Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-07-01

              INDEX
Relocated Navajos
Indian Affairs Promotes
Voter apathy allows
Goggleye, Finn try
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
question shifts
Increased Capital
incumbents to stay
to embezzle
NEWS BRIEFS
3
by feds
Investment in Indian
Country
in office
Tribal Funds
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4-5
CUSSIFIEDS
7
page 5
page 5
page 4
page 4
Legal, social, personal
costs of Red Lake drug
case are inestimable
page 4
A harsh light is cast on Red Lake crack trade,
tribal police for economically prosperous
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians
By Mike Mosedale
On June 16, seven members of
the Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Indians appeared before U.S.
District Court Judge James
Rosenbaum in Minneapolis,
where they had come to plead
guilty in connection with the
biggest cocaine bust in the
history ofthe isolated and crime-
plagued northern Minnesota
reservation.
After the defendants formally
confessed to their roles in the
drug ring, it seemed the long-
running case, which ensnared
a total of 33 Red Lakers and one
Mexican national, would come to
an end without a single trial or,
for that matter, any consequential
disclosure ofthe evidence.
All that changed when Judge
Rosenbaum refused to accept a
plea bargain from one defendant,
Ramon Charles Sayers. Under
questioning from the judge,
Sayers, a 33-year old ninth-grade
dropout and convenience-store
clerk known on the reservation
as "Razor," admitted he arranged
cocaine deals over the phone,
which was the basis of a reduced
charge to which he attempted to
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Rosebud hosts
summiton
suicide problem
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
Sioux Falls, S.D. - Six
residents of the Rosebud
Indian Reservation
committed suicide so far this
year, according to the Indian
Health Service, so the tribe
is hosting a summit this
week to draw attention _ and
resources _ to the problem.
The gathering, called
"Sacredness of Life," runs
Tuesday and Wednesday in
Mission. It's the latest event
held since, the tribe declared
a state of emergency last
year because of the high
number of suicides on the
reservation, where poverty is
among the nation's worst.
"A lot of times being
in Washington or even in
Aberdeen where IHS is
located, they're far removed
from reservation life," said
Rodney Bordeaux, president
ofthe Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
"We're going to be doing
a field trip on the first day
out to the reservation on a
bus tour and get them to see
what is Rosebud."
The tribe is encouraging
economic development and
several projects are in the
works such as a new grocery
store and wind farm, but
federal and state agencies
are lagging in their response
to the suicide problem, he
said.
From Jan. 1 to Friday, six
people served by Rosebud
health facilities committed
suicide, said Bobbi Jo Bruce,
mental health specialist at
the IHS in Aberdeen. Four
of those were men ages 20
to 24, another was a woman
25 to 34 and the other was a
woman between ages 35 and
44, she said.
"We have more female
attempts than males, but
more male completions,"
Bruce said.
Nationwide there were
just over 11 suicides per
100,000 people in 2005,
according to the Centers
for Disease Control. But on
Rosebud, where 12,143 tribal
members receive health care
on the reservation, the rate
was 48 suicides for every
100,000 people during the
first six months of the year,
Bruce said.
"There is definitely
something going on there
and there needs to be some
attention brought to it. I
think this is a good summit
_ that they're trying to do
something and they realize
there's a suicide issue there
and they're coming together
as a community," she said.
The Aberdeen region of
the IHS, which includes
North Dakota, South
Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska,
ranks second to Alaska in
American Indian suicides,
but the Rosebud reservation
has by far the highest suicide
rate in the area, Bruce said.
In addition to the
six suicides since Jan. 1,
ROSEBUD to page 5
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traditions and heritage are preserved
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Photo by Mike Mosedale
plead guilty.
But when Rosenbaum asked
Sayers to identify his supplier,
the defendant balked. At that,
the judge rejected the plea deal
and ordered Sayers to stand
trial. On Thursday morning,
after three days of testimony,
a 12-member jury convicted
Sayers on two drug-conspiracy
counts, the most serious of which
carries a minimum 10-year prison
Federal Jury Finds Red Lake Man
Guilty of Cocaine Trafficking
Conviction Marks Final
Disposition in Case Charging
34 Individuals
Sioux Falls, SD - US Attorney
Marty J. Jackley announced
today that a federal jury in,
Minneapolis has found RAMON
CHARLES SAYERS aka Razor, of
Red Lake, Minnesota, guilty of
two charges relating to cocaine
trafficking on the Red Lake
Indian Reservation in northern
Minnesota. SAYERS was charged
with two drug-related offenses
- conspiracy to distribute or
possess with intent to distribute
5 kilograms or more of cocaine
and use of a communication
facility (telephone) in causing
and facilitating the commission
of a felony under the controlled
substances act. After a three-day
trial in United States District
Court in Minneapolis, the jury
voted to convict SAYERS on
both counts. He now faces a
Vivid portrait of drug trade
While Sayers never took the
stand, secretly recorded telephone
conversations and testimony from
his fellow defendants created a
vivid portrait of the burgeoning
crack trade at Red Lake, a trade in
which dealers operated with near
RED LAKE to page 6
mandatory minimum sentence
of ten years and a maximum
sentence of life imprisonment
and/or a $4 million fine on
the conspiracy count, and a
maximum possible sentence of
four years and/or a $250,000 fine
on the use of a communication
facility count. The prosecution
was handled by the South Dakota
US Attorney's Office after the
Minnesota US Attorney's Office
recused itself due to a conflict of
interest. This case began in early
2005, when law enforcement
officials learned of a large-scale
cocaine conspiracy operating on*
the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Following a thorough and
comprehensive investigation,
federal prosecutors obtained
indictments which ultimately
named thirty-four individuals and
charged each with conspiracy.
Twenty-six individuals pled guilty
RED LAKE to page 5
High school students from the Circle of Life School at White Earth Reservation attended oral arguments at
the Minnesota Court of Appeals in Moorhead, Minnesota. Pictured above from the left is Anishinabe Legal
Services attorney Frank Bibeau along with several students and staff from the Circle of Life at the Clay
County District Courthouse.
Circle of Life students, Anishinabe Legal
Services attorneys appear at MN Court of
Appeals to assert tribal members' rights
By Bill Lawrence
On May 22, 2008, the
Minnesota Court of Appeals
heard oral arguments in a
child support case involving
tribal members on their
reservation and whether the
State of Minnesota still has
jurisdiction on White Earth
Reservation. For the past two
years White Earth Reservation
has been working to develop
a child support program of
its own, which would allow
for reservation laws and
employment.
Just before oral arguments
White Earth Reservation
received its federal recognition
for its child support program.
There are only 16 tribal child
support programs throughout
the U.S. and only  1  in
Minnesota, at White Earth.
The appealed case involves
all tribal members residing on
White Earth Reservation, but
with Becker County handling
child support. Appellant
Roy was being prosecuted
for contempt of court under
RIGHTS to page 6
Swearing-in of LaRose, Bongo and Whitebird July 4, Palace Casino
Ceremony of newly elected Tribal officials, Arthur "Archie" LaRose
-Chairman, Mike Bongo Secretary-Treasurer, and Eugene "Ribs"
Whitebird - District 3 Rep, will take place at 10 a.m. July 4 in the
Paradise Room at Palace Casino as part of the Leech Lake Band's
Quarterly Meeting. The public is invited. A meal will be served.
Tribe may be fined for filing
casino audit late
The San Carlos Apache Tribe,
which runs the 618-slot machine Apache Gold Casino outside Globe, could face up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in
fines by the National Indian
Gaming Commission for filing
an annual audit report seven
weeks late.'
The commission in Washington, D.C, is a regulatory agency
that monitors Indian casino
revenues and releases annual reports about casino earnings.
A copy of a violation notice
that was sent to the San Carlos
Apaches on May 30 states that
the tribe was 49 days late in filing its paperwork this year. The
fine for late filing is "an amount
not to exceed $25,000 per violation per day," according to the
notice.
The tribe has a right to a hearing and an appeal. The San Carlos Apaches are the only Arizona
gaming tribe to have received
such a notice this year, the commission Web site shows. Steve
Titla, attorney for the San Carlos
Apache Tribe, was not available
for comment.
Ho-Chunk Nation owes nearly
$100 million, state says
Another fiscal year passes
without payment for casino
operations
By Patrick Marley, Stacy
Forster
Madison - The state ended
another fiscal year Monday
without a payment for casino
operations from the Ho-Chunk
Nation, leading Wisconsin
officials to say the tribe now
owes close to $100 million.
The Ho-Chunk's latest
payment to the state was due
Monday, but the tribe refused
to pay, as it has in years past.
The Ho-Chunk argue the
value of the tribe's 2003 casino
agreement with the state was
greatly diminished after the
state Supreme Court ruled
in 2004 that Gov. Jim Doyle
didn't have the authority to sign
perpetual casino deals.
The tribe continues to offer
expanded games such as poker
HO-CHUNK to page 5
Plans duel for
Chippewa cash
By Emily Kaiser
Star Tribune
Although the U.S. government
settled a lawsuit with the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in
1999, agreeing to pay $20 million
to resolve disputes over a 19th-
century land deal, the tribe's six
bands still haven't received their
money.
The unpaid funds, up to nearly
$27 million with interest, have
now divided the bands, federal
government agencies and
Minnesota Democratic Reps. Jim
Oberstar and Collin Peterson, all
of whom are arguing for different
methods of splitting the dollars
among the bands.
Oberstar and Peterson, whose
districts include different bands
entitled to portions of the
settlement, have each proposed
distribution methods. Each plan
embodies a different definition of
equality and sovereignty.
The congressmen testified
this month before the House
Committee on Natural Resources,
alongside members of the tribe
and a Bureau of Indian Affairs
representative.
The issue dates nearly 60
years to lawsuits growing out of
the 1889 Nelson Act. Under that
law, reservation land — about
2 million acres at Red Lake in
northern Minnesota and 650,000
acres from other reservations
— was allotted to individual
Indians and ceded to the United
States, with much of the land
subsequently being sold to non-
Indians.
Proceeds from the land
— which is now in national
and state forests, as well as
farmland, private timberland
and other private ownership
— were intended to benefit the
state's Chippewa Tribe. But in its
suit, the tribe claimed that the
government sold the land for less
than it was worth and misspent
some ofthe funds.
The Red Lake Band, which
CASH to page 5
Volunteers stage beer blockade
outside Pine Ridge
Associated Press
WHITECLAY, Neb. - Volunteers
staged another blockade aimed
at keeping beer out of the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation, where
alcoholism is rampant, but this
time tribal police cooperated.
A year ago, tribal police shut
down a similar blockade and
arrested three organizers who
refused to leave.
The volunteer members of the
blockade stopped cars Saturday
and asked drivers if they had
alcohol. Then Pine Ridge tribal
police stationed down the road
confiscated any alcohol brought
onto the reservation and ticketed
violators.
Alcoholism is rampant on the
reservation, which bans alcohol,
and the volunteers had hoped
the blockade would help curtail
bootlegging. Four stores in
Whiteclay, a village just outside
the 16,500-member reservation,
sell about 4 million cans of
beer a year, mostly to American
Indians.
The blockade was organized
by Nebraskans for Peace and
members of the Strong Heart
Civil Rights movement based in
Pine Ridge. Duane Martin Sr.,
a leader in Strong Heart, said
many drivers cooperated with
BLOCKADE to page 5
Foxwoods Resort Casino lays
off employees
Associated Press
MASHANTUCKET, Conn. -The
tribe that owns Foxwoods Resort
Casino in eastern Connecticut
says it has laid off less than 2
percent of its work force because
of rising gas and food prices.
The Mashantucket Pequots say
the layoffs of middle managers
and some hourly employees are
part of an organizational review
that began in January.
The job cuts represent
"considerably less" than 2
percent of the 10,000 casino
employees, Lori Potter, a tribal
spokeswoman, said Friday. She
would not disclose the exact
number of layoffs.
The workers let go Thursday
will get two weeks severance
pay for each year they were
employed, up to 13 years, and
health benefits.
"The impact of rising fuel,
food and payroll costs dictate
that our organization must
make adjustments.These
reductions will help position
us competitively for the future,
which is bright."
5 Indian whalers sentenced for
illegal whale hunt
Associated Press
TACOMA, Wash. - Five Makah
Indian whalers who killed a
gray whale during an illegal
hunt last September have been
sentenced in federal court. The
sentences include jail time for
two men considered the leaders
of the group.
Wayne Johnson received five
months in jail, and Andy Noel
was sentenced to three months
in jail. Both men also will be
supervised for a year after their
release, according to the U.S.
attorney's office.
The other three men
Frankie Gonzales, Theron
Parker and William Secor _
received two years of probation
and between 100 and 150 hours
of community service.
The Makah, who have been
whalers for centuries, have
WHALE to page 5
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