Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-03-24

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
SSDD: Same S***
Different Decade
page 5
White is replacement
for Leech Lake
Executive Director
page 5
Jim White to run
Red Lake Tribal
Council Secretary
page 4
I don't wink at crap our
Chairman, District III
Rep are doing...
page 4
Good News in
Indian Country
- Fort Mojave Band
celebrates 100
years of service
page 4
Minneapolis Police Chief McManus resigning
His listening ear, respect for Anishinabe culture, religion, the language unequaled
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
By Vincent Hill
Minneapolis Pohce Chief McManus was courted over two
years ago, by Mayor Rybak, as
the guy to fill a pohce chief leadership void. The Minneapolis City
CouncU, at the time, was skeptical
and split in backing their Mayor's
pick for pohce chief. There was a
lot of politicking to have a first
female chief. Sexual orientation of
front runners made the selection
process, even, more interesting.
The issue of needing a visible
black person for pohce chief, did
not really surface, due to reports
of effective interaction and work
with blacks and Hispanics in
Dayton, Ohio.
The Minneapolis City CouncU
aUowed vigorous debate by a wide
range of community neighborhoods, including public, private,
and business interests, to determine the advisability of hiring
William McManus for police
chief of Minneapolis. Testimonials lasted for over two hours,
with the majority wanting McManus! He was clearly the City's
choice.
After two years in office, Minneapolis Police Chief McManus
has clearly lived up to expectations. The problem is that he may
have been too good to be true!
His detractors do not forget that
early in his tenure, he quickly and
fearlessly suspended deputy chief
Lucy Gerald and two other high
ranking officers for their wrongful handling of information in the
shooting case of Duy Ngo.
I think Pohce Chief McManus
has the right approach in targeting and dealing with crime in the
streets of Minneapolis. It is too
bad that he wUl not be around to
see implementation of his community policing strategies. A good
pohce leader needs to be visionary
but, also, pragmatic enough to see,
by example, the interplay between
crime and poverty.
During a pipe & tobacco ceremony dedication, held at the
Wolves Den coffee shop on E.
Franklin on August 17, 2005, to
send off Anishinabe runners in
the Honor the Youth Spiritual Run
2005, both Chief McManus and
Mayor Rybak paid their respects.
The run from Minneapolis to the
Red Lake Ojibwe reservation in
northern Minnesota was a tribute
to Anishinabe Youth, suffering
suicide rates far above local, state,
and national norms.
web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2006
Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 39
March 24, 2006
Red Lake woman sentenced in
George Stately death
By Bill Lawrence
In a U.S. District Court bench
trial, held in Minneapolis, District Court Judge Donovan Frank
found Carol Louise Gillmore
(a.k.a. Carol Louise Champagne)
guilty of one count of second-degree murder in the George Stately
case. She was also found guilty
of one count of arson.
Life sentences could be handed
down on both counts. Judge
Frank will set the sentence at a
future date. Gillmore is being
held without bail.
Gillmore was accused of the
crime of murdering George
Stately and setting the house
on fire early in 2002. The trial
was delayed for more than four
years while courts decide on
Gillmore's fitness to stand trial
and other issues.
A report by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation states that Gillmore entered George Stately's
house on February 13, 2002 at
approximately 9:25 p.m. A caller
DEATH to page 4
Tribes speak out against McCain's
gaming bill
Tribal leaders plan to send a
letter to the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee to formalize their opposition to a proposed overhaul
of the $20 billion tribal casino
industry.
At a meeting organized by the
National Indian Gaming Association and the National Congress of
American Indians, tribal leaders
said a bdl introduced by Sen. John
McCain (R-Arizona), the chairman
of the committee, threatens their
rights. They criticized provisions
that would limit off-reservation
gaming, impose additional bureaucratic rules on casinos and subject
tribes to reviews of their daily
business activities.
"Sovereignty is an inherent right
of Indian tribes, and cannot be
compromised without compromising our very existence as Indian
people," Stanley Crooks, chairman
of the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community, the Minnesota
tribe that hosted the meeting on
Tuesday.
Ernie Stevens, the chairman of
NIGA, said the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988 doesn't
need to be amended. He called
S.2078, the bill introduced by
McCain last November, "a disappointing reminder that some
people think we've gained too
much ground."
"Who else in American society
is forced to defend their right to be
successful?" Stevens said.
MCCAIN to page 3
Red Lake observes
anniversary of
3-21-05
By Bill Lawrence
Despite the fact that the Red
Lake Tribal Council decreed 3-
21-06 A Day of Remembrance,
the Council also stated there
would be no community-wide
ceremony commemorating the
loss of ten lives. Instead they
said famdies should observe the
anniversary in whatever way they
desired. Flags were ordered at
half-mast. The school building
was open, although no classes
were scheduled. Councd issued a
press release declaring the school
would be off limits to the media.
Tribal offices were closed.
St. Mary's Mission at Red Lake
offered a week of prayers commemorating the lives lost in the
school shooting a year ago. The
names of victims were recited
along with a daily prayer from
March 12-19. A candle was lit
for each life lost.
Family members and friends
attended dady services. On Tuesday, 3-21-06, the Brun family
attended services as a memorial
to their faUen son, Derrick.
Father Patrick Sullivan was
joined by Revs. Gill Mehrkens,
Julius Beckerman and Mein-
rad Dindorf, former St. Mary's
priests, in conducting the memorial service.
Sullivan said, "His death was not
COUNCIL to page 4
Fort Mojave Indian Band celebrates 100 years of
music making
By Bill Lawrence
A bookmaker would probably have given 80-1 (maybe
100-1) odds that this would
ever happen. The happening
was the 100th anniversary of
the Fort Mojave Indian Band.
March 18, 2006 was a day
of celebration for 100 years of
music making, of achievement,
of perseverance, of hard found
harmony and of friendship.
Events commenced with
a parade through down town
Needles, California. The Fort
Mojave Band (FMIB) led the
way. The fifty member band,
including twirlers and flag carriers, ranges in age from about
8 years old to 88. Two revered
elders held their place in the
band, playing their homs from
wheelchairs.
Beauty queens and elected
officials waved at the crowd
as they proceeded down Front
Street to'Santa Fe Park. The
two local high school bands
(from Needles and the Mohave
VaUey), the 36th Army Band,
the Navajo Nation Band, and
the Zuni Pueblo Band marched
and played. Retired FMIB
members and World War II
(WWII) Navajo Code talkers
added to the honor and dignity
of the parade, and youth dancers added a colorful splash.
Four bands then assembled
in Santa Fe Park for a morning
of band concerts, speeches and
MUSIC to page 7
Darwyn D. Jackson directed the Navajo Nation Band. Wearing
headbands, dark velvet tunics belted with turquoise and silver, the
band performed a program of marches, accompanied by twirling
drum major Gary Holtsoi and several other twirlers.
Talk about Inspiration! Llewellyn Barrackman, 88, and fellow band
member traverse the parade route. His father, Roger Barrackman
was a long time band director after having served many years as a
band member. "Lew" has been a member ofthe band since the time
he was old enough to blow notes on a trombone. He has played an
integral role in the band's survival for 100 years.
RED LAKE ONE YEAR LATER
Minnesota reservation honors victims one year after school shooting
By Amy Forliti
Associated Press
RED LAKE, Minn. - Alicia
White always made Mother's
Day special. One year, while on
a student council trip to the Twin
Cities, she went to the Mall of
America and used her allowance
money to buy her mom jewelry.
The 14-year-old was killed a
year ago Tuesday in a shooting
rampage on the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa's reservation that left
10 dead, including the gunman.
"There's not a day that goes by
without us wishing that she was
here and just remembering all the
crazy things that we did and said
together," Theresa Spike, 32, said
of her daughter. "It's been a year
and I stiU sit there at 3:30 and wait
for her to get off the bus."
Jeff Weise, 16, killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend before heading to Red Lake
High School, where he killed five
students, a security guard and a
teacher before shooting himself.
It was the worst school shooting
in America since Columbine in
1999.
The tribe has declared Tuesday
a Day of Remembrance, and all
tribal services will be closed. Red
Lake High School will be open, at
the request of students and staff.
Counselors will be on hand, but
no regular classes wiU be held. A
moment of silence will be held in
the morning, and school will be
dismissed at 2:30 p,m., with no
after-school activities.
"We know that everyone is
going to observe the day in then-
way," said Willie Larson, school
district accountant.
Several family members on
this reservation in northwestern
Minnesota are holding memorial dinners to honor their loved
ones. Alicia White's family also
plans to pause to remember the
14-year-old's caring spirit and
goofy sense of humor.
The dinners are customary
to people in Red Lake, and are
traditionally held a year after a
death to mark the end of a period
of mourning, said Lee Cook, a
tribal member and director of
the American Indian Resource
Center at nearby Bemidji State
University.
"It's just meant to sort of honor
the person and remind us of the-
life we had together," Cook said.
"It's sort of a happy moment as
opposed to a sad time."
The dinners are intended to
help people move on, but "I think
it's still going to take another
year or two to really get over the
events of last March 21st," Cook
said.
Alex Roy, 15, is among the
many who wUl need more time.
Chase Lussier, 15, was her
boyfriend, and the couple had a
son just a couple of months before
the attack. The pair planned to get
married, and Chase often talked
about how they would have a big
family _ enough boys to make
their own basketball team.
Alex spent the past year watching little Ayden Chase Lussier
take his first steps and have his
first birthday _ without Chase to
share it.
"It was a happy time to see her
son do things like that, but then at
times it was hard for her because
every time she knew she had to
watch him do any of this without him," said Sue Roy, Alex's
mother.
Sue and Alex Roy planned
to spend a quiet day Tuesday
SHOOTING to page 6
Echoes of a Shooting - For boy
wounded at Red Lake and family,
lives forever changed
By Amy Forliti
Associated Press
BEMIDJI, Minn. - Steven Cobenais grips his mother's hand and
squirms as a hospital nurse pokes
him with a needle, searching for
a vein that will take an IV. The
teenager grimaces, squeezing his
good eye shut.
Steven's mother looks worried:
A dizzy spell sent the boy to the
hospital the night before and a
mysterious rash has spread over
his body. His father shakes his
head helplessly as siblings gather
around the bed _ a familiar scene
since Steven was injured in a
school shooting on the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa's reservation
a year ago.
A little later, Steven's father
rushes from the room calling
for help _ Steven is having a
seizure. As hospital staff swarm
the 16-year-old, his mother, Lee-
Ann Thunder, cries softly. "I
RED LAKE to page 6
After Red Lake shootings, victim's
brother steps up to lead
Weise sought
accomplices to
increase killing
Associated Press
ST. PAUL - The teenager
who killed nine people on the
Red Lake Indian Reservation
tried to recruit
accomplices
to increase the
body count, and
considered staging his attack
bfrey«is£ on a crowded
school day such as prom or the
first day of school, the St. Paul
Pioneer Press reported.
Jeff Weise, 16, considered
an attack that would have used
the school's gym as a central
"killing zone," the newspaper
reported, citing two anonymous
sources with knowledge of a
yearlong federal investigation.
The sources requested anonymity because of legal reasons surrounding the case and
because the investigation is not
technically over, the newspaper
reported.
Karen Bailey, a spokeswoman
WEISE to page 6
Portraits of shooter, victims in Red Lake attack
By The Associated Press
Brief portraits of victims, including those wounded, and the
shooter in the Red Lake attack
one year ago:
THE DEAD:
Daryl Lussier, 58
The grandfather of Jeff Weise
and one of his first two victims,
58-year-
old Daryl
Lussier
was a lifelong tribal
police officer known
around the
reservation by his
nickname: Dash.
"If you knew him, you said
Dash, and everyone knew who
you were talking about," said Ed
Naranjo, a retired Bureau of Indian Affairs officer who worked
with Lussier in 1979 and again
from 1985 to 1990.
Lussier had four adult children
and two under the age of 10,
Naranjo said. He was well-liked
and respected around the reservation, Lussier said. He helped
/S<
mm. huh -dash- lussieh. s«
maintain order during periods of
turmoil and unrest on the reservation.
"He was that kind of individual who could calm a very
hot situation," Naranjo said. "He
just projected that feeling."
Tribal officers were nervous in
the late '80s, Naranjo said, when
the tribe switched from BIA
protection to contract officers.
Lussier eventually switched from
the BIA to working on a contract,
and helped his colleagues who
were upset.
"There was that song at the
time _ 'Don't Worry, Be Happy,'" Naranjo recalled. "Everybody was feeling kind of down,
and he would just walk around
singing that"
Michelle Sigana, 31
Michelle Sigana enjoyed her
new job as a cashier at Seven
Clans Casino
in Thief River
Falls, but her
real passion was
her family.
The 31-year-
old Red Lake woman _ who was
killed along with her companion,
Daryl Lussier _ loved spending
time with Lussier and their teenage son, Devon.
"They just gave him whatever
he wanted," said Mark Sigana, a
cousin. "For both of them, their
priority was making sure he had
everything, which he did."
Michelle Sigana grew up on
the Red Lake Indian Reservation
and went to high school in Red
Lake. Later, she and Lussier took
Mark Sigana in when he needed
a place to stay.
"There was never a dull moment with her," Mark Sigana
said. "She was just the happiest
person anyone can be around."
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Jeff May
turned to his brother, Shane, while
lying in the emergency room after
being seriously wounded in last
year's Red Lake school shooting.
With his jaw shattered, Jeff figured
Shane was the one who would be
able to handle seeing him.
Holding Jeff's hand, Shane
knew his brother's life had been
changed forever. What he didn't
realize was how dramatically his
own life would change.
"I was only 21.1 practically just
got raised in a day."
In the year that followed, Shane
would witness his mother, Jodi
May, having a stroke; he would
move back to the family's house
on the reservation and become the
head ofthe famdy. He gave up his
carefree bachelor's life in Bemidji
because his famUy - Jodi, Jeff, 16-
year-old Anthony and 10-year-old
Ashley - needed him.
Growing up, Shane was like
many boys on the reservation. He
loved playing basketball and pool.
At 18, he moved to North Dakota,
where he lived with his father and
worked two jobs.
VICTIM to page 6
Red Lake families honor those lost in
MEKLLE IE16H SKMH
Derrick Brun, 28
Twenty-eight-year-old Derrick
Brun was remembered as a gentle
spirit who loved
the kids he guarded at Red Lake
High School, his'
alma mater. derrick brukbruii
Brun was a former police officer and was taking classes to be
PORTRAITS to page 6
:ar-old Derrick
il
school shooting
By Amy Forliti
Associated Press
RED LAKE, Minn. - Little
Ayden Chase Lussier made his
grandmother laugh when he took
a drumstick and began banging on
the living room floor, practicing his
American Indian drumming and
singing.
"Sing some more," his grandmother Sue Roy said, as the 14-
month-old managed to keep his
balance while singing and whacking the carpet with all his might.
But those funny moments are
also veiled with sadness: a year ago
Ayden's father, 15-year-old Chase
Lussier, was killed in a school
shooting on the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa's reservation. Ayden's
mother, Alex Roy, spent the past
year watching her boy take his first
steps and have his first birthday _
without Chase to share it
"It was a happy time to see her
son do things like that, but then at
times it was hard for her because
every time she knew" Chase
wouldn't be there, said Sue Roy,
Alex's mother.
Chase was one of 10 people who
FAMILIES to page 6
■MMAlHflA