The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-01-03

              Interior judgement threatens funding for
White Earth; TEC continues recognition
1
By Gary Blair
Last month's U.S. Department of
the Interior—Office of Hearings and
Appeal's ruling is now preventing the
BIA from administering program
funds to the besieged White Earth
reservation.
The decision, by chief
administrative judge Kathryn Lynn,
ruled that the newly elected White
Earth tribal council members are "null
and void" and they're not to be
recognized, because they had taken
office improperly. Lynn's ruling came
after the BIA's area office in
Minneapolis gave recognition to the
newly elected council members who
had already taken office.
The elected council members
affected are chairman Eugene
"Bugger" McArthur and Dist. I Rep.
John Buckanaga. who had themselves
seated two weeks early and not in
accordance with the tribe's
constitution. They claimed that a state
of emergency existed on the
reservation due to the convictions of
former chairman Darrell "Chip"
Wadena, secretary/treasurer Jerry
Rawley and Dist. I Rep. Rickie Clark.
Judge Lynn ruled that no emergency
existed at the time and that there were
two remaining council members, Dist.
Ill Rep. Paul "Poncho" Williams and
Dist.II Rep. Tony Wadena. The ruling
also recommended that the matter be
handled internally, so as not to affect
the "reservation's tribal sovereignty."
That part of the appeal's order has now
created a stalemate, because the
executive committee of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, the umbrella
organization for White Earth and five
other reservations, has already
recognized McArthur as the new
White Earth chairman.
Additional problems developed
after the June 25 swearing-in when
McArthur appointed Erma Vizenor to
replace former secretary/treasurer
Jerry Rawley and Irene Auginaush-
Hvezda to replace former dist. one
rep. Rickie Clark, after their
convictions. Those opposed to the
appointments demanded that a special
election be held to fill the vacancies. '
When that did not happen, they held
their own election and, with an on-
reservation vote count of just 400,
they elected Doyle Turner chairman
and Robert Durant secretary/treasurer.
On Dec. 20, 1996, Doyle Turner,
Tony Wadena and Robert Durant
faxed a letter to Norman W.
Deschampc,   president   of   the
Funding cont'd on 3
Interior judgement threatens funding for White Earth
Ho-Chunk president Lowe narrowly escapes removal
Ideas for constitutional change prolific, diverse/ pg 3
Essays and poems by Reservation youth/ pg 5
Constitution of the Five Nations in 1390/ pg 8
Voice of the People
1
Fifty Cents
Ho-Chunk president Lowe narrowly
escapes removal by General Council
By Sherry Wilson
Ho-Chunk Wo-Lduk
The members of the Ho-Chunk
Nation gathered at the Ho-Chunk
Bingo Hall in Baraboc for a General
Council meeting on Saturday,
December 14. The annual meeting of
the voting members is required by
Article IV, Section 5 of the
Constitution. Until this year, the
annual meeting has always been held
in September.
According to the Constitution,
"twenty per cent (20%) of the eligible
voters of the Nation present in General
Council shall constitute a quorum."
Seven hundred and two voting
members were needed, 841 people
had registered at about 1 p.m. At this
General Council, a new process was
in place to keep track of whether a
quorum was reached and retained. Bar
codes were printed on the name tags,
which were swiped when a voter
entered or exited the room, a computer
then counted the number of people
present and projected the result on
television monitors around the room.
Also new was how the votes were
counted. Section by section, people
went to the polls set up on one side of
the room. At the poll, voting members
first handed a League of Women
Voters volunteer a piece of paper
printed with numbered spaces, thc$
volunteer marked it to show that they
had been given a "ballot for that vote.
The voter then circled yes, no or
abstain, and gave their ballot to an
employee of the Nation's
Management Information System
(MIS), who tallied the votes.
President Lowe and Willie Cleveland
were nominated to chair the meeting.
Cleveland won and called the meeting
to order at 1:41 p.m.; he appointed
Loa Porter to be Secretary of the
General Council. He also asked the
Bear Clan to assist and keep order if
necessary.
Council cont'd on 8
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 19BB
Volume 9    Issue 1 2
January 3, 1 997
i
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The OJibwe News, 1 997
25-year-old Minneapolis man sentenced to
17.5 years in murder of Steven Blair
By Gary Blair
A Minneapolis man found guilty of
2nd degree unintentional homicide in
the shooting death of 48-year-old
White Earth enrollee Steven L. Blair,
formerly of Beaulieu, MN, was
sentenced Dec. 16th to 210 months in
prison.
Vincent Edward Britton, 25, will
spend more than ten years behind bars
for the June 23, 1996 murder before
he is eligible for parole. Judge Peter
J. Lindberg's sentence was the
maximum that could be given under
the state's sentencing guidelines. (The
victim is the brother of this writer.)
The shooting occurred after a ten-
year-old girl reported to her mother
that a man identified later as Blair had
called her a "Ho," taken to mean
"whore," by the girl. The girl testified
in court that she was emptying garbage
when a man with a black jacket on and
carrying an umbrella made the alleged
offensive remark to her.
The mother, Reneda Williams
testified that she then told Britton, her
next door neighbor, and that she and
(Britton) than went after Blair, who
they saw walking north down an alley
on 18th Ave'So. Williams told the 12-
member Hennepin Countv District
Court jury that Britton ran ahead of
her and that she later heard gun shots,
but did not actually witness the
shooting.
Witnesses testified that they
observed Britton run in a direction
Murder cont'd on 5
Janet Gordon-Roy announces candidacy
for White Earth Secretary Treasurer
Janet Roy is an Ojibwe of the
Mississippi band. She is a lifelong
member of the White Earth
Reservation. Janet graduated from
Mahnomen High School and is a
graduate of Augsburg College with a
degree in Sociology. She has been
married to Paul Roy for thirty-three
years. They have three children and
four grandchildren. Janet's mission is
"to renew trust, pride and honor to all."
Her Vision is one of: All Anishinabe
peoples working together to insure
trust, pride and honor.
Reestablishment of traditional
values. Active listening and respect for
past and present history, knowledge,
and concern of our youth and elders.
Openness to Constitutional reform
representative of all peoples.
Maintenance of our present health
care and keep pace with on-going
medical advances. Continuity to
increase our land base. Provided
curricular  and   extra-curricular
activities that will instill Ojibwe
culture. Tribal outlet set up for area
artisans to display and sell their crafts.
Assist Tribal businesses to be more
productive and better workplaces. An
end to favoritism. Utilization of
existing resources for marketing local
enterprise. Courtesy given to our
college graduates who return home
with a desire to live and work among
their people.
Since her graduation from
Mahnomen High School in 1962,
Janet's employment and education
history has consisted of banking, high
school secretary, social worker and a
owner of her own business. She also
attended business college and earned
a B.A. degree in Sociology from
Augsburg College. Janet has put all
her experience and knowledge into
working with people. Her career has
been one of "Service" to the needs,
issues, and concerns of others.
Janet's decision to run for office is
her strong desire to listen to the voices
of concern from the Anishinabe
people and incorporate these concerns
to benefit all. She would like to help
with traditional values among the
people. She believes that
communication and involvement can
bring about a unity and integrity that
has been lost. Janet states that her
objectives include her values of
honesty, fairness, respect, honor and
trust for all tribal members and its
leaders with concerns regarding
employment, education, natural
resources, law and order, and the
needs of our youth, middle-aged and
elderly. Janet feels that we can only
learn from our past experiences and
proceed to the future.
Janet would like to see White Earth
members take the time and interest to
vote for their candidate of choice in
the upcoming White Earth Elections.
She thanks everyone for their time,
effort and support in the elections.
Marvin Manypenny announces candidacy
for White Earth secretary treasurer
My name is Marvin Manypenny and
I am a candidate for the Office of
secretary/treasurer for the White Earth
Reservation. I have entered this race
at the request of many people who
asked me to be a voice for them in the
development of a real democracy for
the people, that is, a government of
all the people, by all the people, for
all the people.
The cause of the conflict, distrust and
turmoil that is evident within the MCT
(e.g., the goings-on at White Earth,
Leech Lake, and Fond du Lac) is the
failure of the TEC and RBC's to abide
by the MCT Constitution as it is
written. Like it or not, the MCT
Constitution is legally binding on the
TEC, the RBC's, the secretary of the
Interior or his authorized
representative, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), and the membership of
the MCT. Unfortunately, the TEC and
the RBC's have chosen to abuse, alter,
disregard, ignore, manipulate and
outright violate the very governing
document they swore an oath to
uphold, while the U.S. government
looks the other way.
We are part of the sovereign people
who made numerous treaties with the
United States government under
international law. There has been
much deception about who we were
and what we are today. We, as well as
our children, are being told that our
nation is the United States and that the
American political system was created
to give freedom to the oppressed.
What we are not being told, however,
is that the United States government
has deliberately sought to destroy our
homeland, our history, our language,
our culture, as well as our human right
to self-determination, defined here as
the right of a people to decide its own
form of government or political status.
I subscribe to the view that we have
been deceived and tricked by the
United States government and its
political subdivisions, with the help of
"Indian traitors" who give their loyalty
to the United States government and
turn against the people. Look at what
the McArthur government is doing to
accommodate the federal
government's judicial system to be
imposed on us, whether we consent
to it or not. That's what the $1 million
to fund a police force on the White
Earth Reservation is all about. It is not
going to be used to protect us, it is
going to be used to further oppress and
Manypennycont'dons
Roxanne and Joe Martincau, "Our lives are like night and day since five years ago."
Hhoto Dy June anonnugc
Couple turns
community
By Julie Shortridge
Joe and Roxanne (Roxy) Martineau
live on the Fond du Lac reservation
near Cloquet. Minnesota. Joe, 37,
teaches Indian culture classes at the
Fond du Lac high school. He
previously worked in training and
development at the Black BearCasino,
and in Natural Resource Management
for the Fond du Lac reservation. Roxy,
40, had been a hair dresser for 15
years, and is now completing her
bachelor's degree in English and
Journalism.
Joe is one of 13 children, and Roxy
is the oldest of 10. Combined, they
have four children, two of whom live
lives around, are asset to
with them. Roxy also has three
grandchildren.
They have both become active in
traditional activities — bead work,
carving, leatherwork, hunting, fishing,
making maple syrup, wild ricing,
drumming, singing, dancing and
traditional ceremonies. They have
followed the Mide teachings for six
years.
"Joe and I kind of balance each
other. Joe has a gentle, loving spirit.
I'm more aggressive and assertive.
I'm city and he's reservation. But our
differences are on the surface. Deep
down, there is no difference between
us. We have the same beliefs, attitudes
and way of living," says Roxy.
But their lives have not always been
so balanced. "I was in treatment five
times before I finally stopped drinking.
I have now been sober for six years,
Roxy for eight years," said Joe.
"I grew up really angry. Violently,
uncontrollably angry. I'm still in
recovery from my anger," Joe says.
At the age of 3 1/2, Joe was taken away
from his mother, who had struggled to
take care of 13 kids, and was placed in
a non-Indian home off the reservation.
"I didn't see another Indian until I was
12, when one of my brothers died and
I went to the funeral. I felt bad because
I didn't even remember most of the
people in my family. Me and my
brother Bob were the only Indians in
Couple cont'd on 3
Federal judge who presided over Wounded
Knee trials dies in Arizona
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)_Fred J.
Nichol, a retired federal judge who
presided over a trial stemming from
the 1973 American Indian occupation
Wounded Knee, died of pneumonia
Tuesday in Sun City, Ariz. He was 84.
His cases included the 1974 trial of
American Indian Movement leaders
Dennis Banks and Russell Means for
taking over Wounded Knee, a village
on South Dakota's Pine Ridge
reservation, a year earlier.
By the end of nine months, Nichol,
with the defense's help, became so fed
up with prosecutors that he threw out
the case.
He also presided over civil cases
involving the construction of missile
sites in South Dakota.
Nichol was born March 19,1912, in
Sioux City, Iowa. He was raised in the
Aberdeen, Springfield and Yankton
areas. After graduating from high
school in 1928, he was a wire editor
for the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan
newspaper.
He was graduated from Yankton
College in 1933 and earned his law
degree at the University of South
Dakota in 1936.
Nichol was fond of telling young
law clerks about how nervous he was
the night before his first case.
"Then, of course, after the first few
trials, I loved it," Nichol once said.
"F ve never forgotten how it was when
I was trying a case."
Sioux Falls attorney Mike Luce, who
clerked with Nichol for a,year, called
Nichol the "perfect judge."
Judge cont'd on 6
Clinton rejects pardon for imprisoned ex-leader
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) _
Peter MacDonald, the former Navajo
Nation leader imprisoned for
instigating a bloody riot to regain
power, will not get a pardon from
President Clinton, a member of the
nation said.
MacDonald, who has served four
years in federal prison of a 14-year
sentence, told the tribe Tuesday of
Clinton's decision, Navajo President
Albert Hale said.
"We remain hopeful in exploring
other options ... (which) may include
commutation, early parole and others,"
Hale said Tuesday.
The White House and the Justice
Department did not return phone calls
late Tuesday night.
MacDonald, who served as
chairman of the tribe for 14 years
during the 1970s and 1980s, was
accused of graft in testimony before a
Senate hearing and was removed from
office by the tribal council. When
supporters marched to tribal
headquarters in 1989 to reinstate him,
a melee broke out and two MacDonald
supporters were killed.
MacDonald was convicted in 1992
of having instigated the riot and of
accepting thousands of dollars in
bribes and kickbacks _ charges that
shamed a tribe mired in poverty and
yearning for respect.
Hale had told Clinton pardoning
MacDonald "would heal the division
among the Navajo people" and that
his release from prison would "relieve
the suffering and isolation from his
family and friends."
Former Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-
Ariz., and former President Carter had
joined Hale and other Navajo leaders
in seeking a pardon for MacDonald,
who has diabetes and arthritis and
suffered a mild heart attack in March.