The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-09-18

              Dakota man
Mankato pow-
denied vendor permit    at
WOW Decision-making appears arbitrary
By Julie Shortridge
Alan (Al) Eller, memberof the Lower
Sioux Community near Morton,
Minnesota is no stranger to the powwow circuit. Just this summer he was
a vendor at 20 Dakota and Anishinabe
pow-wows in Minnesota and
Wisconsin, which is something he's
enjoyed for the past few years.
With his per diem from Jackpot
Junction casino, Eller has bought
computer equipment and a portable
trailer in which he produces framed
photographs or pictures on t-shirts of
pow-wow attendees in traditional
dress. "They can be dressed like a
fancy dancer or any other outfit, or just
have their picture framed with a dream
Court rejects
rights claim
SANFRANCISCO,CA (AP)-Alaska
Natives are not entitled to exclusive
fishing and hunting rights on outer
continental shelf waters that their
ancestors used for thousands of years,
a federal appeals court has ruled.
The federal government has the
authority to regulate fishing and other
use of coastal waters, the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said
Wednesday in a 3-0 ruling. The suit
was filed in 1995 by the Native Villages
ofEyak, Tatitlek, Chanega, Port Graham
and Nanwalek, located on Prince
William Sound, theGulf of Alaskaand
the lower Cook Inlet.
catcher." said Eller. He is currently
expanding his business to include
reproductions oflndian artists.
Eller commented. "Because powwows are family gatherings, lots of
people want their pictures taken. It's
often the only time the whole
community gets together. They'll even
line up and won't let me take a break.
The community appreciates that I
provide that service, and often I'm the
only photographer at a pow-wow."
But Eller has not been allowed into
the Mankato pow-wow, even though
he's tried for two years. The 26th
annual Mankato pow-wow is being
held Sept. 18. 19 and 20 at Land of
Memories Park in Mankato. There are
typically half a dozen drum groups,
approximately 175 dancers, and 3,500-
4,000 people in attendance, according
to some estimates. A $5 button
donation is requested. Vendors pay
$ 150 for craft booths, and $250 for food
booths ($50 is returned to food vendors
if they don't leave any garbage).
Eller commented, "This is a
pow-wowtocommemoratethe38 Sioux
who were hanged in Mankato, and it's
intended to be a healing experience for
the community coming together. Yet
I'm a memberof that Sioux tribe and I'm
barred from the pow-wow with no
credible reason why. Something's not
right here." His father had been a
vendor at the Mankato pow-wow for
years.
"Alan goes to all the pow-wows and
Dakota/to pg. 5
Alaska Native's exclusive
They claimed hunting and fishing
rights based on more than 7,000 years
in which villagers hunted sea mammals
and caught fish in outer continental
shelf waters, beyond the three-mile
limit currently regulated by the state of
Alaska.
The U.S. Commerce Department
regulates fishing in waters between
three and 200 m i les off Alaska. Its 1993
regulations limit access to sablefish
and halibut in the gulf and the lower
Cook Inlet. The villages said only a few
of their residents had government
permits to catch sablefish and halibut,
while many non-villagers held permits.
While claiming exclusive rights
based on ancestral use of the waters,
the villagers said in their suit that
Congress could authorize some non-
Natives to fish there as well. But the
appeals court, upholding a ruling by
U.S. Districtjudge H.Russel Holland,
said only the federal government can
regulate access to resources in
offshore waters.
A series of Supreme Court rulings
since 1947 rejected challenges to federal
regulation by coastal states, whose
claims were based on events that
preceded their joining the union, said
Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain in the 3-
0 ruling. He said the Alaska natives'
claims were no different.
Crow tribal chairwoman denies using
influence to buy tribal land
BILLINGS (AP) - Crow Tribal
Chairwoman Clara Nomee denied
emphatically in federal court Monday
that she used her influence to buy
tribal land for a fraction of its value.
"I'm not trying to take advantage the
tribe," she said." If they had wanted
more money, I would have asked them
ifwe could work out payments."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Rostad
and defense attorney Penny Strong
were expected to give their closing
arguments Tuesday, allowing the jury
to begin deliberations.
Mrs. Nomee paid $8,000, plus back
taxes, in 1994 for 80 acres on Lodge
Grass Creek. The sale was approved
by the tribe's Land Resources
Committee. Rostad maintains that the
land was worth four times that much.
Mrs. Nomee is charged with two
counts of theft — one of using her
influence to buy the land for less than
it was worth and one of taking income
off the property when it still belonged
to the tribe. She insisted that she had
no role in the tribe's 1991 purchase of
a 200-acre ranch that included the 80
acres she eventually bought. She said
she approached the Land Resources
Committee in December 1992 about
buying it for herself. She said she
wanted it for her disabled brother,
whom she had promised to care for in
adeath-bed promise to her mother. She
was unable to come up with money for
a down payment, so she let the matter
drop, she said. She renewed her bid in
1994 when she learned she would
receive about $21,000 in a government
buyout for her years of past
employ ment with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs.
But she said that after she gave some
ofthe money away and paid bills, she
had only about $ 10,000 left. She offered
the committee $8,000 frJr the land, plus
back taxes, and thecommitteeaccepted.
Rostad challenged Mrs. Nomee's claim
that she lacked money, producing
records that she and her brother had
Court says one tribe can't bar another from
employment
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In a ruling
involving a Hopi-Navajo dispute, a
federal appeals court says Indian tribes
can'tdiscriminate against one another
in contracts with private employers.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
on Monday revived a discrimination
suit by a Hopi Indian who said he was
denied consideration for a job at a
power plant on the Navajo Reservation
in northeast Arizona because the
operator was allowed to hire only
Navajos.
Such a preference would violate
federal civil rights law, which bans
discrimination based on national
origin, the court said in a 3-0 ruling. It
said national origin can include
belonging to a particulartribe, viewed
historically as a "nation." The ruling is
the first by a federal appellate court on
the issue.
Its effects may be I im i ted to Arizona,
"one ofthe few states where you have
Tribe predicts
U.S. Supreme
BOWLER, Wis. (AP) - The state's
attempt to shut down slot machines at
a golf course run by the Stockbridge-
Munsee Indians could be tied up in
federal courts for years, the tribal
president says.
The dispute over reservation
boundaries and 19th century treaties
"appears destined to be finally decided
by the United States Supreme Court."
Robert Chicks said.
Last week, the state Justice
Department filed suit in U.S. District
Court inMilwaukee. alleging the tribe's
a lot of tribal nations near each other,"
said Bradley Schleier. lawyer for the
Hopi who filed the suit.
Federal laws allow preferences for
Indians for jobs on or near
reservations. The laws also let tribes
favor their own members on jobs that
promote tribal self-governance in
programs formerly run by the federal
government.
The court said neither of those laws
al lowed a preference for one tribe over
another on the private power plant
project.
John Egbert, lawyer for the Salt River
Project, which runs the power plant,
declined commenton the ruling, saying
he had not seen it. The Navajo Nation
was not sued because it is immune
from suit under federal employment
discrimination law.
Harold Dawavendewa, who lives less
than three miles from the Navajo
reservation, said he applied for an
operator trainee job at the power plant
Dakota man denied vendor permit at Mankato pow-wow
Family fears coverup in death of man jailed in Cass County
Racial disparities plague fire department
Clinton's problems in the Native community, pg. 4
First National Spirit of the Wolf Walk, pg. 5
Roy indicted in slaying of Red Lake man, pg. 8
Voice ofthe People
3
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substantial income from 1990 through
1994, when she bought the land, and
beyond.
Income tax returns for 1994, the year
Mrs. Nomee bought the land, showed
she and her husband declared income
of $69,247, not including her annual
lease income of $ 1,800 and the $ 100 she
received for each committee meeting
she attended. Rostad said she earned
$11,000 in 1995 for attending the
meetings of just one committee _ the
committee that controls the tribal
casino. He produced records that
showed the tribe paid her $77,000 in
1990, her first year as chairman. The
total included two years of back wages
she was denied by the previous
administration while she served as
tribal secretary. Also during 1990, her
brother, for whom she wanted the land,
sold the tribe 400 acres at $500 an acre,
and her husband, Carlton, and his heirs
sold another parcel to the tribe for
$41,000, the prosecutor said. In 1992,
herbrothersold more land for $43,220.
Family members fear coverup in death of
Pennington man jailed in Cass County
approximately  2  a.m.  Monday,   know that. He always used to tell me
in 1991, finished ninth out of 20 who
took the written test, but was not
interviewed because ofthe Salt River
Project's lease with the Navajos.
The lease, consistent with a tribal
ordinance, required the operator to
give preference to Navajos living on
the reservation and then to Navajos
living off the reservation before
considering non-Navajos.
U.S. District Judge Stephen
McNamee dismissed the suit, saying
the preference was legal, but was
overruled by the appeals court. The
federal law allowing preferences for
Indians on jobs near reservations was
intended to "compensate for the effects
of past and present unjust treatment,
not ... to authorize another form of
discrimination against particular
groups of Indians," said the opinion
by Judge Stephen Reinhardt. The case
is Dawavendewa vs. SaltRiver Project,
97-15803.
By Jeff Armstrong
The unexplained death ofa 32-year-
old Leech Lake man held in Cass
County jail has left relatives grasping
for explanations in the face of official
silence.
Less than three days after he was
picked up on a 72-hour hold order
issued by his Department of
Corrections probation officer in
Bemidji, Duane Steven Fineday died
reportedly while en-route to St.
Joseph's hospital in Park Rapids from
the Cass County jailin Walker.
A Pennington resident and father of
four, Fineday had no known ailments
' or injuries at the time of his arrest,
according to family members.
"He was fine when I left him," said
Pat Smith, a neighbor and cousin of
Fineday's who witnessed his arrest on
the morning of Friday, September 11.
"He never had no health problems, I
everything that was going on with him.
So if he had any health problems, he
would have told me about it," said
Smith.
Responding to a reporter's question
as to whether Fineday was injured
while in his custody, Cass County
Sheriff Jim Dowson instead attributed
Fineday's death to an unspecified
illness. The sheriff declined to
Coverup/topg.5
Racial disparities plague fire department
By Gary Blair
Native Americans and Hispanics who
apply for jobs with the City of
Minneapolis' Fire Department (MFD)
are continuing to receive differential
treatment inspiteof city officials' claims
that they have improved their hiring
practices.
After years of civil rights complaints,
a 25-year-old federal court order that
mandated MFD to integrate, and the
electionofthecity'sfirstblack mayor,
1 ittle has changed for these two groups.
In a letter dated September 9, 1998,
Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis
attorney Rick Macpherson wrote
Assistant City attorney Burt T.
Osborne the following:
"At the conclusion of our meeting
yesterday concerning the final
application pool data, I understood
that the Minneapolis City Attorney
would recommend that the defendants
accept the current application and
proceed with hiring. You shared adraft
of the recommendation with Mr.
Edwards— (Edwards is chairman of
the federal court ordered watchdog
group for the integration of MFD,
known as the Firefighter Advisory
Steering Committee) and me. I
expressed my disappointment with the
results for Carter class members,
particularly Native American and
Hispanic members. I also told you that
I wanted to consider options that could
permit the hiring process to continue.
This letter is intended to present the
proposal of the plaintiff class that
would permit hiring to proceed.
"To review the current situation, the
Racial/to pg. 8
gambling dispute will go to
Court
Wealthier Indian tribes asked to give up
Federal funding
tnbe
Pine Hills Golf and Supper Club was
ineligible for gambling because it was
on land separated from the northern
Wisconsin reservation by Congress
in the 19th century. The tribe contends
its official reservation encompasses
46.000 acres, while the state argues it is
about 17.000 acres, said Gary Ehman. a
spokesman for the tribe. Chicks said
U.S. Magistrate Judge PatriciaGorence
will hold ahearing Oct. 6 on the state's
request for an injunction to have the
slot machines removed.
The Stockbridge-Munsee began
operating 166 slot machines Aug. 28 at
Pine Hills in the town of Red Springs.
about20 miles east ofBowler. according
to court records. The gambling has
continued, pending any action by the
judge.
The casino is part ofa 9-hole golf
course the tribe purchased in 1993.
Ehman said. A clubhouse addition was
built for the casino, he said. Another
nine holes are under construction and
should be open next spring. "The tribe
fully understands that the state
disputes the extent of its reservation
DiSpUte/to pg. 3
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers
are putting some pressure on wealthier
Indian tribes to give up a large chunk
of their federal funding _ and several
tribes in Michigan have made their list.
But the tribes say the method the
government is using to determine the
wealthiest tribes is faulty. They add
that federal money fortribes should be
increased, if anything, because it fails
to adequately cover reservation needs
for housing, education and health,
among other programs.
The Senate passed a provision last
week asking that the richest tribes
voluntari ly give back federal money so
it could be redistributed to the poorest
reservations. However, the wealthier
tribes are small and often receive less
than$l million each.
At stake are the tribe's so-called
«
Tribal Priority Allocations, the bulk of
the money administered by the Bureau
oflndian Affairs for tribal government
programs such as housing, education
and social services. Nationwide, there
is about $750 million in TPA funds for
the 557 federally recognized tribes _
roughly halfof all federal aid flowing to
the tribes.
There are 11 federally recognized
tribes in Michigan, BIA officials said.
The TPA funds they received last year
ranged from $ 1.5 million forthe Sault
Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
to $ 160,000 for the Huron Potawatomi.
The richest tribe in the country, the
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe in
Connecticut, is No. 1 on the
congressional list with more than $300
million in revenue from its gambling
businesses, according to Government
Accounting Office figures from 1996.
But the tribe, which has 155 members,
started giving back its TPA funds last
year. That made a Michigan tribe, the
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, the
new No. 1 on the congressional target
list.
Bill Cross, the tribe's director of
legislative affairs, called the Senate
provision an attack on tribal
sovereignty.
The tribe makes more than $180
Wealthier/to Pg. 3