Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2008-12-15

              ;•
SBHpHmVpHBpMp*
■
-
■■'■:•
INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4-5
CUSSIFIEDS 7
Amused, Bemused,
Confused, and
Abused
page 5
Goggleye nearly $9,000
in arrears for child
support
page 4
Surprised and
disappointed by
Goggleye
page 4
Saving the Ojibwe
Language
page 4
Sometimes the best
gifts cost nothing at all
page 4
Marge Anderson elected Mille Lacs Chief
By Bill Lawrence
Marge Anderson swept into the
office of Chief Executive of the
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe as the
winner of a special election held
December 17, 2008. Of a total
592 qualified votes she received
302 votes. The next highest vote
getter received 83 votes. Because
Ms. Anderson received more
than 50 percent of the vote, she
will take office late this month
and there will be no subsequent
general election.
Ms. Anderson was appointed
Chief Executive in 1991 after Art
Gahbow died. She was elected
Chief Executive in 1992 and
again in 1996. She lost the 2000
election to Melanie Benjamin.
In the June 2008 election
she ran once again against the
encumbent, Ms. Benjamin, but
was not successful in unseating
her.
Melanie Benjamin was removed
from office this past fall, making
a special election necessary. The
Band Assembly voted to remove
her from the Chief Executive
position, alleging malfeasance.
She was not permitted to run for
re-election.
According to published
comments, Ms. Anderson's
priorities will be preservation
and restoration of the Ojibwe
language; open government
with the people feeling free to
speak their minds and economic
diversification—a move to
create jobs other than at the
casinos. Her long-range goal
the creation of a 5 to 10 year
strategic development plan—"a
road map for the future."
Ojibwe Vincent Hill, reader and reform advocate
By Joe Fellegy
Mille Lacs Messenger, 12/17
Some phone-callers skip
the hellos and cut right to
the meat. I remember a farm
couple's July trips to the old
Fellegy resort on Mille Lacs.
After the day's fishing, with
launch barely docked, the guy
phoned his kids. No greeting.
Just "How are the pigs?"
Vince Hill's calls to me
were unique. His opening line
typically mixed humor, politics,
and the purposely ridiculous—
like this: "Say, I'm looking for
that Mille Lacs historian who
consorts with high officials like
County Commissioner Frank
Courteau and Representative
Sondra Erickson, or maybe even
acclaimed Indian experts like
Don Wedll and Tad Johnson!"
Or a Vince Hill message:
"This is the Desert Fox calling
my field commanders and
operatives, including Joe
Fellegy who owns a big mixed-
breed Indian rez dog! Are you
on the shores of Madagascar—
or in a major battle at Mille
Lacs?" (Vince, born in 1938
and with 1950s military service,
had read about the African
campaigns of German Field
Marshall Rommel, the Desert
Fox.)
Vince was a man of books and
reading. When I visited Book
World in Baxter last summer—
to meet Garrison Keillor's
brother, Steve Keillor, who
was signing copies of Shaping
Minnesota's Identity: 150 Years
of State History—Vince Hill
was there. (Yes, Vince helped
educate the author-professor
about certain Indian issues.)
A few days before his sudden
death on Dec. 8, Vince called to
say he backed Mushkooub for
Mille Lacs chief executive, and
to report his recent reading:
Michael Medved's The 10 Big
Lies about America: Combating
Destructive  Distortions
Leech Lake
Tribal College
Board
fires Leah
Carpenter
By Bill Lawrence
The Chair of the Leech
Lake Tribal College
Board, Yvonne Wilson,
announced the decision to
terminate Leah Carpenter's
appointment as President
and appoint Ginny Carney
as interim president.
The decision, according
to Rob Aitken, Executive
Director of the Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe, came as
a surprise to the Tribal
Council. However, he
acknowledged that the
Board could act in this
kind of issue without the
FIRING to page 3
Vincent Hill
about our Nation. ("Big Lie
#1—America was founded
on genocide against Native
Americans.")
I first met Vince Hill in the
1990s when he founded the
Mille Lacs Anishinabe People's
Party (MAPP), a noble try at
pushing tribal-government
accountability through
freedoms of press, speech,
and assembly. He questioned
Mille Lacs Band government's
1837 Treaty fishing-hunting
lawsuit against Minnesota.
And he worried that modern
government-centered tribal
sovereignty is too separatist
and "socially destructive."
Vince Hill grew up at Mille
Lacs, attended Onamia schools,
graduated from the University
of Minnesota with distinction,
and was a Hennepin County
social worker for 20 years. That
experience, plus his compassion
and caring, led him to seek
(unsuccessfully) the Band's
chairmanship in last spring's
election. His campaign flyer
cited "persisting social ills on
our reservation" and called
for "new perspectives," citing
statistics about addiction, teen
suicide, student drop-out rates,
crime, and life expectancy
among American Indians.
"Something is not working,"
he said, and proposed political
reforms.
Vince emphasized that
democracy is dead without
information and open debate
about tribal policies that
affect Band members and
their neighbors. He said the
present system "conditions"
Indians to think alike and to
believe that questioning tribal
government is wrong. Area
journalists recall Vince Hill's
polite jabs about "liberal media"
giving tribal governments
free passes, thereby robbing
Indian people and the wider
citizenry of the accountability
they deserve. When Mille Lacs
tribal government barred
MAPP from meeting in tribal
facilities, Vince sought other
audiences, including groups
like PERM (Proper Economic
Resource Management) and
CERA (Citizens Equal Rights
Alliance), hoping to promote
civil rights in Indian country.
In 1995, as MAPP president,
Vince appeared in the video
Indian Trail of Lost Rights,
hosted by John Fulton Lewis, to
express civil rights concerns and
MAPP's support for per-capita
sharing of casino profits.
Full-blood Vincent Hill knew
the language. His grandfather,
Tom Hill, was an early Mille
Lacs Reservation Business
Committee (RBC) leader under
the new Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe (MCT) in the late 1930s.
Vince never knew his Hill
grandparents because they
and a son were killed in a car-
train crash near Hinckley in
1939. Vince smiled proudly
when I told him about pioneer
Mille Lacs resorters fondly
remembering his grandfather.
Recently Vince Hill seemed
hopeful as tribal members,
and even some "liberal media,"
were talking up his favorite
theme of accountability midst
free information flow and open
debate.
Joe Fellegy is a Mille Lacs
historian and writer.
Redby man indicted for sexually
abusing a minor
A 19-year-old Redby man was
indicted yesterday in federal
court for allegedly sexually
abusing a minor.
Calvin Doise Little was
charged Dec. 16 with one count
of sexual abuse of a minor. His
indictment alleges that on July
12 Little did knowingly engage
in a sexual act with a juvenile
female between the ages of 12
and 16.
According to a Federal Bureau
of Investigation affidavit, on
July 12 a Red Lake Police
officer was leaving his parents'
residence when he heard a
female crying and screaming
across the road. As the officer
approached the residence, he
could hear the female yelling
"get off of me, quit."
The officer observed a
disturbance behind a tree bush,
and saw Little holding down
the female by her hands and
sexually assaulting her. The
officer identified himself as a
police officer and ordered Little
to stop. Little took off running,
and the officer began a foot
pursuit and fired his Taser at
Little but missed. The officer
stopped the pursuit to check
on the female.
If convicted, Little faces a
potential maximum penalty
of 15 years in prison. All
sentences are determined by
a federal district court judge.
This case is the result of an
investigation by the Red Lake
Police Department and the
FBI, and is being prosecuted by
Assistant United States
Attorney William J. Otteson
Red Lake Stimulus Payment to be disbursed
All duly enrolled members,
as of December 9, 2008, will be
eligible to receive a stimulus
payment of $200. It is scheduled
to be distributed on December 22,
2008. On Reservation members
will pick up their checks in
their respective voting districts
at the community centers on
December 22-23 from 8a.m. to
8p.m. Checks for Off Reservation
members will be mailed out on
Dec. 22,2008.
• Change of Address deadline
is December 15,2008 at close of
business of 5:00 p.m.
• Guardians and custodial
parents of duly enrolled
children will need to provide
documentation to the Enrollment
Office by December 15, 2008 to
receive their children's stimulus
payment. The documentation
accepted is: Relative Care,
School Records and Court
Documents/Orders.
All other checks will be made
payable to the enrolled mother.
In cases where the mother is not
enrolled with Red Lake, it will
then be made out to the father.
• The Tribal Council phone
line (218) 679-3341 or toll free
(866) 311-9758 will be open daily
for change of addresses including
December 13-14,2008 from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• On reservation check
distribution date is December 22
and 23,2008 at each Community
Center on the Reservation from
8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Off Reservation check
distribution will be mailed on
December 22,2008.
• Checks that are reported as
lost will have a 60-day waiting
period before a new check can be
issued. A $20 stop payment fee
will be assessed each check.
• Any checks that are reported
as stolen will be required to
utilize the Law Enforcement
Services and the Tribal Court
system.
Enrollment deadline is
December 19, 2008. Individuals
thatsubmitacompleteapplication
to the Enrollment Office by this
deadline may be included, if
eligible for enrollment. Upon
being a duly enrolled member,
a payment will be disbursed at
a later time. NOTE: A Complete
application will include a
certified birth certificate with
member parent(s) name(s) and
must be attached. Call or pickup and application: Reservation
218-679-3341 or toll free 866-
311-9758; in Minneapolis Urban
Office 612-874-9588 or toll free
888-439-6788; Duluth Urban
Office 218-722-6009 or toll free
888-822-6009.
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
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 15
December 15, 2008
The Fatal Link: A groundbreaking book
The Fatal Link is a
groundbreaking book. This
book reveals the undeniable
connection between school
shooters and their mother's
alcoholic behaviors. The author,
Jody Allen Crowe, is uniquely
positioned to identify this never
before seen profile of school
shooters. He is an educator who
gained his knowledge working
in the epicenters of violence and
abnormal behaviors.
'The author spent 18 years on
reservations where he learned
first hand the devastation of
prenatal exposure to alcohol.
He developed and implemented
award-winning schoolprograms.
He studied the research on fetal
alcohol syndrome in order to
develop programs that worked
for brain-damaged children. His
experiences in these schools
give the reader a sense of what
he learned throughout his
tenure in Indian education.
Crowe was a fifth grade
student in Grand Rapids,
Minnesota, when the first school
shooting fatality in the nation
occurred in 1966. When he
graduated from high school, he
was presented an award named
for the administrator slain in
the school shooting. After he
became an educator, Crowe
would compare what he knew
about the Grand Rapids shooter
with the other school shootings.
When the Red Lake School
shooting shocked the nation,
  i tie
FATAT
THE CONNECTION BETWEE
BOOL SHOOTERS AND THE F.RAI>
1RQM PRENATAL EXPOS! 'R]
POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS
filnflTif£   !
Jody Allen Crou
Crowe realized the shooter
had academic and behavioral
patterns similar to the students
from the reservation school
where he had worked. The Red
BOOK to page 5
Obama vows
Salazar will
fulfill trust
responsibilities
President-elect Barack Obama
introduced Sen. Ken Salazar
(D-Colorado) as his nominee
for Secretary ofthe Department
of the Interior on Wednesday,
vowing to give tribal nations a
voice in his administration.
Speaking from his transition
headquarters in Chicago, Obama
promised his pick will ensure the
federal government lives up to its
treaty and trust responsibilities.
Interior oversees the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and the Office of
the Special Trustee for American
Indians, the two agencies with the
most impact on reservations.
"We need more than just a
government-to-government
relationship, we need a nation-
to-nation relationship," the
incoming president said.
Salazar, a first-term senator
from a state with two tribes,
hasn't had much experience with
Indian issues during his time in
Washington, D.C. But he also
referenced Native Americans in
his remarks yesterday.
"I look forward to helping
to address the challenges
faced by our Native American
communities across the nation,"
said Salazar, who comes from a
ranching family.
The comments from Obama
and Salazar stood in direct
contrast to those made by
President George W. Bush and
his Interior nominees. In 2000,
when Coloradan Gale Norton
was named to the post, and 2006,
when former Idaho governor
Dirk Kempthorne took her place,
Indian issues weren't mentioned
at all.
But controversies, ranging
from the Indian trust fund
debacle to off-reservation gaming,
consumed both picks. The Jack
Abramoff scandal, the largest in
Washington in recent history,
sent a top Interior official to
prison for his dealings on tribal
matters.
"I also want an Interior
Department that very frankly
cleans up its act," Obama said.
"There have been too many
CONFERENCE to page 6
Factors at play in tribal cases
By ROCHELLE HINES
Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY -A lack of
internal controls, a greater law
enforcement focus on corruption
and human nature may all factor
into a series of recent cases
related to American Indian
tribes, a federal prosecutor said
Monday.
A federal jury last week
convicted a former secretary-
treasurer for the Apache Tribe
on 33 embezzlement counts,
accusing her of diverting tribal
tax revenue into a bank account
she controlled.
In another case, an ex-
member of the Seminole
Nation Council pleaded guilty
last week to obstruction of the
due administration of justice,
stemming from allegations he
accepted bribes from a tribal
casino supplier in exchange for
his power to impact business
transactions.
John Richter, the U.S. Attorney
for the Western District of
Oklahoma, said Monday it's
not always fair to generalize,
but what is being seen in some
recent tribal-related cases occurs
to some degree in any institution,
be it political or financial.
"What we find in these
investigations is individuals who
have essentially used tribal funds
as sort of their personal piggy
banks," said Richter, whose office
handled the Apache Tribe case and
a series of cases involving former
officials with the Cheyenne and
Arapaho Tribes.
"Instead of serving as duly
elected officials or public officials
and meeting their fiduciary
responsibilities to use tribal funds
to the benefit of tribal members,
they've chosen to use tribal funds
for their own personal benefit
and aggrandizement."
Doug Horn, the first assistant
U.S. attorney for the Eastern
District of Oklahoma, said there
hasn't been an increased effort
at tribe-related prosecutions by
that office.
"We've always had at least two
attorneys out of our office who
do nothing but Indian crimes"
or crimes on Indian land, said
Horn, whose office handled the
Seminole Nation case.
Horn declined to answer
questions about the Seminole
Nation case, saying it was still
under investigation. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Linda Epperley,
who handled the case, was not
available for comment.
Calls from The Associated
Press seeking comment about
the cases from officials with
the Cheyenne and Arapaho
Tribes and the Seminole Nation
weren't immediately returned on
Monday.
According to prosecutors,
evidence showed that Emily
Saupitty spent money embezzled
from the Apache Tribe on items
like travel and to pay people for
political support as she ran for
tribal offices.
Saupitty, 53, of Apache, said
Monday the case involved a tribal
dispute and she was "found
guilty of helping my people."
"They said I wasn't a tax
commissioner, but I never legally
TRIBAL to page 6
AIM slaying defendant wants
more jury challenges
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - One of
the men set to stand trial in
February for the 1975 slaying
of a woman on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation wants more
juror challenges.
John Graham and Richard
Marshall have pleaded not guilty
to charges they committed or
aided and abetted the murder
of Annie Mae Aquash (AH'-
kwash).
Graham's lawyer said because
ofthe extensive coverage ofthe
killing in the media, books,
television, movies and the
Internet, each defendant should
be allowed 15 peremptory
challenges used to pick a jury.
Other issues likely to come
up that could influence jurors
include the 1973 occupation of
Wounded Knee, the murder of
two FBI agents, and the alleged
membership of those involved
with the American Indian
Movement.
Both men also have different
defense theories.