The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-10-24

              White House refuses to release documents
Dept. of Interior's rejection of Hudson casino continues to draw national attention
By Julie A. Shortridge
The Clinton White House is refusing to submit documents subpoenaed
by the Senate Campaign Finance
Committee regarding the Hudson casino proposal, claiming such legal
defenses as "Deliberative Process
Privilege," "Attorney-client Privilege" and "Work Product Production
Privilege."
But Anthony Varda, attorney for the
Chippewa bands and management
company proposing the casino, says
the White House is playing word
games. "What they're really claiming is' executive privilege" like Nixon
tried to do to stonewall Watergate investigations." Varda says White
House legal grounds for refusing to
cooperate is baseless.
If the White House contacted the
Department of Interior about the Hudson casino proposal only to "inquire"
about it, as the White House
has claimed, then why the need to now
claim privilege on communications
regarding the matter? One has to
wonder.
But according to the Freedom of
Information Acts and the case of
Nixon v. Sirica, the President must
answer to the people for his actions:
Though the President is elected by
nationwide ballot, and is often said
to represent all the people, he does
not embody the nation s sovereignty.
He is not above the law's commands:
"With all its defects, delays and inconveniences, men have discovered
no technique for long preserving free
government except that the Executive
be under the law.... " Sovereignty remains at all times with the people, and
they do not forfeit through elections
the right to have the law construed
against and applied to every citizen.
(19ALRFed,p.357)
The Senate Campaign Finance
Committee has been looking into possible improprieties in political fund-
raising, including at least $300,000
worth of campaign contributions made
by seven Indian tribes from Minnesota and Wisconsin to the Clinton/
Gore '96 Campaign and the Democratic National Committee, apparently
in exchange for the Clinton
White House pressuring the Department of Interior to disapprove a tribal
Refuse cont'd on 3
Clinton White House refuses to release documents
Former TEC pres. charges U.S. with backing coup
Anderson only dissident in MCT vote against deal
Minnesota tribal lobbyists focus of investigations
Movie discussed about employee abuse/ pg. 3
Voice ofthe People
1
e-mail: presson@bji.net
Wadena's last Stand Former TEC president
charges U.S. with backing coup in federal appeal
By Gary Blair
A three-judge panel of the Eighth
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was told
Monday that the federal government
had no jurisdiction to prosecute
Darrell "Chip" Wadena, because of
"tribal sovereignty."
"It was a federally backed coup
d'etat of a sovereign nation,"
Wadena's attorney Daniel Gerdts told
the appeals judges at the St. Paul
federal courthouse. "Every phase of
this prosecution violated the right to
self-government," he added.
In June of 1996, then White Earth
chairman Wadena, secretary/treasurer
Jerry Rawley and council member
Rick Clark were convicted of
numerous profiteering charges that
involved the construction of the
reservation's Shooting Star Casino.
Rawley and Clark were likewise
convicted of committing voting fraud
in the northwestern Minnesota
reservation's 1990 and 1994 general
election. The pair falsified absentee
ballots, including some in the names
of enrollees who were deceased.
Wadena is presently serving a 51
mpnth prison sentence at the
Sandstone, MN federal correctional
facility. Rawley and Clark are
imprisoned at a similar facility near
Duluth, MN for lesser terms.
Wadena was jailed prior to being
sentenced for contempt of court
charges, after he failed to pay for a
band he hired to play at his daughter's
wedding dance at the reservation's
casino. Federal Judge Micheal J.
Davis told Wadena—who had held
office for 20 years as the White Earth
chairman—just before he had him
incarcerated that, "You're a danger to
your community."
The former tribal official's use of
the sovereign immunity defense (a
Wadena cont'd on 5
Fifty Cents
OjibWi
V
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded In 1 9BB
Volume 10   Issue 2
October 24, 1 997
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1997
Marge Anderson only dissident in MCT vote
against land deal   Reporter arrested, jailed
By Jeff Armstrong
Opponents of a U.S.-backed
settlement of tribal claims to 800,000
acres of MCT reservation lands won a
historic victory this week when the
Tribal Executive Committee
overwhelmingly rejected the offer at a
tribal meeting at Grand Casino Mille
Lacs.
Tnbal members had challenged the
authority of the TEC to approve the
settlement without the consent of tribal
members, who have expressed bitter
and near unanimous opposition to the
proposal at five council meetings on
three different reservations.
Although the TEC seemingly
conceded the point by obtaining a six-
month delay last May to hold a tribal
referendum on the issue, the tribal
resolution was disregarded when the
depth of opposition became apparent
to the executive committee.
In an Oct. 22 meeting closed to the
press and non-Natives, Mille Lacs
RBC chair Marge Anderson cast the
sole vote in favor of the proposal,
according to tribal members in
attendance.
"Everyone was relieved that they
passed a motion to reject the $20
million and proceed to trial," said
Darrell Johnson. "It's a really heavy
burden off us," said Johnson, who
filed for a federal injunction against
the Justice Department and the Tribe
last Friday in a last-ditch effort to
block the settlement.
This reporter was arrested before
the meeting officially convened by
Mille Lacs Tribal Police and was jailed
for four hours pending the completion
ofthe meeting by Mille Lacs County,
which filed trespassing charges for
alleged refusal to leave the meeting
room. The arresting officer had initially
reported the incident as including an
Obstructing Legal Process charge, but
that was dropped en-route to the jail.
TEC president Norman Deschampe
ordered the reporter's departure, but
one source said the removal order was
issued by Anderson, the host chair.
A federal Habeas Corpus pet:
challenging the constitutionality ofthe
arrest was submitted to the jail
administrator in the matter, and other
legal challenges may be pending.
Mille Lacs County jail staff said they
would not acknowledge habeas
petitions unless presented by an
attorney, while Sheriff Dennis Boser
said the county could not consider the
legality of tribal orders or arrests.
Minnesota tribal lobbyists focus of
investigations   Larry Kitto at center of scandal
By Julie A. Shortridge
Many Minnesota tribal lobbyists are
emerging at the center of on-going
investigations into the Hudson casino
fiasco, especially Patrick J. O'Connor,
Larry Kitto, Tom Schneider, and other
lobbyists associated with the Minneapolis-based O'Connor- Hannan law
and lobbying firm and the Minnesota
Indian Gaming Association (MIGA).
This is the first alleged instance in
the Senate campaign finance investigations of political contributions buying a federal decision. Other improprieties the Senate committee is investigating are "money for access" situations, with no concrete evidence ofa
quid pro quo.
For this reason, the lobbying efforts
surrounding the Department of
Interior's rejection ofthe Hudson casino proposal could be hugely significant to the Senate's investigations. If
allegations are true and can be proven,
not only are the actions unethical and
a violation of campaign fund-raising
laws, but criminal charges of bribery
could reach deep within the White
House.
St. Croix Band Chairman Lewis Taylor, the lead Chippewa Band opposed
to the Hudson casino, said in depositions that he talked with Democratic
National Committee (DNC) Chairman
Don Fowler in a April 28,1995 meeting in Washington D.C. about donations to Democrats. "I told Mr. Fowler
that, you know, that we've got a number of heavy-duty issues that we
needed help on and our friends are the
Democrats and therefore I think we
should donate to assist in some of
these causes," Taylor said.
"There is considerable evidence that
suggests that improper political pressure may have influenced agency decision making," ruled Wisconsin federal district Judge Barbara Crabb
March 19,1997 in a court case regarding the Department of Interior's rejection of the Hudson casino proposal.
O'Connor appears to have led the
White House lobbying effort, talking
directly with President Clinton about
the Hudson matter on April 24, 1995.
O'Connor was former treasurer ofthe
DNC, is a personal friend of former
head ofthe DNC Don Fowler, and has
been a long-time Democratic fundraiser.
Schneider, who is a close personal
friend of President Clinton and whose
families vacation together, also called
the White House on behalf of the anti-
Hudson casino lobbying team, requesting that the White House intervene at the Department of Interior to
change their intent to approve the
Hudson proposal.
Kitto, lobbyist for MIGA,
O'Connor-Hannan, and many tribes
including the St.Croix Band, Mille
Lacs Band, Leech Lake Band, and
Upper Sioux Community, was also
central to the White House lobbying
effort which intensified in spring
1995. Kitto talked with Vice-President
Al Gore and top Democratic fundraisers frequently about the Hudson
proposal. He saw to it that his tribal
clients donated large amounts of
money to the Democratic party and
key Congressmen and Senators around
FOCUS cont'd on 5
Case could upset tribal sovereignty
ZUNI PUEBLO (AP) _ What began
as a dispute among staff members at
Zuni Pueblo's alcohol and drug
treatment center has blossomed into a
federal case involving American
Indians' core tenant of tribal
sovereignty.
The conflict began with a complaint
about the treatment center that
eventually involved several staff
members. Last November, seven
employees walked out; they later were
fired for abandoning their jobs.
The dispute eventually sparked the
firings or resignations of Zuni's tribal
administrator, personnel director,
health director, finance director,
lieutenant governor and the head of
the Zuni Recovery Center.
Fired finance director Margaret
Garcia, Recovery Center director
Patricia Davis and finance director
Amelda Bowman turned to the Zuni
Tribal Court, alleging the tribe violated
their civil rights.
The tribe's attorney argued they had
no case because there are no federal
civil rights guarantees on Indian lands.
Last month, a tribal judge agreed.
"It hurts me to the core as a Zuni
person to be told by my government
that I have no individual rights," said
Garcia. "Isn't this the United States of
America? Aren't I a citizen?"
The issue of citizens' rights on Indian
reservations will bring the Zuni dispute
into federal court in Albuquerque, and
is likely to be the focus of congressional
hearings next year.
Lana Marcussen, attorney for the
dismissed employees, plans to argue
that the U.S. Constitution cannot be
applied to people living in some areas
ofthe country but applied differently
or not at all to people who live in other
regions.
The argument focuses on the
definition of Indian country _ whether
Indian reservations are territories
where federal rights do not apply.
Marcussen contends they are not.
Case cont'd on 3
a
I
Wub-e-ke-niew (center) with his friends, maintained his ancient Ahnishinahbaeo'jibway permacultural
tradition, making maple syrup and maple sugar in the sugarbush of his Bear Dodem. Wub-e-ke-niew aka
Francis Blake Jr. 1928-1997. File photo
Final reflections on the life of Wub-e-ke-niew
Wub-e-ke-niew ofthe Bear Dodem
died Thursday, October 16, at home
with his Ahnishinahbaeo'jibway land
which, as he said, "has been in my
family for hundreds of millennia."
Wub-e-ke-niew's patrilineal greatgrandfather was Bah-se-nos ofthe Bear
Dodem, who lived with his wife Nay-
bah-ne-cumig-oke in a birchbark
longhouse at Be-kwa-kwan, part of
the Ahnishinahbasotjibway land ofthe
Bear Dodem. His grandparents were
Bah-wah-we-nind, also of the Bear
Dodem, and Ke-niew-e-gwon-ay-beak
of Leech Lake. Wub-e-ke-niew was
born in Bah-wah-we-nind's loghouse,
also at Be-kwa-kwan, about June 6,
1928. His parents were Bah-wah-we-
nind's son Wub-e-ke-niew, and Delia
Lufkins of White Earth. Wub-e-ke-
niew explained that his father was
"given the name Francis Blake in order
to impose an artificial Indian identity
on him," and often added that, "my
Indian name is Francis Blake, Junior."
Wub-e-ke-niew spent most of his
"formative years" with his grandfather
Bah-wah-we-nind. After Bah-wah-
we-nind died in 193 5, Wub-e-ke-niew
"spent nine years as a political
prisoner" in the Catholic boarding
school at St. Mary's Mission, Red
Lake. Then, he worked for two years
as a part ofthe migrant labor force in
the Red River Valley. In 1946, he
joined the United States Army, and
after schooling in the Military Police
Academy, served with the 28th
Constabulary in Germany. Wub-e-
ke-niew wrote of his military service,
"I didn't even realize that I was not a
U.S. citizen. Indians were made U.S.
citizens in 1924, but in 1946 I hadn't
learned enough English to figure out
that I'm not an Indian. I enlisted,
rather than waiting to be conscripted,
because I figured that if I had to go, I
might as well get it over with on my
own terms."
Reflect cont'd on 4
Clinton aides had warned White House to
stay far from Hudson casino fight
By Greg Gordon
Minneapolis Star Tribune
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hours
after being approached by a Minneapolis lobbyist, presidential aides
warned in 1995 that it would be "disastrous" and "political poison" for
the White House to intervene to block
approval of an Indian casino in Hudson, Wis.
Despite the warnings, contained in
Internal memos disclosed Wednesday,
the White House had at least three
contacts with the Interior Department
in the ensuing weeks about the status
of the petition. The casino was opposed by Minnesota and Wisconsin
tribes that contributed nearly
$400,000 to the national Democratic
Party and Democratic congressional
candidates in 1995-96.
Memos have shown previously that
aides to then-deputy White House
Chief of Staff Harold Ickes learned
eight weeks before the Interior Department rejected the petition by three
small Wisconsin Chippewa bands that
agency officials were leaning against
approval.
The new memos reveal that lower-
level aides recognized the issue as a
political "hot potato" and sought to
protect President Clinton, just as the
recent Senate campaign-finance hearings have shown occurred with sev-
Clinton cont'd on 6
Suspects in Strong stabbing death found
guilty in tribal COUrt U.S. charges expected to follow
By Bill Lawrence
After deliberating for over 2 1/2
hours, a Red Lake jury found 21 -year-
old William Roy, Jr. of Red Lake, MN
guilty of 3rd degree assault and of
handling a dangerous weapon in the
incident which resulted in the stabbing
death of Wesley Strong last May 25
on the Red Lake Reservation. Roland
"Jesse" Roy, 18, also of Red Lake,
was convicted of being an accessory
and accomplice to the incident.
The jury of six men and women
acquitted Roland   on a 3rd degree
assault charge. According to the the
Red Lake Tribal Criminal Code, the
charges are all gross misdemeanors
and punishinable by maximum
sentences of one year in prison and a
$5,000 fine.
The juilty verdicts came after a two-
day trial before Red Lake tribal judge
Bruce Graves.
The Roy's, who are cousins, have
been the subjects of an intense federal
investigation since the stabbing death
of Wesley Strong at a High School
graduation party on Red Lake. They
have been incarcerated at the Beltrami
County, jail since their apprehension
by Anoka city police on June 4, 1997.
Immediately following the guilty
verdicts, judge Graves ordered a presentence investigation for both Roys.
No date was set for sentencing.
The Roys were defended by Red Lake
lay counsel David Brown and
prosecuted by chief Red Lake tribal
prosecutor Donald Cook.
According to reliable sources, a
federal investigation into the incident
is still underway and more serious
charges are expected to be filed against
the Roys by the U.S. Attorney's office
in the near future.