Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-01-27

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Violence systemic
among Native
people
page 4
Letter to Floyd
"Buck' Jourdain
page 4
Uniform Elections?
page 4
BIA Election Information
page 5
Native casino owners
share guilt in scandal
page 4
LLTC steps, once
again, beyond
the bounds of
propriety
page 4
Twenty-four positions open in MCT regular election
By Bill Lawrence
Twenty-four elective positions
on Chippewa Tribal Councils, all
four-year terms, will be open for
this spring's elections. Six Secretary/Treasurers and eleven district
representative seats will be open
throughout the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT).
At Red Lake, all three officer
positions (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer) and four district representative (one each from Redby, Red
Lake, Little Rock and Ponemah)
seats will be on the ballot.
Each of the six MCT Bands
(Leech Lake, White Earth, Mille
Lacs, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage
and Nett Lake) will be choosing
a Secretary/Treasurer. All bands,
except Fond du Lac, will be elect
ing two representatives. Fond du
Lack has one district representative opening.
The filing period at Red Lake
has not been announced. The
general election is set for an as
yet unnamed date in May. If no
candidate wins a clear majority
in the general election, a run off
election is held later in the year.
The MCT filing period began
January 24 and runs through
February 3. Election judges and
boards will be announced for the
primary election by March 1,
2006. The Primary Election will
be April 4, 2006.
The MCT general election will
be June 13, with winning candidates taking office on July 18.
Press/ON has published the
entire MCT Election Calendar in
previous weeks and we will continue to carry the announcement
until election time.
The calendar contains additional information, such as dates
for certification and publication
of election results, deadlines for
recount request, etc.
NOTICE: Press/ON will publish,
free of charge, election announcements including photographs,
for all certified candidates. Free
announcements must be limited
to 300 words in length and must
be electronically transmitted to
us at: natampr@paulbunyan.net.
Deadline for weekly publications
is NOON Wednesdays.
RLTC approves $10,795,000 budget; projects
$1.6 million shortfall
Conducts executive session to interview tribal judge candidate
By Bill Lawrence
At a special meeting January 26,
Red Lake Tribal Council members
approved a $10, 795,000 general
fund budget. Tribal members in
attendance learned that the Band's
2006 budget projects a $1.6 million shortfall. Council members
voted to withdraw $1.7 milhon of
stumpage fees trust money to cover
the amount. The total 2006 budget
includes $3,537 milhon in Indirect
Cost Pool, which is money the tribe
receives as part of the federal funds
for administering the contracts.
Tribal members were distressed
when the Council adjourned into
an unannounced executive session to interview a tribal judge
candidate. The executive session
was not on the published agenda.
It was requested by Eldora Malone, Human Resources Director,
and granted by Chairman Floyd
"Buck" Jourdain.
Members expressed concern over
being excluded from participating
in activity surrounding the hiring
of essential key personnel.
Considering the action to be an
abuse of tribal authority and a
violation of the spirit of open meetings, several members protested
their exclusion. Council however
proceeded with the interview in a
private session.
Press/ON will carry more details
of the Band's 2006 budget in upcoming issues.
Revisiting visit
Documentary on
Winnebago Indian
visit released this week
By Tim Krohn
The Free Press
MANKATO - Last summer,
Hochunk Indian elders visited the
St. Clair area to see for the first
time where many of their ancestors lived in the mid- 1800s.
"It was a historic day. They indicated they'd like to come again,"
said Sheryl Dowlin, who along
with others organized the visit.
On Thursday evening, a documentary video of their visit will
be released at an event at the Blue
Earth County Historical Society.
Dowlin will give a presentation
and show part of an 80-minute
video documenting the visit, including oral histories from some
of the Hochunk. The event starts
at 7 p.m.
Four Hochunk representatives
also plan to attend the event: Jim
Snow, Matthew Pilcher, Charles
Rice and Betty White.
The Hochunk, also known as
the Winnebago Indians, were less
known to Mankato-area residents
than the Dakota (Sioux) Indians.
For several years the Winnebago
coexisted with white settlers in the
area and many became successful
farmers. But the settlers' thirst for
rich farmland and the war between
the U.S. military and the Dakota
Indians led to the Winnebago being banished to other states.
Dowlin, a professor emerita of
speech communications at Minnesota State University, and her
husband, Bruce, had long been
involved in the Mankato powwow and reconciliation effort
with the Dakota.
A few years ago they, and John
Four generations of Winnebago tribe members visited the Mankato
area in May of last year to learn more about their ancestors.
Christensen, Bud Lawrence and
Tom Hagen, used their shared
interest in local history and their
friendship with Barry Blackhawk
of the Winnebago reservation in
Nebraska, to begin planning a visit
by the Winnebago.
"During our 15-year friendship
with Barry (Blackhawk), we talked
about doing something with the
Winnebago. They're a part of the
history here, but not many people
remember it or talk about it," said
Sheryl Dowlin. The Dowlins
recently moved to Sheryl's home
state of Idaho. They are returning
for the documentary release.
Sheryl Dowlin videotaped the
events as the 30 Hochunk visitors
went to the site of the old Winnebago Agency near St. Clair and
other sites in the area. The "Return
of the Winnebago," documentary
of the visit, was made possible
through a grant from the Minnesota
Humanities Commission.
Copies of the documentary are
being sent to the Hochunk in Nebraska. Dowlin said the visit to the
Mankato area was written about
extensively in the tribal newspaper
in Nebraska.
Unfortunately, Blackhawk did
not hve to see the renewed interest that resulted from the visit.
"He was not very well when he
was here last summer but he was
determined to make the trip. Unfortunately he passed away a few
weeks after," Sheryl Dowlin said.
She said some ofthe visitors had
stories of their ancestors' history
here. "Many of them had stories
of their elders and family who had
passed down stories of living here.
Many of them had relatives who
had hved and farmed here."
A visit to the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church cemetery
in St. Clair brought a surprise for
everyone in the group. "There
were a number of grave sites of
their ancestors. They found some
of their relatives there. That was
very meaningful to them."
Info: Beverly Bushyhead, Greater
Twin Cities United Way, 612-
340-7588; bushyheadb@unit-
edwaytwincities.org or www.
unitedwaytwincities.org
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a lasting tribute - a name - to first tribal fatality in Iraq
By Jim Sheeler
Rocky Mountain News
KYLE, S.D. - Two miles from
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
the car radio crackled, then locked
onto the signal.
"I understand they are currently
escorting Brett's body back," the
disc jockey said. "There are several
pohce cars, followed by the hearse
and vans filled with Marines. We'll
let you know when they are on the
reservation."
Inside their rental car, two Marines from Colorado stared out
at the road, winding through the
rolling brown grass of the desolate Badlands. A few cars ahead,
through the back window of the
hearse, they could see the flag-
draped casket of the first Oglala
Sioux fatality of the war in Iraq.
A few minutes later, the disc
jockey broke in again.
"Right now they are at the
reservation line with the body of
Corporal Brett Lundstrom," she
said. "I've got eight songs queued
up here, and we will play them
back to back. So here they are, going out to Corporal Lundstrom..."
She started with a spoken word
piece that began just as the procession rolled across the reservation
line.
"Throughout time, American
Indians have had to defend themselves and their way of life," said
the solemn voice of songwriter
Wil Numkena. "American Indian
PHOTOS BY TODD HEISLER
Bands of warriors: Marines prepare to
transfer the flag-draped casket carrying
Cpl. Brett Lundstrom, 22, from a hearse
to a wagon last Saturday.on the road
leading to Kyle, S.D. 'He earns the
American flag from his government," says
Vietnam veteran John Around Him. "He
earns the eagle feather from his people.'
warriors have a long tradition of
protecting their families, tribe and
nation..."
The Marines listened as they
drove past weather-beaten wooden
houses and lone mobile homes,
through the second poorest county
in the United States, toward the
geographic center of the 2 million-
acre reservation.
"By tradition, American Indian
people have always embraced
their warriors upon their return
from battle," the voice on the radio
said. "Embraced them in heart,
embraced them in spirit..."
Since arriving at the home of
Cpl. Lundstrom's mother in nearby
Black Hawk to inform her of her
son's death, Marines from Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora had
spent two days helping with plans
for a nonstop, 42-hour wake on
the reservation - the beginning of
nearly five full days of traditional
honors.
As the procession advanced,
residents poured from their homes.
The hearse passed families sitting
on the hoods of their cars, their
children wrapped in colorful blankets. One couple stood at the side
of the road, their heads bowed. A
boy on horseback watched with his
dog near a barbed-wire fence; A
man in a rusty pickup stared from
atop a grassy hill.
The procession continued to
grow as cars from the side of the
road pulled in, stretching the line
for more than five miles.
On their car radios, the tribute
continued.
"We mourn, but honor the warriors who have given of their hves
in the field of battle. We embrace
their spirit, for they are our very
breath of life.
"Great Spirit, we ask of you to
receive our warriors."
From hearse to wooden wagon
Three tribal chiefs in feathered
headdresses waited on horseback
off to the side of the road, along
with a dozen other riders and a
small empty wooden wagon.
The procession arrived from
over a hill, and as the Marines
got out, the two bands of warriors
nodded to each other.
The Marines lifted the flag-
WARRIOR to page 5
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2006
Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 2$ 3 I
January 27, 2006
Construction equipment removing the Stangel property in Bena.
Unusual activity in Bena raises conununity concerns
By Bill Lawrence
December 12,2005, several
townspeople in Bena noticed
a Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
truck and heavy equipment
leveling a building on 1st Avenue West. The uninhabitable
dwelling, according to Cass
County records, belonged
to Steven B. and Diana L.
"Dinah" Stangel. According
to the county website, the
property address is listed as
122 County 8 Road, parcel
number 83-337-0760.
One alert resident, realizing
this was unusual activity, sent
an individual over to the site
to photograph the demolition
activity.   A huge bulldozer,
a dump truck and several other
pieces of equipment owned by
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe were
photographed at the site. Asemi
truck identified with the letters "T
CBS" from Brainerd hauled away
the destruction debris.
Our source called the Reservation Tribal Council offices asking
about the activity. No answers
were forthcoming. No return calls
were made. In fact, a woman who
refused to state her name told our
source the demolition activity was
none of her business.
The source also called a Leech
Lake District Representative. He
made inquiries and subsequently
reported he'd been unable to discover who had authorized the use
of Band equipment, whether the
Band would be sending a bill for
the services or why the demolition had been ordered.
The individual who contacted
Press/ON wanted this matter
publicized. The source said the
connection between the Stangels
and Leech Lake tribal officials is
of long standing and has, more
or less, been public knowledge
in the community for the past
twenty or more years.
Local conjecture holds that the
demolition is just the latest episode in a long line of questionable
Leech Lake Reservation projects
that have been undertaken for the
benefit of the Stangels.
Tribal leader      For many Indian youths, Project
wants casino as  Challenge may save their lives
forced treaty
payback
Associated Pres
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The
chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa says a
coercive treaty took land here
away from the tribe more than
a century ago.
Ken Davis said it's only fair to
allow the tribe to build a casino
south of town.
"We have a legitimate right
to be in Grand Forks," Davis
said.
Chief Red Bear of the Pembina Band of Chippewa, a predecessor of the Turtle Mountain
Band, was forced into the 1863
treaty, Davis said last week
at a Grand Forks Lions Club
luncheon.
The club says it neither endorses nor opposes the casino.
Opponents have organized a
PAYBACK to page 3
By Lisa Nicita
The Arizona Republic
PHOENIX - An increasing
number of Native American young
people living on Arizona reservations are taking charge of their
futures.
Those using drugs, abusing
alcohol, boiling over with anger
or falling behind with schoolwork
are finding hope in a hard-knocks
program in the Phoenix area that
shows them their hves are worth
more than a future filled with crime
and violence.
Project Challenge, a voluntary
National Guard-funded residential
program for high school dropouts,
has seen a sharp increase in Native American enrollment over
the past five years, in part because
YOUTH to page 7
Minnesota lawsuit over Indian
trust land opens old wounds
By Patrick Condon
Associated Press
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. - It's a dispute with roots that reach back to
the bloodiest chapter in Minnesota
history, the Sioux Uprising of 1862
that culminated in the largest mass
execution in the United States.
Some descendants of Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux who
sat out that conflict are pursuing
a lawsuit against the U.S. govern
ment. They claim that for almost
120 years they've been denied the
benefits of several large pieces of
tribal land - and part of their tribal
identity.
But the quest is pitting them
against other Indians _ some fellow descendants, and some that
plaintiffs claim aren't descendants
at all - who for years have profited
WOUNDS to page 7