Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2005-09-16

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Grieving Families have
advocate at Hennepin
County Medical Center
page 4
Your Constitutional
Rights
page 4
3,500 Native American
Katrina flood victims
need help
page 4
Support School Board,
Leech Lake Tribal
Council in Firing of
Superintendent, Principal
page 4
Political
Maneuvers Create
Chaos at the
Bug School
page 4
Drug bust at Red Lake nets two
By Bill Lawrence
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has filed complaints
against two adult males and
charged them with conspiring
and possession, with intent to
distribute, cocaine. The two
were stopped by Red Lake Police
on the Reservation on September
5,2005.
Criminal Investigator Brian
Peterson of the Red Lake Police
Department (RDPD) received
an anonymous telephone call
September 4, informing him that
two individuals in a Minnesota licensed mini-van were in the community for the purpose of selling
cocaine. The caller was able to
give the license number to Red
Lake Police.
The caller went on to say the
van had a concealed compartment
under the front passenger seat and
that it contained a red fluid can
with a false bottom, and that the
can contained illegal drugs.
The above information was
distributed throughout the RLPD.
The following day, Officer William White noticed a green van
Leech Lake
Bug-O-Nay-
Ge-Shig School
in turmoil
By Diane White
Bena, MN—On Thursday,
September 8, the Bug-O-Nay-
Ge-Shig School Board met
strong opposition to the firings
of Principal Henry Flocken
and Assistant Principal Patty
Michaud Cook by staff and
community members. The
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig Board
members are elected two
people from District 1 and 2,
and three people from District
3.
The Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig
School Board members must
reside within the reservation
boundaries, must be at least 18
years old, a tribal member of
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe,
and must have resided on the
Reservation for one full year
prior to the election. The school
board released Brenda White-
Espanosa via memorandum
signed by the Executive Director Lenny Fineday stating
she did not reside within the
reservation boundaries. This
was also a point of contention
at the Thursday evening school
board meeting.
The Board members are:
Samuel Johnson in District
1; Shirley Young and Becky
White from District 2, and H.
Tom White, Samuel "Rocky"
Papasodora, and Stephanie
Smith from District 3. The
removal of White-Espanosa
has left a vacany in District 1,
which the School Board can
appoint a member.
Leech Lake Secretary-Treasurer Arthur "Archie" LaRose
questioned the School Board
about the reservation boundaries and the process in which the
Principal and Assistant Principal terminations occurred. The
School Board Chair Rocky Papasodora convened the meeting at 6:05 p.m. and asked the
audience members to wait until
the Open Forum section ofthe
agenda to ask questions after
being bombarded with questions by the hostile audience.
During LaRose's questioning of Papasodora of who
TURMOIL to page 5
driving at a high speed; the license
number was the same one that had
been published in connection with
the alleged illegal drug operation.
Officer White suspected the van
driver was intoxicated and, after
requesting police backup, he
turned on his emergency lights
and stopped the driver.
Officer White requested the
driver, a 17-year old female, to
step out ofthe vehicle. A six-year-
old female was on the passenger
side of the front seat.
When two backup RLPD officers arrived to assist, the officers
opened the doors to the back of
the van and two males were removed. They noted a strong smell
of what they believed was burning
marijuana and saw what appeared
to be several marijuana cigarettes
as well as two small plastic bags
of what appeared to be marijuana
on the floor in the back of the van
where the two men had been sitting. They also saw a bindle on
the floor of the back of the van.
This resembled the common
packaging for illegal street drugs,
including crack cocaine.  On the
ley noted a strong
smell of what
they believed was
burning marijuana.
seat, partially hidden by a piece of
clothing was a realistic appearing
toy semiautomatic pistol.
One ofthe passengers ofthe van
had a Mexican driver's license that
identified him as Gonsalso Fernandez Barrera. He had $595 in
U.S. currency.
Officers found a switchblade
knife in the pocket of the second
male. His identification indicated
his name was Jose Salazar Alvarez
that he had been born in Mexico,
was 34 years old, and was married to an American citizen, Ruby
Wilkins-Alvarez. His wallet contained $150 U.S.
The RL police officers then
RED LAKE to page 7
Leech Lake Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig holds
contentious School Board meeting
By Diane White
Bena, MN—On September 8,
the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School
Board held a meeting that turned
very hostile following the firings
of two popular school administrators. Principal Henry Flocken
and Assistant Principal Patty
Cook were fired on September
1 by the School Board in a 4-0
vote, however allegations of coercion by the Tribal Council and
two Board members were reported
to have been the true cause of the
terminations.
The school board members
who voted to fire the administrators were Shirley Young, Samuel
"Rocky" Papasodora, H. Tom
White, and Stephanie Smith.
The other three members were
not present at the September 1
meeting and they are Brenda
White-Espanosa, Sam Johnson,
and Becky White. [White-Espanosa was removed from the
School Board on September 2
and replaced by Sandy Gotchie
on September 13.]
According to H. Tom White
and Superintendent Karen Baldwin the September 1 meeting
was supposed to be a mediation
meeting where the Tribal Council
helps to resolve problems between
the Board and Administrators. No
meeting minutes were taken nor
were any provided to the audience
or to the fired Administrators.
Gloria Wright, a tribal member,
requested meeting minutes and
Chairman Papasodora stated he
would have those meeting minutes
typed up and available to the public at Leech Lake headquarters.
During the Open Forum section of the meeting, Patty Cook
acknowledge she is a member of
the Michaud family and that she
started working at the Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig School in 1987 as a
first grade teacher. She is currendy
licensed by the state Department
of Education in Elementary Education and as a K-12 Principal.
Cook informed the crowd and
Board of how she needed a school
board and had worked very hard
to get one started. She indicated
she went door-to-door asking for
tribal member's support, because
when she was the Superintendent
the Tribal Council served as the
School Board and she reports
MEETING to page 7
VOICEOF       THE       PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
Leech Lake Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig
School approves school board member
By Diane White
Bena, MN—On Tuesday evening, the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig
School Board voted in Sandy
Gotchie from District 1 as the
new School Board member
to replace Brenda White-Espanosa who was removed from
the School Board September 2.
White-Espanosa was removed
by the Tribal Council due to the
location of her residence reportedly being not within the Leech
Lake Reservation's boundaries.
According to School Board
Chair Samuel "Rocky" Papasodora in a public meeting held on
September 8, he stated he contacted the owner of the trailer
park where White-Espanosa
resides to ask him if the land in
question is within the reservation's boundaries to which the
owner stated it was not.
Prior to the school board meeting, Leech Lake Secretary-Treasurer Arthur "Archie" LaRose
Native American Festival at
Harriet Island in St. Paul
By Diane White
St. Paul, MN—The Native
American Festival ran from Friday to Sunday, September 9 to
12 at Harriet Island in St. Paul.
It was a free event to the public.
With the city of St. Paul in the
background, Harriet Island Park
was bustling with craft and food
vendors, live music, a powwow
with dancing demonstrations,
including a girl who could
hoop dance with 28 hoops.
Live bands played throughout
the day including Indigenous
and Annie Humphrey.
A large tent filled with trade
show vendors who handed out
information from everything
on mortgage loans, college/
university brochures, casinos,
motivation by Famous Dave,
book readings and sales, massage, clothing, and even a
professional LaCrosse team
member signing autographs
and a team picture.
An objective of the festival
was to introduce the mainstream public to business ventures owned by Indian people
other than gaming ventures. The
American Indian Economic Development Fund offers Spring
and Fall classes in Entrepre-
neurship and they provide
counseling and mentoring to
Indians by reviewing business
plans and financial projections.
They also provide gap financ-
FESTIVAL to page 6
questioned the Board's information on the land, stating that
the current Reservation Tribal
Council allowed person(s) living
in that trailer park to sign a legal
petition to remove him because
they ruled the land was within
reservation boundaries.
Chair Papasodora concluded
that LaRose was correct after
all the land is not within the
Reservation's boundaries and the
school board will follow through
with the Tribal Council's decision
to remove White-Espanosa.
White-Espanosa spoke to the
school board in angry and emotional testimony stating that she
was targeted, because she is a
member of the Michaud family.
White-Espanosa questioned the
motive ofthe Tribal Council, but
stated that she will continue to
support the school by keeping her
children enrolled there.
MEMBER to page 6
Poll finds
support for
Fighting Sioux
nickname
Associated Press
FARGO, N.D. - A poll showed
support for the University of
North Dakota's Fighting Sioux
nickname among American Indians and North Dakotans generally,
although Indians say UND should
change the name if the state's
Sioux tribes request it.
The poll, commissioned by The
Forum newspaper and published
Friday, said 81 percent of the
North Dakotans surveyed said
they agreed with the University
of North Dakota's use ofthe nickname and Indian-head logo.
Sixty-three percent of American
Indians said UND should change
the name if the state's Sioux tribes
formally requested it. Statewide,
only 35 percent of residents
agreed.
POLL to page 6
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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 13
September 16, 2005
Glen Billie, of Pearl River, stacks Gerber baby food while preparing a package to send to Bogue
Chitto, Miss., at the American Greetings Building in Choctaw, Miss., on Sept. 9, 2005. Many member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians have been working with the Red Cross to help
other American Indian tribes south of Choctaw that were effected by Hurricane Katrina. Much of
the food and water that is being sent to the ravaged reservations have been donated either by local
businesses or bythe Red Cross. (AP Photo/Kyle Carter) See story on page 7.
First notice of Red Lake suit filed
By Chuck Haga
Star Tribune Staff Writer
RED LAKE, MINN. -The
first formal notice of a possible
lawsuit by families of victims
in the March 21 shootings at
Red Lake High School has
been filed in U.S. District
Court in Minneapolis.
The notice of potential
wrongful-death and injury
claims on behalf of nine victims' families was included
Wednesday in a supplemental
filing by Minneapolis attorney Shamus O'Meara, who
has been retained by the Red
Lake School District.
The notice of claim was
served last week on the district, the state's Education
Department and the state of
Minnesota.
"It's another step toward the
reality of a lawsuit," O'Meara
said.
Randy Thompson, a St. Paul
attorney representing nine
families, said the notice of
claim was served now, almost
six months after the shootings,
to meet a legal deadline. He
would not discuss the potential claim or say whether the
formal notice indicates that a
suit necessarily will follow.
"Our investigation is ongo
ing," Thompson said. "Beyond
that, I can't say anything."
The notice was served on
behalf of the parents, guardians
or next-of-kin of seven of those
killed on March 21: Derrick
Brun, a school security guard;
Michele Sigana, the companion
of Red Lake tribal police officer
Daryl (Dash) Lussier, and students Dewayne Lewis, Thurlene
Stillday, Chase Lussier, Alicia
White and Chanelle Rosebear.
Thompson's notice also advised the state and Red Lake independent School District 38 that
parents or guardians "may claim
compensation" for injuries suffered by wounded students Ryan
Auginash and Cody Thunder.
"The amount of compensation
that will be demanded... has not
yet been determined," according
to the notice.
O'Meara said the district is
aware that families of other
victims of teenager Jeff Weise's
assault on the school, including
teacher Neva Winnecoup-Rog-
ers, who was shot and killed at
the school, also may be contemplating liability claims. He was
not aware of anyone considering
a claim on behalf of Daryl Lussier, who was Weise's grandfather and was killed along with
NOTICE to page 3
Tribal IDs to satisfy polling
place requirements
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - A deal
reached in federal court will
allow American Indians to use
tribal identification cards to
register for voting on Election
Day in Minnesota.
The consent decree arrived at
Monday resolves a lawsuit filed
last year by civil rights groups
and tribal members against
Minnesota Secretary of State
Mary Kiffmeyer.
They were challenging a state
law prohibiting the use of the
ID cards last year if the Indians
did not live on a reservation or if
the card did not include a home
address.
The decree was reached in the
chambers of Minnesota federal
court chief Judge James Rosenbaum.
State law had allowed other
forms of ID without an address as
long as a current utility bill was
provided. The utility bill won't
be necessary under the consent
decree.
Woman loses
right to her child
Reprinted with permission
of the Fargo Forum
By Amy Dalrymple
adalrymple@forumcomm.com
A woman who had a blood
alcohol concentration of 0.399
percent days before she gave birth
to a boy in December lost her parental rights on Wednesday.
Rita Kay Taylor, 26, has not
been in contact with Clay County
Social Services or made any efforts to be reunited with her son,
said Clay County Attorney Lisa
Borgen.
Because Taylor did not attend
the hearing, Clay County District
Judge Michael Kirk granted the
petition to terminate Taylor's
parental rights by default, Borgen said.
Taylor's court-appointed attorney, Richard Varriano, said he has
not had any contact with her.
The boy, Emmanuel, was born
Dec. 24 with a cleft palate and
other health problems and was
hospitalized until March.
He has since been placed with a
foster family in Clay County who
would like to adopt him permanently, Borgen said.
At 9 months old, Emmanuel
weighs 11 pounds, has problems
CHILD to page 3
State planning
fight against
nuclear dump
By Paul Foy
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah is
planning its challenge to a federal
ruling that would allow shipments
of nuclear waste to an impoverished American Indian reservation
45 miles southwest of Salt Lake
City.
Gov. Jon Huntsman said Tuesday he would "stand in the middle
NUCLEAR to page 3