Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-05-19

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
A reflecting moment
„with an elder
NEWS BRIEFS
3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
CLASSIFIEDS
7
nanp A
Letter regarding banishment
of Wakinyan McArthur by
his mother
page 4
Letter of thanks to Red
Lake voters
For he's a jolly good fellow
page 5
Questions
regarding 'Bands
Membership in
the MCT
page 4
Red Lake - it's not too
late to save the rez
from Buck, drug crowd
page 4
Seki by a landslide. Roy to face Jourdain; Beaulieu
v. Cook; Desjarlait v. Lussier; Hardy v. Nelson;
Thunder v. Westbrook; Green v. H. Beaulieu
VOICE       OF       THE       PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
The results are official. Red
Lake Treasurer Darrell G. Seki is
the only candidate to win a clear
majority vote, nearly 70%. He
was appointed in February 2002
after Dan King was recalled. He
won his first term outright in May
of that year with a 54% majority.
Floyd "Buck" Jourdain, who
served as Chair for the past two
years, received 47.4% ofthe vote.
Veteran Red Lake Secretary Judy
Roy, who served the Tribal Council for 12 years, came in second
with about 29% of the vote.
The two will compete in a run
off election.
The voters of Red Lake have
expressed a desire for change. All
four incumbent representatives
are facing a run off election to
retain their seats. Lee Lussier, Jr
challenges Red Lake Representative Donald "Don Dez" Desjarlait.
Representative Clifford C. Hardy
will face Gary L. Nelson for the
Ponemah seat. Julius "Toady"
Thunder and Tom "Jambi" Westbrook will square off for the Redby
seat and William "Billy" Green
must defeat Harlan R. Beaulieu
in order to keep his Little Rock
seat. NOTE: for vote totals, see
chart entitled "Primary Election"
published in this edition.
Jourdain's term as Chairman has
been darkened by the fact of his son
Louis' arrest and sentencing in connection with the March 21, 2005
Red Lake High School shooting.
Overseeing the events of his son's
interim incarceration and final
plea-bargaining to avoid a trial has
kept the Chairman preoccupied.
These distractions have caused
delays and breaks in the continuity
of governing, for example, regulations governing the reopening of
the Red Lake to fishing had to be
postponed and the fishing opener
occurred without permanent regulations.
Jourdain has emphasized Tribal
Sovereignty as a guiding principal, and has expelled members of
the press from the reservation several times during the past months
as well as on Election day.
Long time Tribal Secretary
Roy was motivated to run for
Chairman as an example to youth,
particularly the young women, of
Red Lake.
As further evidence of a desire
for change, the ballet carried
forty-seven candidates for seven
positions at Red Lake.
Kathryn (Jody) Beaulieu and
Don Cook, Sr. will be running for
the Secretary's position vacated
by Judy Roy.
If no race is contested, the run off
election is scheduled for July 23.
Committee on Indian Affairs Discusses Teen Suicide in Indian Country:
Suicide Numbers are Double the National Average
for Young Adults
By Jean Pagano
An Oversight Hearing on Indian Youth Suicide was held
today by the Senate Committee
on Indian Affairs. Several speakers presented thoughts on the
problem of suicide among Native youth. Suicide numbers for
Native youth are about 2lA times
higher man the national average.
The first speaker was Jerry
Gidner, Deputy Director for
Tribal Service in the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA). Gidner
stated that teen suicide has been a
long-standing problem on the reservation. Factors such as poverty,
alcoholism, gangs, and violence
"contribute in the manifestation of
suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, and suicide attempts by Indian
children and teenagers." According to BIA statistics, suicide is
the 3rd leading cause of death for
children aged 5 to 14 and the 2nd
leading cause for those aged 15 to
24. Young Native men are more
likely to succeed at committing
suicide whereas young Native
women are more likely to have
suicidal thoughts.
Every other year, the BIA produces High School and Middle
School Youth Risk Behavior
Surveys (YRBS). These surveys
provide insight into the trail
from sadness and feeling hopeless through suicidal thoughts,
to making a plan for suicide, to
attempting suicide, culminating in
an act which requires treatment by
a medical professional. For data
collected in 2003,21% of Native
high school students seriously
contemplated committing suicide
while 18% actually attempted to
kill themselves. Among Native
middle school students, the numbers are equally troubling: 26%
had seriously considered suicide
at some point in their hves and
15% had actually tried..
According to Gidner, research
suggests that there is a relationship between parental alcohol
and/or drug abuse, emotional,
physical, and/or sexual child
abuse, domestic violence, and suicide among children and teens. In
some Native youths, the only way
that they feel that they can extricate themselves from the situation
is to take their own lives.
The BIA feels that the fol
lowing conditions may to lessen
the thoughts of suicide among
young people: a) better housing
conditions, b) increased prevention and treatment services, c)
increased identification of at-risk
individuals and families with
referrals to counseling services,
and d) enhanced community development through the training
of tribal leaders and staff. While
these conditions may alleviate the
problems of Native youth, there is
little if any money in the Federal
budget for such services.
The BIA currently spends about
$92 per student enrolled in BIA
schools to assure that the school
is safe for staff members and other
students. Part of these funds has
been used to train staff members
in what to do in the face of a suicide attempt. Administrators and
staff members have been given
some training in suicide prevention as well.
Another speaker was Ms. Jo
Ann Kauffman, President of
Kauffman and Associates, an organization which provides policy
analysis, planning, and research
to a number of entities including
Indian tribes. She is an enrolled
member of the Nez Perce tribe
and earned her Master's Degree in
Pubhc Health from the University
of California Berkeley. Her company manages contracts with the
Indian Health Service (THS) and
the Office of Indian Education.
Kauffman stated that in 2002,
the suicide rate among 15 to 19
year old Native American men
was the highest of any ethnic
group in America, and three
times higher than the national
average. She stated that violent
crime in this age group was significantly higher than the general
population. Rates for illicit drug,
alcohol, smokeless tobacco and
tobacco use among Natives was
higher than among whites in any
age group. Over 22% of Native
students reported being threatened
or injured by a weapon on school
property, the highest rate in the
nation. To respond to these problems, the Department of Health
and Human Services, through
the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA), has developed an
emergency contract to respond
to this problem by building the
pro-social and helping behaviors
of Native youth and their families.
The idea is that by promoting the i
protective factors linked to safe
and healthy development among
Native youth and children, the risk
factors that contribute to violence
will be lessened. Kauffman and
Associates have developed the
Native Aspirations project, along
with the One Sky Center, to support the development and planning of the emergency contract.
Native Aspirations' philosophy
is based on recognizing the unique
strengths of the Native communities, reinforcing the barriers to
suicide and preventing violence.
By working with and training
selected Native communities,
Kauffman and Associates is attempting to heighten community
involvement for increasing the
capability of suicide and violence
prevention.
The communities selected for
the project reside in one of four
states: South Dakota, Alaska,
Montana, and Wyoming. While
only these populations were selected, Kauffman recognizes the
need for broader participation by
communities throughout Indian
Country.
Native Aspirations attempts
to build upon culture-based intervention methods that have
been used traditionally in Native
communities and are grounded in
cultural values, healing practices,
and ceremonies.
Native Aspirations has also
recognized that too often, federal
solutions are geared to short term
projects and not long term solutions. The paradigm that Native
Aspirations has created can be
used in Native communities
throughout the country, not just
in the four selected states, but that
will take additional funding which
is in short supply.
These speakers were but two
of those presenting their views to
the Oversight Committee. While
funding is scarce for the prevention of suicide among Native
youth, the hope is that by calling
attention to the problem, additional funding may become available
to remedy what has become an
epidemic in Indian Country.
Grand Portage keeps silent on funds
By Diane White
Bemidji, 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 Grand Portage
Band, a member of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe's most recent
submitted financial statements
are for the time period October 1,
2003 to September 30,2004. The
Grand Portage Tribal Council is
responsible for the management
of the Band's finances.
The audit was completed by
Brady Martz who audited the
Special Revenue Funds. They did
not audit any gaming operations
or business activities. They said
the Band's financial statements
presented fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of
the Band. However, missing were
financial statements included
Casino operations, Development Corporation, Trading Post,
Construction Company, Wood
Products, and the Reservation
Tribal Council.
In this case, the reader has no
idea of the actual financial state
the Band is in because the finan
cial statements presented did not
provide a lot of information. From
what I could gather, the information on Table 1: Basic Services
indicates the total revenues received and the total expenditures.
How the funds were spent were
not explained. Nor were huge
increases or decreases in fund balances. The Self-Governance fund
received $1.7 million in grant
money and dispersed those funds
to the various programs. How the
funds were actually spent was not
revealed.
There really is no way to tell
what financial state the Grand
Portage Band is in. Their debt
level was not revealed, however
they did not build a new casino,
rather their casino is in an old
Radisson Hotel that was built in
the '70s.
The grant funds received totaled $4,172,735 according to the
Schedule of Expenditures for time
period. The programs overspent,
in total, and the Band provided
additional funds, but the source
was not noted.
Within the financial statements,
the Band states, "the financial
activities of the Tribe and its
enterprises are confidential."  If
any other government would
choose those words they would
be wrong. Governments are run
for the benefit of the pubhc and
not one individual person or
elected individual and therefore,
all activities of the government
are public information.
The government was under-
insured by 82% on their bank
accounts. The 82% amount un-
derinsured, just over $887,000 is
insured by collateral. The collateral is held in safekeeping, but the
collateral is not exactly defined.
Also the Special Revenue funds
are due nearly $200,000, but it appears that amount is booked into
revenue. It is apparent the Band is
operating in their Special Revenue
(grant) funds in deficit mode.
The financial statements are really the only way for Band members, Tribal members and federal
officials to check on how funds
and other monies are managed.
In this case, the tribal members
are not provided full disclosure of
how the Tribal Council is managing their monies. Accordingly,
the Tribal Council establishes
funds by resolution to help it
FUNDS to page 6
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
 I We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2006
Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 47
May 19, 2006
Participants at last Tuesday nights special LLRBC meeting considering the Banishment of
tribal members from the Leech Lake Reservation. Due to opposition such as expressed
by this posted, the LLRBC, postponed taking any action.
Year after
shootings, Red
Lake chairman
stands for
re-election
By Dave Kolpack
Associated Press
PONEMAH, Minn. - Floyd
"Buck" Jourdain Jr. had a big
agenda when he took over
as chairman of the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa. But that
was before a teenager went
on a shooting rampage on the
Indian reservation that left
10 people dead and plunged
Jourdain into a painful year of
crisis management.
Now, Jourdain is running for
re-election against a field of
three that includes the father
of one of the dead.
In March 2005, seven months
after Jourdain took office, Jeff
Weise, 16, killed nine people _
including five students, a security guard and a teacher at the
reservation's Red Lake High
School _ before committing
suicide.
Then, a week after the attack, Jourdain's 16-year-old
son, Louis, was arrested as
a possible conspirator. The
boy ultimately pleaded guilty
in federal court to a far less
serious charge of exchanging
threatening messages with
Weise over the Internet.
The tribal chairman is seeking to convince voters that he
managed a difficult situation
well and deserves more time
to lead.
"I feel like I really never had
a chance to get off the ground,"
Jourdain, 41, said at a recent
candidates' forum ahead of
Wednesday's election.
Though some victims' families were angry at Jourdain for
saying little during the long,
secretive federal investigation
of his son, his challengers
have been reluctant to criticize
Jourdain for his handling of the
situation.
Even Francis "Chunky"
Brun, whose 28-year-old son
Derrick, a school security
guard, was killed at the rampage, has steered away from
making the attack an issue,
even though he has acknowledged that his son's death
played a part in his decision to
run.
"I think as time goes on and
people reflect on the events of
3-21, they realize that there
isn't anybody without some
responsibility," said longtime
tribal member Lee Cook, director of the American Indian
Resource Center at nearby Bemidji State University. "Once
you start pointing fingers,
SHOOTING to page 6
Tribal judge's sister, brother-in-
law sentenced in drug case
Associated Press
CASPER, Wyo. - The sister and
brother-in-law of a former Wind
River Indian Reservation judge
were each sentenced to more than
20 years in prison for their roles
in a reservation drug ring.
Donna Ree Goodman was
sentenced in federal court last
week to 24 years in prison, while
her husband, John James Goodman, was sentenced to almost 21
years.
Authorities say the Goodmans
were at the center of a family-run
drug ring that brought metham
phetamine, cocaine and marijuana
in from Mexico and illegally sold
prescription drugs.
Donna Goodman is the sister
of Lynda Noah, formerly Lynda
Munnell, an Arapaho tribal member and reservation judge who
was among more than a dozen
people arrested when the drug
ring was brought down last May.
Noah pleaded guilty in March to
conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and prescription drugs
and to threatening a federal officer, and is scheduled for another
court appearance next month.
High court ruling hailed as victory
for counties, state
By William Kates
Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - New
York officials described the U.S.
Supreme Court's refusal Monday
to review a Cayuga Indian land
claim appeal as a decisive victory.
The Cayuga Indian Nation of
New York and Seneca-Cayuga
Tribe of Oklahoma _ joined by
the federal government _ had
asked the nation's top court to
reverse last year's dismissal of
the land claim and $247.9 million
judgment by the 2nd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court's decision
not to hear the case leaves standing the circuit court ruling.
"We're ecstatic," said Seneca
County Attorney Steven German.
"This land claim has hung over
the heads of our citizens for 26
years and finally, finally, that
cloud has been lifted. As far as
the land claim goes, this is the
end ofthe road. It's over."
New York Attorney General
Eliot Spitzer's office was less
celebratory, but nonetheless
signaled it as a precedent in all
pending land claim matters in
New York. U.S. Sen. Charles
Schumer called it "a major victory" for local taxpayers.
"For 11 years, we have aggressively defended against these
cases and are pleased that the
nation's highest court upheld the
second circuit's decision to definitively end the New York tribal
land claims that have threatened
our state's homeowners and businesses for far too long," Gov.
George Pataki said in a prepared
statement.
A federal district court judge
ruled in 1994 that New York state
illegally acquired 64,015 acres of
tribal land in Seneca and Cayuga
counties in the late 1700s and
early 1800s by entering into invalid treaties with the Cayugas.
A jury in 2000 awarded the two
tribes $37 million in damages
for the land's current worth and
the loss of two centuries of fair
market rental value. The judge
added $211 million in interest.
The state and county challenged
the ruling and judgment.
In a separate case, the Supreme
Court ruled in March 2005 that
the Oneida Indian Nation of New
York must pay property taxes to
the city of Sherrill because too
much time had passed before
the tribe sought sovereign title
to ancestral land it had recently
acquired in that Oneida County
city.
On the heels of that decision,
the federal appeals court in April
2005 ruled that the Cayuga tribes
had waited too long to reclaim
sovereign title to their upstate
New York ancestral lands.
In asking the Supreme Court
to consider the case, the Cayugas and federal government
contended that the 2nd Circuit
misapplied the top court's Sherrill
decision in nullifying the Cayuga
land claim.
Clint Halftown, the federally
recognized representative of the
New York Cayugas, said the
Supreme Court decision was not
surprising.
"Our history has taught us to
expect little and today's decision
confirms what we always suspected _ that we can't and should
never have trusted this process,"
Halftown said.
The Seneca-Cayugas said they
would have no comment on the
decision until later in the week.
The New York Cayugas' attorney, Dan French, disagreed that
the fight was over.
Following the appeals court
ruling, the New York Cayugas
applied to put the 125 acres they
own in the two counties into
federal trust, which if approved,
would make them exempt from
taxes, local laws and zoning
regulations. The property already includes two combination
gas station-convenience stores
and two presently-closed small
VICTORY to page 7