Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-10-15

              .;•■■■•" ■■   ■
.. '     \   ..".■ :■■: ,■   /   .     '■-     '  .   ' ;.'^   ■:   ■
■.:-■
■   ■'■"•  :-■■
-    " , ■ . ■ .' '   •
INDEX
Indian museum
Why Minnesota Tribes
ACLU-MN files
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
visitor center
Should Support Norm
complaint in
NEWS BRIEFS
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
5
4-5
dedicated
Coleman
wrongful death
lawsuit
CLASSIFIEDS
7
page 5
page 4
page 4
Advisory Task Force
Report on Minnesota
American Indian Tribes
and Communities
page 4
Red Lake tribal council
breaks ground on south
boundary casino-
questions remain
page 4
Appellate court rules Melanie Benjamin
justifiably removed from office
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Vincent Hill
Melanie Benjamin made big
news in the 2000 tribal election
for Mille Lacs Chief when
she came from nowhere to
defeat the media-made Marge
Anderson. Melanie gained
national stature when she
helped create WEWIN (Women
Empowering Women for Indian
Nations) in 2005. Melanie had
invited Hillary Rodham Clinton
to the first WEWIN national
leadership convention being
held at the Mystic Lake Casino
Hotel, July 14-16,2005. Cecelia
Fire Thunder, President of
the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and in
attendance at the first WEWIN
conference, was praised. And
some opined she might be the
next governor of South Dakota.
Within a year or less, Cecelia
Fire Thunder was removed
from office for malfeasance.
Melanie Benjamin
Melanie's stardom was similarly
praised, with some seeing her
as a potential U. S Senator.
But unbeknown to everyone
on the Mille Lacs reservation
in early 2007, Melanie appears
to have begun a favorite game
of officials: "Fix my house on
public funds." Sometime in
June, 2007, information began
to leak that a housing scandal
over misappropriation of funds
was going on. A Mille Lacs
housing contracts director, the
commissioner of community
development, and a housing
supervisor were released in July,
2007. It should be noted that no
information whatsoever was
given to the public (tribal and
non-tribal) as to why three cited
employees in Housing were let
go. David Lillehaug, a former
U.S. attorney and now with a
private law firm, was brought
in to investigate, because the
internal audit pointed out
several inappropriate expenses
were linked to the Mille Lacs
BENJAMIN to page 3
Indian housing act finally signed
into law
Thomas Stillday, Jr.
OBITUARY
Thomas
Stillday, Jr.,
spiritual
leader of Red
Lake Ojibwe
By Ben Cohen
Star Tribune
Thomas (Tommy J)
Stillday Jr., the spiritual
leader for the Red Lake
Ojibwe Nation in Red Lake,
Minn., helped heal his
people in good times and
bad.
Stillday, who had served
as tribal council member,
school board member and
former Minnesota state
Senate chaplain, died of
unknown causes on Oct. 14
in Red Lake. He was 74.
An expert in American
Indian cultural and
religious matters, Stillday
was sought for counsel
from people around the
world, said Floyd (Buck)
Jourdain, tribal chairman
of the Red Lake Ojibwe
Nation.
He was an expert in
the Ojibwe language, a
championship grass
dancer and a singer at
cultural events. He served
on numerous boards and
commissions, many of
them devoted to helping
young people, and was a
home school coordinator.
He also had been a logger
and fisherman.
"His life was always
focused on Indian country,
and he gave his all to his
community," Jourdain
said. "He dedicated his life
STILLDAY to page 6
Indianz.com
It took a lot of hard work but
a bill to reauthorize the Native
American Housing and Self-
Determination Act was finally
signed into law on Tuesday.
Prospects seemed shaky
earlier this year when an
unrelated controversy
threatened to derail H.R.2786.
A compromise on the issue led
to passage ofthe bill in the final
days ofthe 110th Congress.
The update now gives tribes
more flexibility to address
housing issues throughout
Indian Country. Tribal
advocates said the bill gives real
meaning to the words "self-
determination" in NAHASDA,
which was originally enacted
in 1996.
"Dilapidated houses
and over-crowded living
conditions lead to weak school
performance, poor heath, and
contribute to a hopelessness
that few Americans witness
as part of their daily lives.
By reauthorizing NAHASDA,
Congress has demonstrated
incredible dedication to
improve the dire housing
conditions that too many Native
Americans face," said Marty
Shuravloff, the chairman of
the National. American Indian
Housing Council.
According to NAIHC,
14.7 percent of homes on
reservations and in Alaska
Native villages suffer from
overcrowding, compared to
5.7 percent nationally. Nearly
12 percent of reservation and
village homes lack complete
HOUSING to page 6
Marshall's attorney opposes
Dec 9 trial date in 75 AIM slaying
By Heidi Bell Gease
Rapid City Journal
The attorney for Richard
"Dickie" Marshall has filed a
motion opposing the federal
government's request to move
Marshall's trial up to December,
saying he cannot be ready for
trial by then.
In a motion filed Tuesday
in U.S. District Court, defense
attorney Dana Hanna wrote
that if Marshall's trial were
moved from February to Dec.
9 Marshall "would be deprived
of his constitutional rights
to present a defense and to
effective assistance of counsel."
Marshall and John Graham
are charged with murder in
connection with the 1975
slaying of fellow American
Indian Activist Annie Mae
Aquash. Graham was scheduled
for trial earlier this month but a
judge threw out the indictment
because it didn't show that
grand jurors considered whether
either he or Aquash - both
Canadian citizens - belonged
to a federally-recognized tribe.
A federal grand jury then reindicted Graham and Marshall
as co-defendants. Marshall,
who was originally indicted in
August, was already scheduled
for trial Feb. 24.
"The government has taken
33 years to investigate this case,"
Hanna wrote in his motion.
"Now, Defendant Richard
Marshall requires more than
three months to investigate the
Anna Mae Aquash
facts and history of this case and
to prepare his defense."
Hanna said he received
about 5,000 pages of discovery
from the government on Oct.
6. In addition to reviewing
that information he wants to
seek additional information
through interviews and court
documents.
Hanna also said he plans
to file a motion asking U.S.
District Judge Lawrence
Piersol to separate trials for
Marshall and Graham because
"Richard Marshall's defense is
irreconcilably in conflict with
that of Defendant Graham."
Prosecutors believe Marshall
provided the gun that killed
Aquash, whose body was found
near Wanblee.
Witnesses at the 2004 trial
TRIAL DATE to page 6
Marshall supplied 1975 SD murder gun
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - For the
first time, federal prosecutors
handling a 1975 slaying on the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
have directly accused one of
the defendants of supplying
the gun that killed Annie Mae
Aquash.
Richard Marshall and John
Graham pleaded not guilty
Friday in Rapid City to a new
indictment charging them
with committing or aiding
and abetting the first-degree
murder of Aquash when all
three were active with the
American Indian Movement.
Marshall was indicted in
August, five years after Graham
and another AIM member, Arlo
Looking Cloud, were initially
charged.
Looking Cloud was convicted
in 2004 for his role in Aquash's
murder and sentenced to a
mandatory life prison term.
Witnesses at his trial said
he, Graham and another AIM
member, Theda Clarke, drove
Aquash from Denver in late
1975 and that Graham shot
Aquash in the Badlands as she
begged for her life.
Clarke, who lives in a nursing
home in western Nebraska, has
not been charged.
Graham has denied killing
Aquash but acknowledges being
in the car from Denver.
Some speculated AIM
members killed Aquash because
she knew some of them were
government spies, while others
said she was executed because
she herself was suspected of
being an informant. Federal
authorities have said Aquash
was not an informant and they
had nothing to do with her
death.
In a new filing, U.S. Attorney
Marty Jackley and Assistant U.S.
Attorney Bob Mandel gave each
man 10 days to provide notice
of an alibi defense, including
where they were and who they
were with when Aquash was
believed to be killed on Dec.
12, 1975.
Marshall was at his house in
Allen when he gave Graham,
Looking Cloud and Clarke
the revolver and shells used
to kill Aquash, they wrote.
The prosecutors also wrote
that the meeting included an
exchange ofthe "baggage note"
_ correspondence supposedly
to Marshall from other AIM
members that referred to
Aquash.
Jackley and Mandel repeat the
allegation in the alibi notice for
Graham and include a section
web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2008
Founded in 1988
Volume 20 Issue 11
October 15, 2008
$1.5 million settlement reached in
2005 Red Lake shootings
By Rochelle Olson
Star Tribune
The injured and the families
of those killed in the 2005 Red
Lake shootings have reached
a $1.5 million settlement
with a firm hired to develop
a crisis management plan at
the school, bringing to $2.5
million the amount victims
will receive from lawsuits.
Hennepin County District
Court Judge Lloyd Zimmerman
called the agreement, which
was announced Tuesday, a
"historic settlement of the
most horrific school tragedy
in Minnesota history."
Lawyer Philip Sieff said the
amount is easily among the
most received in a high-school
shooting nationwide.
On March 21, 2005, Jeff
Weise, 16, killed seven people
at the school before killing
himself. Earlier in the day, he
had killed his grandfather and
his grandfather's girlfriend.
The settlement is in addition
to the $1 million that the Red
Lake School District agreed
in July 2006 to pay to the
21 families of those killed or
injured.
The latest settlement will be
divided among the 21 plaintiffs
in the suit against MacNeil
Environmental of Burnsville.
Attorney Roger Gross, who
represented MacNeil, did not
attend the hearing. Reached
Tuesday evening, he said, as
he has in the past, that the
Red Lake shooting survivor Jeff May was 15 at the time. He saved
the lives of several students when he charged the shooter. His
attorney said, "This is a boy that will need lifetime care for the rest
of his life. He took a bullet in his head and it is still in his head."
By Stormi Greener, Star Tribune
settlement was amicable and
did not involve any admission
of guilt by his clients. He
declined to comment further.
Now comes the decision
about how to divide the money
among those who buried family
members and those who were
injured. First was the issue of
who will decide how to split the
$1.5 million.
Sieff pushed for Zimmerman
himself, but Rich Ruohonen,
who  represents  Steven
Cobenais, the most seriously
injured student, asked for a
hired arbitrator to make the
decision, saying that hiring
one would cost no more than
about $15,000. Greg McEwen,
whose nine clients include Jeff
May, who tried to stop Weise,
agreed with Ruohonen, saying
an arbitrator would have an
understanding of personal-
injury settlements.
SETTLEMENT to page 3
1975 SD
AIM slaying
defendant
arraigned
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -Two
men newly indicted for a 1975
slaying on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation were arraigned
Friday in federal court in Rapid
City.
John Graham and Richard
Marshall each are charged
with three alternate counts of
committing and aiding and
abetting the first-degree murder
of Annie Mae Aquash when
all three were active with the
American Indian Movement.
Graham was to stand trial this
week, but the judge threw out
the indictment because grand
jurors didn't previously consider
whether Graham or Aquash,
both Canadians, belonged to a
federally recognized American
Indian tribe.
The judge gave the attorneys
until Tuesday to indicate
whether Graham and Marshall
could be tried together starting
Dec. 9 in Rapid City.
Graham's lawyer, John
Murphy, wrote in his response
it would be too soon, mainly
because the case might not be
resolved before the Christmas
holiday begins Dec. 20 for
families that might be hosting
or traveling, which would create
an urgency for jurors.
"If the trial goes into the
Christmas holiday week, jurors
may feel rushed to reach a
verdict prior to the holiday
beginning. This is not fair to any
party involved in the case, and
it would prejudice Mr. Graham,"
Murphy wrote.
The trial would likely
last longer than the eight
intervening business days, and
if Graham and Marshall are tried
together, it's even more likely
jurors would deliberate into the
holiday break, he argued.
Murphy wrote there are
evidence issues and other
matters that also will take longer
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
BILL to page 6
NW Minn. Indian band writing
new criminal code
GUN to page 6      ARRAIGNMENT to page 6
Associated Press
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP)
_ Tribal leaders of the White
Earth Band of Chippewa are
writing a new criminal code to
replace state law for members
of the band.
The White Earth Reservation
crosses three counties. That
means three sheriffs offices are
responsible for law enforcement
on the northwestern Minnesota
reservation. Over the years, the
agreement has caused tension
between county and tribal
governments.
White Earth' Tribal
Chairwoman Erma Vizenor
says relying on counties
for law enforcement has
compromised public safety on
the reservation.
v<It all depends on the
political whims of a sheriff or
county commissioners. Our
people deserve better than
that," Vizenor said.
Local sheriffs who were
contacted by Minnesota Public
Radio News say they aren't
prepared to comment on the
issue. In the past, local officials
have defended themselves
against charges of slow response
times and racial bias.
Now, White Earth wants
the state of Minnesota to give
up jurisdiction over tribal
members, who would face
tribal charges in a tribal court.
The most serious crimes, like
murder, would be prosecuted
in federal court.
At issue is a 1953
Congressional Act known as
Public Law 280 which gives
states legal jurisdiction over
tribal members. Minnesota
is one of six states where the
federal government mandated
compliance with Public Law 280
on all reservations except Red
Lake. Nationwide an estimated
70 percent of American Indian
tribal members are under
Public Law 280.
White Earth wants the federal
government to negate the
authority of Public Law 280 on
the reservation. The legal term
is retrocession. The only way
that can happen is if Gov. Tim
Pawlenty requests the federal
government allow retrocession
at White Earth.
The governor's office did not
respond to MPR's questions
seeking his position on the
change. Department of Public
Safety Commissioner Michael
Campion declined comment.
Vizenor says she has told
state officials ofthe tribe's plan,
but there have been no detailed
discussions.
When Public Law 280 was put
into place in 1953, it imposed
CODE to page 6