The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-11-21

              Federal court recommends NAP/ON reporter face state
criminal charges before Habeas Corpus petition
(NAP/ON) A federal magistrate
judge dismissed without prejudice a
Habeas Corpus petition filed by a
reporter arrested and jailed on trespass charges for attending a meeting
of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal
Executive Committee on the Mille
Lacs reservation.
Jeff Armstrong, a reporter for the
Native American Press/Ojibwe
News, challenged the TEC's authority to bar him from an Oct. 22 meeting on tribal land claims and was
subsequently arrested and detained
in the Mille Lacs County Jail.
Armstrong had requested that the
district court suspend state court
proceedings until a federal judge
could hear the numerous constitutional and jurisdictional arguments.
Instead, magistrate judge Raymond
Erickson unilaterally recommended
a ruling that Armstrong first exhaust
state court remedies before seeking
federal relief. "Furthermore,"
Erickson wrote, "the threat of a single prosecution does not give rise to
an irreparable injury which is sufficiently 'great and immediate' that it
warrants a departure from the strictures of the Younger doctrine,"
which establishes the principle of
deference to state jurisdiction.
Armstrong said he would seek
review of the recommendation by
the district judge and, if necessary,
the court of appeals. Furthermore,
because the petition was dismissed
without prejudice, it could be refiled
at the conclusion of the state court
process, due to begin 8:30 a.m.
Monday,    Nov.    24    in    Milaca,
Minnesota.
"I'm disappointed and somewhat
confused by the ruling. If there was
such a compelling state interest in
my case, the state was perfectly
capable of asserting it. So why did
the state Attorney General's office
decline to intervene?" Armstrong
asked, referring to a Nov. 6 letter
from assistant attorney general
Robert Stanich to Mille Lacs county
attorney Jennifer Fahey. In it,
Stanich wrote, "Because the petition
is attacking the proceedings during
which your office represented the
State, I believe that your office is in
the best position to submit a
response."
Yet Erickson issued his ruling
without a hearing, and before the
Fed Court con't on 4
U.S. Marshalls seize possessions from Rick Clark
as restitution for theft
By Gary Blair
United States Marshals have seized
some property belonging to convicted former White Earth district 1
council member Rick Clark that was
stashed in large storage sheds on his
rural Lengby, MN residence.
According to U.S. Marshal Kelly
Sullivan of Minneapolis, the seizure
took place on Oct. 28-29, 1997. The
seized property will be sold at a government auction sometime next year
to help satisfy the $147,499 in restitution that Clark was ordered to pay
as part of his federal sentence. Clark
was also ordered to pay a $10,000
fine that he has likewise not paid.
On Aug. 29, 1995, Clark, along
with former White Earth chairman
Darrell "Chip" Wadena and secretary/treasurer Jerry Rawley, were
named in a 44-count indictment that
traced a pattern of corruption on that
reservation. Federal authorities
alleged the trio received kickbacks
from the $25 million construction of
the reservation's Shooting Star
Casino in Mahnomen, MN. Rawley
and Clark were also convicted of
vote fraud that involved the reservation's 1990 and 1994 elections.
Federal prosecutors told the jury,
"It was the ballot box that controlled
the cash box." Some of the absentee
ballots that were used in the ballot
fraud contained the names of
enrollees who had died more than 15
years ago. The former White Earth
officials have since been dubbed the
"Wadena gang," because of the level
of their leader's power and the
length of his unrestrained criminal
activities.
Wadena was portrayed as a national Indian leader who had concern for
one of this country's most impoverished reservations. He received
political support and recognition
from officials as far away as
Washington, DC and as near as the
Minnesota State Capitol. Wadena
had been president of the six-reservation Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
(MCT) for ten years prior to being
indicted. The MTC is headed by the
Tribal Executive Committee, which
is made up of the two top elected
officials from each constituent reservations.
Court documents revealed that the
following items were seized at the
Clark property:
A 1989 GMC 1500 4x4, Sierra SL
Pickup, 1996 GMC Suburban 1500,
Model SLE, 1990 Van American
Trailer Mobile Home. A 1996,
Polaris XCR 600 SP Snowmobile,
1996, Polaris Indy SP, Ultra
Snowmobile, 1994 Polaris Indy
Special XLT Snowmobile. Polaris
Xplorer 4x4 400 All-Terrain
Vehicle, 19 1/2 ft. Sea Ray Boat,
195 Five Series, 1996 EZ Loader
boat trailer. Western Pro-plow, 8 ft.,
red snowplow blade with lights.
Industrial air compressor machine,
1995 Harley Davidson Motorcycle.
Miscellaneous electronic equipment
and tools. Rick Clark con't on 4
State plans to ask U.S. Supreme Court for treaty
rights appeal
ment agreed, arguing their side in
court. Joining the state in fighting
the rights were nine counties and
eight landowners who argued that
the rights were no longer valiu.
By Rochelle Olson
ST. PAUL (AP) _ The state will
ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruiing granting eight bands of
Chippewa the right to hunt and fish
without state regulation in east-central Minnesota.
The nation's highest court is the
state's last resort after a ruling
Monday from the 8th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals. The state had
asked the circuit court for a hearing
before all 11 judges, but the court
refused. A three-judge panel of the
court ruled in favor of the tribal
rights in August.
The state's odds are long. The
Supreme Court receives up to 7,000
appeals a year and agrees to hear
roughly 80.
The bands contend that they
retained the disputed rights under an
1837 treaty, and the U.S. govern-
Last month, the court lifted a stay
on the rights that had been in place
pending an appeal, clearing the way
for hunting and fishing to begin. The
court said it lifted the stay because
"there exists no likelihood of success" for the state in future court disputes. Monday's ruling gave no indication of why the judges ruled as
they did, but it noted that two judges
would have granted a rehearing.
The issue was tough for many non-
Indian anglers and resort owners
who worried that increased levels of
tribal fishing would deplete the fish
available for non-Indian sport fishing. Of particular concern is Lake
Mille Lacs, the state's premier walleye lake, because of its proximity to
the Twin Cities.
Don Wedll, natural resources commissioner for the Mille Lacs Band of
Chippewa, sought to allay those
v_(ineerna by saying the band is sensitive to the needs of other
Minnesotans.
"Band members have been exercising their hunting and fishing rights
since the stay on those rights was
lifted in late October," Wedll said.
"They have done so in a respectful
and responsible way, and we have
experienced no problems."
Earlier this year, the U.S. District
Court approved allowing the Mille
Lacs and Fond du Lac bands of
Chippewa in Minnesota and six
Wisconsin Chippewa bands to start
spearing and gillnetting on 29 east-
central Minnesota lakes. Most of the
fishing was put on hold pending the
outcome of the appeal.
Rights Appeal con't on 4
Malt liquor brewer wants case out of tribal
court system
By Bill Wareham
ST. PAUL (AP) - A federal
appeals court will decide whether
tribal courts have jurisdiction in a
dispute between Crazy Horse
descendants and a brewer that uses
the Lakota spiritual leader's name on
a brand of beer.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral
arguments Monday in the defamation lawsuit brought by the Crazy
Horse estate against Hornell
Brewing Co., maker of The Original
Crazy Horse Malt Liquor. A federal
district court in South Dakota determined the case should remain in the
Lakota court for fact finding but has
restrained the tribal court from holding a trial on the 'case's merits.
Both sides appealed the district
court's ruling, as did the Rosebud
Sioux Tribal Court. "Basically the
district court has split the baby," said
Robert Gough, an attorney for the
Crazy Horse estate.
Gough asked the panel to allow the
tribal court to decide the case on its
merits, calling the district court's
ruling "micro-management of tribal
court procedure."
Cherie Krigsman, an attorney for
the brewer, told the panel that
returning the case to the tribal court
would amount to "an unprecedented
expansion of tribal court jurisdiction
beyond the boundaries of the reservation." Krigsman argued the
Rosebud courts have no jurisdiction
because the brewers have never set
foot on the reservation and the malt
liquor isn't sold there.
Gough contended the issue is
whether the brewer seized control of
something belonging to a tribal
member, in this case the image of
Crazy Horse. "We're talking about
intangible property where you don't
have to step inside the reservation to
misappropriate," he said.
The judges are expected to rule in
about three months.
The heirs of Crazy Horse said they
have no intention of settling with the
brewer. Seth Big Crow Sr., a grandson of Crazy Horse, said th e malt
liquor is in especially bad taste
because his grandfather spoke out
against the use of alcohol by
Indians.
"Nobody would do that to Martin
Luther King or JFK," he said.
Special counsel appears likely in Babbit casino
case, official say
Washington Post
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The investigation of Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt's handling of an application
for an Indian casino near Hudson,
Wis., appears likely to result in the
appointment of an independent
counsel because of difficulties in
establishing the truthfulness of his
sworn statements to Congress,
senior Justice Department officials
said.
"Given the facts and the statutes
involved, it is hard to see how this
case is going to wash out in time,"
said an official close to the investi
gation, which was formally opened
Thursday.
The investigation began after an
initial review determined that there
was "specific and credible" information that Babbitt may have committed a crime.
Once such an inquiry has been initiated under the Independent I
Counsel Act, an attorney general has
up to 90 days to effectively clear the
subject of any serious allegations -
finding there are no "reasonable
grounds" for further investigation -
or to turn the case over to an independent counsel.
If an independent counsel is
named to look into Babbitt's role in
the casino affair, officials assume
that such an investigation would
also include actions by the White
House staff and members of the
Democratic National Committee.
Previous testimony has indicated
that several top Democrats were
interested in the outcome of the casino issue including President
Clinton, adviser Bruce Lindsey,
then-deputy- chief of staff Harold
Ickes and DNC chairman Donald
Fowler
However, the Justice Department
officials pointed out that a decision
Special Counsel con't on 4
Federal subpoenas served on LLRTC, gaming, pg. 8
Status reports of Red Lake & MCT land claims, pg. 6
NAP/ON reporter to face criminal charges, pg. 1
U.S. Marshalls seize Clark's possessions, pg. 1
Bellecourt voted off HOTESS board, pg. 1
State to appeal treaty case to highest U.S. court, pg. 1
Voice ofthe People
_l
E-mail: presson @ bji.net
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
Nbwvs
WeSupport Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded R11988
volume 10 issue 6
November 21,1997
)
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1997
The Red Lake Tribal Council is considering taking possession ofthe above 197'/ Cessna Titon 404 Airplane on a
no-cash basis from the General Services Administration.  The plane has was used by the U.S. Customs Services.
According to tribal spokesperson Jim Williamson, the council plans to take up the question of ownership after an
accessment of repair and operating costs is made.
The airplane is presently based at Bemidji Aviation Services at the Bemidji, Minnesota airport.
Red Lake men indicted in Strong slaying
Minneapolis - Two Red Lake men
were indicted today by a federal
grand jury for manslaughter in connection with the May 25,1997 death
of Wesley Strong.
Roland Jesse Roy, age 18, and
William Frank Roy, Sr., age 24,
were charged with one count of
manslaughter and in a second count
with assaulting another member of
the Red Lake Band.
It was at his fiend's high school
graduation party that Strong was
allegedly stabbed by the defendants,
who, according to the indictment,
crashed the party during the early
morning hours of May 25, 1997.
If convicted, Roland Roy and
William Roy each face a maximum
potential penalty of ten years in
prison and/or a $250,000 fine on
each count of the indictment. 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 Kenneth Saffold is
prosecuting the case.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff,)
V.
ROLAND JESSE ROY, WILLIAM
FRANK ROY, JR., a/k/a Billy Roy,
a/k/a Bill Roy, Defendants.
THE UNITED STATES GRAND
JURY CHARGES THAT.
At all times relevant and material to this indictment.
1. Roland Jesse Roy was an enrolled
member of the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians.
2. William Frank ("Billy/Bill) Roy,
Jr. was an enrolled member of the
Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Indians.
3. Wesley James Strong was an
enrolled member of the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians.
4. On or about September 1, 1996,
Roland Jesse Roy and an unnamed
assailant entered the house of an
individual known to the Grand Jury
and who lived on the Red Lake
reservation and began to fight
Wesley James Strong resulting in
multiple stab wounds and lacerations to him.
Strong Slaying con't on 7
Bellecourt appears out at Hotess
By Gary Blair
A caller reported before
press time that Clyde Bellecourt had
not been re-elected to the Heat ofthe
Earth Survival School's board of
directors. Bellecourt has been
involved with the school since its
inception 25 years ago and had
recently served as chairman of the
school's board of directors.
A source at the Minneapolis Indian
alternative school said Bellecourt
had been up to his old behavior just
before the election, attempting to
have some of the candidates' names
removed from the voting roster.
However, the last word from HOTESS on Wednesday indicates
Bellecourt may not be out yet, as
there are allegations that the board
of directors may have not had a full
quorum for the meeting when the
elections were held.
Bellecourt was recently at the center of protests by both students and
parents when he hired a school
administrator who had an extensive
criminal background, including convictions for the sale of drugs.
Babbit offers to settle mishandling of tribal
trust funds
By Phillip Brasher
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Interior Department wants to settle
with tribes for the millions of dollars
that disappeared through the Bureau
of Indian Affairs' long mismanagement of their trust funds.
The BIA has been unable to document $2 billion in transactions over
a 20-year period. It is not known
how much of that is actually missing.
But an advisory committee said
the government could be liable for
up to $575 million, the amount of
undocumented disbursements in
which tribes could have been short
ed.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
said Friday that the administration
wants to reach a "fair settlement for
past inadequacies and to reimburse
tribes as soon as possible." He
pledged that the BIA would set up a
state-of-the art accounting systems,
rejecting a special trustee's recommendation to turn the money over to
a quasi-governmental agency.
The advisory committee gave
Babbitt several options for settling
tribal claims, including establishment of an economic development
fund.
Instead, Babbitt has proposed to
reimburse tribes in full for proven
errors and to settle other claims
according to a formula tied to certain characteristics of each tribe's
accounts. The plan is subject to
approval by Congress.
The plan is likely to run into opposition from many tribes because the
poor documentation on the accounts
makes it impossible for them to
know how much they are owed.
"In any normal trust office you ave
to keep the records forever and forever. If you lose those records you're
liable," said Elouise Cobell, a member of an intertribal group that monitors the trust funds.
The BIA is responsible for 2,000
Trust Funds con't on 4
V