Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-02-05

              Reduced voter
count clears way
for White Earth
removal petition
Minnesota crime
figures by county
Family on Leech
Lake Reservation
endures hardship
after home
condemned
James D. Michaud
pleads guilty to
conspiracy,
misapplication of
tribal funds
President Clinton
fighting for Native
Americans in his
FY2000 budget,
PQ-3
Budgets give us
heads up for
Indian Affairs as
we approach the
new millennium,
P9-4
Reduced voter count clears way for
White Earth removal petition
Voice ofthe People
-mall: presson(£>paulbiinyan.net
By Gary Blair
A petition that demands the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's Tribal Executive Committee to remove all White
Earth Reservation Business Committee members and to invalidate all
reservation's elections since June 11,
1996 is being circulated this week.
The petition reads as follows: "PETITION OF ELIGIBLE RESIDENT VOTERS OF THE WHITE EARTH RESERVATION FOR REMOVAL OF THE
WHTEEARTHRESERVATIONBUSI-
NESS COMMITTEE. In accordance
with ArticleXof the Revised Constitution and Bylaws of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, we, the undersigned
resident voters demand the removal of
all five sitting members ofthe White
Earth Reservation Business Committee and we request that the Tribal Executive Committee of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe immediately appoint
qualified receivers to take control of
Reservation and casino finances pending Special Reservation Elections to be
supervised and controlled by the Tribal
Executive Committee itself, or some
other impartial group or entity capable
of conducting fair and open elections
on the White Earth Reservation.
"We petition the Tribal Executive
Committee to immediately declare all
Reservation Business Committee positions vacant due to violation of Article X, Sec. 2(e) and Article XVIIB of
ourConstitution and Bylaws, and Election Ordinance No. 5, when ourReser-
vation government was taken over after the June 11,1996, General Election.
In addition to declaring that take-over •
as illegal, we also demand the Tribal
Executive Committee to publicly declare that al 1 Reservation elections held
at White Earth since June 11,1996, are
null and void."
According to Gary Frazer, executive
director of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe(MCT), White Earth has 1,866 on-
reservation eligible voters and only 20
percent, or 373 of their signatures are
needed forthe petition to gain recognition from TEC members. Reports say
White Earth/to Pg. 3
Minnesota crime figures by county
By Gary Blair
The following is a memo addressed
to "Participants" from the Minnesota
Departmentof Public Safety's Deputy
Commissioner, Fredrick C. Petersen,
dated March 12, 1998, that reads:
"Again, thank you foryour attendance
and participation at this morning's
meeting.
"As we discussed, I am enclosing
several charts and graphs denoting
crime statistics and comparisons in
certain Minnesota counties where
gaming casinos are located. I believe
the information is self-explanatory, but
if you have questions, please feel free
to contract me."
A copy of this memo was distributed by White Earth RBC attorney
Zenas Baer to board members of the
Minnesota Peace Officers Standards
and Training (POST) Board, during a
meeting last month in St. Paul, MN.
Baer attended the meeting to seek
approval for the reservation's controversial law-enforcement agreement
which needs that board's endorsement before it can be enacted.
The following are crime statistics for
Minnesota counties with Indian casinos:
"Total reported crimes by county,
1992 through 1996. Yellow Medicine.
1992-623; 1996-516. Goodhue, 1992
-4,349; 1996-3,975.Scott, 1992-8,611;
1996-7,952. St. Louis, 1992-23,322;
1996-24,688. Cook, 1992-802; 1996-
853. Redwood, 1992 - 1,519; 1996 -
1,627. Beltrami, 1992-5.483: 1996-
5,951. Pennington, 1992-1,715; 1996-
1,991.C: S.105: IS'-;
MilleLacs, 1992-2,991; 1996-3,788.
Pine, 1992-3,101; 1996-4,003. Carlton,
1992-2,784; 1996- 3,739.Roseau, 1992
-1,112; 1996-1,740. Mahnomen, 1992
- 622; 1996 - 1,094. "Total reported
crimes by county, 1996 through 1997.
Yellow Medicine, 1996-516; 1997-
614.Goodhue, 1996-3,975; 1997-4,
316.Scott, 1996-7,952; 1997-7,636. St.
Louis, 1996 - 24,688; 1997 - 24,718.
Cook, 1996-853; 1997-741.Redwood,
1996-1,627; 1997-1,494. Beltrami. 1996
-5,951; 1997-5,837.Pennington, 1996
-1,991; 1997-l,903.Cass, 1996-6,343;
1997-5,916. Carlton, 1996-3,739;997
-3,657. Roseau, 1996-Department of
Public Safety crime reports can be
obtained from Web Site address, http:/
www.dps.state, mn.us. COPS grant
information can be obtained from the
U.S. Justice Department's Web Site,
http://www.usdoJA>tty cops
UND student senate votes to change
nickname; student pres vetoes it
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - The
University of North Dakota's Student
Senate has voted to change the
school's Fighting Sioux nickname, but
the student president said he would
veto the action.
The resolution was approved 12-10,
with one member abstaining and one
absent. The veto by student president
Jonathan Sickler means the Senate
likely will vote again Sunday, Sickler
said. It would take atwo-thirds majority
to override his veto.
The Student Senate resolution will
go as a nonbinding advisory vote to
the desk of UND President Ken Baker,
who has the final decision.
In the spring of 1994, Baker vetoed
an overwhelming vote by the
university senate to change the name.
Sickler said the Sioux name and logo
can honor American Indians and cheer
on UND teams. "I see it as an
opportunity for education," Sickler
said. "We can combine a great
institution with a great culture."
But Ira Taken Alive, a UND senior
and member of the StandingRock Sioux
Tribe, said it was acase ofthe majority
white culture demeaning a minority
culture for the sake of college athletics.
Colleen Smith, a student senate
member, said she was convinced by
Indian students that the Sioux name
has to go, so she cosponsored the
resolution. "It comes down to respect
more than anything," Smith said. "I've
seen the pain the use of the name
causes them."
Sunday's vote is a small but positive
step, Taken Alive said. He is one of
only a dozen Sioux Indians enrolled at
UND, outof about 350 American Indian
students, he said. The school name
almost kept him from attending UND,
UND/topg.3
Gover reviews budget requests
The U.S. Bureau oflndian Affairs
wants more money to repair its
deteriorating schools and to add police
officers to patrol the remote territories
covered by many reservations. The
agency also wants more money to deal
with its responsibility for $3 billion in
Indian trustfunds. Overall, theagency
wants$1.9billioninfiscalyear2000,an
increase of$ 155.6 million above 1999.
Bureau Director Kevin Gover said
Monday his priorities have been
partially determined by what was not
accomplished in the past. "The
problems have been building not for a
couple of years but for decades,"
Goversaid."Whenweinheritproblems,
the responsibility falls to all of us to
follow them."
Indian schools are crumbling, and
tribal communities do not have the
ability to float bond money to fix them
like other communities do.
The bureau, which runs 180 schools
handling 53,000 children, estimates it
faces a$ 1 billion backlog in repairs and
replacement. "It's hard to understand,
frankly, why one ofthe school systems
for which the U.S. government is
directly responsible should find itself
lacking safe and decent facilities for
the kids," Gover said.
Some schools are so old they have
lead contamination from paint used
decades ago, and dangerous PCBs in
their electrical systems have never
been replaced, he said. Many are so
small most students go to class in
portable buildings.
The bureau is proposing Congress
appropriate $30 million fora principle
fund that would support $70 million to
$75 million in zero-interesttribal school
bonds.
Investors would receive tax credits
for the life of the bonds in lieu of
interest. "This is an unusual form of
bonds," Gover acknowledged. "Its
appeal to the investment community
has yet to be seen." Legislation is
required for the concept, he said.
The agency wants to tackle $400
million in tribal school needs in the
next two years and is putting together
a plan to show how that could be done,
he said. Federal support remained
unclear. "Our schools tend to be in the
poorest communities in the country,"
he said. "It's unlikely the tribes will be
able to repay these bonds in the
absence of federal help."
Forest Service seeks comment on deal
with tribe
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) - The U.S.
Forest Service agrees to hear public
comment on its plan to let Chippewa
Indians cut timber in Wisconsin and
Michigan national forests, having been
accused of acting too quickly.
A logging and plant-gathering
agreement with the Chippewa was
signed in Decembersoon afterthe first
public word of it emerged, prompting
criticism from Rep. David Obey, D-
Wis.
The service and 10 bands of Lake
Superior Chippewa have decided to
delay implementation ofthe agreement,
Jane Cliff, a spokeswoman for the
service in Milwaukee, said Thursday.
"Both sides are willing to change the
agreement," she said.
The service said it wil 1 accept written
comment until March 23 and plans
open houses Feb. 18 and 19 at 10 sites
for people to pick up materials about
the agreement and talk to service
personnel. "We hope that the
memorandum of understanding
materials will help people understand
the agreement so that their comments
can help us improve or clarify the
agreement," service Supervisor Lyn
Roberts said in a statement. Gov.
Tommy Thompson, state Department
of Natural Resources Secretary George
Forest/to Pg. 3
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Willie and Anna Atkinson stand by the remains of their home of 17 years, (seestoty below)
Family on Leech Lake Reservation
endures hardship after home condemned
By Jeff Armstrong
Forced from their home of 17 years,
Willie and Anna Atkinson are
struggling to get through the winter,
living with their teenage daughter in a
tiny one-room trailer with no running
water.
"I don't know how we're going to do
it, but we're going to do it," says Willie
Atkinson.
Atkinson, a Vietnam-era veteran
paralyzed on the left side ofhis body,
is understandably angry. In 1981, he
received a letter in Red Lake from
landowner James Frick offering
Atkinson land off Power Dam Road
near Pennington to build a home for
his family.
"He said God told him to give me
some land," Atkinson said.
After building his home, Atkinson
learned that Frick, chaplain of the
Beltrami County Jail, hoped to
establish a religious commune. But
Atkinson wanted no part of that. "I
told him I don't want nothing to do
with a commune," he said.
Atkinson said he received his first
complaint from Frick two years ago.
"He told us we were out of compliance
with his rules," said Atkinson. "He
never told us when he offered us the
land that we had to follow his rules."
Frick was apparently unhappy with
Atkinson's acquisition ofa generator,
which he said conflicted with his
concept ofa pre-industrial Utopia and
disturbed his prayers. "He didn't want
us to have any technology, but he had
a phone installed before we got the
generator," said Atkinson.
In late July or early August, while he
and his wife were in Alaska, Atkinson
says he received a letter from Frick
telling him the house would be
condemned and he would have to
leave by January 1. Before they could
return, county deputies raided his
home in a search for drugs which
yielded no arrests.
"They just wrecked it when they
went in to search for that pot or
whatever," Atkinson said.
Upon their return, Frick told the
Atkinsons to damage their home prior
to the visit ofa county tax assessor in
order to take it off the tax rolls.
"He said make it unlivable, or I'll make
it unlivable,1' said Anna Atkinson.
"We broke a window and boarded it
up, and we thought that would be
good enough. But he went back and
tore down the whole wall," she said.
Atkinson said he attempted to file a
complaint against Frick, to no avail.
"This man did a criminal thing against
us and nobody wants to do anything
from Beltrami County," he said. "He
can do whatever he wants. I'd like to
go condemn his house, too, but I know
I'd get thrown in jail if I did. This is our
house. I built this house with every
nail and board that's on this house,"
Atkinson said.
Atkinson said the ordeal—including
living in a tent for two weeks in late
October and early November—has
been hardest on his 16-year-old
daughter. "She was born in that
house. That's why it's so special," said
Atkinson.
Frick, however, tells a different story.
He says Atkinson and his wife were
Family/to pg.5
James  D.  Michaud  pleads guilty to
conspiracy, misapplication of tribal funds
Minneapolis — Former Leech Lake
Band Secretary-Treasurer James D.
Michaud pleaded guilty today in
United States District Court to
conspiracy and misapplication of tribal
funds. Michaud entered his plea before
Judge Michael Davis in Minneapolis.
Michaud admitted in court that he
improperly approved the payment of
tribal funds for work that was either
done or was over-billed and that a
share of the payments were then
"kicked" back to him.
Part ofthe conspiracy was alleged to
have involved the submission of false
invoices to James Michaud for work
purportedly done by co-defendants in
thecase. Michaud misapplied between
$200,000 and $350,000 to his co-
defendants from January 1991 through
July 1994 for "lawn mowing"
'snowplowing" and similary described
work. According to the indictment, the
scheme involved Michaud's brothers,
Charles and Robert Michaud, and his
assistant Donna Murray and her
husband David Murray. The scheme
continued until July 1994 when James
Michaud was defeated in his bid to be
re-elected as Secretary-Treasurer. In
addition to the conspiracy charge,
Michaud admitted aiding and abetting
his co-defendants in the misapplication
of tribal funds.
Co-defendants David Murray, age
55, and Donna Murray, age 52, from
Fosston, MN, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy and await sentencing. Co-
defendants, Charles A. Michaud,
Robert A. Michaud and Robert J.
Gotchie  await  trial   tentatively
scheduled for March 1,1999.
Michaud faces a maximum potential
penalty of five years in prison and/or
a $250,000 fine on each count to which
he pleaded guilty. The actual sentence
will be determined by Judge Davis
based on the federal sentencing
guidelines. A sentencing date is
expected in eight to ten weeks.
The case is the result of an
investigation by the Department of
Interior's Office of Inspector General
and the Internal Revenue Service. The
Cass County Sheriffs Department, the
Itasca County Sheriffs Department and
the Beltrami County Sheriffs
Department assisted in the
investigation. Assistant United States
Attorney Michael Ward is prosecuting
the case.