Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-03-20

              Allegations of fraud spark calls for election
monitors at White Earth
By Gary Blair
Promises to reform the White Earth
constitution apparently have been
dropped since it was discovered that
the tribal council had secretly
mortgaged the reservation's Shooting
Star Casino, at Mahnomen, MN.
Members' cries for that change, have
now turned to complaints that nothing
has been done since the former Chip
Wadena regime was finally brought to
its knees by federal authorities nearly
two years ago.
The reservation's upcoming bi-annual
election appears to have all the
makings of the former Wadena
administration. Allegations that
"bingo packets" and "cash" are being
used to entice voters is once again
being reported.
Apparently, some of the reservation's
members are not interested in changing
the campaign practices at White Earth.
It appears they want things to remain
as they have been.   A source who
asked not to be identified, says he was
offered $50 for his vote. "The other
one is giving away free bingo packets
to our elders for their votes," he said.
If certain White Earth candidates
engaged in this type of deceit and
enrollees participate in this
dishonesty, then these voters can
only blame themselves for the
corruption that may follow. Voters who
have fallen victim to this type of a
temptation, are only helping to assure
that unfair elections will continue.
Instead of demanding a fair election
from these candidates, the people who
took those gratuities just give them
permission for more dishonesty once
they get in office. With the present
economic conditions as they are, White
Earth people can not afford many more
Wadena-type of swindles.
When former White Earth
representative Ricky Clark was seen in
Cass lake, just before the 1994 election
handing out $100 bills, your writer
heard, "I took money, but I didn't vote
for Rawley." Apparently, some ofthe
White Earth people who took that
money never figured out where Clark's
funds came from. It's this type of
mentality that has fanned the flames of
corruption in Indian country.
Other issues surrounding the pending
election at White Earth, include access
to the eligible voters list for all the
candidates. Election hopeful Jim
Jackson says, he was told that he
could not have access to the list.
Despite the latest problems at White
Earth, enrollee Roberta Brown, has
taken the liberty to contact former U. S.
president Jimmy Carter, and is seeking
his assistance in monitoring this year's
tribal election. Her letter reads as
follows: "March 18, 1998, President
Jimmy Carter, Carter Presidential
Center, OneCophenhill, Atlanta, CA
30307, Dear President Carter: many of
my friends and concerned tribal
members have asked me to contact
you in this manner on their behalf.
"Our reservation at White Earth,
Allegations/to pg. 3
Election monitors sought at White Earth/ pg. 1
RBC denies fundraising among employees/ pg. 1
Senate hearing set for Minneapolis/ pg. 3
Vote for candidates supporting open meetings/ pg. 4
Nett Lake candidates demand fair elections/ pg. 4
White Earth housing not in order, report says/ pg. 8
9-mail.-presson@bji.net
Native
American
FREE
Press
WweNews
Trial in Indian voting-rights case opens
Vohmott Issue 23
GREATFALLS (AP) - Afederal trial
opening here today will examine
whether Indians are represented fairly
in the Montana Legislature.
The trial comes in a voting-rights
lawsuit filed by Indians challenging
legislative redistricting that occurred
afterthe 1990U.S. Census. The lawsuit
seeks acourt order demanding creation
of three new legislative districts that
have majority Indian populations.
Lawyers for the state say creating the
districts would be illegal.
The case also raises allegations that
the state Districting and
Apportionment Commission made
racist and other disparaging remarks
about Indians. Documents filed in U. S.
District Court by 10 tribal members
from five Indian reservations quote
transcripts of commission meetings.
The plaintiffs say commissioners told
Indian jokes and described tribal
proposals as "idiotic" or a "bunch of
crap." In the transcript, Commissioner
Jim Pasma ofHavre is quoted as calling
the Indians' hired demographer "some
jackass from Virginia."
"I've been out there messing around
and working with those people at
Rocky Boy (on the Rocky Boy's
reservation) while that S.O.B. was still
messing in his knickers and it just
irritates me to have him come out from
God knows where and put this on us
...," the transcipt quotes Pasma.
Assistant Attorney General Sarah
Bond said comments were taken out of
context, and commissioners generally
treated Indians respectfully.
State lawyers will argue the
commission followed the law by
creating one new majority-Indian
district, for a total of six in the state.
They say the Indians' proposal before
the court would create oddly shaped
districts solely to give racial minorities
a majority, and that would be illegal.
A weekly pubication.
Copyright Native American Press.
Trial/to pg 3
Sen. Campbell cast in middle of Indian
sovereignty battle
DENVER (AP) - Colorado's Sen. Ben
Nighthorse Campbell has been cast in
the middle ofthe national debate over
whether Indian hationscan be sued in
federal and state courts.
Campbell, a Republican who chairs
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee,
on Wednesday opened hearings on
the issue.
Some congressmen as well as
governors want to limit tribal self-
government and regulate reservation
gasoline and cigarette sales and
gambling.
Those driving the effort want
Campbell to help lift the doctrine of
sovereign immunity and allow states
to sue tribes to collect hundreds of
millions of dollars in tax revenues lost
on business conducted on
reservations.
The tribes can sell gas without
charging the typical 20 to 30 cents a
gallon in state fuel tax, or the 40 to 60
cents a pack in cigarette tax.
Tribal representatives argue that
lifting the doctrine would violate two
centuries of court rulings and 370
treaties.
Campbell noted that American
Indians only recently had begun to
build stronger governments and
economies and could be bankrupted
by the proposed changes.
"The kind of major changes in federal
law regarding Indians (that are being)
contemplated should not be taken
lightly," Campbell said. "I'm hopeful
we can fairly review the issues... and
hammer out reasonable approaches to
the problems faced by the tribes and
by other interested parties."
Sovereignty critic
Campbell acknowledged there was
anti-Indian backlash because of some
tribes' success in developing minerals
and gaming.
He urged several hundred
representatives of Indian nations
gathered in the Senate hearing room to
improve their governments and create
"business-friendly environments" for
all.
"If tribes were to pursue these ends,
there would undoubtedly be increased
standards of living for both Indians
and non-Indians on the reservation,"
Campbell said.
But he said immunity from lawsuits
was essential to protect tribes.
"As a tool to protect their treasuries
and ensure their viability, immunity
has been a key ingredient to the
development of these (tribal)
governments," he said.
The Red Lake Warriors basketball team watches from the sideline as time runs out in a heartwrenching 69-65
overtime loss (see pg. 5) to NCE at Concordia College in Tuesday's state quarterfinals. The Warriors end the season
with a record of 24-5, a disappointing conclusion to another outstanding year for the team.
Campaign treasurer claims charges of
soliciting employees a 'pathetic lie'
New restrictions imposed on Mille Lacs
anglers
ST. PAUL (AP) - Lake Mille Lacs
anglers will face new limits on northerh
pike because of treaty harvest rights
given to eight Chippewa bands, the
state Department ofNatural Resources
said Friday.
Limits on walleye last year also will
remain in place. The announcement
came after the Mille Lacs Band of
Chippewa said that theMinnesota and
Wisconsin tribes with rights to spear
and net planned to take 40,000 pounds
of walleye from the lake this year.
"The Indians' portion ofthe harvest
will be offset by sport anglers releasing
walleye less than 15 inches in length
and northern pike between 26 and 36
inches," said Jack Skrypek, chief of
fisheries for the state DNR.
The new northern limit is to protect
the species because some likely will be
swept up in nets as walleye are
captured, said DNR spokeswoman
Marcy Dowse.
Since 1994, the courts have said the
tribes have the right to hunt and fish in
an area in east-central Minnesota
without state regulation, but this is the
first year that significant fish harvest
could occur. Last fall afederal appeals
court affirmed the rights and allowed
the bands to begin exercising them.
The state has appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court, but the court grants
relatively few requests for review.
The 1998 safe harvest for walleye
fromLakeMilleLacs is260,000 pounds,
theDNRsaid. Lastyearitwas 320,000.
The state said the population is
"moderately low" this year.
In the tribal harvest, the Mille Lacs
band will get half the take and the
seven other tribes will split the
remainder.
The bands could have taken up to
Mille Lacs/to pg.5
By Jeff Armstrong
The campaign treasurer for two White
Earth RBC incumbents this week flatly
denied soliciting funds from tribal
employees, but offered little evidence
to rebut the charges, which were
published in the March 13 Native
American Press/Oj ibwe News.
Terming the allegation a "pathetic
lie," Dr. HelenKlassen, treasurer ofthe
Campaign to Re-Elect Erma Vizenor/
Irene Auginaush-Turney, said, "It was
probably a rumor someone spread.. .The
truth is that no employees have been
contacted."
Asked to explain a fundraising letter
signed by Klassen to the "Account
Executive" of "White Earth Tribe and
Shooting Star Casino," the campaign
treasurer said the appeal was directed
to casino vendors she claimed are in no
way employed or under contract with
White Earth. She said such targeted
solicitations were specifically certified
as legal and moral by federal
government officials, including the
chief legal counsel of the National
Indian Gaming Commission.
Gaming commission spokesperson
Darla Silva, however, asserted that the
federal agency never expressed an
opinion one way or another. "All that
we told the tribe is that IGRA does not
specifically address the issue (of
campaign fundraising) and we referred
them to the BIA," she said.
Silva further stated that NIGC acting
general counsel Penny Coleman
neither spoke with former White Earth
attorney Miles Lord nor sanctioned
any campaign fundraising practices.
"Nobody here advised on the legality,"
she said. The gaming commission
spokesperson acknowledged that one
of the five attorneys for the NIGC,
whose identity she declined to
disclose, directed an inquiry on the
subject to the BIA."We didn't consult
the BIA on our own," she stressed.
Klassen also maintained that
contributions by non-tribal members
could not influence the election, since
only White Earth enrollees can vote.
"There's no conflict of interest, none
whatsoever," said Klassen.
Seeking a retraction ofthe NAP/ON
article, Klassen alleged that the paper
had been duped by "Wadena allies."
However, Klassen said she could not
release the name of any vendor who
received the fundraising letter without
advance approval from campaign
manager Larry Cloud Morgan, who
she said was not readily available.
Yankton Sioux tribe sues state over
jurisdiction dispute
Former BIA head replies to senate criticism
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Aformer U. S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs director from
Wisconsin accuses congressional
Republicans of impugning her in an
investigation of political fund-raising.
Ada Deer, who held the bureau job in
the Clinton administration from 1993 to
1997, was questioned last year by a
Senate committee about an application
by Chippewa Indians to establish a
casino in Hudson.
The Interior Department rejected the
application in July, 1995.
The administration denies the
decision was influenced by political
donations to Democrats from casino-
operating Minnesota and Wisconsin
tribes that did not want the Hudson
competition.
The Chippewa have made similar
allegations in a lawsuit in U. S. District
Court in Madison.
Deer testified to the Senate Committee
on Governmental Affairs that she
excused herself from a review of the
1993 casino application to avoid a
conflict of interest.
She had donated $250 to a state
legislative campaign of Gaiashkibos,
chairman of one ofthe Chippewa bands
seeking the casino.
"Deer's testimony about the timing
of her recusal is simply not credible,"
says a report released last week by the
Republican majority of the Senate
committee.
"I resent the impugning of my
integrity," she replied Tuesday.
"I feel that my long ordeal before the
committee was frustrating and
draining," she said. "They refuse to
accept your comments under oath and
at face value."
Judge Barbara Crabb ofthe federal
court in Madison has also noted Deer's
withdrawal from the casino matter.
"Deer may have wanted to back out
once she understood that higher-level
officials" favored rejecting the
application, Crabb said.
Deer said she was "surprised and
disappointed" by thejudge's remarks.
She is a former chairman of the
Menominee Indian Reservation.
The Republican report says the
investigation of the casino affair has
disclosed "the power of political
contributions."
"Wealthy lobbyists from the
opposition tribes activated the
(Democratic National Committee) to
work on their behalf," it says.
The Senate committee' s Democratic
members i nsist the application rejection
"was based on legitimate concerns
about the detriments to the
communities" if the casino were
opened.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The
Yankton Sioux Tribe has filed a federal
lawsuit to stop the state from arresting
American Indians on the reservation
in Charles Mix County.
Federal law allows tribes to have
jurisdiction over their members within
reservation boundaries, said tribal
attorney Jim Abourezk.
But the state has exercised authority
on nearly the entire reservation for the
past three weeks since a U. S. Supreme
Court decision on some ofthe land's
status became effective.
In January the court ruled that about
168,000 acres of the Yankton Sioux
Reservation had not been Indian
Country since 1894, when the tribe
sold it to non-Indians.
On Feb. 21 the Charles Mix County
Sheriff's Department started making
arrests not only in that area but also on
the reservation's other 260,000 acres,
which wasn't mentioned in the ruling.
Fourteen American Indians in the
county have been arrested on state
charges in the past several weeks,
Sheriff Ray Westendorf said Friday.
Charles Mix County State's Attorney
Matthew Gaffey said the court's
decision means the reservation's
boundaries no longer exist, making
South Dakota the entity in charge.
But Abourezk said the state's
interpretation is wrong. The justices'
ruling diminished the reservation's size
but didn't remove the boundaries, he
said.
He agreed the state has jurisdiction
over the 168,000 acres but said the rest
ofthe reservation remains intact and
under tribal authority.
"Why does the state want to arrest
tribal members?" he asked.
Abourezk filed the lawsuit Friday in
U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls. The
defendants are Gaffey, three county
commissioners, Attorney General
Mark Barnett and Gov. Bill Janklow.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to
stop the state from exercising
jurisdiction over tribal members on the
reservation.
Indians arrested by the state will
contest the charges, saying the state
has no authority over them, Abourezk
said. That increases the chance for
criminals to "fall through the cracks,"
he said.
But Larry Long, the state's chief
deputy attorney general, said people
will suffer more if the state doesn't
have jurisdiction.
"We've had the authority to enforce
the law in the area they're bellyaching
about," he said Friday. "The victims
are the people who live down there
who are deprived of the law
enforcement protection they've
become used to for the last 100 years."
Since the late 1800s the state
exercised civil and criminal jurisdiction
over the entire reservation, except
about 37,000 acresof Indian trust lands.
Then in 1992, a dispute arose over
the land's reservation status. In 1995
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol
Yankton/topg. 3