The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-12-25

              MCT tribal members protest exclusion
from state/tribal judges' committee
By Jeff Armstrong
State judges pleaded ignorance to
charges of violating tribal members'
civil rights as they met in secret with
their purported tribal counterparts at
Fond du Lac's Blackbear Casino Sept.
16. If successful, the Minnesota Tribal/
State Court Committee could clear the
way for state and tribal judges to
enforce each other's rulings, a move
many fear would serve only to prop up
a faltering MCT dictatorship and
remove jurisdictional obstacles to
harassment by state law enforcement.
Blackbear security guards blocked
the doors to the casino conference
room, where a state Supreme Court-
sponsored committee of state and tribal
court personnel met to discuss matters
of vital public policy.
Questioned on the exclusion of the
media and the public from the meeting,
Supreme Court justice Edward
Stringer professed that he was unaware
of such a ban. "You'll have to ask the
chairman," said Stringer. The high
court judge said state open meeting
laws do not apply to the judges on the
reservation.
State judges Jim Clifford, John
Oswald, and Russell Anderson
similarly denied knowledge that the
meeting was closed to the public, but
all said they would raise the issue at
the meeting. None apparently did, and
committee chair Sandra Gardebring, a
state Supreme Court justice, could not
be reached for comment at the time.
She later agreed to an interview with
the Press (see 3 ).
Minutes from past meetings reveal
that the committee decided at its first
session in April to exclude non-court
personnel from membership on the
committee. There is, however, no
record ofa decision to meet in closed
session.
Since committee members could
point to no formal exclusion policy by
the committee, this reporter attempted
to follow a state judge into the meeting
but was pushed back by lead security
guard Gina, who declined to further
identify herself. She said she was acting
under orders from Fond du Lac
attorney Dennis Peterson, an
individual member of the committee
who reserved the room for the meeting.
"We don't have any human or civil
Protest cont'd on 5
MCT tribal members protest exclusion from meeting
Bois Forte RBC chairman elections Thursday, Oct. 9
Barbara Carison Tours Mpls. Indian Neighborhoods
EarthStar gaming funds under scrutiny
Justice Gardebring answers criticism/ pg 3
Voice ofthe People
1
e-mail: presson@bji.net
Fifty Cents
:ourt personnel met to discuss matters   the Press (see J j. r IUICOL ouiuu un o
EarthStar gaming funds under scrutiny as
Elders Lodge splits from group
arouns hire their own staff to ODerate   membt
By Gary Blair
Litigation is now being proposed
as a means to recover the charitable
gambling funds that remain under the
gpntrol of EarthStar, Inc., a non-profit
organization that developed the Elders
Lodge in St. Paul, MN.
Prosper Waukon, a member of the
newly-formed Elders Lodge board of
directors, says the move will be taken
to insure that the funds will be used
for their intended purpose. Waukon
says the funds were supposed to be
used for support services for the
elderly Native American residents of
the lodge and the full-time salary of
the building's manager.
EarthStar's gambling funds are
raised from weekly bingo games held
at the Pot of Gold bingo hall in
Roseville, MN. Their non-profit
groups hire their own staff to operate
the games and then are required to
share part ofthe proceeds with the City
of Roseville's community
organizations. An additional portion
ofthe net-profits are also collected by
the state revenue department.
The remaining amount of the take
is kept by the organization who
sponsors the bingo game. In this case
EarthStar receives the funds, which
Waukon says have amounted to about
$110,000 in the last two years.
Instead, those revenues are
allegedly being used for two of
EarthStar's administrative staff
salaries, Perry Bolin and Frances Hart.
Bolin said recently that he had been
using the funds to pay his salary until
July of this year, but denied that Hart
had been paid with the gambling
funds.
Waukon, a former EarthStar board
member, says Bolin has also used
those funds as a "match" to leverage
additional funds for the EarthStar
organization. "That's why he (Bolin)
won't release those funds to the
lodge," he said during a Wednesday
meeting with Wilder Foundation staff
whose organization manages the Elder
Lodge.
So far, the controversy has
generated an initial probe of EarthStar
by the Minnesota Attorney General's
Office. "(AG Investigator) Jody Wahl
has asked me for the latest copy ofthe
Native American Press, which carried
the most recent story on EarthStar and
the Elders Lodge. And are you also
aware that EarthStar's former
accountant has already turned over
records to (investigator) Wahl?"
Waukon told the PRESS/ON on
Funds cont'd on 3
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988
Volume 9   Issue 51
October 3, 1 997
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Newt, 1997
Indian Humor Exhibit Opens at Weisman
Art Museum
by Julie Shortridge
Comedian Charlie Hill had all 250
.„„.,_..,.. ,-..,;,....,. Mative a^d
Chimook, chuckling opening night at
a new art exhibit entitled Indian
Humor. His stand-up performance was
part of the grand opening festivities
Saturday, September 27.
The traveling exhibit, organized by
American Indian Contemporary Arts
in San Francisco, started its three-year
national tour in 1995. It will be
running at the Weisman Art Museum
in Minneapolis through January 4,
1998, and is free to the public.
The exhibit contains 87 objects by
38 artists, including paintings,
photography, sculpture, textiles, and
mixed media work. A 120-page color
catalog ofthe exhibit is also available.
National exhibit organizer Sara
Bates said, "Indian Humor has been
Ulfeaiiiz(. J lO aiicinpi iv allow...u SmSri
piece of the diversity which exists
among living Native American artists
and communities. ...We are living
cultures."
Minneapolis artist Jeffery Chapman
from White Earth is represented in the
national tour. In addition, Minnesota
Indian Humor is presented in
conjunction with the national tour
showing works by six local artists,
including Jim Denomie, Lisa Fifield,
Eva Two Crow, Chad Uran, Al
Wadzinski, and Anthony White.
Juanita Espinosa ofNative Arts Circle
organized the Minnesota portion of
the exhibit.
Starting October 10 more works by
local artists will be shown in the
exhibit Red Humor at the Two Rivers
Gallery hi the Indian Ccnit-i on'
Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis.
What: Indian Humor art exhibit,
and many special events while the
exhibit is running (see list of events
accompanying this article)
Where: Weisman Art Museum,
333 East River Road, University of
Minnesota Campus, Minneapolis
(612) 625-9494 (Parking ramp
directly South of Museum)
When: September 27,1997-January
4, 1998 M - closed T, W, F - 10am -
5pm Th -10 am-8pm S, Su -11 am-5pm
Humor cont'd on 6
Photo by Julie Shortridge
The Carlson entourage at the "Anishinabe Wakiagun," the housing facility in Minneapolis for chronic
alcoholics and drug abusers who are homeless. Pictured left to right are Minneapolis mayoral candidate
Barbara Carlson, flanked by her campaign manager, Marry Glanville. PRESS/ON reporter Gary Blair.
London (England) Times reporter Tony Mills, Minneapolis firefighter Leonard Thompson and journalist/
civil rights activist, Ron Edwards.
Barbara Carison Tours Minneapolis Indian
Neighborhoods Says she'd be an out-front Mayor
Indian Health Service Headquarters faces
possible reduction
The Indian Health Service
announced today that Headquarters
restructuring and funding levels will
reach a level in Fiscal Year 1998 that
will likely require a reduction in the
number of Headquarters employees.
The Indian Health Service has
managed to avoid involuntarily
reducing Headquarters employees
since 1994 by not filling vacancies
unless critically required and
approved on a case-by-case basis, by
reducing the number of employees
through buyouts and early retirement
and by applying financial management
tools and adjustments and reducing
contracted administrative services.
"Beginning in Fiscal Year 1994 we
told our employees that a reduction in
force would be a last resort option,"
said Luana Reyes, Director of
Headquarters Operations for the
Indian Health Service. "We are faced
with an increasing Headquarters
payroll deficit beginning in Fiscal
Year 1998 that will increase to several
million dollars by Fiscal Year 2000.
We have reached the point where it is
no longer possible to keep
Headquarters solvent without using all
the management and personnel tools
available to us."
The Indian Health Service
Headquarters is looking to manage the
deficit by reassigning, reducing, or
transferring functions that are not core
Headquarters functions. The Indian
Health Design Team, a tribally
directed group, recommended that the
functions of Headquarters reflect a
change of direction from one of
overseeing programs to one of
supporting programs in the field. This
change is reflected in the
Headquarters core functions of
advocacy, policy development, and
health leadership.
Headquarters restructuring and
downsizing is also in response to the
pressure to reduce the size of the
Federal Government, to respond to
Congressional budget cuts in
appropriations for administrative
functions, and to respond to the
transfer of Headquarters tribal shares.
Even without budget pressures,
restructuring would take place as a
result of good management practices.
The deficit is a result of reduced
appropriations for Headquarters
functions for all agencies of the
Government. It also reflects the
impact ofthe modest budget increases
that the Indian Health Service has
received but that do not cover the
mandatory cost increases of more than
$ 100 million each year. "Even though
the increases do not cover our
mandatory costs," said Reyes, "it
reflects the priority that Congress
places on our program. Most agencies
did not receive an increase and many
had their budgets decreased."
By Julie Shortridge
Barbara Carlson wants to be Mayor
of Minneapolis. She has been a businesswoman, City Council Member,
radio talk-show host, television public affairs commentator, and community activist. Outspoken, assertive,
caring and fearless, Carlson seems
ready to take over this city. On Tuesday afternoon September 30, she took
a tour of portions of the Phillips
neighborhood in south Minneapolis
near the Indian Center on Franklin
Avenue. Tour guides were Gary Blair,
reporter for this newspaper; Leonard
Thompson, firefighter for Minneapolis; and Ron Edwards, civil rights activist and local cable TV journalist.
Carlson's campaign manager. Marty
Glanville, a reporter from the London
Times (England) Tony Mills and this
reporter were also present The tour
was intentionally spontaneous and
unplanned. "We didn't want people
cleaning things up to put on a happy
face," said Blair, who coordinated the
event.
The Indian Center
Apparently no one got advance
word of our arrival. The Indian Center property was a mess. Stairwells
outside the Indian Center are full of
garbage, urine, feces, rotting food and
stench. Hidden in the landscape shrubbery and playground equipment on the
property are old mattresses and makeshift beds, and people appear to be
living under the walkway leading into
the Center. Without any effort, we saw
on Indian Center property a man selling drugs (it appeared to be crack cocaine), a man scoping out cars in the
parking lot obviously looking for
something to steal, a group of people
drinking, a couple sniffing solvents,
and a man retrieving a hatchet from
the weeds where he had apparently
stashed it earlier.
The Indian Center, which gets
money from corporate and governments grants, houses a restaurant, craft
store, monthly newspaper, framing
shop, art gallery and many community service programs, including Job
Carlson cont'd on 8
Federal judge rules in state-tribal lawsuit
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) _ Slot
machines are illegal in Washington
state and therefore cannot be
negotiated in gambling compacts
between the state and Indian tribes, a
federal judge has ruled.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge
Fred Van Sickle resolves a "friendly
lawsuit" the state filed against eight
tribes in November 1995 in a dispute
over the gaming devices, which the
tribes contended are allowed under
the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act.
Van Sickle's ruling, made public
Monday, accepted the state's argument
that Washington law expressly
prohibits slot machines and other
forms of machine gaming and that,
therefore, the devices are not permitted
under the federal law.
The tribes have asked to meet with
state officials to clarify which games
are "on the table" in future negotiations
"and we're certainly going to do that,"
Jim Pharris, a senior assistant attorney
general in Olympia said Tuesday.
The ruling does not directly affect
two tribes that operate slots in their
casinos, the Spokanes and Colvilles,
which did not enter into the lawsuit,
Pharris said.
The Spokane Tribe of Indians and
the Colville Confederated Tribes
operate several thousand slotmachines
_ illegally, the state claims _ on their
Eastern Washington reservations.
A separate federal lawsuit on the
legality of those gambling devices is
pending in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in San Francisco.
Van Sickle's ruling clarified
interpretations ofthe 1988 federal law
that opened up reservation gaming, as
well defining what types of games and
gaming devices are negotiable under
state law, Pharris said.
"The question was really... whether
slot machines were prohibited or not,"
Lawsuit cont'd on 4
Crow tribal head reported indicted on
federal charges
Report focuses on casino's positives, negatives
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)_The head
of the Crow tribal government has
been indicted by a federal grandjury
on charges she illegally diverted more
than $400,000 in tribal funds,
according to a broadcast report.
Television station KTVQ in Billings
said the indictment is still sealed by
the court. U.S. Attorney Sherri
Matteuci declined comment, saying
she can not talk about sealed
indictments.
KTVQ quoted unidentified sources
close to the investigation as saying the
case against Chairman Clara Nomee
is tied to a land deal with defendants in
three previous federal cases.
Those cases involve Richard
Whitesell, area director for the Bureau
oflndian Affairs; John Pereau, former
superintendent for Crow Agency; and
Myron Pease, former credit officer for
the BIA. All are charged with
conspiracy to defraud the United States
or using public money for personal
gain.
The station said the new indictment
alleges Nomee illegally diverted tribal
funds for the land.
Crow Tribal Council members
refused to comment on the report, but
Nomee's attorney, Penny Strong, said
Nomee intends to fight the charges.
"We're asking that everyone
assumes there is a presumption of
innocence here," she said.
She also noted that tribal law allows
Nomee to retain her seat while the
case is pending.
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ The state
should renew its gaming compact with
the Oneida Indians next year because
gambling profits have helped the tribe
fight poverty and build an economic
base for the future, a study says.
"Gaming has worked better than any-
set of public anti-poverty programs to
improve the lot ofthe Oneidas today
and to provide bright prospects for the
future," according to the study released
today by the Wisconsin Policy
Research Institute, a conservative think
tank.
But the report also suggests that a
new gaming compact should include
guarantees by the tribe to pay more
substantial contributions for social
costs of problem gambling.
"Oneida gaming activities are having
significant impacts on the surrounding
community. Some effects are very
positive. Others are not so positive,"
the report said.
On the plus side, money spent at the
casino "quickly finds its way back
into the local economy," the report
said.
"Tribal employees spend their wages
in the local economy, often on the
same kinds of things gamblers would
have spent it on," according to the
J
study by Daniel J. Alesch, a senior
fellow ofthe institute and a professor
at the University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay.
On the minus side, incidents of
compulsive gambling and gambling
addiction have increased because of
the casinos and can cut into gambling's
profitability, the report said.
The study examined research
conducted by others on the economic
and social impacts of tribal-run
gambling has on the Green Bay area.
It concluded that the economic
Report cont'd on 3
8