Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-02-03

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
2
3
MCT: People's
Right to Know
MCT Constitutional
Rights, Protections and
Guarantees
The Mistakes We Made
Stand Up for Your               liPPQ
Rights, Don't Give Up
Lack of Justice
at Red Lake =s
Injustice
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
aWk.      ■     ±
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 5-6
page 4
page 4
page 4                               KB
page 4
Red Lake woman on trial for the
murder of George Stately
By Bill Lawrence
In February 2002, Carol Louise
Gillmore, 34, of Red Lake was
charged with one count of premeditated first-degree murder,
one count of intentional second-
degree murder and one count of
arson. She was charged in connection with the beating death of
68-year-old George Stately, also
of Red Lake.
In a press release dated March
2002, the U.S. Attorney's office
announced the charges and gave
details of Ms. Gillmore's grand
jury indictment.
According to the published
information, Red Lake Fire Department responded to a house
fire call the morning of February
14, 2002. Upon entering the
home of George Stately, they
found his body. He had sustained
traumatic injuries to the head and
face. His throat had also been cut.
It's beheved that Ms. Gillmore set
the house afire after having killed
Mr. Stately.
Sources say evaluations to determine whether she is fit to stand
trial have caused the extended
delay in the trial. Gillmore has
admitted to being a crack cocaine
addict and reportedly has used
$50 worth ofthe substance on the
day of the murder.
Monday, January 30, nearly
four years ago to the day, Ms.
Gillmore's trial, before a Federal
judge in the U.S. District Court in
MinneapoUs, began. Jurisdiction
for the crime of murder on an Indian reservation falls to the federal
government. The trial is expected
to continue through this week.
Charges in the case were the
result of investigations by Red
Lake Law Enforcement, the Minnesota State Fire Marshall and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney
Clifford Wardlaw is prosecuting
the case.
McCain demands government provide clarity on
Indian gaming law
By Jennifer Talhelm
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - American
Indian tribes are pressing to move
gambling operations closer to cities
where customers hve, but Sen. John
McCain is demanding that the Interior Department create a procedure
to help decide when tribes can open
off-reservation casinos.
The requests from tribes are
decided under exceptions to the 17-
year-old Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act. Off-reservation casino plans
have spurred fights over gambling
in communities from Washington
state to Michigan, but the Interior
Department has yet to finalize regulations clarifying how it carries out
the law, a department official said
at a hearing Wednesday.
"It really is unacceptable 17
years later not to have regulations to
implement a law that now applies to
a $19 (billion) to $20 billion-a-year
business," said McCain, R-Ariz.,
who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
McCain said he will send a stem
letter to Interior Secretary Gale
Norton asking when Congress can
expect to have regulations, which
would help tribes, communities
and the government know what
to expect when an off-reservation
casino is proposed.
"I don't see how we can effectively regulate Indian gaming
and certainly exercise congressional oversight unless there are
regulations to implement the laws
we pass," McCain told George
Skibine, the Interior Department
official in charge of policy and
economic development for Indian
Affairs.
McCain has argued that Congress never intended Indian gambling to grow into Las Vegas-style
operations bringing in almost $20
billion a year, nearly double the
take from Nevada's gambling
industry. He is holding a series of
hearings to decide how to strengthen the Indian gaming act by making
Indian gaming more transparent
and increasing the safeguards to
protect patrons.
Skibine said the department has
tried to write regulations in the past,
but the process hit a snag as the
administration changed hands.
Meanwhile, tribes have applied
to open casinos near cities such as
Oakland, Calif., and Denver, causing conflicts between residents and
Indian tribes.
On Wednesday, residents who
have fought Indian casinos pleaded
for the right to participate from the
beginning as the government considers a tribe's application to open
an off-reservation casino. Tribal
leaders reminded senators that
Indians are following the law and
seeking compensation for lands
that were taken away from them
more than a century ago.
Bush punishes BIA budget to pay for Cobell
Indianz.Com.
The Bush administration has
made an across-the-board cut to
the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget, blaming the reduction on the
Cobell trust fund lawsuit.
In an unprecedented letter to
tribal leaders, associate Interior
deputy secretary Jim Cason announced a $3 milhon cut to the
BIA budget. He said the administration failed to plan for attorney's
fees awarded as part of the Cobell
case even though the request for
fees was pending for more than a
year.
As a result, Cason said the BIA
forked over $2 million from an
account used to "reimburse tribal
attorney's fees" and an additional
$1 million came from an across-
the-board rescission of tribal
programs.
Additionally, the Office of Historical Trust Accounting and the
Office of Special Trustee — whose
budgets have exploded since the
start of the administration while
BIA funding has remained flat
— contributed, Cason said. But
their share only amounted to $2.3
miUion, according to the January
26 letter.
FinaUy, the Department of Treasury — a named defendant in the
suit whose officials were found
in contempt of court and whose
actions violated the trust responsibility — contributed about $1.8
miUion, leaving the BIA to bear
the brunt of the administration's
failure to plan for the attorney's
fees, which totaled $7.1 miUion.
"As this interim fee was not a
planned expense, the [Interior] Department considered a wide range
of options," Cason, a a non-Indian
poUtical appointee who has been
acting as die head of the BIA for
nearly a year, told tribal leaders.
The decision to make the cut and
send out the letter drew strong criticism from Keith Harper, a member
of the Cherokee Nation and an attorney with the Native American
Rights Fund, a non-profit organization that is co-counsel in the case.
He accused the administration of
employing "divide and conquer"
tactics in order to generate backlash in Indian Country against the
CobeU plaintiffs.
"This administration — more
than any other - has shown by their
actions in trust reform and their
actions on sovereignty issues to be
the most hostile administration in
Indian affairs since termination,"
Harper said in an interview yesterday.
Harper said he has spoken to a
handfiil of tribal leaders since the
letter was sent out. "They see it as
a poUtical, transparent attempt to
divide and conquer," he said.
Tribal leaders have repeatedly
accused Bush officials of punishing Indian Country by bleeding the
BIA budget while boosting funds
for OST. "For fiscal years 2005
and 2006, funding cuts to BIA
has reduced fuU time staff for law
enforcement, education and other
vital programs," said Tim Martin,
the executive director ofthe United
South and Eastern Tribes, at a Senate hearing last July.
"The CobeU Utigation and DOI's
interpretations of requirements to
meet court orders has absorbed
resources and limited the abitity to
COBELL to page 3
Reports clear
police, criticize
hospital in death
of arrested man
Associated Press
DULUTH, Minn. - An independent review has cleared Duluth
poUce in the death of David Croud
last faU, but other reports Monday
criticized some ofthe actions taken
by St. Mary's Medical Center after
his arrest.
Croud, 29, died Oct. 18, six days
after being taken into custody with
a blood-alcohol content of 0.31
percent, over four times the legal
limit to drive.
"The autopsy reports make it
very clear he did not die because
of any injury received from the
time he was taken into custody and
transported to St. Mary's (Medical
Center)," Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson said during a
news conference Monday. "Therefore, it's my conclusion that David
Croud did not die as the result of
abusive behavior by the Duluth
Pohce Department."
No criminal charges wUl be filed,
he said.
But other reports released Monday cited other possible factors in
Croud's death, including his facedown position on a gurney and
the way he was restrained in the
hospital, the Duluth News Tribune
reported.
Johnson said officers did not
kick or hit Croud _ a member of
the White Earth Band of Chippewa
_ that and no derogatory or racial
comments were heard directed toward him. The Taser stun gun that
police tried to use to subdue Croud
REPORT to page 3
Reservation coffee shop perks up
White Earth economy
By Paul Levy
Star Tribune of MinneapoUs
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP)
_ Over gravel roads and through
dense birch forests, visitors from
as far as Hawan have come to this
impoverished reservation community 200 nules northwest ofthe
Twin Cities to sip freshly roasted
gourmet coffee, buy designer
sweat shirts or open their laptops
in the area's only cybercafe.
This is the White Earth Reservation, where eagles soar but the
natives struggle to rise above the
poverty line. And it's home to the
year-and-a-half-old Native Harvest Cafe, a picturesque log budding where the gourmet cookies are
warm, the birch-bark gift baskets
are filled with locaUy processed
wUd rice and the organic coffees
roasted a few mUes away are occasionally named after local legends
such as Chief Hole-in-the-Day.
"This was absolutely the last
place I ever expected to find a cafe
like this," said Janet Entzel, 64, a
customer from Coon Rapids.
"But as odd as it seems, there is
something so perfect, so powerful
about this cafe."
The cafe opened in a vacated
restaurant in 2004, but the Native
Harvest catalog company is more
than a decade old. Each day, the
company ships an average of
COFFEE to page 2
Turtle Mountain tribe joining with
foundation in poverty right
Associated Press
BELCOURT, N.D. - The Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa
is starting a 10-year effort to
fight poverty in partnership with
the Northwest Area Foundation,
wliich wiU provide up to $10 mUlion in grant money.
"The foundation presented
us with an opportunity," Jeremy
Laducer, the manager of the Turtle
Mountain project, said Tuesday.
"We did rise to the occasion and
meet the chaUenge."
The St. Paul, Minn.-based foundation announced Tuesday that it
wiU join with the Turtle Mountain
tribe and two others in a long-term
effort to reduce poverty.
Turtle Mountain tribal officials
said they seek to reduce a 70
percent unemployment rate on
the north central North Dakota
reservation of more than 13,500
people.
The tribe will get an initial
grant of $2.9 miUion, the foundation said. As it meets its goals,
the foundation wUl provide up to
$7 miUion more over the next 10
years.
The foundation said it also wiU
provide grants to the Cheyenne
River Sioux reservation in central
South Dakota and the Lummi Nation reservation near Bellingham,
Wash.
On the Turtle Mountain reservation, committees worked more
than a year to gather ideas from
area residents and submit a plan
to the foundation.
POVERTY to page 2
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Volume 18 Issued 3^-
February 3, 2006
Red Lake
families
express
dissatisf actio
with federal
authority's
briefing
r
Barbara Brun, mother of slain security guard Derrick Brun, pauses as she talks about a meeting
Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, in Bemidji, Minn., between the families of the victims of the March 2005
Red Lake school shootings and U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
By BiU Lawrence
Red Lake famUies attended
a meeting Monday, January
30 in the hope of learning
more about what prompted
the tragic events of March 21,
2005, when Jeff Weise, 16,
launched an assault that left
ten persons dead and seven
seriously wounded. They
left the meeting that had been
caUed by U.S. Attorney Tom
Heffelfinger, feeling worse
than when they arrived.
Instead of answers, they
left with questions. Instead of
hope of getting more information, they left with despair over
the possibility that they will
never know why the event occurred.
The meeting was confined
to immediate famdy members
of those kiUed during the Red
Lake High School shooting.
Through diagrams and a step-
by-step account ofthe incident,
family members relived the
tragic event. Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) and Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA) personnel were in attendance with
Heffelfinger. Federal officials
refused to reveal any information they had presented during
the meeting to the media.
Reporters gleaned from attendees that as many as 39
individuals knew in advance
of the possibility of a school
shooting, that Weise had been
talking about such an attack
There was considerable
concern over violations
of fishing regulation
and the tribe's ability to
prosecute and punish
offenders.
since 2003, that he had searched
the Internet for information on how
to build a bomb, and that extensive
communications had passed, via
e-mail, between he and Louis
Jourdain.
Although rumors persisted that
others would be named in indictments, Jourdain, son of Red Lake
Tribal Chairman Floyd "Buck"
Jourdain, is the only person to have
been accused of involvement in the
plot to shoot up the school. He was
arrested within a week ofthe shooting and has been in federal custody
for ten months. During that time
federal authorities investigated
the event and ultimately charged
Jourdain, now 17. He was accused
primarily of conspiracy to commit
murder.
In December, just before the
opening of his trial, Louis Jourdain
plea-bargained, admitting to emad
correspondence with Weise, and
the trial was avoided. A federal
judge sentenced him, according to
unofficial sources, to no more than
one year at a juvende rehabiUta-
tion center. AdditionaUy, Louis'
sentence included probation until
he reaches age 21. Sources have indicated that the judge has discretion
to send Jourdain to other facilities
during the probation period. The
Ught sentence is the result of the
judge's decision that Jourdain's e-
maU exchanges with Weise did not
indicate he was in any substantial
way involved in the shooting episode.
Louis was tried as ajuvende and
aU detaUs have been
kept secret by law.
Heffelfinger told
the approximately
40 people present
that he is closing
the investigation.
He expressed regret that he had not
been able to provide
more information to
famines, explaining
that he, and all those
associated with the investigation,
was constrained by federal law
(because Jourdain was charged
asajuverule)"fromdoingso. He
added that he had provided information at the meeting with the
families that had not been made
pubUc before.
Attendees expressed outrage
and frustration at the authorities
for suppressing information and
deep sadness that they would not
be getting answers to the questions that have tormented them
for nearly a year. They expressed
surprise at learning that 39 individuals had knowledge that the
tragedy was a possibUity. Of the
total who knew about the plan,
4 or 5 had specific knowledge,
although authorities would not
disclose any detaUs or give out
any names.
Famdy members want to know
who was involved, why it happened, what event may have
triggered Weise's assault. They
seem incredulous that there is no
punishment for individuals who
may have known about the possibility of an attack and didn't give
any warning.
They want to know more
specifics, like the content of the
emaUs exchanged between Weise
and Jourdain. Officials however
say that information wiU not be released, nor wiU they issue a pubUc
report after closing the case.
They want to know whether there
was an autopsy and whether it
confirmed the suspicion that
Weise was taking anti-depressant drugs. They want to know
whether this could have been a
factor in Weise's decision and
behavior.
Families have concerns about
the efficacy of the legal system
and chaUenge the outcome. They
want and are not finding justice.
The fact that so many had prior
knowledge of the event fuels the
RED LAKE to page 7
Seneca casino faces another legal challenge
By Carolyn Thompson
Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Opponents of the Seneca Indian
Nation's plans for a Buffalo
casino stepped up their legal
challenge Wednesday with a
second lawsuit seeking to block
construction.
The state Supreme Court action names Gov. George Pataki,
state gaming officials and Buffalo officials, including Mayor
Byron Brown and former Mayor
Anthony MasieUo.
Those bringing the suit include several would-be neighbors ofthe casino, who said they
are worried about increases in
crime, traffic, pollution, noise
and the loss of architectural and
historic structures.
The suit was organized by
the group, Citizens for a Better
Buffalo, whose membership
includes some of those involved
in an earlier federal lawsuit against
U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton.
Last month's federal suit contends Norton and other Interior
Department and National Indian
Gaming Commission officials
evaded or misapplied laws governing the siting of Indian casinos
when they approved casino plans
negotiated by Pataki and the western New York tribe.
The newly filed suit claims
violations of state and local laws
requiring environmental reviews
and consultations with preservation officials on projects that could
change the character of a historic
district.
The land purchased by the Senecas contains an out-of-use 1930s
grain elevator and skirts an area of
streets and buildings that predate
the Civil War.
"The activities ... can only be
seen in the aggregate as an attempt to avoid pubhc input, public
scrutiny and a debate on the pubhc
harm ofthe proposed casino project," the suit contends.
Seneca President Barry Snyder
did not return a telephone call
seeking comment Wednesday.
The suit also notes that most of
those who live near the casino site
are minorities living in poverty.
The Senecas' Buffalo casino
would be the third and final one
allowed under a compact between
the tribe and state which arose out
of New York's efforts to find new
revenues following the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. The compact requires the 7,000-member
tribe to give a sliding percentage
of slot machine revenues from casinos in Niagara Falls, Salamanca
and Buffalo to the state and host
cities.
M