Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-09-01

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Recovery Month: A
Time To Remember
Effectiveness of
Treatment
page 4
My Life with Leonard
J. Mountain Chief
page 4
Open Letter
to Mick Finn
page 4
Attention! Attention!
Tribal Corruption.com
going online
September 15,2006
page 4
Red Lake murder,
drug busts not a
topic at Sheriff's
candidate's forum
page 4
Candidates for Sheriff appear at Red Lake Forum
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
The four individuals running
for Sheriff of Beltrami County
attended a forum sponsored by
the Red Lake Voter Education
Committee Tuesday, August
29, 2006. The four candidates
are: Brian Ball, Bill Cross, Phil
Hodapp and Scott Winger. Ball,
Cross and Winger are current employees of the Beltrami County
Sheriff's Office. Hodapp is a
special agent for the Minnesota
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. About 50 Red Lakers were
in attendance. Mike Meuers,
DFL activist, was the forum
moderator.
Participants were encouraged
to submit written questions to the
candidates. Racial profiling, and
use of excessive force were major
topics.
In response to racial profiling
the 4 were- in agreement. Their
responses ranged from surprise
that it occurred (Winger) to
zero tolerance (Ball), but all
candidates expressed a need for
improved communication with
reservation law enforcement and
residents. Several stated they
would implement more officer
training to reduce the incidence
of profiling.
The use of an electric shock
gun, a Taser, was discussed.
Winger said, "They are an ex
tremely effective tool to restrain
somebody who is being combative. Ball said the use of a Taser
"is always documented," giving
the reason for its use. Cross said
he has never used a Taser against
a suspect and rarely takes one
with him. Hodapp said he sees
the weapon as part of a continuum of force policy. "You have
to deploy the type of force that is
necessary to resolve the situation
and no more than that."
On the topic of boundary violations of Lower Red Lake by non-
members, the candidates pointed
out there were no markers to warn
fishermen and others when they
are in danger of wandering from
state waters, Upper Red Lake,
into Lower Red where the tribe
has authority. Winger proposed
working out a cooperative plan
to install markers or flashers to
prevent inadvertent trespassing
onto the Indian held portion.
An attendee asked if the candidates would support something
like an American Indian advisory
committee that would meet with
the sheriff to address common
issues. Cross said he saw, "nothing wrong with law enforcement
coming together and working
with the people to address the
problems we have." Hodapp said,
"It's a good idea to ask people
from each of the reservations to
come together on a commission.
.." He added, it is essential that
the Band and the sheriff maintain
open communication.
Winger favored the idea of
open communication between
law enforcement and all citizens.
Ball was in agreement and said,
"I'll take all the help I can get. .
. .I've always tried the team approach in working with people."
This is an important issues.
Although Red Lakers have the
right to vote in the Sheriff's election, the county has no jurisdiction
on the Reservation. Red Lake
continues to decline participation
in the area drug enforcement task
force. Chairman Floyd Jourdain,
who was not in attendance at the
forum, withdrew Red Lake from
involvement with the task force,
citing tribal sovereignty was at
issue.
The primary election will be
September 12; the field of four
candidates will be narrowed after
the election to two.
NOTE: The current Beltrami
County Sheriff is Keith Winger.
He is not a candidate for re-election. Candidate Scott Winger is
a sergeant in the sheriff's office
and a brother of the incumbent
Sheriff. Scott Winger does not
include his first name on his
campaign signs.
Federal criminal complaint filed against T. Jourdain,
R. Kelly of Red Lake in murder of Travis Feather
FBI News Release
Michael Tabman, Special Agent
in Charge ofthe Minneapolis FBI
office, today announced the arrest
of Todd Jourdain, age 28, of Red
Lake, Minnesota and Robin Greg
Kelly II, age 19, of Red Lake,
Minnesota. FBI agents arrested
Jourdain this morning at approximately 11:00 am, at the Glenmore
Recovery Center, in Crookston,
Minnesota. Kelly turned himself
into the Red Lake Tribal Police
Department on Monday afternoon, August 28,2006.
A federal criminal complaint
filed today, August 29, 2006,
in United States District Court,
District of Minnesota, Bemidji,
Minnesota, charges Jourdain and
Kelly with the murder of Travis
Feather. The complaint alleges
that on August 26, 2006, Kelly,
Jourdain and Feather had been
drinking together at Jourdain's
house in the Little Rock section
of the Red Lake Indian Reservation. In the early morning hours of
August 27,2006, the three began
to fight outside the residence. The
complaint further alleges that the
fight turned into Kelly and Jourdain against Feather, in which both
Kelly and Jourdain beat Feather by
punching and kicking him. Feather
was bleeding from the mouth and
appeared unconscious. Jourdain
and Kelly then went back into the
residence and fell asleep. They
woke up the next morning and
found Feather dead.
They obtained shovels from an-
Native Urban Healthcare Crisis:
New Study Highlights Disparities
By Jean Pagano
Using census data from 1900
through 2000, a new study examines health care disparities
between Native Americans who
move from the reservation to urban centers. This study, conducted
by a group of health care professionals, identifies what happens
when Native people move away
from the reservation and need to
find health care in urban areas.
This study is available in the
August edition of the American
Journal of Public Health (www.
ajph.com).
The demographics ofthe study
are not surprising. Native Americans were twice as likely to be
poor, unemployed, and have no
college degree. Similarly, the
same percentages applied to
mothers who received no prenatal
care or received it late, mothers
who drank alcohol, mortality
related to sudden infant death
syndrome, chronic alcoholism,
and liver disease.
In 1970,38% of Native Americans lived in urban environments.
By 2000, this number had grown
to 61%. The great migration
from the reservation to the city
was precipitated by the federal
policies that drove Natives away
from the reservation and to the
opportunities that existed in cities
for education, employment, and
housing.
While the benefits of access to
education, housing, and jobs may
be greater than on the reservation, the move from reservation
to urban living also had one big
setback: the loss of access to
healthcare. Native healthcare is
provided by the Indian Health
Service (IHS), an entity within the
Department of Health and Human
Services. To compensate for the
movement of Natives to the city,
IHS has contracted with 34 urban
health organizations to provide
health care in urban centers that
have previously been identified
as relocation areas for Native
Americans.
The study-found that in some
regions of the country, Native
Americans are misclassified in
vital statistics records and that
these errors consistently account
for under representation in infant
mortality rates, injuries, cancer,
and overall mortality rates. In
some cases, miscoding may be
as high as 47% when Natives die
in urban environments.
The study found it difficult
to evaluate data concerning the
Urban Native American. The 34
urban health units have "minimal" technical infrastructures
and demographic data is not
shared among the different urban
health units. Due to the dearth of
information from the urban health
centers, the study used information about Natives living in urban
areas to approximate the data of
those Natives served by these
centers.
States served by urban health
units are New Mexico, California, Montana, Illinois, Texas,
Colorado, Michigan, Arizona,
Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Minnesota, New York,
South Dakota, Oregon, Nevada,
Utah, Washington, and Kansas.
In the 2000 census, 4.1 million
people claimed Native heritage
(either mixed race or solely Native), and 2.5 million claimed
solely Native heritage. 1.5 milhon
Natives live in urban settings and
34% of urban Natives live in areas served by urban health units.
Nearly 25% of Natives living in
urban health unit areas were listed
as having a disability.
The percentages of children
bom with low birth weights to Native mothers in urban areas were
about 25% lower than the general
population in the same areas. The
number of premature children
bom to Native mothers was higher
in these same areas than in the rest
of the urban population. Native
mothers in urban areas and nationwide who received no health care
or late prenatal care were twice
as numerous as other population
groups. The rates for maternal
smoking and/or maternal drinking for Native mothers in urban
areas was approximately three
times higher than in the general
population.
70% of Native infant mortality
was found in unmarried mothers
whereas the general population
was around 65%. Between 1995
and 2000, infant mortality rates
were higher among Native women than in the general population.
Over time, the infant mortality
rates in the general population
declined but a similar reduction
was not observed for urban Native
women.
In the same time period, Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
in children bom to urban Native
women was the highest cause of
infant mortality, almost twice as
prevalent in this group as in the
general population. Over time,
the SIDS numbers diminished in
the general populations, but not
among Natives.
In the time period from 1990
through 1999, roughly 20% of all
Native deaths occurred in areas
serviced by the urban health centers. The leading cause of death
CRISIS to page 3
Former Pomo Indians' officials indicted in casino scam
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - Seven former officials of the Coyote Valley
Band of Pomo Indians are being
charged with a combined 39 counts
including misuse of tribal casino
funds to enrich themselves, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
The former members of the
Tribal Council of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians were
indicted Monday by a San Francisco federal grand jury, authorities said. They were scheduled to
make an initial court appearance
Wednesday.    The charged are
former Tribal Chairwoman Pris-
cilla Hunter, 59, of Ukiah; former
Tribal Historian Michael Hunter,
32, of Ukiah; former Tribal Vice
Chairwoman Iris Martinez, 55,
of Roseville; former Tribal Secretary Darlene Crabtree, 32, of
Pinole ville; former Tribal Council
Member-at-Large Fred Naredo,
56, of Santa Rosa; former Tribal
Treasurer Michelle CampbeU, 39,
of Redwood Valley; and former
Tribal Council Member-at Large
Allan Crabtree, 54, of Nice.
They are accused of either
enriching themselves with funds
from the Coyote Valley Shodakai
Casino in Mendocino County,
hindering audits and committing
about $36,000 to congressional
and state campaigns in violation
of gaming rules.
Neither the indictment nor the
authorities named the campaigns.
Purchases from casino funds included stuffed animals, hotel stays,
satellite television, professional
hockey tickets and clothing.
The case is United States v.
Hunter, 06-0565.
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 11
September 1,2006
other house, then dragged Feather
into the brush and buried him.
Jourdain and Kelly made their
Initial Appearance at 4:00 pm
today in United States District
Court, Bemidji, Minnesota and
were ordered detained pending
further court proceedings.
This case is a result of an
investigation conducted by the
FBI and Red Lake Tribal Police
Department, with assistance from
the Polk County Sheriff's Office,
Beltrami County Sheriff's Office, Hubbard County Sheriff's
Office and the Crookston Police
Department. The United States
Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota is prosecuting the case.
San Manuel Vice Chairman Vincent Duro poses June 8,2006 inside the tribe's casino on the San Manuel
Indian Reservation, Calif. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has become one ofthe nation's wealthiest Indian tribes thanks to casino gambling and the tribe is using some of that wealth.to pursue a lawsuit
that could set precedents for tribal sovereignty and for federal labor law. (AP Photo/Ric Francis)
Schwarzenegger signs deals with
tribes for more slot machines
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who once opposed unlimited expansion of
gambling on Indian lands, signed
deals with three tribes allowing
them to install thousands of new
slot machines.
The amended state gaming
contracts, signed Monday night
and announced Tuesday, would
allow three tribes to increase the
number of slots from 2,000 to
7,500 each.
The largest casinos in Las Vegas
only have 3,000 slot machines.
In return, the agreements increase the amount of casino
revenues the tribes will pay into
the state general fund by tens of
millions of dollars a year.
The contracts require approval
from the U.S. Department of
Interior and ratification by the
state Legislature. It was unclear
whether such passage could happen before state lawmakers adjourned on Thursday.
Schwarzenegger, who demand
ed during his 2003 campaign that
tribes pay a "fair share" of their
gambling profits to California,
called the agreements "a great
deal for the state, the tribe and the
local communities."
On Tuesday, the state Senate
gave final approval to another
compact that would allow the
Quechan Tribe to operate up to
1,100 slot machines at a casino
on its reservation in southeastern
California. The tribe had been
limited to 349 slots.
The Assembly approved the
Quechan deal last week.
The deals might also help the
Republican governor quiet some
of his opposition as the November
election approaches. Indian tribes
have spent $220 million on campaigns since 1998, with much of
it going to Democrats.
The contracts, which run through
2030, authorize the Morongo Band
of Mission Indians, the Pechanga
Band of Luiseno Mission Indians
and the San Manuel Band of
Mission Indians to increase the
number of slot machines at their
casinos by 5,500 each.
The lucrative machines have
helped lift the tribes, located in
San Bernardino and Riverside
counties, from poverty.
"It gives us, again, another
10 years, at least, of a revenue
stream," said Jacob Coin, spokesman for the San Manuel tribe.
The contracts require the tribes
to pay revenue to the state on a
sliding scale, depending on how
many slot machines they choose
to operate. The state could collect
more than $500 million a year, or
well over $ 13 billion over the span
of the contracts.
The administration also approved a deal for the Yurok tribe
in Northern California to operate
99 slot machines.
On Monday, the state Assembly
voted down another Schwarzenegger administration deal
with the Agua Caliente band of
Cahuilla Indians in Riverside
County, although a second vote
was possible. That deal would
have permitted the tribe to add a
third casino and 3,000 new slots.
Native Americans still poorest in United States
Indianz.com
Income levels have risen and
poverty rates have stabilized but
Native Americans remain the
poorest in the nation, according
to figures released by the U.S.
Census Bureau on Tuesday.
From 2004 to 2005, the average American household earned
$46,326, an increase of 1.1 percent. It was the first time since
1999 that the median household
income rose, the Census said.
qBut incomes for American Indian and Alaska Native homes
remained well below the rest of
the nation. Based on a three-year
average from 2003 to 2005, the
median income was $33,627,
lower than incomes for white,
Asian and Hispanic households.
Only African-American households, with a median income of
$31,140, ranked below Native
households.
Turning to poverty, 2005
marked the first time that poverty rates have not risen. For four
consecutive years, the Census has
reported an increase in the number of Americans living below the
poverty line.
Despite the stabilization, there
are still 37 million people, or 12.6
percent of the population, and
7.7 milhon families in poverty.
Among American Indians and
Alaska Natives, the picture was
much worse.
According to a three-year average of data, 25.3 percent of Native
Americans are living in poverty.
This was actually a slight increase
from the 24.3 percent that the
Census reported in its last report
on income and poverty.
The figure translated to 537,00
American Indians and Alaska Natives who were below the poverty
line. As defined by the Office of
Management and Budget, the
poverty threshold for a family
of four in 2005 was $19,971; for
POOR to page 3
Fourteen challenge for tribe's top post
By Jomay Steen
Journal Staff Writer
PINE RIDGE -- Incumbent
Oglala Sioux Tribe President
Alex White Plume faces 13 challengers for Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation's top job in next
month's primary election.
White Plume assumed the
presidency after the OST Council
voted at an impeachment hearing
in June to remove the tribe's first
female president, Cecelia Fire
Thunder, from office.
Election-board member Ma-
retta Champagne said 120 candidates filed petitions by Tuesday
for offices in the tribe's Oct. 3 primary. The top two vote-getters for
president, vice president, district
representatives and chief judge
will run in the Nov. 7 general
election. Offices are for two-year
terms.
For the next two weeks, election-board members Charlene
Black Horse, Sandra Bettelyoun
and Champagne will review the
petitions to determine eligibility
and complete background checks.
"This is the biggest election for
our reservation," Champagne
said. "Every seat is open."
Here is the unofficial list of
candidates:
President: Alex White Plume,
Will Peters, Denver American
Horse, Joyce Sun Bear, Larry
Swalley, Dennis King, Gary Lays
Bad, Harold D. Salway, George
Patton, Jeffrey Not Help Him,
John W. Steele and Cecelia Fire
Thunder.
Vice president: Frederick Cedar
Face, Wayne Weston, William
"Shorty" Brewer, Melanie Two
Eagle and Louis Winters Sr.
Pine Ridge District: Fred
Brown, Lena Hart, Elvyn "Doug"
Bissonette, Jerry Bordeaux, Peggy
Mousseau, Carol Crazy Thunder
O'Rourke, Gerald Big Crow, Don
Gamier, Leon Matthews, Nakina
Mills, Gary Janis, Irving Provost,
Ella Carlow, Robert Palmier,
Michelle Tyon, Lawrence Eagle
Bull, John Mousseau, Richard
Bark, Abraham Tobacco, Lyle
Jack, Jeri Brings Him Back,
Irving D. Cottier, Duane Brewer
and Holly Wilson.
Oglala District: Frank Two
Bulls Sr., Deb Mousseau, Valerie
Janis, Darlene Helper, WiU Gar-
nier, Wendell "Jay" Youngman,
TRIBE to page 3