The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-08-22

              Sovereign Immunity Heating
Washington, D.C.
up in
by Julie Shortridge
U.S. Senator Slade Gorton (R-
Wash.) continues to fuel the debate on
tribal sovereign immunity. In July Sen.
Gorton, who chairs the Senate
subcommittee that oversees
Department of Interior funding,
including the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
included a provision in the funding
bill that would require tribal
governments that receive federal
money under Tribal Priority Allocation
Funds to waive their immunity to
lawsuits. Hearings on Gorton's
proposal will be held in September.
Currently, "tribal sovereign
immunity" prevents Indians and non-
Indians from suing tribal governments
and tribal business operations such as
casinos. The current federal policy
allows tribal governments themselves
to decide if a lawsuit against them has
merit or not, and allows a lawsuit to
proceed only in tribal courts. Groups
such as the Tribal Accountability Legal
Rights Fund, of which the publisher of
this newspaper is president, say there
are numerous examples of how tribal
courts routinely deny "due process,"
and give people the run-around.
Tribal government abuse of power
and denial of due process is being
noticed in Washington D.C. only now,
as millions of visitors to tribal casinos
have unwittingly found themselves
exposed to the same denial of rights
that tribal governments have
perpetuated against Indian people for
decades.
An example is the case of Jill Gavle,
who says she was severally sexually
abused by Leonard Prescott while she
was employed at the Shakopee
Mdewakaton Sioux's Mystic Lake
Casino headed at the time by Prescott.
Gavle has not yet found a court that
will hear her complaint. The tribe is
claiming sovereign immunity and will
not hear the case in tribal court. Justice
Sandra Gardebring of the Minnesota
Supreme Court wrote a ruling in
November 1996 telling Gavle she
cannot look for justice in Minnesota
courts either. Gavle is appealing the
Gardebring ruling to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Immunity cont'd on 6
Earthstar   director   reportedly   used
fraudulent reporting to obtain funds
By Gary Blair
An investigation has been called for
after money is alleged to be missing
at Earthstar, Inc., a non-profit
corporation formed seven years ago
to provide social service programs to
the St. Paul Indian community.
Sources say the organization
illegally used state money to match
federal dollars, which also inflated the
group's budget. The organization's
executive director is alleged to have
started a consulting company called
Oglala Earthstar Design Associates
without the board of directors'
permission and to owe back taxes to
the IRS. The Otto Bremer and Bush
foundations provide funding to the
group, some of the employees'
background checks were reportedly
concealed.
A source who asked not to be
named said the organization's
community member board of directors
suspected that funds were missing and
hired a financial consultant this past
May to review the books. "Jody Wall
is the investigator at the Minnesota
Attorney Generals Office who this
accountant reported that there was
missing money at Earthstar," the
source said.
Sheila Fishman, who oversees the
charities division for that agency told
the PRESS on Wednesday, "We can
neither confirm, nor deny that we are
investigating,"
According to another source, "More
than $70,000 is alleged to be missing
and that's just within the past two
years, and there could be more." The
missing funds are said to involve a
$60,000 grant from the Minnesota
Department of Human Services and
other funding that includes a grant
from Ramsey County Action.
Perry Bolin, Earthstar's executive
director, had this to say when asked
about the allegations: "These people
who are providing you with the
information are going to find
themselves on the wrong side of this
issue. There was no government funds
used to match government funds,"
Bolin responded.
However, when Bolin was asked if
Report cont'd on 3
White Earth man claims deputy violated
civil rights in Mahnomen criminal trial
By Jeff Armstrong
A White Earth man who says he was
unjustly roughed up by a Mahnomen
County Deputy last March put the
state courts' claims of equality under
the law to the test last week, defending
himself against charges of obstructing
legal process.
Tony Senogles is alleged to have
attempted to break away from
arresting officer John McArthur on
March 27 when the deputy brought
him in for booking on a traffic warrant
out of Becker County. The Anishinabe
man contends that McArthur, who
admits using force to subdue
Senogles, violated his civil rights
during the arrest.
Prior to his Aug. 14 trial before
Mahnomen district judge John Roue,
Senogles said the case boiled down to
"his word against mine." Senogles said
his strategy would be to "break down
[McArthur's] credibility as a witness."
The first of two witnesses for the
. state, McArthur testified that he was
answering a report of a hit-and-run
accident when he spotted a vehicle
resembling the one described in the
call. McArthur said he observed the
car weaving, then running a stop sign
before he stopped the driver.
McArthur said he found Senogles
and another man passed out in the
vehicle. The Mahnomen County
deputy arrested the driver on suspicion
of Driving Under the Influence and
ran warrant checks on the passengers.
Senogles' name came back with an
outstanding warrant, but McArthur
hesitantly claimed he did not recall the
cause of the warrant. The Becker
County warrant arose from a charge
of driving after revocation, which the
state lacks jurisdiction to enforce on
the reservation.
McArthur said he awakened
Senogles by utilizing a "sternum rub,"
a technique he described as applying
vigorous pressure to the sensitive area
between the ribs. After being
handcuffed en route to the jail,
McArthur testified, Senogles "became
Rights cont'd on 5
Indians mobilize against measures to cut
their funding, legal power
By Philip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sally
Matsch thought she was a victim of
age discrimination when she was fired
from a Minnesota Indian casino, so
she sued the tribe that ran it.
But the Prairie Island Indian
Community forced the case into tribal
court, invoked its immunity to lawsuits,
and her case was dismissed.
Her lawyer says she didn't have a
chance. The courtroom was on the
second floor of the casino _ slot
machines were jingling in the
background _ and the judge served at
the pleasure of the tribal council. In
fact, he was the tribe's former lawyer.
"The cards are stacked against us,"
said  Matsch's   attorney,   Craig
Greenberg.
The case, which is tied up in appeals,
illustrates why there is growing
pressure in Congress to strip Indian
tribes of one of their most closely
guarded and controversial powers _
immunity against lawsuits.
Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., last
month inserted a provision into the
Interior Department's 1998
appropriations bill that would deny
federal benefits to tribes that refuse to
waive their immunity and allow
litigants to bypass tribal courts and go
straight to a federal judge.
The provision is expected to be the
subject ofa fight on the Senate floor
when Congress returns to work in
September.
Indian tribes are sending dozens of
letters to Senate offices this month,
and tribal leaders are expected to
converge on Washington after Labor
Day to lobby against the provision.
"We look at it as blackmail," said
Bobby Whitefeather, chairman ofthe
Red Lake Band of Chippewa in
Minnesota. "It's not right. It's not just.
It's not legal."
Many tribes rely heavily on
Washington to fund everything from
Funding cont'd on 3
Two tribes opting out of state welare system
By Paul Davenport
PHOENIX (AP) _ The federal
government has some takers on its
offer to allow Indian tribes to bypass
the state and create their own welfare
programs.
The moves by the White Mountain
Apaches and Pasqua Yaquis to drop
out of the state's family assistance
program allow the tribes to still receive
federal and state money while ignoring
state _ but not federal _ eligibility
restrictions.
Meanwhile, the tribes' moves help
the state because about 1,000 welfare
cases on the two reservations won't
count against the state total when the
federal government measures whether
Arizona has complied with a national
mandate to reduce its welfare rolls.
That's significant because each
reservation has high unemployment.
Both had rates of about 25 percent
earlier this year, compared with the
recent statewide average of under 5
percent.
The White Mountain Apache tribe
in east-central Arizona and the Pasqua
Yaqui in southern Arizona already
have filed transition plans with the
federal government.
The tribes do not need state approval
to implement their plans, but on
Thursday, a legislative committee will
review the Department of Economic
Security's plan to provide partial state
matching funds and to help administer
the programs.
The White Mountain Apaches
would receive $1.7 million in federal
funds and $804,000 from the state for
about 700 cases. The Pasqua Yaquis
would receive $903,000 and $410,000,
respectively, for about 300 cases.
Meanwhile, the welfare block-grant
money the state gets from the federal
government will be reduced by the
amount the federal government gives
directly to the tribes instead.
The proposed state outlays,
amounting to 80 percent ofthe state's
1994 welfare spending on each
reservation, are authorized under a
welfare reform law approved this
spring by the Legislature.
Both tribes' plans would get under
way Nov. 1, the effective date ofthe
state's two-year limit on how long
adult members of a household can
receive benefits. The clock on that
limit began ticking Nov. 1, 1995.
Each tribe also wants to extend the
five-year lifetime limit imposed by
the 1996 federal welfare law,
"something they would negotiate with
the federal government," said Juanita
Garcia, a DES official involved with
arrangements for the transition.
Calls to both tribes and to the Navajo
Nation were not returned Monday.
Garcia said two other Arizona tribes,
the Navajo and Hualapai, have
discussed setting up their own welfare
programs but have not submitted
official plans.
Sovereign Immunity Heating up in Washington, D.C.
Earthstar dir. reportedly used fraudulent reporting
White Earth man claims deputy violated civil rights
At least six injured in BIA 'police riot1
RL Little Rock Jr. Olympics soft- ball team wins state
Voice ofthe People
i
Fifty Cents
OJibWk
News
Founded In 19BB
A weekly publication.
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
August HS, 1997
Volume 9   Issue 45
1
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1997
*"~ '' "'        <■-•■•'... Submitted Photo
The state champion Red Lake Junior Olympics softball team won for the second consecutive year. Pictured
are: front row (left to right) Ashley Brown, Onie Pemberton, Mike Martin, lan Lussier, middle row: Andy
Kingbird and Coach Don Silverstar. Not Pictured are Anna Westbrook, Daisy Fairbanks, Bernie Raincloud,
Keena Raincloud, Doug White and Marv Rainey.
Red Lake Little Rock Junior Olympics soft-
ball team wins second state championship
The Red Lake Reservation Litde Rock
softball team is a champion once again.
The 17-member team, sponsored by the
Red Lake Drug Abuse Prevention
Program, took first place in the 1997
Minnesota Junior Olympic Co-
Recreation Slow Pitch Softball
Tournament held  in Elk River,
Minnesota, August 2nd and 3rd of this
month. By posting a 4-1 record, the
Little Rock team won the third annual
tournament for the second consecutive
year, defeating Proctor's white team 10-
5 in the championship game.
A second Red Lake team, the Redby
Ice Dogs, placed third in the tournament.
The Little Rock team also posted
another 15-1 victory over the Proctor
white team in the first round, a 13-1
victory over Bloomington in the third
round and a 24-12 victory over the Ice
Dogs in the semifinals.
State cont'd on 8
At least six injured in BIA 'police riot'
By Donna Hales
Muskogee Daily Phoenix
Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH - At least six people
were injured Wednesday, August 13,
when a group of Cherokees stormed
the tribal courthouse but were turned
back by police.
"It was horrible. I call it a police riot,"
said Carol Young, who said she was
shocked and sickened to see the
physical and verbal abuse on the part
of the police." ,
Unarmed, fired Cherokee Nation
marshals and about 20 tribal members
were trying to enter the building under
the authority of a tribal court order
when violence erupted.
"Give us back our courthouse" yelled
Cherokees in a crowd of about 300
standing in the courthouse yard and a
nearby parking lot.
Principal Chief Joe Byrd had seized
the courthouse in a pre-dawn raid June
20. A new marshal service Byrd swore
in Tuesday and a Cherokee security
force were inside the building under
orders to hold it.
Lined up shoulder-to-shoulder for
almost a block across the street, armed
uniformed officers from five counties,
the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the
federal Bureau of Indian Affairs stood
almost like soldiers at attention.
Just seconds before the grim faced
lawmen stampeded across the street,
yelling "get back" and slinging
everyone in the way aside, Cherokee
Undersheriff Dan Garber said they
were to interfere only if the safety of
the public was at risk.
Pat Ragsdale, director of the
marshals Byrd fired in March, was
acting as a court bailiff when he yelled
"go, go, go," as marshals pushed
through the back door of the
courthouse.
The crowd shouted encouragement
as state and federal lawmen stormed
in. Deputies and troopers flung
Ragsdale's marshals, a reporter and
Cherokee citizens down the
courthouse steps as if they were rag
Injured cont'd on 3
Fate of gambling in New Mexico rests with
Interior Secretary
By Deborah Baker
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) _ What are
the odds that Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt's decision on Indian casinos
in New Mexico will have an impact on
other states?
He's considering whether to approve
state-tribal agreements _ called
compacts _ to allow Indians to run
casinos. And his decision could affect
Indian casinos elsewhere besides New
Mexico.
The New Mexico compacts are
successors to compacts that were
signed in 1995, then ruled invalid by
state and federal courts.
Approved by the Legislature, the
new compacts require tribes to pay the
state about $6.5 million annually for
its modest oversight role. And a
revenue sharing agreement linked to
the compacts says tribes must pay the
state 16 percent of their slot machine
profits.
Tribes say the payments are
unjustifiably high and violate the
federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
"It does set a bad precedent. That
isn't how the federal law is written,"
said Rick Hill, chairman of the
National Indian Gaming Association.
Under federal law, Indian tribes may
operate casinos on tribal lands if they
have compacts with states.
Nationwide, 145 tribes have a total of
161 compacts with 24 states, according
to the Interior Department.
The New Mexico tribes contend they
don't get enough of a gambling
monopoly to justify a 16 percent
payment. That's because the same law
that laid out the compact terms also
allows slot machines at race tracks
and at veterans' and fraternal clubs.
Eleven tribes signed the new
compacts _ nine that are currently
operating casinos, and two that want
to open them.
If Babbitt scuttles the agreements,
tribes say that would deprive them of
an estimated $127 million annually
for various projects and throw 4,000
people out of work.
Fate cont'd on 3