The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-07-11

              Cass County reverses decision to hear
victims of human rights abuses testify
By Jeff Armstrong
With little notice and less
explanation, Cass County
commissioners backed out of a
hearing the board set for July 8 to
address burgeoning complaints of
discriminatory and illegal conduct by
county deputies policing the Leech
Lake Reservation.
Demands for the county to take
responsibility for its officers were
triggered by a dubious traffic stop on
the reservation last month which led
to the arrest, jailing and alleged assault
of two Anishinabe women traveling
with their three young children.
Renee Judkins, who says she was
maced and struck with a flashlight by
deputy Robert Karbowski without
provocation on her part in the June 21
incident, expressed disappointment at
the county's decision.
"We've tried to go through all then-
procedures," said Judkins. "And
they've refused to address any of our
complaints at any level. But I'm not
going to go away," she said, stating
her intentions of bringing the issue to
the attention of U.S. attorney David
Lillehaug. Along with Paula Wilson,
Judkins is being charged with 5th
degree assault and disorderly conduct.
County officials provided few details
on the reasoning behind the decision.
"I cancelled the meeting on behalf of
the board after receiving advice to do
so by the County Attorney's Office,"
said county administrator Robert
Yochum. Yochum said he had not
discussed whether county attorney
Earl Maus should initiate an
investigation into the incident, stating
that inquiries into the matter would be
limited to the women's criminal trials.
County cont'd on 3
Hennepin County to address issue of
vendored payments to slumlords
By Gary Blair
The problem of landlord abuse in
Minneapolis has attracted the attention
of at least one Hennepin County
Welfare Department supervisor and
some city advocacy staff, who say they
have noticed the increase in housing
complaints.
Joanne Rockwell, a Hennepin
County Social Service Supervisor,
said this week that she will organize a
community meeting to help identify
the housing problems welfare families
in Minneapolis may be facing.
Rockwell's department oversees the
welfare department's vendor program,
in which the welfare recipient's rent
is paid directly to the landlord and/or
the utility companies with the intention
to reduce evictions and utility shut-
offs.
Rockwell says she would like to
hold the meeting at the Waite House
located at 26th Ave. and 13th St. S.
Minneapolis. She says she plans to
have county child and adult protection
workers at that meeting, because she
heard that some ofthe rental buildings
are unsafe for children and vulnerable
adults. The PRESS will carry the time
and date of the proposed meeting.
"I don't want a lot of agency people
at the first meeting, but I do want as
many ofthe community people there
as possible. I want to hear what they
Payment cont'd on 5
Tribal chairman resigns days after conviction
By Greta Guest
LANSING, Mich. (AP) _ Fred
Dakota, convicted last week on federal
bribery and tax evasion charges, has
resigned as the leader of his tribe.
Dakota, 60, offered his resignation
Wednesday during an executive
meeting ofthe Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community tribal council, tribal
spokesman Rich Rossway said.
In a letter to the council, Dakota
referred to his recent conviction in
U.S. District Court as the cause for his
resignation.
"Due to the legal circumstances I am
in, I feel that it is in the best interest of
the tribe as well as myself, to submit
this letter of resignation as tribal
chairman and council member," he
wrote. -
But Dakota will continue as chief
executive officer with day-to-day
responsibility for the tribe's enterprises
until a replacement can be found,
Rossway said.
Dakota was convicted Friday on
charges he accepted bribes from a
New Jersey slot machine dealer and
then evaded taxes on the $ 127,000 in
payments from 1991 -93. His attorneys
plan to appeal.
The resignation comes just days after
a dissident group known as Fight For
Justice held a strategy session to oust
him.
The group seized the tribal center
near Assinins in the western Upper
Peninsula in August 1995 and held it
for 18 months. Rebels involved in the
takeover disagreed with Dakota's
policies, particularly the nullification
of a December 1994 tribal election
and the purging of about 200 people
from the voting rolls.
"I was hoping he had a little honor
left in him, and he would do that," said
Karen Curtis, an FFJ member who
attended Dakota's three-week trial in
Grand Rapids.
Mrs. Curtis said dissident members
have found no joy in Dakota's
downfall, despite opposing his
policies.
"When Fred was convicted, it hurt
us because he's still part of us. We
cried for him that day. What happened
to him happened to all of us," she said.
Dakota, who 32 years ago took
leadership ofthe tribe, led negotiations
with Gov. John Engler that resulted in
compacts for several Michigan tribes
in 1993. He is known as the grandfather
of Indian gaming after starting a rustic
casino in a two-car garage in 1983.
As Indian gambling grows federal
inspectors stretched thin
By Philip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) _ While
gambling on Indian reservations has
boomed into a $6 billion-a-year
business, the federal commission that
keeps an eye on the casinos is short of
staff and running out of money.
The National Indian Gaming
Commission has only six field
investigators to cover nearly 280
casinos and bingo halls. The Clinton
administration has proposed collecting
fees on the casinos to triple the
commission's $4 million budget and
expand its enforcement activities.
But the tribes, which recently fought
off a proposal by the chairman ofthe
House Ways and Means Committee
to tax all their business revenues, are
standing firm against the fees. They
view it as another effort to restrict
gambling on reservations.
"Indian country would rather see no
change than harmful change," said
Rick Hill, chairman of the National
Indian Gaming Association, the
industry trade group.
The agency recently warned its 33
employees that as many as half could
be laid off this fall when a surplus built
up in the commission's early years
runs out.
The commission has been "critically
under-funded for a long time," said
Tom Foley, its vice chairman and a
former county attorney from
Minnesota.
Fellow commissioner Phil Hogen,
an Oglala Sioux and former federal
prosecutor from South Dakota, said,
"We can't say with the confidence
we'd like to that everything is squeaky
clean."
"You have to see more ofthe action
than we have the resources to see," he
added.
Just two weeks ago, the commission
Inspectorscont'dons
Casino talks reaching beyond gambling
By Pat Doyle
Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer
Tribal casino gambling and fishing
have frustrated Minnesota and
Wisconsin officials because the
federal government limits the ability
of states to curb those activities.
Now Wisconsin officials are trying
to link the two issues, making
American Indian fishing rights a
negotiating point in discussions on the
future of casinos in their state.
Wisconsin is threatening to cancel
gambling agreements that were signed
in the early 1990s and could begin
expiring next year.
But Minnesota officials don't have
the same bargaining power, because
their gambling agreements with the
state's tribes lack expiration dates.
Years after those agreements were
signed, officials justify or regret the
terms.
"Our goal at the time was to contain
gambling in the state at the level it was
at," said Rep. Becky Kelso, DFL-
Shakopee, who in 1989 helped
negotiate the first series of agreements
- for slot machines - soon after
Congress cleared the way for tribal
casinos.
Kelso laughed.
"We failed miserably," she said.
The agreements, or compacts, that
first allowed slots and later permitted
blackjack in Minnesota were the
products of Democrats and
Republicans, including supporters and
opponents of some forms of gambling.
They included-Gov. Rudy Perpich and
state Sen. Ron Dicklich, both
Democrats, and Gov. Arne Carlson
and former state Rep. Gil Gutknecht
both, Republicans. Democratic
Minnesota Attorney General Hubert
Humphrey III was involved in the
process.
Cass County reverses decision to hear victims
Hennepin Co. to address issue of vendored payments
Tribal chairman resigns days after conviction
Protesters demand inquiry into shooting death
Man missing near the Federal Dam area/ pg 8
Voice ofthe People
1
Fifty Cents
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded In 1988
Volume 9   Issue 39
July 11,1997
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1997
Photo by NCO
Team dancers compete at this year's Fourth of July pow wow at Leech Lake's Veteran's Memorial
grounds on Sunday. The audience tentatively watches the traditional dance team show their moves.
Two Red Lake deaths under investigation
REDLAKE _ Red Lake Reservation
police and the FBI are investigating
the death of two people found in a car
on the reservation July 3.
The bodies were severely burned,
Tony Nicholson, special agent with the
FBI in Bemidji, said Wednesday.
Snustad  Funeral  Home  of
Blackduck identified Wednesday the
victims as Warren Jay Stillday, 76, of
Ponemah and his wife, Alvina Mae
Stillday, 77.
Funeral services for the couple were
2 p.m. Thursday at the Ponemah
Community Center.
The two apparently died in an
automobile accident, but foul play has
not been ruled out, Nicholson said.
The car was reportedly found on the
far end of Ponemah Point.
The cause of death was expected to
be revealed by the Ramsey County
Medical Examiner's Office, which
conducted autopsies on the couple,
Nicholson said.
Red Lake authorities were
unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Protesters demand inquiry into shooting
death of Anishinabe activist by police
ONTARIO ~ Twelve people from the
Coalition Against Racist Police
Violence are locked behind
government doors as of July 9, waiting
to meet with Ontario Attorney General
Charles Harnick to ask for an inquiry
into government involvement in the
events leading up to Dudley George's
murder.
The Stoney Point people peacefully
reoccupied Ipperwash Provincial Park
after it had closed for the season in
1995. They were protecting sacred
burial grounds located there.
None were armed.
On the night of September 6th, after
a meeting of government officials, the
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
opened fire on the Stoney Pointers,
gunning down and killing Dudley
George.
Among the protesters are Pierre
George, brother of Dudley George,
Macgosha Pajor of CASNP, Joanne
Bender ofthe Coalition, Dudley Laws
of the Black Action Defense
Committee, Ethel Levalley, Secretary
Treasurer ofthe Ontario Federation of
Labour, Roger Obonsawin of the Ol
Group, among others. Protesters are
also outside the building and are
asking others to join them.
The protesters arrived at 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday morning, July 9th, in front
ofthe Attorney General's Office at 720
Bay St. and proceeded into the
building.
After 12 people went in, the guards
closed and locked the doors of the
building, disallowing the protesters
and workers to enter or leave the
building for most of the day.
When a door opened to let someone
out, a protester would rush in to join
the others.
At this point the protesters are still
inside the building.
Why do Ontario Premier Mike
Harris, AG Charles Harnick and
Solicitor General Robert Runciman
refuse to call a public inquiry?
Inquiry cont'd on 8
Casino comd on 8    what's going on in secret gambling talks?
Casinos give Indians economic and political power
By Jonathan D Salant
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Mashantucket Pequot nation fears a
proposal to tax Indian casinos could
cap the gusher of riches that gambling
brought them.
The Pequots called Connecticut's
two representatives on the House Ways
and Means Committee. They joined
other Indian tribes at weekly meetings
to plot strategy. They helped bombard
committee members with faxes and
phone calls, and enlisted the support
ofthe White House.
In June, the committee rejected the
proposal by chairman Bill Archer, R-
Texas, to tax all revenue from tribal
businesses, including casinos. Instead,
the panel voted to raise the ticket tax
on airline passengers flying overseas.
Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., who
led the fight to kill Archer's proposal,
said the Indians' lobbying effort was
crucial to his success.
"They worked very hard on the
issue," said Hayworth, whose district
includes the Navajo reservation.
"Across the width and breadth of
Indian country, people got the message
across."
Since the 1988 Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act cleared the tables for
Indian casinos, gambling has meant
millions of dollars for tribal coffers
and political and economic clout for
American Indians.
Indian lobbyists ply the halls ofthe
Capitol. Tribes are generous givers to
political campaigns. And American
Indians mobilize to demonstrate strong
grassroots support.
"They're much more active," said
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-
Colo., the only American Indian
serving in Congress and chairman of
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
"They have to be active if they're
going to protect themselves."
There is a lot to protect.
A May report by the General
Accounting Office found that Indian
casinos were a $4-billion-a-year
business, equivalent to Atlantic City,
Casinos cont'd on 8
By Jim Chilsen
MILWAUKEE (AP)_Gov. Tommy
Thompson is using closed-door
gambling talks with tribal leaders to
negotiate issues like taxes, treaty rights
and water quality, angering critics who
say it's wrong to tie such unrelated
issues to gambling agreements the
casinos need to operate.
"Natural resources issues shouldn't
be on the table and if they are, the
meetings should be open to the public,"
said Carl Zichella, Midwest regional
director of the Sierra Club.
"Gaming is not a natural resource."
Wisconsin's 11 tribes and Gov.
Tommy   Thompson   have   been
negotiating  agreements,  called
compacts, since August. Under federal
law, casinos must have compacts to
operate. The current ones, all good for
seven years, were signed with the state
in 1991 and 1992.
Thompson has said the talks are
stalled because they can't agree on
any of 20 items he has raised as part of
the compact negotiations.
State Department of Natural
Resources Secretary George Meyer,
part ofthe negotiating team, said treaty
hunting and fishing rights, air and water
quality issues and tax issues are being
discussed.
"I think both sides have a right to put
on the table whatever issues that are
between them," Meyer said.
Thomas Maulson, chairman of the
Lac du Flambeau Chippewa tribe, said
such issues cloud negotiations to renew
the federally required compacts.
"There's two games played here
today. I call it fish and chips and those
don't mix," Maulson said.
"What do allocations offish have to
do with numbers of dollars being spent
on the tables?"
This is the first time that Thompson
has brought separate issues to the
negotiations, according to Thompson
Chief of Staff John Matthews, who is
involved in the negotiations. Last time,
some ofthe 20 issues did not yet exist,
and the governor was under pressure
to get compacts signed, he said.
After casino-style gambling was
approved by a federal court in 1991,
Thompson was under pressure to
negotiate compacts with each tribe _
some within 60 days before he faced
Talks cont'd on 3