The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-02-07

              Case Against Mystic Lake Casino May Be
Heard by U.S. Supreme Court
Could be precedent-setting challenge to tribal sovereign Immunity
By Julie Shortridge
On January 29, 1997, Jill Gavle's
attorney sent a request to the U.S.
Supreme Court asking that they review
whether Gavle has the right to pursue
a lawsuit in state court regarding her
allegations of assault, sexual
harassment, racial discrimination, and
pregnancy discrimination during her
employment at Mystic Lake Casino.
Tribal attorneys argue that tribal
casino operations are not subject to
state and federal civil law.
Gavle worked as a security guard
both at the casino itself, which is on
tribal trust status land, and at the
corporate headquarters located off
reservation land. When Gavle became
pregnant by Leonard Prescott, who
was then tribal chairman of the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community and the casino's chief
executive, she was threatened,
harassed and her employment was
terminated due to her pregnancy. She
was also threatened, subjected to racial
slurs, and forced to leave the state so
that her pregnancy would remain a
secret. The incidents of assault,
discrimination and harassment
involved three top executives of the
casino, and occurred both on and off
the reservation. Her lawsuit against
the casino is referred to asJillGavlev.
Little Six. Inc.
The request recently filed in the
U.S. Supreme Court, called a "Petition
for Writ of Certiorari," asks that the
U.S. Supreme Court review the
decision made by the Minnesota
Supreme Court November 1, 1996.
Case cont'd on 8
Tribal attorneys, TEC surrogates dispute
meaning of IBIA ruling on White Earth
By Gary Blair
Conflicting legal opinions by two
tribal attorneys may lead to the
reconsideration and possible
revocation of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe's (MCT) Tribal
Executive Committee's (TEC)
recognition of White Earth chairman
Eugene "Bugger" McArthur.
A TEC decision on the longstanding
dispute over McArthur's seating
would also affect District III
representative John Buckanaga, who
also took office on June 25th of last
year, two weeks early. Their problems
continued to grow when they fired the
election judge selected by the recently
convicted RBC members they
replaced and appointed their own.
Their problems again increased
when they appointed Erma Vizenor to
fill the Secretary/Treasurer's position
left by Jerry Rawley. Rawley had been
convicted, along with then-chair
Darrell (Chip) Wadena, of felony
corruption charges less than two
weeks after the election, in which
McArthur defeated the White Earth
chairman of 20 years. Those opposed
to McArthur demanded that Rawley's
former position be filled through an
election.
An early recognition of McArthur
and Buckanaga by the Minneapolis
BIA office set off another chain of
events including an appeal to the U.S.
Department of Interior by Chip
Wadena, Tony Wadena, Jerry Rawley,
and council members Paul Williams
and Rick Clark. Runner-up Doyle
Turner joined the appeal.
Turner had lost the June election to
McArthur by 14 votes. Williams had
lost the election to Buckanaga, and
Clark had been convicted along with
Wadena and Rawley. Tony Wadena
was the only council member
unaffected, and was still officially a
member of the White Earth tribal
council.
McArthur's recognition by the TEC
on Aug. 8, 1996 came four months
before Interior, through IBIA appeals
judge Kathryn Lynn, issued its widely
contested Dec. 11, 1996 decision.
Lynn's ruling stated that the early
"take-over" by McArthur and
Buckanaga was a violation of the
MCT's constitution, thus rendering
the BIA Area Office's recognition of
their right to hold office, "Null and
Void."
Turner and Robert Durrant have
since asked the TEC to reverse its
previous decision to recognize
McArthur. A written request by
Turner and Durrant went un-
addressed until the Jan. 30, 1997
meeting of the TEC, held on the Nett
Lake reservation in the presence of
armed tribal police officers.
Ruling cont'd on 3
Cass County attempts to assert truancy
jurisdiction over reservation
By Jeff Armstrong
While the U.S. Supreme Court has
upheld the right of Amish people to
withhold their children from public
schools to preserve cultural traditions
(Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972), a
Minnesota court is expected to rule
soon on whether Anishinabe people
have the same right.
Attempting to reassert authority to
enforce state compulsory education
laws against Native residents of the
Leech Lake Reservation, the Cass
County Attorney's office brought
charges against the family that
successfully challenged its jurisdiction
on the issue two years ago.
OnJuly21,1995, Cass County judge
Michael Haas dismissed Child in
Need of Protection or Services
(CHIPS) petitions for alleged truancy
against tribal members because, Haas
wrote, "to accept jurisdiction in this
matter would violate principles of
Indian sovereignty and federal law."
Then, as now, the targets of the
petitions were the children of Roxanne
LaRose, her brother Tim LaRose and
his spouse, Pam Smith. Cass County
has reportedly compiled dozens of
similar truancy petitions from Leech
Lake Social Services, but it is unclear
at this point whether the county is
testing the waters on the LaRose
family before attempting to apply the
charges to others less likely to fight
back. Social Services director Lillian
Reese could not be reached for
comment.
Neither the state nor the Reservation
Business Committee has been granted
jurisdiction by the people or the
federal government over child welfare
cases. Yet the RBC and Cass County
have agreed to selectively prosecute
truancy cases in state court, subject to
the written consent of the RBC's
Social Services division. Resolution
No. 96-66, signed last March by
Myron Ellis as acting chair and by
County cont'd on 5
General Council removes Ho-Chunk
president, bars Lowe from future office
By Elliot C. Ricehill
Ho-Chunk Wo-Lduk
BARABOO—On Saturday morning,
January 11th, a record number of tribal
members from as far away as Florida
and Washington, D.C. packed the Ho-
Chunk Bingo Hall as the Ho-Chunk
Nation's Special General Council
came to order. The 1,358 registrants
surpassed the 703 votes needed to
constitute a quorum, and when the
session adjourned at 5:45 p.m. they
had voted 597-536, with 58 abstentions, to remove tribal president
Chloris Lowe, Jr. from office. Lowe
said he would appeal the decision in
. tribal court. The proceedings received
statewide press coverage.
Accompanying provisions in the
Council resolution bar his entry into
any Ho-Chunk office, particularly the
Nation's Executive Building, in any
official capacity, and his ever again
holding "...public office representing
the people of the Ho-Chunk Nation."
The event, though somewhat encumbered by the sheer press of attendees,
proceeded at deliberate speed. Francis
Decorah, selected by hand vote as presiding chairman of the session, appointed Shirley Lonetree as recording
secretary. Members of the Bear Clan,
as authorized Peace Keepers of the
Nation, provided security. Motions to
place items other than the president's
removal on the Council's agenda were
Mystic Lake case may be heard by US Supreme Court
Tribal attorneys, surrogates dispute meaning of ruling
Cass County attempts to assert truancy jurisdiction
Health care for homeless drive needs supplies/ pg 3
Const, change must begin with present const./ pg 5
Voice of the People
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Llewellyn Barrackman, vice chairman of the Fort Mojave Tribe. "We're not going to have any kind of a
dump put in this area at all."
Protesters block tour of disputed desert
nuclear waste dump site
defeated, and recording secretary
Lonetree read the charges contained
in a Notice of Intent to Remove from
Office prepared by the Ho-Chunk
Legislature to the assembly. In brief,
these charges - stated earlier in the
December 9th edition of the Ho-
Chunk Wo-Lduk - state that Chioris
Lowe, Jr. failed to attend meetings of
the legislature, that he violated the
tribe's policies and procedures relating to nepotism, and that he wrongfully facilitated a $1 million contract
with a former business partner who
provided Lowe with a loan.
Mr. Lowe was then given the opportunity to respond. While he did not
Council cont'd on 3
Bu Larry Gerber
NEEDLES, Calif. (AP) _ Indians,
farmworkers and environmentalists
briefly blocked an official tour group
from entering the proposed Ward
Valley nuclear dump site Wednesday,
the latest scuffle in a decade-long
battle.
"This is our ground," said Llewellyn
Barrackman, vice chairman of the Fort
Mojave Tribe. "We're not going to
have any kind of a dump put in this
area at all."
Surrounded by creosote and
sagebrush, about 60 protestors
gathered on a dirt road leading to the
1,000-acre site about 20 miles east of
Needles.
A caravan of technical experts pulled
off Interstate 40 and waited for about
45 minutes as Indian singers chanted
and small girls in native dress danced
to the rhythm of a drum.
"We all have our different
viewpoints and theirs are to be
respected," saidFrankBordell,ahealth
physicist with U.S. Ecology.
The company, with the support of
Gov. Pete Wilson, has been trying to
get the federal government to sign
over the site to the state so that a dump
can be built to contain low-level
nuclear waste such as that from medical
facilities.
U.S. Ecology has a California license
to operate it but federal officials,
citing concerns that radioactivity could
leak into the water table and into the
Colorado River, 18 miles away, have
demanded safety assurances and
further tests. Millions of Californians
depend on the river for drinking and
irrigation.
Idaho-based U.S. Ecology plans to
put barrels of nuclear garbage in
unlined trenches. The company's
dump near Beatty, Nev., was twice
shut after it was found to have accepted
leaking containers and to have illegally
buried waste  outside  of dump
Waste cont'd on 5
Keweenaw leaders say occupation ends;
Protestors say fight goes on
Crime down in Minneapolis
Community policing initiatives having positive effect
Minneapolis,    Minn.    —      The
Minneapolis Police Department has
released its 1996 crime statistics
preliminary report, which shows that
crime is decreasing in the city. The
most notable numbers are in the area
of violent crimes against persons,
which are down 3 percent.
Leading that list is the homicide rate.
In 1996, there were 83 homicides,
down 14 percent from the record 97
set in 1995 (three other incidents in
1996 were ruled justifiable homicides
and are not included in the total.) In
addition, rape has decreased 8 percent
and robbery is down 9 percent.
"We have implemented several
programs this past year which are
producing positive results," said Chief
Robert K. Olson. "We are interacting
and working with our communities on
issues related to both violent crime and
'quality of life' offenses. The results
are encouraging."
Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton said the
efforts put forth by the Police
Department are greatly appreciated by
the citizens. "The officers are working
aggressively to attack crime," said
Sayles Belton. "The numbers speak for
themselves and the good work of our
City's police force. Serious crime in
Minneapolis is decreasing. The latest
statistics are promising, but we cannot
and we will not let up in our fight
against crime."
Several new or expanded programs
have contributed to the successful
crime-fighting efforts in Minneapolis.
Among them are:
*Establishment of the Downtown
Command, with highly visible officers
walking in beat. Their presence helps
to make downtown Minneapolis one
of the safest and most vital urban areas
in the county.
* Addition of sworn personnel, many
of whom arc assigned to community
policing beats. Grants were approved
for 50 federally subsidized police
officers and brought the total
authorized strength up to 914 by the
end of 1996.
*The Chiefs Summer Beat Program,
which put all non-patrol officers in
uniform for a couple of days each
month to walk the toughest
neighborhoods during the busy
summer period.
*Safe Streets, which focused on
minor violations and "shots fired" calls
in high-crime areas. The hundreds of
police contacts resulted in the
confiscation of dozens of weapons and
narcotics.
♦Establishment of the Gang Strike
Force which works closely with the
homicide/assault unit to track suspects
and reduce the number of retaliatory
shootings.
Crime cont'd on 6
ASSININS, Mich. (AP) _ Leaders
of the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community say they have regained
control of the former tribal center from
the dissident faction that occupied it
during a sometimes violent 18-month
standoff.
But a spokeswoman for the
protesting faction says she and other
members remain on the grounds and
will continue their struggle. And the
tribal leadership acknowledged the
recovery of the abandoned, damaged
building was a hollow victory.
"This is not a day of celebration at
Keweenaw Bay," tribal spokesman
Rich Rossway said in a statement
Wednesday. "But perhaps now this
community can begin the long healing
process."
Georgianna Emery, a leader of the
dissident group called Fight for Justice,
said there can be no healing until its
grievances are settled.
"It's not over, not by a long shot,"
Ms. Emery said. She declined to say
what the group would do next.
About 50 protesters seized the
headquarters in August 1995. Tribal
leaders said they were a small,
disgruntled faction but the dissidents
claimed the backing of about 300 of
the tribe's 2,400 members.
Protest cont'd on 4
Tribes accept nearly $3 million in agreement
By Libby Quaid
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _
Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw
leaders accepted their first checks
Tuesday from the 1996 accord on
Indian fuel taxes that drew total
payments of more than $2.89 million.
One year earlier, lawmakers and
tribal leaders had just begun four
months of negotiations, sometimes
hostile, that resulted in a law taxing
gasoline at the refinery level instead
of at Indian pumps.
"We're pleased to have this good
working relationship.^ hasn' t always
been a good working one," said
Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill
Anoatubby. "We are thankful for the
dollars. We know that they'll be used
for good purposes."
The law allows tribes to sign
contracts to get a percentage of
gasoline sales back from the state and
also be compensated for the
membership of individual tribes.
Funds must be earmarked for road
projects or health, education and public
safety programs.
"This money goes to the very things
the money would go to under the motor
fuel revenue stream, as it is, for the
majority of Oklahomans," Gov. Frank
Keating said after handing out the
checks. "So it is a partnership between
the tribes and the state of Oklahoma to
improve the quality of life for
everyone."
Choctaw Nation Chief Hollis
Roberts, a former Democratic state
House member, said his tribe is
planning to build a southeastern
Oklahoma highway with the
department of transportation.
"We want a better Oklahoma, too,"
Roberts said. "We don't want just the
money and run."
Efforts to change how the state
collects gasoline taxes began after the
U.S. Supreme Court last summer
struck down the Oklahoma system as
Tribes cont'd on 6