Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-01-15

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WE cross-deputization at impasse, awaiting
approval from MN Attorney General
By Gary Blair
A concealed cross-deputization plan
between White Earth and Mahnomen
County officials has turned into a
public impasse, as both sides now
await approval ofthe agreement from
the Minnesota Attorney General's
Office.
At issue is whether the Minnesota
Peace Officers Standards and Training
(POST) Board Is certification of police
officers hired under this agreement
create unreasonable liability for the
State of Minnesota. Approval of the
law enforcement agreement took place
onDec.4,1998.
This latest twist now calls into
question the POST board's role in two
similar law enforcement agreements.
Your writer has learned that related
agreements at Fond du Lac and Mille
Lacs reservations are also faulty. Two
of the officers hired at Fond du Lac
reportedly do not meet the educational
and training standards required for
certification by the POST board.
However, there was a tentative
certification of officers hired underthe
Fond du Lac agreement by the POST
board. At the same time, that
reservation's cross-deputization plan
with St. Louis and Carlton Counties
has not received final approval.
The law enforcement agreement
between the Mille Lacs reservation
and Mille Lacs County does not meet
certification requirements by the POST
board. The Mille Lacs agreement also
does not follow guidelines of federal
Indian law that requires a majority vote
of reservation members for these types
of agreements.
There are likewise no provisions in
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's
constitution allowing for law-,
enforcement compacts between
Reservation Business Committees and
individual counties. Furthermore, the
Impasse/to pg.5
Wadena reportedly seeking TEC censure,
new reservation election
By Gary Blair
The early release from prison of former
White Earth chairman, Darrell "Chip"
Wadena and his gang has apparently
given tribal chairman John Buckanaga
and secretary/treasurer Erma Vizenor
quite a scare.
According to a January 6,1999 article
(reprinted elsewhere on this page) in
the Becker County Record newspaper,
Buckanaga and Vizenor are trying to
find a way to keep Wadena from
regaining power on the troubled
reservation. It appears the pair has
forgotten that Wadena's gang and
others are still facing another federal
theft investigation.
Sources at Cass Lake say that on
January 6th, Chip Wadena and fellow
gang members Jerry Rawley and Rickie
Clark were seen entering the office of
Gary Frazer, executive director ofthe
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
Reports say Frazer and his old boss
Wadena have hatched a plan that
wouldcall forthecensureofBuckanaga
and Vizenor by the TEC at their
upcoming January 20th meeting at the
Fortune Bay Casino. If the plan is
successful, a recall of Buckanaga and
Vizenorcould then take place and Chip
would be able to run for office again.
Additional sources say it will be at
least six months or more before the
Minnesota Attorney General's office
Wadena/topg.6
Draft order could allow removal of tribal
members from reservation
By Jamie Marks
Becker County Record
Two weeks after Darrell "Chip"
Wadena's return to the reservation,
the White Earth Tribal Council unveiled
apossible tool fordealing with the ex-
tribal chairman.
The draft exclusion and removal code,
presented at Tuesday's council
meeting in Pine Pint, provides for
removal of both Indians and non-
Indians from all or a portion of tribal
lands orbuilding forcomm itting certain
crimes or acts against the White Earth
Band, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, or
its members.
Tribal Judge Anita Fineday stressed
the draft order was written broadly and
was not aimed at a specific person.
But tribal council members have long
discussed a need to prevent Wadena
and other convicted tribal officials
from returning to power.
On Tuesday, tribal chairman John
Buckanaga again made reference to
the Wadena regime as a preclude to
discussing the draft order.
Ex-chairman Wadena, ex-secretary-
treasurer Jerry Raw ley and ex-d istrict
representative Rick Clark were
convicted on federal corruption
charges and imprisoned. Published
news reports said Wadena was released
Dec. 22,1998, and allowed to return to
his home in Naytahwaush.
In interviews published just prior to
his release, Wadena did not rule out a
possible run for tribal office, prompting
speculation about the impact of his
return to the reservation.
"We have been approached as
council members to look at some kind
of process for individuals who are
harmful to the tribe as a whole."
secretary-treasurer Erma Vizenor said.
Tribal council members asked
Fineday to draft the removal and
exclusion code, which was modeled
Draft/to pg. 5
Tribe sets 1998-99 general fund budget at
$6.29 million
By Jamie Marks
Detroit Lakes Tribune/Staff Writer
A $6.29 million general fund budget
was approved 4-0 by the White Earth
Tribal Council last week, giving tribal
members a rare glimpse of where the
general fund dollars are spent.
The general fund is a small part of the
tribe's overall operating budget for its
more than 100 programs. The overall
budget includes $37 million in special
revenue funds for separately funded
departments, such as the new tribal
police.
Funded largely by a federal grant,
tribal police and similar budgets are
handled separately because there is
little discretionary spending by the
tribe.
"They come with budgets attached
... they're pretty welI controlled by the
funding agencies—the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Indian Health Services,
or whatever," tribal finance director
John Meisinger said.
By contrast, tribal council members
have a great deal of discretion over the
general fund.
In the past, Meisinger said, the
general fund apparently was disbursed
without a preconceived budget in
mind. It took the finance office—along
with council members and department
heads—several months to come up
with what the current administration
considers the first realistic, concrete
general fund budget.
It leaves little wiggle room.
"It's going to be an adventure trying
to get through the year under those
restrictions," Meisinger warned tribal
officials at a meeting Tuesday.
Most ofthe staffs budget proposals
were cut to stay in line with revenues,
and officials arejust hoping to contain
spending accordingly.
The bulk ofthe tribe's nearly $6.29
million in revenues comes from two
sources—about$2.3 million in casino
profits and about $2.6 million from
Tribe/to pg. 3
Judge to investigate Babbitt's handling of
trust office
WASHINGTON (AP) - A judge
threatening to hold Interior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt in contempt for his
department's failure to hand over
Indian trust records for a lawsuit is
looking into Babbitt's recent moves
against the officials in charge of the
accounts.
As a contempt hearing opened
Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce
Lamberth announced he would
subpoena former Special Trustee Paul
Homan to testify about Babbitt's
actions.
Homan, a presidential appointee,
quit last week after Babbitt ordered a
reorganization ofthe trustoffice, which
is in charge of cleaning up nearly $3
billion in funds held for tribes and
individual Indians.
Homan, a former bank executive 4nd
federal bank regulator, wasn't
consulted about the overhaul and
accused Babbitt of undermining his
authority. "Don't you think Mr.
Homan's resignation flies in the face
ofthe secretary's contention that he's
acting in good faith?" thejudge asked
government lawyers.
The Interior Department is being
sued over its admitted decades-long
mismanagement of the Indian trust
funds, and the government lawyers
said Babbitt's reorganization of the
trust office showed he was dealing
with the problem.
His actions included reassigning the
top recordkeeping official. "If you've
got a football team that isn't winning,
sometimes the coach has got to go,"
said Justice Department lawyerPhillip
Brooks. "The secretary is entitled to
Babbitt/to Pg. 6
State to see large drop in payments from
Indian casinos this year
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The $44
million the state got last year in fees
from Indian casinos could dry up this
spring faster than a mud puddle under
a bright sun.
Under compacts signed in 1993 with
seven tribes, the state gets 8 percent of
each tribes' slot machine revenues
each year, enough to add up to $ 155.5
million since March 1994. But the tribes
can stop paying the money as soon as
any Detroit casino gets a temporary
license. And that could be as early as
May, according to Michigan Gaming
Control Board spokeswoman Jennifer
Bliss. "That's not a hard truth," Bliss
cautioned. "It's a difficult process.
But right now I would say May."
So far, state officials are saying little
about how the loss of the casino
revenues will play out. The state will
still be able to claim a share of slot
machine revenues from fourtribes that
justgotcompacts inDecember. Butno
one knows how soon those tribes will
have casinos up and running.
Even when the four new casinos are
open, the state can expect to get
roughly half the money it got from
tribes last year, Michigan Jobs
Commission spokesman Jim Tobin said.
Since all the money goes toward
economic development through the
Michigan Renaissance Fund those
efforts could suffer. "We will have to
refocus our priorities. There will be
some worthwhile projects that will be
tougher to do with a leaner budget,"
Tobinsaid. "Butwe're still happy to be
able to do what we can do."
The Detroit casinos, once they open,
will send some money to the state. But
•Appeals Court reaffirms state DUI jurisdiction on reservations
•WE cross-deputization at impasse, awaiting approval from MN Attorney General
•Wadena reportedly seeking TEC censure, new reservation election
•News from around Indian Country, pg. 2
•IRA allows U.S. to manufacture consent by creating reservation police states, pg. 3
•White Earth doing it right, pg. 4
•Red Lake man convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of minor, pg. 5
•Lessard's Red Lake fishing hearing angers Whitefeather, Moe, pg. 5
Voice ofthe People
1
e-mail. ppBSSon@paulfeunyan.net
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American
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We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1888
Volume 11 Issue 14
January K, 1888
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A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press, 1888
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nearly three weeks ofsub-zero temperatures, the deepfreeze of northern Minnesota has put at least 2-3 feet of ice on
Lake liemidji. With some areas ofthe lake looking like a small village, it is a virtual playground for those hardy natives who
lind enjoyment in the sport of ice fishing.
Appeals   Court   reaffirms   state   DUI
jurisdiction on reservations
By Jeff Armstrong
The Minnesota Court of Appeals
upheld the conviction of a Fond du
Lac man for driving under the
influence of alcohol on the
reservation, rejecting claims that he
was denied a fair trial due to adverse
media publicity.
With 12 prior DUI convictions, Julius
Couture was the subject of a
sensationalistic Duluth media
campaign suggesting that Indians
were evading public safety laws,
though state courts have always
maintained their jurisdiction to
enforce DUI laws on reservations.
Couture was arrested July 15, 1997
after being spotted next to his car in a
ditch by Fond du Lac conservation
officer Roger Smith. Smith contacted
St. Louis County deputies, who
arrested and jailed Couture on charges
of driving after cancellation and
a motion for change of venue due to
pre-trial publicity. Although the trial
without proof of insurance. Although   judge acknowledged the defendant's
Smith and deputy Schilla observed
signs of intoxication, they failed to
administer a blood-alcohol test.
The original charges against Couture
were subsequently dismissed,
however, and replaced with
aggravated DUI. Couture contended
that the state withdrew the charges
for lack of jurisdiction, improperly
substituting an offense over which it
had clear authority to prosecute.
The appeals court, however, found
that under the rules of criminal
procedure cited by the prosecutor in
his dismissal, the "same or similar
charges" may be refiled by the state
after dismissal, unless it is acting in
bad faith.
concerns, he postponed a hearing on
the issue until jury selection. Couture
asserted that the district court abused
its discretion by refusing to change
venue.
The Appeals Court disagreed. In a
unanimous opinion by judge Randall,
the court stated: "Even though an
article appeared in the Duluth paper
about the case on the morning ofthe
first day of trial, no evidence was
presented that any of the jurors had
been exposed to the article. Couture
did not take any action after the
verdict to determine whether thejury
had been exposed to any pretrial or
trial publicity about the case or
Couture's past convictions. Couture
Represented by Indian Legal Aid     . .    ,
during his trial, Couture had also filed   App6alS/tO pg. 6
Judge clears way for trial between tribes
and city of Hudson
State/to pg. 5
HUDSON, Wis. (AP) - Three
Chippewa Indian tribes deserve a trial
in their lawsuit that accuses the
Hudson City Council of breaching a
contract with the tribes involving a
casino at a local dog track, a judge
ruled.
The dispute centers on whether the
city had a right to publicly oppose the
casino after signing a contract with the
tribes to provide services, such and
police and fire protection, for the
proposed gambling hall at St. Croix
MeadowsGreyhouseRacingPark. St.
Croix County Circuit Judge Thomas
Barland ruled Thursday the contract
had an "implied covenant of good
faith" for the city council to remain
neutral regarding the casino.
Thejudge denied the city's motion
that claimed there was no legal reason
for the lawsuit to proceed. A jury must
decide whether the city breached its
contract with the tribes and whether
that action was a "substantial cause"
for why federal government denied the
tribes' application for a casino in July
1995,, Barland said.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the
Lac Courte Oreilles, Red Cliff and Mole
Lake-Sokaogon bands of Lake Superior
Chippewa. Four Feathers Casino, a
partnership of the three tribes, was
formed to acquire the financially-
troubled dog track for a casino.
In April 1994, the partnership signed
an agreement with Hudson and St.
Croix County to provide police, fire,
water, sewer and other services to the
proposed casino for $1.15 million per
year through 1998, according to court
records.
The agreement stated the tribes had
asked the federal government to
remove 55 acres of land from local tax
rolls, a requirement, under federal law,
for a casino to open.
The tribes contend city and county
negotiators agreed they would neither
support nor oppose the tribes'
application for federal approval ofthe
casino.
In February 1995, while the tribes'
request was still pending before the
U.S. Department of Interior, the city
council passed a resolution saying the
city "does not support casino gambling
at the St. Croix Meadows site," court
records said. About five months later,
Interior Department denied Four
Feathers' casino application.
Among the reasons the federal
agency listed was the city's opposition
to the plan. In seeking to have Barland
dismiss the lawsuit, the city argued
that it could not contract away its right
to represent the people regarding the
casino. Barland said that principle is
generally true. "But (the city) cannot
prom ise in good faith to take one course
of conduct regarding an agreement it
entered into... and then in theabsence
of a substantial change in
circumstance, reverse its position,"
the judge said.