Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2009-05-01

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS «
CUSSIFIEDS 7
Student Wins Udall
Native American
Congressional
Internship
page 2
Thank You Veterans
For Making Our
Country Free
page 5
Karbowaski
Exonerated
page 4
A Tribal member's
call to action
page 4
Some uncommon,
common-sense
advice for the
graduates
page 4
Native woman wins unprecedented case
By Matthew Gruchow
Argus Leader
A Native American woman
from Wounded Knee won a
historic ruling in federal court
based on a century-old treaty
between the U.S. government
and the Oglala Sioux Tribe after
she was sexually assaulted by a
military recruiter.
The U.S. government must
pay Lavetta Elk, formerly of
Wounded Knee, almost $600,000
in damages after she was sexually
assaulted by Army recruiter
Staff Sgt. Joseph Kopf in his car
January 2003, according to court
documents. Judge Francis Allegra
based the ruling on a "bad men"
provision in the April 29, 1868,
treaty between the government
and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
That provision of the Fort
Laramie Treaty "provides that
if 'bad men' among the whites
commit 'any wrong' upon the
person or property of any Sioux,
the United States will reimburse
the injured person for the loss
sustained," court documents filed
Tuesday indicated.
The judgment against the U.S.
government based on the treaty
is unprecedented, said Adam
Horowitz, Elk's Miami-based
lawyer. The treaty previously
had been interpreted to cover
only out-of-pocket expenses for
injured Native Americans or
property damage, he said.
"Never before has this treaty
been used to bring such a
claim," Horowitz said. "It creates
precedent for Native Americans
who belong to tribes with treaties
like this in effect."
Elk, who was 19 at the time of
the assault, now is married and
lives in California. She could not
be reached for comment.
Shattered dream
Elk, 26, had hoped to become
the first female in her family
to join the military. Kopf was
to guide her entrance into the
Army.
During a recruiting trip in
August 2002, Kopf told Elk he
had to measure and weigh her
as part of her application process
CASE to page 3
VOICE      OF      THE       PEOPLE
Lawmakers       Lies, fall of a Mashpee tribal leader
Move To
Curb Rape
On Native
Lands
by Laura Sullivan
Weekend Edition
The federal government has
recently announced plans to
spend hundreds of millions
of dollars to improve medical
clinics, buy more rape kits and
bolster the police response
to what authorities say is an
epidemic of rapes on Indian
land.
The February stimulus
bill injected $500 million
into Indian Health Services,
the agency that handles
most medical needs for
Native Americans, while
the appropriations bill that
passed in March is also
adding funds. The March
bill increases the budget for
the Bureau of Indian Affairs
by $85 million to provide
additional law enforcement
on reservations.
Meanwhile, Congress is
attempting to strengthen
the authority of tribal police
with a new bill that would
gt ant Native American tribes
greater police powers.
Advocates say it would be a
sea change for tribes, which
are largely dependent on the
federal government when it
comes to law enforcement on
their lands.
Two years ago, the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation,
which straddles North and
South Dakota, had five Bureau
of Indian Affairs officers to
patrol an area the size of
Connecticut. Officials there,
and on many reservations
nationwide, described a
rampantproblemofrape where
hundreds of cases were going
unreported, uninvestigated
and unprosecuted.
According to the Justice
Department, 1 in 3 Native
American women will be
raped in her lifetime. Tribal
leaders say predators believe
Native American land is
almost a free-for-all, where
no law enforcement can touch
them.
In many ways, those
offenders may be right.
RAPE to page 6
By George Brennan
He once told a couple of buddies
that he had driven racing legend
Carroll Shelby's brand new high-
performance Mustang.
■ While in Vietnam, he said,
fye spent two weeks away from
his Marine unit living with the
H'mong people and learning their
cultural ways.
And in 2Q00, he told a researcher
thatVemonPocknettjtherespected
i and deceased spiritual leader of
the Mashpee Wampanoag, hand-
picked him as his successor for
tribal chief.
Glenn Marshall could tell a
fantastic story, those who know
him say. But sometimes the stories
were just that fantasy.
"If you tell him something, or
he hears something, he retains
it," said a man who is close to
Marshall's family but asked not to
be identified for this report. "He'll
bring it back 20 years later and say
it was him."
After the Times exposed
Marshall's 1981 rape conviction
and lies about his military service,
he resigned from office and a
federal investigation into his
finances began within weeks.
It also cast a dim light on the
LEADER to page 3
Banished Snoqualmie tribal
members win federal court ruling
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times
Nine Snoqualmie tribal members
banished by their tribal council
last spring were kicked out
without due process, a federal-
court judge ruled.
In his ruling handed down in
U.S. District Court late Thursday,
Judge James L. Robart set aside
the full banishment of the tribal
members, including former
tribal-council members and the
former tribal chairman, and
placed a time limit of 90 days on
their social banishment, which
bars them from visiting tribal
lands or interacting with other
tribal members.
During the 90-day period, the
tribe may consider whether it
wants to redo its banishment
proceedings against the tribal
members, or let the matter go.
The tribe had argued that the
suit had no place in court and
that as a sovereign nation it alone
had jurisdiction over matters of
punishment and membership.
Tribal attorney Pete Connick
said Friday he did not know if
the tribe would appeal the ruling,
which he noted was narrowly
construed.
"The social banishment remains
in place," he said. "As far as we are
concerned, they have provided an
avenue for the tribe to reconsider,
and they can determined what
they want to do."
Rob Roy Smith, attorney for
the banished tribal members,
said the case set an important
precedent.
"This is a first-of-a-kind ruling,"
Smith said. "It is very significant
not only for these Snoqualmie
tribal members, but for Indian
Country.
"I think the precedent is that
tribes need to respect the civil
rights of their members, and
tribal governments need to know
they can be held accountable if
they fail to provide their members
with the right to due process."
The banished tribal members
argued they had not received
adequate notice ofthe banishment
proceedings against them, nor
had they been able to defend
themselves before their accusers,
among other violations.
The banishment conflict flared
over a disputed election, in May
2007, as the tribe of about 650
members, recently recognized
by the federal government, was
preparing to open a $375 million
casino on Interstate 90 just a
half-hour's drive from Seattle.
The casino opened in November.
At the height ofthe controversy
last spring, some tribal leaders
accused the banished of having run
an illegal shadow government
At one point, the tribe had two
councils, each contending to be
the only legitimate leaders ofthe
Snoqualmies, with one group
meeting at the tribal center and
another meeting at libraries or
private homes.
Carolyn Lubenau, who helped
lead the fight for reinstatement,
said she was grateful for the
ruling. "This shows that Native
Americans do have civil rights,
but we have a ways to go.
"The ball is in their court.
Do they want to pursue these
charges?" she said ofthe tribe. "If
RULING to page 6
American Indian history part of Mt Rushmore plan
By Carson Walker
Associated Press
MOUNT RUSHMORE
NATIONAL MEMORIAL, S.D.
Mount Rushmore National
Memorial managers are
formally planning the overall
direction ofthe popular tourist
attraction for the next 15 to
20 years, and American Indian
history is a big part of it.
Besides the traditional
education about the four
presidential faces, the effort
will include the current and
planned attractions that expose
visitors to native history and
other cultures, said park
Superintendent Gerard Baker.
"Our first mission is to talk
about these presidents and the
first 150 years of this country,"
he said.
"They're always going to be
in the forefront. But that gives
us an opportunity to talk about
this land before them."
Many natives see the
memorial as a painful symbol
of Indian treaties broken by the
federal government.
Baker, a member of North
Dakota's Mandan and Hidatsa
tribes who grew up at Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation,
became the park's first Native
Mount Rushmore
American superintendent in
2004.
He has since added elements
to teach the roughly 3 million
annual visitors about Indian
history.
Baker said the goal is to
pique people's curiosity about
other another culture so they
go home and research it.
"I want them to leave with
more questions than answers,"
he said.
Public comments on the
proposed General Management
Plan, which replaces the last
one done in 1980, are being
accepted until May 15. Then
the process shifts to developing
management alternatives for
the park's resources, facilities
and education programs.
The plan is scheduled to be
implemented by 2012.
Last summer, an exhibit
called heritage village was
set up along the presidential
trail that features three tipis
representing the Lakota,
Dakota and Nakota branches
of the Sioux nation. It's below
Washington's head and has a
southern view of 7,242-foot-
high Harney Peak, a landmark
RUSHMORE to page 6
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A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2009
Founded in 1988
Volume 20 Issue 21
May 1, 2009
In this photo taken April 10, 2009, Earl Davis holds a recently completed piece, "Day Breaking" on the mud
flats of Willapa Bay in Tokeland, Wash. Davis is the heritage director for the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe. (AP
Photo/The Daily World, MacLeod Pappidas)
Man Keeps Shoalwater Tribe Heritage Alive
Written by David Haerle
TOKELAND, Wash. - Despite
his relatively young age, Earl
Davis has lived one of life's great
lessons - things are not always
•as they appear.
Davis, 27, the heritage
director for the Shoalwater
Bay Indian Tribe, is not what
you might expect upon first
meeting.
With freckles, fair skin and a
carved physique, he looks more
like a bodybuilder or bodyguard
than a cultural liaison and
budding three-dimensional
artist.
"I get that a lot, especially
in my job, because this field is
actually very small. Every tribe,
maybe, has one or two people
(in their heritage department),
and most of them are elders."
Now in looking at Davis,
who grew up in Westport and
graduated from Ocosta High
School, it might not surprise
you that he's an ex-Marine,
though even that belies his laid-
back and soft-spoken manner.
"It was good for me," Davis
said of his four-year stint in
the Corps. "I wanted to get
out of the Harbor as soon as I
could. As a teenager, I couldn't
wait to leave. Five days after I
graduated from high school, I
was in boot camp."
That was in San Diego. His
tour of duty would also take
him to far-flung locales such as
Japan, Thailand, Kuwait and, of
course, Iraq, where he was part
ofthe spearhead that advanced
on and captured Baghdad.
A corporal, he served as
an infantry squad leader in
Iraq during a five-month stay
complete with firefights and
historic moments.
"All those famous... photos of
them pulling down the statue
of Saddam. I was a block away
watching that We were some of
the first ones into Baghdad."
Those four years were an
eye-opener.
"I figured I was going to make
a career out ofthe Marines," he
said. "But I just decided one day
that I wanted to see what else
was out there.
"I saw the rest of the world
and decided home wasn't so
bad," he said with a smile.
The son of Bruce and Cathy
Davis of Westport, he returned
to work for the Shoalwater Tribe
in Tokeland, where he spent
many of his childhood days
as his father fished out of the
marina, his mom worked at the
cannery and his grandmother
resided there.
He lives there today with
his wife of eight years, Kristal,
HERITAGE to page 2
Rep. Boren
resurrects
Indian apology
proposal
by JIM MYERS
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep.
Dan Boren, who again has
introduced a bill to apologize
to American Indians for a long
history of ill-conceived policies
and treatment by the federal
government, said Friday that it
is time for the country to face
these injustices.
"The U.S. government broke
hundreds of treaties it made with
Indian nations," the Oklahoma
Democrat said. "The impact
of many U.S. policies is the
source of many ofthe social and
economic disparities that tribes
face today."
Boren cited injustices such as
forced removal of some tribes
and the Trail of Tears.
"While this apology doesn't
recognize the complexity of
those wrongs, it's an important
step in moving forward," he
said.
Boren introduced the
legislation earlier but did not
announce it immediately.
Instead, that came from Sen.
Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who
has reintroduced the legislation
in the Senate.
"The resolution seeks
reconciliation and offers an
official apology to native peoples
for the poor choices the federal
government made in the past,"
Brownback said Thursday in his
statement. "I firmly believe that
in order to move forward and
have a true reconciliation, the
federal government needs to
formally apologize."
Jodi Rave Ending Newspaper
Career
Missoulian News
MISSOULA, Mont—Jodi Rave,
who has spent 1,1 years reporting
on Native American issues for
Lee Enterprises newspapers, is
ending her newspaper career
to write a book about Elouise
Cobell and the Indian Trust Fund
lawsuit.
A farewell column by Rave,
distributed to Lee editors
Wednesday, confirmed
speculation this week that she had
submitted her two-week notice to
resign her job as the newspaper
chain's Native American affairs
reporter and columnist
Rave's announcement of her
departure from daily journalism
comes a month after another
noted Native journalist, Mark
Trahant, lost his job when the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer shut
down newspaper operations to
produce an online-only edition.
Trahant, Shoshone Bannock, was
the paper's editorial page editor.
Lee Enterprises owns more
than 50 daily newspapers and
more than 300 weekly newspapers
and specialty publications in 23
states.
Rave is Mandan-Hidatsa and a
1996 graduate ofthe University of
Colorado at Boulder journalism
school. A 2004 Nieman Fellow
at Harvard University, she is a
former member of the board of
the Native American Journalists
Association. Rave has taught at
the Freedom Forum's American
Indian Journalism Institute.
Lee and Other Papers
Prior to joining Lee Enterprises
in 1998, she worked as a business
reporter at the Idaho Statesman
Carol Jean Vigil
in Boise and The Salt Lake
Tribune in Salt Lake City. As a Lee
reporter, she was first based at
the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star.
She moved to the Missoulian
newspaper in 2004.
Cobell, Blackfeet, is lead
plaintiff in the 12-year-old Indian
Trust Fund lawsuit [11 against
the U.S. government. The case,
Cobell v. Salazar, alleges that
the U.S. government failed to
pay Native Americans billions
of dollars in oil, gas, grazing,
timber and other royalties from
Indian trust land managed by
the Interior Department since
1887. Both sides are appealing
a District Court ruling last year
that Indian plaintiffs should be
awarded $455 million, rather
than the $47 billion they had
sought.
Last Saturday, Rave and
Cobell appeared together on a
panel called "Covering Native
America" at a regional Society
of Professional Journalists
conference at the University of
Montana.
In her farewell column, Rave
said she'd written "arguably
CAREER to page 7