Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2007-09-15

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INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
2
3
Tribe Calls on House to
Maintain Senate Level in
Conference Negotiations
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 5
Serious Housing Issue for
One Mille Lacs Band Elder
page 4
Open letter to
Judge John Smith,
law enforcement at
Leech Lake
page 4
Letter to Editor
regarding John Wiind
page 4
"Justice is Blind" takes
on unintended meaning
in Alvin John Wind case
page 4
Four Red Lake drug traffickers
plead guilty to charges
By Bill Lawrence
Matter is beginning to jiggle
free and fall away from the mass
of 29 Red Lake persons who
were arrested on drug charges
in May 2007.
Five individuals have pled
guilty to one of three charges
against them. On September
14,2007, Gary Lee Head, Joseph
Jacob Thunder III, and Dasheena
Jo Strong pled guilty to the
charge of conspiracy to possess
with the intent to distribute 5
kilograms or more of cocaine.
On August 30, 2007, Augustin
Martinez-Miranda and Rochelle
Lynn Strong pled guilty to the
same charge.
This charge carries a
mandatory minimum sentence
of ten years in prison and a
maximum sentence of life in
prison and a $4 million fine.
Mandatory sentencing does
not allow the possibility of
judicial discretion. It required
the sentencing judge to
issue sentences according to
published guidelines.
No sentencing date has been
set. Chief Judge James E.
Rosenbaum of the U.S. District
Court for Minnesota ordered
pre-sentencing investigations
on the five defendants.
Augustin Martinez-Miranda,
an admitted illegal immigrant,
has been held in jail since the
original charge. He remains in
custody.
Bail for Dasheena Jo Strong
and Joseph Jacob Thunder,
III, has been revoked, and
these two individuals are both
incarcerated. Gary Lee Head
and Rochelle Lynn Strong
remain free on $25,000 bond.
Martinez-Miranda, admitted
in an FBIaffidavit that he was
an illegal immigrant and had
sold cocaine to Gary Strong on
more than one occasion.
A Minnesota Star Tribune
article May 11, 2007, reported
that law officials observed
Martinez-Miranda and Gary
Strong allegedly involved in a
drug deal.
Others, all Red Lake members,
arrested in the May 9-10, 2007
bust are: Herbert Melvin May
and Robert Jeffrey Vanwert
(both Red Lake Tribal Police
Officers), Austin Robert Head
(Bemidji), Ricky Lee Chaboyea
and Brandon Lee Strong
(Redby), Alton Ryan Beaulieu
and Tyrone Wayne Beaulieu
(Little Rock) and Maria Jean
Needham (Red Lake). Billy Joe
Mason, currently a prisoner in
the state penitentiary was also
charged in this case.
Of the above group, Austin
Robert Head,  Ricky Lee
Chaboyea, Dasheena Jo Strong
and Maria Jean Needham, were
among a group of 20 individuals
who were charged, according to
a May 11, 2007, Star Tribune
article, last September in a
sealed indictment on similar
charges.
Special Assistant United
States Attorney John E. Haak
from the District of South
Dakota is prosecuting the case.
The District of Minnesota U.S.
Attorney has removed itself
from the case due to a possible
conflict of interest.
Trial has been set for
November 26, 2007 for the
following individuals who
remain charged, but are out
on bail: Gary Lee Strong*,
Frederick Alan Desjarlait, Jr.*;
Nicholas Avery Strong*; Dana
Alphonse Oliver*; Marida Dawn
Seki*; William Antoine May,
Jr.*; Austin Robert Head; Ricky
Lee Chaboyea; Herbert Melvin
May; Robert Jeffrey Vanwert;
Alton Ryan Beaulieu; Brandon
Lee Strong; Maria Needham;
Tyrone Wayne Beaulieu; Randy
Matthew Sayers; Ramon Charles
Sayers; Donald Roman Cook,
Jr.; Barbara Ann Thunder;
Delores Jean Huerta; Loretta
May Kingbird; Concha Edith
Isham; Leroy Alvis Garrigan, Jr.;
Michael Lee Sather.
Those individuals whose
names are marked with an *
were also arrested in April 2007
on an identical charge.
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
Leech Lake
police officer
arrested for
DUI
By Bill Ijiwrence
According to Crow Wing
County Attorney Don Ryan, his
office will be prosecuting veteran
Leech Lake Tribal Police Officer
Ken Washington for Driving
Under the Influence (DUI) in the
very near future,
Mr. Ryan told PressON in a
telephone interview, the case was
referred to his office because of
the potential conflict of interest
between Cass County and Leech
Lake Tribal Law Enforcement.
He said he is currently waiting
for a signed Continuance Order
from a Cass County judge before
he can release any written
information regarding the charges
against Mr. Washington.
He said he would be prosecuting
Washington for the following: 3rd
degree refusal; 4th degree DUI
and open bottle.
Washington was arrested
during the early morning hours
of September 7, by an officer of
the Cass Lake Police Department
and transported to Cass County
Jail in Walker, Minn.
Court: Navajo Nation owed
money for bungled lease
Indianz.com
The Interior Department
breached its trust to the Navajo
Nation and mast pay damages for
mishandling a coal mining lease,
a federal appeals court ruled on
Thursday.
In a unanimous decision, the
Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
said the "undisputed facts" prove
Interior breached its fiduciary
duties to the largest tribe in the
country. Swayed by a lobbyist, the
Reagan administration approved
a coal mining lease for a less than
a "reasonable" royalty rate, the
three-judge panel concluded.
That action violated common
trust law, as well as a "network"
of federal laws and regulations
aimed at protecting the tribe's
coal resources and keeping the
tribe informed about its assets,
the court said.
"Accordingly, this court holds
that the nation has a cognizable
money-mandating claim against
the United States for the alleged
breaches of trust and that the
government breached its trust
duties," Judge Arthur J. Gajarsa,
a Reagan nominee, wrote in the
39-page ruling. .
Bury My Heart at Wounded
Knee Wins Five Emmy Awards
by Kriss Perras Running
Waters
Bury My Heart At Wounded
Knee, an HBO, Wolf, Film/
Traveler's Rest Film won
the Emmy Award tonight
for Oustanding Made For
Television Movie. After six
years in development, the film
premiered on HBO last May.
The HBO epic is based on Dee
Brown's award-winning history
of American Indian life in the
latter half of the 19th century.
The HBO production features
a star-making performance
by actor Adam Beach, the
charismatic Native American
actor whose credits include
John Woo's Windtalkers and
Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our
Fathers. Beach performed as
Charles Eastman, a Dartmouth-
educated Sioux doctor torn
between two cultures during
events that lead to the notorious
Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.
Aidan Quinn (as Sen. Henry
Dawes), August Schellenberg
(Sitting Bull) and Fred Dalton
Thompson (President Ulysses S.
Grant) also figured prominently
in the historical drama. Bury My
Heart at Wounded Knee had 17
HBO FILMS
Emmy nominations, the most
of any show the 59th Emmy
Awards.
The film also took home the
awards for Best Cinematography,
Miniseries or Movie; Best
Single-Camera Picture Editing,
Miniseries or a Movie; Best
Makeup, Miniseries, Movie or
Special (Non-Prosthetic); Best
Sound Editing, Miniseries,
Movie or Special; Best Sound
Mixing, Miniseries or Movie.
The film powerfully explores
the economic, political and
social pressures pushing the
conquest of the American West
and the tragic impact this
expansionism had on American
Indian culture and life. The films
is directed by Yves Simoneau
("Napoleon"), produced by Clara
George ("United 93") and is
written by Daniel Giat (HBO
Films' Path to War), in addition
to being based on the book by
Brown.
Published in 1971, Brown's
book is one of the foremost and
in-depth works documenting
the systematic genocide of
the American Indian during
the decades leading up to the
AWARDS to page 3
State high
court rules
tribe has no
jurisdiction over
father, child
By Joe Kafka
Associated Press
PIERRE - The South Dakota
Supreme Court ruled Thursday
that the Sisseton-Wahpeton
tribal court has no jurisdiction
over a non-Native American
father or his daughter, reversing
an earlier ruling by a state
judge who said the tribe could
remove the girl from her father's
custody.
The tribal court issued the
order for enforcement in state
court against Daniel John
Carlson of Sisseton after he
forgot a younger daughter all
day in a parked car, and she
died of overheating on Aug. 17,
2005.
A state prosecutor, deciding
that Carlson did not intentionally
leave Tehya, who was 14 months
old, in his car when he went to
his job as vice president of a
telemarketing firm in Browns
Valley, Minn., refused to charge
him. Carlson had left his then-
6-year-old daughter, Jacinda, at
his mother's home in Sisseton
but forgot to drop Tehya off at
her day-care provider.
Carlson's ex-wife, Barbara
Baldwin, is a Native American
and an enrolled member of
the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe.
She filed an abuse and neglect
complaint in tribal court to gain
protective custody of their older
daughter; both girls also were
enrolled tribal members.
After gaining the tribal court
order, the Sisseton-Wahpeton
Child Protection Program
went to state circuit court for
TRIBE to page 3
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Volume 19 Issue 37
September 15, 2007
Barring further appeals, the
Court of Federal Claims will
now determine the damages
the government must pay for
mishandling the lease. The tribe
claims it lost out on at least $600
million in royalties for one of the
most valuable coal deposits in
the U.S.
But a trip to the Supreme
Court is possible, a move that
would delay resolution of one of
the longest-running breach of
trust cases in history. The Bush
administration already took the
Navajo case to the justices and
won a ruling in 2003 that limited
the tribe's legal maneuvers.
In that 6-3 ruling, the high
court said the two laws the tribe
cited to make its case weren't
enough to create a damages-
enforceable trust relationship.
The justices noted that the Indian
Mineral Leasing Act and the
Indian Mineral Development Act,
in fact, give more power to tribes
to exercise self-determination
over their trust assets.
The Navajo Nation, however,
was able to revive its claim
by citing other federal laws
COURT to page 6
Native American Law Enforcement Summit
Improving, Creating Safe Communities
Native American Law Enforcement Summit (NALES) Multi-Jurisdictional Relationships "Creating
Safe Communities." (l-r): William Blake, Sgt, Mpls Police Dept; Vincent Hill, Reporter, NAP; Billy
Blackwell, Spirtual Elder, Ojibwe from Grand Portage; R.A. (Jim) Randal-Appelate, Court Judge,
Minnesota Court of Appeals.
By Vincent Hill
This fourth Native American
Law Enforcement Summit (
NALES ) was hosted by the
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, that
was held earlier this week at
the Mille Lacs Band's popular
Grand Casino gambling site at
Hinckley, Minnesota. At the
conclusion of the conference,
the law enforcement attendees
declared this particular session
"the best ever!" The large
geographical sized Hennepin
County in Minneapolis provided
a good share of the training
agenda in Collaborative
Strategies for Success:
Pretrial, Probation, and Law
Enforcement; Native American
Gangs: On the streets & Inside
Minnesota Prisons; Feeding
the Animals: Effective Media
relations. Robert Lilligren
(part Native American)-Council
Vice President, 6th Ward,
Minneapolis City Council,
spoke at the beginning of the
conference. Others on the
NALES Welcoming Leadership
(political, if you will) panel
included Michael Campian,
Commissioner, Minnesota
Dept. of Public Safety, and
Bernard Zapor, Special
Agent in Charge, Bureau of
Alcohol, tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives. The NALES
workshops and speakers at
lunch were "diversified" and
stimulating.  Examples.
SUMMIT to page 2
NCAA asks judge to reconsider
order in nickname case
Associated Press
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP)
_ The NCAA is asking a judge
to reconsider an earlier order
limiting the scope of the
University of North Dakota
lawsuit over use of its "Fighting
Sioux" nickname.
The NCAA considers the
nickname and UND's American
Indian head logo "hostile and
abusive" and has barred UND
from displaying them during
postseason play and from
hosting playoff games. UND
says it uses the nickname and
logo with respect and has sued
the NCAA.
Northeast Central District
Judge Lawrence Jahnke in
April ruled that the issue in the
lawsuit is whether the NCAA
acted properly in imposing the
ban, not whether the logo and
nickname are offensive.
The NCAA has filed a motion
asking Jahnke to reconsider and
to allow UND's dealings with
Indian tribes to be debated. The
motion says UND misled the
NCAA during its administrative
appeals process by claiming that
the Spirit Lake Sioux Nation
supports the nickname.
Attorney General Wayne
Stenehjem, in his response,
said the NCAA has not raised
any new arguments.
"The NCAA's continued
refusal to respect the announced
'yardstick for recovery' is
entirely unwarranted," he said.
Recovery is a legal term for the
exchange of information among
attorneys.
Stenehjem also asked Jahnke
to order the NCAA to pay
UND's expenses associated with
responding to the motion.
Stenehjem's office is
representing UND in the lawsuit,
which is being paid for with
private contributions.
A 2000 Spirit Lake Tribal
Council resolution states: "As
long as something positive
comes from this controversy,
(the tribe is) not opposed to
keeping the 'Sioux' name and
present logo at UND."
UND has maintained that
the resolution should be read
as a vote of support for the
nickname, but tribal officials did
not respond to NCAA requests
for clarification.
Tribal Chairwoman Myra
Pearson last month told a
reporter that she reads the
resolution as neither supporting
nor opposing the nickname.
She said she does not expect
the Tribal Council to clarify its
position or to reconsider the
nickname issue.
"Throughout the appeal
process at issue, plaintiff
consistently maintained that
it had the endorsement and
support of the Spirit Lake
Nation," the NCAA motion
says. "Those claims are also
an integral part of the pending
litigation. ... Based on recent
developments, it is becoming
increasingly difficult to accept
that plaintiff could have made
these claims in good faith, much
less 'utmost good faith."'
The NCAA earlier also had
NCAA to page 3
Feds investigating chairman of
Massachusetts Indian tribe
Associated Press
BOSTON - Federal agents
are seeking an American Indian
tribe's records in an investigation
into how millions of investors'
dollars were spent as the group
fought for the right to build a
casino, a tribal spokeswoman
said.
Former Mashpee Wampanoag
tribe Chairman Glenn Marshall,
who resigned last month after
admitting he lied about his
military service in Vietnam and
concealed a 1981 rape conviction,
is the focus of the probe,
spokeswoman Amy Lambiaso
said Friday.
"It's our understanding it
is an investigation into Glenn
Marshall and not any of the other
tribe members," she told The
Associated Press.
Marshall hung up the phone
when contacted by The Associated
Press on Friday.
The Cape Cod Times and The
Boston Globe reported on their
Web sites Friday that the Internal
Revenue Service is conducting
the investigation. Lambiaso said
she knows only that they are
federal agents and did not know
whether any records had been
seized as of Friday afternoon.
An IRS spokeswoman didn't
immediately return a call seeking
comment, and spokeswomen for
the U.S. attorney's office and
the FBI in Boston declined to
comment.
Under Marshall's leadership,
the tribe recruited investors to
help pay for lawyers and others
to win federal recognition, which
gives the tribe the right to build
a casino.
Herb Strather, a Detroit real
estate and casino developer, gave
the tribe $8 million to move its
application through the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Marshall said in
February, and another $5 million
for land purchases.
FEDS to page 6
Indian nation
mourning the
loss of a dream
By Pauline Arrillaga
Felicia Fonseca
Associated Press
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -
That they had made it off the
reservation at all was no small
feat in a place where adversity
runs as deep as tradition. But
they were success stories: Two
Navajo girls gone to the big-city
university, planning to come
home one day and give back.
Mia Henderson, the one they
called "Princess Mia," captain
of the softball team and a star
student who had a flair for
science and yearned to work in
genetics or sports medicine.
Galareka Harrison, "Reka"
to friends and family, the track
standout and rodeo girl who
excelled in roping and dreamed
of becoming a pharmacist.
On this remote stretch of
DREAM to page 6