Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-10-01

              INDEX
The Fatal Link in
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
.2
7 to 10 Weeks
NEWS BRIEFS
5
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4-5
CUSSIFIEDS
7
page 5
Hatchet Job Slashes
at McCain for his
Casino Positions
page 5
McCain supports
Native American
Issues
page 5
Opinion: Protest
against 'Fighting
Sioux' event
page 4
Mille Lacs Symposium
discusses, questions
Federal Indian Policy
page 4
Casinos: Foxwoods, MGM Grand laying off 700
Gloomy economy blamed for job cuts
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Adam Bowles
Norwich Bulletin
Mashantucket, Conn. — In
the second major blow to the
region's economy in a week,
the Mashantucket Pequots
announced Tuesday they are
cutting the work force at
Foxwoods Resort Casino and
MGM Grand by approximately
700 people over the next few
weeks.
The tribe described the
decision as a response to
declining revenue as people
gamble less, and a move to
protect the long-term economic
success for the nearly 11,000
workers at Foxwoods and MGM
Grand, a $700 million expansion
that opened in May.
"As is happening to so many
organizations, the economic
issues facing our nation and
regional consumer economy
have negatively impacted our
revenue growth," Tribal Council
Chairman Michael Thomas
said in a written statement.
"Although it has taken a few
months, the recession's impact
can now be clearly seen in our
industry."
The announced layoffs come
one week after the Mohegan
tribe suspended construction of
the remaining $734 million of
the Earth Expansion, a project
that was expected to create 1,200
permanent jobs and at least as
many construction jobs.
It also comes at a time when
Wall Street is suffering its worst
credit crisis since the Great
Depression. The Dow dropped
nearly 800 points Monday,
the most in a single day, and
Congress rejected a $700 billion
bailout
'Across the board'
The layoffs of 6 percent of
Foxwoods' work force will affect
management and staff "across
the board," Mashantucket
spokeswoman Lori Potter said.
Anyone who will be laid off will
receive notice on or before Oct.
17, and will receive two weeks
pay for every full year of service
and medical benefits for up to 26
weeks. The workers also will be
offered jobs to fill vacancies at
the casino, Potter said.
In March, the casino, long
concerned about slumping
consumer confidence due
partly to rising gas prices,
competition and rising energy
prices, had asked for voluntary
layoffs among tribal government
employees. Soon after, fewer
than 200 workers were laid off.
As he said when the Mohegans
announced its one-year project'
CASINO to page 3
Northern
Arapaho
Tribe takes
issue of
boundary to
court
By Chris Merrill
Casper Star-Tribune
LANDER-The Northern
Arapaho Tribe is suing
Fremont County and the
state of Wyoming in the
hopes of finally settling
a decades-old boundary
dispute, a spokesman
for the tribe confirmed
Wednesday.
Although the lawsuit,
on its surface, challenges
humdrum sales taxes and
vehicle registration fees,
the court tase will actually
demand an answer to a long-
controversial question:
What lands in the
Riverton area should be
legally defined as "Indian
Country" and included
within the boundaries of
the Wind River Indian
Reservation?
If a federal court sides
with the tribe in this case,
all of Riverton and some
unincorporated areas near
Paviilion, Shoshone and
Hudson will be legally
considered within the
exterior boundaries of
the Wind River Indian
Reservation, said Mark
Howell, a Washington, D.C.-
based spokesman for the
Northern Arapaho Tribe.
The.lawsuit was filed
in U.S. District Court on
Tuesday.
The tribe is arguing,
according to court
documents, that American
Indians living within an area
north ofthe Big Wind River
and east of the Popo Agie
River, which was opened to
non-Indian settlement early
in the 20th century, should
be exempt from certain
state and county taxes and
vehicle registration fees.
The reason they should be
exempt, the lawsuit claims,
is the land is still "Indian
Country," as defined by the
federal
government, and is hence
still part of the central
Wyoming reservation.
At   issue    is   the
BOUNDARY to page 6
Nebraska judge orders tribe
members to stop meddling in
school affairs
By Paul Hammel
World-Herald
PENDER, Neb. - A state judge
today ordered four members
of the Omaha Tribal Council
to stop meddling in the affairs
of the school on the tribe's
reservation in Macy, Neb.
The order, signed by District
Judge Darvid Quist, settles
a conflict that began in May
when the tribal council voted
to banish the superintendent
of the Omaha Nation School,
Morris Bates, and two other
school administrators, from
the northeast Nebraska
reservation.
Bates, but not the other
administrators, was escorted to
the border ofthe reservation by
a tribal police officer.
That prompted the school
district to seek an injunction
against the tribal council
members behind the action --
Ansley Griffin, Barry Webster,
Amen Sheridan and Sterling
Walker.
The judge's order says the
school district is the sole
responsibility of the elected
school board and that the tribal
members may not meddle in
the operation of the district or
the work of its employees.
Bates was able to return
to work in Macy a few days
after the banishment when
the county sheriff agreed to
escort him, if necessary, to the
school.
Cherokees take charge of
hospital
by Clifton Adcock
The Indian medical center
had been run by the U.S.
government.
TAHLEQUAH — As the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services flag outside the
WW Hastings Indian Clinic was
lowered Wednesday morning
and a Cherokee Nation flag was
raised, it became official — the
Cherokee Nation was operating
the hospital.
W.W. Hastings has served
many American Indians of
all tribes over the years, and
officials expressed confidence
that patients would continue
to receive quality care.
Dignitaries from the
Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek)
and Seminole nations, as well
as Indian Health Services, tribal
citizens and medical personnel
attended the ceremony.
But not everyone was happy to
see the Cherokees take control
of the hospital. The United
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee
Indians filed a federal lawsuit
Tuesday against several top
government officials, alleging
that they broke the law by not
consulting with the UKB about
the contract.
The Cherokee Nation began
looking at Hastings in January,
and the tribe's council recently
approved a compact to operate
it.
Cherokee Nation Principal
Chief Chad Smith said, "We are
very anxious to show that this
partnership will bring better
Grand Forks arena to display tribal flags
Associated Press
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -
Ralph Engelstad Arena on the
University of North Dakota
campus plans to permanently
display the flags of two American
Indian tribes whose consent
is needed for the university
to retain its "Fighting Sioux"
nickname and Indian head logo.
Leaders of the Standing Rock
and Spirit Lake tribes are not
endorsing the move.
The flags ofthe two tribes are
to be unveiled Oct. 5 before a
UND men's hockey game. The
on-ice ceremony is to feature
Indian singers and drummers.
Arena general manager Jody
Hodgson declined to comment
on the reasoning behind the
flags. "It would be premature
for me to comment on it at this
point," he said.
Hodgson said he respects the
opinions of nickname opponents
but that the arena remains
"unequivocally" committed to
using the nickname.
A settlement with the NCAA
reached last October requires
UND to gain approval from
the Spirit Lake and Standing
Rock tribal councils to retain
the Fighting Sioux nickname
and logo, or they will have to
be retired. The deadline is Nov.
30, 2010.
A flier for the flag event say s the
ceremony will include a history
ofthe Fighting Sioux logo given
by a Standing Rock member and
a "position of support" of the
nickname presented by a Spirit
Lake representative.
The leaders of the two tribes
oppose the nickname.
"They're trying to make it
appear they're honoring us, and
they're trying to make it appear
they support us, and that's just
not the case," Standing Rock
Chairman Ron His Horse Is
Thunder said ofthe flags.
His Horse Is Thunder said
that as part of a protest last
year, he took down his tribe's
flag at the Little Bighorn
Battlefield National Monument
in Montana. He said the fact
that Ralph Engelstad Arena is
on private land would prevent
him from doing the same in
Grand Forks.
"I wish I could go there and
take the flag down and say, 'No,
you're not going to fly our flag
here,'" he said.
Spirit Lake Chairwoman Myra
Pearson said she had not been
told about the flag ceremony.
"They walk on our logos
at the Ralph," she said of the
thousands of Fighting Sioux
logos in the facility. "Who cares
what else they do?"
web page: www.press-on.net
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A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2008
Founded in 1988
Volume 20 Issue 10
October 1, 2008
Mille Lacs Band petitions to remove
Chief Melanie Benjamin from office
health care to Indian Country
here in the Cherokee Nation.
"I've been in office now for
several years, and the greatest
blessing I've had is to see
something go from the back of
a napkin to reality."
The tribe also owns 45 acres
adjacent to the hospital and has
plans to build an outpatient
surgery center, a separate
urgent care facility, a medical
support building and a doctors
building.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Chief A.D. Ellis said that about
11,000 Creek citizens live near
the hospital.
"We're going to work with
the Cherokee Nation and
any other Indian tribe that
provides better health care to
our citizens," he said.
Dr. Gloria Grim, the medical
director for Cherokee Nation
Health Services, said the
changeover would enable
Hastings to grow in ways it
could not before.
"They will now have the tools
they need, the equipment they
need and then some of the
niceties that you as patients
need," she said.
Hickory Starr, the acting area
director for the Indian Health
Service, said that the hospital
would be in good hands.
"I know there are questions,
and one of those questions has
to be 'is this a good thing?' "
Starr said. "It is."
By Vincent Hill
Melanie Benjamin was
reelected chief of the Mille
Lacs Band of Ojibwe by a
landslide majority just last
June. But now she may be in
trouble for allegedly having
used her position for personal
gain by spending over $35,000
from housing funds to remodel
her new home. The Mille Lacs
Band's community development
department had been billed for
materials and services at the
Chiefs private residence.
It appears the Mille Lacs
Band's internal investigation of
a housing scandal that began
last July, 2007, was recently
completed. Due to further
investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
the full internal report will
not be released to the public,
according to Rjay Brunkow,
Solicitor General for the Mille
Lacs Band. The full "internal
report" is being kept secret. But
results released constituted the
basis for a petition to remove
Chief Melanie Benjamin from
office.
The petition to remove Chief
Melanie Benjamin from office
states in part: "The final results
of an internal investigation
into misappropriations of
funds within the Community
Development Department
provided evidence showing that
several material transactions
occurred at the Chief Executive's
personally owned residence.
These transactions include the
performance of specialty work
and the installations of fixtures
by contractors hired by the
Band.
The Chief Executive used her
public office for personal gain
by using a Band employee to
renovate her personal residence,
thereby taking advantage
of the Band's Community
BENAJMINtopage3
Ex-fed
prosecutor for
Minn, made 1st
removal list
By Brian Bakst
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Justice
Department investigation into
the controversial firings of
appointed federal prosecutors
shows that Minnesota's former
U.S. attorney was targeted for
possible removal six weeks into
President Bush's second term.
Thomas Heffelfinger first
made a list of 14 attorneys being
considered for dismissal on March
2,2005. His name also appeared
on a second list assembled by
senior Justice Department
officials in January 2006. Those
on the list were deemed weak and
ripe for replacement.
It was subsequently whittled
down to nine prosecutors.
A second list also including
Heffelfinger was compiled about
two weeks before he said he
decided on his own to step down.
He didn't officially leave his post
until March 2006. Five more
lists were made in 2006 after
Heffelfinger departed.
In media interviews and in
the report, he denied resigning
because of any political pressure
from his superiors and said
he arrived at his decision after
learning he qualified for early
retirement.
Heffelfinger, who served
two stints as the top federal
prosecutor in Minnesota, wasn't
aware until he recently that he
was targeted so early.
"I'm proud of the work I did
there and I don't really give a
darn whether my name was
on a list or not," he said in a
phone interview Monday. But he
added, "I really am saddened by
the negative impact this whole
chapter had on the department
and its reputation."
The report, which focused
mostly on other U.S. attorneys
caught up in the removal plan,
has led to the appointment of
a prosecutor to pursue possible
criminal charges.
LIST to page 6
House approves Indian
housing bill
Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. - An Indian
housing bill threatened by efforts
to punish the Cherokee Nation
for trying to bar descendants
of former slaves from tribal
citizenship has been passed by
the U.S. House.
The bill, approved on Saturday
by a voice vote, now includes
a provision that allows the
Cherokees to receive housing
benefits as long as a tribal court
order allowing the so-called
freedmen citizenship remains
in place pending a final decision,
the Tulsa World reported from
its Washington bureau.
An earlier version passed by
the House last year would have
denied benefits to the tribe until
it recognized the freedmen
descendants as citizens.
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla.,
expressed approval of the"
amended provision.
"We can all agree that this has
been a very contentious issue
at times," said Boren, whose
congressional district is home
BILLtopage6
Attorney: Tribal judge refuses
to block election
Associated Press
LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis.
- A tribal judge has refused to
halt next week's election on a
northern Wisconsin reservation
racked with allegations of
political corruption among
existing leaders, an attorney
said Monday.
The lawsuit sought to block
the general election next
Tuesday on the Lac du Flambeau
Chippewa Reservation on
grounds that five candidates
were wrongly removed from
the ballot to silence critics of
the existing government, said
Glenn Reynolds, an attorney
for the five.
Without a hearing, Tribal
Judge Richard Ackley dismissed
their lawsuit in an attempt to
get back on the ballot, Reynolds
said.
Tribal spokeswoman Laura
Stoffel declined comment on
the judge's decision.
The underlying backdrop
is a dispute over finances in
the tribal council that has
been going on for six months,
Reynolds said.
"The issue here is who gets
to run for office and can the
incumbents exclude their
opposition, which is what
happened," Reynolds said.
"This is something you might
see in a totalitarian regime.
Yes, it is abuse of power. It is
changing the rules in the middle
of the game to have one-party
government."
At the heart of the dispute is
$50 million in bonds, backed
by tribal land, that the tribal
council obtained earlier this
year to solve a cash crunch
caused by several multimillion-
dollar investments, including a
casino boat in Natchez, Miss.,
critics of the tribal leadership
have said.
In March, some tribal
members locked themselves
in the tribal center for about
14 hours, refusing to come out
until federal officials agree to
investigate their allegations
of corruption among tribal
leaders.
Tribal leaders have repeatedly
said no money was missing and
all the tribe's spending was
properly approved.
The five candidates removed
from the ballot earlier this year
included former tribal president
Tom Maulson and others asking
the hardest questions about
tribal finances, Reynolds said.
Three of them, including
Maulson, were tribal council
members who were removed
from office in the dispute.
The tribal council adopted
changes earlier this year that
ELECTION to page 6