Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-08-01

              .... _„. .-..-      .... — 	
•   ' •
INDEX
EPA approves air
Bill needs to take on
Unsolved Cases -
Strategic                  ■■■
Audit Findings
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
permit for Navajo
tribal officials
Technology helps
Planning is the
Reveal Red Lake
NEWS BRIEFS
3
power plant
solve South Dakota
cases
atefeecehP|l0keke
Casino Dollars Poorly
Managed
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
«
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 3
page 4
page 2
page 4                            MkM
page 4
Red Lake 2007 Gaming Audit and other
"Findings" raise questions
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
I've had the opportunity to
review the Red Lake Gaming
Audit and a special report to
the Tribal Council entitled
"Agreed-Upon Procedures."
Red Lake residents will be
interested in the contents of
the two documents.
The Red Lake Band of
Chippewa, d/b/a Seven Clans
Casinos, owns Red Lake Gaming
Enterprises Inc. It operates
three casinos—Red Lake,
Warroad and Thief River Falls.
Brady Martz, CPAs prepared
the audit for the year ending
December 31, 2007 as well as
the document, "Agreed-Upon
Procedures." The "Procedures"
report will be discussed later in
the article.
The audit lists total revenues
for 2007 at $44,748,053. This
figure reflects an increase of
$3,436,778 over the previous
year. For 2006 Red Lake
Gaming Enterprises reported
total revenue of $41,311,265.
The increase is off set by
a corresponding increase in
operating costs. In 2006 costs
were at $35,539,026. In 2007
costs were $38,911,211. The
band realized an increase of
only $64,807 in overall revenues
over expenses.
Net income (i.e. funds
available after expenses) in
2007 amounted to $5,962,018.
In 2006 net income was
$5,905,561. This reflects an
increase for ' 07 of $56,457.
The total figures for
Complimentary Items for 2006
was $373,745 and for 2007
it was $540,288, an increase
of $166,543. It would be
good to know where all these
complimentary items (i.e.
uncompensated gifts of food,
coupons, cash, transportation
and rooms) went.
Payments from Red Lake
Gaming to the Tribal general
fund, which supports tribal
organizations and services,
amounted to $3,192,316 for
2006 and to $3,702,101 for
2007, an increase of $509,785.
Payments on long-term
debt in 2007 amounted to
$1,663,238:, evidently to the
Marshall Group for operating
funds, and to IGT for gaming
equipment. The remaining
balance for long-term debt is
$10,516,836. Of that figure,
$6,533,833 is owed to the Red
Lake Band, $4,000,000 of which
is principal and the remainder is
accrued interest. The principal
amount was taken from the
Band's Stumpage Account in
2001 and was used to pay for
construction of River Road
RED LAKE to page 6
TOTAL REVENUES AND NET PROFITS IN 2006-2007
Total Revenues'07 Net Profits'07 Total Revenues'06 Net Profits'06
River Road   $26,188,421 $3,334,495 $23,770,241 $3,095,801
Warroad      $12,507,901 $2,377,900 $11,924,723 $2,568,607
Red Lake     $6,051,731   • $249,623 $5,616,301 $241,153
Sauit Tribe
and Kewadin
Casino
announce
restructuring
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI--
The Sault Tribe of Chippewa
Indians and Kewadin
Casinos announced plans
to streamline operations by
reducing its total workforce
by approximately two
percent in early August.
This will affect all Tribal
and casino facilities in the
Upper Peninsula.
The announcement was
made to team members
earlier this week by Joe
McCoy, Sault Ste. Marie
tribal chairman; the tribal
board of directors; Kristi
Little, Sault Tribe co-
executive director; Victor
Matson, Jr., Sault Tribe
CFG7 co-executive director
internal services; and
Tony Goetz, casino chief
operating officer.
"This is an extremely
tough decision to make,
it has not been easy," said
McCoy. "However, due to
our financial.position and
to ensure the longevity
of our tribe and the
profitability of our tribal
businesses, changes must
be made. We have to look
to our future and make
decisions that will sustain
our tribe and benefit our
membership."
"Unfortunately, over the
years, millions in tribal
reserves has been dwindled
down to nothing. According
to financial analysts, if
changes are not made,
the tribe will not recover,"
McCoy said.
"Although it appears to
be a very dim situation
right now, it is one that we
will fix," said McCoy. "We
are making adjustments, as
hard as they are, so that we
CASINO to page 6
Bush signs $2B boost for
Indian Country into law
Indianz.com
Indian Country will benefit
from a $2 billion infusion in law
enforcement, health and water
funds under a bill signed into
law on Wednesday.
The unexpected boost was
quickly passed by the Senate
and the House earlier this
month. It's part of a $50
billion global health bill that
supporters said should also
help the first Americans.
"There are reservations in
this country where conditions
are as dire as any place in the
world," said Sen. John Thune
(R-South Dakota), who led the
push for the money as part of
S.2731.
In signing the bill into law,
President Bush didn't mention
the $2 billion for Indian
communities. But he thanked
Senate and House leaders for
passing the package, which
supports one of his global
health priorities.
The amendment offers
$750 million to public safety
initiatives, another $250
million for health care and $1
billion for water development
projects that have already been
approved by Congress. Once
appropriated, the money will be
available in the fiscal year that
starts in October, so the impact
will be immediate.
The $750 million for law
enforcement will be split
between the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Department of
Justice. The amendment directs
the spending as follows:
follows: $370 million for
detention facility construction,
rehabilitation, and placement
through the Department of
Justice;
BUSH to page 6
Tribe disclose state gaming
check amounts
By Debra Gruszecki
The Desert Sun
Two Riverside County tribes
— the Agua Caliente Band of
Cahuilla Indians and Morongo
Band of Mission Indians — on
Thursday shed light on the
revenue checks that were just
relayed to the state.
With the $30.8 million check
from the Pechanga Band of
Luiseno Indians, the tally since
the Feb. 5 votes to endorse
Indian gaming expansion deals
stands at $64.9 million.
The following payments flowed
to the California General Fund,
as a result of amended compacts
to expand gaming:
Agua Caliente Band of
Cahuilla Indians, operating
the Spa Resort Casino in Palm
Springs and Agua Caliente
Casino Resort Spa in Rancho
Mirage, sent over a $9.3 million
check to Sacramento this week.
That's on top ofthe $4.2 million
already paid, bringing the total
to $13.5 million.
The Morongo Band of Mission
Indians, operating the Morongo
Casino Spa in Cabazon, sent
over $12.5 million. With its
$8.1 million payment made in
May, the total comes to $20.6
million. Additionally, the tribe
sent over $400,000 for the
Revenue Sharing Trust Fund.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
had stumped for the gaming
expansion deals, saying they
would bring needed revenues
into a beleaguered state budget.
The governor's revised $101.8
billion state budget in May
noted the expectation that
$446.7 million in gambling
revenue would be collected this
fiscal year from Indian gaming
tribes across the state.
The economic downturn,
and Inland Empire recession,
has tempered what otherwise
might have been larger revenue
TRIBE to page 6
Senators slam Indian Health agency for lost items
By Mary Clare Jalonick
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The head
of the Indian Health Service
defended his agency on Thursday
against accusations that it lost
millions of dollars' worth of
equipment and tried to cover
it up.
A report released by
congressional investigators last
week charged that roughly $15.8
million worth of equipment
vanished from the agency,
which provides health care to
American Indians, over a four-
year period. Employees later
falsified documents to cover
up some of those losses, the
investigators charged.
Robert McSwain, the head
of the health service since
April, told the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee that the
agency is updating policies
and conducting investigations
into the missing items. But he
insisted the problem had been
exaggerated by the Government
Accountability Office, which
issued the report.
"I believe I have a problem
but not to the extent that it's
being portrayed," McSwain
said. He said the investigators
overvalued many ofthe lost and
stolen items and said the falsified
documents were "borderline"
fabrications,
Greg Kutz, managing director
of forensic audits and special
investigations at GAO, defended
the report. It placed most of
the blame on management
for 5,000 pieces of lost or
stolen equipment including
vehicles and one computer that
contained more than 800 Social
Security numbers and sensitive
health information.
Senators said the agency
appears to be in chaos and
suggested that the lost property
is indicative of chronic
management problems.
North Dakota Sen. Byron
Dorgan, the Democratic
chairman of the panel,
called the report a "scathing
indictment."
"Your testimony seems all
too defensive of the existing
system," Dorgan told McSwain.
"I would be furious if I were
you. I'd be furious if I had
to answer for this staggering
incompetence."
The GAO report was requested
by two members of the U.S.
House after a whistleblower
- identified in the report as a
"cognizant property official"
called a government fraud hot
line.
That official alleged that IHS
headquarters in Rockville, Md.
could not locate almost 2,000
pieces of equipment worth more
than $1.8 million, including
computers and other potentially
sensitive information. The
official also said IHS employees
were writing off millions of
SENATORS to page 6
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Volume 20 Issue 6
August 1, 2008
Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation Powwow dancer Bill Torcotte of Chinook, Montana competes in the Men's
Golden Age division in his regalia on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, for the 45th powwow celebration. (AP Photo/
Havre Daily News, Nikki Carlson)
Indian tribe
gets say in how
S.D. Badlands
managed
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
BADLANDS NATIONAL
PARK, S.D. - The north end
of this national park bustles
with roughly a million tourists
a year who pull over to view
and photograph the majestic
canyons, spires and tables,
hike the trails and learn about
fossils.
The park's mostly
undeveloped and far less-
traveled South Unit, which
also boasts mile upon mile
of moonscape-like vistas, lies
within the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. In the 1940s, the
federal government seized it
from more than 800 American
Indian families for a military
bombing and gunnery range
that was used until the 1960s.
In 1976, the land was
returned to the Oglala Sioux
Tribe, which has since co-
managed it with the National
Park Service.
As that agency drafts its
operating plan for the South
Unit, it's thinking about
returning complete control to
the Oglala Sioux, something it
has never done with a tribe.
"Many people want more
tribal involvement and
management, and some want
it turned over to the tribe," said
Paige Baker, Badlands National
Park superintendent.
"My job is to balance the
Park Service mission and very
strongly listen to what the
tribe is suggesting and maybe
do something that should have
been done long ago."
Baker knows what it's like to
lose land to a federal project.
He is a member ofthe Hidatsa-
Mandan tribe of North Dakota.
Around 1950, his family had
to move to make way for the
Garrison Dam.
As an Indian managing the
Badlands today, he's asking
tribal members how the South
BADLANDS to page 6
Feds want Canadian man's alibi
for 1975 killing
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.- John
Graham earlier said people would
vouch for his whereabouts when
a fellow Canadian and American
Indian Movement member was
killed in 1975, so he should
have to disclose whether he has
an alibi, according to a court
document filed by prosecutors.
Graham stands trial starting
Oct. 6 in federal court in Rapid
City on a first-degree murder
charge for the slaying of Anna
Mae Pictou Aquash on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation.
Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud was
convicted and sentenced to a
mandatory life prison term for
his role in the crime.
Witnesses at his 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.
Prosecutors filed a request for
notice of alibi defense, asking
a judge to order Graham to
disclose where he was and with
whom.
U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley
and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob
Mandel allege that:
On the evening of Dec. 11,
1975, Graham traveled with
Aquash, Looking Cloud and
Clark from Rapid City to Dick
and Cleo Marshall's house on
the Pine Ridge reservation.
Early the next morning the
foursome went to Bill "Kills"
Means house on the Rosebud
Indian Reservation.
Graham, Looking Cloud and
Clark soon after took Aquash to
a spot on Roger Amiotte's ranch
near Wanblee.
Graham killed her.
Amiotte found her body two
months later. She died from a
gunshot wound to the back of
the head.
Graham's lawyer, John
Murphy, argued in his response
that the government's request
is unfair and unreasonable
and that his client should be
exempted from the alibi rule.
Prosecutors are relying
on a comparison of witness
statements and other events
to determine the timeframe of
when they believe Aquash was
killed.
"Therefore, the government
is seeking from Mr. Graham
greater recall and specificity
than it has obtained from its own
witnesses," Murphy wrote.
The request also is
unreasonable because
prosecutors waited decades to
indict and now expect Graham
to recall the specifics of his
whereabouts, he argued.
Jackley and Mandel responded
that the purpose of an alibi
notice is "to prevent surprise
ALIBI to page 7
Indian casino revenues down
across Arizona
Associated Press
MESA, Ariz. - The Arizona
Department of Gaming says
revenues collected from Indian
casinos dropped by more than
7 percent between March and
June as gamblers kept a tighter
hold on their wallets.
The state collected about
$26 million from tribes in the
quarter that ended on June 30,
down from $28.1 million in the
same quarter of 2007.
Casino revenues help fund
education, emergency services,
tourism and wildlife programs.
Tribes with gaming contribute
from 1 to 8 percent of their
gross gambling receipts to state
and local governments under a
2003 compact.
State reports show revenue
from all casino operations has
steadily risen in recent years
and reached $1.94 billion in
2007. Two years earlier, it was
$1.49 billion.