Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-05-26

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Red Lake
"Drug Haven1
Reservation...
page 4
At Red Lake, this is what
really going to happen
page 4
Leech Lake members
speaks out about
unfair work practices
page 4
Ken Fox runs
for White Earth
Secretary-Treasurer
page 4
A Great Man
Passes: Llewellyn
Barrackman
page 4
Jourdain seeks recount in Red Lake primary
RED LAKE, MN-Red Lake
Chairman floyd "Buck" Jourdain
has formally requested a recount
of the primary election results.
The primary was held on Friday,
May 19, 2006 where Jourdain
won 47.4% ofthe vote. The General Election Board has 10 days
to consider his request and act
on it. A contested primary election could postpone the General
Election date from July 23,2006
to August 2, 2006.
There were a number of issues
surrounding the primary election that prompted the recount
request, including availability
of official ballots and incorrect
schedule of hours posted. At
one polling precinct, the election
officials ran short of ballots and
gave voters a photocopy of an
official ballot to vote with.
Jourdain faces Red Lake Secretary Judy Roy who came in
second with 29% of the vote in
the General Election.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community receives
less than $1 miUion in federal funding
By Diane White
Under the Freedom of Information Act, Press/ON received from
the Department of Interior the
latest Single Audit Act financial
performance reports from all
Minnesota Indian Communitys.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community, located in
Shakopee, Minnesota is probably
the most famous Indian Community in Minnesota, because of
their financial success in gaming
and close location to the Twin
Cities metropolitan area. Since
Indian Communitys gained the
right to own and operate casinos,
improvements in all areas of life
have profoundly affected their
way of life.
Compared to other Communitys
throughout the State, the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community
receives a small piece ofthe federal grant award monies. They have
far fewer tribal members than any
other Community in the State and
the highest per capita income than
any other Community. Therefore,
the financial statements as required by the federal Single Audit
Act compels the Mdewakanton
Community to report on the specific programs, which are Human
Services, Education, Day Care,
and Public Works departments.
These departments provide health,
social, cultural, educational, day
care services and other benefits to
the members of the Mdewakanton
community whether they hve on
or off the reservation.
The total amount of federal
awards received are presented
in Table 1: SMSC - Schedule of
Expenditures of Federal Awards,
which included awards from three
federal departments (Department
of Interior, Health & Human
Services, and the Environmental
Protection Agency). The total
amount of federal funds received
were $966,026.
Despite that the programs
also received generous funding for these programs from the
Mdewakanton Community in
the amount of $8,228,959. The
total amount of federal funding
received and spent was a mere
10.5% of the entire program
budget. The total program funding
received was $9,194,985.
The programs that received
this funding were: Day Care,
Education, Health, Pubhc Works,
and Social Services.   Day care
FUNDING to page 6
Leech Lake Band split on revival of banishment
By Larry Oakes
Star Tribune
Reprinted with Permission ofthe
StarTribune
CASS LAKE, MINN. - Last
month, Minnesota prison officials gave Ixech Lake Indian
Reservation leaders some alarming information: Leech Lake
enrollee Wakinyan McArthur,
27, a convicted killer and reputed
prison leader of the Native Mob
gang, was soon to be released to
a halfway house in Minneapolis.
Prison officials said that surveillance of McArthur's letters and
calls indicated that he planned,
once free, to expand the gang on
the reservation, taking violent
revenge on enemies.
Although McArthur's probation forbids him from going to
the reservation, Ojibwe band
leaders were worried enough by
what prison officials reported to
consider reviving an old custom:
banishment.
Advocates of a proposal that
would allow pohce to eject him
from reservation property say
that drastic measures are needed
to stem the tide of murder, drugs
and violence on the northern Minnesota reservation.
"The simation is dire," Tribal
Chairman George Goggleye Jr.
wrote last week in a memo that
asked the reservation's Local
Indian Council advisory groups
for feedback on the idea.
But on Monday, as McArthur
was being released from the state
prison at Sir Cloud, the Indian
Councils, composed of leaders
from communities on the reservation, voted against recommending
banishment. According to Tribal
Attorney Mike Garbow, the group
said it didn't have enough information on exactly what banishment would mean and felt the
issue needed more study.
Last week, many tribal members
spoke against the proposal at a
public meeting. Some said that
giving tribal government banishment powers would invite abuse
of members' rights and could be
used as a political weapon.
Record of crime and time
Court records say that McArthur, also known as Leroy White,
also known as "Con," was 11
when he first appeared in court.
By 15 he'd been charged with
truancy, theft, burglary, tampering with a motor vehicle, assault,
SPLIT to page 2
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe seeks to banish
convicted killer
Cass Lake, MN—The Leech
Lake Band of Ojibwe held a pubhc
meeting on Tuesday, May 9,2006
at the Palace Casino & Hotel where
they handed out a draft copy of a
Resolution to audience members.
The resolution states: Whereas:
• the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe Constitution, Article UI,
Section 2 established the Leech
Lake Business Committee (aka,
Leech Lake Tribal Council) as
duly elected governing body of
the Leech J^ake Band of Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe; and
• the Leech Lake Tribal Council has the inherent sovereign
authority to protect the health,
safety and welfare of all Leech
Lake Band members and provide
for and to regulate relations among
Band members and others; and
• the Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe, through the Leech Lake
Tribal Council, has the right to
make its own laws and be ruled by
them, and the power to regulate its
internal and social relations; and
• the Leech Lake Tribal Council has established by ordinance the
various Leech Lake Local Indian
Councils in order to provide the
Leech Lake Tribal Council guidance and direction regarding issues of importance that effect the
members of the Leech Lake Band
of Ojibwe; and
• the Leech Lake Local Indian
Councils have been made aware
that a high ranldng confirmed
"gang member," Wakinyon Mcarthur, is being released from prison
in May of 2006; and
• the Leech Lake Local Indian Councils have also been
made aware by a representative
of the Minnesota Department of
Corrections that correspondence
between Mcarthur and other "gang
members" have indicated that
Mcarthur indends on re-establishing "organized gang activity" on
the Leech Lake Reservation;
• "organized gang activity"
on the Leech Lake Reservation
is a direct threat to the heatlh,
safety and welfare of community
members residing within the Leech
Lake Reservation boundaries; and
• The Leech Lake Local Indian
Councils have requested by letter
that the Leech Lake Tribal Council
ban Wakinyon Mcarther from all
Leech Lake tribal premises including all Leech l_ake tribal housing
and tribal communities located
within the Leech Lake Reservation
boundaries; and THEREFORE BE
IT RESOLVED, the Leech Lake
Tribal Council hereby excludes
Wakinyon Mcarthur from all Leech
Lake tribal establishments including exclusion from all tribal housing and their corresponding communities located within the Leech
Lake Reservation boundaries.
BANISH to page 2
Earlier this week, Frank Bibeau hand delivered a letter directed to Senator John McCain, to all members
of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and on the acting Principal Secretary of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Mike Olson. The cover letter and information packets included Olson's response letterto Richard
Johnson, Spokesperson for the Leech Lake Petitioners, which indicated the BIA's understanding that
an actual Removal Hearing occurred on Leech Lake Reservation on August 12,2005. The Petitioners
charges, which included 43 Exhibits, called for the removal of Burton "Luke" Wilson, Donald "Mick"
Finn and Chairman George Goggleye. The information packets included a DVD of the actual hearing
which lasted only 12 minutes and ended abruptly when the "Quorum of the Accused" dismissed the
charges against themselves, without a hearing, reading of the charges, and without any opportunity
for any of the 600+ LL Petitioners to participate. Read letter on page 3.
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Founded in 1988
Volume 18 Issue 48
May 26, 2006
Wicole Nandagikendan Early Childhood Language Immersion Project — Four Directions
in the Little Earth Neighborhood Early Learning Center, (left to right): Lillian Rice, Amik
Smallwood, Margaret Boyer, Brendan Fairbanks, Eileen Stand. Ojibwe Language Immersion Preschool Children.
Wicole Nandagikendan Early Childhood
Language Immersion Project
By Vincent Hill
The Dakota and Ojibwe
anishinabeg continue to work
together for the total good of
both tribes. Ancient enemies,
but yet tied together through
marriage, culture and religion.
" From the forests and the
prairies, From the great lakes
of the Northland, From the
land of the Ojibways, From
the land of the Dacotahs..."
wrote the famous poet, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow in
1855. (See Introduction to the
Song of Hiawatha, by H. W.
Longfellow.)
The Early Childhood language Immersion Project is
now prefaced with a combined
Dakota and Ojibwe wording:
Wicole in Dakota refers to
words, and Nandagikendan in
Ojibwe means: " I am going
to, or will learn." "I am going
to learn words"
"Amik" Larry Smallwood,
Director of the Mille Lacs
Ojibwe Band' s Culture and
Language Immersion grounds
(190 acres ), located 20 miles
north of Hinckley, Mn, has
shared his "dream" of helping
to restore the Ojibwe language
to anishinabeg at Mille Lacs in
particular, but not excluding
other anishinabeg in adjacent
states requesting help. Brilliant in knowledge and teaching Ojibwe, Amik is equally
zealous to impart knowledge
of the traditions, including the
midewiwin religion. ( Medicine
Dance, Grand Medicine society)
The young University of Minnesota linguist student, Brendan
Fairbanks, has remarkably learned
the complicated Ojibwe tongue in
just a few years. Like Amik, he
has demonstrated brilliance in his
comprehension of Ojibwe. He,
too, has shared his dream to teach
Ojibwe.
Two years ago I reported that
the Eastern Minnesota Dakota
language was on the verge of
extinction; and the Minnesota
Ojibwe was on the borderline loss
list, which had surprised me at the
time. I don't think the crisis is
over, and in fact, the Mdewakan-
tons in Minnesota have only 25
fluent speakers left!
At the White Earth Urban
Community Council-Twin Cities ( WEUCC-TC ) picnic last
Saturday at the Minnehaha Falls,
Mpis, 2,000 Urban White Earth
Ojibwe enrollees were fed. I was
present at this function, and was
appalled that practically no one
was able to respond to my Ojibwe
greetings (some conversational
Ojibwe). Late last year, Amik and
some of us in his Ojibwe Class,
conducted a count of Mille Lacs
Ojibwe fluent speakers in accordance to families/clans on the
reservation districts, and in Mpis.
- St Paul. We came up with 88
fluent speakers, with the majority
being elders. We likely missed a
few, so my estimate is a count of
100, out of 4,000 enrollees! And
half of the fluent speaking elders
will be deceased in less than 10-15
years.
Margaret Boyer, Director ofthe
Alliance ofthe Early Childhood
Professionals (AECP), has been
battling for funding sources in the
last decade to teach anishinabeg
(both Ojibwe and Dakota) pre-
schoolers-and up to age 12. She
has creatively plugged into other
programming to include parents
in the invaluable support and
direct language engagement with
the children.
Thus far, Margaret has been
able to secure a federal grant, and
foundation monies, but no hard
cash from stable state funding
sources. I think the Ojibwe and
Dakota bands need to get in high
gear-and prioritize the need for
Ojibwe and Dakota to, not only be
spoken by preschool and school
age kids, but by adults in the home
as well.
It is said that a "people" to be
intact, to be sovereign, they must
have their language, customs (
traditions), and costumes (culture,
dress). Our Ojibwe is one hell-of-
a-language, what with 6,000 action verbs. The Ojibwe language
has the most action verbs in the
world. Scientists stated in the
New York Times several years
ago that Ojibwe would be the ideal
language for astronomy.
Lobbying trial: Government to present trail of e-mails
By Pete Yost
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _
Justice Department prosecutors intend to use hundreds of
e-mails to paint a picture of
corruption in the first trial in
the Jack Abramoff influence-
peddling scandal, a case in
which the evidence is a paper
trail rather than the lobbyist's
own testimony.
Government lawyers apparently won't call confessed
felon Abramoff to the witness
stand as they try to convict
David Safavian, the Bush
administration's former top
procurement official, of lying
and obstruction.
A jury of 10 women and two
men was to hear opening statements starting Wednesday in
what is anticipated to be a two-
week trial in the courtroom
of U.S. District Judge Paul
Friedman, a 1994 appointee of
President Clinton.
A five-count grand jury
indictment says Safavian
concealed from investigators
Abramoff s efforts to acquire
part of the Naval Surface Warfare
Center in Silver Spring, Md., and
to lease a downtown Washington
landmark, the Old Post Office on
Pennsylvania Avenue.
The constant e-mail traffic
between the two men will put
Abramoff s aggressive tactics
on display, showing how he
badgered Safavian for information about the properties while
showering his longtime friend
with invitations, including a trip
to Scotland that Safavian accepted.
Abramoff wanted the Maryland property for a private school
he founded. He sought a lease
of the Old Post Office for some
of his Indian tribal chents who
wanted to develop it.
At the time, Safavian was chief
of staff to the administrator of the
General Services Administration,
which oversees federal property.
He later moved to the White
House and became administrator
of the office of federal procurement policy.
With several members of
Congress under investigation,
prosecutors appear to be holding
Abramoff back for bigger cases
they are trying to pull together.
Keeping Abramoff away from the
courtroom for now also means
the disgraced lobbyist won't be
subjected to cross-examination
by Safavian's lawyers, who are
unlikely to take the risky step of
calling Abramoff themselves.
While prosecutors try to bury
Safavian in the e-mails he exchanged with Abramoff, Safavian's lawyers plan to depict the
Justice Department as overreaching in bringing charges against
the procurement official.
The defense team says prosecution excesses began early in the
probe when investigators were
looking for Abramoff associates
who might be able to implicate
the lobbyist in wrongdoing.
Prosecutors believe Safavian
was in that category, so they
brought a weak case against him
in an effort to pressure him into
turning on his old friend, the
defense has said.
Safavian chose to fight rather
than cooperate. And his possible
cooperation against Abramoff
EMAILS to page 3