The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-08-21

              Public discussion on tribal jurisdiction held
in Isle Mark Dayton and Gen Olson featured speakers
long-since disestablished.   The U.S.
By Julie Shortridge
Approximately 70 people gathered at
the Isle government center Saturday,
August 15 to hear a panel of eight
speakers discuss issues of tribal
jurisdiction, authority and
sovereignty. The public discussion
was sponsored by the Lake Mille Lacs
Association, Inc., a group of
landowners in the Lake Mille Lacs area
formed to protect the interests of the
lake, watershed and landowners. The
2 '/2 hour meeting included a few
minutes of Association administrative
matters, including a vote to approve
the budget, nomination of officers,
and review ofa spending report.
The Association has been concerned
about the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
government's efforts to expand its
regulatory authority over the old 61,000
acre Mille Lacs reservation established
in the 1855 treaty, which has been
Environmental Protection Agency and
the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency have gone along with the
Band's claims. Some landowners and
citizens in the area are concerned about
the state and federal government
granting this expanded authority over
the area to the Band because non-
Indians are not allowed to vote in Band
elections, would have no say in Band
policies, and would have limited input
into decisions affecting the area. Some
also view this as an effort by the Band
and federal governmentto re-establish
the old 61,000 acre reservation.
TheU.S. SupremeCourtruled in 1912
that the Mille Lacs Band had no claim
to over 29,000 acres disestablished as
reservation land under U.S. public land
laws prior to the 1889 Nelson Act. As
for the remaining 32,000 acres, the
Supreme Court ru led that the Band was
entitled to recover damages, arid the
CourtofClaimspaidover$711,000 for
those acres. Again just three months
ago in the Cass County v. Leech Lake
Band of Chippewa case, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that the Nelson
Act of 1889 extinguished Indian title to
all reservations in Minnesota except
for White Earth and Red Lake. All
Minnesota Chippewaat that time were
expected to move to these two
reservations, but not all did and a
group of Chippewacontinued to live in
the Mille Lacs area.
In a letter to the Lake Mille Lacs
Association dated November27,1995,
Governor Carlson said, "The historical
boundary lines ofthe reservation are
not appropriate for use today in
determining jurisdiction ofthe Mille
Lacs Band in relatipn to state and local
regulatory authority." The Governor
went on to say that the Mille Lacs Band
government   has   authority   and
Discussion/to pg. 6
Press/ON to file suit against Mille Lacs, pg. 1
Public discussion on tribal jurisdiction held in Isle, pg. 1
Gaming Commission to probe Shooting Star, pg. 1
Today's Elders endured much in struggle for survival, pg. 3
Press/ON banned from Bois Forte reservation, pg. 4
Mille Lacs waiver of sovereign immunity agreement, pg. 8
Voice ofthe People
e-mail. pr8sson@bji.nBt
Gaming Commission to probe Shooting Star
by Gary Blair
According to sources who spoke
with an investigator from the National
Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) on
Thursday, August 13, the White Earth
reservation's Shooting StarCasino will
be probed for management and fiscal
irregularities.
"We were told that NIGC was
responding to complaints about the
legal status of the casino manager's
contractand the financial management
of the casino. The investigatortold us
that he has the authority to review any
documents that he wants to see. We
were told that he (investigator) would
be going to the casino located at
Mahnomen, MN within.one week to
ten days," the source said.
Sources say the investigatortold them
that he had just arrived from South
Dakota, had bought a home and was
helping to set up a local NIGC office in
the Twin Cities. A source said the
investigator told them, "We (NIGC)
also received complaints about the
financial and accounting practices at
the (Shooting Star) casino."
Starting in June 1998, White Earth
enrollee Roberta Brown sent the first
of two complaints to NIGC
headquarters in Washington, DC.
Brown's letters, contained copies of
casino manager Raymond J. Brenny's
management contracts with the
reservation's tribal council. Brown
questioned whether Brenny's
management contracts with the
reservation's tribal council had been
approved by the federal gaming
commission.
Contacted on Wednesday, Brenny
said, "I suppose he (investigator) will
contact the (tribal) council first." When
asked for his thoughts on the probe,
Brenny answered, "No comment."
Attempts to contact White Earth
interim chairman John Buckanaga or
secretary/treasurer, Erma Vizenor for
comment were unsuccessful. Vizenor's
secretary, Charlene Hanson, said she
would relay the information to them.
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August 21
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Tribe spent more than $500,000 defending
former chief
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - It cost
more than $500,000 in legal fees to
defend former Choctaw Chief Hollis
Roberts on sexual assault charges, but
none ofthe money used deprived tribal
programs, officials said.
According to internal documents
obtained by The Daily Oklahoman, the
tribe shelled out $552,298.99 in fees
between December 1995 and Roberts'
trial in June 1997. "Given the amount
of time and work those lawyers put in,
that probably isn't an unreasonable
amount," Bob Rabon, tribe attorney,
told the newspaper.
Roberts was the tribe's chief from
1978 until his conviction on three
counts of sexually abusing female
employees. He was sentenced in April
to more than 11 years in prison.
Tribe spokeswoman Judy Allen said
no federal funds were used to pay
lawyers. The money came from an
administrative account and didn't
deprive any programs aimed at helping
Choctaws, she said.
A federal Bureau oflndian Affairs
oft icial in Muskogee said that with few
exceptions, it is illegal for a tribe to
spend its federal funds on attorney
fees. No tribal funds have been paid
for Roberts' appeal or for any other
legal work for Roberts after his
conviction June 6, 1997, Ms. Allen
said.
A few days after Roberts was indicted
in June 1995, his 12-member tribal
council voted to pay his legal bills. The
Oklahoma City firm of Fellers Snider
Blankenship Bailey & Tippens was
paid $431,739.39. Roberts' two main
trial attorneys, Burck Bailey and
Warren Bickford, work for the firm. The
Stipe Law Firm in McAlester was paid
$54,671.60. One of that firm's lawyers,
Eddie Harper, was part ofthe defense s
team for a time.
The tribe also paid three out-of-state
firms, none of which is listed with the
Oklahoma Bar Association Gordon
W. Bulla & Associates, $33,966.56;
National Legal Research Group,
$16,529.94; and Dennis W. Arrow,
$15,391.50. Ms. Allen said she-didn't
know what work they performed in
Roberts' defense.
Mark Dayton, candidate for Minnesota Governor and Gen Olson, a Minnesota State Senator and candidate for Lieutenant Governor
on the ticket with Norm Coleman, were two of eight keynote speakers at an August 15 meeting in Isle, MN ofthe Lake Mille Lacs
Association, Inc., a group of landowners in the Lake Mille Lacs area formed to protect the interests ofthe lake, watershed and landowners.
Press/ON to file suit against Mille Lacs
Chippewa Tribe meeting he was cov-
Couple challenge Crow taxing authority
BILLINGS (AP)- A federal judge has
been asked to decide what authority
Indian tribes have to tax nonmembers
living and doing business on the
reservations.
InasuitfiledthisweekinU.S. District
Court, James "Putt" Thompson and
his wife, Julia, owners of the Custer
Battlefield Trading Post at Crow
Agency, renewed their longstanding
challenge of taxes assessed by the
Crow Indian tribe.
The couple charge the tribe has no
authority under federal laws or treaties
to impose its taxes on non-Indians
doing business on private land owned
by non-Indians. The issue ofthe tribal
tax is currently pending in tribal court.
In the past, the Thompsons would
have had to exhaust all their tribal
court remedies before taking their case
to a federal judge.
But their lawyer, Charles Moses, said
Thursday that recent U.S. Supreme
Court decisions indicate that tribal
courts can be bypassed in some cases.
Moses has asked Chief U.S. District
Court Judge Jack Shanstrom to assume
jurisdiction and stay tribal court action
in the case. Moses said that if the case
remains in tribal court, it could be there
for years.
Taxes, interest and penalties claimed
by the Crow Tribe could grow to exceed
the  value  of the  business  and
ultimately destroy the business, the
complaint said. The lawsuit also
contends the tribe is considering
property taxes on non-Indian-owned
ranches and farms within the
reservation.
The Thompsons contend that in light
of their situation and the potential
problems that future attempts to tax
such lands create, ajudgment defining
thetribe'sauthority is imperative. Dale
Whiteof Boulder, Colo., the tribe's
attorney, said he had not seen the
complaint and could not comment.
Tribal officials were unavailable for
comment.
(NAP/ON) The Native American
Press/Ojibwe News served notice this
week to Mille Lacs County and the
Mille Lacs Reservation Tribal Police
that the newspaper intends to sue them
over the arrest ofa reporter at an Oct.
22, 1997 MCT meeting at the
reservation's Grand Casino and Hotel.
Claiming damages in excess of
$50,000, the notice alleges "false imprisonment, harassment, police misconduct, discrimination and violations
of the claimants' First Amendment
rights."
Reporter Jeff Armstrong was arrested
by tribal police and jailed by the
county when he verbally challenged
an  order to leave a Minnesota
ering for the Press. While held in the
Mille Lacs County jail, the reporter was
denied the right to contact an attorney and to file a petition for a writ of
Habeas Corpus.
Armstrong had argued that Tribal
Executive Committee president
Norman Deschampe's order was in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act
and that the state statute creating the
reservation police force failed to obtain the referendum consent of tribal
members, as is required under federal
and tribal law. Although the reporter
refilled the petition after his release,
Armstrong alleges that the county
deliberately blocked a hearing on the
merits ofthe petition.
A U.S. district court dismissed
Armstrong's federal Habeas Corpus
petition pending the exhaustion of
state court proceedings, without addressing the substance ofthe petition.
Mille Lacs County never filed a written response to Armstrong's assertions in more than 8 months of litigation, and only offered cursory oral arguments in support of state jurisdiction.
The state district court in Mille Lacs
ultimately dismissed the case for lack
of jurisdiction, but the state and county
failed to appeal the ruling for fear of
the consequences of an adverse appeals court ruling, (see pg. 5 for notice)
FBI seeks suspect in Red Lake slaying
Hemp controversy growing on Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation
By Cathy Onstad
Bemidji Pioneer
The suspect in a Red Lake Reservation
homicide remains at large, officials said
Wednesday.
James Allen Roy, 33, is accused of
shooting and killing Charles "Sonny"
Reinhard Dolson, 41, with a .22-cal iber
handgun Saturday evening at the
Dolson home south of Redlake, states
aU.S. District Court complaint.
The FBI obtained the murder warrant
shortly after the shooting, as Roy fled,
abandoning his pickup truck where
.22-calibercasings were found similar
to ones also found at the Dolson
residence, the complaint said.
Dolson's wife, Barbara, told police
she saw a dark blue pickup pull into the
Dolson driveway along Highway 89
south of town.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Some
members ofthe Oglala Sioux Tribe are
moving forward with plans to cultivate
hemp, even if they have to take the
Drug Enforcement Administration to
federal court.
Hemp has grown in the wild for
decades on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation, despite the DEA's
repeated attempts spraying and
dousing with chemicals, setting fields
on fire to wipe it out.
Grow.ing hemp, which is a cousin to
marijuana, is illegal.
The Land-Use Association, a group
of tribal members in the small
reservation town of Slim Buttes, wants
to turn the tall hemp stalks into paper,
mats, construction blocks for housing
and other products.
The group says the money-making
venture would create jobs and homes
in the impoverished area. Milo Yellow
Hair, the tribe's vice president, said
the reservation has struggled with the
issue for at least two years and finally
decided to proceed with the hemp
project after other economic-
development initiatives failed.
"Now we are left to tackle the so-
called gray area initiatives," he said.
"When they hear the word hemp, they
think marijuana. Then they think drug
use, and then it becomes a pol ice state.
But that's not what we want to do."
Hemp and marijuana are both
varieties ofthe cannabis sativa plant,
but hemp typically contains less than
1 percent ofthe narcotic chemical THC.
Marijuana plants contain 10 percent to
20 percent THC, which makes pot
smokers high.
Two weeks ago, the Oglala Sioux
Tribal Council changed a tribal law to
allow for making products out of hemp.
The revised code says a plant with less
than 1 percent of THC is considered
industrial hemp and is legal. But
according to federal law, growing hemp
no matter how low its THC content is
the same as growing marijuana. And
the same criminal penalties apply to
people growing either plant.
Anyone who wants to grow hemp
plants legally for industrial use must
get permission from the DEA, said
Karen Schreier, U.S. attorney for South
Dakota. "The same ru les apply on and
off the reservation," she said.
Yellow Hair said the tribe will apply
for a DEA certificate'of registration to
grow the hemp, but the process is not
easy. Schreier said she does not think
the DEA has ever approved an
application to grow hemp plants.
Larry Johnson, resident agent-in-
charge ofthe DEA office in Sioux Falls,
said the tribe's chances are not good.
"I seriously doubt that they will be
able to meet the requirements," he
said.
Tom Cook, who is in charge ofthe
Land-Use Association's hemp project,
said asking the DEA for permission
would be a "useless endeavor."
For now, the tribal group plans to
proceed without breaking the law. He
Slaying/to pg. 6
Judge rules against state on jurisdiction
By 1910, much of that land had been    The case originated in 1993 whe
Hemp/to pg. 3
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)- A large
portion ofthe original Yankton Sioux
Indian Reservation remains "Indian
country" that is under tribal and federal
jurisdiction, ajudge ruled. U.S. District
Judge Lawrence Piersol's decision is a
setback for the state, which has
exercised jurisdiction over the
estimated 260,000 acres in Charles Mix
County for nearly a century.
The ruling "extends the confusion"
and will be appealed. Attorney General
Mark Barnett said Saturday. The U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in January that
about 168.000 acres of the former
reservation has not been Indian
country since 1894, when the tribe sold
it to non-Indians. Its ruling affirmed
state jurisdiction over that land. But
the high court did not address another
260,000 acresof "allotted land" which,
in the process of 'breaking up the
reservation, had been given to tribal
members for private ownership.
By
sold by tribal members to non-Indians,
Barnett said. "This is a victory for
those who believe the solemn treaties
made by the U.S. government should
be lived up to," said James Abourezk,
a Sioux Falls attorney who represented
the Yankton Sioux Tribe in the case.
He went to court to keep the state
from exercising jurisdiction on the
260,000 acres in question. Barnett said
problems of jurisdiction are
compounded because the land is
scattered all over.
"It's a complete patchwork which
frankly is the worst possible scenario
for law enforcement and that means for
the people who live there, because
when a crime occurs you effectively
need a surveyor," Barnett said.
"Even in the middle of the city of Lake
Andes the jurisdiction boundaries are
all over the place, which is an
impossible situation for law
enforcement."
hen the
Yankton Sioux Tribe tried to stop
construction of a landfill within the
reservation boundaries. Abourezk said
he doesn't think the U.S. Supreme
Courtwill hear the case again. "Because
the high court refused to touch the
allotted areas, it's clear that they
believe the treaty of 1858, which set
out the boundaries, still stands, with
the exception of the ceded (sold)
areas," Abourezk said. Barnett thinks
otherwise.
"The U.S. Supreme Court, as a
general rule, will not decide anything
more than they have to to resolve the
matter in front of them. In this case
they felt they could rule on the deeded
land, land which actually was deeded
in 1894 and sold to homesteaders,"
Barnett said. "The one thing that
probably all the parties could agree on
is that the case needs finality," he said.