The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-06-20

              Two shootings, one assault last weekend
send four Red Lake men to area hospitals
Man in coma, depresed skull fracture in Fargo hospital
Hv I ins
Red Lake, MN — Two separate
shooting incidents over the past
weekend on the Red Lake Reservation
in northern Minnesota left three Red
Lake men in a Bemidji hospital, while
the healing of another Red Lake man
resulted in the victim being sent to
emergency treatment in Fargo in a
comatose state.
Thai would make a total of one
stabbing fatality, three men with
gunshot wounds and one near-fatal
beating ofa man within the last three
weeks on the Red Lake reservation 34
miks north of Bemidji. Minnesota.
►, there were an estimated 200
shots fired in Red Lake and about 30
shots fired in the Redby area this past
weekend.
The three shooting incidents appear
to be related to each other and to the
beating. The four men involved
include Rex Strong, 44, Harvey
Kedby; Brian
Dojarlait. 20. and Chad Beaulieu, 18.
both of Red Lake
In a related matter. Gary Heac
of Redby, father of the late Wesley
Strong was arrested nearly two weeks
ago for allegedly shooting up a
vehicle. The vehicle was owned by
Roland Roy, Sr, the father of Roland
Roy, Jr., a prime suspect in the
stabbing death of Wesley Strong last
May 25th.
According to Red Lake sources.
Gary Head has been held in the
Beltrami County Jail in Bemidji on a
Red Lake tribal warrant Head was
scheduled to be arraigned in a federal
court in Minneapolis on charges of
assault with a deadly weapon as we
go to press June 19.
According to PRESS/ON sources.
Rex and Harvey Strong were
apparently shot while driving from
Redby to Red Lake. It appears at this
point that shooting happened just east
of Red Lake. Rex Strong had one
bullet fragment removed from his
back and was released from North
Country Regional Hospital on
Wednesday around noon. Another
source said Harvey Strong wis shot
in the leg. treated and released. No
other details regarding the extent of
injuries, the date or time ••-
available at press tune.
Another incident involved the
shooting of Brian Desjarlait.
Desjarlait's parents. "Bubba" and
Mona Desjarlait were at the North
Country Regional Hospital with their
son when Brian was asked on
Wednesday for information
concerning how he got shot. Brian
handed the phone to his father, who
told the PRESS ON. "No comment.
It's under investigation."
PRESS ON sources reported that
Brian Desjarlait was at his cousin.
Kelly Green's mobile home on the
south of the "Back of Town" section
of Red Lake. What Desjarlait
AsSUalt cont'd on 5
Reese arrested, jailed by Cass County
it traatiMg
opposition candidate
\\.ilicr 11 rank) Reese was arrested and
jailed June 18 alter challenging the
authority ol unty Sheriffs
Deputies to issue Reese a civil
inous at his Onigum home. R.
riminal record, was
released without bail after 24 hours of
imement at the county jail in
Walker. Mmnc
The summons was issued at the
behest of tribal housing, whose civil
it Reese regarding his
r,e been dismissed
lor lack of jurisdiction in state, tribal
iiv. federal court.
Reese informed county deputy Dan
Gardner that the state lacks
jurisdiction in the matter and is alleged
to have damaged a police vehicle in
the ensuing argument.
According to Reese, a detachable
side mirror on the squad car fell off
when Gardner hastily pulled away
from Reese as he attempted to return
the court papers to the deputy, who
said he was merely carrying out orders
from sheriff Jim Dowson.
"I said you're carrying out an
unlawful order," said Reese. "What
bothers me is the sheriff carrying out
these orders. They're the ones that are
unlawful, not me," the tribal reform
activist said. "We already addressed
this issue about intra-tribal matters that
are civil."
Chief deputy Randy Fisher said
Reese was arrested "for his actions in
refusing to accept the summons, in
becoming aggressive with the officer."
The Cass Lake officer said Reese was
taken into custody due to the
seriousness of the charges, which
include a gross misdemeanor.
Though he is not alleged to have
made any physical contact with the
officers, Reese was held on charges
of obstructing legal process,
tampering with a motor vehicle, and
disorderly conduct.
Reese recently won dismissal of the
latter charges in Itasca County in a
Reese cont'd on 3
Federal court to hear Fire Cadet suit
B) Garj niaii
i   Paul, Minnesota law firm
einhardt and Anderson has filed
'iner
vere
:d during their training when
logical lc
I be plaintiffs, who are demanding a
trial,   arc   made   up   of one
live African
done Native American.
defendants arc the City of
neapolii and the Chief of the
neapolis   Fire   Department,
I nomas Dickin
The plaintiffs allege they were
terminated because ol then race and
that psychological testing was
improperly administered. The latter
charge includes allegations that a
psychologist inquired extensively into
the criminal history of the fire cadets,
in violation ofa 1972 federal court
oidcr forbidding such a practice.
The suit says the former cadets,
who are still being paid by the City
while they await the outcome of their
appeals, were referred to by fire
department officials as "gang
bangers," "no good" and "scary
people," just before they were
terminated.
The plaintiffs are asking for
compensatory and exemplary
damages along with attorney fees and
costs and additional further relief the
Red Lake Vation
lune 10,1997, at its regulari)
Muled meeting, the I nhai Coun-
>! unanimously to accept
from the United states.
as a partial settlement of \~i\c of the
mist the Govern-
Dtained in its historic Indian
I lawsuit The
•tiled. ,b well as other
ill pending and in
settlement negotiation, were filed in
a lawsuit by the Hand an Augu
if litigation. |
.I council dele Minted by
hed tent,
agreement in Apti
tncni delegation appointed b.
incl Reno, on the
The
non reported back to the
H1K
Bern
Bead
Tribal Council, and, after extensive
discussion at the May 29th and June
10th meeting, the Tribal Council accepted the partial settlement.
Historical Background of the
Band's Indian Claims Commission
I ausuit: I he Docket 189 Nelson
U-t ( laims
In 188°. the Red Lake Hand's reservation contained approximately 3.5
million acres of land, including
today's Diminished Reservation plus
lands north of Upper Red fake extending to the Canadian border and
lands south of the rescrv ation extending nearly to Hemidji The larger reservation contained v ast tracts of v alu-
able timber which were highly desired
by the large Minnesota logging com-
in January.
died the
ct which instructed the Pi
Shootings & assault send RL men to area hospitals
Federal court to hear Fire Cadet suit
Red Lake Tribal Council accepts land settlement
Treaty-rights case zeroes in on history
Tribe to pay Scott Co. fraction of its request/ pg 5
L
Red Lake Tribal Council accepts land
settlement $27 million for 3 million ceded acres
than tripling the amount Wiscoos
11 Indian tnh pay the stale
4 agreements that
•m the tnbes to help
rcgu
•icnt
en in
how  much I
I hompson   told   The
Associated IV
nblmg
1 the ncgi
Thompson said Thurs*.:
La. ibeau Tnbal Chairman
Maulson  ^aid  Friday  that
-on shouldn't  forget the
economic impact casinos have had.
"We've put a lot of his constm.
toworiinout
re making a lot of happ
out there I'm \intthat
enough at this t
Thompson and his staff have been
negotiating the agreements, called
compacts, with the tnbal leaders since
August. Under federal law
must have compacts to operate. The
current ones, all good for seven years,
were signed with the state ui 1991 and
Thi Timcnts  were
triggered b> the stale'sannouncemem
dnesday thai an estimated
I bice of the People
1
Court may deem equitable.
The suit claims the former fire
cadets associated during their training
and have since suffered severe
emotional distress, embarrassment,
loss of self-esteem, humiliation.
of enjoyment of life, damages to
reputation, and loss of income and
benefits.
The suit was filed in St. Paul
Federal Court on Thursday of this
week. No court date has been set in
the matter.
Minneapolis mayoral aide Amy
Phoenix says she had not seen the
formal complaint and could not
comment until she had a chance to
review the charges.
dent to appoint a commission to persuade the Red Lake Band to give up
2.9 million acres of reservation land
and timber. In June and July 1890. the
appointed commission met numerous
times with tribal leaders. The commission used economic, religious, and
social threats and coercion to force a
reluctant agreement from tribal leaders to give up this land.
The Nelson Act promised that the
Government would take the 2.9 million acres and determine the quantity,
quality, and full fair market value of
the timber on the land. The Nelson Act
promised that the Government would
sell the land and timber for its full
value, and that the sales proceeds
would be deposited for the Band into
a Nelson Act trust fund to earn 4%
interest for 50 years. The commi-
Land cont'd on 8
Thompson: Tribes need to pay much more than $1 million
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity  For All  People
Founded   in 1BBB
Volume B     Issue 36
June ZO, 1BB7
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe IMewa,  1 997
Pholo by Jim OriU
Over 420 dancers participated in this years 129th Annual White Earth Pow Wow. Young dancers wall
during Saturday evening's grand entry (foreground girls jingle dress and boys grass dance).
Treaty-rights case zeroes in on history
By Larry Oakes
Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer
A three-judge federal Appeals
Court panel zeroed in on three central
issues when it dissected Minnesota's
massive 1837 treaty-rights case
Thursday at a hearing in St. Paul.
• Did President Zachary Taylor
legally revoke Chippewa harvesting
privileges in 1850?
• Are modem Chippewa so well off
from casinos that they no longer need
much fish and game?
• Did the Chippewa give up claims
to treaty privileges when they received
damage awards for lost land and other
resources?
If the focus of the judges' questions
to the five attorneys who argued the
issues are any indication, answers to
one or more of them will form the
basis for a decision that will determine
whether the Chippewa can take large
amounts of fish and game under their
own rules in east-central Minnesota.
That would include gill-netting 40,000
pounds of walleye to start with from
Lake Mille Lacs.
A decision on the issue is expected
within a few months.
Lawyers for the state, nine counties
and eight landowners asked the panel
from the eighth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals to declare that the Chippew a
privileges reserved in the 1837 treat)
have been legally extinguished and arc-
no longer necessary. They want the
panel to overturn federal District
Court rulings that reaffirmed the
privileges, most of which were stayed
pending appeal.
Lawyers for the Mille Lacs and
Fond du Lac bands, six northern
Wisconsin bands and the U.S.
government responded that the
privileges still exist but were illc.
infringed upon by state game wardens
Treaty cont'd on 5
Defense probes key witness' credibility
billion was wagered by gamblers at
the casinos in 1995. the most recent
year available.
That figure counts money that
gamblers bnng in from the street plus
the "house money" that winning
gamblers bet over and over again
State offk about 90 percent of
the $7 billion is paid back out to
customers
Oneida Nation spokesman Jeff
House said Fnday that the governor
and the tnbes had made a "gentleman' s
agreement" not to talk about compact
negotiations in pu"
e don't talk about compact
renewal in the media, and he agreed to
that." said House, who is the head of
an Indian public relations task force
Tribes cont'd on 4
By Greta Guest
GRAND RAPIDS. Mich. (AP) _
On his third day on the stand in tribal
Chairman Fred Dakota's federal trial.
a government agent on Tuesday
showed jurors the makings of a
kickback scheme
Tim Reed, a special agent for the
Department of the Interior in St. Paul.
Minn, toldjurors in U.S. District Court
that the timing of transactions between
Dakota and his co-defendant Jcrrold
Polinsky only points to illegal pay
Reed is the 12th witness to testify
for the  prosecution  in  Daki
kickback and tax evasion trial   He
analyzed all documents seized by the
FBI on a raid of Minnesota-based
International Gaming Management
Inc.
Prosecutors say the payoffs were
made to reward Dakota for influencing
his tribe _ the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community _ to lease slot machines
from IGM.
Defense attorneys have argued that
Dakota was paid $127,000 from
Polinsky'sSpectrumCommunicatioas
Inc in a series of checks from 1991-
93 to promote a national Indian lottery
through a 900-number.
Reed testified that he found no
evidence to indicate Dakota was being
paid to tout such a venture or even if
one ex istcd dunng the years the tnbal
chairman received the checks.
He said the checks began filtering to
Dakota in June 1991. two weeks after
200 slot machines were leased B
IGM forOjibwa casino in Baraga.
They stopped in December 1W3. a
month after the tribe reached a compac i
agreement with Michigan
allowing them to operate ideo
poker machines. Before the compact,
it was considered illegal to have the
gaming machines. Reed testified
Reed said Dakota told him during an
interview in September 1995 he
paid by Spectrum as a consultant for a
instate lottery to include Michigan.
Minnesota and Wisconsin tribes.
Dakota told him he "may have
contacted a couple of individuals about
this." but did not make a proposal or
have a business plan on the lottc
Witness cont'd on 3
Republican's ploy may gain him Indian votes
Pli Republican Rep.
JD Hay worth may be rewarded with
Indian votes from within Democratic
ranks for his successful effon against
a proposal to tax Indian casinos.
The An/onan successfully bucked
ans Committee
chairman. Rep. Bill Archer. R-Tc
as the House approved Hayworth's
amendment rejecting a 34 percent
income tax on tnbal rn. -
The levy, pan ofa House GOP tax
package, threatened to siphon SI.9
billion off reservations over the next
cars
il was a large _ and largely
unexpected _ victory for Indian
Country.
Haywonh. the first An/onan to
gamer a position on the influential
commincc. got n through loyalty lo
party leaders. Yet be stripped a key
provision from one of his chairman's
most important b.
It was amazing how it turned out."
said Cicil Antone. vice chairman of
the Gila River Indian Community, as
a small delegation met Hayworth's
plane from Washington Fnday a
Harbor International Airport in
Phoenix
Haywonh °s amendment, debated
dunng a committee meeting that lasted
from Thursday to near dawn Fnday.
should win him critically needed
Indian support in next year's rematch
with Democrat Steve Owens.
Indians make up nearly one quarter
of the population of Hayworth's 6th
Distnct. the highest percentage c>:
of Arizona's congressional districts
The 6th Distnct includes portio:
Votes cont'd on 6