The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-02-21

              Corruption in MCT remains unchecked
By Gary Blair
Previous PRESS reports on the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT's)
Home Loan Program (HLP) have
apparently uncovered only a fraction
of the corruption which continues to
occur within the Tribe's controversial
administration.
According to a source who asked not
to be identified, MCT employees
order in breakfast at least 2-3 times a
week from the 371 Cafe in Cass Lake.
"They charge the large pans of food
to each department's supply
account—which is not reported to the
tribe's accounting department," the
source said.
Also, some of the MCT's
administrative staff have their
supervisors approve travel expenses
for trips that are not taken, and that
money is then kept by the employee.
Many of the MCT staff are accused
of deliberately running up their
mileage payments of 30 cents per mile
to help pay for their personal
automobiles. The source says the
tribe's accounting department "knows
what's checked and what's not being
checked," and their staff are among
the main abusers.
Last week's article on the HLP
included information that former
White Earth chairman Darrell "Chip"
Wadena's wife Bonnie had tried to get
her husband's home loan deferred
until he is released from prison. The
article stated that Bonnie's request for
the extension had been denied at a
recent meeting of the MCT's
executive committee (TEC) held on
the Nett Lake reservation.
However, new information received
just after press time last week,
indicated that the deferment was
secretly granted and is being handled
in-house by the HLP staff. Sources
say that under the concealed
deferment, Chip's wife will only be
required to pay the "interest on the
loan's principle and the property
insurance." Chip's house payments
were reportedly just $115.00 per
month.
Wadena and two other White Earth
council members were convicted last
summer for the theft of millions of
dollars of reservation funds. Wadena
is presently serving a nearly five year
sentence at the federal prison located
at Sandstone, MN.
According to former HLP employee
Terry Michaud, state taxpayer dollar
also helped to pay for a "honeymoon"
for Larry Glass, the HLP's former
Housing cont'd on 14
Appeals judge Randall in majority on ruling,
again denounces 'Red Apartheid'
By Julie A. Shortridge
On February 19,1997, the Minnesota
Court of Appeals ruled that the Lower
Sioux Indian Community cannot claim
sovereign immunity in a case
involving a motel at Jackpot Junction
Casino near Morton, Minnesota. The
case is Granite Valley Hotel v. Jackpot
Junction Bingo and Casino (C8-96-
1024), and can be read in its entirety
in this issue of the PRESS.
The court ruled that the hotel can
sue the Lower Sioux Tribe in state
court for breach of contract because
the tribe waived immunity when it
signed a contract with the tribe. In that
contract, Granite Valley Hotel agreed
to build a hotel near the casino if the
casino would guarantee to fill a certain
number of rooms, or pay for the rooms
if it couldn't fill them. The hotel was
built in 1991, and for two years
Jackpot Junction abided by the
agreement to fill or pay for rooms.
But in 1993 Jackpot Junction
refused to continue paying for
unrented rooms, and instead built its
own hotel. Granite Valley Hotel sued
in state District Court, but the tribe
claimed it was immune from lawsuit
and that the state lacked jurisdiction,
even though the contract that Jackpot
Junction signed with the tribe
explicitly stated that the tribe "hereby
waives sovereign immunity by virtue
of its status as an independent Indian
nation and consents to jurisdiction of
the courts of the state of Minnesota in
the interpretation and enforcement of
this contract." The tribe claimed that
the man who signed the Contract,
Allen J. Kokesch, General Manager
of Jackpot Junction, did not have the
authority to waive sovereign
immunity.
Judge R.A. (Jim) Randall, who
wrote a thoughtful, philosophical arid
far-reaching "special concurrence in
the Granite Valley case, is widely
known for his dissenting opinion in the
Ruling cont'd on 4
Spiritual Guidance   First American Indian to be
Minnesota legislative chaplain is sworn in
By Jim Ragsdale
St Paul Pioneer Press Staff Writer
With a pipe ceremony and a prayer
for guidance, Thomas Stillday
assumed the role as chaplain of the
Minnesota Senate on Thursday,
becoming the first American Indian to
serve as a legislative ghaplain.
Stillday, spiritual elder of the Red
Lake Band of Chippewa, conducted
the ceremony to open the daily Senate
session, his first official act after he
was sworn in.
"You've got to ask for help from the
Creator," Stillday said of his opening
prayers. "I talked to the Creator. He
gave the Legislature some advice —
some help."
According to Senate Majority Leader
Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, who
appointed Stillday to the ceremonial
post, the Legislature is going to be
listening this year. On a day when
dozens of members of the Red Lake
band came to the Capitol for the
swearing-in and for business and
social meetings with . jgislators, Moe
vowed that the Legislature will make
special efforts to improve relations
with Indian tribes.
"It's about time," a beaming Moe
said of Stillday's swearing-in, which
was delayed for the first few weeks of
the session while Stillday, 62,
recovered from surgery. Moe took the
opportunity to invite tribal leaders to
give legislators a "state of the state"
message this year at a joint meeting
of House and Senate local government
committees.
"We give cities, counties and school
districts an opportunity to lay out their
vision," Moe said. "We should allow
the tribal governments to have the
same opportunity."
Stillday lives in Ponemah on the Red
Lake Reservation in northwestern
Minnesota. According to Al Thunder,
cultural director at Red Lake and an
assistant to the spiritual elder, Stillday
grew up in Ponemah, where adherence
to traditional customs and to the
Ojibway language is strong.
Guidancecont'doni4
Minnesota asks for delay in treaty harvest
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ The state
of Minnesota is seeking a four-month
delay in the exercise of newly
recognized hunting and fishing rights
by the Mille Lacs band of Chippewa
and seven other bands.
Officials said there was a need to
educate the public and train
conservation officers.
"Wisconsin's experience with racial
tensions and violence surrounding
treaty harvest cannot be allowed to
happen in Minnesota," said a memo
supporting the state's request filed
this week in U.S. District Court here.
Northern Wisconsin boat landings
used for spring spearfishing in
Wisconsin became the scene of angry
protests by treaty-rights opponents for
several years during the late 1980s
and early 1990s after Chippewa bands
in that state won a court decision.
In late January, federal Judge
Michael Davis ruled the Minnesota
bands have the right to hunt and fish
across a 12-county area in the east-
central part of this state. Davis
determined the Indians' rules protect
natural resources and don't pose public
health or safety problems.
As a result, he said the state cannot
impose its fish and game rules on
them.
The ruling stemmed from a 1990
lawsuit that asked the federal court to
affirm the Mille Lacs band's rights
under an 1837 treaty with the federal
government. In 1994, a federal judge
ruled those rights are still in effect.
The other bands then intervened
because they signed the same treaty.
Nine counties have since asked the
court to stay the ruling.
The Wisconsin bands won a federal
appeals court ruling that said federal
treaties were still valid that granted
the Chippewa fishing, hunting and
gathering rights on lands ceded to the
federal government in the northern
part of that state.
Chippewa there have been exercising
off-reservation spearfishing rights
since 1985 under an agreement with
the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources to protect the fish
population.
Legal rights fund formed to counter tribal immunity
By Amy Kuebelbeck
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ Sylvia
Cohen broke her hip at a casino, sued,
and was told: Tough luck, Indian tribes
have sovereign immunity. Same with
Jill Gavle, who sued a casino over
sexual harassment charges.
Now a new group is trying to call
attention to what it considers an
injustice.
"Most people don't realize that
anyone who enters onto a reservation,
including a tribal casino ... gives up
theircivil rights." said Bill Lawrence,
an enrolled member of the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa and president of
the newly formed Tribal
Accountability Legal Rights Fund.
In the Cohen and Gavle cases, their
lawsuits were thrown out by
Minnesota courts who ruled that the
casino owners are immune from
lawsuits in state courts because of
tribal sovereignty.
"I thought it was unfair, unjust and
un-American," said Dan Cohen, son
of Sylvia Cohen of Edina. She is now
85, has undergone two operations since
her fall at the Mystic Lake Casino in
Prior Lake and may never walk
normally again, he said.
Cohen is requesting a rehearing by
the Minnesota Supreme Court. Gavle
_ who accuses a former boss at Mystic
Lake of coercing her to have sex,
assaulting her and firing her when she
told him she was pregnant with his
baby _is appealing to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
"Tribal casinos are the only
businesses in the entire world that can
totally avoid legal responsibility and
liability in the United States,"
Lawrence said. "Tribal governments
use sovereign immunity to avoid
accountability, deny citizens their civil
rights, and even hide criminal
conduct."
Lawrence is also publisher of the
Bcmidj i-based Native American Press,
a newspaper that has crusaded against
corruption on Indian reservations.
The new group plans to help fund
legal claims, educate people about
their risks on tribal land and inform
the public about "oppression and
abuse" on reservations. Radio ads are
planned in Minnesota, Iowa and
Wisconsin.
The executive director of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Gary
Frazer, said that at first blush the group
appears to be attacking tribal
governments and casinos.
"Did they mention that if you fall
down the steps of the Capitol that
they're immune from suit too?" asked
Frazer, who is based in Cass Lake.
Not true, according to the attorney
general's office. State government is
immune from lawsuit in some cases
involving policy decisions but could
be sued over personal injuries and
other disputes.
CORRECTION
The caption on last week's front
page photo of Leonard Butcher
included an incorrect translation of
Butcher's Anishinabe name, Ogi-chi-
chaa-naa-be'o, as Spirit Speaker, a
repetition of an error on his
presentence investigation form. The
correct translation should have been
Spirit Seeker. We sincerely
apologize for this error.
Corruption in MCT remains unchecked
Appeals judge Randall in majority on ruling
First American Indian to be MN legislative chaplain
Immunity against state civil right suits protested
Complete text of appeals court ruling/ pg 2
Voice of the People
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Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1 997
Photo by Julie Shortridge
"Our goal is to see that all Minnesotans, including Indians, are treated equally," said Bill Lawrence, a
member of the Red Lake band of Chippewa, who spoke at a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Indians' immunity against state civil right
SUItS prOteStQCl   Group seeks redress for alleged abuses
By Gary Dawson
Pioneer Press Staff Writer
One state Appeals Court Judge
described the immunity Indians have
against civil rights suits as "red
apartheid."
Jill Gavle, a former security guard
at Mystic Lake Casino, agrees. She
was denied the right to sue the casino
by the Minnesota Supreme Court after
she alleged was threatened, coerced
into and beaten by the facility's chief
executive. On Tuesday, Gavle spoke
at a rally on the Capitol protesting the
state of justice on Indian reservations.
"I had no day in court," said Gavle.
She and other Indian and non-Indian
protesters announced they have
formed the Tribal Accountability
Legal Rights Fund. Their purpose is
to educate the public about alleged
legal abuses and oppression on the
reservations and the risks posed to
casino customers.
They also want to raise money to
press legal claims against the tribes,
which have a general immunity against
civil rights suits, such as claims of
sexual harassment or employment
discrimination, under federal and state
laws. The immunity is based on the
tribes' status as sovereign
governments.
"Our goal is to see that all
Minnesotans, including Indians, are
treated equally," said Bill Lawrence,
a member of the Red Lake band of
Chippewa, Lawrence, a publisher of
American Indian newspapers, is an
outspoken critic of tribal
governments.
"Tribal governments use sovereign
immunity to avoid accountability,
deny citizens their civil rights, and
even hide criminal conduct,"
Lawrence said.
Gavle took her case all the way to
the Minnesota Supreme Court. She
alleged that Leonard Prescott, former
head of Little Six Inc., the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota)
Community's gaming corporation,
had abused her physically and
verbally, fired her and forced her to
flee to Arizona after she became
pregnant with his child.
Prescott denied the allegations and
Little Six, unable to reach a legal
settlement with Gavle, claimed
immunity. The high court agreed in
Novernber that the tribe could not be
sued.
Now Gavle and her attorney, Craig
Greenberg, are appealing to the U.S.
Supreme Court. She is still pressing
an individual suit against Prescott and
other tribal officials.
Among the dissenters in the 5-2
Supreme Court decision was Chief
Justice A.M. Keith, who said allowing
a civil rights suit to proceed against
the tribe would not infringe on the
federal government's goal of
preserving Indian culture and natural
Protest cont'd on 14
Tribal leaders say gambling helps
reservations   Some tribes have built schools, homes...
By Beth Silver
ST. PAUL (AP)._ If video lottery
machines were allowed at Canterbury
Park, they might threaten the American
Indian casinos that have allowed the
reservations to begin to rise from poverty,
tribal leaders said Friday.
Some tribes have built new schools,
hundreds of new homes and roads and
established health programs in
communities where electricity and
running water didn' t exist 20 years ago,
leaders told the Senate Local and
Metropolitan Government Committee.
"Gaming is changing the face of many
of the nation's reservations more here
(in Minnesota) than anywhere else,"
said Mike Childs, assistant secretary
treasurer with the Prairie Island Dakota
Community.
"We're using the money to radically
transform the reservations, promote self-
sufficiency and improve life on the
reservations," he told the Senate Local
and Metropolitan Government
Committee.
Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna, has
proposed putting 1,500 video lottery
machines at the Canterbury Park
racetrack in Shakopee to pay for a new
baseball stadium. The machines could
generate about $150 million a year, he
said.
But if the reservations' gambling
industry were destroyed, they would
have to rely on the federal government
again, Childs said.
Reservations were given the right to
operate casinos in 1988 with the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act. Itwas intended
to help tribes gain economic
independence. The 17 casinos in
Minnesota generate between $3 billion
and $4 billion annually.
While profits are good now, the leaders
said they eventually won't be able to
rely solely on gambling.
The Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa,
for example, has bought a bank, a
neighborhood bakery and a gas station,
said Marge Anderson, chief executive
of the band. They've spent another $30
million on a community center, homes
and infrastructure.
"I can see that gambling is going to
reach a peak at sometime and I'm glad to
see that you are looking at other
ventures," said the committee's
chairman, Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-
Tracy.
In addition, not all casinos have
provided huge benefits. The three small
casinos on the Red Lake reservation
have employed about 350 people that
otherwise would have been unemployed,
said Chairman Bobby Whitefeather.
But even with the casinos, more than
half the people on the reservation of
about 6,000 are still unemployed, he
said.
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