemeanor or.dismissed, the
individual no longer has to admit to
being convicted of a felony.
Goggleye has denied being a
felon in legal meetings at the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's Tribal
Executive Committee meetings
and most recendy at the July 1,
2005 LLBO Quarterly meeting.
One cannot deny it appears that
Goggleye is using his political position to direcdy benefit himself in
this matter.
Judge Harrington was called for a
comment on Wednesday, July 27,
but did not return the call by press
time on Thursday.
Financial planning for women is a way of life
By Diane White
Money, finances, cash, salary,
revenue, wages, earnings, or income are all tenns that determine
how you will hve now and in the
future. Indian people are obviously
not poor by choice and you can
witness that by how our elected
officials detennine dieir own paychecks. The cost of living varies
depending upon where you live in
the country and whedier you live
in an urban metropolis setting or a
mral country setting.
In rural Minnesota, getting to
wofk is often more dian 30 miles
away and as the cost of gasoline
rises, so does the cost of getting to
work. Frequendy the cost of living
rises while the hourly wage stays
the same, which in effect tightens
your budget. One saving grace
for Indian people living on the
reservation is the ability to hve in
subsidized housing where rents are
typically lower than market value
in neighboring towns. Subsidized
rents are based upon family size
and income; therefore will vary
depending upon family circumstances.
So the question is what can you
do to control your financial life
and future?
At the WEWIN conference a
major topic was to begin die habit
of saving money for your retirement. For women this is cntcial
because women tend to outlive
dieir spouses. Since women have
only begun to be a major earning
power in the family since around
the 1970s, a few societal changes
have occuned: 1) it takes two incomes for a family to live in relative comfort; and 2) opportunities
for women to earn major bucks
and work in any field/industry has
grown considerably; and 3) middle
class mainstream family sizes have
shrunk.
Patricia Parker, President/CEO,
Native American Management Services, Inc., advised Indian women
to 'learn to earn" by taking a class
in the basics of finance, leam one
thing about money every day, and
read two books on finances every
year. You can find a class in basic
financial matters at your local high
school community education programs, a tribal college seminar or
workshop, or at a business development center. Frequendy the tribal
college and business development
centers join forces to put on financial seminars in the community for
free or at a very low cost and you
just have to look for die opportunities and register.
To gain further control of your
financial life, you must set at least
five goals and put your money
where your values are by using
the SMAC method. The SMAC
method means to write down your
goals and diey should be specific,
measurable, achievable, and com
patible. Being specific means to
answer what are the details of the
financial goal, what will it cost and
how much time will it take to reach.
You must be able to measure your
progress so that you will know
when you have reached the finish
line—so write it down including
when you will reach your goal?
Your goal must also be achievable and timely, meaning you can
achieve the goal in 30 years (i.e.,
pay off mortgage on house), 1 day,
1 year, etc. Here you will probably find what obstacles are out
there to block you from achieving
your goal. Finally, are your goals
compatible with your values? If
you value travel, are you able to
make at least one trip per year to a
destination you desire.
The third step in financial planning for your future is to take
an inventory of what you have.
Where are you financially right
now? How much money do you
have saved in a bank account, an
Individual Retirement Account, or
a pension account? If you do not
know exacdy, find out today. How
much money do you have taken
out of your paycheck to put away
and be sure to save die maximum
amount you can every year.
For many people, social security
was die answer to old age. Having
diis small amount of fixed income
WOMEN to page 6
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
NWOIC challenges Onigum, Walker
to become better neighbors
By Diane White
ONIGUM, MN-The Northwest Indian OIC (NWOIC) Senior
Consulting Manager Mike Bongo
invited the Onigum/Old Agency
village residents of the Leech Lake
Reservation to a walleye supper
at die Onigum Community Center
to discuss race relations between
them and the residents of Walker.
In addition three $50 prizes were
given as door prizes at each weekly meeting. NWIOIC received a
grant to commandeer the efforts to
bring greater harmony between the
Indian and White people who live
in die area. The project is called
the Good Neighbor project.
Lany Aitken, recognized as a
Leech Lake Reservation historian, facilitated die meeting. He
also performed a pipe ceremony
and prayed for die community, the
people at die meeting, and blessed
the supper. Fonner District III
Representative Myron Ellis was
present at the meeting and is working on additional grant funding to
support the local effort.
Mike Bongo was born and
raised in Walker and graduated
from Walker High School where
he was very active and successful
in athletics. Bongo studied at Bemidji Stale University, but left before he graduated. He relocated to
the Twin Cities area finding work
as a grant writer and as a result
became the Executive Director of
the Minneapolis American Indian
OIC program. After eight years,
he left the AIOIC to work for a
major Minneapolis corporation,
The Pillsbury Company where he
was the Director of Community
Relations for all Pillsbury plants
in die U.S. and Mexico.
Mike returned to live in Walker
with his teenage son and accepted
die head position at the floundering Northwest Indian OIC in
2003, Since he took charge the
NWOIC s annual budget went
from $92,000 to over $1,100,000.
Bongo stated he expected diat to
grow to $1.5 million by the end
of the year.
The grants Bongs has received
help improve the lives of other Indian people in die northern Minnesota area. The NWIOIC now has
a home loan program, a Certified
Nursing Assistant program, and
continues to help people gain
and improve their skills to gain
employment.
The major issues concerning
Bongo were the lack of Indian
students graduating from his alma
mater Walker High School and the
lack of Indian snidents involved
NWOIC to page 3
AIDS takes a
growing toll on
Native Americans
By Judy Nichols
Tlie Arizona Republic
PHOENIX (AP) - Frank Igluguq
Gooden grew up near the end of the
Earth.
His Alaskan village of Kiana,
home to 400 Inupiat natives, hes
nordi of die Arctic Circle.
No roads go there. To visit, you
must fly 550 miles nordi from Anchorage to die hub town of Kot-
zebue, dien catch a puddle-jumper
east across 150 miles of water and
open mndra, populated by moose
and bears, to the edge of the Kobuk
River.
In this region of breathtaking
beauty, AIDS seemed faraway, a
distant danger haunting big cities.
No one in Kiana had ever admitted having it. Until Frank.
With AIDS cases increasing in
the most remote Native American
outposts, the isolated, insular nature
of some of those communities may
be their downfall.
Those who thought the isolation would protect them, diat the
disease was only found in urban
areas, now see it cropping up in
the smallest villages, far from the
nearest clinic.
And late diagnoses mean more
AIDS to page 5
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Native a-
American
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2005
Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 6
July 29, 2005
Ben Yawakie, right, (Zuni and Ojibwe, Brooklyn Park) and Beartracks Calanche (Flathead, Montana) work
on a model during the U ot M Native American Math and Science Camp. See article on page 3.
Teachers, citing security, worried about Red Lake
school opening
By Dave Kolpack
Associated Press
RED LAKE, Minn. - The superintendent of Red Lake High
School says the school year
should start on time despite
questions from teachers about
new construction and security
measures.
Some high school staff members have said they won't renirn
unless they feel comfortable
about changes diat were promised following the March 21
shooting diat left eight people
dead at die school. Classes are
scheduled to resume Sept. 1.
"The building looks as it
did when we left school," high
school teacher Nadian Anderson told die Red Lake School
Board earher this week. "That's
a litde concerning."
Administrators plan to meet
widi teachers Aug. 8 to update
them on changes, superinten
dent Stuart Desjarlait said.
"Whatever needs to be done is
going to be in place by the start
of school," Desjarlait said Friday.
"We can start on time."
Board members said plans have
been made to remodel rooms and
other areas where die shootings
occuned. The. designs are done
and most of the materials have
been ordered, School Board
president Arnold Pemberton said.
" We want to get things in place,
too," Pemberton said. "But it
takes time."
About 75 teachers met earlier
diis mondi to talk about security
and safety at die school. They suggested that the semester be delayed
for a couple of weeks to complete
the projects.
"A lot of teachers are upset
about it," said Frank Dickenson,
a Red Lake Band of Chippewa
elder and counselor. "Some of
them fear for their lives."
Some of the delay is due to a
clash in cultural values, Dickenson
said.
"The traditional way of our
people is diat it must stay die way
it is for a wliile," he said. "You
can't do any tiling about it for a
year."
Chris Dunshee, the high school
principal, said Friday he hopes to
sit down with his staff in August
and get a feel for diesihiation.
"Right now we're still kind of
in die middle of summer and we're
trying to adapt and recuperate a
litde bit," Dunshee said.
Bodi die tribe and school district
have applied for several grants to
help with school projects and
youth programs. Some of diat
money lias been slow to come in,
board members said.
"It's die bureaucracy that holds
us back," board member Kadiryn
TEACHERS to page 6
Appeals Court
ruling deals blow
to offender
registry law
Associated Press
ST. PAUL - The Minnesota
Court of Appeals dealt a blow
to efforts by law enforcement
agencies to track murderers,
sex offenders and kidnappers
by niling that the state can't
require American Indians living on reservations to register
as predatory offenders.
Tuesday's decision affinned
a Cass County district judge's
niling, but it may be appealed.
State courts are increasingly
recognizing Indian tribes as
separate nations, widi sovereign
jurisdiction over die regulation
of their citizens in most noncriminal matters.
The crux of the Appeals
Court decision was that the
state's predatory-offender registration law is civil and regulatory in nature _ not criminal in
nature as prosecutors and the
state attorney general's office
argued.
The case involved Peter
Jones, 31, of Cass Lake, who
was convicted in 1996 of kidnapping for locking someone
in a car trunk for more than 14
hours. LTnder state law, that conviction made Jones a predatory
offender, and tiius required to
register his addresses after be-
COURT to page 6
McCain warns tribes, feds of years
of potential litigation
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY - Sen. John
McCain warned tribal leaders and
federal officials on Tuesday diat
the alternative to his proposed
legislative remedy for a 9-year-
old American Indian trust fund
lawsuit would be many more
years of cosdy litigation.
"If we're going to reach an
agreement, there's going to have
to be some compromise on bodi
sides," McCain, R-Ariz., said at a
meeting of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee he chairs.
The measure McCain intro
duced last week doesn't specify
how much of a financial setdement the government woidd offer,
aldiough it's expected to be less
dian the $27 billion being sought
by die tribes.
McCain said he was disturbed
to hear diat die lead plaintiff in die
case compared his legislation to an
infamous event.
Elouise Cobell last week said
McCain's bill reminded her of
"die Baker Massacre at Blackfeet where they gave Heavy
MCCAIN to page 6
Outsourcing seen as boon to
American Indians
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
KYLE, S.D. - The Oglala Lakota
Sioux were among the last tribes
to battle the U.S. cavalry, and
dieir vast Pine Ridge reservation
was ground zero in the American
Indian Movement's 1970s clashes
with federal agents.
But proud resistance to outsiders hasn't been good for business.
Here in the Badlands, economic
opportunity has been as banen as
the flora-diin hills. Unemployment
is near 80 percent. Substance abuse
is rampant.
Tradition-bound, the Lakota
Sioux want to be close to family
and resist leaving the reservation.
Tribal and business leaders are
hoping diat in an increasingly globalized economy, where infonna-
tion-processing work can be done
nearly anywhere, they won't need
to.
The tribal leaders' bet: outsourcing. Their first big client: A
Chinese-US. joint venture.
Increasingly, American Indians
are looking to outsourcing as a way
of boosting economic opportunity
widiout having to stray from dieir
lands.
On the Pine Ridge reservation, a
local Indian-owned marketing and
Web design startup, Lakota Express, can diank sloppy handwriting for its outsourcing fortunes.
BOON to page 6