The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-07-10

              Standing Rock tribal leaders charged with
skipping out on bill
STANDING ROCK INDIAN
RESERVATION, S.D. (AP) - Two
leaders of the Standing Rock Tribal
Council have been charged with
felonies in Walworth County for not
paying a tribal member's motel bill.
And some Mobridge residents and
tribal members say the case is part of a
bigger problem between the American
Indian and white communities.
Tribal Chairman Charles Murphy and
Vice Chairman Tom Iron face charges
of obtaining services without paying
and an alternative count of theft by
deception.
The crimes are Class 4 felonies, which
carry a maximum penalty of up to 10
years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Murphy and Iron were told to appear
in court July 13 in Selby.
Iron also has an outstanding arrest
warrant in Walworth County from last
September. He has been accused of
passing two bad checks worth $784.
The new complaints were filed
Monday by the owner ofthe Morning
Star Inn in Mobridge.
The owner, Bob Wingerter, said
Murphy and Iron promised to pay the
bill ofa woman whose son required
medical treatment. That woman, Connie
Cameron, isatribalmemberwhostayed
at the Morning Star for 44 days from
late October through mid-December of
last year, he said. The total bill was
more than $2,400.
Wingerter has already asked the tribal
council for $3,100 in damages, which
includes compensation for 16 trips to
the tribal offices in Fort Yates, N.D.,
and 85 long distance phone calls to try
to settle the issue.
Wingerter said Cameron needed a
place to stay because her son was in a
car accident and she was waiting for
permanent tribal housing to be built.
"Tom Iron was the first one I talked to
and he said the tribe would be paying
the bill," Wingertersaid. "Then I talked
to Charlie Murphy and he said they
would pay the bill."
In a telephone interview Thursday,
Murphy said Cameron, not the tribe, is
responsible for thebillsinceshestayed
in the motel. He denied making a
promise to pay and said he agreed to
pay just two days of her stay. "I don't
know why they're bringing charges
against me when the lady stayed there.
I didn't stay there," Murphy said.
Iron did not return telephone calls
seeking comment. Some in the area say
there are more problems. In 1996 the
tribe hired Tom Bennett, of Mobridge,
to collect bad checks from the Grand
RiverCasino, a tribally owned gambl ing
hall just outside Mobridge.
But Bennett said the tribal leaders
who hired him now barhim from doing
Skipping/to pg. 5
Babbitt seeks mediator role in talks between
states and tribes
(AP) - Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt could play a bigger role in
helping Indian tribes open casinos.
Babbitt has proposed that the Interior
Department mediate between a tribe
and a governor when the department
determines a state has not negotiated
in good faith with a tribe on the issue
of Indian gaming. Under Babbitt's
proposal, the Interior secretary would
become the final arbiter if mediation
failed.
Babbitt met last week in Washington,
D.C, with representatives of Indian
tribes and states to discuss the
proposal, but details of the meeting
were not released. "They're really at
an early stage, and we agreed that we
would keep things confidential until
further discussions take place." said
Robert Anderson. Babbitt's counselor.
States have resisted Babbitt's efforts
because they view him as an advocate
ofthe tribes and believe the rules would
threaten  states' rights.
Babbitt met with tribal leaders and
representatives for governors and
attorneys general from several states
to talk about the suggested federal
rule changes dealing with Indian
gaming. He said further meetings may
occur.
Even though American Indian tribes
are considered sovereign nations, the
federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
requires tribes operating casino games
to first obtain an agreement with the
state in which they are located.
In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
tribes could not sue states to compel
good-faith negotiations. Bureau of
Indian Affairs head Kevin Gover has
said Congress did not intend for states
to have veto power over Indian casino
gaming when other similar gaming
Babbitt/to Pg. 5
Wisconson tribe seeks gaming compact
delay
MILWAUKEE (AP) - The Oneida
tribe has asked the federal government
to delay action on the tribe's agreement
with the state to continue operating
casino gambling for five more years, a
newspaper reported.
Oneida officials, whose Green Bay-
area casino posts profits estimated at
more than $80 million'a year, declined
to tell the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
whether they had asked the bureau to
cease consideration ofthe agreement.
However, Mark Bugher, Gov. Tommy
Thompson's top deputy, said the
federal Bureau of Indian Affairs on
Thursday sent him a copy ofa letter it
sent to Oneida Tribal Chairwoman
Deborah Doxtator. The letter confirmed
the bureau had received her request to
withdraw an earlier request forapproval
ofthe compact, Bugher said.
Still. Bugher downplayed the tribe's
move. "We're proceeding on the
assumption that the compact is
approved." said Mark Bugher, Gov.
Tommy Thompson's top deputy.
The May 8 Oneida-state agreement
would pay Wisconsin about $4.9
million annually for 5 years.
Federal law requires the bureau to
approve or reject gaming compact
agreements within 4? days, a period
that expired midweek, Bugher said.
Bugher said the lack of action on the
Oneida deal provides "tacit approval"
ofthe compact.
Thompson has reached agreements
with fourothertribes, and twoof those
pacts have received federal approval.
Indian community sources told the
Journal Sentinel the Oneida action
could confuse the often testy
negotiations between Thompson and
the 11 Wisconsin tribes that operate 17
casinos. Negotiations with one tribe.
the Red Cliff Chippewa, broke off last
month over several issues, including
payments to the state that Thompson
demanded.
Thompson has taken steps aimed at
convincing the federal government to
close the Bayfield-area tribe's casino.
Red Cliff Chairman George Newago
and officials from the Oneida and four
other tribes met Monday-
Bureau of Indian Affairs to express
concerns about the state's compact
negotiating tactics.
Newago confirmed that his tribe has
talked to several of its wealthier
brethren about financing possible
litigation with Thompson. Bughersaid
the state is negotiating fairly. Federal
officials could not immediately be
reached for comment Friday, as the
agency was closed for the Fourth of
July holiday.
Will the success of 'smoke signals' open
more doors for Indians?
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The
alcoholism, the troubles at home, the
death of a father, it all came flooding
back to Lori Edmo-Suppah, a
Shoshone-Bannock Indian, as she
watched the new movie "Smoke
Signals."
At a recent screening in Arizona for
Native American journalists, she
remembered her childhood when her
parents would go partying and leave
the children in the car. She also
remembered her father, who died in
February. "Alcohol affects a lot of
people. It was in my life," said Ms.
Edmo-Suppah, a copy editor at the
Idaho State Journal. "It's like us being
journalists. We know how we I i ve. We
understand our values.
Making that movie, they know how it
is." First-time directorChris Eyre and
the gifted writer Sherman Alexie wove
their intimate experiences as Native
Americans into "Smoke Signals," an
honest, funny and moving film that
sends up Hollywood stereotypes of
American Indians.
It is the first majorcommercial movie
written, directed and co-produced by
Native Americans and starring Native
Americans. TheMiramax Films release
has received raves from critics and
won the Audience Award and the
Filmmakers Trophy at this year's
Sundance Film Festival.
Some see it as a breakthrough film,
one that eclipses the negative portrayal
of American Indians in Hollywood
movies and challenges the dearth of
Ninilchik (AP) - When Joann
Jackinsky decided to challenge the
leadership of her tribal government,
she expected a fight. She didn't expect
to get kicked out ofthe tribe. Now the
prolonged struggle for control ofthe
Ninilchik Traditional Council that
followed Jackinsky's 1996 election
could have repercussions across
Alaska. "If somebody disagrees with
you, just disenroll them. You got no
problem anymore," said Erling
Kvasnikoff, a crusty retired fisherman
who chairs a group called Concerned
Tribal Members.
Ninilchik tribal leaders and their
lawyers argue that disenrollment was
necessary because opposition leaders
had stepped so far over the line:
holding their own elections, stopping
the mail, even backing theirpickups to
the doorof the tribal offices to remove
file cabinets, an attempt stopped by
Alaska State Troopers. "They couldn't,
just by mob rule and physical force,
assert themselves and take over a duly
functioning tribal government," said
David Case, the tribe's attorney.
Federal officials, who finally stepped
in last week with their own
investigation, said the tribe's decision
to kick out opponents pitting the
rights of tribes against the rights of
individual tribal membershas caught
the attention of other tribes in Alaska.
Ninilchik's internal fightwasdiscussed
recently ataGwich'intribal gathering
in Fort Yukon, said Niles Cesar, area
director for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. "People are worried that this
might  hurt  the  cause   of self-
Tribal members to challenge secret TEC vote for land claims
settlement, pg. 1
Fond du Lac police department takes shape, pg. 1
Commentary: The exploitation of indigenous oppression, pg. 3
None of Red Lake incumbents deserve to be re-elected, pg. 4
Will success of 'smoke signals' open doors for Indians?, pg. 1
Voice ofthe People
.
e mail.presson@bji.net
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American
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Volume 10 Issue 38
July 10,1888
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A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1898
In 1440. a group o! young athletes battled on inc yml mm a» Red Lake i ill ic.ini. ilic 'ReJ lake Indians.*   Pictured above.
lett lo right, Hack Row - William I". Strong, Charlie Kelly. Kermit Kjolhaug, Chuck While, Herman English, Adrian Perrault. Middle
Row - Sonny Locken, led Beaulieu. Mollis Liltlecreek. Simon Beaulieu. Roman Sigana (PRESS/On's MVP). Harold White, Coach Allen
Fields Front Row - Arlen Stromberg, Billy Campbell, Byron Graves, Gerald Graves, Murphy Parkhurst. Front Center - Coach Field's
son.
Tribal members to challenge secret TEC
vote for land claims settlement
Native Americans in the movie
industry itself.
The American film industry has long
ignored fairness and accuracy in its
depiction of Native Americans, often
casting whites with cartoonish accents
and painted skin to play Indians as
barbarians who raped white women
and killed children, as drunks or as
noble and sometimes defeated
savages.
Westerns made by white filmmakers
and starring whites, like "The Covered
Wagon," "The Searchers," "She Wore
a Yellow Ribbon" and "Rio Grande,"
kept the myths alive. But Hollywood's
skewered view of American Indians
softened somewhat with films like
Smoke/to pg. 3
By Jeff Armstrong
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's 12-
member executive committee met
secretly in Nett Lake last week to
tentatively approve an unpopular $20
million settlement to tribal land claims
stemming from a century-old
congressional allotment act.
According to tribal records, the 1889
Nelson Act led to the appropriation by
the U.S. of nearly 800,000 acres ofMCT
land, including more than half the
territory of the Leech Lake
Reservation.
While the U.S. government hopes the
Ninilchik tribal dispute could affect native
self-determination
determ ination," Cesar said.
Within a few months of her election,
Jackinsky, 42, said she found things
that troubled her. She demanded to see
salary lists and the tribe's secret
membership enrollment list. She
accused the council of violating
nepotism policies by hiring Oskolkoff
family members, including one of
Oskolkoff's sisters as executive
director, another as enrollmentofficer
and their mother as finance director.
In March 1997,thecouncil, including
Oskolkoff, his brotherand brother-in-
law, voted to remove Jackinsky from
the council.
Jackinsky turned to Ninilchik's tribal
court, of which she was one of three
judges. She appealed to the other
Ninilchik/to pg. 5
apparent settlement marks the final
chapter in the struggle for the land,
tribal members maintain the settlement
process has been marked by the same
pattern of duplicity, fraud and greed
through which the government first
wrested control ofthe land.
Tribal members at White Earth. Fond
du Lac and Leech Lake explicitly
rejected the settlement offer at five
community meetings since it was
proposed two years ago. However,
after first rejecting the deal at an Oct.
22, 1997 meeting, the TEC reversed
itself five days later and maneuvered
to call a referendum on the issue.
Although the motion for a referendum
by Eli Hunt fell short of the
constitutional requirement of eight
TEC votes, the balloting went forward
as a "non-constitutional referendum"
to be conducted entirely by mail.
The voting process was equally
suspect. Thousands of tribal members
did not receive ballots and there were
no provisions for voting in person. In
addition, the ballots were transparent
with no identification of the voter,
making any sort of monitoring
impossible. The results were tabulated
by a private accounting firm which
refused to release any information on
Tribal/to pg. 6
Fond du Lac police department takes shape
State will certify tribal officers
By Matt Nelson
Duluth News-Tribune
You might say Roger Smith is the new
Fond du Lac reservation police
department for now.
Though Smith has yet to make his
first arrest as the tribal department's
first police officer, his hiring represents
the band's commitment to close a legal
loophole created by a 1995 Minnesota
Court of Appeals ruling.
That   ruling   left   several   of
Minnesota's administrative laws —
speeding, driving without insurance
and a host of other offenses — off-
limits to state and local cops trying to
charge American Indian tribal members
on reservations.
The Court of Appeals decision,
named the "Stone decision" after
respondent Joshua Carl Stone, said
that several of the state's
administrative laws didn't apply to
American Indians on the White Earth
Indian Reservation.
The Stone decision also affected
other reservations, including Fond du
Lac, which straddles Carlton and St.
Louis counties.
The court ruled that American Indians
while on reservations couldn't be
prosecuted for driving with expired
registration, driving without a license,
driving after revocation, driving with
an expired license, driving without
insurance, driving without a license or
speeding.
So the Fond du Lac Reservation
Business Committee created its own
ordinances to replace those thrown out
by the court. And to enforce them,
Fond du Lac/to pg. 5
Legal counsel warns lawmakers not to take
donations from gambling
SACRAMENTO (AP)- Lawmakers
could face federal criminal sanctions if
they take campaign donations from
California Indian gambling operations
deemed illegal, the Legislature's legal
counsel warned.
The opinion cites federal laws against
money laundering and racketeering,
saying "money that is generated at an
Indian casino from gambling activities
that are illegal under state or federal
law is potentially subject to seizure by
federal authorities."
The opinion, obtained Thursday,
comes to light as Indian tribes lobby to
expand their operations and as their
political influence grows in the Capitol.
Tribes are among the largest campaign
donors in the state, giving Democrats
and Republicans more than $ 1 million
this year.
Opponents of gambling's expansion
say lawmakers who support the tribes'
position should no longer take
donations from them, the Los Angeles
Times reported today. Observers say
the opinion's impact may be far
reaching, affecting upcom ing races for
governor, attorney general and other
statewide offices; in those campaigns,
some candidates have accepted
hundreds of thousands of dollars from
various tribes.
But Proponents of gambling's
expansion shrugged it off. "If they
(Indian casinos) were out of
compliance, they would beshut down.
They have not been shut down. The
courts have not ruled."
Legal/to pg. 3