The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1997-11-28

              Fraud suspected in illegal MCT land 'referendum'
TEC to meet on issue Monday in Mille Lacs
By Jeff Armstrong
For more than a year, the members
ofthe Minnesota Chippewa Tribe have
soundly and repeatedly rejected a
proposed final settlement of tribal
claims to 800,000 acres of reservation
lands. On Oct. 22, the Tribal Executive
Committee formally turned it down, a
fact which, like the previous votes,
was brought to the attention of U.S.
Justice Department attorney Pamela
West.
But the Justice Department
apparently has as much trouble taking
no for an answer as the TEC has
refusing money. Five days after voting
down the settlement for public
consumption, the TEC "met" secretly
by telephone and voted 7-1 with two
abstentions to hold a mail order ballot
administered by an accountant hired
by the tribe. Four former TEC
members are already serving federal
prison sentences for corruption in
office, including vote fraud.
A TEC meeting on the claims is
scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 1
at Grand Casino, Mille Lacs.
After several months of refusing to
schedule a legal referendum, the TEC
at the last minute sent ballots to tribal
members in mid-November and set a
deadline of Nov. 24 for their return.
MCT executive director Gary Frazer
called it a "non-constitutional, binding
referendum."
Tribal members, many of whom
never received the ballots, call it
another betrayal of Anishinabe
national interests through a fraudulent,
illegal vote.
"How many times do you gotta say
no?" asked Tom Jones at a Nov. 24
Leech Lake general assembly. "It's
not our land to sell. It belongs to our
children and our grandchildren."
Pointing to the fact that article XIV
of the MCT Constitution requires 8
votes from the TEC to call a
referendum, Dale Hanks registered a
complaint with Frazer and issued a
call at the Leech Lake assembly for
the motion's sponsor to uphold the
constitution.
"Eli [Hunt] is the secretary of the
TEC. Let'shave another meeting with
the TEC and hash this out. This
referendum is totally illegal in terms
of how they drew it," Hanks said. "All
these things that were done under
Wadena's regime are still being done.
There's been no corrections."
Many complained of irregularities
in the mailing of ballots and in the
process itself. The ballots came on a
single page folded over and sent on
mailing labels including enrollment
numbers. With a box for yes or no, the
votes could be easily viewed from the
sides or when held up to'the light.
There is also no requirement for the
ballots to be notarized or otherwise
confirmed as to the identity of the
voter.
Judging by accounts of those who
received no ballot at all, insufficient
ballots, or extra ballots, the mailing
list was at least 8 years old.
Frank Reese said his adult family
members regularly receive the MCT
tribal newspaper, yet less than half of
them were mailed a ballot. "All five of
us got the paper, but only two of us got
the ballots."
Harold Monroe said the same thing
happened in his family, and Leech
Lake chairman Eli Hunt said even he
did not receive a ballot. Several tribal
members urged Hunt to apply the
same standards of documentation to
the land balloting as to his recall
petition led by three RBC members
under federal fraud investigation.
In the latter case, Hunt denounced
the use ofa non-Indian CPA to validate
unnotarized signatures, which he
termed "insulting." Very similar
procedures are being followed on the
land issue, but Hunt said he had no
intention of violating the constitution
in sponsoring the referendum motion.
He agreed to meet with concerned
tribal members later this week towards
resolving the dispute at the TEC level.
Frazer said the tribe did not closely
monitor the ballots, but that "25-
26,000" were sent out. The tribal
administrator said "only about 7,500"
came back for incorrect address. A
for confidentiality, Frazer said th'
mailing labels were detachable, bu
this would also frustrate any attempt
to determine the validity of ballots.
The ballots were collected and
tabulated by Gonvick CPA Carol
Peterson, who refused to reveal the
results or to disclose whether she had
Swindle com. pg. 5
LLRTC resolutions authorize payment of legal fees for Fairbanks,
Ellis & Seelye, pg. 8
Native lawyer thanks Judge Randall for telling it like it is, pg» 4
Fraud suspected in illegal MCT land referendum , pg. 1
Bellecourt concedes defeat in HOTESS board election, pg. 1
Voice ofthe People
1
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Founded In 1988    volume 10. issue 7     November 28,1997
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Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews, 1 997
Pelawa found guilty of criminal vehicular homocide in
1996 death of Redby men
By Larry Adams
After three days of prosecution and
defense attorneys presenting
evidence, the trial of Joseph Pelawa,
31, of Webster, South Dakota, came
to a close Tuesday, Nov. 18 in
Bemidji.
Around 12:45 that afternoon, the
12-juror panel went into a secluded
room at the Beltrami County
Courthouse to ultimately deliberate
the future of Pelawa, who was
indicted on two charges of criminal
vehicular homicide in the deaths of
Ron Cloud Jr. and Daniel King, both
of Redby, Red Lake.
Over eight hours later, the verdict
of guilty on both counts of criminal
vehicular homicide was returned by
the jury, to the bittersweet victory of
John King and his daughter, Deja,
who both survived the accident that
was caused by Pelawa back in 1996.
However, while Pelawa was charged
on both counts, Deja King was
approximately four-months pregnant
at the ofthe accident. Pelawa was not
charged for causing the death of Deja
King's unborn child. Relatives of
Deja said that the prosecution
attorney, Tim Faver did not consider
bringing additional charges against
Pelawa because the charges were
reportedly "irrelevant."
Considering the charges were
criminal vehicular homicide, not the
murder of an unborn child was the
reason Faver didn't add this charge
because he said it would have made
it harder to prove the two remaining
charges of criminal vehicular
homicide.
During the course ofthe afternoon,
however, Faver did his closing
arguments, staying objective while
stating the facts of the case.
After Faver, Pelawa's defense
attorney, Chad LeDuc, went before
Judge Terry Hotter. LeDuc seemed to
be trying too hard to be as impressive.
As a result, while winking at Pelawa,
LeDuc knocked over a courtroom
microphone while stating his closing
arguments.
During the eight-hour wait, I sat and
visited John King, Deja King,
Dan's widow, Diana King. While
doing crossword puzzles, Diana King
mentioned that LeDuc was able to
bring up John King's .10 blood-
alcohol per cent in the accident.
However, Faver was not able to
bring up the facts that Pelawa's past,
which
includes killing his own brother
George, in a car accident that
happened ten years ago when
Pelawa was drunk.
Finally, about 9:10 p.m. Tuesday
night, the jury came back in and sat
down. With a silent apprehension in
the air, the jury came back and gave
their verdict of guilty. Diana King,
John King and Deja, along with
Kristy King and six of their
relatives, cried at the bittersweet
Pelawa/cont. on pg. 8
Members of the Red Lake Warriors boys basketball team pose in front of the sign erected this week.to honor their achievements in the
1997 state tournament. The sign was painted by Red Lake artist Patrick Desjarlait, and stands on the southern boundary on Hwy. 89.
Civil Rights procedures need work as city takes jurisdiction over police complaints
Clyde Bellecourt surprises many by apparently
conceding defeat in HOTESS board elections
By Gary Blair
Clyde Bellecourt is officially out as
a board member for the Heart of the
Earth Survival School (HOTESS) in
Minneapolis, MN. Bellecourt had
been involved with the school since
its inception 25 years ago and had
served as the chairman ofthe school's
board of directors for the past 20 years.
Bellecourt was ousted during the Native American alternative school's annual board elections held early last
week. Staff at the school were surprised when HOTESS and
Bellecourt's attorney, Larry
Leventhal, found that the election pro
cess was conducted legitimately and
in accordance with the school's incorporation by-laws.
In the past, many ofthe school's parents and staff say, Bellecourt had always controlled the elections, sometimes conducting them without informing his opponents. Bellecourt
maintained his seat on the school's
board of directors even after he did
not have any of his children attending
the school, which is a prerequisite for
HOTESS board members.
Bellecourt had the school's former
director, Bill Means create a community position on the school's board of
directors, allowing him to remain on
the school's board. A former HOTESS
board member who called last week
told your writer, "I would say there is
about $200,000 missing from the
school's funds. How do you think
Clyde is able to play the high-stakes
blackjack tables at Mystic Lake, Treasure Island and sometimes Turtle
Lake?"
Bellecourt has reportedly used the
HOTESS funds for his own personal
bank account for the past 20 years. A
source at the school told NAP/ON this
week that HOTESS has big plans for
improving the student's education at
the school, since Bellecourt no longer
controls the board of directors.
By Gary Blair
The Minneapolis Department of
Civil Rights (MDCR) is reported to
have a backlog of over 300 cases. That
means if you were to file a race based
discrimination complaint with that
agency, the chances of your case being adjudicated within four years is
highly unlikely.
And, if you were to file a complaint
on behalf of someone else (which is
allowable by law) against the City of
Minneapolis, that case may never be
investigated. If a complainant changes
addresses without informing their
MDCR investigator and they are not
able to locate them—their case would
likely be dropped.
On Tuesday, MDCR's assistant director George Caldwell, acknowledged
that the organization needs improvement. "That's why I came back to the
civil rights department, so I can help
improve things," Caldwell said.
When asked about the conciliation
process and the mediation procedures
that occur after a Probable Cause finding is made by MDCR, Caldwell said,
"That would be handled by a panel of
civil rights commissioners."
Elaborating on the process, Caldwell
said, 'The Minneapolis Commission
on Civil Rights (MCCR) is separate
from the Minneapolis Department of
Civil Rights investigations. Once a
probable cause finding is made by our
department, than a panel made up of
three volunteer MCCR commissioners tries to get both sides to reach a
settlement. If that fails, the matter than
moves to the mediation stage.
"At this point, another panel of
(MCCR) commission members can
recommend a settlement, they refer to
this as making 'the person whole
again;' that's what the law calls it. If
Rights cont. pg. 3
Tribal unity buckles under pressure of gaming talks
Calm settles over region affected Mille Lacs
Treaty conflict
ST. PAUL, MN (AP) For the first time
in recent history, Chippewa Indians
are hunting and fishing in east-central Minnesota under rights that were
granted by a treaty in 1837. And the
harvests that many once feared would
lead to violence have been quiet and
uneventful. "Ifthis fall's hunting seasons are any indication, people have
accepted the way things are," said
Marcy Dowse, spokeswoman for the
Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources. "We have not had any
problems." Earlier this year, fears of
protests and violence prompted legislators to allocate $6 million for
stepped-up law enforcement in a part
of Minnesota the Indians ceded to the
United States 160 years ago. But only
a fraction ofthe money was spent. The
rest has been returned to the state. Au
thorities are now anticipating a quiet
spring and summer, said Cathy Clark,
a spokeswoman for the Department
of Public Safety. While things are
quiet in the field, treaty rights opponents are preparing papers for a final
fight in court. Last week, a federal
appeals court refused to reconsider a
decision that affirmed the hunting and
fishing rights of eight Chippewa
bands under the 1837 treaty. That refusal left the losers with a final long-
shot option, an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that is now being prepared by lawyers for the state and attorneys for groups of landowners and
county governments. The Indian
wildlife and fish harvest began in late
October after the appeals court lifted
a stay order that had been in place
since last spring. Since then, about a
dozen netting permits have been issued for Lake Mille Lacs, said Don
Wedll, natural resources commissioner for the Mille Lacs Band of
Chippewa. Wedll said most of the
netting was for tullibees, a small non-
game fish. Only two or three spearing permits for Mille Lacs have been
issued, he said. "I think there has been
four to five hundred pounds of fish
taken out of Mille Lacs, and the vast
amount of fish caught are tullibees,"
Wedll said. "It wasn't very many walleyes." A single spearing permit was
issued to a Mille Lacs band member
for Rock Lake in Pine County. The
spearer took 15 walleyes. The Mille
Lacs band has issued about 150 tribal
Mille Lacs cont. pg. 8
MILWAUKEE, WI(AP) Unity among
Wisconsin Indian tribes has deteriorated
under the pressure of negotiations to set
up new gambling agreements with the
governor, state officials and sources tell
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The
Potawatomi, Ho-Chunks and St. Croix
(Chippewas) have different desires,
needs, goals and objectives," than some
of the other tribes, said Mark Bugher,
secretary of administration and Gov.
Tommy Thompson's top deputy. Those
three tribes and the Oneida account for
about 70 percent to 80 percent of casino revenue in the state, Bugher said.
"The united front is broken," added one
Indian source for a story in Sunday's
Journal Sentinel. But other tribal
sources don't agree. "We continue to
believe we can accomplish this task together," said Artley Skenandore, general manager ofthe Oneida tribe, which
owns a casino that pulls down $80 million in profits a year. Tom Krajewski, a
spokesman for the Forest County
Potawatomi declined to talk Sunday,
saying the tribe has an agreement with
the governor that it will not "negotiate
the compacts in the media." But he
added, referring to the Journal Sentinel
report of crumbling unity among the
tribes: "You can't always believe everything you read in the newspapers."
Compacts, seven-year agreements
signed with Wisconsin's 11 tribes in
1991 and 1992, set the rules for Indian
gambling in the state. The agreements
start to expire in July 1998. The governor could issue a notice of nonrenewal
of the existing compacts on Feb. 15,
Bugher has said. Representatives from
the six Chippewa bands have in the past
accused the state of negotiating in bad
faith for bringing up issues other than
gambling. Thompson has said he wants
certain conditions along with the agreements, including sharing more profits
with the state. He also has brought in
issues concerning the tribes' treaty
rights and the authority of tribes to regulate air and water quality on or near reservations, as provided in federal law,
negotiators have said. Bugher contends
Thompson only wants to open a dialogue and work toward what Bugher
characterized as "business agreements"
between the tribes and the state on those
issues. The six Chippewa tribes consider
treaty rights extremely important Tribes
near a proposed zinc and copper mine
in Forest County see their desire to regulate the environment as another important issue. However, those issues don't
pose a hurdle to the Ho-Chunks because
members do not have a reservation and
the tribe was not a party to the treaty
rights, according to Ho-Chunk President Jacob Lone Tree in a letter last
week to tribal employees obtained by
the Journal Sentinel. However, the fear
Ho-Chunk com. pg. 8
MIAC director recommended by Clinton White House for
Great Lakes Fishery Commission appointment
BEMIDJI, MN (AP) Joseph Day,
executive director ofthe Minnesota
Indian Affairs Council, is being recommended to be commissioner of
the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. In a White House statement,
President Clinton said Friday he
plans to appoint Day to the commission. As executive director of the
Indian Affairs Council, Day develops legislative recommendations
and serves as an intermediary when
conflicts arise between state and
tribal governments. Day also has
worked for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Day did
not immediately return a phone
message left at his home on Friday
night. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-
based Great Lakes commission
works to reduce the eel-like sea lamprey, which kills more Great Lakes
fish than any other predator. The
commission also works to keep the
lakes stocked with lake trout and
salmon.