The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-06-19

              FBI reportedly investigating White Earth
absentee ballot seizure
By Gary Blair
The June 7 takeover and subsequent
theft of absentee ballots at White Earth
was allegedly promoted by three
imprisoned former tribal council
members who led supporters into
believing that an appeal of their
convictions would be successful.
Once released from prison, the trio
planned to regain control ofthe tribal
council and return the reservation to
its former status (which would not
include mandatory employee drug
tests).   However, on June 9, those
followers learned that their leaders'
appeals had not been successful and
this week only a handful remain inside
the reservation's administration
building. The main promoters of the
takeover and ballot snatch have since
gone home in the wake of a federal
probe that could bring criminal
charges.
PRESS/ON sources say that earlier
this year, a three page letter was sent
to Norman Deschampe, president of
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from
former White Earth secretary-treasurer,
Jerry Rawley and Dist. I Rep. Rickie
Clark. "They asked him (Deschampe)
to settle things down at White Earth
and they reminded him that they had
never been removed from office," (in
spite of their convictions).
Unfortunately, the one source who
could fax your writer a copy of that
letter was fearful of being retaliated
against ifthey were found out.
The theft of 745 absentee ballots
evidently occurred after a failed
attempt on June 3 to remove three other
council members, along with former
reservation chairman Eugene
"Bugger"   McArthur,   who   was
Supreme Court decision in Cass Cty v. Leech Lake Band of Chippewa, pg. 3
FBI reportedly investigating White Earth absentee ballot seizure, pg. 1
L.L. woman's pleas for medical help ignored at PHS Indian Hospital, pg. 1
White Earth candidate Arthur Lang files protest requesting new election, pg. 1
Attorney Greenberg responds to Senator Campbell's questions, pg. 8
Survival will require more than asking U.S. for right to exist, pg. 3
Supreme Court decisions will impact Minnesota Indian country, pg. 4
Voice ofthe People
i
e-mail: pr8sson@bji.nBt
FBI/to pg. 6
Fifty Cents
White Earth candidate Arthur Lang files
protest requesting new election
By Gary Blair
White Earth candidate and District
One challenger, Arthur Lang has filed
an election protest that requests an all
new election for the troubled
reservation whose 745 absentee ballots
were stolen two days before the
election. The following is the complete
wording of Lang's protest.
NOTICEOFPROTEST
I, Arthur Lang, a candidate in White
Earth Reservation's June 9th Election
forDistrict One Tribal Council hereby
protest the June 9th Election on the
following points and irregularities.
1. Certification of election results were
not adhered to according to election
ordinance #7, Section XII.
A. The time line set in this
section to certify ballots.
B. The time line set in this
section to post results.
C. Certification of precinct
ballots without any precinct judges or
board members present.
2. Election ordinance #7, Section VIII.
A. The general reservation
election board shall be responsible for
the overall conduct ofthe election.
B. The safekeeping of
election materials.
C. Certification of election
results.
3. Election ordinance#7, Section VII.
A. Bal lots are to be picked up
by 4 P.M. the day ofthe election, any
received after deadlines are null and
void.
4. Electionordinance#7,Section XIII.
A. Safekeeping of election
materials'fballots).
B. Certification of election
results.
5. Election ordinance #7, Section V.
A. Election board did not
adhere to polling times.
6. Election ordinance #7, Section 111.
A. Eligible voters shall be
members ofthe Tribe, 18 years of age
or over, and they shall have the right to
Native
American
Press
Ojibwe
mews
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded
Volume 10 Issue 36
June 10,1000
i
A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1000
Lang/to pg. 5
County attorneys see impact from Supreme
Court decision
BILLINGS (AP) - County attorneys
say a U.S. Supreme Court decision on
taxation oflndian land may have broad
application in Montana.
The ruling made it easier for states
and counties to assess taxes on lands
that were sold to private owners, but
now have been repurchased by the
tribes.
Most Indian lands are held in trust,
but many reservations in Montana
contain largeamounts.ofso-called fee
land in some case almost half of the
land within reservation boundaries.
Owners of fee land are generally non-
lndians.
But in recent years some tribes,
including the Crow Tribe, have been
trying to rebuild their land base by
buying private lands within reservation
boundaries.
State and local governments generally
cannot tax reservation land owned by
a tribe, but the Supreme Court on
Monday clarified an exception.
"When Congress makes Indian
reservation land freely alienable
(saleable to non-Indians), it manifests
an unmistakably clear intent to render
wrote for the court.
"The repurchase of such land by an
Indian tribe does not cause the land to
reassume tax-exempt status." Big Horn
County Attorney Christine Cooke said
she expects the ruling to have a
significant effect on her county, which
contains most of the Crow Reservation.
Foryears, the county has been trying
to decide how to deal with taxation of
fee lands owned by Indians, she said.
"It's been a real mishmash." she said.
"Some tribally owned fee land
taxed, and others weren't
such land subject to state and local
taxation," Justice Clarence Thomas   L/OUntV/tO pg. 3
American Indians say health
$400 million more
Red Lake Archives Photo
Long before the high-powered slam dunks of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, a group of young men came together on
the courts In 1937 as the Red Lake Warriors. Pictured above, left to right, Everett (Levi) Johnson, Ray McKenzie, Eugene
Johnson, Leonard Hawk, James Johnson, Kenneth Gregg. Middle Row - Al Fields, Head Coach, Harold Barrett, Alexander
Q£*|"\/|f*OC n£fcOf] (Barney) Johnson, Roman Sputa (PRESS/ON's Current Ace Delivery Man), Miles Nelson, Assistant Coach. Back Row - Maurice
wWl  V I V-rV^O   I ICCU     (B(jd) Baj!^   joc stomherg, John Graves, Dick Korstad, Ken Graves.   All team members went on to become veterans of WWII.
I
BOSTON (AP) - Federal funding to
provide medical care for American
Indians is running short across the
country, and it's takingatollonservices
in Massachusetts, observers say.
In all, American Indians say federal
money for their health services is
running about $400 million short this
year, and they are appealing to the
government for help.
They have asked Congress to add
that much more to the $2.1 billion
President Clinton has proposed
spending in the next fiscal year for
Indian health care.
The government is obliged to provide
health services for American Indians
as a result of treaties, executive
decisions and Congressional acts.
There are about 13,000 American
Indians living in Massachusetts, and
the state has two health-service
centers financed by the U.S. Indian
Health Service.
The Wampanoag center at Gay Head
on Martha's Vineyard has had to limit
its services earlier than ever this year
to only what is needed to prevent
immediate death or serious harm to
health, The Boston Globe reported
Monday.
The other center, in Boston's Jamaica
Plain section, has one nurse who has
more than 100 client contacts a month,
a part-time psychologist who visits
more than 100 public schools to meet
with one or two American Indians in
each and a community advocate.
Indian health officials say their
people die at a greater rate than the
general population from diabetes, liver
ailments, pneumonia, influenza, suicide
and accidents.
The officials also say American
Indians are less likely to have private
Health/to pg. 3
Leech Lake woman's pleas for medical help
ignored at PHS Indian Hospital
"The first thing the doctor asked me   and call you?'"
Indian leaders wrestle with teaching evils,
sacredness of tobacco
CLOQUET, MN(AP) - A decision to
plant tobacco next fall in a garden at
the Fond du Lac Ojibwe school
underscores a problem facing health
officers on Indian reservations.
The problem is how do they teach
youth about the evils of smoking
tobacco when, at the same time, their
culture holds tobacco as sacred?
"I thought it was bizarre that no one
had ever said anything about cigarettes
being an abuse of tobacco in the way
it was meant to be used, based on the
stories that have been passed from
some of our spiritual leaders," said
Kristine Rhodes, a health educator at
the Center for American Indian
Resources in Duluth.
"The sacredness is totally different
from smoking cigarettes. It's not the
same thing," said Rhodes, who is from
the Fond du Lac reservation.
American Indian leaders are wrestling
with the problem following the state's
$6.6 billion settlement with the major
tobacco companies.
The state and Blue Cross and Blue
Shield ofMinnesota sued the cigarette
companies, alleging years of consumer
fraud.
More than $650 million of the
settlement is earmarked for programs
aimed at preventing children from
smoking.
Officials are unsure how much of
that, if any, will be spent on programs
targeted specifically at American
Indian youth.
The problem is important because
state and federal statistics show the
incidence of tobacco use is particularly
high among Indians. And because use
is high, so is the incidence of tobacco-
related diseases such as cancer, heart
disease and respiratory ailments.
One jn every 10 American Indians
dies from tobacco-related illnesses,
according to the Indian Health Service.
Indian health educators say that
dichotomy- evil substance vs. sacred
gift- is a sensitive line to walk.
TobaCCO/to pg. 3
By Jeff Armstrong
A Bena woman has charged staff at
the Indian Hospital in Cass Lake and
the Leech Lake Ambulance Service
with neglectful indifference to her pleas
for emergency medical attention.
A truck driver who has battled a
worsening lower back condition for the
last two years, Gloria Wright says she
is no stranger to physical discomfort.
But on the morning of June 3, she
awoke at 5 a.m. with paralyzing pains
which forced her to seek immediate
help.
"I was totally unable to take care of
myself or anything," said Wright. "It
was everything I could do just to get
dressed."
Nevertheless, the Anishinabe woman
mustered the strength to complete a
harrowing 19-mile drive to the Cass
Lake hospital-only to be treated to an
agonizing wait in the emergency room
lobby.
"I got there about [5:50 a.m.], but I
didn't get to see the doctor until about
[6:45 a.m.]. By the time I got to the
emergency room, I was crying," Wright
said.
is 'have you been drinking' and 'are
you drunk?'" said Wright. "I feel like
he was a racist. Just because I was an
Indian and I didn't look good, he
thought I was a drunk.
"If the doctor had just taken the time
to look at my chart, maybe he wouldn't
have been such an asshole," she said.
"It was outrageous."
Wright said the Indian Hospital doctor
refused to examine her extensive
medical records. When she requested
her regular Cass Lake physician,
Wright was told that she would have
to wait another two hours.
So Wright limped over to the Leech
Lake Ambulance office, where she
hoped to find transportation to the
North Country hospital in Bemidji.
Instead, she found two sleeping
employees with a similar lack of
concern for her condition.
Wright said the ambulance workers
told her that office policy dictated they
only respond to emergency transport
requests by phone. "I was at the
ambulance begging them to take me to
Bemidji hospital, and they were telling
me I had to call them. I said, 'what do
you want me to do, go to a pay phone
Denied urgent attention once again,
Wright attempted to make the 20-mile
drive herself. But this time she only
made itjust over a mile to the Palace
Junction store, where she phoned her
brother.
"I was weaving on the road. I just
couldn't do it. I'd hit a crack in the
road and I'd be crying," said Wright.
By the time Wright reached the
Bemidji hospital, it was 8 a.m. But once
there, Wright says she received the
attention she deserved.
"They treated it like the emergency it
was," said Wright.
Her doctors informed her that she
would require prompt surgery to repair
two disclocated disks which are
pinching her spine, an operation she
has scheduled for next month.
In the meantime, she is bedridden at
home, taking several types of
medication to alleviate her still intense
pain. Her experience has led her to
question the quality of medical care
Leech Lake residents are receiving.
"That whole situation was so insane.
1 really needed those people and they
wouldn't help me. They didn't want to
help me," said Wright.
Questions raised about White Earth
campaign contributions
State to Red Cliff Chippewa: Gambling
compact will end
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The first
Wisconsin tribe that did not have its
gambling deal with the state renewed
will try to continue talks with state
officials, the tribe's chairman says.
But George Newago, chairman ofthe
Red Cliff Chippewa Indian band, says
he does not know what steps the tribe
can take to change the state's decision
on Friday. "This is not an area I believe
that anybody has any real expertise
in," Newago said. "I don't know where
the discussions will go."
The northern Wisconsin tribe did not
have its agreement renewed because it
disagreed with the state over how long
to extend the agreement, and how much
money the tribe would have to give the
state each year, state and tribal officials
said.
Not renewing the seven-year
agreement means the tribe's casino
likely will be shutdown in six months,
Gov. Tommy Thompson's Chief of
Staff John Matthews said.
The state did come to terms Friday
with another northern tribe, the Bad
River Chippewa, which agreed to a
five-year gambling deal similar to ones
the state negotiated with three other
tribes earlier this year.
The state faced deadlines Friday to
reach a deal with both the Red Cliff and
Bad River tribes or put them on six-
month notice that the casino compacts
would not be renewed. The state
wanted to Red CI iff tribe to: • Accept a
five-year extension ofthe agreement
• Give $95,000 annually to the state.
Red Cliff/to Pg. 5
Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
When White Earth politicians needed
money to run for reelection this week,
their campaigns approached people
who have a reason to feel generous:
casino vendors whose businesses
could depend on the goodwill ofthe
Chippewa band's Tribal Council.
Flow much money vendors at
Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen
contributed is unclear. Tribal elections
aren'tcovered by campaign disclosure
laws that apply to state and federal
elections.
Vendor contributions are legal. But
they could influence tribal decisions
on who will supply food, liquor, linens
and automatic-teller machines to
casinos and could allow in
unscrupulous businesses, said Alan
Fedman, enforcement director for the
National Indian Gaming Commission,
the agency responsible for regulating
tribal casinos.
He said the White Earth solicitations
illustrate a weakness in federal tribal-
casino regulations. The requests began
after attorney Miles Lord, a former
federal judge supporting some
incumbents, advised band officials
there was nothing illegal or unethical
about asking vendors to contribute to
campaigns.
In federal elections it's unlawful for
corporations to contribute directly to
candidates, although they can join
political action committees that raise
contributions.
Corporations also can give "soft
money" to national political parties.
Individuals who contract with the
government aren't allowed to make
contributions.
But the 1988 Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act doesn'tprohibit casino
vendors from giving directly to the
campaigns of candidates for tribal
offices.
The solicitations
Earlier this year Helen Klassen, the
campaign treasurer for tribal Secretary-
Treasurer Erma Vizenor and Council
Questions/to pg. 3