The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-07-24

              Whitefeather, Roy re-elected; King, Lasley,
Thunder, Harlan Beaulieu gain seats at RL
Office
Red Lake
Redbv
Ponemah
Little Rock On-Res
Absentee
Total
CHAIRMAN
Bobby Whitefeather
260
297
388
117
1062
513
1575
Gerald "Butch1* Brun
478
225
44
204
951
582
1533
SECRETARY
Judy Roy
336
276
238
177
1027
607
1634
Kathryn "Jody" Beaulieu
398
245
192
140
975
495
1470
TREASURER
Dan King
367
256
85
162
870
703
1573
DarrellSeki
371
267
347
155
1140
397
1537
DISTRICT REP.
Red Lake
Delores Lasley
407
407
251
658
Roman Stately, Jr.
333
333
227
560
Redby
Julius "Toady" Thunder
320
320
159
479
Preston Graves
205
205
107
312
Little Rock
Harlan Beaulieu
192
192
90
282
Allen English, Jr.
132
132
95
227
Woman shot at Mystic Lake sues casino, pg. 1
Convicted FDL man claims innocence, pg. 1
Naytahwaush incident sparks calls for police meeting, pg. 1
Former Nett Lake officials convicted in 'political trial,' pg. 1
Addicted to alcoholic culture, pg. 3
Red Lake elections, pg. 1
Gorton Bill introduces Indian Civil Rights Act, pg. 8
Off reservation voters likely to reverse early lead of Whitefeather
crowd in Red Lake elections, pg. 4
Voice ofthe People
e-mail, ppesson@liji.net
Former employee shot in face, denied
prize sues Mystic Lake casino
By Gary Blair
A former Mystic Lake Casino
employee who was shot in the head
while waiting in an unlit casino parking
lot for her husband to come out has
filed afederal lawsuitagainstLittle Six,
Inc. Little Six. which does business as
Mystic Lake Casino. The corporation
is owned and operated by the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community.
Karen Charland, age 57, alleges in a
six-count complaint that she believes
the incident on June 2, 1996 was
associated with the sale of drugs in the
older Teepee Casino's parking lot.
Charland told Press/ON shortly after
the incident, "It was raining hard, then
I [saw] ayoung black man walk by my
car, and it was shortly after that, that I
was shot. I believe they thought that I
had seen something," Charland said in
1996.
The lawsuit was filed by Attorney
CraigGreenburg,apartner with the law
firm of Huffman, Usem, Saboe,
Crawford & Greenberg of Minneapolis.
MN. Greenberg said on Tuesday that
he plans to take the suit all the way to
the U.S. Supreme Court if need be.
Count One ofthe complaint in part
asserts negligence: "Upon information
and belief, the Defendants (Little Six,
Inc.) failed to provide any security
(patrols, personnel, cameras or
otherwise) to the parking lot in which
Plaintiff (Charland) was assaulted.
Upon information and belief, the
Defendants had prior knowledge of
the fact that criminal activity had taken
place in and around the Casino property
and that security measures were
reasonably required for said parking
lot."
The complaint says Charland suffered
severe and permanent injuries that
included structural skull damage,
disfigurement, loss of her left eye,
hearing loss, balance and stability loss,
brain injuries, memory loss and severe
emotional distress.
Count Two ofthe suit also alleges:
"That on or about November 5, 1997
Defendants invited Plaintiff to the Little
Six, Inc., Team Member Service Awards
Celebration scheduled for December
16,1997.
"During the celebration on December
16, 1997, Plaintiff's name was
announced from apodium by Little Six,
Mystic/to pg. 3
American
L.
Founded in 1988
Ojibwe
mews
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
1D9HH
Volume 10 Issue 41
July 24,1988
A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1898
Manypenny calls on county for meeting on
Naytahwaush mass arrests, tribal police
By Gary Blair
Marvin Manypenny, a candidate for
White Earth tribal chairman in the upcoming special reservation election, is
calling for a meeting with the
Mahnomen County Sheriff s Department.
In a letter dated July 21, 1998,
Manypenny writes as follows: "Dear
Sheriff Rooney: Please consider this a
request by myself, as an individual
resident ofthe Reservation, and many
other concerned tribal members, fora
meeting with you and your staff con
cerning     Reservation law enforcement issues.
"Specifically, we are very concerned
with the activities of your deputies
during the'mass'arrest that took place
recently at Naytahwaush.
"Additionally, we wish to discuss
your stated intentions as to h,ow you
intend to deal with the proposed Reservation police force and other law
enforcement matters involved on our
Reservation communities.
"I would like to request that you
schedule a date and time within the
next 10 days for this meeting so that we
can notify interestedtribal members to
attend and voice their concerns.
"Very truly yours, (signed) Marvin
Manypenny."
The above letter was sent (carbon
copied) to White Earth business committee members, John Buckanaga,
Errna Vizenor. Irene Auginaush-
Tumey. Ra'ph Goodmpn and Terr?
Bumette.
In an interview on Tuesday of this
week, Manypenny says that it is time
that someone shows some leadership
at White Earth. "Our
problemsaregrowing.Ourpeople don't
Manypenny/to pg. 3
Photo by .Vale Bowe/Detroit Lakes Tribune
Maintenance workers with the White Farth Housing Authority make room in a White Earth warehouse for live truckloads of cabinets
and other construction material shipped to the tribe as pan of a federal investigation into the housing authority office. Federal housing
authorities took over the office after the Wadena administration left office. Former tribal chairman Darrel Wadena, secretary-treasurer
Jerry Rawley and councilman Rick Clark remain imprisoned on federal corruption charges. (Story on page 5)
Carlton County seeks maximum sentence
against FDL man claiming innocence
Despite conviction, former Nett Lake chair
vows to continue fight for tribal change
By Jeff Armstrong
In what the defendants say was the
inevitable outcome ofa political show
trial, three former Nett Lake RBC
officials and their interim casino
manager were found guilty in a
reservation court for actions taken
during their brief tenure in office last
year.
Mark Drift, Ramona Villebrun,
Rosemary King and Vicki Hackey were
convicted last week by chief judge
Peggy Treuer in a jury-less trial on
charges of Injury to Public Property
and Liability of (sic) Crimes of
Another.
"It was a political trial, and it was set
up that way from day one," said former
chairman Mark Drift. "No matter what
motions we filed—we filed for change
of venue, we filed for a motion for
dismissal for probably cause, we filed
for a jury trial, we even did a habeas
corpus writ—they were all denied," Drift
said.
According to the vaguely worded
criminal complaint against the four,
they "unlawfully  occupied and
assumed control, management and
operation of Fortune Bay Resort &
Casino from Friday afternoon, October
10, 1997, until Thursday afternoon,
October 16, 1997 when they vacated
the premises after being informed by
the National Indian Gaming
Commission's Director of Enforcement
that action, including civil fines, would
be taken to remove them."
Drift was voted in as chairman Oct. 9,
1997 in a special election following the
removal of Clint Landgren from office
Nett Lake/to pg. 3
By Jeff Armstrong
InJuiyof 1995,Keith Lind's 11-year-
old niece confided to him that she was
being sexually abused by her
grandfatherand other individuals. The
Fonddu Lac man immediately brought
the girl to Carlton County Human
Services to report the incident.
Nocharges were filed, and Lind heard
nothing back from the county until
June 6, 1996—when the Cloquet man
was arrested and charged with 1st
degree sexual assault solely on the
basis ofthe alleged victim's testimony.
Since that day, Lind, who had no prior
criminal record, has been locked in a
struggle for his life against a county
legal system which many Fond du Lac
tribal members compare in less than
favorable terms to the pre-civil rights
South.
After two years of court delays, seven
rejected plea bargain offers, and the
juggling of his legal representation
between three different Indian Legal
Aid attorneys, Lind was convicted by
an all-white jury last month on two
counts of 1st degree sexual assault.
Under state sentencing guidlines,
Lind could be sentenced to as much as
15 years imprisonment on the two
counts, and prosecutor Lauri Ketola
indicated that she may ask Judge
Carlton/to pg. 3
Winners sworn after judge upholds tribal
election
Appeals courts says coal bed gas belongs
to government, not tribe
A federal appeals court has decided
that the Southern Ute Indians own the
rights to natural gas produced from
coal beds beneath the tribe's
reservation in southern La Plata
County.
The 10th U.S. Circuit CourtofAppeals
on Monday said that because
Congress never specifically said that
coal-bed methane was included in
mineral rights to coal, it is impossible
to determine the lawmakers' specific
intent. That question has been a source
of dispute between the tribe and Amoco
Production Corp.
"We hold that coal as used in the
Coal Land Acts of 1909 and 1910 neither
... includes or excludes coal bed
methane," thecircuit court said. "Given
the established principle that al I doubts
the government ... we conclude that
coal reserved to the United States in
the 1901 and 1910 acts includes the
adsorbed coal bed methane," the court
ruled.
The court said that the coal bed gas
belongs to the government. Tom
Shipps, attorney for the tribe in
Durango,   said   that   since   the
By Nathan Bowe
Detroit Lake Tribune
A White Earth tribal judge has upheld
the legitimacy of the June 9 general
election and denied the request of
candidate protesters for a new election.
Anita Fineday, chief judge of the
White Earth Tribal Court, found there
were a number of irregularities on
election day, but that most were caused
by protesters and that the General
Election Board did everything it could
to ensure tribal members were.able to
vote despite chaotic conditions.
Following the decision on Thursday,
Secretary-Treasurer Erma Vizenor and
District 1 Tribal Council Representative
Irene Auginash-Turney were sworn
into office by Tribal Chairman John
Buckanage, according to Vizenor.
"I'm very pleased with the decision,"
Vizenor said. "I believe it is a fair
decision and I commend the White
Earth Election Board for carrying
through an election under the worst
circumstances and still maintaining the
integrity of the process. I won the
election by a substantial margin. I feel
comfortable that the voice of the
people has spoken."
Heropponent, Darwin McArthur Jr.,
could not be reached for comment.
McArthur and District I candidate
Arthur Lang appeared at an election
protest hearing July 10 in Mahnomen.
District I incumbent Tony Wadena,
who also asked for a new election, did
not attend the hearing and Fineday
dismissed his protest that same
day.ChallengerTerry Bumette Sr. was
immediately sworn in.
' Wadena did not return messages.
Bumette could not be contacted by his
home phone.
Lang, reached at home Thursday,
learned of Fineday's decision from a
reporter.
Winners/to pg. 8
respecting land grants and mineral     .
reservations are construed in favor of   MppeaiS/tO pg. 5
Four shot to death on Navajo Reservation
using binoculars and spotted an armed    in Albuquerque
Tribes who can afford it spend millions on
lobbying
WASHINGTON (AP) -A few years
ago, American Indian tribes could only
dream of having the political clout that
the Mississippi Band of Choctaw now
enjoys. Congress was considering a
tax on tribes to pay for regulating their
casinos. Alarmed, the Choctaws put
their Washington lobbying firm to
work. What happened next stunned
federal regulators: With help from Sen.
Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Congress
declared the Choctaws "self-
regulated" and exempted them from
the new fee, saving the tribe about
$ 160.000 ayear. Such influence doesn't
come cheap.
Tribes reported spending $5 million
last year on lobbying Congress and
the executive branch, a computerized
analysis by The Associated Press of
lobbying disclosure reports found.
The Choctaws alone ran up a $1.1
million lobbying bill. "I learned that
from the white man," said Choctaw
Chief Phillip Martin: "If you want
support you're going to have to make
friends."
Special interests are required to report
what they spend to sway Congress or
the administration! The AP database is
a joint project with the nonprofit,
nonpartisan Center for Responsive
Politics. The 60 tribes that reported
lobbying expenses had significant
financial stakes on several major issues
before Congress: the casino fee; a
proposed tax on tribal business
earnings; and legislation that would
allow tribes to be sued, require them to
account for business income and force
them to collect state taxeson cigarettes
and gasoline. Except for thecasino fee.
Tribes/to Pg. 3
CANONCITO, N.M. (AP) - A man
who eluded officers for about 15 hours
after allegedly shooting four relatives
to death surrendered Friday on a rocky
ridge on a remote Indian reservation.
Stanley Secatero, 25, killed his
relativesThursday night, authorities
said. He apparently was upset because
they had turned his brother in to police
for a $1,000 reward. Secatero had fled
into the rugged sandstone formations
of the remote Canoncito Navajo
Reservation 30 miles west of
Albuquerque. He surrendered only a
few minutes after a police negotiator
began talking to him as he stood
sobbing on the ridge, a .22-caliber rifle
in his hand. Navajo police said. He
dropped his rifle before surrendering.
Police converged on the ridge after
getting a call from a resident who was
man. Some 80 federal, tribal and local
law enforcement agents worked to
track down Secatero.
A Navajo investigator had said earlier
in the day that there were two additional
people killed. FBI Agent Ron Dick said
he could confirm only five victims four
dead and one wounded. Navajo police
referred all questions to the FBI.
"This is a very sudden shock." said
Tony Secatero, president of the
Canoncito Navajos.
About 2.800 people live in the rural
community. Tony Secatero is not
related to Stanley. Stanley Secatero is
accused of killing his grandmother,
two aunts and an uncle and wounding
one other person. The dispute
apparently involved Secatero's 33-
year-old brother Wesley, who was
jailed on an aggravated battery charge
Secatero believed
other family members had turned his
brother in for a reward, said Brenda
Platero, who lives a half-mile from the
shooting scene. Secatero was taken to
Albuquerque, where he was arraigned
Friday evening beforeU.S. Magistrate
Don Svet on an outstanding assault
warrantfrom 1994. Adetention hearing
is scheduled for Monday morning. He
was being held without bond. Platero's
boyfriend, Raymond Willis, said he
saw the bodies of Secatero's aunt and
uncle, Agnes and Eddie Secatero, lying
in the mud beside their truck. The other
dead were identified by neighbors as
Secatero's grandmother, Lena
Secatero, and his aunt, Rose Nelson.
The wounded person, a woman, was in
satisfactory condition.