Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2007-03-02

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
MCT Right to Know
page 5
A look at Ho-Chunk, Inc.
Donations from Troha
family to Doyle, Dem total
nearly $500,000
page 5
Reader asks why Mille
Lacs requires ten year
wait for ex-felons
page 4
LLBO Investment in
Key Ume Cove of
Gumee, LLC: Myths
and Facts
page 4
Response to Red
Lake, Leech Lake
State of the Band
address
page 4
Who benefits from moving the Indian Scholarship
Program back to Bemidji?
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
On Monday, February 26,
Representative Frank Moe (DFL
Bemidji) introduced a bill in the
Minnesota House that would
move the Minnesota State Indian
Scholarship Program (MISP)
from the authority of the State
Education Department to the
Office of Higher Education.
The program, now located in
Roseville, would be moved back
to Bemidji and located on the
university campus. Bemidji State
University would be required to
provide one staff person and
office space, possibly at the
American Indian Resources
Center. The program has
received $1.9 million annually
for allocation to Indian student
scholarships.
The MISP, created in 1954, was
housed in Bemidji until 2002
when Governor Jesse Ventura,
as a cost saving measure, moved
it to Roseville, headquarters
for the Education Department.
Governor Tim Pawlenty
reportedly has not favored the
return to Bemidji.
The Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe (MCT) requested the bill be
introduced. At their Executive
Committee meeting February
9, the MCT passed a resolution
calling for the move.
The resolution states that
the 2002 move was an "indirect
violation of the government
to government relationship
between the state of Minnesota
and Indian tribal governments,
[and]... has resulted in extreme
undue hardship on American
Indian students in need of
scholarship funds and service
and denied them access to the
Bureau of
Indian Affairs
in Limbo
CarlArtman,amember ofthe
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin,
came to NCAI to talk about
his strong background on
tribal matters. As a former
lobbyist and former lawyer for
his tribe, he has experience
with land-into-trust, land
claims, taxation, jurisdiction,
sovereignty, gaming and
sovereignty. He's continued
that work as assistant solicitor
for India affairs at the Interior
Department.
But not everyone is happy
with his record. While NCAI
and tribes have supported
the nomination, Senate
Republicans have been
holding Artman up since last
year, and they continue to
place holds that prevent him
from receiving a floor vote,
leaving the top leadership
position at the Bureau of
Indian Affairs vacant for more
than two years.
scholarship program." Further
the MCT stated, "The lack of
consultation with Indian tribes
and unilateral decision to close
the Bemidji office has resulted
in the loss of advocacy for the
needs of Indian students, as the
program was arbitrarily changed
to limit (program) funding only
to those students who were
eligible for Pell grants and
Minnesota State Grant funds."
In 2004, Senator Rod Skoe (DFL
Clearbrook) and Representative
Doug Fuller (R Bemidji)
unsuccessfully introduced
legislation to move the office
back to Bemidji.
Prior to the 2002 move, the
Leech Lake Band filed a lawsuit
in an attempt to block the
change in location. The suit
was unsuccessful.
The Beltrami County
Commissioners endorsed the
MCT resolution at their meeting
Tuesday, February 27.
Not everyone familiar with the
program supports the move.
Although it hasn't been
discussed recently, the 2002
move was regarded as a good
thing by those who felt the
program had become too
politicized with a majority of
funds going regularly to Leech
Lake students. This obviously
lessened the opportunity for
students from other tribes. At
times more than half of the
program funds were reported
to have gone to Leech Lake
students. Other tribes were not
getting what they regarded as a
fair share.
Since it's beginning in the
1950s the situation has changed.
At this time the majority of
students pursuing college do
not come from the reservations
as they did in the past. Now the
3 larger tribes each have their
own tribal colleges that serve
their higher education needs.
Each of the eleven Minnesota
tribes has a computerized
education office that can connect
with the program, regardless of
where it is located. All needed
information is available, via
the Internet, to any prospective
student applicant.
The County Commissioners
stated students were not using
the Roseville office. The presence
of readily available computer
access may explain why they are
not traveling to the Education
Department offices.
It occurs to opponents of the
bill that the funds necessary to
provide an additional position
and office space at Bemidji
State University could more
appropriately be used to add to
the scholarship program itself.
Students have also expressed
a reluctance to go through
their local tribes. Some may
prefer to access a central,
objective location free of political
considerations and concerns.
There doesn't seem to be strong
student sentiment favoring the
move.
It is easy to understand why
local politicians may feel the
need to support the idea. They
have loyalties and obligations
to the local bands and receive
pressure from tribal chairmen to
support the return of the MISP
to Bemidji.
But the best interests of the
state would be served by keeping
the situation as it is.
Don't Free Leonard Peltier
BIA to page 5
By Jack Cashill
FrontPageMagazine.com
The media have been quick
to report the motive behind
Hollywood mogul David Geffen's
dissing of Hillary Clinton, namely
his pique at her husband's failure
to pardon jailed Indian activist
Leonard Peltier.
What they have not reported is
why liberal icon Peltier remains
in jail. Indeed, Clinton's failure
to pardon Peltier stands as one
of the more honorable moments
in his dubious career. A little
background is in order.
"There is nothing in this message
that can make you happy," so
wrote Paul DeMain, editor of News
From Indian Country (NFIC) to
his faithful readers in February
2002. He was preparing them for
his and his staffs final conclusions
about the case of Peltier, still
in prison after twenty-five long
years.
DeMain expressed his regrets
to a handful of people by name.
One was Peter Matthiessen.
A prolific author and winner
of the National Book Award,
Matthiessen had everything the
literary establishment could offer
including a home on Long island,
lots of frequent flyer miles, and
a contempt for the culture that
spawned him.
In 1983, that contempt took the
shape of a book called In The Spirit
of Crazy Horse, which details the
arrest and conviction of Peltier
for the 1975 murder of two FBI
agents.
'To a remarkable degree," attests
Scott Anderson in a breakthrough
1994 article in the influential
Outside magazine, "Matthiessen's
version has been widely accepted
as the definitive account, as well as
the starting point for most of those
who have turned their attention to
the Peltier story."
With the exception of its climax,
there is little dispute as to the
nature of that story. In 1975 and
in the years preceding it, the
Pine Ridge Reservation in the
southwestern part of South Dakota
witnessed a good deal of unusual
mayhem. Taking their cultural
cues from the black nationalists
then in vogue, activists from the
American Indian Movement (AIM)
PELTIER to page 7
Nebraska tribe leads diversification away from casinos
By Anna Jo Bratton
Associated Press
WINNEBAGO, Neb. - Rising
from the bluffs of eastern
Nebraska, on the sparsely
populated, historically poor
Winnebago Indian reservation,
stands a glass-paneled office
building.
The out-of-place structure is
home to Ho-Chunk Inc., a $100
million business with more than
500 employees in six states,
Mexico, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ho-Chunk, the economic
development arm of the
Winnebago Tribe, is similarly
remarkable in the world of
American Indian business,
because its success has little
to do with gambling - besides
getting seed money from casino
revenue.
Employees of one of the
company's 16 subsidiaries pose
as civilians on faux battlefields
in Indiana so U.S. soldiers can
hone their combat instincts.
A Ho-Chunk subsidiary in
Mexico provides technical support
for a new DNA laboratory used in
criminal cases. And since 2005,
Ho-Chunk subsidiary All Native
Systems has had a multimillion
dollar contract with the U.S.
State Department to provide
support for rebuilding Iraq's
governmental infrastructure.
Ho-Chunk, derived from a
Winnebago term that translates
to "The People," is trying to
end the cycle of poverty that has
plagued many reservations for
hundreds of years. In Winnebago,
median household income is
around $20,000 and more than
40 percent of people don't make
enough to live above the federal
poverty line.
"It's not like we're a rich
tribe," said Ho-Chunk CEO
Lance Morgan. "We're just one
of the best of the poor tribes."
Ho-Chunk is part of a growing
trend of diversification by
American Indian tribes.
Casino revenue is inherently
unstable in many states.
Contracts must be renegotiated
CASINO to page 6
Teamwork between city, businesses, tribe key to
Durant resurgance
By Murray Evans
Associated Press
DURANT, Okla. - For Tommy
Kramer, developing a strategy
to spur economic growth in a
small town is easy: It's all about
teamwork.
Kramer became Durant's first
full-time economic development
director about 10 years ago, and
soon implemented a concept he
calls "Team Durant" for the town
of 14,800, tucked in the southeast
corner of Oklahoma in Bryan
County.
The concept has paid dividends
in recent years, as businesses
flock into the area, drawn not
only by cheaper land and nearby
Lake Texoma but also by Durant's
connection _ via U.S. Highway 75
_ with the Dallas metropolitan
area.
As Kramer explains it, "Team
Durant" is the willingness of all
necessary parties to work together
to lure more business to the
area.
"It's nothing more than having
the right people around the table
for each project," he said.
In Durant's case, those parties
usually include not only the city
and the Durant Area Chamber of
Commerce, but also the town's
two leading employers, the
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
and Southeastern Oklahoma State
University.
Among the larger employers
to relocate to Durant in recent
years are NexxLinx, a call center
company that Kramer said soon
will increase its work force from
500 to 750 or more and last
year opened a 63,000-square-foot
facility, and Eagle Suspensions,
a company that manufactures
replacement leaf springs in cars
and trucks that Kramer said will
almost double its work force to
150 in 2007.
There's also Icon Construction, a
manufacturer of modular buildings
that will begin production in a
new facility in March and could
eventually employ up to 200
people.
The two Kramer described
as the largest are a Cardinal
Glass Industries and a Big Lots
GROWTH to page 5
web page: www.press-on.net
Native ,*mszi
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2006
Founded in 1988
Volume 19 Issue 24
March 2, 2007
In this photo taken with a video camera, Jay Minthorn stands on the shore of the Columbia River near
Celilo Village, Ore., Jan. 19,2007. Minthorn, an Umatillatribe member, remembers watching the Columbia
River rise, the islands of Celilo Falls vanish, the Indian fishing platforms wash away and a centuries-old
way of tribal life vanish forever. See article on page 3. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Murder
on Indian
reservation
offers glimpse
at broader
violence
By Kim Curtis
Associated Press
MANCHESTER-POINT ARENA
RANCHERIA Calif. (AP) _Marcos
Escareno's neighbors say he was
raised amid a culture of violence
on this tiny American Indian
reservation. And residents say
the disproportionate number of
shootings, stabbings and other
incidents often go unreported
because of a mistrust of law
enforcement and a fear of
retribution.
At 14, Escareno is the youngest
person ever charged as an adult
with murder in Mendocino
County after he allegedly pointed
a hunting rifle into a van window
on Feb. 6 and shot Enoc Cruz
Salgado, his sister's 21-year-old
boyfriend. He has not entered a
plea and is being held on $550,000
bail.
Some ofthe roughly 250 people
who make up the Manchester-
Point Arena band of Porno
Indians say it was merely an
extreme example of the violence
that has plagued their tribe.
Tribal Chairman Nelson Pinola
blames drug and alcohol abuse,
combined with a lack of social
services on the rugged North
Coast where the rancheria is
located.
"How do you fix that?" said
Pinola, a sheriffs lieutenant in
neighboring Sonoma County. "If
we could fix it on a reservation,
I'd sure like to copyright it."
Although the shooting death
of Cruz Salgado was the first
homicide at Manchester-Point
Arena since 1992, the earliest
year for which records were
available, violent crimes such
as assault, battery, child abuse
and shootings occurred here
at a higher rate than in the
surrounding county.
On the rancheria, the rate of
violent crime was about 26 per
100 residents between 2001 and
2006 - 2 1/2 times that of the
surrounding county, where the
violent crime rate was 10.3 per
100 people, according to records
from the Mendocino sheriff's
office, whose jurisdiction excludes
the county seat of Ukiah.
MURDER to page 6
Governor suspends Twin Buttes
School Board members
Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John
Hoeven says he has suspended
Twin Buttes School Board
President Melissa Starr and two
board members accused of fraud,
and scheduled a hearing.
Hoeven's announcement
Wednesday comes after Attorney
General Wayne Stenehjem
recommended that Starr, board
member Hank Starr, her brother,
and board member Darwin Lone
Bear be removed from the jobs.
Hoeven said in a statement that
Surrogate Judge Benny Graff will
preside over a March 15 hearing in
Dickinson to determine whether
evidence supports the removal of
the three board members. Graff
will make a report to Hoeven.
A federal grand jury indicted
the Starrs, Lone Bear and four
others last October on charges
of fraud and conspiracy to steal
money from the school district.
All seven have pleaded not guilty.
They are scheduled for trial
on May 1 in federal court in
Bismarck.
Hoeven's statement said he
felt it is "in the best interest of
the state, school district, and
its children" to suspend the
Starrs and Lone Bear. He asked
Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman
Marcus Wells and Twin Buttes
Principal Chad Dahlen to appoint
interim board members.
The Twin Buttes School District
is in northern Dunn County
on the Fort Berthold Indian
Reservation.
State courts have jurisdiction
over personal injuries at tribal
Associated Press
SANTA FE - New Mexico
courts have jurisdiction over
personal injury lawsuits that
allege negligent acts at tribal
casinos, the state Supreme Court
ruled.
The opinion came in two
lawsuits filed against pueblo
casinos in state courts.
One was filed against Santa
Clara Pueblo by the family of a
15-year-old girl who was sexually
assaulted after being abducted
from the tribe's casino. The
other was filed against San
Felipe Pueblo by two people who
alleged they were injured when
they slipped and fell on a loose
floor mat at the tribal casino.
Both lawsuits alleged that
negligence in the casinos'
operations led to their injuries.
Albuquerque attorney Paul
Kennedy, representing the
plaintiffs in the San Felipe case,
called the ruling "very big. It's
historic."
"It's really the first time the
tribes in New Mexico will be
subjected to state jurisdiction,"
Kennedy said. "They have been
trying to avoid this all along, yet
still retain the right to gamble,
to run their casinos."
The Supreme Court said
gambling compacts between
New Mexico and the pueblos
created concurrent jurisdiction
in state courts over personal
injury actions against tribal-
owned casinos, and were valid
and enforceable under the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
The justices, in their ruling
Friday, upheld an appellate court
opinion and said the lawsuits
should proceed in state courts.
The lawsuit filed by the
teenage girl, who was not a
tribal member, alleged Santa
Clara Pueblo failed to take safety
measures to protect her at the
casino. The lawsuit alleged the
casino parking lot lacked proper
lighting and security, and that
casino staff did not try to find the
girl once it became apparent she
was missing.
The complaint against San
Felipe Pueblo by Ivan Lopez
and his mother, Lucy Lopez,
alleged the tribe's casino did not
adequately secure the floor mat,
leading to their injuries.
Both pueblos argued that the
state lacked jurisdiction and
the cases should be dismissed.
The state courts denied those
motions.
The pueblos then sought to
appeal the jurisdictional issue
to the state Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals upheld
state court jurisdiction in the
Santa Clara case, and based on
that, denied San Felipe's request
to appeal a week later.
Both pueblos then turned to
the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court opinion
cited a section of the gambling
INJURIES to page 5