The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-05-01

              Bemidji State University conducts opinion
survey on Mille Lacs treaty issue
By Julie Shortridge
Many people involved in the Mille
Lacs 1837 treaty dispute have reported
receiving an opinion survey from
Bemidji State University's (BSU)
Center for Environmental Studies in
recent weeks. Graduate student Robert
Ruliffson is conducting the survey as
a research project for his thesis. "I am
interested in understanding the nature
of environmental concerns and
ecological awareness among people
responsible for the resolution of the
Trespassing
dismissed for
(NAP/ON) Mille Lacs County
district judge Thomas Knapp
dismissed trespassing charges against
a reporter for the Native American
Press/Ojibwe News arrested last
October for asserting his right to attend
an official meeting ofthe Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe.
Knapp upheld reporter Jeff
Armstrong's challenge to the state's
jurisdiction on grounds that the court
lacked authority to determine
eligibility to attend a tribal
governmental meeting.
"This case involves complicated
questions unique to a tribe's own self-
governance and not the basic property
rights of tribal members," wrote Knapp
situation," said Ruliffson.
Ruliffson is the sole author of the
survey, which is being funded through
BSU. One hundred surveys were
mailed out to people Ruliffson
identified through newspaper articles
and other sources as being involved in
the Mille Lacs treaty issue. (I received
a survey because of past articles I
have written about the issue.) ruliffson
says he tried to strike a balance among
the various groups involved, including
the DNR, Chippewa bands, resort
owners and other members of the
community, and the people involved
in the organization proper Economic
Resource Management (PERM),
which has been involved in
information and fund-raising efforts
on behalf of the landowner's
internvention in the lawsuit,
participants may receive the results of
the survey upon request.
Ruliffson hopes that the survey
results will show that there are shared
beliefs and interests among the various
people involved in the treaty dispute
to protect the ecological health ofthe
Survey/to pg. 5
Charges dismissed against NAP/ON reporter, pg. 1
BSU to survey views on treaty rights, pg. 1
FDL Candidate challenges RBC police plans, pg. 1
Text of Mille Lacs treaty appeal brief, pg. 3
Lillehaug may run for MN Attorney General, pg. 4
Jim Weaver to launch new walk for justice, pg. 5
=
Voice ofthe People
5
e-mail: presson@bji.net
charges against reporter
lack of jurisdiction
is his memorandum.
"In this unique situation, it is not
possible for the court or a jury to
decide, beyond a reasonable doubt,
what constitutes a 'claim of right' in
the context ofa tribal meeting absent
a decision by the tribal court itself.
Therefore, the court finds that it lacks
jurisdiction to resolve the internal
tribal dispute that exists in this case,"
Knapp wrote.
The judge rejected, however, the
defense contentfon that the state
trespassing law is a civil regulatory
statute, instead defining the law as
inherently criminal in nature. Knapp
also declined to pass judgement on
the legality of the Mille Lacs Tribal
Law Enforcement statute, which
Armstrong had contended was enacted
without the tribal consent required
under tribal and federal law.
Armstrong expressed satisfaction
with the ruling, but said the remaining
legal issues he raised must still be
addressed by the courts. "I'm
encouraged by the decision, which I
hope will send a message to state and
tribal officials who think they can use
their legal apparatus with impunity to
suppress free speech and dissent.
"But the ruling was made on as
narrow grounds as possible. I maintain
that 1 was arrested and imprisoned by
officers operating under color of an
illegal state statute in violation of my
Trespass/to pg. 6
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
American
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988
Volume 10 Issue 29
May 1,1998
1
Problems at White Earth continue to grow
By Gary Blair
Problems at White Earth continue to
grow with the reservation's upcoming
general election —less than six weeks
away — an event that has intensified
those tensions.
The latest, round of turmoil on the
reservation increased shortly after the
election defeat of (20 year) chairman.
Darrell "Chip" Wadena, who was
convicted of federal corruption
charges and civil rights violations in
June 1996. Many enrollees and non-
Indians who had benefitted from
Wadena's tenure,-, soon found
themselves without jobs, if they were
not friends, or relatives of the new
tribal council members. The practice
of awarding jobs was used by Wadena
to maintain control, as he and two
other council members stole millions
of dollars from the White Earth people.
Not surprising since Wadena's
conviction, there has been little, or no
outcry about the one thing that helped
to create this ongoing situation at
White Earth, which is the misuse of
"Sovereign Immunity." On Tuesday,
your writer received a phone call from
a young Indian mother who says she
had just quit her job at the Shooting
Star Casino and plans to leave the
reservation. She would not give her
name, but she did say that she had
purchased a home in the town of
Waubun, MN on the reservation. She
said she had worked at the casino for
a number of years and was also able to
buy a new car as well. The caller also
said it's not true that you can see
accounting records for the reservation.
She said, "I asked Erma if I could see
them and she told me I would need
full approval from the entire tribal
council."
When questioned as to why she had
called, she gave the following details.
"I am sick of what is happening here.
I got so damn mad when 1 saw that
lettertol:nna(Vizenor)fromtheCTA.
Problems/to pg. 6
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 farm land
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
todiversify 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 cover the cost 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
Interior/to pg.5
Prosecutors seeki ng to drop charges agai nst
official of Crow tribe
BILLINGS (AP) - Federal prosecutors are seeking approval to dismiss
the indictment charging Crow Tribal
Chairwoman Clara Nomee with conspiring to misapply tribal funds. If the
dismissal motion is approved in U.S.
District Court, it would be the second
of three indictments filed against
Nomee to be dismissed. Nomee's attorney said she would not oppose the
motion and expects it to be approved.
The two-count indictment stemmed
from the use of tribal funds to buy a
parcel of land belonging to Danetta
Falls Down. It accused Nomee of going ahead with the purchase knowing
it had been voided by the tribal council and that the price ofthe land was
too high.
Two former Bureau of Indian Affairs officials were tried in March in
connection with the same land deal.
In the March 31 verdict, Myron Pease,
retired Billings area credit officer, was
acquitted of conspiring to misapply
government funds.
John Pereau, former superintendent
at Crow Agency, was convicted on
three counts but acquitted on a fourth.
The acquittal was for a charge similar to Nomee's permitting the tribe
to misapply its own funds forthe land
purchase after the tribal council had
Prosecutors/to Pg. 6
Tribes fight financial disclosure rule
Lobbyist condemns GOP's race-baiting' tactics
By Bill McAllister
Representatives of Indian tribes
protested vigorously Friday against a
proposed ruling by the state campaign
finance board that they must go
through full financial disclosure in
order to fund their political
committees.
The Campaign Finance &
Disclosure Board put off until May 4
a decision on whether to adopt the
draft opinion written by staff, which
was characterized by tribal
spokesmen as a potential death knell
for Indian political involvement.
Board chair Barry Anderson said
that, with some concern, he was
inclined to vote for the opinion. But
member Carolyn Rodriguez said she's
worried about effectively denying
tribes access to the political process,
and member Charles Slocum said he
need more time to weigh the complex
issues involved.
"This is a radical change," Kurt V.
BlueDog, counsel for the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community,
told the board. "This is not something
that can be taken lightly. ... It takes
us as a tribe out ofthe process. Is that
really the goal?"
BlueDog said that if the tribe was
forced to detail al! revenue or
expenditures of $100 or more,
whether related to its political
committee or not, its leaders would
choose to retreat from politics.
That is exactly the intended effect
ofa complaint filed with the board by
the Republican party, said Larry Kitto,
a lobbyist who has represented several
tribes.
Republican legislators and party
officials have been engaged in a "race-
baiting" vendetta against Indians and
their casinos because Democrats have
benefited more from tribal campaign
contributions, Kitto said in an
interview. For example, House
Minority Leader Steve Sviggum, R.-
Kenyon, offered an amendment on the
House floor this session to treat
Indians differently in a human
services program, he said.
"It's just like separate bathrooms and
sitting in the back of the bus and
separate water fountains," he said.
With the campaign finance
complaint, "They're trying to deny
them or trying to use that as a political
lever to win elections," Kitto said.
"Obviously, Indian tribes contribute
more to Democrats than Republicans
because Democrats have a tendency
to support more of the issues and
concerns that are important to Indians.
However, where Republicans support
tribes, tribes support Republicans."
Tribes/to pg. 6
A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1998
PRESS ON Photo by I. A.
"Jingle Dress Dance Song," an acrylic painting by Clara White, signifies spring and the beginning of the pow
wow season. Bemidji State University's 25th Annual Council of Indian Student's Traditional Pow wow kicks
off this Saturday in BSU's John Glas Fieldhouse at 1:00 p.m.
Fond du Lac candidate says tribal reform
must come before reservation police
By Jeff Armstrong
Fond du Lac secretary treasurer
candidate Kevin Dupuis announced
this week that he would strongly resist
efforts to establish a reservation legal
system without the input and approval
of tribal members.
"I believe we should have a tribal
court, but it should be consensual.
Any judicial system put in place must
be consensual," said Dupuis."That's
the problem throughout the whole
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe—there's
no consent."
Dupuis denounced recent state
legislation authorizing the reservation
to create a police force in conjunction
with local law enforcement agencies.
"Who has the jurisdiction? Who has
the authority? If we don't have a
judicial system in place that
establishes a legal court system that
is a separate entity from the RBC,
we're going to continue on the same
road, with a judicial system where the
RBC can hire and fire the judges.
That's not going to work," Dupuis
said.
Dupuis instead called for
comprehensive constitutional and
political reform ofthe six-reservation
tribe, changes which he said are a
prerequisite under tribal law to the
creation of another branch of
government. As an immediate step,
Dupuis said he would demand that the
TEC rescind its claim of sole authority
to interpret the constitution.
"As long as [TEC Constitutional
Interpretation] 1-80 is in place, they're
going to inteipret it any way they want
for their own purposes," said Dupuis.
As a result, he said, the RBC is
unlikely to put the issue on the ballot
in the upcoming June elections or to
comply with a legal referendum
petition.
The state legislation establishes a
deadline of July 1 for Fond du Lac to
enter into agreements establishing the
reservation's concurrent jurisdiction
with Carlton County, St. Louis
County and the city of Cloquet. It
leaves open the question of who
would prosecute the arrests, a matter
which would be defined in the
agreements.
"They say we'll have a meeting this
month, or in June, but the state's
legislation has already been written up
and they want to get that pushed
through by July 1. We have one
month after July before Fond du Lac
accepts it. That isn't enough time. We
could have had meetings on this a year
ago," said Dupuis.
Although dozens of Fond du Lac
tribal members have signed petitions
against an RBC-run police force, no
tribal members were allowed to testify
on the Fond du Lac police legislation,
whose provisions were buried 172
pages into an omnibus crime bill.
Fond du Lac lobbyist Randy
Asunma, of Cathedral Hill Strategies,
said initial opposition from the
Carlton county sheriff and county
attorney was overcome by amending
the legislation. Asunma said the state
Police Officer Standards and Training
(POST) board heartily endorsed the
measure. Because ofthe lack of state
opposition, no legislative hearings
were necessary, the lobbyist stated.
Dupuis said the Fond du Lac
legislation is only the latest chapter
in the history of intrusive state and
federal policies. "We look at Public
Law 280 and the plenary power of-
congress. They submitted us to that
without our consent. They're doing
the same thing here."
According to Dupuis, the creation of
a judicial branch should go hand in
hand with retrocession of state
criminal jurisdiction under PL-280.
Chippewa Indians near walleye quota on
Lake Mille Lacs
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Most
spearing and netting by Chippewa
Indians in Minnesota is expected to
be completed by the May 9 fishing
opener, officials say.
Seven bands harvested more than 70
percent of their walleye quota on Lake
Mille Lacs since the opening of their
season on April 1 through Thursday,
according lo the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Band
members have taken 15,226 walleyes
weighing just over 28,142 pounds
from Lake Mille Lacs, the state's pre
mier walleye lake, the DNR says.
Eight bands including two from Minnesota and six from Wisconsin can
take up to 40,000 pounds of walleyes
from the lake this year under court-
approved quotas.
The Minnesota bands have taken the
most walleyes from Lake Mille Lacs:
The Mille Lacs band has taken a total
of 13.587 pounds, and the Fond du
Lac band has taken slightly more than
4,000 pounds. Band members have
taken 700 pounds of walleyes on 11
other lakes where permits were issued
this year, although they were unsuc
cessful on some of those lakes.
This is the first full year of Chippewa
fish harvest in an area of east-central
Minnesota the Chippewa Indians
ceded to the government in 1837.
Authorities report no incidents recently between band members and
those who oppose Indian harvests.
Wisconsin bands participating in the
harvest include: the Bad River, Lac
Courte Oreilles. Lac du Flambeau,
Red Cliff and St. Croix. The
Sokaogon band from Wisconsin also
is eligible to participate.