The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-09-26

              Federal probe of White Earth housing likely
to yield new indictments
By Gary Blair
A second federal investigation at
White Earth is expected to net additional members ofthe Darrell "Chip"
Wadena gang. The latest probe was
started just weeks after the former reservation chairman and two other tribal
council members were found guilty by
a St. Paul, MN federal court in June
1996, of numerous felony charges.
HUD authorities are reported to now
be looking for $4.5 million in other
funds alleged to be missing from the
reservation's housing program.
According to a reservation source
who asked not to be named, this latest investigation was started when she
showed some of the housing documents to the reservation's present
tribal chairman, Eugene "Bugger"
McArthur. "Bugger had the housing
office closed and he called the federal authorities—right after that. I've
already given two depositions to the
US Attorney's Office in Minneapolis," the source said last week.
Just how many people will be implicated in this latest round of fraud
at White Earth is not known at this
time; however, the source says she has
discussed the following people with
federal investigators: Convicted gang
members Chip Wadena; former reservation secretary/treasurer, Jerry
Rawley and district one representative
Rickie Clark. She says they were the
first people that federal investigators
asked her about. "Chip and Rick controlled the whole thing. Mike Heisler
and the King girls in the housing office went along with what they wanted
and they were paid for it. Jerry
(Rawley) received $30 to $40 thousand each month for looking the other
way," the source alleged.
The Wadena gang members are now
serving time at two local federal
prison facilities. Wadena is serving a
nearly 5 year sentence at the Sandstone, MN federal prison. Rawley and
Clark are serving lesser sentences at
the old converted Air Force Base that
is located north of Duluth, MN.
The White Earth source continued:
"They had one of the housing bank
accounts set up at the Waubun (State)
Bank, with Pete Haddeland. That account was for the fire insurance checks
that were paid by the insurance company for the HUD houses that burned
down. Haddeland was involved with
Rick (Clark) and Al ("Bunny")
Goodwin, they were laundering the
money through that bank. Al
(Goodwin) was the reservation's con-
Probe cont'd on 5
Probe of WE housing likely to yield new indictments
Tribal members turn down $20 million U.S. land offer
Red Lake per capita payment update
Sayles-Belton, Carlson's debate leads to scuffle
Greenleaf, Deverney face life in prison/ pg 3
Voice ofthe People
1
e-mail:presson@bji.net
Impoverished tribal members turn down
$20 million U.S. land settlement offer
Native
FREE
Ojibwe
News
By Jeff Armstrong
By a more than 2-1 margin, tribal
members rejected for the third time a
U.S. land settlement proposal at a Sept.
24 meeting in Ball Club, Leech Lake.
The vote was 16-6 against the $20
million settlement offer at the local
council meeting, apparently a last ditch
substitute for the MCT referendum
the Tribal Executive Committee
resolved last May to hold by
November.
It is unclear what effect, if any, the
decision will have on the TEC, which
abides by no rules, including its own.
Many ofthe three dozen people at the
meeting did not bother to fill out the
ballot provided, whether out of
skepticism with the process orbecause
they were not Leech Lake enrollees.
The results of the poll were released
only at the urging of those present.
But Leech Lake executive director
Lenee Ross, who moderated the
meeting along with Richard Robinson,
insisted that the TEC would respect
the wishes of the reservation. Ross
acknowledged, however, that the 12
TEC members would be the only ones
voting on the issue, despite their
questionable constitutional authority
to do so.
The Justice Department is anxious to
settle the claims, which involve more
than 800,000 acres of on-reservation
tribal land annexed by the U.S. under
the 1889 Nelson Act, a federal
allotment law to which tribal members
never consented as provided by that
act. More than half of the acreage
involved is on the Leech Lake
Reservation, which has always resisted
cession of the land.
The announcement that, in a best-
case scenario, Leech Lake members
would stand to gain a mere $700 per-
capita payment from the deal elicited
laughter from community members. A
$700 payment would only occur if
Leech Lake were to receive 50% ofthe
Land cont'd on 5
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded In 1988
Volume 9 Issue 50 September E6, 1997
\
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press, 1997
Red Lake per capita payment update
By Larry Adams
News on the much-anticipated per
capita payment of $27 million dollars
to the Red Lake Nation has taken
another step to becoming reality,
according to a U.S. Department of
Justice trial attorney.
"Judgement was entered into the
U.S. Court of t-eaerat Claims, then
presented to the U.S. Treasury
Department for payment," said Pam
West, the Council of Record on U.S.
Docket 189 A and 189 B.
"It [U.S. Docket 189 A and 189 B]
was examined by the U.S. Treasury
Department and paid into a trust
account for the benefit ofthe Red Lake
Band, which will take place this
week," West added.
Accordingly, West alluded that the
payment into the U.S. Treasury
Department of $27,000,000.00 should
take place today, set aside awaiting
disbursement to the Red Lake Band.
Other unsubstantiated rumors about
this land per capita payment is that
there is a petition circulating around
the Red Lake r.rca asking for the full
amount of the per capita payment,
which would total $2430.00.
Reportedly, 10 per cent of
$27,000,000.00 will be retained by
Red Lake's lawyer firm, the Tarradash
law firm, which would be $2.7 million
dollars, which remain unconfirmed at
press time.
The other ten per cent goes to the
Red Lake Tribal Council, which
would be the other $2.7 million dollars
for reservation programs.
According to PRESS/ON sources,
the total disbursement among Red
Lake's reported member enrollment of.
8663 would total about 77 per cent of
the $27,000,000 payment, the biggest
per capita payment for members (
in it's 108-year history since Re3
Lake's 1889 inception.
However, according to the numbers
and PRESS/ON sources, the
remainder of the payment totals
approximately $5,948,910.00,
$548,910 more than the original 20
per cent ofthe $27,000,000.00. What
Payment cont'd on 5
Associated Press
Sayles-Belton, Carlson's mayoral debate
leads to scuffle outside restaurant
By Gary Blair
A clash by supporters after a
candidates forum in North
Minneapolis on Tuesday, created an
unsuspecting twist in what started out
be a uneventful Minneapolis mayoral
race, between incumbent Sharon
Sayles-Belton and former radio talk
show host Barbara Carlson.
The incident occurred outside
Lucille's Kitchen, a popular restaurant
located on Plymouth Avenue. News
reports say a argument that led to a
hair pulling brawl, and a husband's use
of their car to rescue his wife, that
clipped people in the parking lot is
how things got started. That incident
then led to the mayor's bodyguard [a
Minneapolis PD officer] also being
struck by the fleeing driver who was
then shot at by the cop—is how the
incident allegedly went down.
On the next days front page ofthe
Minneapolis Star Tribune the fight
was described as having racial
overtones, possibly set-off by protest
sign that read: "A vote for Sharon is a
vote    for    crime."    Belton    is
Minneapolis' first black mayor and up
to last Tuesday she had received very
little criticism from the newspaper
during her first term as mayor.
However, the Star's columnist Doug
Grow changed all of that, as he
lambasted Belton for her inaction after
the incident. Grow's headlines read
boldly, "Where's the leadership after
post-debate rage? The sub-headline
continued—"Crime fighters, gunshots, accusations expose ugliness of
racial antagonism."
Scuffle cont'd on 8
A long journey home
Jessy Black Feather, right, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, stands in London's Brorppton cemetery Thursday with other Sioux members
from the Pine Ridge Reservation, Wounded Knee, South Dakota, as the casket containing the remains of her great-grandfather,
Sioux Chief Long Wolf, leaves for final burial at Wounded Knee after more than 100 years in a nearly forgotten grave. According to
his family, Chief Long Wolf was at the Little Bighorn in 1876 when Sioux and Cheyenne forces destroyed Lt Col. George Armstrong Custer's troops. Later he joined Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, which toured in the United States and Europe, rather
than accept a life of submission. He died in 1892 at age 59. There are mixed reports of the cause of his death.
After 105 years, Lakota chief's remains
returning to South Dakota
By Sue Leeman
LONDON (AP)_ After 105 years in
a British cemetery, the remains of
Lakota Chief Long Wolf will be
returned home to Wounded Knee,
S.D., for burial.
A British woman intrigued by a story
of his death and burial that she read in
an antique book, tracked down his
relatives, some of whom arrived over
the weekend to retrieve Long Wolfs
remains.
"As he lay dying, the chief said how
much he wanted to go home," buffalo
rancher John Black Feather, 60, the
chief s great-grandson from the United
States, told reporters Monday.
"It's important for us because we do
not believe his spirit will be settled
until his body has been brought home."
Long Wolf, a warrior who apparently
was wounded in battles with the U*S.
Cavalry, died of pneumonia in 1892
while performing with "Buffalo Bill"
Cody's Wild West showatEarl'sCourt
in west London. He was 59.
Chief cont'd 5
Senate oks curb on administration power
to approve Indian casino
Two Red Lakers are arrested for robbing
Chairman Whitefeather's daughter; J.W.'
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Legislation
passed by the Senate would bar the
Clinton administration from approving
any new Indian casinos without the
consent of the governor or state
legislature.
Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said the
amendment to an Interior Department
spending bill would guarantee that
local communities have some say on
where new gambling operations are
located.
"Society as a whole bears the burden
ofthe effects of gambling," Enzi said.
"A state's law enforcement, a state's
social services and communities are
seriously impacted by the expansion
of casino gambling on Indian tribal
lands."
Interior Department officials
opposed the measure, which was
approved by voice vote Thursday, but
said there were no pending casino
proposals that it would affect.
The amendment is not in the House-
passed version ofthe Interior spending
bill, and negotiators from the two sides
will have to decide whether it will be
included in the final measure.
A Supreme Court ruling in 1996
barred Indian tribes from suing states
that refused to allow them to open
casinos. Since then, the Interior
Department has been trying to decide
whether it has the legal authority to
approve such operations over the
objections of a state.
By Larry Adams    *
Red Lake, MN— Almost two weeks
ago, on the Red Lake Reservation in
northern Minnesota, two juveniles
were assaulted and their car stolen on
Saturday, September 13, 1997.
The assault happened in the "west
end" of Red Lake at the St. Mary's
Catholic Cemetery in the early
morning hours, according to a United
States District Count criminal
complaint report.
The complaint names two Red Lake
people, Leah Sue Cook and Chad
Joseph Sumner as the reported
assailants who also took the juveniles'
car.
The complaint states that these two
individuals "take from the person and
presence of another a vehicle (a white
Chevrolet car with Red Lake license
plates T YUS)... using force, violence
and intimidation by punching and
kicking a juvenile."
J.W. was on her way to get two of
her friends. En route, they met others
at the cemetery. As in most cases like
this, alcoholic beverages were "passed
around" to the people who were there.
Apparently at one point that
morning, Cook told the female
juvenile that she really liked her white
Chevrolet and that the juvenile
female's father could get her another
one like it.
Arrested cont'd on 8
Medical researcher pleads for study of old bones
Wacipi honors Mankato's bloody past
KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) _ A
medical researcher is asking the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to allow
scientists to study the bones of
Kennewick Man for clues about why
diabetes afflicts so many Indians.
He's backed by a Hollywood, Calif.,
man _ Harold K. Lindsay _ who says
he's the great-great-grandson of the
famous Nez Perce Indian Chief Joseph.
Lindsay contends the bones could
contain answers about the killer
disease, and he is hoping to rally
Indians who don't agree with official
tribal positions against more study of
the bones.
The bones of Kennewick Man were
found in July 1996 along the Columbia
River, and were carbon-dated at about
9,200 years old. They have sparked
controversy because some scientists
contend they appear to have caucasoid
features.
The Army Corps is charged with
determining the future of the bones.
Fearing the agency would give the
bones to Indian tribes for immediate
reburial, eight prominent scientists
sued for the right to study the remains.
The next hearing on the lawsuit is
scheduled for Oct. 1 in federal court in
Portland, Ore.
Recent letters reveal fresh
perspectives in a debate that has
focused largely on investigating which
peoples came to North America first.
Kaiser Permanente researcher
Michael Wendorf told the corps in his
Sept. 9 letter that studying prehistoric
people could reveal why the Indian
Study cont'd on 6
By Nick Coleman
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) _ A 35-
ton limestone bison, laboriously
carved from a gigantic block of butter-
colored Kasota stone, towers over a
small triangle of land along a busy
street in downtown Mankato. On those
massive stone shoulders now rests a
dream of reconciliation between
American Indians and white people.
It's a lot to ask from a buffalo.
On Dec. 26, 1862, near the spot
where the buffalo sculpture now
stands, 38 hooded Indian prisoners,
grasping each other's hands for
comfort and singing their death songs
as nooses were placed around their
necks, were hanged on a giant scaffold
in a public square.
The infamous hanging _ the largest
and most dubious execution in U.S.
history _ marked the end ofa doomed
six-week war by Dakota Sioux Indians
who hoped to turn back the tide of
white settlements and restore the
traditional culture ofthe Dakota.
Although the war was over, the
execution was just the beginning of
government efforts to banish the
defeated Dakota from their homeland,
efforts that led to decades of war, exile
and starvation and which, in the end,
produced deep mistrust between
whites and Indians.
But for the past quarter-century, an
extraordinary partnership between
Mankato residents and members of
Dakota Sioux tribes scattered across
the Midwest has produced a revival of
respect for Indian culture in Mankato,
Wacipi cont'd on 6
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