The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-03-14

              Leech Lake man fired over daughter's
medical emergency Claims federal law violated
By Jeff Armstrong
When Bill Erickson learned that his
daughter had a rare, life-threatening
condition which required massive
surgery to her skull and spine, he had
little time to prepare for an emergency
trip to Minneapolis. He was even less
prepared for the response of his
employer.
A Leech Lake Palace Casino security
guard for the past three years,
Erickson said he informed reservation
security director Rocky Papsadora that
he needed indefinite leave from work
shortly before Thanksgiving. "He told
me 'don't worry about it, take as much
time as you need,'" said Erickson.
Although he considered the issue
settled, the Leech Lake man attempted
to notify his immediate supervisor,
Palace security head Ken Bedeau, but
he could not be reached. Erickson also
stopped at the casino for dinner on his
way to Minneapolis, partly to inform
his fellow employees and the
supervisor on duty of his plans.
"Everybody in the whole Palace knew
we were leaving, knew what was
wrong," said Erickson.
Erickson's 15-year-old daughter,
Barbara, had been diagnosed with
Arnold Chiori Malformation, a birth
defect which had shifted her skull on
to her spine and cut off circulation to
her nerves. Essentially, her skull was
hanging loose and had to be
reattached.
Barbara Erickson said she was
fortunate to escape paralysis or death.
"When I had the surgery, they were
surprised I was still alive," she said.
After three harrowing weeks in the
hospital, Erickson and his daughter
returned to Leech Lake. For two
Fired cont'd on 3
Indian family run off Mille Lacs Reservation
Former officials still owe over $1.3 mil. in restitution
Vizenor, Auginaush-Turney claim decisive victory
Study shows gaming 9th largest employer/ pg 3
Family wins discrimination battle, awarded $/ pg 6
Voice of the People
I
Convicted former officials still owe more
than $1.3 million in restitution payments
By Gary Blair
Federal court records show that
only $4,000 in restitution payments
have been returned to the Leech Lake
people since their infamous former
attorney and enrollee, Harold R.
"Skip" Finn, was convicted last spring
of stealing over $1 million from the
band through a phony self-insurance
scam.
Finn has, however, paid a $25,000
court ordered fine and a special
assessment of $600. Nonetheless, Finn
still owes $400,000 in restitution
payments.
Also, the convicted Darrell "Chip"
Wadena gang from the White Earth
reservation who were imprisoned Jan.
6,1997, have not returned any of their
millions in booty to their former
constituents. However, at least one of
the reservation's members was
recently able to recover a small
amount of the Wadena family's stolen
loot.
According to a PRESS source, one
of Chip's son's passed out at a "rez
party" and when he came to, another
enrollee had transferred $2,000 of the
stolen money into their pocket.
"That's okay, there is plenty more
where that came from," the Wadena
"snoozer" proclaimed after he awoke
and checked his pockets.
Convicted former LL chairman,
Alfred "Tig" Pemberton, who was also
convicted with Finn has paid a court
ordered special assessment of $ 150.
Pemberton still owes $66,430 in
restitution payments to his victims.
Pemberton received no fine for his
Fifty Cents
New:
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 1988
Volume 9    Issue BE March 14, 1997
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1 997
MN Appeals Court hears arguments in
White Earth 1867 Treaty case
Payments cont'd on 3 Indian family run off Mille Lacs Reservation
The Al and Solita
Reum Story
By Jeff Armstrong
About two dozen Anishinaabe
activists from reservations across
Minnesota and Wisconsin met March
6 in St. Paul to support and witness
Leonard Butcher's appeal of his
conviction last year for hunting in a
disputed area of White Earth.
A three judge panel of the Minnesota.
Court of Appeals appeared
unresponsive to arguments by the
appellant that federal courts had erred
when they determined that four of
White Earth's 36 townships ceased to
be part of the reservation under the
1889 Nelson Act. The act authorized
the U.S. to enter into land cession
agreements with reservations.
Butcher's attorney, Steve Zobbi,
argued that the 1867 Treaty
boundaries remained intact,
notwithstanding the 1889 allotment
legislation, in which "the U.S.A. acted
as a real estate broker," selling land
to non-Natives. Zobbi maintained that
the tribe retained legal jurisdiction
and hunting and fishing rights in the
territory. "The Nelson Act lands are
part of the White Earth Reservation,"
the attorney said.
"How many times can we relitigate
the status of those four townships?"
asked judge Klaphake rhetorically.
Judges Willis and Randall similarly
suggested that U.S. courts had already
issued rulings on that precise issue,
in White Earth v. Alexander, a ruling
upheld by the federal appeals court.
Minnesota assistant attorney general
Thomas Bailey seemed unwilling to
concede the possibility that the land
remained part of White Earth. "It is
well settled that the state can enforce
its   laws   against   Indians   off-
Treaty cont'd on 3
Vizenor, Auginaush-Turney claim vote as
decisive victory for democracy
Two candidates running on a
platform of open democracy on the
White Earth Reservation were victors
in a historic special election today,
closing the final door on two decades
of corruption in government,
according to secretary treasurer-elect
Erma Vizenor.
"It's a victory for our reform
government," said a smiling Vizenor
as she moved through the crowd in the
tribal center, receiving congratulations
and thanking constituents.
Vizenor decisively claimed her
position as secretary-treasurer,
defeating her opponent, former White
Earth developer Al Goodwin^both on-
and off-reservation, by a margin of
1.249-722.
Irene Auginaush-Turney likewise
vindicated her controversial
appointment as District I
Representative, defeating former
Clearwater County sheriff Marcell
Goodwin 355-267. Auginaush-Turney
also won both on-and off-reservation.
Chairman Eugene McArthur and
District II Representative John
Buckanaga appointed Vizenor and
Auginaush-Turney in June on the
heels of the federal felony convictions
of three of five former Reservation
Business Committee members. The
special election is likely to defuse
tensions over the constitutionality of
the interim appointments, assuming
the new governing body can make
good on its promise of reform.
The election race was seen by many
as a pivotal one, in which the people
of White Earth would decide whether
to return to the old system, as it was
under former chairman Wadena, or
endorse the democratic reforms
advocated by the new government.
McArthur said the vote was a very
emotional one for him.
"This whole election is bigger than
any of us," he said. "It's for our nation
-for it to stand up and get on its feet
again. The faith I have in my people
was reinforced today. It makes a guy
feel truly more dedicated and
obligated to meet the needs of our
people - all of them. This was for all
of us," said Buckanaga.
By Julie Shortridge
1grew up poor, as most Natives
do. My stepfather was an Indian hunting
guide in the Mountains of Idaho. Later
I lived on apigfarm in Montana, and in
foster homes and orphanages after my
mother died. I married a Mile Lacs girl
who lived in Chicago in 1984, Chicago
for me was culture shock, to say the
least, Millions and millions of people,
and businesses everywhere, but not one
I knew of owned by a Native, I
managed to get a good job and we were
able to buy a home. Eight years later,
my wife, my two children and I sold our
house to fulfill a dream of independence,
self-reliance and Native pride. Marge
Anderson had painted the picture for
us. A place ofopportunity andfulfillment
forNativepeople. This is what happened.
—Statement from Al Reum:
The Invitation and the Move
Albert and Solita Reum were living in
Chicago when they began receiving
flyers and newsletters from the Mille
Lacs Band government encouraging
them, and other tribal members living in
other locations, to come back to the
reservation. "They said how great
everything is, like everyone should come
home, a new day is dawning in Indian
Country, the casino is flourishing, Indian
people have opportunities. I now refer
to those flyers as propaganda," said Al.
In Chicago, Al worked for the City
as a concrete worker, and Solita had a
good-paying job as a computer analyst
for Illinois Bell Telephone Company.
Solita, Al Reum and their two boys, now six and eight.
After Al had back surgery due to a work-
related injury, and Solita's job looked
less secure because of "down-sizing,"
they decided to look into the possibility
of moving to Mille Lacs, as Al put it, "to
be part of something Indian that was
good and growing."
Al is enrolled with the Fort Peck
Assiniboine/Sioux in Montana, and
Solita is a member of the Mille Lacs
Band. She was born and raised in
Chicago because her father, who was
full-blood Mille Lacs Band member,
moved to Chicago in the 1950's under
theBIA'sIndianrelocationprogram,Al
and Solita have been married for 13
years and have two boys, ages six and
eight.
Al wanted to start his own business,
and thought a go-cart track might be
popular with resort and casino tourists
in the area. He visited the Mille Lacs
reservation, with a business plan he had
prepared for a proposed "Spin-off' go-
cart facility. He was shown around the
area by members of the tribal
government. They showed him several
possible locations for his go-cart
proposal, and discussed options.
Al remembered: "I went up there about
six months before we made our final
decision to move. We were told that our
business plan was good, and then-
housing director Bill Schoff said they'd
Family cont'd on 2
Legal forum for treaty rights dispute will
shift to appeals court
Ojibwe language preserved on CD-ROM
ST. PAUL (AP)_ Barring a decision
from a federal appeals court, eight
bands of Chippewa Indians will be
free this spring to resume exercising
the fishing rights they were granted
under a treaty 160 years ago.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge
Michael Davis rejected the state's
request for a four-month delay in the
treaty harvest.
His decision frees the Mille Lacs
Band of Chippewa and seven other
bands to reassert their rights to fish
and hunt under their own regulations_
including netting and spearing __ in a
large part of east-central Minnesota
including Lake Mille Lacs.
"This means the district court phase
of this case is done," said Jim Genia,
an attorney for the Mille Lacs band.
"Now we'll have to deal with the appeal
phase."
The Mille Lacs band won
recognition of its treaty rights in U.S.
District Court in 1994. The court later
ruled those rights also apply to seven
other bands that signed the 1837 treaty.
Stephen Froehle, an attorney
representing    landowners   who
Casino, state strike tax deal
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune Staff Writer
After years of painstaking talks, the
Indian tribe that owns the most
lucrative casino in Minnesota has
agreed to collect sales tax on food,
cigarettes, liquor and hotel rooms on
its reservation and split it with the state.
For the first time, the Minnesota
Department of Revenue expects to
receive millions of dollars in taxes
from sales at restaurants, shops and a
hotel at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior
Lake.
The taxes, which became effective
March 1, have boosted prices of
everything from a cup of soup to rooms
in the new casino hotel on the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota
reservation. The price increases will
reduce some of the advantage tribal
businesses have enjoyed over their
competitors, a sore point for some area
hoteliers.
Indian reservations have offered
refuge from sales taxes because tribes
are semisovereign governments
exempt from most state regulation. But
the legal issues involving sales taxes
have been thorny. While the U.S.
Supreme Court has exempted tribes
from some sales taxes, it has also ruled
that tribes must pay other sales taxes.
Rather than risk a court battle
intervened on the state's side in the
case, said he filed an appeal with the
8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on
Feb. 28 challenging the original rulings
in the case.
Froehle said he will also ask the
appeals court to block the tribes from
most spearing and netting.
"Within the next week or two, we'll
have those documents to the court,"
he said. "We'll be asking for no netting
or spearing in the shallows except for
certain cultural and ceremonial
Appeal cont'd on 8
without knowing which government
would win, the tribe and the state
compromised. They will collect the
61/2 percent state sales tax and special
cigarette, liquor and gasoline taxes, but
divide the revenue 50-50 between
tribal and state governments.
"It's a real big deal," said Mark
Pederson, an attorney for the
Department of Revenue who helped
negotiate the agreement. "Everything
that is subject to a sales tax off the
reservation will be subject to sales tax
on the reservation."
Added tribal attorney William
Hardacker: "I think it's beneficial to
Deal cont'd on 6
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) _ Growing
up in northwestern Minnesota, Eliza
Jourdain was steeped in Ojibwe
culture: weaving baskets of sweet
grass, harvesting wild rice and
speaking the language.
The 80-year-old spoke only Ojibwe
with her husband and occasionally
taught a language class. Now, since
her husband and siblings have died,
she rarely finds anyone fluent enough
to carry on a conversation.
Jourdain has teamed with two college
professors to help preserve her
knowledge in a modern way.
This spring, the College of St.
Scholastica will release "Behold! The
Ojibwe Language," a CD-ROM
featuring 1,000 sound bites of Jourdain
speaking Ojibwe, as well as art,
animated video and interactive
graphics.
The private college designed the
CD-ROM to enhance its American
Indian studies program.
Administrators also plan to market the
disk to the 60 or so high schools and
colleges that teach Ojibwe in the
language's native region, roughly the
area surrounding Lake Superior in the
United States and Canada.
Tom Gibbons, a computer
information science professor, wanted
to make a specialized, interactive
multimedia teaching program for
computers.
He consulted Shelly Ceglar, who
teaches Ojibwe in the school's
American Indian Bilingual Teacher
Training Program, believed to be the
only program in Minnesota that
licenses teachers to instruct in both
Ojibwe and English.
"We have this rich language right
here, and a lot of Indian kids don't
have contact with it unless they live on
the reservation or their grandparents
are still living or they travel to Canada,"
said Ceglar, a member of the White
Earth Band of Chippewa (the
Americanized word for Ojibwe) who
CD-ROM cont'd on 4
Former Indian gaming commissioner joins
Omaha law firm
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _The former
head of the National Indian Gaming
Commission has joined a law firm that
represents the Santee Sioux in their
fight to keep their northeastern
Nebraska gambling operation open.
Harold Monteau, a lawyer and a
member of Montana' s Chippe wa-Cree
tribe, resigned as chairman of the
commission in December. As
chairman, he was the one who ordered
the Sioux to shut down their casino
last year.
Monteau will open a Washington,
D.C. office for Omaha's Peebles &
Evans law firm. The firm spends most
of its time doing legal work for five
Indian tribes and several Indian-related
groups around the nation _ including
the Santee Sioux.
Monteau said he won't take part in
the Santee Sioux casino matter because
it would violate legal ethics. Other
lawyers in the firm will still represent
the Santees, he said.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Monaghan
last month appealed a federal court
decision that lets the Santee continue
operating'the casino.
The Santees originally opened the
casino on Feb. 2, 1996, but closed it
four months later under pressure from
the National Indian Gaming
Commission. It was later reopened in
defiance of the closing order issued by
Monteau in June.
Monteau, 43, grew up in Montana
and represented his tribe for eight
years. In 1994, President Clinton
named Monteau chairman of the
National Indian Gaming Commission,
the first American Indian to head a
U.S. federal regulatory commission.
Monteau said he left the commission
because he wanted to return to
representing tribes.