Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-08-25

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
California Attorney
General Report on
Gambling
page 4
Statement of M. Sue
Antone, General
Election Board
page 4
Skip Lyons comments
page 4
Attention! Attention!
Tribal Corruption.com
going online
September 15,2006
page 4
BSU has a chance
to perform truly
useful work through
restructure of AIRC
page 4
Twin Cities drug bust nets 5 Red Lakers
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
Five individuals from Red Lake
have been charged after a probable cause stop Thursday 8/17/06
by Hennepin County Sheriff's
Department personnel.
William Antoine May (DOB
1/18/87) was formally charged
with "Controlled Substance/Narcotic" and "Controlled Substance
1st Degree possession," a felony.
He was released on 8/21/06 and
is scheduled to appear in District
Court 9/25/06. He was also held
based on a prior misdemeanor
charge in Beltrami County, which
was subsequently dropped.
Gary Lee Strong (DOB 5/8/81)
was formally charged with "Controlled Substance/Narcotics" and
"Controlled Substance 1st Degree
possession," a felony.   He was
released 8/21/06 on $100,000
bond. He is scheduled to appear
in District Court 9/28/06.
Rochelle Lynn Strong (DOB
7/21/71) was formally charged
with "Controlled Substance/Narcotic," and "Controlled Substance
1st Degree possession," a felony.
She was released 8/21/06 on
$100,000 Bond. She is scheduled to appear in District Court
9/29/06.
Joseph Jacob Thunder (DOB
3/24/67) was formally charged
with "Controlled Substance/Narcotics" and "Controlled Substance
1st Degree possession," a felony.
He was also held and ordered to
appear in District Court 8-28-06
concerning an outstanding misdemeanor charge from Clearwater
County. He was released 8/21/06
on $100,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in District Court
concerning the felony charge of
8/17 on September 15,2006.
Marida Dawn Seki (DOB
7/9/67) was formally charged
with "Controlled Substance/Narcotics" and "Controlled Substance
1st Degree possession," a felony.
She was released from custody
8/21/06 on $100,000 bond. She
is ordered to appear 9/22/06 in
District Court.
If convicted, these individuals
face a maximum sentence of up
to 30 years in prison and a $1
million fine.
Press/ON has heard an unconfirmed report that another individual, an unnamed major drug
king pin, was also apprehended
at the same time.
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 19 Issue 10
August 25, 2006
Minneapolis American Indian Center changes as
neighborhood changes
By Diane White
BEMIDJI, MN-The Minneapolis American Indian Center
(MAIC) opened 30 years ago to
bring a sense of community and
support to Indians who left the
reservations for a brighter future.
Several weeks ago, I wrote about
the Upper Midwest American
Indian Center in north Minneapolis on Broadway. The major
difference between these two
centers is the type of building,
but not the services offered. The
Minneapolis AIC was designed
for large gatherings such as community meetings and pow-wows.
See Table 1 for the 2006 Board of
Directors.
MAIC is in the process of a
capital campaign to renovate
the Center. MAIC wants to 1)
increase space by 10,000 square
feet; 2) improve energy efficiency by upgrading controls and
replacing outdated equipment;
3) add larger, ADA-compliant
restrooms; 4) upgrade the safety
and features of the main entrance
and reception areas; 5) upgrade
kitchen facilities to meet com
mercial codes; 6) create a meeting
space with conference rooms and
computer technical rooms; 7)
adding a covered garage for the
agency's vehicles; and landscape
to create peaceful areas and to
eliminate security hazards. The
estimated cost of the renovation
is $5.5 million. See Table 2 for
the Capital Campaign Committee. [See website: www.maicnet.
org for more infonnation on the
capital campaign.]
The Phillips neighborhood is
home to MAIC. The Phillips
neighborhood is one ofthe oldest
in the city and has great historical
value. Over the past decade, there
has been a renaissance bringing
business and new construction
into a forlorn and forgotten area.
According to the U.S. Census
2000, the Phillips neighborhood
population by race is as follows:
11% Indian; 29.4% Black; 22%
Latino; 6% Asian, and 31.6%
White.
Roughly 32% of the Phillips
population lives at or below the
poverty line. Twelve percent
of the Phillips population was
unemployed at the time of the
census, which was more than
double the national rate at that
time. There were 6,333 families
living in the neighborhood and
their median income was $26,405
(or $12.69 per hour wage rate).
The median family income in all
of Minneapolis was $48,602.
There were 3,155 households
with a median income at $21,353
($10.27 per hour wage rate). The
median household income in the
city of Minneapolis was $37,974.
Both wage rates were calculated
based upon one person working a
full-time job year round.
Most of the housing units are
rental units. Only 22% of the
houses are occupied by their
owners, while 74% ofthe housing
units were rented; and 6% of the
units were vacant.
Phillips is located in the 3rd
Precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department and is 1.6 square
miles. The crime rate for the time
period January through June 2006
for the 3rd precinct included
Travis Frank, second from left, Andre Holquin wait to take part in the grand entry at the Legends Casino
Pow wow and Rodeo Aug. 19, in Toppenish, Wash. Frank, 10, is a member of the Colville, Washington
tribe while Holquin, also 10, is member ofthe Yakama tribe. The annual event includes competitive dancing, American Indian stick games and rodeo. (AP Photo/Yakima Herald-Republic, Gordon King)
changes to page 6   Another Indian Bit The Dust
Red Lake tribe faces water rights challenge
By Tom Robertson
Minnesota Public Radio
The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe
have fished the waters of Red
Lake for centuries. This recent
photo shows tribal fisheries staff
monitoring the lake's walleye
population. Tribal officials say
treaties with the federal government give them exclusive rights to
their portion of Red Lake. Some
non-Indians are now questioning
that authority.
There's an invisible line across
Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota. It's the border on water
between the Red Lake Indian
Reservation and the state of Minnesota.. Every few years, white
anglers cross the unmarked border
into tribal waters. When that happens, tribal conservation officers
confiscate equipment and charge
the intruder with trespassing. Now,
some people are questioning the
tribe's water rights. They say the
lake should be open to all Minnesotans. Tribal officials say the
lake belongs to them, and they'll
do what they have to to defend it.
Red Lake Indian Reservation
— Red Lake officials say trespassing on tribal waters is rare.
Four years ago, a Minnesota pilot
landed his plane on lower Red
Lake and began fishing. Tribal
authorities confiscated the plane.
The pilot paid $4,000 in fines and
other penalties to get it back.
Last May, when the Red Lake
tribe confiscated Princeton angler
Jerry Mueller's boat, it sparked
renewed questions about whether
the tribe has that authority. Mueller is set to appear in tribal court
later this month. Red Lake Tribal
Chairman Buck Jourdain has no
apologies for the tribe's policies.
"If somebody came on our
tribal waters with a jet ski or an
ocean liner, nevertheless, it's the
same," said Jourdain. "They've
trespassed into an area that they
have no business being in."
Angler Jerry Mueller is reportedly considering a challenge
to Red Lake's authority in federal court. An organization called
Proper Economic Resource Management is backing Mueller. It's a
non-profit group that challenges
and frequently opposes Indian
treaty rights.
The organization has challenged
Minnesota Ojibwe tribes before. It
was involved in a hunting and fishing rights dispute with the Mille
Lacs Band of Ojibwe in central
Minnesota. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the
tribe. Proper Economic Resource
Management is now calling on the
governor and the state Department
of Natural Resources to begin
managing all of Red Lake. Organization officials did not return
phone calls for this story.
Red Lake tribal leaders say they
have the right to manage Red Lake
as they see fit. Jourdain says that
inherent right is recognized by the
state and federal governments.
"In my opinion, and the opinion of the Red Lake people as a
whole, there is no question who
holds the title and the land and the
inherent right to control this area.
It's the Red Lake Band," said the
chairman.
Newly elected tribal secretary
Kathryn Beaulieu agrees. Beau-
RED LAKE to page 3
By Vincent Hill
The Indian or Anishinabeg
casualties by white-eyes continue to mount today. No matter
that this is the 21 st century! The
white cowboys in western movies loved to shoot Anishinabeg
riding on horses, whether at
full gallop on the picturesque
grassy plains and rolling hills of
Montana. Or in attack formation
against European immigrants on
the move in covered white wagons-looking for the promised
land in the Wild West. Of a truth
the white-eyes of the genteel
class in the early colonial period shot Anishinabeg for sport.
Hunting defenseless foxes with
the aid of animoshag (dogs).
Target practice on squirrels, and
vermin.
Fred Hill a young Anishinabe
Ojibwe male, was shaped and
brought up in the rough inner-
city Phillips Neighborhood
of South Mpis in Hennepin
County. He is typical of so
many young Anishinabeg males
that have gone afoul of the law,
unable to obtain jobs, housing,
and acceptance outside of Indian
circles. He has been a part of
and witness to so many human
trauma that, suicide would not be
ruled out as an option in dealing
with the psychic pain associated
with PTSD (post traumatic stress
disorder) ;besides being hunted
down, and harassed by police (
dogs ), the young Anishinabeg
males, in my professional opinion,
are wounded warriors. But the
great Anishinabe spirit to survive
is present with these young Anishinabeg!
They want to work-they want
to procreate-they want to love,
and be loved-they want to be
themselves/ the Anishinabeg. And
Why not?
Wabish-ki-Gaw-bow,a. k. a.,
Fred W Hill, applied for a job at
the Minnesota State Fair (MSF)
last week. He was eager to work,
and thought a temp job at the
MSF would suit him just fine.
He had worked there before in
his late teens and early twenty, s.
Little did he know that he was in
the sniper, s focus of modern day
cowboys and cowgirls.
I had accompanied Fred to the
MSF, with thoughts of being a
reference for him. But, I, too
was in the sniper, s focus ofthe
modern day white-eyes, who
enjoyed keeping Indians in their
place, and shooting them for
sport. I heard hackneyed phrases
that surely should not be used
by educated and enlightened
citizens today, e. g., we treat
everyone alike, every one has
to have a background check, we
do not discriminate, and implied
that, they were color blind.
I felt like throwing up when
talking on the phone to Mary
Mannion, Director of Human
services at the MSF yesterday.
For one item, if employers and
police officers are socially color
blind, then, they are unable to see
and appreciate racial and ethnic
diversity. Color blind cops and
color blind employment personnel at the MSF, then, it stands to
reason, must not be in positions
of authority, and should be released or fired when their social
color blindness causes harm to
citizens that are nonwhite or of
diverse ethnicity.
After an interview process
consisting of several interviews
DUST to page 2
Court gives ex-husband share of
tribal casino profits
Mdewakanton payments deemed marital property
By David Hanners
Pioneer Press
American Indians who enjoy
sizable monthly payments from
their tribe's casino profits may
have to split the cash in a divorce
— even when the former spouse
isn't a tribal member, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled.
In a decision that may be a first
in the nation, the court decided the
$84,000 a Prior Lake woman received each month as a Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community
member is income, not a gift or an
inheritance.
Since the money is income, "any
such payments received during
the tribal member's marriage are
marital property subject to division
upon dissolution," the court concluded in its 2-1 ruling Tuesday.
"That's a pretty big deal. You're
talking about some very wealthy
tribes," Raleigh Hannah Levine,
a professor at William Mitchell
College of Law who specializes
in American Indian issues, said
Wednesday.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community operates Mystic
Lake Casino in Prior Lake. Since
Minnesota tribes began expanding
their gaming operations in the late
1980s, they have taken different
approaches to handling the profits.
Some tribes funnel the money
into tribal coffers. Others, like the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux,
also make regular payments to
enrolled members of the tribe.
The Mdewakanton Community
has never disclosed publicly how
much its per capita payments are.
"We won't confirm or deny it.
That's always been the tribe's position," Willie Hardacker, the tribe's
staff counsel, said Wednesday.
Hardacker said he was aware
of the appeals court decision, but
would not comment on it since the
tribe was not a party in the suit.
The case decided by the court
involved a 2004 divorce from Scott
County. Melinda Alice Zander, 31,
was a member of the tribe when
she married Jeremy James Zander,
30, in September 2001. He was
not an enrolled member. The two
had known each other since grade
school and began dating in 1999,
according to court documents.
During their marriage, Jeremy
Zander was "voluntarily unemployed," the appeals court noted,
and his wife received a monthly
per capita payment of $84,000, according to her 2004 federal income
tax form.
The couple separated in January 2004. Jeremy Zander filed for
divorce in state district court and
sought what he contended was his
share ofthe payments.
Under Minnesota law, prop
erty or income obtained by either
spouse during the marriage is
presumed to be marital property
and can be divided in a divorce.
There are exceptions, however;
if the property were a gift or an
inheritance meant for only one of
the parties, it need not be split.
Melinda Zander's attorneys argued the payments were "unique
to her birthright" as a member of
the tribe. Also, the Mdewakanton
Sioux Tribal Domestic Relations
Code specifically states that per
capita payments belong only to
the tribal member and are not
marital assets.
But when the case went to trial,
the judge said the tribe's domestic
code didn't apply in a state court.
The court said that while the wife's
interest in the tribal casino was a
non-marital asset, the income she
received from that asset during the
marriage was marital property.
Melinda Zander appealed to
the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Her lawyer in the appeal, Kevin
Wetherille of Shakopee, said the
issues in the case were uncharted
legal territory.
"It's an interesting deal. It's
something that has never really
been addressed in Minnesota, at
least not on point, and it appears
to have never been addressed in
the country," he said.
aWetherille said he had not yet
talked to his client about whether
to appeal the ruling.
Anne Heimkes Turtle, who
represented Jeremy Zander in the
PROFITS to page 3
Indian Plaintiffs
Plan Dual
Appeals in Trust
Case
Indian Plaintiffs Appeal Court  '
Of Appeals Decision That Vacates Injunction;. Will Appeal
Reassignment Of Judge To The
Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24
- Elouise Cobell, lead plaintiff in
the landmark litigation known
as Cobell v. Kempthorne, acting
on behalf of more than 500,000
individual Indian trust beneficiaries, today filed a petition asking
the full U.S Court of Appeals for
District of Columbia Circuit to
review a July 11, 2006 decision
by a three-judge panel.
That ruling improperly vacated
an injunction entered by U.S.
District Judge Royce C. Lamberth
to protect individual Indians
from further irreparable harm
as a result of Interior's woefully
insecure computer systems.
At the same time, Ms. Cobell,
a member of the Blackfeet Nation from Browning, Mont.,
announced that plaintiffs would
also appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court a decision made by the
same panel on the same day that
wrongfully reassigned Judge
Lamberth from the case because
of "apparent bias" against the
government.
"It is unprecedented for a federal judge to be reassigned under
CASE to page 6
Blackfeet ruling clears way for
lawsuits over tribal housing
By Jennifer Byrd
Associated Press
BROWNING, Mont. - Candice
LaMott calls her house "poison."
There's black mold under the
sink, holes in the walls and a foundation made of chemically treated
wood, conditions she believes are
responsible for illness in her family
and even her mother's death.
"When she got this house, she
just thought it was a mansion,"
LaMott said of her mother, from
whom LaMott inherited the house.
"She didn't care that the wood was
going to kill her."
LaMott is one of a number of
low-income Blackfeet tribal members who sued the tribe's housing
authority and the U .S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development in 2002 to have their houses,
which were built in the late 1970s,
replaced.
U .S. District Judge Sam Haddon
dismissed both lawsuits in 2004.
But a recent ruling by the 9fh U.S.
Circuit of Appeals is giving the homeowners some hope. That panel
reinstated the lawsuit against the
tribal housing authority.
The ruling is drawing attention throughout Indian Country
because of its reasoning. The 9th
Circuit said the Blackfeet tribe
waived any claim to sovereign
immunity in the ordinance that
created the tribal housing authority.
Lawyers say identical language is
present in the founding documents
of most tribal housing authorities
around the nation.
"I think with this lawsuit, a
lot of doors will open to Native
Americans," LaMott said. "No
longer should we stay in this type
of home. We do live in America,
but it's just a whole different world
right here."
About 150 houses on the reservation were built in the 1970s
with wooden foundations that
were treated with arsenic and other
toxic chemicals as preservatives.
The plaintiffs allege that the use
of the wood foundations caused
their homes to deteriorate, and that
the conditions of the homes have
caused severe health problems,
including asthma, kidney failure
and respiratory problems. LaMott's
mother, Dorothy, died of kidney
failure about five years ago.
The families purchased or leased
the homes through the HUD Mutual Help and Homeownership
Program, which was designed to
address housing needs of low-income American Indian families.
To be eligible for federal grants,
the tribe had to form a housing
authority charged with alleviating
the shortage of "decent, safe and
sanitary" housing.
The plaintiffs claimed that HUD
required the use of wood foundations over the objection of tribal
members and that both HUD and
the housing authority failed to live
up to the program's obligations.
Haddon dismissed the lawsuit
LAWSUITS to page 6