Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-09-15

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INDEX
An important thing
Eleven Indicted For
Navajo, Hopi and
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
to consider
Conspiracy To Cheat
Lakota delegation
NEWS BRIEFS
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
5
4-5
12 Casinos Across The
United States
warned Lehman
Brothers
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 5
page 5
page 4
America Spends a Lot
on Health Care But so
Does Everybody Else
page 4
Crime statistics don't
tell the whole story
page 4
2 sentenced in sex abuse cases
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
Two Red Lake men were
sentenced yesterday in federal
court in Minneapolis in
unrelated sexual abuse cases,
and both were ordered to
register as a sex offender and
participate in sex offender
treatment.
In the first case, United
States District Court Chief
Judge Michael Davis sentenced
Donald Wayne Clark, 27, to
170 months in prison and 15
years supervised release on
one count of sexual abuse of a
minor. Clark was indicted on
Jan. 8, and pleaded guilty on
May 12.
Oglala tribe
must pay
contractor
$1.2 million
State court can decide
a dispute between an
American Indian tribe and
a private contractor when
the tribe gives up its rights,
a federal appeals court
ruled Friday in a case that
could affect how companies
do business with tribes.
In a nutshell, the three-
judge panel concluded the
Oglala Sioux Tribe waived
immunity, then claimed
immunity when it couldn't
resolve its differences with
a contractor.
The 8th Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals sent back
to district court in South
Dakota the legal dispute
between the Oglala Sioux
Tribe and C&W Enterprises,
Inc., which had appealed.
The case began in 2002
when C&W signed four
separate contracts with the
tribe for various Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation road
construction projects that
were funded by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs.
Three included language
that waived the tribe's
sovereign immunity.
They also required any
claims to go to a tribal
mediation panel and then
to federal court if they
couldn't be resolved. The
fourth contract required
tribal court to resolve any
disputes.
Disputes arose over
C&W's performance and
went through six courts
and arbitrators from August
2005 to September 2007,
when U.S. District Judge
Karen Schreier concluded
that state court didn't have
jurisdiction to enforce the
arbitration award of $1.2
million to C&W, according
to the appeal.
That's the ruling C&W
appealed.
In its decision, the 8th
Circuit concluded that
though tribes usually are
sovereign from contract
lawsuits in state court, the
Oglala Sioux Tribe clearly
gave up that immunity in
three ofthe four contracts.
In the fourth, it effectively
gave up immunity by
actively taking part in
arbitration, the appeals
judges ruled.
Because of that finding
and arbitration rules that
give the state jurisdiction,
the $1.2 million state court
judgment will be valid
against the tribe, they
concluded.
OGLALA to page 6
According to Clark's plea
agreement, he knowingly
engaged in forcible sexual
intercourse with a 14-year-old
girl within the boundaries ofthe
Red Lake Indian Reservation on
March 4, 2007.
This case was the result of
an investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the
Red Lake Police Department,
and was prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erica
H. MacDonald and William
Otteson. In the second case,
U.S. District Court Judge David
Doty sentenced Bryan Durrell
Stately, 21, to 144 months in
prison and lifetime supervised
release on one count of abusive
sexual contact of a minor.
Stately was charged on Dec.
7, 2007, and pleaded guilty on
Feb. 1.
According to Stately's plea
agreement, he admitted that on
March 19, 2007, he knowingly
engaged in sexual contact with
a 9-year-old girl on the Red
Lake Indian Reservation.
This case was the result of
an investigation by the FBI,
and was also prosecuted by
MacDonald.
Two states battle NIGC over
Ponca Tribe's casino
Indianz.com
A federal judge on Monday
took the unusual step of allowing
two states to sue the federal
government over a proposed
tribal gaming facility.
The Ponca Tribe plans to
build a casino on five acres of
trust land in Iowa. Due to a shift
in the Missouri River, the only
way to reach the site by vehicle
is through Nebraska.
That means both states have
a stake,in the matter, according
to Judge Charles R. Wolle. Over
the objections of the Bush
administration, he refused
to dismiss Nebraska's lawsuit
against the casino.
But Nebraska won't be
pursuing its claims alone, as
Wolle consolidated the suit with
another one filed by the state
of Iowa. A trial is scheduled
for October 29 in the federal
courthouse in Des Moines,
Iowa.
"The court recognized that
Nebraska has an intense interest
in what happens on land that
can only be accessed by roads
in our state," Nebraska attorney
general Jon Bruning said in a
statement yesterday.
Bruning's partner in the case
will be Iowa attorney general
Tom Miller, who joined the battle
late last month. The two states
are contesting a National Indian
Navajos lease slot-machine
rights to Arizona gaming tribes
by Cathryn Creno
The Arizona Republic
The Navajo Nation on Monday
signed an agreement under
which it will lease the rights to
more than 1,000 slot machines
to three gaming tribes near
Phoenix and Tucson.
The deal, also signed by the
Gila River Indian Community
outside Phoenix and Chandler,
the Fort McDowell Yavapai
Nation, north of Fountain
Hills, and the Tohono O'odham
Nation, near Tucson, is expected
to generate more than $100,000
for the Navajos over several
years.    ,
The Navajos have the right
to operate 1,400 slot machines
in Arizona under an agreement
with the state that is based on
population. The Navajo Nation
has plans to eventually build
four casinos in Arizona but has
yet to break ground for any of
them.
The tribe also plans to open
its first casino on Nov. 17 in
New Mexico.
Under Monday's agreement,
Gila River will lease the rights
to operate 411 additional
slot machines, the Tohono
O'odhams will lease rights
to 454 machines and Fort
McDowell will lease the rights
to 180.
Robert Winter, chief executive
officer of Navajo Nation Gaming
Enterprise, was among those
who suggested the Navajos put
their slot-machine rights up for
auction in January.
The idea, Winter said, is
to generate money from the
leases to fund the development
of casinos near Flagstaff,
Cameron, Page and a fourth
location that has yet to be
determined.
Preliminary plans call for the
Navajos' first Arizona casino
to be constructed 20 miles
east of Flagstaff, off Interstate
40, Winter said. There is no
groundbreaking date.
Meanwhile, Firerock Casino,
being built by the Navajos in
Gallup, N.M., is expected to
open on Nov. 17, Winter said.
In addition to 472 slot
machines, 10 blackjack
tables, five poker tables and
a 400-seat bingo room, the
65,000-square-foot facility will
have a restaurant, an outdoor
patio and grill, a noodle bar
and a Navajo fry-bread cafe, he
said.
The rights to operate the
472 slots were issued in New
Mexico, Winter said.
AIM slaying prosecutors turn over evidence details
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Federal
prosecutors wrote in a response
filed with the court that they've
complied with a judge's order
to turn over more information
on government witnesses in the
case against John Graham.
He's scheduled to stand trial
starting Oct. 6 in Rapid City on a
charge he killed fellow Canadian
citizen and American Indian
Movement member Annie Mae
Aquash in December 1975 on the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in
southwest South Dakota.
Two other AIM members have
been charged. Arlo Looking
Cloud was convicted in 2004
and sentenced to a mandatory
life prison term for his role. Dick
Marshall was indicted last month
on charges he aided and abetted
the killing.
Witnesses at Looking Cloud's
trial said he, Graham and another
AIM member, Theda Clark, drove
Aquash from Denver and that
Graham shot Aquash in the
Badlands as she begged for her
life.
According to a notice of
compliance, federal prosecutors
Marty Jackley and Bob Mandel
wrote that they have done what
was asked of them by federal
Magistrate Veronica Duffy in an
order stemming from a motion
filed by Graham's lawyer, John
Murphy.
Duffy gave lawyers on both
sides until last Monday to show
her more details of an unnamed
informant who reported seeing
Aquash alive days before her
body was found. The prosecutors
did not expound in their filing.
Regarding another matter,
the magistrate said that if the
government has the envelope
from a letter written by the wife
of Serle Chapman, a federal
witness, that prosecutors were to
turn it over. Jackley and Mandel
wrote the government does not
have it.
Finally, the prosecutors
responded to a request from
Graham for details of "expense
reimbursements" to Chapman
and Darlene "Kamook"
Nichols.
The government has provided
the defense with amounts and
dates of the payments, as well
as receipts received by the
cooperating witnesses, Jackley
and Mandel wrote. More details
are kept by the FBI in Minneapolis
but are legally outside the court
order, they wrote.
The prosecutors earlier
indicated that Chapman
and Nichols were not paid
informants but cooperating
witnesses who were reimbursed
for having to relocate because
of "harassment, retribution and
retaliation" stemming from their
cooperation.
A rancher found Aquash's body
north of Wanblee. Prosecutors
have said they believe she was
killed there around Dec. 12,
1975.
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Volume 20 Issue 9
September 15, 2008
Gaming Commission decision
that has stirred passions on
both sides of the border.
The Ponca Tribe's land in
Carter Lake, Iowa, was placed
in trust in 2003, long after the
passage of the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988. The
date is important because the
law generally bars gaming on
newly acquired lands unless
certain exceptions are met.
The tribe, in fact, did not
have gaming in mind when it
submitted its land-into-trust
application to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Plans originally
called for a health care facility.
But even though the tribe
changed its mind, the NIGC
begrudgingly concluded that the
site met one of IGRA's exceptions
because the Poncas were
restored to federal recognition
by an act of Congress. Still, the
agency took issue with the way
the matter unfolded.
"Without a consequence
for those who boldly promise
whatever suits them, we are
concerned by the tarnish the
Ponca's actions may have on
the credibility and good faith
of other tribes that attempt to
have land taken into trust," the
agency said in a December 31,
2007, decision.
CASINO to page 6
Anishinabe Ojibwe Artist Steve Blake, Gi-We-Din-O-Ginew 'Northern Eagle', born at the Red Lake Nation's
homelands in northern Minnesota. He designed the first American Indian Movement (AIM) logo at 13 years
of age and has designed numerous posters, t-shirt designs and logos for campaigns. Blakes spiritual
ways are evident in the themes for his art and his dedication to the path of the people is depicted in each
piece where he has hidden the acronym AIM in each drawing. Read Steve Blake's obituary on page 6.
BIA releases
details of
reservation
shooting
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The
Bureau of Indian Affairs has
released the name of an officer
who was shot while serving as
part of a surge in law enforcement
officers on the Standing Rock
Indian Reservation, which
straddles the North Dakota-
South Dakota border.
Pat Ragsdale, the BIA's director,
said Sgt. Louis Troy Poitra, 27, was
shot in the leg on Wednesday as
he was responding to a domestic
violence call in Little Eagle.
Rifle fire hit Poitra's vehicle and
wounded him, Ragsdale said
Friday in a release.
Poitra and the suspect, whom
Ragsdale said also was injured
by a gunshot, were taken to a
Bismarck, N.D., hospital.
Ragsdale said Poitra captured
the assailant, confiscated a
weapon and stayed on the scene
until a National Park Service
police officer and a Cherokee
Nation marshal arrived. They also
are part of the law enforcement
surge, known as Operation
Dakota Peacekeeper.
Poitra, who has been with the
BIA for six years, was a squad
leader with the mission and was
serving his second 30-day detail,
Ragsdale said. He is a member
ofthe Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe
and is a police officer training
instructor from the Indian Police
Academy in Artesia, N.M.
The BIA and FBI are
investigating.
The BIA brought in extra
officers in June to help curb a
high crime rate on Standing
Rock. Authorities have said the
surge has helped.
The effort is expected to
continue at least until October.
"I am very proud of Sergeant
Poitra and everyone associated
with this mission. This reminds
us all of the dedication, bravery
and sacrifice of police officers
that serve Indian country and our
communities all over America,"
Ragsdale said.
Tribe threatens to stop paying
the city of Duluth
Associated Press
DULUTH, Minn. - Fond du Lac
Band of Ojibwe Chairwoman
Karen Diver is threatening to
stop paying the city of Duluth
money from the Fond-du-Luth
Casino.
The Duluth-Fond du Lac
agreement is from the 1980s
and '90s, when the city allowed
downtown property to become
federal Indian land.
The band's casino receives
police, fire and public works
services from Duluth. The
city gets 19 percent of gross
revenue from slot machines.
City finance manager
Genie Stark says the contract
lasts until 2036 but it can be
renegotiated next year.
Diver says she wants the city
to put more efforts into the
"long-term health ofthe band,"
including more resources into
downtown development.
Diver and Duluth Mayor
Don Ness say they hope for
respectful negotiations. Ness
expects them to begin early
next year.
Tribal newspaper in jeopardy
Associated Press
PAWHUSKA, Okla. -Osage
Nation leaders have voted to cut
funding for the tribal newspaper
after it published a story critical
of some members of the tribal
Congress.
Members of the tribe's
Governmental Operations
Committee voted on Wednesday
to cut funding for distribution
ofthe Osage News, although the
newspaper will retain its two
employees and other funding.
The cut from next fiscal
year's budget, which starts Oct.
1, would not take effect unless
passed by the full Congress.
The vote followed the
newspaper's reprinting of
an article from a local paper
about congressional members
being investigated by the
tribe's Gaming Commission
on allegations that they abused
their power at tribal casinos.
Principal Chief Jim Gray and
the newspaper's editor said the
Congress was trying to control
the press, but congressional
members say Gray controls
the tribal newspaper and that
the real reason for the budget
cut is to force him to enact the
recently passed Independent
Press Act.
"That (story) was a factor
on some of our thinking,"
Congressman William Kugee
Supernaw said, "but I think
the main factor was that the
chief has a legal obligation to
implement the laws ofthe land,
and he's not doing it."
Passed by the Congress in
April, the Independent Press
Act states that the tribal
press, which is now under
the executive branch, shall be
outside the sphere of political
influence. It would create a
buffer between the legislative
and executive branches and
the paper by establishing an
editorial board, with members
appointed by both branches.
Gray vetoed the act shortly
after its passage, saying it
violated the tribe's Constitution
by infringing on freedom ofthe
press and that the tribal press
could never be free of influence
because it depends on Congress
for funding.
Congress overrode the veto
9-2, and Gray sued in tribal court
seeking an opinion on whether
the law is constitutional. The
case is pending.
Communications Officer and
Osage News Acting Editor Paula
Stabler said that by pulling
funds, Congress is interfering
with the news.
~Just because Congress
attempted to establish a free
and independent press doesn't
mean it exists," she said in a
written statement.
Gray said the Congress was
proving the point he made in
his veto of the bill.