Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2007-11-01

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
CLASSIFIEDS
All Native Americans
I      must work together
3
4
7      page 5
Keep Our Children
Safe Online
page 5
Leech Lake Police Chief Leech Lake's
caught in nepotism by Magical Beds
contracting with brother
page 4
page 4
Discrimination against
Native Americans in
border towns-A U.S.
commission on civil rights
inquiry
page 4
Four more Red Lake drug traffickers plead
guijty to charges
By Bill Lawrence
Four more 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. Recently, Gary Lee
Strong, Nicholas Avery Strong,
Marida Dawn Seki and Alton
Ryan Beaulieu 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 nine 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,
had been previously revoked,
and these two individuals
remain incarcerated. Gary Lee
Head and Rochelle Lynn Strong,
Gary Lee Strong, Nicholas Avery
Strong, Marida Dawn Seki and
Alton Ryan Beaulieu remain free
on $25,000 bond.
Martinez-Miranda, admitted
in an FBI affidavit 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.
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: Frederick Alan Desjarlait,
Jr.*; Dana Alphonse Oliver*;
William Antoine May, Jr.*;
Austin Robert Head; Ricky Lee
Chaboyea; Herbert Melvin May;
Robert Jeffrey Vanwert; 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.
Prairie Island
Indians seek
removal of
nuclear waste
By Nina Petersen-Perlman
Star Tribune
WASHINGTON - A
representative from the Prairie
Island Indian Community was
on Capitol Hill on Wednesday
urging legislators to make
Nevada's Yucca Mountain
a permanent nuclear waste
repository.
Prairie Island, about 50 miles
downstream from Minneapolis
on the Mississippi River, is
situated 600 yards away from
a nuclear waste storage site
owned by Xcel Energy. Tribal
Council member Ron Johnson
said the waste needs to be moved
to a safe facility that can be
monitored.
Currently, no one from the
Department of Homeland
Security guards the site, which
could be a terror target, he
told the Senate Committee
on Environment and Public
Works.
"Developing a safe, perma!
nent storage facility for spent
nuclear fuel is critical to the
health and welfare of the
millions of Americans who
currently live near temporary
nuclear waste storage sites," the
tribe said in a statement.
Johnson met with staff
members of Sens. Amy
Klobuchar and Norm Coleman,
and Rep. John Kline, who
represents the Prairie Island
community.
"The Yucca Mountain storage
facility is a permanent solution
to the nuclear waste storage
problem facing Minnesota
communities," Kline said. "I
remain committed to removing
this dangerous nuclear waste
from Prairie Island and the Red
Wing community."
Congress passed the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act in 1982 and
voted to make Yucca Mountain
the site, overruling objections
from Nevada voters as recently
as 2002. The U.S. Department
of Energy has been studying
the site to determine if it would
be suitable for the nation's first
geologic repository for the
72,000 metric tons of spent
nuclear fuel and high-level
radioa! ctive waste currently
WASTE to page 6
Police Chief Steven Day attempts
to stop workshop in Ball Club
By Diane E. White
BEMIDJI, MN—A large
number of Native Americans
arrested and jailed in cities and
towns that are on or border
Indian reservations annually
have long been noticeable and a
major concern for many social
advocates. Audrey Thayer is a
member of the White Earth
Band of Ojibwe, a mother
and grandmother of 11, and a
strong advocate for education
and social justice.
Thayer is the Director of
the Greater MN Racial Justice
Project-ACLU, MN ("Project")
located in Bemidji. The Project
began in 2004 and has been
challenged to present the
program in a positive light to the
local non-Native populations;
and to listen to Indian people's
concern over racial injustice
in the area.
Thayer said in a recent
interview with PRESS/ON that
she works with tribes and local
law enforcement and must keep
out of the inner politics. She is
an advocate for the citizen.
Thayer talked about the
2,000 homeless individuals in
the Bemidji area; suspicious
traffic stops by local police
officers; and how and why she
educate Indian people on their
civil rights.
Thayer said, "Many of the
homeless lived in "tent cities"
in Bemidji over the summer.
Now that it is getting cold
and many people don't have
anywhere to go. Some people in
Bemidji cannot get housing due
to criminal records that range
from misdemeanor to felony
offenses. Landlords have the
right to check police records
and they do."
An important aspect of the
Program is to monitor court
activity by having volunteers
sit in on court hearings.
The Project primarily monitors
court activity in Beltrami
County where they have 12
volunteers who are all retired
from professional life. Ten
volunteers are White and two
are Indian. Beltrami County
WORKSHOP to page 6
Commission to End Poverty by
2020 listens to Bemidji citizenry
By Diane White
BEMIDJI, MN—On October
25, a panel of state legislators
and a Governor appointee
(contact information at end of
article) listened to seven Bemidji
citizens tell about their plight of
living in poverty. The panelists
are Senator Mary Olson, House
Representative Morrie Lanning,
FrankMoe, and Nora Slawik, and
the Governor appointee, Michael
Hawton. The public forum was
held at the Northland Apartments from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00
p.m. and following the panel
discussion, the group met at the
People's Church.
There were approximately 50
people present at the Northland
Apartments for the public forum.
The testimonies came from
healthy, able-bodied persons to
lifelong disabled persons, lifelong mentally ill persons, and
to those stricken with medical
issues that took them from the
workforce. The face of poverty
in Bemidji could be anyone,
especially those living without
medical insurance; to people living from paycheck to paycheck;
those living with substance
abuse/chemical dependency
habits; and/or untreated mental
illness.
One woman testified about
the difficulty in obtaining help
from non-profit agencies and
the Beltrami County Financial
Services Department. She said,
"Beltrami County Financial
Services Social Workers never
returned her calls. They were
rude to [her] in person. They
lost paperwork turned in for the
financial worker causing her to
lose benefits. She complained
to the Supervisor, but found the
Supervisor also failed to return
calls and never responded to her
complaints.
The woman asked the panel to
distribute a survey to those who
use financial services in Beltrami
County and to ask them how they
were treated.
Loss of paperwork is crucial to
the on-going survival of people
who rely on medical assistance,
POVERTY to page 6
Fond du Lac Band to start bus service
By Jana Hollingsworth
Duluth News Tribune
The Fond du Lac Reservation
will offer new transit services
beginning this month.
Two 16-passenger buses
with stations and lifts for
wheelchairs will make stops on
the reservation and in Cloquet
and Duluth.
"As the reservation has grown
to offer more employment and
services, it has challenged
tribal government to build the
necessary infrastructure to
support the active participation
of our members," said Karen
Diver, chairwoman of the Fond
Du Lac Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa.
The buses are a way to do that,
she said.
Money was secured from the
Federal Transit Administration
to pay for each $60,000 bus,
via a Minnesota Department of
Transportation grant. Salaries
of the bus drivers will be paid by
the tribe.
"Transportation can be a
barrier to employment and
getting proper health care
and having a better life," said
Amy Wicklund, economic
development planner for the
reservation.
The buses give residents better
access to jobs, shopping and
health care, she said.
Surveys showed transportation
was a hardship for many people
who live on the more than
100,000-acre reservation.
"It's for elderly people, young
people, or if you have a car
that breaks down," said Jason
Hollinday, planning director for
the reservation. "It's something
that we've needed."
Operation of the buses, which
will first use a call-for-a-ride
system, is expected to begin in
the middle or toward the end of
the month. Pick-up points will
be determined later. Hours are
tentatively scheduled for 6 a.m.
to 7 p.m. on weekdays, with
morning and evening runs to
Duluth. Daytime use will be for
the reservation and Cloquet, and
fees to ride are $1 for reservation
and Cloquet destinations, and
$2 for a trip to Duluth. If the
program is successful it could
expand, Hollinday said.
The slogan for the bus system
is "babaamibatoo" which means
"runabout" in Ojibwe.
Demand for the buses already
is present, Wicklund said.
„The buses arrived on the
reservation with the phone
number on the side, and the
phone numberwasn,t operational
yet," she said. „People were
calling the front desk saying,
CESend over that bus."
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A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2007
Founded in 1988
Volume 19 Issue 40
November 1, 2007
Alcohol exposure affects generations on Indian
reservations
The Antone family lives on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. The family knows
first hand how fetal alcohol damage can turn families upside down. Pictured, left to right, are Shyra,
Matthew, mother Sue and Joshua. Sue Antone says her three adopted children were all prenatally
exposed to alcohol. (MPR Photo/Tom Robertson)
by Tom Robertson
Minnesota Public Radio
Fetal alcohol syndrome, or
FAS, affects all racial groups,
but American Indians are
hardest hit. Studies from the
Center for Disease Control
show the fetal alcohol rate
among Indians is 30 times
higher than whites. Health
workers on Minnesota Indian
reservations say fetal alcohol
damage is a huge problem
in some tribal communities.
There's a growing effort to
fight a problem that, for
years, has been ignored or
misunderstood.
Bemidji, Minn. — It's no
secret that alcohol has had
a devastating impact on
American Indians.
But what many in Indian
communities are less
comfortable talking about
is the damage caused when
pregnant women drink
alcohol. Some call fetal alcohol
exposure the No. 1 problem in
Indian Country. It's causing
a literal brain drain in tribal
FASD to page 7
Minneapolis radio station to apologize after
American Indian remarks
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Local
radio station KQRS-FM agreed
Monday to broadcast a public
apology, after American
Indian leaders complained
about comments on the rate
of suicide among, young
people in Beltrami County.
The comments, made during
the rock station's popular
morning show, were offensive',
the leaders said.
Station president and general
manager Marc Kalman said
that in addition to an apology,
the station would give equal air
time to positive issues involving
American Indians, work to hire
American Indian interns, and
continue making public service
announcements for a suicide
hot line.
More than a dozen American
Indian leaders went to the
corporate offices of KQRS
to lodge a formal complaint
against the show hosted by Tom
Barnard.
Last month, Barnard and co-
host Terri Traen talked about
the Red Lake and Shakopee
tribes while discussing a report
by the state Health Department
that said Beltrami County
has the state's highest rate of
suicide among young people.
The jocks then mentioned
Bemidji and the Red Lake
reservation, both in Beltrami
County.
"Maybe it's genetic; isn't
there a lot of incest up there?"
Traen said about the tribe.
"Not that I know of," Barnard
replied.
"I think there is," Traen
continued. "Don't quote me
on that, but I'm pretty sure."
"Well, I'mglad you just threw
it out there, then," Barnard
said.
Barnard also criticized the
Shakopee Sioux, which owns
Mystic Lake Casino, for "doing
a hell of a job helping them
out."
"They don't give them
anything?" Traen said.
"Hell, no!" Barnard replied.
Clyde Bellecourt, American
Indian Movement co-founder,
said Red Lake has received
nearly $4 million in grants
from the Shakopee tribe since
2004 toward building a new
Boys and Girls Club, assisting
with the recent rebirth of the
tribe's walleye fishing industry
and creating a center in Bemidji
to address sexual assault.
"These were irresponsible
comments that are way out
of bounds and intolerable,"
Red Lake Tribal Chairman
Floyd Jourdain said before the
meeting. Jourdain compared
the comments to those several
months ago by Don Imus about
the Rutgers women's basketball
team that were racial and
sexual in nature. Imus lost his
syndicated radio job over that
incident.
"Those comments (by Imus)
were about losing a basketball
APOLOGY to page 2
Shakopee to appeal decision to
put city land into trust
Associated Press
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - The
Shakopee City Council voted
unanimously Monday to appeal
a Bureau of Indian Affairs
ruling that says the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community
can transfer about 750 acres it
owns into a tax-exempt trust.
The vote came just hours after
Scott County officials decided
not to appeal the ruling, saying
they'd rather negotiate with the
tribe than pursue litigation.
The tribe, which owns the
popular Mystic Lake Casino Hotel,
has been seeking unfettered use
of its land for years. Glynn A.
Crooks, vice chairman of the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, said the tribe plans
to use the land primarily for
homes for members.
City Administrator Mike
McNeill called the appeal "a
necessary step," noting that
Monday was the deadline for
filing an appeal. However,
McNeill said the city is willing
to discuss the issue with the tribe
and remains open to a negotiated
settlement.
McNeill said the SMSC has
increased its pace of acquiring
land within the city and made
it clear that it will continue
to acquire land in Shakopee
without consulting with the city
about plans for the land or how
it will be used.
The tribe this month purchased
an additional 320 acres in
eastern Shakopee that the city
had earmarked for other uses.
Including those acres, the SMSC
controls a third of the remaining
potentially developable land
within the city, he said.
v,These most recent
acquisitions, and the likelihood
that the SMSC will apply to have
the lands placed in trust, make
it strategically difficult, if not
impossible, for the city to plan for
important public infrastructure
TRUST to page 2
Scott County
won't appeal
BIA decision to
put Shakopee
land into trust
Associated Press
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Saying
they'd rather negotiate with
the tribe than pursue litigation,
Scott County officials decided
they won't appeal a Bureau of
Indian Affairs ruling that says
the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community can transfer
about 750 acres it owns into a
tax-exempt trust.
The tribe, which owns the
popular Mystic Lake Casino
Hotel, has been seeking
unfettered use of its land for
years. Glynn A. Crooks, vice
chairman of the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, said the tribe
plans to use the land primarily
for homes for members.
DECISION to page 2