The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-11-27

              RBC set to  hand  police  powers to
Mahnomen County after secret meeting
By Gary Blair
"We are going to clean up
Mahnomen County," Sheriff Richard
Rooney told White Earth members
after a meeting on Wednesday
designed to give the county total
control over their portion ofthe White
Earth reservation.
Rooney's announcement came after
a secret meeting at the Shooting Star
Casino between the Mahnomen
County Board of Commissioners and
White Earth tribal council members.
The agreement will be officially signed
on Dec. 4,1998.
A small group of reservation
members who were tipped off about
the meeting were not allowed to attend
the first portion of the 2 1/2 hour
session. Tribal members were only
allowed in at the end ofthe meeting
after warnings not to cause a
disturbance. The meeting room
offered standing room only for tribal
members, who where there to question
what they called a secret deal.
After the meeting your reporter found
White Earth attorney Zenas Baer and
reservation secretary/treasurer Erma
Vizenor at the Clerk of Court's office
in Mahnomen signing for over thirty
boxes of tribal members' court records.
Five casino maintenance worker
removed the boxes that measured
about 20 by 32 inches in size. Your
writer was told by one ofthe movers
that the boxes will be stored at the
casino, but they were not told what
was in the boxes.
Marvin Manypenny, an activist at
White Earth, told the commissioners
and council members once the group
entered the meeting that these types
of meetings were what he had fought
the Wadena government over. "You
are just like Chip Wadena, John
(Buckanaga)." Manypenny told the
reservation's chairman.
It appears that this agreement will
spell more trouble for the already
financially-strapped reservation,
whose crime rate skyrocketed in the
past 10 years. These troubles will be '
further fueled by the pending release
from prison of deposed former
chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena, who
sources at White Earth predict will
attempt to overthrow the present
government.
Manypenny says that without the
people's input, this is just another
violation of the reservation's
sovereignty. "This agreement should
be voted on by the people,"
Manypenny said Wednesday.
RBC set to hand police powers to Mahnomen County
Mille Lacs reservation judge dismisses eviction suit
County files charges in casino assault
Red Lake man pleads guilty to murder
Ojibwe elder honored for contributions, pgs. 1 & 4
Red Lake Tribal Council raises not justified, pg. 4
Voice ofthe People
J
e-mail presson(£)paulbunyan.net
Red Lake man pleads guilty to murder
Minneapolis, MN - Thirty-three year
old James Allen Roy pleaded guilty in
United States District Court to murdering another member of the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians and using a
firearm duringacrimeofviolence. Roy
entered his plea before Judge John
Tunheim in Minneapolis.
Red Lake Police were notified about
5:56 p.m. on August 15, 1998 that
Charles Dolson had been shot and
killed at his Red Lake residence. Roy
admitted in court that he had fired a
handgun five or six times at Dolson.
Roy was arrested on August 21 and
continues to be held without bond. He
faces a maximum potential penalty of
life in prison. The actual sentence will
be determined by Judge Tunheim based
on the federal sentencing guidelines.
A sentencing date is expected in eight
to ten weeks.
The case is the result ofan investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Red Lake Law Enforcement.
Assistant United State Attorney RJ.
Zayed prosecuted the case.
Rocky
Mountain
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Volume 11 Issue 07
November 27,1938
i
State and Oneida officials disagree on
cigarette taxes
ONEIDA,Wis.(AP) --OneidaTribe
leaders and state officials disagree on
what they decided earlier this year
about how state cigarette taxes on the
reservation would.be handled.
State law requires that 70 percent of
state cigarette taxes collected on the
reservation be returned to the tribe.
But a state refund check issued to the
tribe on Oct. 30 for taxes collected in
September came to only 50 percent of
the excise tax paid that month.
A handshake in May confirmed an
agreementto reduce the refund from 70
percent to 50 percent, said Mark
Bugher, Wisconsin's secretary of
administration and the state's lead
negotiator during gambling compact
talks with the tribe earlier this year.
But Artley Skenandore, general
manager for the tribe, said it was an
agreement only to begin talking about
the issue. "We agreed to make it an
item of discussion, but we took it off
the table," during compact
negotiations, Skenandore said.
"When we received their
memorandum of understanding, we
took that as their opening position."
The Green Bay News-Chronicle said
an interoffice document it obtained
showed tribal administrators estimate
the Oneida would lose $900,000 to $ 1.
million annually if such an agreement
was ever made. "If it's the position of
the tribe that we have not made this
agreement, we have to go back to the
table with them and figure out what has
gone wrong," Bugher said.
He said there were attempts in the
state Legislature last session to change
the law and make the refund 50 percent,
and the issue may come up again next
year.
Lawsuits filed against new California
Indian gambling law
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Opponents of
a new Indian gambling law that eases
restrictions on tribal casinos in
California have sued to block the law,
claiming the initiative is
unconstitutional.
A group of citizens who fear the
spread of gambling into their
neighborhoods and a labor union that
wants tribes to let unions organize at
casinos filed separate lawsuits Friday,
more than two weeks after voters
overwhelmingly approved the ballot
initiative.
The initiative was the costliest in
state history, with wealthy Nevada
gambling interests pitted against a
contingent of Indian casinos
threatened with shutdown by state
and federal authorities. "The tribes are
committed to supporting the landslide
endorsement by Californians on Prop
5 and will defend that vote in thecourts,"
said Ken Ramirez, vice chairman of the
California Nevada Indian Gaming
Association.
Under the new law, 44 tribes already
have submitted to the governor
gambl ing compacts that al low them to
run their casinos on their own terms,
including using types of slot machines
deemed illegal by Gov. Pete Wilson.
If Wilson doesn't sign the compacts
within 30 days of submission and no
judge orders a stay, the compacts will
go into effect.
Wilson issued a statement Friday
urging the state Supreme Court to
consider the case. Although the
Nevada casinos didn't sign on as
plaintiffs in either lawsuit, they are
helping pay the legal bills of the
homeowners.
"As citizens there's no way we could
pay forall of this," said Penny LeDoux,
president ofa homeowners association
that is fighting an undeveloped Indian
casino near her Northern California
home.
The plaintiffs contend California's
prohibition against casino gambling
coupled with conflicts with the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act make
Proposition 5 illegal. They also argue
the law exceeds the scope of the
initiative process.
The sole plaintiff in the other lawsuit
is the Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees International Union, AFL-
CIO, which opposed the proposition
because it made no specific al lowances
for union organization. The union is
financing its own lawsuit.
College-tribe land deal a legal quagmire
WILBURTON, Okla. (AP) ~ The
Choctaw Nation says it will settle legal
issues concerning Eastern Oklahoma
State College's donation of land for a
tribal travel plaza by the time the project
has been finished.
"We certainly can't afford to make
the kind of investmentthat's necessary
on land where there's any doubt,
because they'll spend over a million
dollars to build this facility," says Bob
Rabon, an attorney representing the
Choctaws. "And nobody in their right
mind is going to make that kind of
investment on any piece of property
that there's doubt about whether
they're going to own it when it's all
done."
Both Choctaw Chief Greg Pyle and
Eastern State President Bill Hill extoil
the virtues of the five-acre deal, say ing
the $1.5 million project on U.S. 270 will
provide jobs for students and income
for the tribe.
However, legal experts say donation
of public land is a complicated area of
state law. They say a public body,
such as the Eastern State Board of
Regents, can convey property in return
for something of value.
The college transferred the land,
which is worth up to $50,000, on June
19. That's about two years after the
Choctaw Nation pledged $1.1 million
toward renovation of Johnston Hall, a
dormitory on the Eastern State campus.
However, attorneys for the tribe and
college say the land wasn't given in
direct exchange for the donation. They
say jobs and training for students will
be what Eastern State gets in return for
the land. Hill said he cleared the deal
with several attorneys before gaining
regents' approval, but did not get a
written opinion.
Whitey Cornish, an attorney who
represents Eastern State, said the
transfer is legal because the tribe is a
public entity. "We're not talking about
conveying to Ford Motor Company.
We're talking about a sovereign
entity," he said. "It would be more like
Eastern conveying (land) to the state
of Texas." Said Hill: "Arid frankly, the
intent of it... is that it's kind of going
to be for the public good."
Through a spokesman, state
College/to pg. 5
Program begun to help Tohono O'odham
Nation
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Five Tohono
O'odham women came to Washington
University in St. Louis this week for
what they hope will be the beginning
ofa successful battle against diabetes,
a d isease that is racking their American
Indian tribe in southern Arizona.
"We need to fight this diabetes,"
said Shirley Manuel, a representative
of the Hickawan District ofthe Tohono
O'odham reservation south of Phoenix
and west of Tucson. "I don't want my
people to give up to this disease."
Manuel is part of a pilot project that
will recruit and train members ofthe
tribal community to develop their own
program to prevent non-insulin
dependentdiabetesmellitus(NIDDM).
The tribal council unanimously
approved the program, which stresses
education about exercise and better
nutrition. Studies have shown that the
rate of NIDDM among the Tohono
O'odham is six times higherthan in the
general population of the United
States.
Fully 40 percent of tribe members
over 35 have diabetes. The mortality
rate from the disease on the reservation
is the highest of any area served by the
Program/to Pg. 3
A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1888
Ojibwe elder honored
for contributions to
indigenous, environmental movements
By Gary Blair
Ask anyone who is active in Minnesota's Indian, antiwar,
or environmental movements if they know Larry Cloud
Morgan and they will most likely say, "Yes."
On Monday, members ofa graduating teacher's class at the
University ofMinnesota also had the opportunity to become
acquainted with the soft spoken Ojibwe elder and to broaden
their knowledge of another culture's views.
Sarah LaDuke, one ofthe students whose father is a White
Earth enrollee, invited Morgan to speak to the class of future
teachers. Professor JoAnne Buggie and LaDuke introduced
Morgan to the students as a traditional storyteller. Morgan
Ojibwe/to pg.
Wabash-Ti-Mi-Gwan (Whitefeather). aka Larry Cloud Morgan
Mille Lacs reservation judge dismisses
Housing Authority eviction suit
By Jeff Armstrong
Ruling that reservation housing
regulations can only be enforced on
tenants as part of a consensual
contract, Mille Lacs reservation judge
Scott Lundberg dismissed a Housing
Authority eviction petition against
Irene Wade Benjamin.
"The power to create law is reserved
for Band Assembly, the legislative
body of the Band. Therefore, the
Plaintiffs rules and regulations on
their own do not have the force of
law," Lundberg wrote in his Nov. 23
ruling.
The judge noted, however, that the
terms of a signed lease agreement
"may be enforceable in a court of law.
in an action for breach of contract."
Mille Lacs housing officials sought
to evict the 50-year-old Benjamin on
the grounds that she was in violation
of the Housing Authority's Elder
Policy, which reserves certain units for
tribal members at least 55 years of age.
By placing a domestic abuse
restraining order against her husband,
reservation officials claimed, Benjamin
forfeited elgibility to reside at the
home.
Lundberg dismissed the case after
Housing Authority officials failed to
meet a 7-day court-imposed deadline
to produce a copy of a lease signed
by Benjamin or her husband.
County files charges in casino assault
By Jeff Armstrong
Two months after she allegedly
assaulted Irene Wade Benjamin at the
Mille Lacs Grand Casino and Hotel,
Joyce Wedll was charged in Mille Lacs
County Court with fifth degree assault
and disorderly conduct.
Wedll, the wife of reservation natural
resources commissioner Don Wedll,
admitted knocking a tray of food out
of Benjamin's hands and grabbing and
pulling her hair, according to the
criminal complaint. Wedll also
apparently conceded under
questioning that "she mightTiave
punched Ms. Benjamin" in the Aug.
24 incident.
Benjamin said she was pleased that
county officials brought the charges
despite what she perceived as
reservation attempts to obstruct the
investigation and prosecution of the
case.
However, Benjamin expressed
concern at the failure of tribal police
to arrest her assailant at the scene and
for her long-term health.
"I think it's atrocious that anybody
can go into a public place and beat
someone up and not be arrested," said
Benjamin.
Prosecuting attorney Matthew Brune
denied encountering any obstacles to
his invesigation by reservation
officers. Brune said tribal police
requested a written complaint in the
matter, rather than a misdemeanor
citation form.
Benjamin said doctors have warned
her that the incident may have
aggravated a surgical attachment to
her arm.
"They're scared now because of the
pulling that some of the muscles may
be damaged around the (shoulder)
prosthesis."
As a result, Benjamin said she will
seek court-ordered compensation from
Wedll for any ensuing medical
expenses.
U.S. Attorney and Attorney General sit
down with tribal leaders
NEW TOWN, N.D. (AP) - The Three
Aff i 1 iated Tri bes are choosing to work
out their own differences instead of
seeking help from the Justice
Department to resolve a political
dispute, North Dakota's U.S. attorney
said Friday.
John Schneider and North Dakota
Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp met
with tribal officials on the Fort Berthold
Indian Reservation to discuss the
dispute. "I certainly got the impression
that there is a desire on the council's
part to resolve disputes among
themselves," Schneider said after the
meeting.
Schneider said it was a productive
meeting because it gave clashing tribal
leaders a chance to sit down and
discuss problems. "I think if there's a
desire to work out the problems,
solutions hopefully will follow,"
Schneider said.
Austin Gillette, a councilman and a
critic of Tribal Chairman Tex Hall, said
during the meeting that he wanted to
resolve the dispute. "I'm willing to
work with Mr. Hall," Gillette said. "I
told him that during his campaign. I
said, 'Win, lose or draw, you and I are
going to be on the council."'
Schneider said he has been hearing
that there are a lot of people on the
reservation who are dissatisfied with
the results of the election. "There is
some disruption," he said. "But there
appears to be a strong desire to work
that out internally."
Schneider said if the tribe requests
mediation in the dispute, he would
arrange mediation services. A power
struggle among tribal council members
has been going on since Nov. 6, when
three council members, Gillette, Mark
Fox and Daylon Spotted Bear, walked
Attorney/to Pg. 3