The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-04-10

              U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds
second of three hearings on tribal sovereign
i mmU n ity   Three Minnesotans testify
by Julie Shortridge
Should Indian people, as U.S. and
state citizens, be entitled to civil rights
protections — such as free speech,
press, assembly, fair elections, religious freedom and protections against
discrimination — when dealing with
tribal governments?
Should tribal governments be allowed
to violate the civil rights of non-Indians when they are on tribal trust-status land?
Should local governments and individuals be able to sue tribal governments in state and federal court when
they feel they have been wronged by
a tribe?
Should tribes be able to claim sovereign immunity in all cases'?
These were some of the questions
addressed ina hearing held by the U.S.
Senate Indian Affairs Committee April
7 in Seattle, Washington. Sen. Slade
Gorton (R-Wash.) has introduced S.
169 l,abill called the "American Indian
Equal Justice, Act" that would limit
tribal sovereign immunity, allowing
people to sue tribes when they feel
they have been wronged. (The bill, and
a summary of it, were published in the
March 6 issue of Press/ON.),
Currently, tribes often use the sovereign immunity defense to dodge lawsuits, or require cases to be heard only
in tribal courts which are controlled by
tribal government officials because
there is no required "separation of
powers" in tribal governments.
Because of tribal sovereign immunity, Indian and non-Indian citizens
have found it nearly impossible to hold
tribes accountable for wrongdoing.
"This bill would allow an aggrieved
person to bring suit against a tribal
government exactly as they can
against a county or local government." -Sen. Slade Gorton (R-
Wash.)
"The doctrine of sovereign immunity
is not an Indian doctrine. It comes from
England, and has been abandoned by
all governments in the United States
except tribal governments," said
Gorton in his introduction at the start
of the hearing. "This bill I has nothing
to do with treaties," Gorton continued.
"Sovereign immunity is practiced by
many tribes that have no treaties. ...This
bill would allow an aggrieved person
to bring suit against a tribal government exactly as they can against a
county or local government."
Twenty people testified at the four
hour hearing, which was held in a hotel
conference room and attracted a throng'-
of about 600 observers approximately
1/3 of which were tribal government
officials and representatives, and 2/3
were supporters of Gorton's proposed
changes. Usually these hearings at-
tractapproximately 200 observers, primarily tribal government officials,
when they are held in Washington,
D.C.
Senate staff asked people entering
the room if they were for or against S.
1691, and directed them to stand accordingly on one side ofthe room or
the other. It very much gave the impression of being Indians, against non-
Indians, and vice versa. Prior to the
start ofthe hearing, the crowd on both
sides of the room held up signs and
loudly proclaimed their viewpoints.
Tribal drummers led their side in native j
language songs and chants, while the \
other side would alternately rise to
sing the national anthem or loudly   ]
proclaim the Pledge of Allegiance.
Senate/to pg. 5
Minnesotans testify at senate sovereignty hearing, pg. 1,
4 Former Leech Lake attorney disbarred, pg. 1
FDL hunger striker continues fast, pg. 3
HOTESS teachers seek investigation of school, pg. 7
IRA system founded on suppression of Anishinabe culture,
pg-7
Voice ofthe People
_J
e-mail. presson@bji.net
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
Native
Anwriean
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Volume 10  Issue 26
AprllO. 1898
\
A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1898
Former MN Senator, LL attorney disbarred
2 years after conviction
By Gary Blair
Former Leech Lake tribal attorney
and the State's first Native American
senator, Harold "Skip" Finn was disbarred by the Minnesota Supreme
CourtonMarch31,1998,forunprofes-
sional conduct that resulted from pervious felony convictions,
In April 1996, Finn, and two former
council members were convicted in St.
Paul federal court of conspiracy, theft
and mail fraud for their role in bilking
the LL people out of over $1 million.
Prosecutor's told jurors thatFinn masterminded a phony self-insurance
scheme that was supposed to replace
die reservation's ppr*ate insurance
coverage. Finn recruited coconspirators former LL chairman, Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton and secretary/treasurer
Daniel Brown, who also benefited from
the financial scheme. Finn was a first
term senator at the time that he was
convicted. Pemberton was reported to
have received nearly $80,000 for his
part in the swindle, Brown received
just over $40,000 for his part in the
scam.
Federal authorities had offered Finn a
chance to plead guilty to lesser
charges in the fall of 1995, that would
have allowed him to practice law once
he had completed his sentence. However, Finn backed out ofthe deal at the
last moment, after he realized the sentence would include jail time. Later,
federal investigator's were told that
Finn had bragged, 'They'll nevercatch
me, I've covered my trail too good.'
According to testimony heard at the
trio's trial, it was Finn's trail of paper
that federal investigators followed, that
the government used to convict the LL
enrol lees. Finn and Pemberton are presently serving sentences at the federal
prison camp near Duluth, MN.   Finn
was given a nearly five year sentence.
Pemberton was sentenced to just over
two years. Brown served one year of.
electrically monitored house arrest.
All three defendants claimed "Tribal
Sovereign Immunity" once they had
been indicted, but were not successful
with that defense.
So far, the LL tribal council has not
moved to seize Finn's assets under his
remaining unpaid court ordered restitution of $100,000. Sources say, this
has occurred, because three of the
present council members and others at
LL are scheduled to testify before a
federal grandjury starting April 21,
1998, at the federal court house in St.
Paul.MN.
Reports leaking out of the fe<
prison at Duluth, say Finn is scared of
being indicted as a result of this latest
probe at LL. Stay tuned.
Twelve Indians exercise right to spear
walleye in Chisago county
PRESS'ONPhotoby L. A.
ThreeuntitledbIack-and-whitephotographsbyAaronFairbanksareoneofmanyfeaturedduringthe25thAnnualOjibweArt
Expo whichareondispIayattheTalleyGallery in the Education- ArtbuildingontheBemidjiStateUniversirycampus.The
Ojibwe Art Expo's 25th anniversary honors founder George Morrison thisyear.Seestory below.
The 25th Ojibwe art exposition opens in
Bemidji's Talley Gallery at Bemidji State
CHISAGO CITY, Minn. (AP) - No
protesters showed up at Green Lake's
public landing when 12 members ofthe
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa exercised
their right to spear walleye. However,
state Department ofNatural Resources
officers watched closely Wednesday
night. Since 1994, the courts have said
the tribal members 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, a
federal 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.
Interior official says Shakopee land deal no
sure thing
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal
officials will take into account state
and local concerns before deciding
whether 593 acres of Twin Cities-area
land should be removed from the tax
rolls for a wealthy Minnesota tribe, a
top Interior Department official said.
"It should not be assumed in that case
or any other that we will be taking that
land into trust," Kevin Gover, the
department's assistant secretary for
Indian affairs, told the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe,
which runs one ofthe nation's most
successful Indian gambling operations,
eventually plans to put a shopping
center, homes and industrial
development on 593 acres of farmland
in Shakopee. Putting the land into trust
with the Interior Department would
exempt it from local property taxes and
prevent the city or Scott County from
having any control over its
development. The tribe says it needs
to diversify its economy. Its gambling
operations earn individual tribal
members an estimated $600,000 a year.
A lawyer for the tribe, William
Hardaker, said local governments
shouldn't lose any money, because
the tribe will make payments in lieu of
taxes to coverthecost of police, courts
and other services. The tribe currently
pays about $500,000 a year to the
county and the city of Prior Lake for
services, he said. He said the tribe has
no plans to develop the new land for
five to 10 years. Earlier this week, Gov.
Arne Carlson met with Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt and
complained that tribal land acquisitions
were hurting local governments and
urged him to reject the Shakopee tribe's
latest request for trust status. Such
requests are routinely granted, but
Goversaid he immediately e-mailed the
director of the BIA's Minneapolis
office, where the Shakopee request is
under review, "and said you had better
be talking" with local and state officials.
"He said he had," Gover said in an
interview Wednesday. Gover was
questioned about the land deal by the
Senate committee's chairman, Ben
NighthorseCampbell, R-Colo. "Weare
consulting with local and state
governments on the impact of that
matter," Goverassured Campbell. Mark
McNeill, the Shakopee city
administrator, said the tribe has plenty
of room for growth with the 1,000 acres
it already owns.
The 25th Ojibwe Art Expo, which
enables Native American artists to
share their contemporary and
traditional art works in a juried
exhibition,openedonApril 1,1998,on
the Bemidji State University campus in
the Talley Gallery.
Located in the Education-Art
Building on BSU, the Talley Gallery is
barrier-free and is open to the public at
no charge weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to
9:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.
to 6 p.m.
The 1998 Expo honors George
Morrison, aChippewaartistand former
professor of art at the University of
Minnesota and will be displayed at
BSU through April 17.
"The Ojibwe Art Expo was created to
ensure that Native American art,
specifically Woodland tribal art in the
Upper Great Lakes region and Canada,
remained its own distinct art form and
that tribal artists need a professional
exhibition to show their creations and
to educate the general public about
our traditional and contemporary art
forms," said Bonnie Wallace, one of
the long-term organizers ofthe Expo
and a member of the statewide
committee who worked on the 1998
event.
The Expo is a juried exhibit which
features American Indian art in a variety
of categories including: contemporary
traditional art, such as beadwork, quill
work, basketry, and quilts as well as
contemporary nontraditional media,
such as painting, drawing, paints, and
sculpture.
Open to all American Indian artists
ofthe UpperGreat Lakes, the Ojibwe
Art Expo (OAE) is community-based,
meaning it is organized, promoted,
installed, and toured by members of
the Indian community.
The show serves as a forum for Indian
artists and gives non-Indian audience's
exposure to the rich variety of art and
artistic expression coming from tribal
communities.
At its inception 25 years ago, the
Expo was the only completely Native
artexhibition in the United States which
was created by Native American artists
solely for the    promotion of Native
arts.
The OAE was conceived in 1973 by
Native American artists who were
frustrated by the general perception
that all Indian art should look like the
art of the Southwest. It was a bias
encountered by Carl Gawboy, artist-
in-residence at BSU, who feared that
the Southwest influence was creating
a generic Indian art and, in the process,
destroying regional as well as cultural
traditions.
As part of BSU's Indian Week
celebration, Gawboy proposed an
exhibitions which was endorsed by
BSU Indian Studies director Don
Bibeau, supported with funding by the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe through
its new director George Goodwin, and
put together by Kent Smith, an artist
on the BSU campus at that time and the
current director of Indian Studies.
In addition to the juror's comments
at the exhibition opening, individuals
will have opportunities to learn more
Art/to pg. 3
Panel neglects civil rights
Newfishing regulations imposed on 13 treaty
rights lakes
ST. PAUL (AP) - New walleye and
northern pike fishing regulations were
announced Tuesday for lakes in east-
central Minnesota where Chippewa
bands will be allowed to exercise their
treaty rights. The Department of
Natural Resources regulations affect
only a fraction ofthe 100 lakes in the
territory where Minnesota and
Wisconsin tribes are allowed to net
and spear. "The regulations are based
on sound biology and recent
conversations with citizen groups who
1 i ve on or near the affected lakes," said
Jack Skrypek, DNR fisheries chief. The
regulations take effect at the start of
the fishing season, May 9. Previously,
the DNR announced a 15-inch minimum
for walleye on Lake Mille Lacs.
Northern pike between 26 inches and
36 inches must be released from that
lake. Skrypek said treaty harvests will
not hurt fish populations and that the
new regulations will offset the walleye
harvest by Indian bands. "Regulations
in the bands' conservation code limit
treaty harvest on small lakes to no
more than 10 to 12 percent of the
walleye that are 12 inches or larger,"
Skrypek said. "That means 90 percent
of the walleye remain for sport anglers
to catch or breed again." 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.
Lastfall,afederalappealscourt 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.
By Gary Blair
The United States Senate Committee
on Indian Affairs heard testimony at
the University of St. Thomas in St.
Paul, MN on April 9,1998.
The O'Shaughnessy education center
auditorium was filled with a handful of
local tribal officials and a small group
of interested students. Some of the
other Indians who were in attendance
at the hearing were some ofthe same
people who have over the years made
their living off the plight of this areas
Native American population.
The discussion during the hearing
centered on the same issues that Indian
people have complained about for the
past forty years: jobs, education,
welfare cuts, poverty, were the themes
and every tribal leader mentioned the
need to protect their sovereignty.
However, the issue of civil rights for
native people was not mentioned, at
least not during the first two hours of
the hearing that your writer attended.
Senators Ben NightHorse Campbell
who is the committee's chairman, and
Paul Wellstone interviewed five
member panels of reservation elected
heads and Indian lobbyists groups.
The first session started in the
afternoon and was made up of tribal
officials. Campbell attempted to clarify
panelist remarks during the testimony,
touching briefly on the issue of tribal
sovereign immunity, however, those
remarks were in reference to economic
development and the reservations right
to have protection from outside
influences.
When referring to the United States
government's approach to giving its
people a voice, Campbell said of tribal
governments, "Our governments have
always given their people a voice."
Apparently, the honorable senator
hasn't been an Indian for very long.
One of senator Paul Wellstone's
questions to panelists demonstrated
both his ignorance of Indian issues
and his future political aspirations.
Wellstone asked during the session,
"I want to know why in 1998, half of the
Indian people are poor?" Apparently,
the honorable senator does not know
that Native American children in his
home state as a group are even poorer.
Nonetheless, Wellstone did visit some
ofthe areas local reservations during
his poverty tours. Apparently he was
not driven down some of the back
roads that lead away the money gins,
the casinos.