The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-08-29

              8th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of
Chippewa treaty rights State, landowners likely to
petition for U.S. Supreme Court review
By Julie Shortridge
On August 26th, a three judge panel
ofthe federal Eighth Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled largely in favor of the
Chippewa Bands in the Mille Lacs
Treaty lawsuit. Band members will not
have to abide by state law on public
lands and public waters in the area the
Chippewa sold (ceded) to the U.S. in
the 1837 treaty. The bands will,
however, have to abide by state law
on all private lands in the ceded
territory, according to the Eighth
Circuit's ruling.
Judge Donald P. Lay wrote in the
unanimous decision, "Despite the 160
years that have passed since the
signing ofthe Treaty, it remains good
law. One of the hallmarks of our
constitutional system is respect for the
law, regardless of changing
circumstances or the inavitable
passage of time."
"(The Treaty] remains good law."
— Judge Donald Lay, who wrote the
8th Circuit's ruling
For the one hundred years or so that
the state has implemented
conservation regulations, the
Chippewa bands who signed the 1837
treaty have hunted, fished and
gathered under the same laws as
everyone else in the state. No special
privilege had ever been acknowledged
by the State or demanded by the
bands, until now.
Unless the most recent court
decision is later overruled, the
Chippewa bands will no longer have
to abide by state law when hunting,
fishing and gathering in the ceded
territory. But for the time being, the
"stay" imposed by the Eighth Circuit
in April 1997 placing a hold on treaty
harvest remaing in effect, according
to Scott Strand, state attorney in the
case. The bands, including Mille Lacs,
Fond du Lac, and five Chippewa
Ruling cont'd on 3
Cashing in on tribal sovereignty at the high-
priced NIGA conference
By Gary Blair
The Minneapolis Convention Center was the site ofthe 3rd annual National Indian Gaming Association's
(NIGA) lightly promoted conference,
a high buck event whose expenses
would have been been better spent
assisting the growing ranks of
Minnesota's impoverished Native
American population.
The six day event started Aug. 22,
and was attended by hundreds of visitors, including 552 exhibitors who
filled the center's main hall. The function also attracted tribal officials, their
followers, their attorneys and casino
managers from all over Indian country. The opening address was given by
Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R - AZ).
The Welcome Keynote Address was
presented by Senator Paul Wellstone
(D - MN), who recently concluded his
tour on hunger throughout the U.S.
Senatorial aide Mark Anderson said
Thursday that Wellstone told tribal
officials,"We are under constant attack. We must operate under the highest degree of honesty and the highest
degree of integrity, because our jobs
which is so important to our future
must be focused like a laser on reducing proverty, especially among our
young in Indian county."
NIGA's chairman, Rick Hill, called
the meeting to order. Ray Owen of
Prairie Island gave the opening prayer.
The Leech Lake Veterans Memorial
Honor Guard gave a presentation of
colors, followed by the Prairie Island
Singers. The welcome was given by
Stanley Crooks, chairman ofthe Shakopee Midewakanton Sioux.
The conference offered various
workshops on gaming management,
investment strategies, legal issues,
economic development, and lobbying
efforts. NIGA also held its annual golf
tournament on Monday at The Wilds
golf course located near the Mystic
Lake Casino. Entry fees at that course
are reported to be $ 100 per day.
The conference's exhibit area
opened on Aug. 26, and was filled
with company representatives hoping
to capture some ofthe Indian gaming
dollars. On the opening day of the
exhibits, a performance by male fancy
dancers was given in the middle ofthe
exhibit hall during the noon hour lunch
Conf erenceconfd on 6
Naytahwaush parents demand removal of
Head Start teacher suspected of abuse
By Jeff Armstrong
A Naytahwaush Head Start teacher
accused of striking a four-year-old
student in her care last January will
not be criminally charged in the
incident, and is scheduled to return to
her job when classes beginnext month.
Upset over Mahnomen County's
refusal to charge Charlene (Suzie)
Bunker for slapping the learning
disabled child, Naytahwaush parents
are up in arms over the news that
Bunker will be back for another year.
More than 50 Naytahwaush parents
and community members have already
signed a petition seeking Bunker's
removal.
"I'm just astounded that she's going
back to work," said Angela
WhirlwindSoldier, whose son was the
victim ofthe Jan. 21 incident. "How
can you slap around a four-year-old
and expect him to learn from you?"
WhirlwindSoldier filed complaints
against Bunker with the county and
White Earth Head Start immediately
upon learning of the incident, two
days after it occurred. "[N|obody from
the school even contacted me," she
told deputy Dan Riggle in a Jan. 24
statement.
Riggle also questioned Roberta
Oppegard, a fellow employee who
said she saw Bunker slap the child.
"[H]e wanted to take a toy home and
she told him he couldn't steal from
Head Start and she drug him to his
locker and put his coat on and
(inaudible) and she um slapped him,"
said Oppegard in her deposition.
Oppegard also acknowledged making
a prior report on Bunker, stating that
"you're not supposed to hit any child."
But WhirlwindSoldier said Riggle's
investigative techniques left much to
be desired. A poor recording of the
interviews apparently left several gaps
in the responses to his cursory
questions, and WhirlwindSoldier said
the deputy also failed to note nonverbal responses from both Oppegard
and the four-year-old boy.
"He showed the cop where that
teacher hit him," said
WhirlwindSoldier, who was present
during her son's questioning. "He told
the officer that she hit him on the head
once, but I don't think that's even in the
report."
According to WhirlwindSoldier,
county attorney Eric Boe was reluctant
to turn over the statements and said he
Demand cont'd on 8
Carlson says state will seek appeal of treaty
riQhtS   Court ruled tribal rights do not extend to private property
By Rochelle Olson
ST. PAUL (AP) _ Relying on an
1837 treaty, an appeals court ruled
Tuesday that eight Chippewa bands in
Wisconsin and Minnesota retain rights
to hunt and fish without state regulation
in east-central Minnesota.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld a district court ruling.
The state, which had joined
landowners and counties in vigorously
challenging the Chippewas' rights,
vowed to appeal.
"Despite the 160 years that have
passed since the signing ofthe treaty,
it remains good law," Judge Donald P.
Lay wrote for a three-judge panel.
"One of the hallmarks of our
constitutional system is respect for the
caused tension
and non-Indian
law, regardless of changing
circumstances or the inevitable
passage of time."
The issue has
between the tribes
anglers, resort owners and the state
government. Gov. Arne Carlson called
for calm, but he also said the state
would "pursue all avenues forappeal."
Those options include asking for a
hearing before the entire 8th circuit or
the U.S. Supreme Court. Because a
stay ofthe original district court ruling
remains in place until a court rules on
whether to hear another appeal, the
soonest the bands could begin
exercising their rights is in 53 days.
"After seven years of struggling to
re-establish our treaty rights, we feel
vindicated by the court's ruling," said
Marge Anderson, chief executive of
the Mille Lacs band.
The state won on one point: The
court ruled that the tribal rights to hunt
and fish do not extend to private
property.
Tuesday's ruling stemmed from an
appeal by the state, nine counties and
eight landowners of a U.S. District
Court decision retaining the Indians'
special rights to hunt and fish in
territory ceded in 1837. The bands
and the U.S. government, with which
the bands made the treaty, believed
the rights remained intact.
The district court approved allowing
the Mille Lacs and Fond du Lac bands
in Minnesota and six Wisconsin
Chippewa bands to start spearing and
gillnetting   on   29   east-central
Appeal cont'd on 3
Independent review concludes impeachment
Was invalid    Council members sign agreement with Babbitt
By Jean Pagel
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) _ The
Cherokee Nation's legislative body
improperly impeached the tribe's
highest court, and so the justices still
serve, according to a much-anticipated
legal review released Tuesday.
But the members ofthe independent
commission that conducted the review
said their findings amount to opinion
and not a binding decision for
Cherokee government.
Principal Chief Joe Byrd has
promised to restore the three judges to
the bench if the Massad Commission
finds their ouster was improper.
Byrd traveled Tuesday from
Washington, D.C, where he and
several council members signed an
agreement Monday with U.S. Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Their hope
was a resolution of the tribe's bitter
internal feud.
Apparent reconciliation and civility
are surfacing on the eve ofthe annual
Cherokee holiday, a Labor Day
Weekend event that draws thousands
of people to Tahlequah to celebrate
culture and tradition. Some people
had feared violence this year among
the 182,000 Cherokees who make up
America's second-largest Indian tribe.
The Massad Commission _ made up
of Frederick attorney Anthony
Massad, University of Oklahoma law
professor Dan Gibbens and retired
District Judge Robert Layden of
McAlester _ spent several weeks
analyzing the Cherokee constitution
and laws at the request of the Tribal
Council.
"What we say today is our opinion,
and our opinion only," Massad said.
"Some ofyou are going to like it and
some ofyou are going to dislike it."
Massad asked his audience to stop
looking for reasons to prolong the
Cherokee infighting that first flared in
February. The strife has led to lawsuits,
arrests, a near-riot at the tribal
courthouse and intervention of U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs police.
"If we can get retribution out of our
Review cont'd on 8
Court rules in favor of Chippewa treaty rights
Cashing in on tribal sovereignty at NIGA conference
Naytahwaush parents demand removal of teacher
Carlson says state will seek appeal of treaty rights
State, feds sued for Cherokee civil rights abuses
Voice ofthe People
I
Fifty Cents
OJibWi
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 198B
Volume 9   Issue 46
August E9, 1997
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A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Klein, 1997
iHise
Photo by L. A.
On Wednesday in Bemidji, the Leech Lake Heritage Sites Program (LLHSP) was conducting a survey to
determine if there were any Ojibwe burial sites along Highway 197 for MNDOT. The survey will assist
MNDOT in determining if Highway 197 and Midway Drive can become one-way streets for area business
improvements. Pictured are ltor, Willie King bird, Kevin Ashmun, LLHSP directors Rose and David Kluth.
Babbitt says compacts' revenue provisions
don't comply with law
By Deborah Baker
SANTA FE (AP) _ Gov. Gary
Johnson said today he will ask
legislative and Indian leaders to meet
with him soon to try to iron out
questions over Indian gambling in New
Mexico.
Johnson, at a news conference, said
he hoped tribal leaders and top
legislative leaders will agree to reopen
negotiations over revenue provisions
of Indian gambling compacts.
Senate President Pro Tern Manny
Aragon, D-Albuquerque, said in a
telephone interview today he's willing
to open discussions on possible
changes in the revenue provisions.
Johnson and Aragon both pointed
out the Legislature would be required
to approve a bill to change the amount
Indians pay to the state.
Johnson made his comments in wake
ofa letter he received over the weekend
from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt,
who is allowing New Mexico's newest
gambling compacts to take effect
without his signature.
Babbitt said the large payments New
Mexico's Indian tribes must make to
the state under the new gambling
compacts "appear inconsistent" with
federal law.
Tribes have complained all along
that the regulatory fees _ an estimated
$6.5 million a year from the 11 existing
casinos _ and the requirement to pay
16 percent of slot machine profits to
the state were illegal.
But they signed the compacts anyway
_ 15 tribes as of Friday _ saying it was
their best bet to keep casinos open.
Johnson said reopening negotiations
over the revenue provisions was the
best way to avoid a long and expensive
fight in the courts over the state's
gambling law.
It's possible, Johnson said, the state
could ultimately lose a legal fight over
the revenue provision and tribes would
have no obligation to pay any portion
of its gambling proceeds to the state.
"If the Legislatue will take action,
then I think at this point there is still a
possibility that the state ofNew Mexico
can share in revenue," he said.
"But it seems as though we are
playing outselves into a position where
we are going to have Indian gambling
in the state of New Mexico forever
without revenue sharing."
On Saturday, Babbitt urged the state
and tribes to negotiate new revenue
provisions.
Babbitt issued a statement and a
letter explaining his decision a day
Comply cont'd on 6
Ousted tribal councilman vows to fight
OUSter    Christensen brought up suspicions of fraud at casino
LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis. (AP)
_ An American Indian who had brought
up allegations of gambling fraud and
was ousted from a tribal council said
Tuesday he is fighting to get his job
back.
"This was strictly a political witch
hunt on Tom Maulson's part," Mike
Christensen said, naming the Lac du
Flambeau Chippewa tribal chairman.
"It was personal more than anything.
"I was elected by the people to
represent them and that' s exactly what
I'm doing."
Christensen, who was recently voted
out of office by the tribal council, said
Tuesday that he plans to appeal for a
special tribal election.
Christensen angered tribal leaders
in May when he brought up suspicions
of fraud at the tribe's Lake of the
Torches Casino.
The discord on the reservation in
northern Wisconsin prompted the
National Indian Gaming Commission
to review the allegations. The federal
commission hasn't taken any action.
Tribal leaders have denied the
allegations and said they would agree
to an audit if the NIGC ordered one.
Maulson told WJFW-TV in
Rhinelander that Christensen broke
tribal rules and did not do his job as a
legislator. He did not immediately
respond to a message left by The
Associated Press at his office Tuesday.
The council said they found evidence
that Christensen:
_ improperly released confidential
tribal information to the media;
_ misrepresented the council by
getting involved in a dispute on the
Sokaogon Chippewa tribe's
reservation in Forest County;
_operated an illegal video gambling
machine at the cafe he owns with his
wife;
_ and refused to take a mandatory
drug test.
Christensen says he has done nothing
wrong.
In regard to the allegation of
releasing confidential information,
Christensen said the tribal government
should be more open. In the dispute,
he said he was invited to the Sokaogon
reservation to lend moral support to a
group of people who took over tribal
buildings for 28 days in May.
Christensen also said the gambling
machine does not come under tribal
rules, because his cafe is not on tribal
land. He also said the deal to get the
machine was between his wife, a non-
Indian, and another non-Indian.
In addition, Christensen said he
doesn't think he has to take a drug test,
but he planned to do so anyway
Tuesday.
Walt Bresette, a Red Cliff Chippewa
tribal member and activist who has
worked with both men, said
Christensen reminds him ofa younger
Maulson.
"When Tom was on the outside of
tribal government he led both tribal
members and non-tribal members to
challenge ... tribal government,"
Bresette said. "Mike I think is trying
to raise those same issues currently
and Tom is now the elected leader."