Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-07-15

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
Indian vote cited in
Obama's Montana
Major water
ruling issued
NEWS BRIEFS
3
win
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
CLASSIFIEDS
4-5
7
page 7
page 6
Parkcomplex honors
Code Talkers
page 2
Shooting Star
Casino one step
closer to trust status
page 4
Thoughts on
organizing new
administration at Leech
Lake
page 4
Leech Lake's LaRose sued by Goggleye
Administration, Case Dismissed
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
CASS LAKE, MN—In the
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's
Tribal Court, the Honorable
Judge B.J. Jones ordered the
case dismissed against Chairman
Arthur "Archie" LaRose. The
case stems from allegations by
the Goggleye Administration
that LaRose violated band
policy and was in a conflict of
interest situation when he had
authorized a contract for work
to be completed on his mother,
Roxanne LaRose's home. The
contractor was David Jones who
is LaRose's first cousin.
The Goggleye Administration
sued LaRose contending LaRose
acted outside the scope of his
authority and further alleged
LaRose used his position of
authority to benefit certain of his
family members.
The Goggleye Administration
complaints alleged that LaRose
only had one Tribal Council
member's signature on the
contract, which is against policy.
They further alleged LaRose
misapplied tribal funds by
approving the contract with his
cousin on behalf of his mother's
home and in an amount in
excess ofthe Band's Constituent
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July 15, 2008
Chairman "Archie" LaRose.
Services Policy Manual. Goggleye
alleged also that LaRose was in
direct conflict of interest when
he approved the contract, which
exceeded $45,000.
LaRose requested the case
to be dismissed asserting that
the complaint was raised due
to political issues that were not
justifiable in the Leech Lake
Tribal Court. LaRose claimed he
was being politically harassed by
the Goggleye Administration and
requested damages for malicious
Photo by Mike Mosedale
prosecution.
The Leech Lake Tribal Court
dismissed the charges on July
7, 2008 and found that neither
party had improperly influenced
the case as both sides charged
against each other. The Court
found that Defendant LaRose was
entitled to qualified immunity
from suit because he took the
actions being challenged in
his capacity as a Band official.
LAROSE to page 5
White Earth:
Shooting
Star Casino
closer to
trust status
By Times Staff
The White Earth Band
received notification
from the United State
Department ofthe Interior,
Interior Board of Indian
Appeals, that the decision
of the Midwest Regional
Director accepting the
Shooting Star Casino
properties into trust has
been upheld on appeal.
The Board agreed with
the BIA that it "had a
statutory, nondiscretionary
duty to accept the casino
property into trust because
the land was purchased
with White Earth Land
Settlement Act Funds
and is located within the
exterior boundaries of the
Band's reservation."
The Band is currently
suing Mahnomen County
in Federal Court for the
District of Minnesota,
seeking to enjoin the
County from collecting
taxes it claims are owed on
the property, and claiming a
refund for taxes paid on the
property by the Band over
the past 12 years. White
Earth Chairwoman Erma
J. Vizenor 'stated, "The
property in question has
been subject to multiple
appeals as to trust status
in an attempt to delay the
inevitable. WELSA was
signed by the governments
of White Earth, the State
of Minnesota and the
United States. No one
was completely satisfied
with its terms, but it is
the law. It is unfortunate
that it has taken this long
to enforce its terms, but
we are gratified that the
Department ofthe Interior
SHOOTING to page 6
Former Leech Lake District III Rep
Files to Dismiss DWI Charges
By Bill Lawrence
CASS LAKE, MN—In the early morning hours of February 2,
2008, Donald "Mick" Finn, now
a former Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe (LLBO) Tribal Council
member was arrested by Pike
Bay Town Hall Police Officer
Darren Ringness for 2nd Degree
Driving While Impaired-Test
Refusal, a gross misdemeanor,
which carries a maximum
sentence of 1 year in jail and
a $3,000 fine or both; and for
3rd Degree Driving While Intoxicated; a gross misdemeanor
punishable by up to 1 year in jail
and a $3,000 fine or both.
As of June 30, 2008, Finn's
driver's license is revoked according to a check on his license
with the Minnesota Department
of Motor Vehicles. Sources report Finn has been seen drinking beer at the Northern Lights
Casino every weekend which
prompted a recent inquiry as
to the status of this case with
the Cass County Attorney' office, Prosecuting Attorney, Jon
Eclov who revealed conditions
of Finn's release. Finn's conditions of release include no use
of alcohol or controlled substances. The conditions of re-
DWI to page 5
Casinos: Slots slide hits hard
By Erica Jacobson
Norwich Bulletin
After a single-month reprieve
in May, the slot machine
revenue slide resumed last
month at Connecticut's casinos
as gamblers kept a tight rein on
slot spending in June, according
to numbers released Tuesday.
Despite opening the $700
million MGM Grand expansion
May 17, the money put through
the roughly 7,200 slot machines
at Foxwoods Resort Casino last
month was 8.6 percent less
than in June 2007.
And, for the first time in its
12-year-history, Mohegan Sun
sent less slot revenue — $7.7
million less than in 2006-07
— to the state general fund
during Connecticut's 2007-08
fiscal year, which ended June
CASINOS to page 6
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's Tribal Council. Lyman "DeDe" Losh, District II Representative; Robbie Howard, District I Representative; Chairman Arthur "Archie" LaRose; Secretary-Treasurer Michael Bongo; and
District III Representative Eugene "Ribs" Whitebird.
Leech Lake swears in new Chairman, Secretary-
Treasurer and District III Representative
"Like the wind, our lives go in
circles, giving us a chance for
a new beginning"
By Bill Lawrence
Cass Lake, MN—On July 4th
in front of a standing room only
crowd at the Palace Casino's
Bingo Hall, the new Chairman-
elect Arthur "Archie" LaRose,
the new Secretary-Treasurer
elect, Mike Bongo, and the new
District III Representative elect,
Eugene "Ribs" Whitebird were
sworn into'their respective
Tribal Council seats.
The newly elected Housing
Board and Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig
School Board members were
also sworn in at this ceremony.
New school board members
sworn in are Samuel Johnson,
Jr., Shirley Young, and Donald
Headbird. The new housing
board members are Roseanne
Wilson, Brenda White, Margaret
Jordan, Terrance "Chopper"
White, and Leroy Staples
Fairbanks, III.
LaRose stepped down from
his Secretary-Treasurer seat to
CEREMONY to page 5
Tribe, U.S. attorney, FBI
battle bootlegging on Navajo
Reservation.
By Felicia Fonesca
Associated Press
A tribal officer walking
around the two-bedroom home
in Many Farms on the Navajo
Nation spotted 12 boxes of malt
liquor stacked in the closet.
Around the corner in the living
room, there were three empty
boxes.
It's illegal to sell or drink
alcohol on the reservation, but
tribal officials say that doesn't
stop bootleggers from setting
up shop and selling alcohol at
highly inflated prices to tribal
members.
"I think a lot of them
have been well established
throughout the years, and
they've been making money on
the side as far as bootlegging
goes," said Navajo police Sgt.
Wallace Billie.
Billie estimates there are at
least a hundred bootleggers on
the reservation. A dozen were
arrested Saturday as part of a
joint investigation by Navajo
police, the FBI and the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Arizona.
U.S.   Attorney   Diane
NAVAJO to page 6
Canyon de Chelly, Ariz.: Sandstone, stories
By Felicia Fonseca
Associated Press
CANYON DE CHELLY
NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz.
- This majestic canyon is lined
with towering red sandstones.
But the physical landscape is
only part of the draw.
Canyon de Chelly, replete
with thousands of ruins,
carvings and paintings on
stone, is revered by the Navajo
people. It is classified as a living
monument by the National
Park Service. Over campfires,
during a hike through the
canyon's trails, by horseback
or by jeep tour, visitors can get
a sense ofthe canyon's history
and its spirituality.
"I always think of this
place as the soul of Navajo
culture," says park ranger
Ailema Benally.
"It's important to spend
some good personal time
here," she says. "Time to sit
awhile and listen with your
■$#    '
td
View from Tseyi Overlook.
mind (to) what the canyon has
to say to you."
The monument is managed
by the federal government
but the land remains Navajo-
owned. Only the canyon rim
and a single trail leading to the
ruins of a dwelling called the
White House are accessible
without a Navajo guide.
Ask the guides, or let them
tell you about the Navajo
deities who are said to reside
there. You'll hear stories
of the medicine men who
bless this sacred site, and
tales of the massacres and
forced relocations ofthe tribe,
from the Spanish colonial
CANYON to page 6
Spirit Lake-
Land Buying -
ND tribe's land
buying raises
county ire
Associated Press
FORT TOTTEN, N.D. - The
Spirit Lake Sioux tribe is gradually
buying land that was once part of
the tribe's original reservation,
and county officials are worried
about the erosion of local tax
revenues.
Since 1975, the tribe has
reacquired 50,000 acres of land,
mostly in Benson County. Some
is used for housing but Joanne
Smith, the director ofthe tribe's
realty office, said most ofthe land
is rented or enrolled in a federal
land conservation program.
Profits from the tribe's casino
along with federal aid and lease
income from tribal land are
used to buy property, tribal
Chairwoman Myra Pearson said.
"We're doing this for economic
reasons and for cultural reasons,"
she said. "We're making our
reservation whole again. We want
our people to be able to say, 'This
is all ours.'"
The reservation included
about 245,000 acres when it was
established in 1867.
Each of the tribe's roughly
1,200 members received a
land allotment, and property
that was left over was sold to
homesteaders. Some tribal
members subsequently sold their
property. About two-thirds ofthe
original reservation is still owned
by non-Indians.
When the tribe acquires land,
it is put into a federal trust to
benefit the tribe and its members.
Trust land is exempt from local
taxes, which means the county,
school district and other taxing
units do not get income from the
property. The loss equals about
$240,000, including $89,000 in
county taxes.
"I don't blame the tribe," said
LAND to page 5
Native American magazine
coming
Associated Press
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Application
that will focus on American
Indian arts and lifestyles was set
to launch here Tuesday.
Native Legacy magazine will
be a quarterly publication that
will feature the arts and culture
of those who are native to the
Great Plains.
Publisher Lila Mehlhaff says
she wants to create a magazine
that will give people a better
understanding of Native America
culture. "I want them to see
what we see about our people. I
want not only my own kids to be
proud of this endeavor, but the
reservation youth, or the native
youth too," she says.
"I want them to open the
magazine and to say: 'That's about
me. This is who I am,' and to be
proud of it"
Mehlhaff says Native Legacy
magazine will be a free publication
and will be distributed in the
Black Hills and eventually in a
six-state region.
Native American actor Moses
Brings Plenty, who was bom on
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,
will be featured on the cover of
the first issue.
New workers to boost tribal
energy development
By Mary Clare Jalonick
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Interior
Department will add nine
employees to help manage
energy leasing and development
on North Dakota's Fort Berthold
Indian Reservation.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.,
the chairman of the Senate
Indian Affairs Committee, said
last month that "incompetence"
at the Bureau of Indian Affairs
has stalled energy development
on the reservation. He met
with Interior Secretary Dirk
Kempthorne, a former senator,
in Dorgan's office to deal with
the problem.
The reservation in western
North Dakota lies atop part of
the Bakken shale rock formation,
parts of which have demonstrated
great promise recently for oil
production. There are 49 oil
rigs operating on private lands
to the north, south and west
of the reservation but only one
ENERGY to page 6
Tribe won't bargain with union
at Foxwoods Casino
Associated Press
MASHANTUCKET, Conn. - A
lawyer for the Mashantucket
Pequot Tribal Nation says the
tribe won't bargain with the
labor union representing table
game dealers at Foxwoods Resort
Casino.
The tribe, which owns the
eastern Connecticut casino,
has sent a letter to the United
Autoworker Union, refusing
the UAWs request to negotiate
a contract on behalf of nearly
3,000 dealers.
The National Labor Relations
Board last month certified the
results of a November election
in which dealers voted to
unionize.
The tribe's lawyer, Jackson
King, says the tribe is a sovereign
nation and the NLRB did not
have jurisdiction to administer
the election.
The tribe has urged workers
and the UAW to unionize under
tribal labor laws rather than
federal labor laws.