The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-10-09

              White Earth law enforcement plan may put
tribal police under control of sheriffs
By Gary Blair
White Earth sources say attempts to
implement an independent law-enforcement system for the reservation
are no closer to reality than when it
was first proposed over five years ago
by the Wadena regime. Related problems are also affecting the development ofa similar program on the Leech
Lake reservation, where crime has likewise increased.
A Press/ON source says, "If something is hot agreed on soon, there isn't
going to be any additional law enforcement on either reservation."
What started out as a plan to develop
their own tribal justice system has now
turned into a compromise, which if
agreed to, would allow the Mahnomen
County Sheriff to remain in charge of
reservation law-enforcement on that
portion of White Earth. The difference
would be - the reservation's officers
would not be tribal officers - they
would be deputy sheriffs and they
would be required to enforce recently
enacted reservation ordinances. Members being charged with those violations would appear before the
reservation's tribal court, while more
serious charges would be heard in
county court.
The source also says, "Once
Mahnomen County and White Earth
enter into a law enforcement agreement, they are going to hitNaytawaush
(Twin Lakes) the hardest and get that
place 'cleaned-up.' They are going to
use officers that have some 'meat' for
that place."
There are additional problems that
have to be worked out before this latest plan can move forward. The Becker
County Sheriffs Department will have
to be brought into the agreement, because the reservation overlaps part of
that county, as well as the Clearwater
County Sheriff, who has to date not
attended any ofthe planning meetings.
Under a proposed plan by the state,
reservation hired officers would have
to undergo state peace officer certification and be partnered with regular
White Earth/to pg. 8
WE tribal police under control of sheriffs
Amnesty Int'l takes U.S. to task for human rights violations
Incumbents win tribal election
Federal agency denies Shakopee Dakota trust status move
Understanding history key to surviving Manifest Destiny, pg. 3
Appointment of public def. add insult to injury, pg. 4
Voice ofthe People
1
e-mail. prosson@paulbunyan.net
Meeting to unseat tribal chairman draws 50
BILLINGS (AP) - The Crow Tribe
doesn't just need a new chairman, it
needs an entirely new constitution
and government, said Robert Kelly, a
spokesman for a movement to unseat
tribal chairwoman Clara Nomee.
About 50 tribal members attended a
meeting in Billings Thursday night,
the first of five meant to unseat Nomee
and begin the task of reforming the
tribal government. "We're well-
organized and have a lot of support,"
Kelly said. "Even opposing families
are united to change our government."
Nomee was convicted last month of
using her influence to buy tribal land
cheap.
The tribe's attorneys said Nomee
could remain in office despite the
conviction. That decision divided the
Crow Reservation. Eight of the 12
members ofthe Crow Tribe's executive
committee and five candidates who
opposed Nomee in the last election
signed a six-page letter calling for
Nomee's immediate dismissal.
"Nomee forfeited her right to
participate in Crow government when
she became a felon," said Cedrik Black
Eagle, who ran against Nomee in the
past election. Those at the meeting
said their concerns about Crow
government go beyond Nomee and
her conviction.
Bernard Cummins, who serves on
the tribe's executive committee, said
tribal finances are only released at the
chairman's request, and tribal attorney
Majel Russell said the lack of separation
of powers in the tribe's constitution
has hurt the court system.
"There is something really wrong.
We need to fix it, fix the government
system," Cummins said. "We've got a
lot of good ideas here. And all we need
is a little talent, imagination and
honesty."
Urban Bear Don't Walk said the
main problem with the Crow-
Constitution is that it doesn't
guarantee due process.
A lawyer who worked on an effort to
reform the Crow Constitution in the
1970s, Bear Don't Walk said he'd fight
for a new Constitution again.
"Some tribes have reformed
constitutions- the Northern Cheyenne
in Montana and Turtle Mountain in
North Dakota," Bear Don't Walk said.
Additional meetings are scheduled Oct.
5 at Plenty Coups High School in Pryor,
Oct.6attheCommunityHallinLodge
Grass, Oct. 7 at Reno Hall in Crow
Agency and Oct. 8 at the Friendship
House in Billings.
Hative
American
Press
^
Ojibwe
News
Wo Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Volume 10 Issue 52
October 9,1888
A weekly publication
Copyright Native American Press, 1888
Federal agency denies Shakopee Dakota
trust status move
ByMikeKaszuba
Star Tribune Staff Writer
In a significant victory for local
governments, theU.S. Bureau oflndian
Affairs on Wednesday denied a request
by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota
Community to place 593 acres in Scott
County in a tax-exempt land trust.
The decision, which the tribe
immediately announced it would appeal,
was greeted enthusiastically by Gov.
Arne Carlson as well as a host of local
officials who for nearly four years had
wrestled with Minnesota's most
affluent American Indian tribe over the
issue. The tribe, the county's largest
employer, owns Mystic Lake Casino.
The bureau said the tribe had failed
to show that placing the land in a tax-
exempt trust "is either necessary or
essential" to ensure the tribe's long-
term survival. The property, located in
Shakopee next to the tribe's
reservation, which is situated mostly
in Prior Lake, is at the heart of one ofthe
fastest-growing areas in the Twin Chics
region. The tribe's plans for the land
include a shopping center, a library,
housing and light industrial
development.
"The Community's business acumen
has made it, by any standards, one of
the mostsuccessful Indian enterpi
intheentireUnitcd Stales." the federal
agency said in an eight-page ruling.
Shakopee/to pg. 5
Photo by Alan Eller
The White Buffalo in tiny Reconciliation Park in downtown Mankato, Minnesota, was dedicated in mid-September
in memory of those killed in the 1863 "Sioux Uprising" and the 38 Dakota people who were hanged afterwards,
many of whom were innocent of any wrongdoing. The sculpture was created by Mankato artist Tom Miller.
U.S. Supreme Court hears treaty rights case Amnesty International takes U.S. to task for
'systematic' human rights violations
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A dispute
involving Chippewa Indians from
Minnesota and Wisconsin over
fishing and hunting rights will be
reviewed during a U.S. Supreme Court
hearing Dec. 2, a newspaper reports.
Minnesota and the Chippewa
disagree on whether the tribe still has
food-gathering guarantees on land that
was sold to the government in 1837.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Chicago decided in 1983 that the
Chippewa retained rights to natural
resources in approximately the
northern third of Wisconsin because
of clauses in 19th century land-session
treaties. Wisconsin Chippewa are also
involved in the Minnesota case.
The Supreme Court may decide the
Minnesota case as soon as February
or as late as July, the Star Tribune's
online edition said Friday. If the court
agrees with lower-court rulings, eight
Chippewa bands could claim 50 percent
of the game and fish that biologists
figure can be taken in 12 east-central
Minnesota counties without harm to
the supply.
The state argues the 19th century-
treaty privileges expired in 1850
because of a presidential order, an
1855 treaty and Minnesota'sadmission
to statehood.
The territory in dispute includes
Lake Mille Lacs, the state's most
popular lake for walleye fishing.
Treaty/to pg. 3
Young  Navajo people want voice in
government
By Jeff Armstrong
Amnesty International released a
landmark report Tuesday charging the
United States with systematically
violating international human rights
standards in its domestic and foreign
policies.
"While successive US governments
have used these international human
rights standards as a yardstick by
which to judge other countries, they
have not consistently applied those
same standards at home," the report
states.
Adminstration officials offered little
response to the criticism. At an Oct. 6
White House press briefing, a Clinton
aide stated "We respect their scrutiny,
but we've got the judicial system that's
the envy of the world," referring a
reporter to the Justice Department.
A Justice Department spokesperson
said the report is under review, but
that no written response is anticipated.
The lengthy 3-year report focuses
heavily on the issues of police brutality,
detention of political refugees,
application ofthe death penalty, and
"barbaric" treatment of the ever-
expanding prison and jail population
in the U.S.
In addition, the report concludes that
as the world's largest weapons
exporter, the U.S. indiscriminately arms
some of the worst human rights
violators. "It has supplied, and
continues to supply, arms, security
equipment and training to
governments and armed groups that
commit torture, political killings and
other human rights abuses in countries
throughout the world."
Along with numerous other examples
of human rights violations by police,
Amnesty/to pg. 6
GALLUP,N.M. (AP)- Matthew Tso
has a mission — making sure the
voices of Navajo young people are
heard in the tribe's upcoming elections.
Tso, 20, says he's been putting in 14-
hour days and has spent about $2,000
ofhis own money in a voterregistration
drive by a group called the Dine Youth
Coalition.
The coalition also is trying to set up
a forum among tribal presidential
candidates that would focus on youth
issues. The coalition was formed about
nine weeks ago after young people
were "brushed off and ignore" at a
presidential forum, Tso said. "After
that we decided to be loud and proud,"
he said.
Young people have no voice in
government because they have no
voting power, he said. Only about
10,000 Navajos between the ages of 18
and 25 are registered to vote in tribal
elections, even though about 35,000
are eligible to register, he said.
The group would like to set up a
reservationwide youth council to get
young people interested in
government and perhaps add a youth
perspective to government. The
coalition registered more than 1,000
new voters - about half of whom are
between 18 and 25 - before voter
registration ended last week, Tso said.
The Navajo Board of Election
Supervisors last month presented
service awards to the nine members of
the coalition who had been active in
the voter registration drive.
Coalition members also have been
traveling across the reservation,
talking to young people about their
concerns. "We're trying to collect the
interests and concerns of a lot of
people," Tso said. "We're trying to
speak for those who cannot speak."
Among the issues are a lack of
recreational activities and a lack of
high-paying jobs on the reservation,
he said.
Incumbents win tribal election
Recount denied in 14-vote split
Prosecutors allege ex-tribal official took
funds
By Nathan Bowe, Staff Writer
Detroit Lakes Tribune
Incumbents won the White Earth
Reservation general election
Wednesday, but it was a close vote,
especially in the District III race for
tribal council representatives.
Interim Tribal Chairman John B.
Buckanaga is interim no more. He
defeated challenger Francis "Butch"
Bellanger 656 votes to 549 votes.
The resident vote total - which
includes precincts in Minneapolis and
Cass Lake - was 486 votes for
Buckanaga and461 votes for Bellanger.
The absentee total was 170 votes for
Buckanaga and 88 votes for Bellanger.
Interim District 3 Tribal Council
representative Ralph "Bucky"
Goodman narrowly defeated
challengerElmer"Gene"Tibbetts408
votes to 394 votes.
The resident vote total was 323 votes
for Goodman to 291 votes for Tibbetts.
The absentee count was 85 votes for
Goodman and 103 for Tibbetts.
Tibbetts, who lost by just 14 votes,
said he would have like a recount, but
has apparently been denied by the
White Earth General Election Board.
Tibbetts said he was told the day of
the election that he could request a
recount, but heard later on the news
that the general election board had
ruled no recount would be held in races
that were more than 10 votes apart.
"I'm not a sore loser, but I thought I
hadaprivilege. It doesn't say anything
Incumbents/to pg.5
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -
Prosecutors allege the former director
of the Cherokee Nation Housing
Authority converted more than
$ 100,000 in federal funds to his personal
use during a time in which the IRS
garnisheed his paycheck. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Doug Horn said in
opening statements Monday that the
Internal Revenue Service had slapped
a $26,300 lien on Joel Thompson for
back payment of taxes.
Thompson faces a 23-count
indictment accusing him of mail fraud,
false statements and misapplication of
funds. Thompson served more than 10
years as executive director of the
Cherokee Nation Housing Authority
before being fired in June.
In an effort to show the jury that
Thompson had personal financial
problems, Horn also produced a
housing authority finance officer who
said Thompson at one point was
receiving only $6 to $ 10 each two weeks
because ofhis problems with the IRS.
Thompson has pleaded innocent and
is free on bond.
Some ofthe counts accuse Thompson
of illegally using federal funds to pay
a Washington law firm for lobbying
activities, and then falsely certifying
he didn't do so.
Prosecutors also allege Thompson
obtained about $265,000 for his
personal use through cash advances
for meals, travel and lodging and
expenses charged to a Housing
Authority credit card. Horn alleged
Thompson wou Id often "triple dip" on
his expense account by taking out a
cash advance, billing the source he
was visiting and then filing an expense
form when he returned.
Mary James, finance director ofthe
housing authority, testified that on
one occasion Thompson billed the
authority $700 for a trip to Orlando,
Prosecutors/to Pg. 5
Supreme Court rejects Santee Sioux tribe's
appeal of gambling case
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The slot
machines continued to ring today at
the Ohiya casino on the Santee Sioux
reservation in northern Nebraska
despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling
that outlawed its operations.
"The tribe, while in violation ofthe
law, is not in violation ofa court order
yet,"
U.S. Attorney Tom Monaghan said.
It could be two months or longer before
the Supreme Court's action Monday
takes effect through the 8th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, and in that time state
and federal officials will discuss with
the tribe its closing of the casino,
Monaghan said.
Monaghan's office seized $87,000 in
casino gambling proceeds from the
tribe. Monaghan said his office will
voluntarily return the money to the
tribe when the casino is closed.
"They have argued their points well
but the courts have ruled against
them," Monaghan said.
Tribal officials can still work through
the secretary of interior and Congress
at solving impasses between tribes
and states over the kinds of games
al lowed, tribal attorney Dan Evans said.
The tribe also could set up games that
are allowed under state law, Evans
said. The tribe argued that Nebraska
officials had not negotiated agambling
compact in good faith.
Gov. Ben Nelson said the state would
not permit casino gambling on the
tribe's reservation because that form
of gambling is not allowed elsewhere
in the state. "The underlying dispute
is still there," Evans said.
On a reservation with few jobs, the
Santee/to pg. 3
4