The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-04-11

              Court Places Hold on Treaty Harvest
Landowners' request for injunction granted
By Julie Shortridge
On Wednesday, April 9, at 2:45
P.M., the Eighth Circuit Court of
Appeals, headquartered in St. Louis,
Missouri, issued a "Stay Order" on
implementation of a treaty harvest,
meaning the Mille Lacs, Fond du Lac
and six other Chippewa Bands from
Wisconsin will not be allowed to
implement a treaty harvest until after
the Eighth Circuit has heard and made
a final ruling on an appeal in the case.
The Court also initiated an
"expedited briefing schedule," and
expressed a desire to move quickly on
review of the treaty case. Oral
arguments on the appeal are scheduled
for the week of June 9-13 at the federal
courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota. A
ruling on the appeal could be issued
by late Summer.
The Court's decision to suspend
implementation ofa treaty harvest was
in response to a motion filed
Thursday, April 3 by Landowners who
have intervened in the Mille Lacs
treaty lawsuit. Counties in the lawsuit
had also signcd-on to the motion. The
Mille Lacs Band sued the State for
treaty claims in 1990. Since then,
seven other Chippewa Bands have
entered the case on the side of the
plaintiffs, and Landowners and
Counties have both intervened on the
side of the defense. The Mille Lacs
Band filed their response to the
motion for injunction on Tuesday,
April 8.
Oddly, the State did not enter into
the motion requesting a hold on the
treaty harvest, even though it is the
primary defendant in the case. The
Attorney General's office and the
Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) — which answers to the
Governor — make decisions about
state strategy in the treaty lawsuit.
Scott Strand, Assistant Attorney
General, said "the state will abide by
the court's ruling," but gave no clear
explanation as to why the State did not
itself sign-on to the Landowners'
initiative to put a hold on the treaty
harvest. Strand said the State has
instead focused on preparing for the
appeal, preparing for the treaty
harvest, and negotiating to limit the
treaty harvest with the Mille Lacs
Band and the Great Lakes Indian Fish
and Wildlife Commission — a treaty
harvest oversight group operating with
tribal and federal funds on behalf of
several Bands.
Don Wedll, Commissioner of the
Mille lacs Band's DNR, did not return
Press/ON's phone calls, but according
to news reports, the Mille Lacs Band
plans to abide by the ruling.  There
Treaty cont'd on 8
13-year-old Lakota youth gunned down in
Minneapolis'Phillips neighborhood
By Gary Blair
When Velma LaFramboise left the
Standing Rock reservation in South
Dakota three years ago and moved to
Minneapolis after her divorce, she
came looking for a better life for her
five children and a fresh start for
herself. Since that time she has
furthered her education, bought a new
home and found a job that she likes.
However, she also lives in one of the
most dangerous neighborhoods in the
Twin Cities.
Around 11:30 p.m. last Saturday,
LaFramboise's new-found life was
suddenly shattered. Her 13-year-old
son, Anthony White Owl, became the
city's 12th homicide victim this year.
The shooting occurred near the
intersection of E. 24th St. and 14th Av.
S. in the Phillips neighborhood—less
than a block from their home.
White Owl was not a member of a
street gang, although the 16-year-old
Native American youth being held in
connection with his death is reported
to be a member of the "Native Mob"
gang.
On Wednesday evening
LaFramboise talked about the events
that led up to her son's death. "When
my son attended the Four Winds
school he was being pressured to join
a gang he was told were the Vice
Lords." The Vice Lords are a
predominately black street gang with
some Indian factions in Minneapolis.
"He was scared, so he tried to move
back home with his dad, who has a
new girlfriend, but that didn't work
out. So he came back here about a
month ago and he had been attending
the Center School for the past three
weeks. At that school, he had the same
problem," LaFramboise continued.
"When Anthony refused to join a
gang at the Center School, some of
those gang members would try and
fight him after school. He told me that
he wanted to go to that school, because
it was close enough so he could run
home if they tried to beat him up.'
Sometimes those gang members even
tried to go after him in his classroom
when he attended the Four Winds
School," LaFramboise explained.
"Recently, Anthony started hanging
around with some boys who also
attend the Center School, but who
aren't in gangs. I didn't want him
going with them either—because they
had come here drunk. When I told
them not to come back, my son told
me that I didn't like his friends and he
was going to go with them anyway,"
LaFramboise said.
"The night that this happened, they
knocked on his bed room window
Youth cont'd on 3
Fond du Lac youth faces state charges in
protest over closing of center
By Jeff Armstrong
When the Fond du Lac RBC shut
down the Mahnomen House Drop-In
Center one day after staff workers said
the popular youth hangout was
expanding to 7 days a week, tempers
ran high.
A group of more than a dozen
students was gathered expectantly
outside the center in the cold mid-
January air when they received the
news. "It was like they dropped a
bomb on it," said 17-year-old Brian
(Bear) Bosto.
For young people of the community,
the Mahnomen House was a place-
for most, the only place—where they
could get together to socialize or to
study. And it was theirs.
"I really believed them when they
said this was ours. Then they took it
away," said Bosto. "Now the kids have
nothing."
When tears turned to rage, Bosto was
there to counsel against any rash
action by the frustrated youths. "Some
of the younger kids were saying 'let's
come back tonight and burn it down.'
But I told them that would just give
the RBC an excuse to close it
permanently. We need to get it
reopened."
But after helping defuse the young
people's anger, Bosto admits to losing
some of his own composure. As he
watched reservation security officers
hauling out the youth center's modest
equipment, Bosto verbally confronted
coordinator Sherill DeFoe, an
exchange which ended in Bosto
punching a hole in the wall and
knocking a TV. on to a beanbag chair.
"I was crying, I was angry...I am
sorry for what I did. I know I did
wrong. But I didn't do it for myself, I
did it for the kids."
But that was far from the end of an
Center cont'd on 3
Tribal leader seeks to keep trial in Marquette
MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP)_Tribal
leader Fred Dakota is asking a federal
judge to reverse his decision to relocate
Dakota's tax evasion and kickback
trial from Marquette to Grand Rapids.
Attorneys representing Dakota,
chairman of the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community, and New Jersey
businessman Jerrold Polinsky filed
motions Thursday in U.S. District
Court in Marquette.
Dakota and Polinsky face dozens of
federal kickback and fraud charges
relating to the leasing of tribal gaming
machines. Dakota also faces three
counts of income tax evasion.
Judge Robert Holmes Bell granted a
prosecution request March 24 to shift
the trial to Grand Rapids, voicing
concern that the jury pool would be
tainted by demonstrations outside the
courthouse.
Mark Stevens, attorney for Dakota,
said in his motion that Bell had
tolerated the presence of pro- and anti-
Dakota demonstrators since his
arraignment in July 1996.
"At the arraignment, the large
courtroom was completely filled with
Native Americans interested in the
proceedings," Stevens said.
Thomas Casselman, a local attorney
representing Polinsky, complained that
he had not been given a chance to
argue against a change of venue.
Stevens wants a trial in the Upper
Peninsula, where Indians make up
about 9 percent of the population _
compared to 1 percent in the Grand
Rapids area.
He also contended that results of
last November's vote on Proposal E,
which allowed casinos in Detroit,
suggest there is little support in the
Grand Rapids area for gambling.
"Given the fact that (Dakota) was
prominent in the movement to legalize
Indian casinos and given the fact that
the cases directly involve gambling,
this court abused its discretion by
failing to give weight to the known
demographic factors which adversely
impact the defense when deciding
whether to transfer this case," Stevens
said in his motion.
There was no indication when Bell
would rule on the motions.
In a related development, Marquette
police negotiated an agreement
Thursday that allows opposing
protesters in the case to picket in the
same area.
The groups exchanged insults on a
small stretch of sidewalk outside the
U.S.attorney'sofficeonU.S.41 before
police quickly intervened.
Tribal housing plagued by problems
TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Troy
Warrior's family spent years on a
waiting list for low-income tribal
housing. But just when it came time to
move in, the Otoe-Missouria decided
to give the home to wealthier tribal
members.
Warrior, his wife and three children
now live in a one-room house near
Ponca City while others who do not
qualify for aid inhabit some of the new
homes on tribal land at Red Rock.
"I feci so bad because they had a
chance to walk through the house,
pick out their rooms, and look out the
windows," Warrior said. "Now I have
to try and answer their questions they
ask about something I can't even
understand."
His case is not uncommon in the
troubled Indian housing system,
according to the Tulsa World.
The newspaper's review ofa 1985
Oklahoma Indian Housing audit shows
problems have existed in the program
since its inception 36 years ago. Recent
testimony by Department and Housing
and Urban Development Inspector
General Susan Gaffney indicates the
problems have only worsened.
"The Native American housing
problem is reaching crisis
proportions," Ms. Gaffney said. "More
than 100,000 Native Americans are
waiting for decent housing. Some have
been waiting for 10 years or more in
conditions typically associated with
underdeveloped countries."
In congressional hearings, she
related 29 cases of alleged fraud,
abuse, and mismanagement. The cases
were first reported in a December
series in the Seattle Times.
One of those cases involved the
Otoe-Missouria Housing Authority
and former HUD official Jim Cook.
Ms. Gaffney said Cook profited by
informing the Otoe housing authority
of loopholes that encouraged them to
play favorites in deciding which tribal
members would receiving housing.
Cook allegedly wrote specifications
Housing cont'd on 8
<s
Court Places Hold on Treaty Harvest
Lakota youth gunned down in Minneapolis
Fond du Lac youth faces state charges in protest
Reese joins ordinance challenge, asks to be seated
Family wins discrimination battle, award/ pg 3
Voice of the People
1
Fifty Cents
IMei/i/s
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded   in 1988
Volume 9    Issue 26
April 11,1 997
\
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1 997
THANKS TO JACK LUSSIER for sending Press/ON this beautiful original painting. We're thinking it might look
good on t-shirts and hats. Jack is obviously a very talented artist. We at Press/ON wish him the best.
Reese joins ordinance challenge, asks to be
seated as LL secretary treasurer
By Jeff Armstrong
Charging that the current tribal
election ordinance was invalidly
enacted, the leading vote-getter in
Leech Lake's primary election last
December has asked the Reservation
Business Committee to swear him into
office on the basis of that vote.
"The certified election result of the
December 19, 1996 election shows
that I, Walter 'Frank' Reese received
the most votes and therefore, I am the
duly elected Secretary/Treasurer of
Leech Lake," wrote Reese in an April
2 letter to RBC chairman Eli Hunt.
Reese topped a 13-candidate field
with 310 votes in the December
election, but he fell to Johnston by a
783-608 margin in the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe's first election runoff.
Prior election ordinances required the
winner to gain a mere plurality of the
votes, though the MCT constitution
implies that a majority is needed.
Reese's claim comes in the wake of
allegations by Fond du Lac RBC
members that Election Ordinance #6
was altered and Pete Defoe's name
forged to it. The dispute has caused a
flurry of correspondence between the
RBC and Tribal Executive Committee
president Norman Deschampe, but the
TEC has apparently not acted on Fond
du Lac's request for a special TEC
meeting.
In a letter to an RBC chairman,
Deschampe wrote that a special
executive session (i.e., closed to tribal
members) would be held the week of
April 7, but if such a meeting took place
it was kept under tight wraps. The issue
is therefore likely to appear on the
agenda of the regular TEC meeting
this month, tentatively scheduled for
April 21 at Mystic Lake Casino.
A longtime supporter of primary
elections, Reese conceded to opponent
Linda Johnston after ballots were
counted in the Jan. 28 runoff to fill the
seat vacated by the recall of convicted
secretary treasurer Dan Brown. Reese
offered to waive his right to protest the
election in order to get Johnston seated
on the TEC, but Leech Lake officials
decided to wait until she was a sworn
member of the RBC first.
However, Reese said he would have
appealed the election had he known
of the circumstances surrounding
passage of the election ordinance. "I
had no way of knowing what
happened at the time," he said. "Ifthis
was an unconstitutional election, that
jeopardizes our federal program
funding," said Reese, vowing to
appeal to the Interior Board of Indian
Appeals if necessary.
Fuel trucks seized as tax goes into effect
By Shannon McCaffrey
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Six trucks
have been either impounded or seized
for illegally transporting motor fuel
since the state began enforcing sales
taxes on wholesalers supplying Indian
reservations.
The arrests were made in western
New York, outside the Seneca Indians'
Cattaraugus and Tuscarora
reservations, and in Massena, which
borders the St. Regis Mohawk
Reservation in northern New York.
Those tribes have failed to reach
agreement with the state over the taxes
imposed on gas and cigarettes sold to
non-Indians on reservations. The state
has reached a temporary compact with
the other six Indian nations to raise
prices on gas and cigarettes.
Trucks carrying gasoline fuel were
seized for good by state officials, while
those carrying diesel fuel were
impounded, according to Marvin
Nailor, a spokesman for the state
Department of Taxation and Finance.
Nailor said officers are recognizing
the sovereignty of Indian nations,
despite the truck seizures.
"We will not go onto the
reservation," Nailor said. "That would
create a great deal of tension,
unnecessarily so."
Constance Barella, president of New
York State Association of
Convenience Store Owners, had
expressed doubts about whether the
state would enforce the new tax laws,
but was pleased with the arrests so
soon after the new regulations went
into effect April 1.
Her group has complained that non-
Indian convenience stores are unable
to compete with Indian entrepreneurs
who are not charging state sales taxes.
"It's extremely encouraging," Barella
said. "People for so long have thought
the regulations were a toothless tiger
and now we see they're not."
Pataki said negotiations were
ongoing with the Akwesasne
Mohawks, Senecas and Poospatuck
tribes, the three tribes that have not
Seized cont'd on 8
History Center to host presentation on burial sites
The federal protection of American
Indian burial grounds and the
repatriation of Indian spiritual artifacts
is the subject ofa program presented
by Maria Pearson ("Running
Moccasin') on April 13th at 2 pm. at
the Treaty Site History Center in St.
Peter.
Maria Pearson is an internationally
known and respected Yankton Sioux
woman whose roles include that of
being a warrior and a peacemaker.
A showing of the television
program, "Bones of Contention,"
produced by BBC television will
precede the discussion. Maria is
featured in this video that depicts the
events, conflicts and processes that led
to the passing of the law.
The History Center is open daily.
Admission to the program is $2.50 for
adults. Under 12 and Nicollet County
Historical Society members free. Call
(507)931 -2160 for tour info.