The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-07-31

              Controversy surrounding White Earth Tribal
Council continues to grow
By Gary Blair
In spite ofthe glowing reports about
their achievements published in the
White Earth monthly newspaper, the
controversy that surrounds the
reservation's tribal council continues
to grow, as welfare fraud is now being
alleged.
"Some ofthe people around here are
starting to say, that "Chip" Wadena is
starting to look real good, right now,"
a candidate in the upcoming election
for tribal chairman stated this week.
(Former White Earth chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena and two other council
members are presently serving federal
sentences for corruption charges.)
Recently, the White Earth tribal council turned overthe names of 300 members whom they recently paid to guard
the reservation's headquarters to State
officials along with the welfare departments of Becker, Mahnomen and
Clearwatercounty 's. The list contains
the names of people suspected of receiving welfare payments, SSI, social
security, food stamps, unemployment
benefits and full-time reservation employees who may try and avoid paying
taxes on those wages. Sources say the
list was submitted by interim chairman.
John Buckanaga, and recently reelected secretary/treasurer, Erma
Vizenor and district one representative, Irene Auginaush Turney.
Reports say, some ofthe people who
were hired have already started to receive notices from the Becker County
welfare department requesting repayments for that period of time. "One of
those who has been acting as their
head security guard is being asked to
pay-back $800," an unnamed source
reported. Apparently, the tribal council never inquired if their guards were
receiving subsistence payments.
According to additional information,
the tribal council has also fired another
30 people within the past week and is
now re-hiring some of those who they
had fired earlier for failing mandatory
drug tests. One of those terminated, is
said to have left a garbage truck parked
on the road with the motorstill running
upon receiving his notice. The other
firings are said to have been in connection to those allegedly involved in the
June 7,1998, takeoverand subsequent
attempted takeoveronJuly 14,1998,of
the reservation's administration building.
Diana King, the reservation's newly-
hired executive director, issued the
recent termination notices. King once
served as an aide to U.S. Senator Paul
Wellstone. Sources say, King is reporting that she was hired by Vizenor
who believed she still has political
connection.
Former White Earth chairman Eugene
"Bugger" McArthurand newly-ousted
district two council member, Tony
Wadena, are both refusing to return
their tribal council, "company cars"
that are leased and insured by a Detroit
Lakes insurance agency. When asked
about those cars, a White Earth source
responded, "That's right and there
isn't a damn thing they can do
about it," referring to the reservation's
tribal council. Another former employee is keeping a reservation-owned
pickup until he is paid for gravel purchased by the tribal council.
King, they say, is complaining that
she doesn't know what to do to get
those vehicles back, because the reservation is still making payments on
them. King is reporting that Becker
County officials have refused to assist
in the recovery of the vehicles. Both
the Becker County Sheriffs Department and County Commissioners are
refusing to assist the tribal council
with their latest problems.
Controversy/to pg. 3
Federal prosecutor asks court to close
Turtle Creek Casino
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - A
federal prosecutor is seeking a court
order to close Turtle Creek Casino,
saying it violates the law that regulates
Indian gambling.
U.S. Attorney Michael Dettmer last
week filed for the restraining order
against the Grand Traverse Band of
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, which
opened the casino in 1996.
Chairman George Bennett said
Wednesday the tribe believes the
casino is operating legally and will
fight to keep it open. "If the government
wants us to go back on the poverty line
with our tin cup, they're taking the
right approach," Bennett said. "They're
not supporting self-government."
Dettmer did not return phone calls
In documents filed in U.S. District
Court in Grand Rapids, he said the
casino is illegal because it is not located
on the tribe's established reservation.
Under the federal Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act, tribes may not open
casinos on land acquired afterOct. 17,
1988, unless the U.S. Department of
Interior grants a waiver and the
governor of their state concurs.
The Grand Traverse Band's main
reservation is in Leelanau County,
several miles north of Suttons Bay.
Turtle Creek is in the Grand Traverse
County village of Williamsburg, on
land that gained reservation status in
August 1989.
The Interior Department has yet to
rule on the tribe's request for a waiver
for Turtle Creek, and spokesmen for
Gov. John Engler ha\ e said he opposes
casinos that are not part ofa tribe's
main reservation.
The tribe contends that although it
repurchased the land in the late 1980s,
the property is within its reservation
under an 1836 treaty. "We believe we
have a rightful basis foran exception,"
Bennett said. "There's a lot of history
involved here." Dettmer was
unpersuaded. "More historical
research is needed to determine
whether there truly is a legal basis for
this argument," he said in his court
filing. "Such a tenuous claim should
not be allowed to circumvent federal
law."
The Grand Traverse Band opened
TurtleCreekaftera federal districtjudge
ruled in favorofasimilar satellite casino
Turtle Creek/to Pg
American Indians debate fate of ancient
rock
THE DALLES, Ore. (AP) - The Dal les
and Celilo Falls were fishing and
trading centers for 10,000 years. Tribes
from as far away as Canada and
California came to trade on the banks
of one ofthe world's greatest salmon
rivers. But they also came to draw
pictures on the Columbia River's
canyon walls.
In the 8000 years after the first images
were painted on the basalt walls of
Petroglyph Canyon, thousands of
these artist expressions decorated the
gorge. That changed in 1957. In March
of that year, the canyon was flooded
by theTonstruction of The Dalles Dam.
Archaeologists managed to save only
a mere 40 basalt boulders — a small
portion of the total rock art — and
relocate them below the dam.
These rock paintings depict mountain
sheep, elk and aNorthwest figure called
the spedis owl — all carved by
American Indians.
"Petroglyph Canyon itself would
have been one ofthe top 10 rock ail
sites in North America before it was
flooded," said James Keyser, an
archaeologist with the U.S. Forest
Service. "They tried to save some of it.
But saving bits and pieces ofthe rock
art is like breaking a Tiffany lamp and
saving the shards," he added.
Today, the rescued rocks sit beneath
four-decades-worth of bird droppings
under the concrete eaves ofthe Dalles
Dam. Instead of peering out over the
green currents ofthe Columbia as they
had for centuries, they stare at
Interstate 84 and a thicket of high-
tension wires.
Their current location smacks of
Debate/to pg. 5
Navajos name new president again
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP)- The
Navajos appointed yet another a new
tribal president, onedayafterremoving
one for ethics violations and five
months after another resigned to avoid
prosecution.
The Navajo Nation Tribal Council
appointed Vice President Milton
Bluehouse, 63, as its interim president
Friday, the second presidentappointed
in as many days to head the nation's
largest Indian reservation and its
250,000 people in Arizona, New Mexico
and Utah.
The council voted Thursday to
remove President Thomas Atcitty for
ethical violations such as accepting
free golf trips from companies doing or
seeking business with the tribe. That
same day it voted to replace him on an
interim basis with Kelsey Begaye, the
council speaker. ButFriday,thecouncil
was'forced to vote fora new president
again after Bluehouse warned he would
take legal action.
Bluehouse, aformercouncil delegate
from Ganado, 30 miles west of Window
Rock, was appointed vice president by
Atcitty when Atcitty, who was elected
vice president, stepped into the
presidency.
Atcitty became president when
Albert Hale resigned to avoid
prosecution on ethics charges and
misuse of a tribal credit card. Some
tribal officials had said Bluehouse was
ineligible for the presidency because
he hadn'tbeen elected. But Bluehouse
and his supporters forced the issue
Navajos/to pg. 5
White Earth Band's new police force is new
assertion of tribal power
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
In a new assertion of tribal power in
Minnesota, the WhiteEarth Band of
Chippewa is creating a police force of
more than a dozen officers with power
to enforce laws among Indians on its
reservation.
The officers recently began patrolling roads covering all or part of three
counties that make up the reservation,
which, unlike some others in Minnesota and elsewhere, has a large number
of non-Indian residents.
The new force has become a source of
friction between the tribe and the state,
which doesn't license the tribal officers and is uncertain about their training or role in law enforcement. One
county sheriff said he'd consider arresting the WhiteEarthpolice if he saw
them driving at high speeds.
"The potential for conflict... is so
significant," state Public Safety Commissioner Don Davis said.
WhiteEarth's action is part ofa movement by tribes around the nation to use
the federal Community-Oriented Police Services program, known as COPS,
to create or expand tribal police forces.
While the COPS program attracted
attention for giving money to cities
and counties to hire police, a less-
publicized provision allows money to
fund tribal police departments.
WhiteEarth was awarded $ 1 million.
Ofthe more than 200 Minnesota police
or sheriffs departments funded by the
program, only Minneapolis, St. Paul
and Duluth got more money.
The tribe has hired a police chief and
three officers who patrol reservation
roads, and it plans to expand the force
to 16 to 20 full-and part-time officers.
WhiteEarthpolice chief Mike
Robinson, 40, a former officer for the
U.S. Bureau oflndian Affairs (BIA),
said the tribe has the ability to police
its reservation.
"Our officers are well-trained," he
said. "I firmly believe Indian people
should police Indian people."
He said his officers are enforcing
speeding, seat-belt and equipment
violations by Indians on the reservation, not serious crimes or violations
by non-Indians.
The force is partly a response to a
state court ruling that minor traffic
violations by Indians are regulatory
infractions that tribes can enforce, not
crimes under the jurisdiction of counties or the state.
ButRobinson, tribal political leaders
and the federal government say the
tribe can expand its police power to
cover more serious crimes involving
Indians, including felonies now
handled by the State Patrol and county
sheriffs.
The U.S. Justice Department, which
police/to pg. 3
Controversy surrounding White Earth Tribal Council continues to grow, pg. 1
Conviction upheld by judge, Keith Lind sentenced to 14 yrs imprisonment, pg. 1
Myron Ellis resigns from his position on the Leech Lake Tribal Council, pg. 5
New reform-minded council members to bring change to MCT & Red Lake, pg. 4
Flight for Life on Mahnomen Road ended in enduring tragedy, pg. 5
Voice ofthe People
email: presson@bji.net
Native
American
Press
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in
Volume 10 Issue 42
July 31,1988
A weakly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1888
"Landscapes" an exhibit featuring artists, John Axton, Patrick Cot'faro, Jim Denomic, James Larson and Sergio Moyano at Roth Fine
Arts Gallery in downtown Minneapolis, July 11 through September 5, 1998,. Pictured above is The Invitation, a serigraph by artist John
A jfton.
Conviction upheld by trial judge, Keith
Lind sentenced to 14 years imprisonment
By Jeff Armstrong
A Fond du Lac man convicted of
sexually assaulting his young niece
over a period of years defiantly insisted upon his innocence before being sentenced by Carlton County judge
Robert Macau lay to more than 14 years
imprisonment.
At the July 29 hearing. Keith Lind
vowed never to admit to a crime he
didn't commit, though the judge hinted
throughout the one and one-half hour
long proceeding that such an admission might dispose the judge toward
leniency.
"I don'teven think I should be here,"
said Lind, challenging the fairness of
his trial. "All I ever did was try to help,
and now I'm being accused of it."
Thejudge was unmoved. "I'm going
to commit you the the [Corrections]
commissioner for a period of 172
months," Macaulay said, prompting
tears and expressions of shock from
Lind's friends and family members
present.
Lind was the first person to report his
niece's allegations that she was being
sexually abused by her grandfather
and several otherpeople, noneof whom
was ever charged. The Fond du Lac
first degree sexual assaultin June 1996,
nearly a year after he and his wife
Cindy brought Lind's niece to Carlton
County Human Services togive videotaped testimony of her alleged abuse
at the hands of her grandfather.
Keith Lind was never implicated in
the then 11-year-old girl's initial statements.
Lind's attorney, Carlton County public defender Nate Stumme, argued that
the conviction should be vacated due
to the lack of corroborating evidence
and the judge's order to bar certain
evidence and testimony.
"It's simply one person's word
against another, and there was precious little corroborating evidence,"
Stummesaid, "virtually no corroboration at all."
But Macaulay wasted little time in
denying a motion for a new trial, defending his exclusion of evidence that
the girl had made similar charges in the
past which were never brought to court.
The districtjudge ruled that her prior
accusations did not reflect on the credibility of the victim, since "Neither side
has ever maintained that they were
false."
Accusing Lind of "profound and extended sexual abuse," prosecutor Lauri
Ketola asked for, and received, twice
first degree sexual assault. "The defendant has neverbeen remorseful. He
has never acknowledged responsibility," said Ketola. The prosecutor alleged that Lind had taken advantage of
the girl's trust in him to sexually abuse
her since she was six years old.
Though the state failed to account
for how the girl could have developed
such aclose relationship with her uncle
while he was abusing her, thejudge
seemed swayed by the argument that
Lind has ruthlessly betrayed the girl's
confidence. "[She] looked to you as a
person she couId trust, she could confide in," said Macaulay. "You took
advantage of that position."
While Stumme argued that his client
should not be penalized for professing
his innocence, Macaulay maintained
that state law required such an admission in order to substitute psychological treatment for some of the prison
time.
"Mr. Lind stands convicted right
now," said Macaulay. Thejudge said
provisions for a downward departure
from sentencing guidelines had "limited utility in a situation where someone is maintaining his innocence.":
A tearful Cindy Lind said after the
hearing that she is not giving up. "This
isn't right. We're going to appeal."
man was arrested and charged with   the state sentencing guidelines for
Florida officials negotiate with seminoles
about casinos
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Gov.
Lawton Chiles will have
representatives meet with Seminole
Indian leaders pushing for casinos at
up to eight Florida locations but does
not favor their plan, his office said
Wednesday. "He has always been a
staunch opponent of expanding
gambling throughout the state,"
spokeswoman Edie Ousley said.
"Casino gambling is a bad bet for
Florida." Chiles' chief of staff, Linda
Shelley, his general counsel, Dan
Stengle, and other state officials will
attend a meeting with Seminole Tribe
of Florida officials Thursday in
Orlando, she said. "Weare negotiating
in good faith because that is what the
courts have told us to do,"
Ousley said, noting that the session
will be one of several held to discuss a
proposed 39-page Seminole casino
"compact." The casinos have also
become an issue in the race to succeed
Chi les, with Atlantic City casino owner
Donald Trump - who is backing the
Seminoleproposal- donating $50,000
to the state Republican Party.
The Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov.
Buddy MacKay, seized on the
contribution in a statement
Wednesday, charging that it cast
doubts on Republican candidate Jeb
Bush's opposition to casino gambling.
Voters, MacKay said, "have to decide
whether they want to bet on a sure
thing ... or roll the dice and take a
chance on the unproven leadership of
Jeb Bush."
Bush did not solicit Trump's donation
to the state GOP and adamantly
opposes casino gambling, responded
hiscampaign spokesman, Cory Tilley.
Bush was on the board of the "No
Casinos" group that fought against an
unsuccessful casino-gambling
initiative in 1994, Tilley noted.
"The facts are that Jeb Bush has
always opposed casino gambling and
he will continue to do it." The
Seminoles are trying to woo state
officials with a lucrative revenue-
sharing deal, promising to pass along
30 percent of the tribe's net income
from casinos at Tampa, Hollywood.
Brighton and Immokalee where more
limited gaming is already offered.
Florida/to pg. 3