The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-12-25

              White Earth cross-deputization plan shot
down by state
By Gary Blair
After two years of secret meetings
involving federal, state and county
officials, White Earth's controversial
cross-deputization plan with
Mahnomen County will not receive
approval from the Minnesota Peace
Officer Standards and Training (Post)
Board, as was evisioned in the
agreement.
On Tuesday,Dec. 22,1998, executive
members ofthe state's police training
board agreed that their agency will not
certify potential law-enforcement
officers hired by the reservation's tribal
council under the present arrangement.
The board's decision came after more
than an hour's debate and advice about
the state's liability and the law were
made by attorney Michelle Owen of
the Minnesota Attorney General's
office and your writer. Your reporter
advised board members to read Press/
ON's recent civil suit against theMille
Lacs reservation and Mille Lacs
County.
No representatives from the White
Earth reservation were present during
the discussion. Reports say the tribal
council did not receive a formal
invitation to attend the meeting. A
press release on the training board's
decision is expected before Christmas.
Under pressure from theU.S. Justice
Department and with the reservation
more than $9 million in debt, White
Earth tribal council members and
Mahnomen County officials signed
the agreement on Dec. 4, 1998. At a
community meeting in Mahnomen on
Dec. 16, 1998, reservation attorney
Zenas Baer described the deal as
"unprecedented" to a group of more
than two hundred people who were
mostly non-Indians. Baer was told by
one ofthe Indian people who attended
the meeting that under federal Indian
law, this type of agreement has to be
voted on by tribal members.
Attorney Owen told members ofthe
White Earth/to pg. 3
Voice ofthe People
e-mail presson@paulbunyan.net
California Governor-elect Gray Davis dances
in Grand Entry
Davis vows a new era of Indian relations
By Doug Casgraux
INDIO,CA - In a historical move,
Governor-Elect Gray Davis (D) in an
open act of gratitude and solidarity of
California Indian Tribes; participated
as "Honored Guest" of the Cabazon
Indian Nation Pow-wow on November
28th. Cabazon Tribal Chairman John
James,along with the full tribal
counsel and elders were honored in a
"nation to nation" ceremony.
The Governor-Elect showed his
deep honor and commitment by
dancing side-by-side with the
Cabazon Nation leadership and some
500 other dancers in full regalia from
Indian Nations across the United
States, Canada and Mexico.
Participating with Davis was his
wife Sharon, along with Lieutenant
Governor-Elect, Cruz Bustamonte (D)
and Attorney General-Elect Bill
Lockyer (D), who joined with the
Governor-Elect as an open gesture
putting to an end the suppressive anti-
Indian policies of the past sixteen
years of Republican domination.
"We are so very proud, it's not
everyday that you get all three ofthe
top leaders of a state, especially
California, to come to your nation.
This is the first time we've ever seen a
Governor of California, and we are
pleased that he has chosen our nation,
and this pow-wow to show his
concern for Indian People who have
been so oppressed throughout
California's history," stated Mark
Nicholls, CEO ofthe Cabazon Nation.
As a high point of "ceremony" the
California state flag was presented and
^
American
Press
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
in
Volume 11 Issue n
December 25,1838
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1888
California/to pg. 3
Council rejects proposal on reform
DURANT, Okla. (AP) - The rejection
of a proposal to give Choctaw Tribal
Council candidates more access to
voters may not be the end of the
debate.
Choctaw CouncilmanRandle Durant
says he expects to see a compromise
approved before the chiefs election in
June. The tribal council recently
rejected a bill by Councilman Glenn
Johnson that would have provided
challengers forthe council and chiefs
post access to the voter registration
list.
Johnson also wanted the tribal
newspaper, the Bishinik, to give equal
time to challenger candidates rather
than focusing only on incumbents and
their pet projects.
Chief Greg Pyle opposed passage.
He said changes he instituted after
becoming chief in June 1997 go far
enough. Pyle instituted a policy under
which voters will be sent a card asking
whetherthey want theirnames released
to the general public. The card will be
mailed 90 days before the chiefs
election in June.
The council voted 7-4 against
Johnson's bill. There was one
abstention. Johnson said the nation's
third-largest tribe remains light years
away from calling itself a democracy.
"Greg is fond of saying we need to
do the right thing." Johnson said. "B it
that sounds empty if he doesn't do the
right thing in this area."
Johnson said he wants to have the
card that is mailed out state that
information would be released only to
candidates fortribal office. He worries
that the phrase "to the general public"
would make itappear that voters'names
would be sold to junk mail distributors.
Pyle said the specific wording will be
decided by the tribal council early next
year.
Durant, who supported Johnson's
bill, believes something can be worked
out. "My personal opinion is that our
chief is doing a fine job and that he
could probably win the election with
everybody having the names."
Johnson also wants an outside
company to handle absentee electing
ballots. A large majority ofthe votes in
the last chiefs election in 1994 were by
absentee ballot.
Sacajawea's descendants call for accurate
coin
FORT HALL, Idaho (AP) - Lemhi
Shoshone tribal member Emma Tendoy
carried her baby on a willow
cradleboard before she died in the
1920s, just like generations of women
before her from the eastern Idaho tribe.
So why is Tendoy's great-great-
great-aunt Sacajawea carrying her
baby, Baptiste, with ashawl in a portrait
on the U.S. Mint's design forthe new
dollar coin?
Tendoy's granddaughter, Rozina
George, said she is angry about the
misrepresentation of herancestor who
traveled 1804-1806 with Meriweather
Lewis and William Clark from St. Louis
to the Pacific Ocean and back.
The U. S. Fine Arts Commission voted
unanimously Thursday to recommend
the coinportrait of Sacajawea carrying
herchild inashawl. Treasury Secretary
Robert Rubin will make the final
decision in January, said Philip Diehl,
U.S.MintdirectorinWashington,D.C.
George and others on the Fort Hall
Indian Reservation are chal lenging the
coin design.
The woman is not dressed like a
Lemhi Shoshone, and she appears
olderand more masculine than the 15-
year-old Sacajawea, George said. "The
coin won't have the blessing of the
Lemhi Shoshone," said George, who
Sacajawea/topg.3
State, Lac Du Flambeau reaches deal for
gambling contract extension
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The state
agrees to extend a casino gambling
compact for the Lac du Flambeau
Chippewa who will pay Wisconsin
$3.69 million over five years, the
governor's office said Friday.
While paying $738,000 annually, the
Lac du Flambeau will require patrons
to be at least 21 years old and will
provide the state with accounting
reports within 48 hours ofa request, a
statement by Gov. Tommy Thompson
said.
The Lac du Flambeau are one of 11
American Indian tribes or bands that
have reached agreement with the state
or are negotiating with the state on
renewal of their casino compacts. The
governor has insisted the reservations
provide the state with shares of their
gambling profits.
Under the original compacts, the
tribes collectively paid $350,000 a year.
The new Lac du Flambeau payments
are to begin no later than July 1,2000,
the statement said. "This extension
provides the state and the Lac du
Flambeau tribe a fair agreement," it
said.
The compact extension establishes
stronger regulatory controls,
reimbursement of public services
provided by local governments and
municipal compensation by February
1999,itsaid.
The Lac du Flambeau Indian
Reservation is in northern Wisconsin
northwest of Minocqua. Reservation
officials had met with municipal
officials in a Milwaukee suburb about
locating a casino in their community.
The state recently approved a new
compact with the Potawatomi who
operate a casino in downtown
Milwaukee. Under that arrangement,
the tribe pays the state $6,375 million
foreach year of the five-year compact
and can add 800'slot machines if city
and county legislators allow.
Additionally, there have been
published reports that the city and
county couldshare$6 million from the
tribe as compensation for municipal
services. The largest annual payment
to the state, $7.5 million, is in a five-
year agreement announced Dec. 11
with the Ho-Chunk Nation, the formal
name of the Wisconsin Winnebago
tribe. It operates casinos near
Wisconsin Dells, Nekoosa and Black
River Falls and has talked about adding
Las Vegas-style games at a Madison
bingo parlor.
White Earth attorney Zenas Baer (I) and Mahnomen County Sheriff Richard Rooney (r) field questions at a
December 16 meeting to promote a controversial county-reservation law enforcement agreement.
Before Wadena can be part of solution, he
must acknowledge his role in the problem
against the BIA to prevent the
installation ofa tribal "goon squad."
As recently as Sept. 16 1996, Baer
challenged the legitimacy of
Anderson's finding in Cass County
court (RBC v. Hunt) and cited an
earlier solicitor's opinion which
"concluded that the Tribal
Constitution needed to be amended
before a Court of general jurisdiction
could be established." Baer also
argued that the tribe never took any
action to authorize such courts and
that any such legislation "must be
reviewed by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs pursuant to the provisions of
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal
Constitution, Article XV."
Today, it is Vizenor that is arrogantly
smirking as she defies the will of those
she claims to represent. If the RBC's
claim of 90% support for its law
Commentaty
By Jeff Armstrong
Whether one views Darrell (Chip)
Wadena as a returning hero, villain or
pawn, his role in the development of
today's Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is
hard to dispute. As Wadena's latest
successor, John Buckanaga, pointed
out at a Dec. 16 meeting in Mahnomen,
the court system and laws which the
RBC is now attempting to impose on
the people of White Earth were
initiated, conceived and drafted under
the convicted former chairman's
administration.
It was Chip Wadena who enlisted the
support of U.S. Senator Paul
Wellstone and four ofhis colleagues
in 1994 to pressure the Bureau of
Indian Affairs to abandon its
longstanding position that MCT
members     must    amend     their
constitution in order to create a tribal
court system. The BIA's reversal was
signed by then associate solicitor
Michael Anderson, who was
promoted the following year to deputy
commissioner, where he also signed a
controversial opinion against the
Hudson casino proposal which
elicited a federal investigation.
Less than one week after Wadena's
election judge, Carley Jasken, was
subpoenaed and a week before Jasken
was indicted on Sept. 20,1994, former
BIA director Ada Deer wrote: "Having
found such safeguards in the
Minnesota Chippewa constitution,
the Tribe's interpretation has been
given decisive weight...We look
forward to working with the
Minnesota Chippewa courts."
In 1994, it was current secretary
treasurer Erma Vizenor and attorney
Zenas Baer denouncing Anderson's
opinion and vowing legal action
Wadena/to pg. 5
Rognstad to take White Earth job
Federal judge's ruling block Pequot
annexation
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A federal judge has sided with the state and
three small southeastern Connecticut
towns, ruling the Mashantucket
Pequots cannot annex 165 acres outside their reservation.
Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal and officials from the neighboring towns of North Stonington,
Preston and Ledyard have argued for
three years that adding the land to the
tribe's federal trust would remove it
from the tax rolls and zoning regulations. "It's the most thrilling news
we've had concerning land use issues
in years and years," said Madeline
Jeffery,aleaderof the North Stonington
anti-annexation movement.
U.S. Judge Robert N. Chatigny's
ruling Tuesday was in response to the
Blumenthal's and the towns' appeal of
a May 1995 U.S. DepartmentofInterior
decision allowing the Pequots to ex
pand its more than 1,000-acre reservation in Ledyard.
Chatigny ruled the Pequots' reservation boundaries are set by the federal Settlement Act and cannot be extended by the administrative decree of
federal officials. "The ruling has far
reaching ramifications in establishing
specific, fixed boundaries for this
tribe's reservation property and as-
Federal/to pg. 3
By Charmaine Barranco
Bemidji Pioneer Staff Writer
Beltrami County Sheriff DeeWayne
Rognstad is returning to his homeland.
After four years as sheriff, Rognstad
will soon step into his new role as the
first public safety director forthe White
Earth Reservation, where he is a tribal
member.
With many ofhis family still livingon
White Earth, Rognstad said, "This
opening gave me the chance to work
on my home reservation. I've never
done that before on a full-time basis.
Plus, I like the challenge of starting a
new police force."
Also to Rognstad's liking is the tribal
council's "positive approach" to law
enforcement.
"We have some bugs to work out,
but in the end we will produce a good
quality police force we can match up
with any department," Rognstad said.
"We have to earn respect through
deeds. Respect is not given - it's
earned."
Rognstad applauds the recent law
enforcement agreement between
Mahnomen County and the White
Earth Band of Chippewa.
That agreement allows tribal police
officers to be deputized by county
officials, enabling them to work with
thesheriffsdepartmenttoenforce laws
in reservation communities. The entire
county lies within the White Earth
Indian Reservation.
After Mahnomen County residents
expressed concern about the
agreement at a recent meeting, another
informational meeting has been
planned for January 10 in Bejou.
"It (the agreement) is a positive step
forward," Rognstad said. "I don't want
people tq get the impression that we're
taking over.
"Mahnomen provided the best law
enforcement they could with limited
resources," he continued. "But the
bottom line is that we all deserve the
same amount of protection and
services. We're all cops and we need
to work together."
White Earth tribal officials are now
discussing similar agreements with
Becker and Clearwater counties.
After finishing his term as sheriff,
which ends in less than two weeks,
Rognstad will begin over-seeing all
aspects ofthe Wh i te Earth Tri bal Po 1 ice
Department. His duties will include
supervising conservation officers,
security personnel and the dispatch
center.
Rognstad is a 15-year law
enforcement veteran. Eight years of
his career were spent at the Beltrami
County Sheriffs Office, first as adeputy
and then as sheriff.
He was also a police officer for the
Bureau oflndian Affairs at Nett Lake
for six years.