The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-09-05

              What Happens Next in the Mille Lacs Treaty
Case?   Several options exist on both sides of the issue
By Julie A. Shortridge
Now that the Eighth Circuit Court
of Appeals has ruled, what's going to
happen next in the Mille Lacs treaty
dispute? As with everything else in
law and life, it depends.
The "Stay"
"There will likely be some litigation
about whether the stay should remain
in place," said Scott Strand, attorney
for the State. As it stands right now,
the Bands would be allowed to implement a treaty harvest in the 1837
ceded territory starting mid-October,
when the stay initially imposed by the
Eighth Circuit in April will expire.
According to Strand, the Bands will
likely soon ask that the stay be lifted
and they be allowed to implement a
treaty harvest immediately. The State,
Landowners and Counties who are
defending against the Bands' claims
will likely ask that the Eighth Circuit
extend the stay until the case has been
appealed completely and a final court
decision has been made.
An Appeal for Further Review
At a press conference immediately
after the Eighth Circuit's ruling, DNR
Commissioner Rod Sando said that
the effect of a treaty harvest on non-
Band hunters and anglers will be "inconsequential." A reporter asked why,
if that's the case, does the State feel a
need to appeal the ruling to the full
extent possible. Sando gave no answer
and deferred to Scott Strand, attorney
for the State, to answer the question:
"Up until now the State had the authority to manage the state's resources.
Now there will be a couple sets of
rules. It creates a greater burden on
state resource managers to do their
jobs and try to accomplish their
goals." Sando added that the ruling
will only be accepted by the citizens
ofthe state after it has been fully appealed.
Both Strand and Steve Froehle, attorney for the Landowners in the case,
believe they and the Counties will
decide to ask the entire Eighth Circuit
Court to review the ruling made by the
three-judge panel last week. The other
option is to go directly to the U.S.
Supreme Court. "Court rules discourage a petition for rehearing," said
Strand. "But I think they might want
to allow a rehearing of this case because of its significance. There are
significant Constitutional issues at
stake when the federal courts take
broad prerogatives away from the
state as they have in this case."
When asked whether he believes the
case is winnable, Strand responded,
"Sure. We're going to give it a shot.
It's uphill, but winnable."
Treaty cont'd on 3
What Happens Next in the Mille Lacs Treaty Case?
Mpls. councilman demands answers in shooting
Inequities in Indian funding: 'Rich get Richer1
Feds, tribal leaders seek to curb res. crime
Reopened Cherokee Court appears ransacked
Voice ofthe People
1
Minneapolis city councilman demands
answers in police shooting of youth
Fifty Cents
OJibWi
By Gary Blair
The Aug. 16 shotgun shooting of a
15-year-old black youth, Lawrence
Miles Jr., by a Minneapolis police officer once again raises the issue of how
the City of Minneapolis and the major media deal with communities of
color.
Two years ago the City of Minneapolis was successfully sued for civil
rights violations after their police officers transported two intoxicated
Native American males to the hospital in the trunk of their patrol car. Just
as now, the City's Mayor—in this
case, Sharon Sayles Belton, who is up
for election this year—was quick to
condone her officer's conduct in what
was described as a racist incident.
Belton has been quoted as wondering
out loud as to, "Why children would
be playing outside at 1:30 in the morning." Apparently, teenagers are never
allowed to stay up that late in the part
of Minneapolis where she now lives.
So far, the Minneapolis police
department's own account of the
shooting appears to be faulty. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman,
who is running for governor, is reported to have sent the case back to
the police department for more information before he will issue a complaint.
The police reported that Miles was
shot in the chest after he had pointed
what appeared to be a realistic looking (pellet) gun at one of their officers who had responded to a "youth
pointing a gun" complaint. However,
it was learned later that the youth had
actually been shot in the back, after
he ran from the apartment building
where he lived in South Minneapolis.
Press source say the youth's frontal
chest area was pushed out by the impact from six ofthe eight or nine pellets ofthe buckshot that hit him. The
victim has been hospitalized at the
Hennepin County Medical Center and
is reported to be in serious condition.
The victim's father, Lawrence Miles
Sr. is reported to have said his son has
not shown much improvement since
he was shot and may be getting worse,
not better.
Earlier media reports about the
shooting are said to have set-off the
unrest that is said to be growing in
the black community after local daily,
print and TV reporters followed the
police department's version ofthe in-
Youth cont'd on 8
News
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Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1997
Inequities in Indian funding: 'Rich get Richer'
By Philip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) _ By any
measure, the Mille Lacs Band of
Chippewa in Minnesota is one of the
most successful tribes in America.
Casinos trimmed unemployment and
welfare rolls and helped build new
schools and a clinic.
Yet the tribal government still gets
$1.4 million a year from the Bureau of
Indian Affairs _ roughly $1,000 for
every tribal member.
Meanwhile, a few hundred miles
west, some ofthe poorest Americans,
South Dakota's Oglala and Rosebud
Sioux, get about $200 per member
from the BIA.
An AP analysis of the Indian
agency's arcane funding systems
shows wide disparities, with the
richest, best-located tribes frequently
the best funded, up to $2,000 per
member, while some tribes get less
than $100.
And the gap between tribes grows as
annual funding increases are made at
the same rate for every reservation.
BIA officials say it's politically
impossible for them to redistribute the
money. And distrustful tribes _ rich
and poor _ don't want any change.
The Senate, nevertheless, will debate
legislation this month that could lead
to relatively wealthy tribes getting less
ofthe BIA money flow.
"All tribes have needs but the tribes
with the greatest needs and poorest
situations should be, at the least, given
some level of preference," said Sen.
Slade Gorton, R-Wash.
Gorton inserted a provision in the
Interior Department's 1998
appropriations bill that would require
tribes to begin reporting their inc
to the BIA. It's a first step toward
requiring the federal agency to fund
tribes according to need.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has
said he would recommend a veto of
the appropriations bill if Gorton's
provision stays in.
Opponents such as Ron Allen,
president ofthe National Congress of
American Indians, explained: "You
can't come in and fix a problem like
this overnight in such a blatant and
Funding cont'd on 5
The crowd watched as Battle River took first place and Cass Lake second in the drum competition at
last weekend's Labor Day powwow in Cass Lake. Photo by Nathan Bowe
Red Lake man indicted by Minneapolis grand
jury for shooting at police officers
Feds, tribal leaders seek to curb res. crime
By Philip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The drop
in violent crime much ofthe country is
enjoying has eluded the nation's Indian
reservations, and President Clinton
wants his administration to do
something about it.
Following a directive from Clinton,
U.S. attorneys were told Thursday to
meet with tribal leaders and come up
with ideas for improving law
enforcement by the end ofthe year.
The homicide rate on Indian lands
soared 87 percent over the past five
years, even as it dropped 22 percent
nationwide.
"Violence and crime in Indian
country impose a terrible toll on native
American citizens and interfere with
the ability of Indian tribes to achieve
meaningful self-governance, as well
as peace and stability in their
communities," Attorney General Janet
Reno said.
"Many Indian citizens receive
police, investigative and detention
services that lag far behind even this
country's poorest jurisdictions,"
Clinton said in a memorandum this
week to the Justice and Interior
departments.
Many reservations have little or only
spotty police protection. Two police
officers have been killed in separate
incidents over the past two years on
the Navajo reservation in Arizona.
BIA officials and tribal leaders say
the biggest need is for more money.
The agency has 75 investigators and
250 uniformed officers to cover 250
reservations.
Tribes are divided over whether the
Justice Department should take over
BIA's law enforcement
responsibilities.
Backers of the idea say Congress
would be more willing to finance a
Justice Department-run police force
than the BIA, which is frequently
accused of mismanagement.
Justice Department officials "can
make much more of a financial
commitment and raise the integrity
and level of those programs to the
kind of quality we're looking for,"
said Ron Allen, president of the
National Congress of American
Indians.
But William Kindle, president of
the Rosebud Sioux tribe of South
Dakota, fears the Justice Department
would lose interest in Indian law
enforcement. "That's an obligation of
the Interior Department," he said.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt,
who oversees BIA, would support the
shift if that's what a majority of tribes
want, said spokeswoman Stephanie
Hanna.
Minneapolis - Sheldon George
Bailey, an enrolled member ofthe Red
take Band of Chippewa, was indicted
Thursday by a federal grand jury for
assault with a dangerous weapon for
firing shots at a Red Lake Police
Officer on May 25, 1997.
According to an affidavit, at
approximately 3:00 a.m. on May 25,
a Red Lake Tribal Police Officer was
responding to a call about shots being
fired in the vicinity ofthe
Red Lake Indian Health Service
Hospital. On the way to the scene Red
Lake Police officer Shannon Barron,
encountered a car driven by Bailey.
Shots were allegedly fired from the
car. Barron ducked to avoid the shots
and immediately began to chase
Bailey. Barron was allegedly shot at
once more before the vehicle came to
a stop at the edge ofthe woods. Bailey
was apprehended after a short foot
chase and a struggle with police
officers.
After his arrest, the police found a
loaded 9mm Ruger semiautomatic
pistol, . a loaded .22 caliber
semiautomatic pistol, a .22 caliber
semiautomatic rifle, ammunition and
two live rounds of 9 mm full metal
jacket ammunition.
If convicted, Bailey faces a
maximum potential penalty of ten
years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
Any sentence would be determined by
a judge based on the federal
sentencing guidelines.
The case is the result of an
investigation by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Red Lake Police
Department Assistant United States
Attorney Clifford Wardlaw is
prosecuting the case.
Chippewa ask Appeals Court to lift stay
By Larry Oakes
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Northern Minnesota Correspondent
Eight Chippewa Indian bands on
Thursday asked the Eighth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a stay
that temporarily prevents them from
exercising treaty harvesting rights
reaffirmed by the court last month.
"We're not sure the appeals panel
intended the stay to still be in effect,"
said Jim Genia, attorney for the Mille
Lacs band, which led a seven-year
court battle to reaffirm special
privileges to hunt, fish and gather on
east-central Minnesota land the
Chippewa ceded to the federal
goverment in 1837.
If successful, the bands' move could
mean a treaty harvest that begins
earlier than Oct. 17, the deadline for
opponents to file appeals. It's also
possible that the opponents could win
an extension ofthe stay pending those
appeals, which could take months to
process.
Attorneys for the state, 12 of its
counties and nine landowners were
weighing responses Thursday to the
bands' motion, though all are expected
to oppose it. Technically they have
until Sept. 14 to file a response, though
the Appeals Court could rule on the
motion even before responses are
filed, said Dana McQway, the court's
chief deputy clerk.
Said Leslie Sandberg, press secretary
for Minnesota Attorney General
Hubert Humphrey III: "We'd like the
stay extended until the appeal process
is completed."
Court was mute on stay
The Appeals Court ruled Aug. 26
that U.S. District Court judges
correctly had concluded that the 1837
treaty rights were still in force despite
decades of state regulation of hunting
and fishing by Indians.
But the three-judge appeal panel's
ruling didn't address a stay the court
placed on treaty harvesting in April,
pending the outcome ofthe appeal.
Attorneys for the state, counties and
Stay cont'd on 6
Tribes try to kill change in federal aid allocations tvjk-i mwAni ■** chonnn o* Antinn fm-ctoHh im
y pov sons man inter or Deoartment   $700 000 in casino revenues to each     Tribal rCVCnUC Slia^ BS OptlOtt fOr StadlUm
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Tribal
leaders are trying to kill legislation
that could cut government aid to
wealthy reservations, but Sen. Ben
Nighthorse Campbell says too little
goes to the poorest tribes under the
current system.
"You know as well as I do that some
tribes are much wealthier than others,"
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
chairman told 200 tribal leaders at a
strategy session Wednesday. "Maybe
it's time to make sure we don't leave
some tribes behind."
Campbell, R-Colo., is the Senate's
lone American Indian.
The tribal leaders are lobbying the
Senate and running ads in major
newspapers this week to fight several
provisions in an Interior Department
appropriations bill. One would strip
them of their immunity against
lawsuits, while another seeks to base
federal funding to tribes on need.
An Associated Press analysis ofthe
Bureau of Indian Affairs financing
system found that wealthier tribes with
strong political connections and
reservations near urban areas often
receive far more federal aid per capita
than poorer tribes in Arizona, South
Dakota, Oklahoma and other areas.
In addition, records show that tribes
with huge gambling operations have
qualified for extra federal money that
Congress set aside for "small and
needy" tribes. One of those tribes, the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux of
Minnesota, reportedly is giving
$700,000 in casino revenues to each
tribal member this year.
Despite the opposition of some
tribes, Campbell said he would
propose setting up an outside
commission to evaluate the BIA
financing system and the needs of
tribes. "It's getting worse, the disparity
is becoming greater," he said.
He said he was opposed to
redistributing money among tribes,
but that's what leaders of wealthier
tribes fear would happen.
"They don't do studies on... (states)
to determine what their level of federal
funding should be," said Ivan Makil,
president of the Salt River Pima-
Maricopa tribe. "Tribes have been
studied forever. We always end up on
the short end of the stick."
By Rochelle Olson
ST. PAUL (AP) _ The right of
American Indians to fish and hunt
freely in east-central Minnesota
wouldn't appear to have much to do
with a new Minnesota Twins stadium.
But the fallout from last week's court
victory for the Mille Lacs band of
Chippewa shows the close link
between two of the state's hottest
issues.
As lawmakers search desperately
for a way to pay for a new ballpark
without inflaming taxpayers, many are
looking harder and harder at state-run
gambling.
"All legislators know that we are not
going to use public money," said Loren
Jennings, co-chairman ofa legislative
task force expected to decide within
the next month whether and how to
pay for a new ballpark. "There is a
solution and that solution is in the
gaming."
The tribes can be expected to fight
that solution to protect their monopoly
on casino gambling. Already there
have been hints of what may come.
"I can imagine the band, at some
time in the future, taking up to half the
safe-allowable harvest of Mille Lacs
walleyes, if certain economic
conditions exist on the reservation,"
said Mille Lacs band natural resources
chief Don Wedll after the ruling. He
tied the amount of the harvest to the
financial well-being of the band's
casinos.
That response for the tribe has long
been the fear of non-Indian anglers,
whose ability to fish in the premier
walleye lake could be limited by the
tribal take.
Jennings, DFL-Harris, said, "I don't
know if that's a veiled threat or what
that is. I don't think it does either side
or either party any good to sit and
throw things."
This week, Jennings said he will ask
the state's tribal leaders for a meeting
to discuss gambling revenue sharing
in exchange for maintaining their
monopoly.
Stadium cont'd on 5