Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-06-30

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Amend MN
Chippewa Tribe
Constitution for the
People
page 4
Gestapo Tactics just
tip of the Iceberg
page 4
Hey I got elected
to RBC
page 4
Judy Roy is the
only positive
choice for Red
Lake Chainnan
page 4
Best Wishes for a
Happy & Enjoyable
Fourth of July
Note: Next issue:
July 14
Minnesota's Indian legal service providers face
changing legal environment
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
By Diane White
BEMIDJI, MN—In Minnesota, there are three legal non-profit
organizations (NPO) that provide
legal assistance in civil cases to
Indian people. Anishinabe Legal
Services is a non-profit corporation that has been around for 32
years and is headquartered in
Cass Lake with satellite offices
in Naytahwaush and Red Lake.
The Indian Child Welfare Law
Center located in Minneapolis
has been operating since 1993.
The Indian Legal Assistance
Program has offices in Duluth
and Onamia and in addition to
providing legal assistance in civil
cases, in Onamia only, they work
on criminal cases.
A non-profit organization is a
form of legal corporation that
works to serve the public for a
specific cause or to provide a
specific purpose and every NPO
is required to file tax paperwork
annually with the Internal Revenue Service. Each organization
must file annually their tax state-
Tablel: Board of Directors List
Per IRS Form 990 - 2004 filing
Anishinabe Legal Services, Cass Lake
Kristine Cannon
Lucille Silk
Thomas Stillday, Jr.
Rob Aiken
Leo Brisbois
Judy Fairbanks
Anita Fineday
Mike Stillday
John Herrera
Rick Haaland
Ron Cayko
Indian Child Welfare Law Center,
Minneapolis
Susan Allen
Jessica Kramer
Jamie Cy son
Barbara Fairbanks
Frances Fairbanks
Richard G. McOee
Karen Wadena
Indian Legal Assistance Program, Duluth and
Onamia
Les Northrup
Gordon Adams, Jr.
Dianna Stroms
Dorn Lawin
Sylvester J. Wood
Lester Day
Dennis Peterson
ment called a Form 990, which
is considered pubhc information
for three years. The Form 990
requires the non-profit to disclose
the amount of funding received in
the form of grants, private donations, interest income, and income
generated from fees in performing
client services. The NPO must
also disclose how they monies
are spent, as well as who sits on
their Board of Directors and who
serves as the Executive Director
(aka Chief Executive Officer, Ad-
ministrator). See Table 1: Board
of Directors to see who oversees
these legal clinics.
Anishinabe Legal Services
(ALS)
Anishinabe Legal Services is
a free legal service offered to
indigent Indian people whose
cases are civil in nature. Clients
must be poor enough to meet federal poverty guidelines. Michael
Klinkhammer is the Executive
Director of ALS and he is an attorney who has also served at Red
Lake. He is not of Indian descent,
but stated to Press/ON he grew
up in Mahnomen where he saw
a lot of poverty within the Indian
communities.
The Executive Director position
oversees the day to day operations
of the legal clinic and is public
infonnation. According to latest
Form 990 (2004), the previous
Executive Director, Paul Thie-
bault earned $74,328 annually
in salary, pension and deferred
compensation.
To qualify for ALS free legal
services, a prospective client
must qualify within the following
criteria: 1) live on or near one of
the reservations they serve; 2)
meet income guidelines which
are based upon family size and
income, specifically the family's
level of poverty; and 3) the case
falls within the priorities as set out
by ALS. ALS primarily works
on legal cases that involve family law, government income-type
benefits, housing, and consumer
law.
ALS is 99% pubhc funding dollars through government grants
and direct charitable contributions. They cannot legally charge
clients for their legal services.
Table 2: ALS Revenue, Expenses
and Fund Balance shows the NPO
operating in a deficit at year end.
However, this is based upon a
cash basis accounting method
and the Form 990 does not show
any carry-over dollars from the
previous year.
The 2005 financial statements
are completed, but are not yet
officially published on Guid-
estar website or with the state of
Minnesota's Charities Division
website. ALS held their quarterly
meeting on June 22, 2006 at the
Bemidji Public Library (this
meeting is open to the public)
where the most recent financial
statements were presented. The
financial projections show favorably for ALS and indicate they
will soon be operating with a
positive fund balance.
During the time period between
2001 to 2004, grant sources increased annually by 15%, 8%, and
9% respectively. The amount of
revenue spent on legal services to
clients annually is approximately
75% ofthe total revenue received
each year. The remaining 25%
is spent on office management
expenses. ALS did not spend
any of its revenue on fundraising
activities.
According to Klinkhammer, the
philosophy of ALS is to strongly
support the increased power of the
tribal court system. Klinkhammer
felt the Leech Lake Tribal Court is
sensitive to Indian family cultural
SERVICE to page 3
Leech Lake sues 100 Homes contractor Boyd for
Breach of Contract
By Diane White
CASS LAKE, MN-On Monday, June 26, 2006, the Leech
Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO)
filed a lawsuit in Cass County
against Wallfab, Inc. of Little
Falls, who is owned by licensed
contractor Robert Boyd. The lawsuit charges Boyd with Breach
of Contract, Breach of Statutory
Warranty, Breach of Implied Warranty, Negligence, and Unjust Enrichment. The Band is requesting
relief in an undisclosed amount,
but believes that amount to be
in excess of $50,000; attorneys'
fees, and such other relief as the
court deems fair, just, and equitable. The Band is represented
by Quinlivan & Hughes, P.A., St.
Cloud, Minnesota.
In 2003, the Leech Lake Business Corporation, through its
"Homeownership Program"
decided to build the "100 Homes
Project." This project was designed for the completion of approximately 40-100 homes to be
constructed within approximately
a one year time frame. According to the complaint, the Band
entered into a contract with Boyd
to build the 100 homes. However,
the contract, although drafted was
never signed. At that time, the
tribal attorney was Frank Bibeau
who had attempted to get the
contract signed by Boyd when
he sent Boyd a demand letter on
or around December 9,2003, the
date ofthe unsigned contract. The
contract was never returned.
Eide Bailly, LLP, a CPA firm
in Fargo, provided LLBO with a
Report of Forensic Examination,
dated December 12,2005. In that
report, they indicate they were
contracted with LLBO on July
22, 2005 to complete an audit
of the 100 Homes Project which
began on or about September
1, 2003. Mike Johnson was the
CEO of the LLBO Business Corporation until December 5,2003.
Thereafter Robert Goggleye was
appointed as CEO, Angie Wade
was appointed as Homeownership Program Coordinator and
Bruce Johnson was hired as the
Housing Construction Manager.
According to the Eide Bailly
report, "The project was started
through executive approval by
Chairman Pete White and Secretary/Treasurer Arthur LaRose.
Through interviews, it became
evident that the project was initially funded with a $2.5 million
credit line through Leech Lake
Gaming. Further review should
be conducted to examine why
the project was started without
full approval from tribal council
and what emergency funding
sources and recovery plans were
or were not in place to complete
the project."
Press/ON received evidence
from District 1 Representative Burton "Luke" Wilson regarding the Bremer Bank line
of credit at the time the 100
Homes Project was on-going.
Eide Bailly reports, "Through
an interview with Dan Erickson,
LLBO's Gaming Controller, it
was learned that the 100 Homes
Project did not have an approved
budget. The original financing
for this project was to receive
financing from a third party. One
of a potential finaciers was Marshall Investments Corporation.
The plan failed to be approved
by the tribal council. Instead
of the project being financed
through the potential lenders, the
100 Homes Project was funded
through a $2.5'million line of
credit with Bremer Bank. Pete
BREACH to page 6
Both sides claim victory, libelous lawsuit is dismissed
By Vivian Clark
Reprinted with Permission of
Mille Lacs Messenger
Woodlands National Bank of
Onamia dismissed the lawsuit
charging David Hoch with defamation for claiming the bank had
violated campaign finance laws.
The bank, a federally chartered
banking institution owned by
the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe,
filed the civil suit against Hoch
on April 19, 2004 stating Hoch's
oral and written statements were
"false and injurious" to the bank,
its officers and its directors. It
also states that Hoch has targeted
Indian tribes, their members and
their agents in the past, which suggests his statements were made
with "actual malice."
Hoch, a lobbyist and long-time
proponent for a state-run casino
to fund a baseball stadium filed
a complaint with Mille Lacs,
Ramsey, and Hennepin Counties claiming Woodlands gave a
$50,000 donation to a political action committee. Under state law,
corporations are prohibited from
making political contributions.
The Hennepin County Attorney's office concluded the contribution was properly made and
disclosed.
However, a spokesperson for
Woodlands at that time said
Hoch's allegations and resulting
articles in the Messenger and
other newspapers damaged the
bank's reputation and had an affect on business.
The Woodlands lawsuit sought
in excess of $200,000 in damages, Hoch lost the suit on a
default judgment - he failed to
plead or otherwise defend within
the time allowed by law - during
the summer of 2004. Ramsey
County District Court, then
awarded $45,000 to Woodlands.
Hoch argued in his defense
that he was unable to contact his
attorney, Joe Friedburg. He later
attempted to appeal the decision
on his own with no success. Hoch
then retained a new attorney in
his attempts to appeal.
Hoch's new attorney, Mark
Anfinson, legal council for the
Minnesota Newspaper Association and First Amendment specialist, said he was able to get
the Minnesota Court of Appeals
to reverse the judgment on June
14, 2005.
The case was sent back to
Ramsey County District Court
to be heard on its merits.
Anfinson said he and the
Woodland's attorney had contact
on and off again several times
to explore possible settlement
terms.
Anfinson said, in simplified
non-legal jargon, the Woodlands'
attorneys told him they would
dismiss the lawsuit if Hoch
agreed to "promise not to say
anything bad" about the Band
again.
"Those terms were simply not
acceptable to David," Anfinson
said.
So the suit continued, he said.
On May 23, the Bank's law firm
filed a request that the case be
dismissed with no explanations,
Anfinson said.
On May 30, Judge Cleary wrote
a letter to Anfinson to say he had
signed the order for dismissal
but requested briefs from both
parties.
The official order for dismissal
from the judge was received by
Anfinson June 22. Hoch owes
nothing to woodlands.
"The case is dismissed," Anfinson said. "This is a victory
for David."
Hoch did not return calls to the
Messenger for comment.
"Seeing this come to a gracious
end is our victory." Lew Anderson of Woodlands said.
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2006
Founded in 1988
Volume 19 Issue 3
June 30, 2006
The Crazy Horse 1/34th scale model, foreground, stands in front of the ongoing project
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began carving the likeness of Sioux warrior Crazy Horse
into a granite mountain in 1948. Ziolkowski's widow, Ruth, who turns 80 on Monday,
continues her late husband's work with the commitment of seven of their 10 children
and several grandchildren who have dedicated their lives to fulfilling his dream of carving a mountain to honor all American Indians. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
An alleged
leader of Native
Mob gang
sentenced to
prison
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota-
An alleged leader of the Native
Mob gang has been sentenced
to more than 30 years in prison
on assault, drug and firearms
charges.
Gordon David Reese, 30, of
Minneapolis, whom the U.S.
attorney's office described in a
news release as "the purported
leader of the Native Mob," was
convicted earlier on charges
involving assault and methamphetamine, as well as possession
of a firearm by an armed career
criminal.
The U.S. attorney's office said
Reese committed the offenses
last July when he attended a party
on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Prosecutors alleged Reese
assaulted a woman in his car,
and she immediately reported it
to police. She suffered numerous
bruises and lacerations, as well as
a broken nose.
"The police located Reese in
the same vehicle in which the
assault had occurred," the news
release said. "He had blood on
his shirt, and the vehicle's interior
was also stained with blood."
Officers arrested Reese and
then searched the vehicle. The
statement said they found a
loaded .45-caliber handgun, 24.6
grams of methamphetamine, and
items commonly used in drug
trafficking, including two digital
scales, a box of sandwich bags
and scissors.
Because Reese had been previously convicted of three separate
violent felonies, he was subject to a mandatory minimum
sentence of 15 years. But U.S.
District Judge Joan N. Ericksen
sentenced him Friday to 30 years
and three months in prison.
Authorities say the Native
Mob is active on both the Red
Lake and Leech Lake reservations in northern Minnesota.
Crack Arrest made at Tract 33
Cass Lake
Cass County Sheriff Randy
Fisher reported that Matthew Roy,
25, of Cass Lake was arrested for
possession of crack cocaine June
20 at a residence on Tract 33 in
Cass Lake.
Darrell Ryan, 52, and Brian
Northbird, 32, both of Cass Lake,
were also arrested Ryan was arrested
for probation violation and Northbird
on an outstanding warrant
All three are being held in the
Cass County jail.
Fisher stated that two children
who were at the residence were
placed in protective custody with
Leech Lake family services.
Officers from the Cass County
sheriff's office, Leech Lake tribal
pohce department, Cass Lake police department, Pike Bay police,
the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension and agents from the
Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force assisted in the search and arrests.
The Drug Task Force has been
responsible for numerous drug
related arrests. Chairman Floyd
"Buck" Jourdain withdrew Red
Lake law enforcement from the
task force. No drug related arrests
have been made at Red Lake for
the past two years.
Dickinson-area man says others
should get land back from corps
Associated Press
DICKINSON, N.D. - LeRoy
Fettig says the Army Corps of Engineers condemned 1,200 acres of
his family's land in the 1950s and
took about 600 acres of it.
If the corps now plans to return
land to the Three Affiliated Tribes
that was taken for the building of
"They took it because they
could," Fettig said. "At least I'd
like to be on record that I have
no problem giving the tribes their
land back, but they should give
mine back, too. I'd even buy it."
Fettig's land is along what's
called the Little Missouri arm
of Lake Sakakawea, where the
the Garrison Dam, it should-al-—lake-backs up into what used to
low him to get land back, too, he   be the river drainage. It is not on
said Tuesday night at a hearing to
discuss the land transfer.
Fettig said the corps does not
need the land bordering his ranch
any longer.
the Fort Berthold reservation.
Gov. John Hoeven's legal
counsel, Duane Houdek, said it
MAN to page 7
Anadarko Indian center searching
for buyer
Associated Press
ANADARKO, Okla. - The
manager of a 50-year-old American Indian memorial and tourist
attraction is searching for someone to purchase the business and
preserve its history.
George F Moran, 71, has
worked at Indian City USA since
1973 but says he's ready to retire.
The park just south of Anadarko
has been a well-known tourist
attraction since 1955.
Moran said he wants someone
to purchase the tourist attraction
and to make it a major tourist
attraction again.
The 198-acre park holds an
Indian village that has life-size
dwellings of seven Indian tribes,
Indian dancers, a gift shop, museum and lodge, campground and
an exotic game trail including
buffalo and antelope. The park
represents the Kiowa, Caddo,
Wichita, Apache, Pawnee, Pueblo and Navajo tribes.
"We've had three serious
groups interested in buying _
all local," Moran said. "One is
considering an offer. We had one
developer make an offer, but it
was turned down. They wanted to
sell off the contents of the park _
the villages, the museum, the gift
shop _ and carve it up for lots to
build homes on. We don't want
that."
BUYER to page 7