The Ojibwe News(Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-03-28

              Investigation of minority fire cadet case a
political hot potato, but bias reported
By Gary Blair
The investigative report of
firefighter cadet charges of race
discrimination against The City of
Minneapolis indicates that the fire
department's selection process may be
operating in a discriminatory manner.
However, Ron Edwards, a Twin
Cities civil rights activist and
chairman of the firefighters oversight
steering committee, a group
authorized by a 25-year-old federal
court order to monitor the city's hiring
of minority firefighters, says the
process was suspicious from the start,
even though the outcome was
somewhat favorable.
"There was at least two or three
versions of that report made before the
final draft was submitted. One of those
reports was supposed to say that the
City did not discriminate. That report
was leaked to the Minneapolis Star
Tribune by Ann Eilbracht, the City's
Human Resources director, with
penciled-in changes that were
supposed to reflect the final report.
I was told that a meeting had taken
place at a prominent Minneapolis
Washington Ave., restaurant, in which
the surprise version of the report was
handed to Eilbracht. The final report
was also a surprise to one of the
consultants who helped in the
investigation of the discrimination
complaints. Those final changes left
the Tribune reporter scrambling to get
a copy of the final report from
Minneapolis legal aid attorney, Rick
Macpherson, who is handling the
case," Edwards told the PRESS/ON
on Wednesday.
Edwards continued, "Even the
Mayor got involved in trying to steer
the discrimination complaints. She
tried to influence the person who
would later become the mediator in
this case, at a retreat they attended in
Mexico. Attorney Carolyn Chalmers,
chairman of Minnesota Central Legal
Services, admits that she spoke with
Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton in
Mexico about the case. Chalmers says
the conversation lasted less than
twenty minutes. When asked if the
Mayor had asked her to pressure legal
aid attorney Macpherson to back off
on the discrimination charges against
the city, Chalmers responded, "I really
do not want to comment on that, nor
do I feel that it would be appropriate
at this point. They have all accepted
me as their mediator and I am going
to be fair in this matter. Anyway, I
won't have the power to enforce
anything anyway," Chalmers
explained.
Minneapolis Legal Aid Attorney
Rick Macpherson told the PRESS on
Thursday that he has no problem with
the selection of Chalmers as the
mediator. "I do not believe that this
matter is going to be resolved by
mediation anyway. You know we have
a federal court date of April 21, to
have this matter heard," he said.
Macpherson confirmed that
Chalmers did, tell him that
Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles
Belton did approach her in Mexico
and asked if she would try and
influence Macpherson to back off on
the fire cadet discrimination case.
Cadet cont'd on 3
Mille Lacs business group urges calm about
fishing regulations
ISLE, Minn. (AP)_Saying conflicts
do more harm than good, a group of
Mille Lacs Lake-area business owners
on Saturday called for calm in dealing
with issues relating to new fishing
regulations.
Tempers have been on edge since
several Indian bands won the right to
fish on territory ceded to the federal
government in an 1837 treaty. Some
Minnesota anglers are concerned that
increased levels of tribal fishing will
deplete the fish population available
for non-Indian sport fishing.
Under recent federal court decisions,
eight Ojibwe bands from Minnesota
and Wisconsin will be allowed to net
and spear up to 40,000 pounds of
walleye from Mille Lacs this year, out
of a total catch of 320,000 pounds.
The bands also make take another
8,000 pounds of walleye from 28 other
lakes in east-central Minnesota.
After the court ruling, the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources put
more restrictions in effect for non-
Indians fishing Mille Lacs. The DNR
is to announce new limits for some
smaller lakes on March 31.
Resort owner Eddy Lyback,
spokesman for about 40 people who
makethcirliving from the sport-fishing
industry, said the Mille Lacs Lake
Advisory Association is asking fellow
sportsmen to avoid confrontations with
Indian bands during the upcoming
fishing season.
"We do not want the public to
perceive the sportsman as being
antagonizing and hostile," the group
said in a statement to sportsmen.
"We hope sportsmen will understand
Fishing cont'd on 6
State files treaty rights appeal, schedules
public hearings
ST. PAUL (AP) _ Minnesota is
appealing federal court rulings that
affirm hunting and fishing rights for
the Mille Lacs. Fond du Lac and six
other bands of Chippewa, the
Departmentof Natural Resources said
Tuesday.
"We plan a vigorous appeal," DNR
Commissioner Rod Sando said.
The state's appeal was filed
Thursday in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in St. Paul. The appeal was
expected after U.S. District Judge
Michael Davis affirmed the fishing
rights in late January.
The Mille Lacs and Fond du Lac
bands of Chippewa in Minnesota and
six Wisconsin Chippewa bands
recently won the right to fish on
territory ceded to the federal
government in an 1837 treaty. Some
Minnesota anglers are concerned that
increased levels of tribal fishing will
deplete the fish population available
for non-Indian sport fishing.
The state's appeal contends the treaty
rights were voided by several acts of
the federal government, including an
1850 presidential order, an 1855 treaty,
the terms of the state's admission to
Cherokee Chief will appear for hearing
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) _
Cherokee Chief Joe Byrd will appear
for a tribal court hearing Wednesday
despite previous statements that he
doesn't intend to follow court orders
he considers unconstitutional, a
spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Byrd and other tribal administrators
are scheduled to appear at 9:30 a.m.
before the Cherokee Judicial Appeals
Tribunal on motions 1 inked to a probe
into allegations of financial
wrongdoing.
"We will be present at the hearings,"
Cherokee spokeswoman Lisa Finley
said. "We need to utilize our court
system to get the process through the
court."
On Monday, Cherokee Chief Justice
Ralph Keen said the court would take
"aggressive action" to restore order if
Byrd and other administrators failed
to comply with court orders, including
appearing for the hearing.
That action could include arrest
warrants, Keen said.
The tribe has been divided since late
February, when Cherokee marshals
raided Byrd'sofficeand seized records
as part of an investigation into alleged
misuse of tribal and federal funds.
Federal authorities also are
investigating the allegations.
The Cherokee Judicial Appeals
Tribunal reinstated the marshals whom
Byrd fired after the raid.
Byrd has said he doesn't recognize
any claimed authority by the court
over the marshals. He has hired his
own armed law enforcement officers.
Ms. Finley said that doesn't mean
Byrd did not plan to go through the
judicial process in regards to other
motions in the investigation.
"We've been asking for our day in
court and we'll get it tomorrow," she
said.
On Tuesday, two employees
appearing at a show-cause hearing in
tribal court were found in contempt
and ordered detained, Ms. Finley said.
Chief of Staff George Thomas and
Secretary-Treasurer Jennie Battles
went before Justice Keen to explain
why they didn't comply with his order
regarding • Pat Ragsdale's
reinstatement in the marshals service.
Ms. Finley said Keen ordered that
the pair be detained for three months
under the supervision of the marshals
service.
However, there was no commitment
order issued by the tribal court to hold
them and they were released, she said.
Chief cont'd on 6
Quirk in tax code makes companies eligible
for tribal tax break
By Rob Wells
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Congress
is moving to fix a legal quirk that
essentially classifies much of
Oklahoma as an Indian reservation for
tax purposes, allowing corporations
to take investment write-offs that were
never intended.
The chairmen of Congress' main tax
committees have introduced bills to
change the arrangement. But in the
meantime at least one major
accounting firm has been
recommending that its clients take
advantage of the favorable tax
treatment.
The 1993 budget bill, which set up
the arrangement, "was not intended to
give tax breaks to people or
corporations that have no direct
connection to the Indian lands targeted
for relief," said Rep. Bill Archer, R-
Texas, chairman of the House Ways
and Means Committee.
The issue concerns language that
was designed to expand the use of
"empowerment zones" to encourage
economic growth on tribal lands.
The definition of an Indian
reservation is tricky for Oklahoma, a
state with a large American Indian
population but no formal reservations.
Many federal benefit programs for
Indians require that they reside on
reservations.
To deal with that problem,
lawmakers in the 1974 Indian
Financing Act designated "former
Indian reservations in Oklahoma" as
eligible for benefits.
According to Ways and Means, that
definition "results in most of the state
of Oklahoma being eligible for special
tax incentives," including the entire
city of Tulsa.
The bill introduced by Archer and
Investigation of fire cadet case uncovers possible bias
Mille Lacs bus. group urges calm about fishing regs.
Record-setting Red Lake comeback falls just short
Haskell students sue for protection of spirit, site/ pg 3
Constitutional reform at a crossroads/ pg 5
Voice of the People
I
the union in 1858 and prior court
proceedings.
No dates have been set to hear the
case.
In a related development, the DNR
will play host to seven informational
meetings on the treaty in the first two
weeks of April.
Scheduled to attend the meetings
will be representatives from the state
attorney general's office, the Mille
Lacs band of Chippewa, the
Department of Public Safety and the
fisheries and wildlife enforcement staff
of the DNR.
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 19BB
Volume 9    Issue B4
March E8,  1997
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1 997
Senate Finance Committee Chairman
William V. Roth Jr., R-Del., supported
by ranking Democrats on the panels,
would change the definition of a
reservation so it applied only to Indian
lands held in federal trust and not to
former reservations. The bill clarifies
that the special tax incentives would
be available to reservations and areas
designated as "Indian country" under
the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act.
The tax benefits also would be
available to portions of Alaska covered
by the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act.
Not everyone in Oklahoma agrees
with the lawmakers' version of the
situation.
"When I read the comments made in
the Congressional Record in support
of the act in 1993, it doesn't sound
inadvertent to me," said August
Tax cont'd on 6
The 230 points were the most scored in 85 years of state high school basketball tournaments and, for
that matter, in any Minnesota high school game. photo bY Larry Adams
Record-setting Red Lake comeback falls
just short of state semifinal victory
By Roman Augustoviz
Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer
The statisticians needed 35 minutes
to complete the box-score after
Wabasso's record-setting 117-113
overtime victory over Red Lake on
Friday night in the Class A semifinals.
The 230 points were the most scored
in 85 years of state high school
basketball tournaments and, for that
matter, in any Minnesota high school
game. The previous regular-season
record was 208 when Cottonwood
defeated Hanley Falls 111-97 during
the 1965-66 season.
"1 thought it would be a shootout, we
are both run-and-gun and can knock
'em down," Red Lake sophomore
guard Gerald Kingbird said, "But I did
not expect this. We were not getting
back on defense. They were a little bit
faster than us.... But I feel pretty good
wc came from a 20-point deficit."
Kingbird scored 37 points, including
19 in the Warriors' amazing 43-point
fourth quarter to lead Red Lake's rally.
His three-pointer from the right
corner with 19 seconds left in the
fourth quarter sent, the game into
overtime tied at 105. Wabasso had led
by 19 points at 85-66 with 7:03 left in
regulation.
Red Lake 6-6 sophomore center
Delwyn Holthusen, who scored 30
points, fouled out with 1:36 left in the
fourth quarter and the Warriors still
down 99-92.
Then he watched and cheered as
Kingbird took over. Kingbird hit three
three-pointers, an 18-foot jumper and
two free throws before the quarter
Semifinal cont'd on 3
Indians chafe at federal restrictions on
eagle feathers     Protection vs. Religion
By Sue Major Holmes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)_It
was seen as a showdown _ the federal
government's need to protect bald
eagles pitted against the right of
American Indians to exercise their
religion.
In the end, however, no definitive
answers came out of the court case
that began two years ago when a San
Ildefonso Pueblo man shot a bald eagle
for a religious ceremony.
As a result, many Indians contend,
they essentially still have to rely on the
federal government to be able to
practice their religion.
While federal laws make it illegal to
kill bald eagles because the bird is a
threatened species, the laws carve out
exceptions for Indians to acquire eagle
feathers and body parts for religious
purposes.
Most often, Indians get permits to
obtain feathers and body parts from a
federal repository set up to take in
carcasses from eagles electrocuted by
power lines, hit by automobiles or
killed illegally. Under special
circumstances, Indians can get permits
to kill eagles.
"What really bothers me is that we
as Indian people have to have a law to
allow us to practice our religion, yet
this country was founded on religions
and religious principles," said Wallace
Coffey, chairman of the Comanche
Tribe based in Lawton, Okla.
To Indians, the eagle is holy, "the
only bird that flies close to God," he
said.
"We still believe the eagle is a very
powerful bird. Even just to see one
gives us a blessing," he said in a
telephone interview from tribal
headquarters. "But to be able to hold a
bird in your hand, an eagle feather in
your hand...."
Robert P. Gonzales did not have a
permit when he shot an eagle on San
Ildefonso land on Feb. 7,1995, for an
upcoming pueblo ceremony. Although
the Bureau of Indian Affairs verified
the eagle was for religious purposes,
Gonzales w* charged with violating
the Endangered Species Act, the Eagle
Protection Act and the Migratory Birds
Treaty Act.
U.S. District Judge James Parker
dismissed the charges earlier this year
Eagle cont'd on 3
Tribes say they are in compliance or getting there
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ At least four
American Indian tribes, responding to
a report of noncompliance, insist they
have obeyed federal gambling rules at
their casinos or are about to.
The report says only one of the state's
11 holders of gambling compacts in
each of the two final quarters of 1996
was in compliance with all eight
regulations.
The reports by the National Indian
GamingCommission (NIGC) said the
Stockbridge-Munsee reservation was
in compliance in one of the quarters
and the Menominee in the other.
In response, spokesman for three
tribes accused the NIGC report of
inaccuracies.
The commission is authorized to
take action against violations of the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Nationwide, the report said tribes
were improving, although still only 77
of 273 gambling operations were in
compliance. That is up from 45 of 274
operations reviewed in the first report
for the three-month period ending Sept.
30.
In the final-quarter report, 19 of the
24 American Indian gambling
businesses in Wisconsin were out of
compliance on at least one of the eight
requirements.
The eight requirements include
Tribes cont'd on 3