Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-04-28

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Leech Lake RBC
deficit graph shows
ship of state is on
the rocks
page 4
Affidavit of Lawrence
"Sandy" Gotchie
Petition Seeking Declatory
Judgment, Injunction
page 4
Letter to Red Lake Chairman      Treaty rights
regarding ownership of Upper     being violated
Red Lake, Lower Red Lake,
all navigable tributaries
page 4 page 4
Getting beyond the
culture of corruption
page 4
Leech Lakers file lawsuit to remove Chairman Goggleye
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
Lawrence "Sandy" Gotchie,
Wallace Storbakken, Dale Greene
and others have filed a lawsuit in Leech Lake Tribal Court
questioning Chairman George
Goggleye's fitness to hold office.
The plaintiffs charge that under a
new provision of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribal (MCT) constitution, that Goggleye is ineligible to
hold office as he has a criminal
history as a felon.
The charges stem from public
documents, filed in Cass County, that state, "The defendant,
GEORGE JAMES GOGGLEYE
[file #KX 93 767], did violate
the provisions of subdivision 1
against the same victim during
the time period between the first
two or more previous convictions
under this section or sections
609.221 to 609.2231, 609.342
to 609.345 or 609.713, and the
end of the five years following
discharge from sentence for that
conviction is guilty of a felony;
to-wit:    GEORGE   JAMES
GOGGLEYE assault of [XXX]
on or about August 19, 1993 in
Cass County, Minnesota and did
intentionally inflict or attempt to
inflict bodily harm upon [XXX];
said assault being the third assault
within five years ofthe same victim, [emphasis added].
Goggleye was sentenced to 90
days in jail and given five years
probation.
Leech Lake officials have
minimized these charges saying
Chairman Goggleye does not
have a felony record. Tribal
Attorney, Mike Garbow, raises
an incident in 1991 when Arthur
"Archie" LaRose, incumbent Secretary/Treasurer, was convicted
of a third degree misdemeanor.
According to an article in today's
Bemidji Pioneer, Goggleye and
LaRose have the same status.
The story of LaRose's conviction, according to published
information, is as follows: The
LaRose home was burglarized
while Mrs. LaRose and a newborn
infant were asleep in the house.
"Archie" LaRose chose to take
vengeance into his own hands.
He assaulted the individual he
held responsible for breaking
into his home. The individual is
reputed to be the son of a fonner
Leech Lake law enforcement officer and a current tribal council
member.
No charges were made in Leech
Lake against the person beheved
to be the burglar, but assault
charges were brought against
LaRose, who appealed to Cass
County legal authorities. The outcome was a mutual plea of equal
weight from both the alleged
intruder and LaRose. Subsequent
charges were made and LaRose
was sentenced to a 60-day term
in jail on a misdemeanor charge.
The suit brought in Tribal Court
against Goggleye claims that his
term as Chair is now in violation
of the MCT constitution. Plaintiffs seek a chance "to fill [what
would now be] a new vacancy for
LLRBC Chairman."
web page: www.press-on.net
Review of tribal audits gives information to tribal members
By Diane White
Press/ON has been providing
interpretation of financial statements provided by Tribes/Bands
to the U.S. Department of Interior.
Tribes/Bands are required to submit
annual financial statements if they
receive funds, contracts or grants
from the federal or state governments. Our objective is to provide
an easy to read and understand as
well as interesting article about each
Tribe/Band's financial statements
so that tribal members may better
understand what their Tribe or Band
reports to federal agents.
In the case of a Tribe/Band
employee who disagrees with the
interpretation ofthe article, the first
step would be to obtain their own
copy of the Single Audit Report
(S AR). You may request your own
copy from the Press/Ojibwe News
by emailing natampr@paulbun-
yan.net and we can email you a
copy ofthe financial statement.
In submitting these articles to the
readers it is important to give some
background on what auditors do
when they are auditing financial
statements. Also, once the Department of the Interior receives
these audited financial statements,
what do they do with them? Do
they read them? What happens
if a Tribe/Band submits a very
questionable report at the federal
level? These are questions we are
still pursuing answers on.
When auditors complete an audit
on the financial statements they are
guided by government accounting
standards. There is actually a board
called the Government Accounting
Standards Board and they provide
accounting standards to governments. These standards inform
local governments, state governments and federal governments
the specific format to use when
they prepare their financial statements. Obviously governments
operate differently from business
operations. Governments are not
out to make a profit, wliile business
operations are.
In the case of all governments that
provide income-producing operations, which in the case of non-tribal
governments is generally limited to
a liquor store, a swimming pool, a
golf course, a park, etc. However,
all Tribes/Bands are also required
to report their business operations,
which do include casino operations.
What I have found in reading the
financial statements and what I
have heard from tribal financial
staff members is a feeling of being
exempt from reporting their casino
operations and consequently they
also do not report their other business operations.
GASB has always required
business operations to be reported
from every government. It will
be interesting to see if the Tribe/
Bands who do not report their
business and/or casino operations
will ever be compelled to report
them and whether they will face
some type of penalty or fine for
not doing so.
REVIEW to page ^
Bois Forte audit only shows part of the story
By Diane White
CASS LAKE, MN-Under
the Freedom of Information Act,
Press/ON requested from the
United States Department of the
Interior (DOI) the most recent
audited financial statements from
all Minnesota Indian tribes. The
Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe's
most recent submitted financial
statements are for the time period
October 1,2003 to September 30,
2004. The Bois Forte Tribal Council is responsible for the management of the Band's finances.
Government Funds
The auditors were Roe & Meyer,
S.C. of Superior, Wisconsin. They
audited the primary government
financial statements which did not
include the gaming operations and
business components ofthe Band,
and therefore, they opined the
government financial statement
did present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position
of the Band as of 9/30/04. This
opinion includes the proprietary
fund types. They also disclaim
that the financial data do not purport to and did not present fairly
the financial position ofthe Band.
Finally, they submitted a report
dated 6/16/05 their consideration
of the Band's internal control
over financial reporting based
upon their tests of compliance
with law, regulations, contracts
and grants.
The Proprietary funds include:
Construction Enterprise, MultiService Center, Heritage Center,
Vermilion Water & Sewer, Water
& Sanitation, but do not include
the gaming enterprises (casino,
hotel, restaurant, golf course,
etc.).
According to the auditors, the excluded business units include the
enterprise and fiduciary fund balance. The business units include
the Casino, Limited Partnership
#1, and Limited Partnership #2
(low income project money). The
fiduciary fund holds assets that
are held by a trustee, the Tribal
Council, for its employees and
includes the Minor Trust (gaming
profit sharing to minors), and the
401(k) retirement plan.
Limited Partnership #1 was
formed to provide low-income
housing. The general partner is
the Band's Housing Authority and
the limited partner is Raymond
James Indian Country Tax Credit
Fun, LLC. The original amount
of the loan is $504,011 and was
made in 1999. The Band also took
out a note for $270,000 for the
housing development
The Band included the monetary
value of contributed services,
which included the cost of fa
cilities used, volunteer labor, and
administrative services used to
meet/match grant-funded requirements. Therefore, the value ofthe
contributed services was entered
onto the financial statements as a
monetary value. In addition, user
fees were charged to recipients of
such funds. The auditors noted:
"total columns in the combined
financial statements are captioned 'Memorandum Only.'"
This means they are presented
only to facilitate financial analysis and do not present financial
position, results of operations or
changes in the fund balances.
The Bois Forte Band financial
managers have demonstrated
positive business savvy in garnering low interest loans and creating
a partnership to build low-income
housing. The Bois Forte Housing
Authority formed a partnership
called the Bois Forte Limited
Partnership 2, which gains investors who contributed $300,000 to
build a low income housing development and in exchange receive
tax credits to lower their taxable
income. The Band wins with a
new 20-unit housing development
that will be ready for occupation
in January 2005. Tax credit housing projects provide a lucrative tax
credit to income for the investors.
AUDIT to page 3
Fourteen indicted Red Lake student in court for
in Appalachia
election fraud
By Stephen Igo
Kingsport Times-News
WISE - Fourteen individuals,
including the mayor/town manager
of Appalachia, a town councilman,
and two law enforcement officials,
were indicted by a Wise County
grand jury on multiple counts stemming from an alleged conspiracy to
conduct election fraud during the
2004 town elections.
2. The indictments show the
investigation hasn't been just about
pork rinds. Special Prosecutor
Tun McAfee said during a press
conference at the Wise County
Courthouse. The investigation into
allegations of voter fraud evolved
from early reports of attempted vote
buying before town elections that
reportedly involved items like bags
of pork rinds, packs of cigarettes,
and six-packs of beer.
While the entire affair may have
been sparked by rumors of "votes
being sold for pork rinds," said
FRAUD to page 2
alleged threats
DULUTH, Minn. - A Red Lake
High School student being held in
connection with recent threats at
the school—where seven people
were killed last year—appeared
Wednesday in U.S. District Court
in Duluth, according to a newspaper report.
The Star Tribune of Minneapolis said the nature of the 10-min-
ute, closed-door, hearing before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond
Erickson was not revealed. The
identity of the boy also was not
revealed.
Several members of the boy's
family attended the hearing, but
did not share details afterward.
The boy appeared expressionless
as authorities led him from the
courtroom with his hands cuffed
behind his back, the newspaper
reported.
A message left with a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's
Office was not immediately returned to The Associated Press
Wednesday.
School authorities learned
of the threats March 18, after
a student told a staff member.
Interim principal Brent Colligan
sent a letter to students' parents
and guardians, saying, "a group
of students were threatening to
form some sort of assault on the
Red Lake High School "
On Tuesday, the FBI confirmed
a juvenile was in custody and said
in a statement that they beheved
any alleged threat "has been neutralized."
Extra police officers were
added at the school, and security
is expected to be heightened until
the end of the year.
The threats were seen as a step
backward for many on the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Reservation in northern Minnesota.
In March 2005, 16-year-old
Jeff Weise killed his grandfather
and grandfather's girlfriend at
their home on the reservation,
then drove to the high school and
killed a security guard, a teacher,
and five students before taking his
own life.
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Volume 18 Issue 44
April 28, 2006
Lawrence "Sandy" Gotchie, plaintiff in suit filed in Leech Lake Tribal Court questioning
the validity of Chairman Goggleye's position in light of recent changes to the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribal Constitution.
School threat
rekindles fears
on Red Lake
reservation
By Dave Kolpack
Associated Press
Reports of violent threats on
the Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Reservation have raised new
fears in a community trying to
recover from last year's deadly
school shooting. The FBI said
Tuesday it had a juvenile in
custody.
Administrators arranged extra security after rumors that a
group of students planned an assault at Red Lake High School,
the site of a March 2005 attack
in which seven people were
gunned down.
"At the present time, we
believe the alleged threat to the
Red Lake High School has been
neutralized," Michael Tabman,
special agent in charge of the
Minneapolis FBI office, said
in a statement. "Because this
investigation is ongoing and
involves a juvenile, there will
be no further comment."
The Red Lake Tribal Pohce
Department, Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the FBI were working on the case, Tabman said.
The threats have shaken the
community, tribal members
say.
"We're trying to heal, we're
trying to be strong," school
board member Kathryn Beaulieu said Tuesday. "This sets us
back, but we're doing everything
we can possibly do to make sure
it's a safe environment."
Rumors of "some sort of assault" began several weeks ago,
interim Principal Brent Colligan
said in a letter sent to parents and
guardians last week. He said
three extra pohce officers were
patrolling the school grounds.
"Every attempt is being made
to find those individuals that
are responsible for the disruption in your child's education,"
Colligan's letter said. "It is a
team approach involving those
listed above (the FBI and Red
Lake pohce) when deciding if
school should be in session and
if a safe environment can be
provided."
Red Lake improved its security measures after last year's
RED LAKE to page 2
Another shade of green: Tribes
tap into golf
By Brian Bakst
Associated Press
MORTON, Minn. - Dacotah
Ridge Golf Club sits deep inside
Minnesota farm country, far from
any four-lane highways and surrounded by towns with tiny populations.
But the remote location hasn't
kept golfers from flocking to test
their skills against the stiff winds,
rolling hills and demanding greens
at the club, whose owner, the
Lower Sioux Indian Community,
just happens to operate the Jackpot
Junction Casino Hotel a few miles
up the road.
In Minnesota and elsewhere,
American Indian tribes that have
mastered the casino gambling
trade are increasingly venturing
into the golf course business. The
immaculate layouts springing up
around the country are routinely
winding up on must-play lists of
leading golf magazines.
Last spring, the Mashantucket
Pequot Tribal Nation opened a
highly touted 36-hole golf complex
_ one private course and one for
the general public _ adjacent to its
Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
"The native tribes that own
casinos are realizing that you
have to have something more than
just a casino to bring guests in,"
said Henry Boulley, a member of
Michigan's Sault Ste. Marie Tribe
of Chippewa and the organizer
of the Native American Cup golf
tournament.
"When Native American tribes
put up a course next to their resort,
they don't put up just a run-of-the-
mill course," he added. "They put
up a really spectacular course."
There are more than 50 tribal-
owned .courses in 16 states, and
another 20 or so are planned, according to KlasRobinson Q.E.D.,
a consulting firm that works with
tribes. More than half are situated
near casinos.
The building boom has been
recent, with at least 40 percent of
them constructed since the rum of
the century.
In February, the Seneca-Cayuga
Tribe rolled out a plan for a $400
million casino and golf resort in
central New York.
Next month, the first full season
of play opens at The Meadows of
Mystic Lake Golf Course owned
by Minnesota's Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community,
which runs one of the Midwest's
largest casinos.
"It brings in a different type of
clientele," said Bill Rudnicki, the
Shakopee tribe's administrator.
"We want to be seen as a resort
facility."
GOLF to page 2
Indian businessman: Restructure
tribal laws
By Megan Myers
Argus Leader
Restructuring tribal law. and
regulations is key to attracting
outside businesses and fostering
entrepreneurship on reservations,
a successful Native American
businessman said Wednesday.
"Success is a possibility, rather
than an act of God or a miracle,"
said Lance Morgan, owner of
Winnebago, Neb.-based company Ho-Chunk Inc. "I do not
believe we were ever meant to
be poor people."
Morgan spoke to more than
300 people attending the morning sessions of the eighth annual
Bureau of Indian Affairs Great
Plains Regional Tribal Economic
Development Summit at the Best
Western Ramkota Hotel & Con
ference Center. The conference
continues today.
Ho-Chunk is seen as an example of Native American entrepreneurship that has grown from
casino operations. The company
was started several years ago
by the Winnebago tribe with the
help of federal grants and gaming
profits. It started with just a few
employees and small construction
projects, but has since grown, diversified and invested in a range
of industries, including online
publishing and modular home
sales.
The company's board of directors is independent of the
Winnebago Tribal Council, and
the council protects the company's autonomy. That has helped
LAWS to page 2
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