Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-09-09

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Mark Drift Sr. stands
for a positive change
for District 1
page 4
Post 2001/Leech
Lake Honor Guard
dedicates memorial
to fallen comrades
page 4
Letter to Mr. Floyd
"Buck" Jourdain,
Chainnan, Red Lake
Council
page 4
Bois Forte Chairman
responds to Chavers
page 4
Lower Sioux set
an example for
Indian Country
page 4
Leech Lake fires Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig Principal,
Assistant Principal
By Diane White
Cass       Lake,       MN—On
September 1, 2005, during a
scheduled meeting between the
BugrO-Nay-Ge-Shig School
School Board, Administrative
staff, and the Leech Lake Tribal
Council, the schools K-12
Principal Henry Flocken and
Assistant Principal Patty Cook
were both fired.
Karen Baldwin, Superintendent
spoke with the Press/ON and
confirmed the firings. She
stated, "The meeting was
supposed to be a regular meeting
where we exchange information
about how things are going and
we had an agenda. It was a
complete surprise to us that the
Tribal Council fired Flocken and
Cook."
Donald "Mick" Finn, District
3 Representative, denied firing
Flocken and Cook. He stated the
School Board fired them.
According to Baldwin, in late
August Flocken had completed
all requirements to be a Principal
Leech Lake's
Bug School
Board members
removed
By Diane White
Cass Lake, MN—Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig School Board
member Brenda White-
Espanosa was removed
from the school board on
September 2, 2005 per a
memo from Lenny Fineday,
Executive Director, because
the Tribal Council believes
she does not live within the
reservation boundaries.
On July 25,2005, Chairman
George Goggleye stated,
"Something came up this
morning. There's a school
board member that no longer
resides on the Reservation and
is that grounds for removal? I
think one of the requirements
is they have to be on the
Reservation. My only concern
is this, are we going to stick
together on that one because
it's a constituent. It is our
responsibility to look at that.
If it is true, that person can no
longer sit on the school board
because of that reason. It's cut
and dried. There's no making
deals about it and she's a
tribal member."
Fineday wrote to White-
Espanosa, "Based on evidence
that you do not reside within
the exterior boundaries of
the aLeech Lake Reservation,
all authorities, privileges,
and other benefits of School
Board membership are hereby
revoked per the School By-
Laws. The By-Laws clearly
state tltat a vacancy on the
School Board occurs 'when a
member ... ceases to meet the
eligibility standards of Section
1 of this Article...' Section
one clearly establishes a
residency requirement. Since
you no longer meet this
standard, your Board seat
is considered vacant and
all rights and privileges are
forfeited immediately." On
the memo in handwriting is
White-Espanosa's address as
1017 Division Street, Lot #9,
Deer River, MN 56636.
White-Espanoso has
responded   to   the   memo
MEMBERS to page 5
in the state of Minnesota and the
Board of Education website
shows the application was
made on August 30, 2005 and is
currently pending. He provided
Baldwin with a letter from
the University of Minnesota
indicating he had successfully
completed all courses required
to be a Principal. He had also
passed the State of Minnesota's
Principal's Panel and was
awaiting official notice. The
state's Department of Education
website shows Flocken's
certification as "pending." This
means all requirements have
been met and the state must
process the application and
the length of time to do that
depends upon the number of
applications received. Flocken is
currently licensed in Elementary
Education through June 30,
2009.
District 1 Burton "Luke"
Wilson and District 2
Representative Donald "Mick"
Finn along with Lenny Fineday,
Executive Director demanded to
see Flocken's Principal's license
in his hand. Flocken was unable
to provide a paper certification
and informed them he will be
receiving it in the mail. According
to board member sources,
upon hearing this, Finn and
Wilson called Chairman George
Goggleye, Jr. who is reported to
have said, "Term him."
According to Secretary-
Treasurer Arthur "Archie"
LaRose who spoke to the
Press, that teachers are coming
forth with letters of support for
Principal Flocken. He is enrolled
in White Earth, a Band of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and
taught for many years at the
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School.
Patty (Michaud) Cook is a
Leech Lake band member who
worked at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-
Shig school in the early 1990's as
the elementary school Principal.
She is currently licensed in the
LEECH LAKE to page 6
Fired Leech Lake Education
Director finally gets hearing
By Diane White
Cass Lake, MN—On August 27,
2004, Carol Jenkins was fired from
her job as the Education Director
ofthe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
and removed from the Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig School Board.
Jenkins sought due process from
the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
(LLBO) Tribal Council. She was
fired for alleged theft.
According to Jenkins' attorney,
Frank Bibeau, Jenkins ordered
food through the school food
service for her daughter's wedding sometime in June 2004. The
food was delivered but was locked
inside the school and unavailable
to Jenkins. The school locks were
cut to enable her to obtain the food.
She didn't pay for the food until
she was billed for it.
The Tribal Council reported the
incident to Cass County officials
who declined to prosecute. According to Jenkins, the County
did not prosecute, because there
was no evidence of theft.
On July 25, 2005, Carol Jenkins met with the Tribal Council
in a hearing to resolve her firing
from the Director of Education
position and removal from the
school board on August 27,2004.
Jenkins requested the minutes of
the meeting, which described her
dismissal.
To which, Mike Garbow, Tribal
Attorney, stated, "We have looked
everywhere for those meeting
minutes, but who ever was in
charge of that meeting thought
it was a special meeting and
your Executive Secretary thinks
it was an Executive Session and
someone misnamed it as a special
meeting. The Bug School Board
ordinance does not require it to
be at a special meeting just a motion or motion made by the Tribal
Council they have the ability to
remove." This statement clearly
did not explain the absence of the
minutes of the meeting. What he
meant is unclear.
Bibeau authorized Press/ON
to utilize the hearing recording.
During the hearing, Goggleye
informed Bibeau and Jenkins this
was their opportunity to present
information. There was no judge,
no jury, and no orderly hearing
process, only Jenkins vs. the
Tribal Council.
HEARING to page 5
Bemidji Area Anishinabe Center
Project in progress
By Diane White
Bemidji, MN —The Indian
residents of Bemidji are joining
together to build a new Anishinabe
Center. The project is being lead
by community activist and social
worker Audrey Thayer who has
resided in the Bemidji area since
1989. Press/ON met with Thayer
and Joe Johnson and Helma, also
members ofthe committee.
The idea began when Audrey
Thayer lost her 22-year-old son
in a construction accident several
years ago and she had nowhere in
Bemidji to hold the wake.
Consequently, the wake took
place in her home. Since then she
had one more wake in her home
for her grandmother. She found
that other Indian people had the
same problem.
Thayer has a Masters level licensed social worker. She' left a
good job with the Indian Health
Service after her son died to be
more active in the community
in the Bemidji area. She sees the
need for greater access to social
programs and a place for Indian
people to gather for family celebrations such as weddings, anniversaries or to gather in times
of sorrow and grief.
The group began meeting in May
2005. They now hold meetings
every two weeks and are gaining
new members and supporters at
every meeting. They have identified two areas in Bemidji where
most Indian people live in Nymore
and the city blocks nearest to the
Bemidji city business and government agencies, and this is where
they envision the new center to
be built.
Other project supporters include
local business owners and government officials in the Bemidji area.
The group is intending to apply for
$15,000 planning grant to help
offset the cost of the necessary
CENTER to page 5
Inger woman's home burns after Leech Lake
Constituent Services accidentally start fire
By Diane White
Cass Lake, MN—Louise Jenkins purchased a used trailer for
her daughter, Anna Johnson and
her three grandchildren. Louise
has worked at the Bug-O-Nay-
Ge-Shig School for 19 years and
agreed to have $25 taken out of her
paycheck every two weeks by the
LLBO Community Services Home
Repair Program, so that she could
have them skirt the trailer and make
some inside repairs. Louise also
purchased tile for the trailer floor
and paid to have the trailer moved
from Ball Club to Inger.
On April 18, 2005, Deb Courn-
oyer witnessed a Housing truck
with two workers Joe Kingbird
and A. Isham pulling into the
driveway at approximately 10:
00 a.m.. Kingbird and Isham told
Cournoyer they were there to hook
up the water. Cournoyer retrieved
the trailer house keys and let the
two workmen in. They asked
where the water heater was and
after finding the water heater the
men left for lunch.
On April 21, 2005, the workers
were working on the water heater
and heat pump which included soldering. Jenkins left to go to work
for her swing shift at the school.
The workers were nearly complete
with the repairs when she left and
her daughter and grandchildren
were planning to move in at 6:00
p.m. But disaster struck and witnesses reported the workers left
the scene and soon afterward the
trailer burned down. According to
the fire report, the alarm came in at
4:41, the fire truck arrived at 5:00
p.m. and the fire was extinguished
by 5:30 p.m.
The fire report states, "Mobile
home fully engulfed when we arrived. The north end of the home
had flames through the roof and
walls. Home owner stated that
Leech Lake Housing was there
that day working on the hot water heater and a heat pump. The
owner was not at home at the time
of the fire. I also talked with Mrs.
Jenkins. She stated that she was
at the home around 3:00 p.m. and
that the workers from Leech Lake
Housing showed her the work that
they had done. Leech Lake Police
on scene along with Itasca County
Sheriff 717."
The report also shows the ignition point of the fire was the heating room or area, which is consistent with what Jenkins reported as
the area the Leech Lake Housing
was working in. However, the fire
report also indicates, "Cause undetermined after investigation."
According to Jenkins she has
sought replacement costs from the
Leech Lake Community Services
Home Repair Program through
John DeVault, however, he has
denied to her that his staff was
ever working on her trailer.
Jenkins is seeking $5,000 to
replace the trailer and $5,000 to
replace the trailer's contents. Jenkins stated her daughter paid for a
new stove and refrigerator through
a payroll deduction.
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Volume 18 Issue 12
September 9, 2005
Slate of Three, Scott Adolphson, Shannon Blue and Sheldon Peters Wolfchild, with spiritual
leader Chris Leith.
Slate of three takes office at Lower Sioux
By Bill Lawrence
Tuesday, September 6,
2005 was a glorious late
summer day —calm, blue
sky, bright sunshine and mild
temperature. It seemed like a
fortuitous day.
Although temps are still
warm, there is an unmistakable flavor of fall in the air,
an almost intangible signal the
end of summer has arrived and
a new season is beginning.
The swearing in of three
new tribal council members
Tuesday also signaled the
end of business as usual at
the Lower Sioux Commu
nity at Morton, Minnesota. This
event mimics the subtle shift in the
seasons from summer to fall and
the days of family held power are
giving way to a new order. The
start of long hoped for change in
tribal government appears to be
manifesting.
Using a variety of effective
campaign strategies three candidates, running as a team, inspired
90% of eligible voters to get out
to vote. They ended up in the winners' circle. The three candidates,
known as the Slate of Three, are
Sheldon Peters Wolfchild, Scott
Adolphson and Shannon Blue.
By peaceful means, without
hoopla, control of the Lower
Sioux Tribal Council (LSTC)
passed from incumbents Anne
Pendleton Larsen, Brian Pendleton and Robert D. Larsen to the
Slate of Three.
The swearing took place
about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, before about 60 attendees. It was
a simple ceremony preceded
by a prayer. Chris Leith, clad
in feathered headdress and carrying an eagle wing, counseled
praying from the heart not the
head. He spoke his prayer in the
Dakota language, saying it was
SIOUX to page 6
Strong return of students at
Red Lake High School
By Dave Kolpack
Associated Press
RED LAKE, Minn. - Most of
the student body at Red Lake
High School returned to school
for fall classes Tuesday in a sign
of resiliency six months after a
deadly shooting.
Principal Chris Dunshee said
272 students showed up for
classes out of about 300 from
the Red Lake Indian Reservation who are eligible to attend
the high school in this small
northern Minnesota town.
Last spring, when school
reopened about a month after
the March shooting, about
two-thirds of the student body
didn't show up, and most of
them stayed away for the rest
of the school year.
"I think it does show that
people are committed to their
education," school board member Kathryn Beaulieu said ofthe
turnout Tuesday.
Though school officials
were still working out kinks
with scheduling and classes,
Dunshee reported a calm and
uneventful morning Tuesday. vTt
seems to be going pretty well so
far," he said. "We've got a lot of
kids in the building, we just need
to get them in the right place."
However, he added, "I'm a little
anxious, probably due to trying to
make sure that everything goes
smoothly."
A 16-year-old student killed
seven people at the school before
taking his own life March 21.
The school unveiled new security
measures last week, including
three armed guards, metal detectors, surveillance cameras and new
door locks.
Two students who were severely
injured in the shooting and are
continuing to recover - Jeff May
and Steve Cobenais - were not at
school for morning classes, Dun-
shee said.
When students first returned to
school in mid-April, classes were
held in an older part of the school
building - away from the scene of
the shootings _ and there was a
heavy police presence. Initial se-
RED LAKE to page 5
Dog track seeks to overturn
gaming compacts
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin's governor did not have
the power in 1998 and 2003 to
renew gaming compacts allowing American Indian tribes to
operate casinos in Wisconsin,
a lawyer for a Kenosha County
dog track argued Wednesday
before the state Supreme
Court.
Attorney Stephen Morgan, representing Dairyland
Greyhound Park, said a 1993
amendment to the Wisconsin
Constitution voters approved
outlawed casino-style gambling in the state and required
the governor to terminate gaming compacts with the tribes.
But attorney Thomas Bellavia,
representing the state, urged the
court to reject those arguments.
He told the justices the first
compacts were validated by
federal law and in place before
the amendment was approved 12
years ago. Because of that, those
deals superseded the amendment
overwhelmingly approved by voters.
It is the second time the
Supreme Court has heard
Dairyland's lawsuit. Justices
deadlocked on the case 3-3 last
year and asked an appeals court
to take the case. But the appeals
court judges said state law was
COMPACTS to page 5
Rehnquist's
tenure saw
erosion of tribal
sovereignty
Indianz.com (9/6/05)
As an associate justice,
then chief justice, William H.
Rehnquist oversaw the near
wholesale dismantling of tribal
sovereignty in a slew of U.S.
Supreme Court cases.
During Rehnquist's 33 years on
the bench, the court abandoned its
traditional role as a protector of
tribal interests. In decisions affecting jurisdiction, taxation and
immunity, the justices began
to discard the notion that tribes
possessed inherent sovereignty,
treating tribes separately from
states and, when the two collided,
favoring states.
As a conservative proponent of
states' rights, Rehnquist was at the
forefront of this shift. In 1978, he
started the trend with the Oliphant
v. Suquamish decision, holding
that tribes lack criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians because it is
"inconsistent" with their status.
"By submitting to the overriding
sovereignty of the United States,
Indian tribes therefore necessarily
give up their power to try non-Indian citizens of the United States
except in a manner acceptable to
Congress," Rehnquist wrote in
the precedent-setting opinion on
March 6, 1978, seven years after
he joined the court.
Three years later, the court used
Rehnquist's words to extend this
philosophy to civil jurisdiction. In
Montana v. United States, the justices held that tribes lack authority
over the activities of non-Indians
except in certain cases.
"Though Oliphant only determined inherent tribal authority in
criminal matters, the principles
on which it relied support the
general proposition that the inherent sovereign powers of an
Indian tribe do not extend to the
activities of nonmembers of the
TENURE to page 5