Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-01-08

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WE/Mahnomen officers to undergo
background checks as agreement unravels
By Gary Blair
Problems continue to grow for White
Earth's law-enforcement agreement
with Mahnomen County. Three weeks
ago, theMinnesotaPeaceOfficers Standards and Training (POST) Board's
executive committee decided not to
certify police officers hired by the reservation because of liability concerns
from the State Attorney General's Office. That decision blocked the agreement already signed on December 4,
1998, from moving forward.
This week opponents of the
agreement at White Earth are alleging
that the personnel already hired under
the joint law-enforcement agreement
with Mahnomen County have questionable backgrounds that include
felony convictions. According to
Press/ON sources, independent background checks of potential police officers and supervisory staff already
hired by the reservation's tribal council will be conducted as aresultof these
allegations. What effect this information will have on the already troubled
agreement is uncertain.
June Kress of theU.S. Justice
Department, whose office approved a
$1 million grant to assist the White
Earth reservation with the development of law-enforcement program said
on Wednesday evening, "I wasn't
aware that White Earth's law-enforcement agreement wasn't approved by
the State. We already approved their
grant, but they haven't received any of
the funds yet."
Additional reports indicate that one
ofthe reservation's staff members who
receives a $40,000 annual salary from
the reservation's tribal council, is also
an investigator for White Earth tribal
attorney Zenas Baer. Furthermore,
Baer's law firm has a State Public
Defender's contract to serve clients
from the White Earth reservation.
Sources at White Earth say they plan to
file a complaint with that office.
An additional source told your writer
this week that the White Earth law-
enforcement agreement with
Mahnomen County was the State's
attempt to weaken the "Stone decision" that limited State traffic jurisdiction on the reservation.
Anyone with further information relevant to White Earth's law-
enforcement plans is asked to contact
the office ofthe Peace Officers Standards and Training Board in St. Paul,
MNat(612)643-3060.
•WE officers to undergo background checks as agreement unravels
»U.S. to review its compliance with international human rights treaties
•Senate committee to review Red Lake Walleye Recovery Plan, pg. 3
•There's a place for 'Little House' — but not in lower grades, pg. 4
•Inauguration of Jesse "The Mind" and the impeachment trial of "Bill the
Liar" causes shivers in the MN tribal establishment, pg. 4
•1999 Calendar, pg. 8
Voice ofthe People
1
e-mail: prsssoiKBpaulbunyan.iiBt
Navajo Indian irrigation project slated to
grow
^
American
Press
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) -- The
Navajo Indian Irrigation Project is
about to grow. A new water pumping
station scheduled to go on line this
spring will allow the irrigation of
another 50,000 acres ofNavajo farmland
south of Farmington.
"Our position is we want to develop
all of it," said Lorenzo Bates, manage*
of the Navajo Agricultural Products.
Industry.
The tribal farm, currently 60,000
acres, grows alfalfa, wheat, beans,
onions, corn and some potatoes. The
new pumping station will allow the
farm to grow thousands more acres of
potatoes.
The tribe has been negotiating with
R.D. Offutt Co. of Minnesota for
construction ofan $85 million french-
fry plant that could process 600 million
pounds of potatoes a year. Bates said
the pumping station was crucial for the
added acreage needed to feed the
french-fry plant.
The U.S. Bureau oflndian Affairs
expects the farm to quickly earn back
yheprojected $750 million construction
costs. So far the BIA has spent $475
million building it.
"The economic benefits will be an
agricultural economy that will probably
recover the costs in 10' years or so,
meaning it will pump that much money
back into the local economy," said
Ross Mooney, an agricultural official
with theU.S. Bureau oflndian Affairs.
"In the last two years," says Bates,
"we've basically broken even. We've
invested and used all the monies that
have been generated off the farm and
reinvested it."
Right now, the farm employs 345
people full-time and another 1,200
during harvest time. When completed
itwill use 508,000 acre-feetof irrigation
water a year. An acre-foot, about
325,000 gallons, is the amount required
to cover an acre a foot deep and will
serve a family of four for about a year.
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'Crying Indian1 Iron Eyes Cody of anti-littering
ads dies
LOS ANGELES (AP) - His acting
credits date to the silent movie era and
include dozens of films, but Iron Eyes
Cody created his most enduring role
with a single tear in a television
commercial.
Cody, a former Oklahoman who was
in his 80s or90s, died of natural causes
Monday at his home in Los Angeles,
police spokesman Ed Funes said.
Cody was best known as the "Crying
Indian" in the Keep America Beautiful
ads that showed him mourning, and
shedding a single tear at the sight of
a pristine landscape fouled by litter.
"It was more than advertising," said
Roger Powers, who was president of
the group in 1970, when a California
advertising agency discovered Cody.
"What we found, it was a stroke of
luck, was a man who lived it and
believed in it."
Cody filmed three more public
service announcements and spent the
next 25 years making public
appearances and visits to schools on
behalf of the movement, Powers said.
Cody was born in Oklahoma, but the
exact date of birth wasn't known.
Reference books give various dates,
from 1904 to 1915.
Based on his credits, his most likely
date of birth was 1907. Cody followed
his Cherokee Indian father, Thomas
Long Plume, as a performer in circuses
and Wild West shows and made his
first film appearance as an extra in the
1919 silent "Back to God's Country."
Cody went on to appear in more than
80 films in American Indian roles: often
his character was listed as simply
"Indian," "Indian Chief' or "Indian
Joe." In one film, "Perils of Nyoka" in
1942, he had an uncredited role as
"Arab."
His credits included "Sitting Bull" in
1954, "The Great Sioux Massacre" in
1965,"NevadaSmith"in 1966, "A Man
CalledHorse "in 1970 and "ErnestG>
to Camp" in 1987. Cody also served as
a technical adviser on Indian matters
in films.
In television, he had guest
appearances on "Bonanza,"
"Gunsmoke" and "Rawhide." Cody's
wife died in 1978. He is survived by a
son; three grandchildren; and a niece.
On a snowy Saturday morning, in a quiet stand of woods at the Izaak Walton League property on N. West River Road in Brooklyn Park,
near where his political life began. Jesse Ventura lofted a bald eagle into the bracing wind, the first event ofthe inaugural celebration for
Minnesota s new governor. To glove-muffled applause, the adult bird, found last fall in a leg-hold trap near Grand Rapids, Minn., and
rehabilitated by the University ofMinnesota's Raptor Center, lifted on strong wings, circled and settled in a nearby tree, as if to get its bearings.
United States to review its compliance with
international human rights treaties
Wisconsin governor favors tavern slot
machines if taxed
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Installing slot
machines in Wisconsin taverns
represents a source of tax revenue,
Gov. Tommy Thompson said in an
interview with a newspaper. "What we
should do right now is get in and
regulate it, supervise it and control it,
and tax it," Thompson said. "It would
be the right thing."
There is an uneven pattern of
machines being confiscated and tavern
owners being prosecuted, the governor
said in an interview published Sunday
in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Legislature should link the
machines to the state lottery because
of the growing number of illegal
machines and the reluctance of local
authorities to arrest the operators of
those devices, he said.
Voters changed the state
Constitution in 1993 to specify that
only lottery-type games are legal
outside American Indian reservations.
The governor's remarks on video
gambling come about two weeks after
Monroe County dropped felony
gambling charges against his brother,
Ed Thompson. The Monroe County
district attorney dropped the charges
after he failed to find unbiased jurors
to hear the case.
Ed Thompson could have served six
years in prison if he was convicted for
illegal gambling machines in his Tomah
supper club. Asked whether his
willingness to legalize video gambling
in taverns resulted from his brother's
case, Thompson did not answer
Governor/to pg. 3
Downtown Indian ruins dig up past for
transient Miami
MIAMI (AP) ~ The bare-chested
man arches the bow and aims his arrow
at the sky. Atop a downtown
drawbridge, the sculpture of the
Tequesta Indian and his family guards
the mouth ofthe Miami River. Now it
also stands sentinel over an
archaeological dig wedged among
downtown skyscrapers. What is likely
prehistoric ruins from the extinct tribe
have been unearthed on land slated for
ahigh-rise condominium.
The discovery ofa circle made up of
dozens of holes carved into bedrock
limestone has captured the imagination
of city dwellers. Daily, people show up
at the fenced-in site to watch
researchers sifting the black dirt. Some
even get dirty helping hunt for animal
bones and pieces of pottery.
For a city with a largely transient
population, where native-born
Floridians are almost as rare as
manatees, the five-month dig has
created a sense that there is more to
Miami than neon, drug-related killings
and gaudy tourists.
"It allows the public to get a glimpse
of what life was like so long ago," said
John M. Ricisak, historic preservation
specialist with Miami-Dade County.
"Even people who have lived here all
their lives have the idea that the history
Ruins/to pg. 5
By Jeff Armstrong
In a low-key response to criticism of
U.S. violations of international human
rights conventions ratified by the
Senate, President Clinton signed an
executive order creating an
interagency working group to monitor
and review governmental compliance
with such treaties.
"It shall be the policy and practice
ofthe United States, being committed
to the protection and promotion of
human rights and fundamental
freedoms, fully to respect and
implement its obligations under the
international human rights treaties to
which it is a party, including the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), the
Convention Against Torture and other
cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and
the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination,"
the executive order states.
Signed on the 50th anniversary ofthe
U.N. Declaration of Human Rights,
Clinton's Dec. 10 order commits the
federal go^rnment to improve its
"monitoring of the actions by the
various States, Commonwealths, and
territories of the United States and,
where appropriate, of Native
Americans and Federally recognized
Indian tribes." However, while the
working group is mandated to review
state, territorial and commonwealth
laws for compliance with international
human rights standards and to
promote their implementation, tribes
are excepted from that provision.
The presidential order also makes
clear that it "does not supersede
Federal statutes" and creates no
executive branch obligation which
could be enforced in a court of law. Its
practical effect, moreover, is "subject
to the availability of appropriations"
by Congress.
An Amnesty International report on
the U.S., "Rights for All," had
recommended that the U.S. ratify the
ICCPR in its entirety and revise its
laws accordingly. "The U.S.A. has
declared that it will apply the ICCPR
and the Convention Against Torture
only to the extent domestic law allows,
effectively rendering the treaties
meaningless as a means of
strengthening human rights
protection," the report stated.
Under the executive order, the
interagency working group, made up
of assistant secretaries from the
federal departments of State, Justice,
Labor, Defense, the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and other agencies named by
the chair, will be bound to review
proposed congressional legislation
and make yearly recommendations on
Compliance/to pg. 5
More than 800 turn out for meeting on Oneida
Indians' lawsuit
Vote on constitutional amendments could
affect planned casino
KESHENA, Wis. (AP) - A vote by
members ofthe Menominee tribe could
affect the fate ofa proposed $200 million
casino inKenosha. The vote scheduled
Wednesday asks whether the tribe
should adopt several proposed
amendments to its constitution that
supporters say are necessary for the
casino project to continue.
The tribe and a group of investors
want to buy Kenosha's Dairyland
Greyhound Park for $45 million and
turn the race track into a 3,600-slot
casino.
The amendments would create an
off-reservation court to handle
disputes at the casino and a limited
waiver of the tribe's immunity as a
sovereign nation.
If a negative vote does not stop the
project, "it would severely disrupt it,"
Menominee Vice Chairman Wendell
Askenette said. "It would, forthe most
part, stop it in its tracks."
But some members of the
northeastern Wisconsin tribe say the
amendments could erode the tribe's
sovereignty.
Tribe member Sylvia Wilber of
Keshena said the amendments, if
passed, would strip the tribe of its right
to manage its affairs, and would create
a precedent for such a trend to
continue. "This proposed amendment
rips the heart out of the concept of
sovereignty," Wilber said.
The casino also needs the approval
of the governor, the U.S. Interior
Department and the National Indian
Gaming Commission. Results of the
vote are expected Friday.
VERONA, N.Y. (AP) - The
longstanding land dispute between
the Oneida Indian Nation and New
York state has come to this: an e-mail
address, website, and hotline to ease
the fears of property owners.
Those fears remain great, and that
was never more evident than
Wednesday night. Not even winter's
first real blast of arctic air and driving
snow could deter a standing-room-
only crowd of more than 800 from
jamming the auditorium at Vernon-
Verona-Sherrill High School for an
informational meeting on the dispute.
They came seeking assurance that their
homes were safe, that they didn't have
to live in fear of financial ruin.
A panel of officials and lawyers,
including Oneida County Executive
Ralph Eannace, state negotiator Jan
Farr and Rochester attorney Bob
Witmer, tried for2 1/2-hours to provide
J
answers to an angry audience that
seemingly had lost faith in its elected
officials.
"They (the Oneidas) want to be paid
for 200 years of injustice, and they
want it to be taken out of my pocket,"
Sherrill resident Ron Sidarine said. "I
feel you people have dropped the ball."
Those who live in the disputed area
in Oneida and Madison counties are
especially concerned now that the
Oneidas are threatening to sue some
20,000 landowners to get back what
the tribe considers ancestral property
that was taken illegally from their
ancestors.
It is a convoluted situation. Nobody
really knows the boundaries of the
land claim because it's based on 200-
year-old maps, and the Oneidas just
picked around number of 20,000 foran
amended lawsuit they filed three weeks
ago but don't have any names yet.
Both sides are seeking a negotiated
settlement. "Everyone agrees that this
should be settled, not decided by a
judge," Witmersaid. "The settlement
should allow the two cultures to exist
side by side in harmony."
Whirier, who represents Oneida and
Madison counties, said the goals are
that no private landowner should be
required to give up land, that Indian
country should be a separate entity
and not spread out all over the place,
and that all land claims be released.
The meeting, organized by Eannace,
came just a week after U.S. District
Court Judge Neal McCurn called for
mediation in an attempt to end the
dispute. McCurn said he wants the
defendants and plaintiffs to give him
names of potential mediators by Jan.
11. "This needs to be over with so we
can go on and live our lives," Eannace
said. The whole mess began more than
Oneida/to pg. 3