Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2006-09-29

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
MCT Right to Know
page 5
Tohono O'odham nation
opposes border fence
bill before Senate
page 3
Global warming, hot
air, nature of political
discourse
page 4
Lyons ruminations on a
troubled world - if you
have ears, listen!
page 4
Leech Lakers' civil
rights case under
review by U.S.
Supreme Court
page 4
Carol Louis Gilmore sentenced in
death of George Stately
By Bill Lawrence
Carol Louise Gilmore will be
sentenced for the 2nd Degree
murder of George Stately 9-28-
06.
The case was heard in the U.S.
District Court, District of Minneapolis before Judge Donovan
W. Frank. Defendant Gilmore
waived a trial before jury. She
was initially charged with 4
counts: Count 1 Felony Murder
in the First Degree; Count 2
Premeditated Murder; Count 3
Intentional 2nd Degree Murder;
Count 4 Arson.
Ms. Gilmore was accused
of the brutal murder of George
Stately on February 12, 2002
and was tried in March 2006.
She admitted to killing Stately,
without any claim of self-defense
or intoxication, although she was
a known drug addict and has a
history of mental illness.
The Court, based on extensive
testimony during the trial, did not
accept that Gilmore had premedi-
tatedly killed Stately and she
was therefore not found guilty of
Counts 1 and 2. The Court did
find her guilty of Intentional 2nd
Degree murder and that she had
not acted with any provocation
except the need to obtain money
to buy drugs. Additionally, they
found her guilty of willful and
deliberate arson in setting two or
three fires in Stately house after
the killing.
Sentencing guidelines indicate
a range of 12-15 years for committing 2nd Degree murder. Sentencing was postponed until after
extensive psychiatric evaluation.
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
HIV/AIDS Rates on the Rise for Natives:
Third Highest Incidence Among Racial Groups
Native mm**
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2006
By Jean Pagano
A new article in U.S. Medicine
reports that the disease rates for
HIV and AIDS is on the rise in
Native communities. Data gathered by the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) indicate that the
number of Natives infected with
HIV is increasing.
The diagnosis of HIV/AIDS
among Natives was 9.5 per
100,000 in 2001. By the year
2004, the rate had risen to 11.1
per 100,000. While the increase
in diagnosis seems small, in a
statistically small population, the
repercussions of a greater rate
of infection are fairly profound.
According to the CDC, when
population size is considered,
Natives are third behind African-
Americans and Hispanics.
About two-thirds of the states
have long-term confidentiality reporting for HIV/AIDS cases and
these states report that women account for 29% ofthe cases among
Native Americans. While it was
once thought that HIV/AIDS
was a disease contracted by gay
men, the statistics over the years
have shown that it is a disease
that crosses gender and sexual
preference boundaries.
Dr. Anthony Dekker of the
Phoenix Indian Medical Center
stated that it was interesting
how little statistical data exists
on HIV/AIDS among Native
peoples. He said there is ample
statistical data on addiction and
sexually transmitted diseases, but
there is a lack of data on HIV/
AIDS. For example, Natives have
the highest rate for chlamydia
among all racial groups. In addition, unprotected sex among
Natives is well documented, and
therefore it is not surprising that
HTV rates are high as well.
In many Indian Health Service
(IHS) hospitals, both traditional
healers and western medicine are
used to treat HIV patients. While
western medicine has become
more and more effective at prolonging the life of HIV patients,
the addition of Native ceremonies
and herbal healing to western
practices may also contribute to
the long-term survival rate.
In 2004,1,506 Native individuals were living with HIV/AIDS,
according to the CDC. Natives,
who have been diagnosed as having AIDS since 1996, typically
survive for a shorter time period
than do their Asian, white, and
Hispanic peers.
Tribes are assuming more
and more responsibility for the
health care of their members.
This became painfully evident
when the FY 2007 IHS budget
proposal for urban health centers
called for them to lose all of their
funding. In a state like California, where over 300,000 Native
people live and where there are
no IHS hospitals, the front line
for prevention and treatment of
HIV/AIDS falls squarely on the
shoulders of urban health clinics
and tribes. Yet funding for any
health care, let alone HIV/AIDS,
RATES to page 3
Founded in 1988
Volume 19 Issue 14
September 29, 2006
Lawmakers
Chide Agency
on Oil Royalties
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Two congressmen said Tuesday it is absurd for the Interior Department
not to demand royalties for oil
that was pumped under flawed
drilling leases.
"The money belongs to the
federal government and must
be collected," Reps. Tom Davis,
R-Va., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif.,
wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
Davis, chairman of the House
Government Reform Committee,
and Issa, who heads the panel's
energy subcommittee, have been
investigating circumstances surrounding a government mistake
in leases issued in 1998-99 that
allows oil companies to avoid
royalty payments even if oil
prices soar.
Leasing officials failed to
include provisions that required
royalty payments if oil or gas
reached a certain threshold, one
far exceeded by prices in recent
years.
About half of the more than
1,000 leases _ all involving deep-
water exploration in the Gulf of
Mexico _ already have expired
and many of the rest are likely
to expire in the next few years
OIL to page 3
Supreme Court prepares for
start of new term
Indianz.Com.
The U.S. Supreme Court began
laying the groundwork for its
upcoming term this week by accepting one Indian-related case
and considering three Indian law
cases.
The court's term officially starts
on October 2. But the justices
already held their opening conference on Monday.
The next day, the court granted
a petition to review the federal Impact Aid program. The Education
Department distributes Impact
Aid to public schools located on
or near reservations in order to
offset the inability to tax Indian
lands.
The program normally helps
ensure mat Indian students receive
adequate funding. But two public
school districts in New Mexico
that educate Pueblo and Navajo
children say they are being shortchanged $50 million a year.
The case, Zuni Public School
District v. Department of Education, No. 05-1508, challenges the
formula used to distribute Impact
Aid. The school districts contend
the government is failing to follow
Congressional intent.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals deadlocked on the issue this
past February by a 6-6 vote The
decision left the Impact Aid formula intact, prompting the school
districts to seek further review.
The state of New Mexico and
the Department of Justice urged
the Supreme Court not to accept
the case. According to government
lawyers, only two states — Kansns
and Alaska — are in the samtN
position as New Mexico, so they
argue the matter is not of national
significance.
Two cases that are undoubtedly
of national importance were also
considered during the conference
on Monday. They involve a challenge to the Interior Department's
ability to take land into trust for
tribes and individual Indians.
The states of South Dakota and
Utah, backed by several more
states, argue that Section 5 of
the Indian Reorganization Act
is unconstitutional. They say the
provisions that authorize the land-
into-trust process are an illegal
delegation of power to Interior.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that stance in two
separate cases. The courts upheld
land-into-trust decisions for the
Lower Bnile Sioux Tribe of South
Dakota and the Shivwits Band of
Paiute Indians in Utah.
A third court, the 1st Circuit,
made a similar finding in favor of
the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode
Island but that case is not yet ready
COURT to page 6
On September 27 Sandy Gotchie appeared in the Leech Lake Tribal Court for oral arguments to challenge Leech Lake Reservation's Chairman Goggleye's ability to remain in
elected office in violation of the new MCT Constitutional Amendment which provides
that "no member of Tribe shall be eligible to hold office ... if ever convicted of a felony
of any kind." Gotchie, an 81 year old elder from Ball Club, Minnesota is the lead Plaintiff
in a legal action to have Goggleye declared to have been previously convicted "for the
crime of Felony Assault 5th Degree" according to court records. Goggleye was charged
for "assault against the same victim during the time period between the first two or more
previous convictions" in five years according to the complaint documents. Gotchie said
" He has to go! George [Goggleye] voted for the law change, he is a convicted felon and
he should just follow the law and resign." — photo by Frank Bibeau
Osage wins ruling in mineral
rights case
Bad in Any Language: H.R. 4766 needs to be blocked
By Jim Boulet Jr.
HR. 4766, the "Native American Languages Preservation Act,"
is scheduled to be considered by
the U .S. House of Representatives
under a suspension of the rules
as early as today. This expedited
procedure is generally reserved
for legislation naming federal
buildings, honoring champion
sports teams, and other such un-
controversial items.
The purpose of the bill is to fund
the teaching of Native American
languages. The original version
of H.R. 4766, introduced by
Republican Heather Wilson of
New Mexico on February 15, has
been somewhat toned down by
Education Committee staff for its
presentation on the House floor.
Unfortunately, the revisions are
mostly cosmetic.
If the aim is to leam a language,
both the private and the public
sector use the proven immersion
method. All you hear is the new
language. All you speak is the
new language. Fluency soon follows. For bilingual advocates,
learning English is at best a secondary goal — something made
all too clear by H.R. 4766. This
disordering of priorities does a
great disservice to the students
who need to leam English.
Bilingual-education advocates
apply the immersion approach to
the wrong language. The best way
to teach English, they claim, is to
have students sit in a classroom
hearing and speaking nothing but
the non-English language of their
ancestors. As a result, "graduates"
of bilingual-education programs
remain mystified by English.
H.R. 4766 specifically applies
the bilingual-education approach
to children aged seven or younger.
These kids are to be immersed in
a Native American language for
"an average" of 500 hours peryear
per smdent. Five hundred hours
is a goodly chunk of the average
September through May school
year (40 weeks times 30 hours of
ACT to page 6
By Christina Good Voice
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY - In a
ruling that could result in a major
cash award for the Osage Nation,
a court has decided the federal
government did not provide the
Osage Nation with enough royalties for oil recovered from tribal
land, the tribe said Friday.
The ruling is expected to clear
the way for millions of dollars in
payments to the tribe. In its ruling,
filed Thursday, the U.S. Court of
Federal Claims in Washington
gave the tribe and the government
until Nov. 2 to determine how
much damages are owed.
"We're talking a considerable
amount of money. It's huge," said
Rex Hackler, a spokesman for the
tribe.
"For over a century, the Osage
has been the single greatest producer of oil and gas in Oklahoma,"
the tribe said in a prepared statement. "Over the course of the
last 100 years, the tribe has been
responsible for pumping more than
a billion barrels of oil...."
Osage Cliief Jim Gray said about
4,000 shareholders in the tribe will
share in the federal settlement.
OSAGE to page 6
Indian farmers, ranchers still
awaiting day in court
Standing Rock tribe getting military-related business
By James Macpherson
Associated Press
MANDAREE, N.D. - American Indian rancher Keith Mandan
believes he could easily double
the size of his black Angus herd if
he had the money _ or if he were
white.
Mandan, 53, and his wife,
Claryca, 52, have struggled since
the late 1970s to keep their ranch in
North Dakota's Badlands, despite
a pattern of discrimination by the
federal government, they say.
The Mandans are among the
lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit, filed
in 1999, alleging the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated
against Indians in the granting of
loans beginning in 1981. Over that
time, Claryca Mandan says, the
federal government "wiped out
whole generation of Indian farmers
and ranchers because of racism."
FARMER to page 6
By Blake Nicholson
Associated Press
House and Senate conferees
have approved $2.5 million in
federal funding to bring North
Dakota another tribally owned
business that will make products
for the military.
The money is included in a
record $448 billion budget for
the Pentagon that has passed the
House and is expected to clear the
Senate by week's end, said Sen.
Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
Alion Science and Technology,
based in McLean, Va., is working
with the Standing Rock Sioux
tribe on the plant, which will
make parts for military vehicles
on demand.
"It will create meaningful employment for tribal members, who will
operate, manage the business aspects
of it and do all the marketing," said
Alion spokesman Peter Jacobs.
Standing Rock Chairman Ron
His Horse Is Thunder said the
reservation plant will be "the
beginning of a new trend for the
tribe, taking a look at business
development, economic development on the reservation."
The tribe currently owns a
casino at Fort Yates, but no other
businesses, he said. Plans are to
build the new plant in McLaughlin, S.D. The Standing Rock
Reservation straddles the North
Dakota-South Dakota border.
Sidney Firstman, a senior vice
president with Alion, said many
details of the project are yet to be
worked out, including the name
of the company and whether the
plant will be built from scratch or
located in an existing structure.
He estimated it will create up to
30 jobs initially, "and hopefully it
will grow from there," he said.
His Horse Is Thunder said the
tribe "would love to say we'd be
able to employ 100 people in two
years or so.
Little interest shown in plot for
sale near Fort Snelling
By Dennis Lien
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS - It's one of
the oldest historical sites in Minnesota. But that doesn't mean
folks are lining up to own it.
A decade after the federal government closed the U.S. Bureau
of Mines Twin Cities Research
Center, the 27.3-acre parcel between the Mississippi River and
the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport could get a new
owner.
The government wants to unload the land, once part of historic
Fort Snelling. But it's being selective about who should get it. So
far, only nonfederal government
agencies, Indian tribes or colleges
or universities need apply. If none
steps forward, the land could
wind up in private hands.
"So far, (interest) has been
really silent," said Kim Berns,
project manager for the National
SALE to page 6
Navajos take
step toward
ending decades-
old Hopi land
dispute
Associated Press
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - An
agreement that moves the Navajo
and Hopi tribes one step closer to
resolving a decades-old dispute
over reservation boundaries has
been approved by the Navajo
Nation Council.
The council during a special
session Tuesday voted 75-3 in
favor of the agreement, spurring
applause from residents who live
on the disputed land. It involves
about 700,000 acres of Navajo
land that the Hopis claim as their
aboriginal homeland.
"This was the people's victory
today," Delegate Evelyn Acothley
said following the vote.
In 1966, then-U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert
Bennett imposed a ban on construction on the disputed acreage
_ including even minor things,
such as broken windows, roof
repairs or extending water and
electrical lines _ unless approved
by the Hopis.
That has meant some residents
haven't been able to fix their leaky
roofs or install running water or
telephone service.
Council Delegate Duane Tsin-
igine, who sponsored the legislation, cited the lack of electricity
and running water in making his
plea to the council to approve the
compact.
Both tribes have been working
on the intergovernmental compact
the past four years. It's a step toward lifting the so-called Bennett
Freeze and ending litigation the
Hopis filed against the Navajos
in 1974.
As part of the compact, the
Hopi tribe would not receive any
DISPUTE to page 6
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