The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-01-17

              IHB, Smith hit with another lawsuit by
former employees alleging abuse
By Gary Blair
A lawsuit filed March 9, 1995,
against the Minneapolis Indian Health
Board (IHB) and the clinic's director,
Norine Smith, could be heard next
month if an out-of-court settlement is
not reached by then.
The plaintiffs, who are Native
Americans, allege that they were
discriminated against by Smith — a
Red Lake enrollee — and that IHB's
board of directors did nothing to stop
their treatment.
The plaintiffs are Shirlee Stone, a
Pine Ridge enrollee and director of the
clinic's former Golden Eagles youth
program, which has since been
renamed and moved by Stone to the
Minneapolis American Indian Center.
Other complainants includcthc
following former Golden Eagle staff
members: Patricia Yager, a Leech
Lake enrollee; Carol White, an Oneida
member; Elizabeth Moore, a Leech
Lake enrollee; Gloria Johnson, a
Leech Lake member; and Patricia
Thompson, a Winnebago enrollee.
Louis Brenner, attorney for the
clinic, said on Wednesday that the case
will be settled out of court and
discussions with IHB's board of
directors have taken place within the
past two weeks. "There is no story
here," Brenner told the PRESS.
However, Staccy Everson, an
attorney with the Cooper Law Firm
representing the Plaintiffs, said on
Wednesday that they had not been
contacted by Brenner's office about a
settlement. "Naturally, we are
interested in settling out of court,
provided an adequate settlement can
be reached," she said.
The eight-count lawsuit reads in
part: "While working at Defendant
Indian Health Board, Plaintiffs were
subjected to repeated harassing and
disparaging remarks concerning their
race by Defendant Smith."
The suit's "statement of facts,"
Suit cont'd on 4
IHB hit with another lawsuit by former employees
Vizenor, Turney prevail in White Earth primaries
Gaming Commission announces compliance deadline
Phillips residents declare state of emergency/ pg 3
RL dance troupe to perform at MN Hist. Cntr./ pg 5
Voice of the People
_1
Fifty Cents
Vizenor, Turney prevail in White Earth
primaries Will face At, Marcell Goodwin March 11
(NAP/ON) Two White Earth RBC
members whose appointment to office
made them a focal point of political
protests, achieved resounding first
round victories in the reservation's first
primary election.
Secretary-treasurer Erma Vizenor
and District I Rep. Irene Auginaush-
Turney emerged on top in both
reservation and absentee balloting,
each winning near-majority votes
among crowded fields of nine
candidates. Vizenor won 47% of the
overall vote, while her rival, Al
Goodwin, came in second with 20%.
In a Jan. 14 RBC press release.
Vizenor called the vote "historic! This
is like Nicaragua or Haiti—we've had
our reservation's first free, fair election
in many years." Vizenor was
appointed by then chairman-elect
Eugene McArthur after her
predecessor, Jerry Rawley, was
convicted of 17 federal felonies,
including election fraud.
Goodwin, a former economic
development director under
imprisoned ex-chairman Darrell
Wadena, and Vizenor, formerly a
spokesperson for the anti-Wadena
coalition known as Camp Justice, will
square off in the March 11 general
election.
While Goodwin says he resigned last
June because he could no longer
support Wadena and disavows any
continued association with the former
chairman, Vizenor is likely to make
an issue of Goodwin's past. In a
blatantly partisan Jan. 3 press release, L^
the RBC accused Goodwin of
mismanaging millions of dollars of
White Earth funds, including work on
a "secret" amendment to a former
gaming contract which allowed casino
management firm Gaming World
Primary cont'd on 3
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 19B8 Volume 9    Issue 14        January 17, 1997
J
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1 997
Gaming Commission announces March 31
deadline for compliance with IGRA
Washington, DC — The National
Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC)
has announced a March 31, 1997
deadline for gaming tribes to comply
with major provisions of the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
The announcement, which was made
at a NIGC workshop on compliance
in Albuquerque, NM, follows the
release of the first quarterly NIGC
report on compliance by Indian tribes
and gaming facilities with the IGRA.
This first report was sent to the
Secretary of the Interior on November
26, 1996 and indicates that, as of
September 30, 1996, a substantial
number of tribes and gaming
operations were not in compliance
with one or more at the eight items
covered by the report. A second
report, which will indicate compliance
levels as at December 31, 1996, is in
preparation and will be available by
early Spring.
"We were very pleased with the
turnout at the compliance workshop,"
said Harold A. Monteau, Chairman of
the NIGC. "Over three hundred (300)
tribal representatives attended," he
said, "and I believe this is an
indication of the commitment of the
tribes to voluntary compliance with
The IGRA."
The items covered by the report
include. 1) whether the tribe has a
Department of Interior approved
compact with their state to do class 111
gaming; 2) whether the tribe submits
investigative reports on key
employees to the NIGC; 3) whether
the tribe submits fingerprints for key
employees to the NIGC or their state;
IGRA cont'd on 8
State, counties seek ruling that casino
revenue negates need for treaty rights
Ada Deer, to step down as head of BIA.
Erma Vizenor, advances to the March 11 general election.
Midwest tribes create anti-tax alliance
By Dennis Anderson
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Does the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe
already enjoy a "moderate" standard
of living, thanks to income from its
casinos and other sources?
If so, arc the Mille Lacs and other
Ojibwe bands that signed an 1837
treaty with the federal government
deserving of as much as half of the
fish and game within a 12-county
region of east-central Minnesota?
Those questions and others are
before U.S. District Judge Michael
Davis, who is hearing the second
phase of the Mille Lacs treaty rights
trial.
Davis is expected to rule soon,
perhaps before the end of the month,
on the "moderate standard of living"
issue and a number of other Mille Lacs
treaty questions that have been before
him since mid-October.
If this phase of the trial is concluded
in coming months, Ojibwe band
members might spear walleye and
other fish in Mille Lacs this spring,
according to Mille Lacs band DNR
commissioner Don Wedll.
Issues before Davis include:
• Can the Mille Lacs band—and other
Ojibwe bands who signed the 1837
treaty—use gill nets in the ceded
territory in lakes smaller than 1,000
acres? About 100 such lakes exist in
the region; the band so far has
expressed interest in using nets in
eight.
• Can the bands kill deer in December
Ruling cont'd on 5
KESHENA, Wis. (AP) _ Twenty-
six American Indian tribes have
formed an alliance to resist increased
federal regulation and potential
taxation of tribal gambling revenue.
"Our primary purpose will be to
have a collective lobbying effort at
the federal level in regard to issues
affecting Indian Country," said
Menominee Tribal Chairman John
Teller.
The secondary function of the
Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes,
representing 120,000 American
Indians from Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Iowa and Michigan, will be educating
members of Congress concerning
Indian affairs, since 30 states do not
have any American Indian tribes, he
said.
"We've been playing defense with
the past two Congresses. We can't
afford to play defense anymore. We
have to take the offense," said Rick
Hill, chairman of the Washington,
D.C.-based National Indian Gaming
Association.
"We need to educate Congress to
the fact Indian tribes are sovereign
and know how to spend their
resources," saidHill,formerchairman
of Wisconsin's Oneida Nation. "We
have to get rid of the misnomer that
Indian tribes with gaming are rich."
There has been increasing pressure
from states to tax American Indian
gambling revenues, Hill told those
who attended a two-day conference
this week in Keshena. There are 126
tribes in 24 states that have negotiated
gaming compacts.
"It's kind of interesting they want
Indian tribes, with their meager
incomes, to bail everyone else out,"
Hill said. "One sovereign government
Alliance cont'd on 6
Deer resigns as head of Indian Affairs        Tribal leader voted out of office
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Ada Deer,
a memberof Wisconsin's Menominee
tribe, plans to step down as head of the
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the
agency that tribes rely on for social
services, law enforcement, education
and many other services.
But Deer, the first Indian woman to
serve as the Interior Department's
assistant secretary for Indian affairs,
will stay on the job until President
Clinton names her successor, Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt said
Thursday.
The BIA has long been criticized for
mismanaging tribal programs and
money, and Deer had spent the last
two years fighting congressional
efforts to cut the agency's budget and
curb its authority.
Babbitt said Deer had worked to
resolve longstanding disputes and give
tribes more control over federal
programs.
"As a result, tribes are better
equipped and more empowered than
ever before," Babbitt said.
"She is simply the most admired,
most respected and most loved native
leader in this country," said Lawrence
Aschenbrenner, an attorney for the
Native American Rights Fund.
Deer, 61, a native of Keshena, Wis.,
worked during the early 1970s as a
tribal lobbyist in Washington and later
for the Democratic National
Committee. She ran unsuccessfully
for Wisconsin secretary of state in
1978 and 1982.
Deer tried to get elected to the House
of Representatives in 1992 from
Wisconsin's 2nd District, which
includes Madison and several counties
in south-central Wisconsin. She won
the Democratic primary but lost to
Republican Scott Klug in the general
election.
Menominee Tribal Chairman John
Teller said there was speculation in
Wisconsin that Deer might be given
another job in the Interior Department.
"I know she'll continue to advocate
for Indian people," he said.
BARABOO, Wis. (AP) _ An offer
of $ 100 a person for attending a tribal
meeting helped produce a quorum
Saturday as members of the Ho-Chunk
Nation voted to remove Chloris Lowe
Jr. as their president.
The tribal meeting, called a general
council, voted 536 for keeping Lowe
and 597 to remove him. The decision
will be appealed to tribal judge Mark
Butterfield, Lowe said.
Lowe has been criticized by a group
called the Coalition for Fair
Government.
Critics say he failed to preside over
legislative meetings since last April,
illegally gave a contract to his sister
JoDeen Lowe, and participated in a $ 1
million contract with a former business
partner who provided him with a loan.
In hope of assuring a quorum, the
tribal legislature offered $ 100 to each
of the first 800 people who showed up
for Saturday's meeting.
Officials said 1,358 people
registered, of whom 58 abstained from
the Lowe recall vote.
"Ho-Chunk Nation" is the formal
name of the Wisconsin Winnebago
Tribes to rally at U.S. Capitol
Federal appeals court rules casinos illegal
By Deborah Baker
SANTA FE (AP) _ New Mexico's
Indian casinos soon could be forced to
close unless the Legislature and Gov.
Gary Johnson reach a political
settlement to expand gambling in the
state, including on tribal lands.
A federal appeals court ruled Friday
that Indian casinos were illegal in New
Mexico, but they could remain open
for a while longer.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Denver upheld a federal
judge's ruling that gambling compacts
signed by the governor and tribes in
early 1995 were invalid.
"Now there is an increased sense of
urgency for some type of resolution
from the Legislature," Johnson said in
a statement.
The governor will ask the
Legislature, which begins a 60-day
session on Jan. 21, to resolve the
muddle by approving new compacts
and changing state law to legalize
casino gambling.
The appeals court, in a 32-page
opinion, said its ruling "by no means
solved an extremely difficult and
senstive problem facing tribe
members, citizens and legislators in
New Mexico. The only hope for a
satisfactory solution is through
dialogue and good faith negotiation
between all involved parties."
To provide time for the politicians
to act, the court issued a stay that will
prevent closure of the casinos
'"pending final resolution of this
matter, either in this court or the United
States Supreme Court."
That effectively gives the casinos
another 90 days of operation, said
lawyer Richard Hughes, who argued
the case for the tribes.
He said the tribes would discuss an
appeal, but he said the likelihood of
the U.S. Supreme Court's taking the
case was "very small."
"It means we focus on the Legislature
all the more intently," Hughes said.
U.S. Attorney John Kelly said his
office would ask the Denver appeals
Casinos cont'd on 3
Washington, DC—Native American
leaders from across the country,
hosted by the Narragansett Tribe of
Rhode Island, will assemble at the
U.S. Capitol on January 21 in the first
major public demonstration of the
105th Congress and President
Clinton's second term. Tribal leaders
will address a host of issues that could
seriously undermine tribal sovereignty
and    treaty    rights,    including
appropriations, taxation, welfare,
housing and gaming.
"This an era of political uncertainty
for Native Americans, Congress has
advanced more legislation to threaten
our economic and cultural survival in
the last two years than at any other
time this century," stated Ron Allen,
President of the National Congress of
American Indians. "We are gathering
in force to send a clear message to
tribe. It operates gambling casinos
near Wisconsin Dells, Black River
Falls and Nekoosa.
During a general council meeting in
1982, the vote was 251 -126 to remove
him as chairman of the legislative
Winnebago Business Committee.
Political friction since he became
president last spring includes an effort
to remove three legislators. The move
was stalled by Butterfield, who ruled
the legislators were denied due
process.
Leader cont'd on 3
Congress that we will not stand for
injustice. We must not let Congress
break the first contracts with the first
Americans."
"The theme of the rally, 'Native Americans: Forever Persecuted, Forever Persevering,' reflects our historic struggle
for survival and our determination not
only to survive but thrive as we enter
the next century," said First Councilman of the Narragansett Tribe.
Inouye pleased with new Indian Affairs chairman
WASHINGTON (AP)_Sen. Daniel
Inouye is pleased that Colorado Sen.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the only
Native American in the Senate, is
taking over as chairman of the Senate
Indian Affairs Committee.
Campbell succeeds Sen. John
McCain of Arizona, who gave up the
position to head the Senate Commerce
Committee.
Inouye and McCain had worked
closely for years as the two leaders of
the Indian Affairs Committee and the
two leading advocates for Native
Americans.
Campbell, presumably, is as
sympathetic to the rights of Native
Americans as Inouye and McCain.
Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington
had been in line for the chairman's
position, which had not set well with
many Native Americans.
Spokeswoman Jennifer Goto Sabas
said Inouye has always wanted to see
the day when a Native American takes
over the committee, as a symbol to the
Native American community.