Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-01-22

              Ml-        •.     :<&
v'' ^ + :: ■:<:'■ ■::->r. ;:■■■■.&;-\:.f
•Activist charges
Justice Dept. with
tribal intervention
through COPS
funding
•POST board to
meet Jan. 28 on
WE police
•U.S.-sponsored
Indian police: Are
they guardians or
goons, pg. 3
•Future use of
Red Lake should
be submitted to
vote of the
membership, pg.
4
•Red Lake
continues to
violate legacy and
widow of Wub-e-
ke-niew, pg. 4
•Red Lake
treasurer's report
& use of gaming
funds, pg. 8
POST board to meet Jan. 28 on WE police
Voice ofthe People
By Gary Blair
A meeting of the Minnesota Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST)
Board will take place on Thursday,
January 28, 1999, at 1600 University
Avenue, conference room 15 A, St. Paul,
MN at 1:00 p.m. The meeting's agenda
includes the controversial issues of
high speed pursuits and an update on
the pending White Earth cross-
deputization law-enforcement agreement.
On December 17,1998, the executive
committee ofthe POST board voted
not to approve the White Earth law-
enforcement agreement with
Mahnomen County based on staff
recommendations from the Minnesota
Attorney General's Office. At issue is
the State's concern for liability, because the POST board will certify the
police officers hired under the agreement. The State wants the reservation
to limit its sovereignty under the law-
enforcement deal.
Invitations to attend the POST board
meetings were not sent to county or
reservation officials. However,.
Mahnomen County and White Earth
officials received acopy ofthe January
28th meeting notice. Reservation attorney Zenas Baer and Mahnomen
County Sheriff Richard Rooney are
expected to attend the upcoming meeting.
White Earth activists opposed to the
law-enforcement agreement based on
federal Indian law are expected to attend the meeting. Heavy media coverage ofthe meeting is also expected.
email. prBSSon@paulbunyan.net
Red Lake tribal council gives
preliminary OK to walleye proposal
BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP) - The
dwindling walleye population in Red
Lake could be on its way to recovery.
A plan that includes a temporary ban
on harvesting the fish won preliminary
approval from the Red Lake Tribal
Council, officials said. It now awaits
approval from the state Department of
Natural Resources and theU.S. Bureau
oflndian Affairs, which play key roles
in returning walleye to the two large
lakes which support tribal commercial
fisheries and private sport fishing.
The plan approved Friday by the
tribal council calls for a lake-wide
moratorium on walleye harvesting until
stocks recover to a sustainable level, a
short-term stocking program and
stepped-up enforcement by the Red
Lake Band Chippewa and state
conservation officers.
The majority ofthe cost for stocking
the walleye _ with eggs and fry taken
from state stocks at Lake Vermilion _
would be paid by the band with BIA
assistance, council officials said.
"This agreement represents the best
chance to restore Red Lake's walleye
populations to their former levels,"
said Red Lake Tribal Chairman Bobby
Whitefeather.
For two years, Lower Red Lake has
seen no commercial walleye harvesting
and Upper Red Lake has been battling
a devastated resort economy. The Red
Lake Nation controls all but 48,000
acres ofthe 260,000-acre reservoir.
The draft agreement is now being
reviewed by DNR officials, said Henry
Drewes. DNR regional fisheries
supervisorin Bemidji. Italso will have
to be reviewed by the agency's new
commissioner. In order for plans to
moveahead forthis year, the agreement
needs to be approved by all parties by
April 1, Drewes said.
Particulars of the plan include a
complete halt to walleye harvesting on
both Red lakes, with aggressive
enforcement of the ban. to allow a
sustainable level of walleye with
stockingoverafive-U) 10-yearperiod.
The BIA has agreed to pay about
$75,000 a year for the program, with
$40,000 a year to the stale forthe Lake
Vermilion walleye used to stock the
reservation waters and the rest for
Red Lake/to pg. 5
Founded in 1888
A weekly publication.
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity Fur All People
January 22,1888^
American
Press
Volume 11 Issue 15
Copyright Native American Press. 1888
Wealth of casinos comes at cost for
tribes
MESA. Ariz. (AP) — American Ind ian
casinos, hailed by tribes as an
economic salvation, carry a high cost
as outsiders push to profit from the all-
cash industry, according to a
newspaper.
The Tribune, a newspaper serving
suburban Phoenix, reported Sunday
that many sources in law enforcement
and the gaming industry say the FBI
and local authorities make virtually no
effort to monitor casinos. And people
who try to clean up questionable
activity at casinos often face
opposition from superiors, sometimes
even dismissal, the newspaper said.
The Tribune reports the findings of
a nine-month investigation in a series
this week. Lacking the resources to
start and run casinos, many tribes
turned to outsiders. In the process,
some have welcomed individuals with
histories of illegal  gambling and
suspected ties to organized crime
because they brought money to
finance casinos or to ensure players
have ready access to cash, the
newspaper said.
FBI officials quoted by The Tribune
acknowledged there are crooks and
con artists in the Indian gaming
industry. But they said there is no
evidence that traditional Mafia families
have ever moved into Arizona's
casinos. "Are there individuals that
are stealing from casinos, both within
and without? Absolutely." said Steven
McCraw, assistant special agent in
charge for Arizona. "Is there some
orchestrated, organized criminal
enterprise activity? No."
There's evidence throughout the
industry that casino employees who
have tried to clean up the games have
lost their job, the newspaper said. The
Tribune reported that a loan sharking
ring openly operated at the Fort
McDowell Casino northeast of)
Scottsdale. And it continued to operate
there even after it was identified by
Arizona Department of Gaming
investigators in 1995, the newspaper
said.
One of the central figures in that
alleged racket, Ralph Dipiero, was
supposed to have been banned in
1995, according to agaming department
report cited by The Tribune. However,
Dipiero told newspaper he was
welcomed at the Fort McDowell Casino
until last spring.
Law enforcement officers told the
newspaper that Dipiero was seen
making loans at Fort McDowell until
about June, after the newspaper asked
gaming officials why he hadn't been
banned. The gaming department report
says that Dipiero is believed to have
connections with the NicodemoScarfo
Wealth/to pg. 3
The never-ending supply of snow in the Bemidji area made it possible for St. Philip's Catholic School to fashion a snow sculpture of
Winnie The Pooh and Piglet as their entry in Bemidji's KB101 Polar Daze Snow Sculpture contest.
Activist charges Justice Department with
tribal intervention through COPS funding
By Jeff Armstrong
Amid charges by some tribal
members that the federal government
is facilitating the creation ofa police
state at White Earth, Justice
Department officials this week refused
to release an opinion by the
department's Office of Tribal Justice
authorizing the RBC to receive a COPS
grant. Under the grant, approved in
1996, the RBC will be funded forup to
16 full and part-time police officers.
"I don't know that it would be a good
idea to release itjust because it's out,"
said an OTJ staff member,
acknowledging that the opinion has
been obtained by other members of
the public and media.
Since 1987, when hundreds of
members ofthe Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe forced the Tribal Executive
Committee to abandon a proposed
amendment to the MCT Constitution
authorizing such a legal system, tribal
members have demanded a
constitutional convention to create a
separation of governmental powers.
Since that time, tribal officials have
sought to bypass the constitutional
amendment process with federal
support, while grassroots tribal
members have steadfastly resisted
such efforts.
Tribal activist Marvin Manypenny
says the unwelcome infusion of federal
Activist/to pg. 6
Long-neglected Indian Health Service in for
budget boost
Citing health, Deschampe steps down from
TEC presidency in favor of Defoe
Laura Meckler/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The basic health
care provided to millions of Americans
is routinely denied to Indians as chronic
financial troubles force their federal
health system to deny services when
money runs out part-way through the
year.
Now, after years of neglect and
stepped-up lobbying from outside, the
Clinton administration is set to ask
Congress for major new spending.
Sometimes, the lack of money means
postponed gallbladder or cataract
surgery. Other times, it means a doctor
worried about a patient's weak heart
can't send him or her to a specialist.
"They do know how to ration care,"
said Yvette Joseph-Fox ofthe Indian
Health Board, a private group that
represents the nation's tribes.
American Indians and Alaskan
native people are entitled to free health
care under treaties signe'd with the
federal government in exchange for
land. But that care is far below what's
provided to poor people in the federal
Medicaid program — not to mention
what private insurance offers.
The administration's plan comes
after criticism from the Republican-
controlled Congress and Indian groups
— and after increased lobbying from
Indian groups who have become more
savvy at working the system.
President Clinton plans to ask
Congress for an increase of about $ 175
million — an8percentjumpoverthis
year's $2.2 billion budget, according
to administration officials who spoke
on condition of anonymity. The
president also wants to increase the
rates paid by Medicare and Medicaid
to reimburse Indian hospitals —
spending that falls outside the regular
Health/to pg. 3
By Gary Blair
Fond du Lac secretary-treasurer Peter
Defoe was elected president ofthe six-
reservation Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
on January 20,1999, during a tribal executive committee meeting at the Fortune Bay Casino near Tower,MN. Grand
Portage reservation chairman Norman
Deschampe, who had held thepost since
1994, did not run for re-election because
of health problems.
As reported last week, former TEC
president and White Earth chairman
Darrell "Chip" Wadena's request for
new elections at White Earth were not
addressed during the meeting. However, Defoe is reportedly prom ising new
elections for the troubled MCT reservation at the next TEC meeting.
Wadena and his gang's early release '
from prison prompted the White Earth
tribal council to try and find a way to ban
the five-term former White Earth chairman from the reservation. In a counter
move, Wadena and fellow gang members met on January 6,1999, with Gary
Frazer, executive director of the MCT to
block the White Earth tribal council's
banishment plan.
The TEC is expected to refuse to recognize the present White Earth tribal council asameansof forcing compliance with
new elections.
Wadena, secretary-treasurer Jerry
Rawley and District 1 Representative
Rickie Clark were convicted of federal
corruption charges in July of 1996.
Last fall, a U.S. federal judge reduced
the trio's sentences and Wadena was
released onDecember22,1998.Rawley
and Clark were released soon after.
Red Cliff, State reach gambling
agreement
Tribal casino group offers gifts in
exchange for casino
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Red Cliff
Chippewa have a new casino
agreement with Wisconsin that
contains a provision for reopening
negotiations if the state authorizes
competing gambling in off-reservation
taverns.
The Chippewa band agrees to raise
its minimum gambling age to 21 from
18, a change accepted reluctantly
because it reduces casino patronage,
reservation chairman George Newago
said. The signingof the compact Friday
leaves the Menominee as the only
casino-operating tribe without a
renewed agreement, said Mark Bugher,
Gov. Tommy Thompson's secretary
ofthe Department of Administration.
The Red Cliff band's Isle Vistacasino
at the Lake Superior reservation near
Bayfield is one ofthe state's smallest.
It attracted many players 18 to 21 years
old in the summer, Newago said.
The agreement requires the state to
reopen the compact if non-Indian
taverns and restaurants are allowed to
install video gambling or other
electronic games of chance not
currently offered by the Wisconsin
Lottery, he said.
The requirement "is beneficial to all
the tribes in the state of Wisconsin
because it gives us a safeguard,"
Newago said.
Other tribes that have signed new
agreements have similar agreements,
Bugher said. Tavern owners say Indian
casinos attract gamblers and put them
out of business.
The Tavern League of Wisconsin
has offered suggestions to the
Legislature to legalize off-reservation
Red Cliff/to pg.5
ST. CROIX, Wis. (AP) - Money and
gifts, such as an $80,000 ice surfacing
machine for a local hockey arena,
promised to organizations in exchange
for their support of an American Indian
casino have raised suspicions of local
officials.
The Four Feathers Casino
Partnership has offered $500,000 to the
Hudson teacher's union and has
suggested buying baseball uniforms
for the American Legion post, all in
exchange for formal support on the
proposed casino.
Four Feathers has fought for years
to build a casino at the St. Croix
Meadows dog track in Hudson. The
group is made up ofthe Sokaogon, Red
Cliff and Lac Courte Oreilles bands of
Chippewa and track's owners, who
hope a casino will reverse the fortunes
ofthe failing track.
The Chippewa bands and dog track
owners would give $5 million to St.
Croix County and $3 million to Hudson
if officials support the casino and it
opens, said Morris Andrews, a
consultant for Four Feathers. "A lot of
people who haven't had a raise are
listening, and a lot of people who are
morally opposed to gambling are
outraged," said teachers union director
Ron Schock.
Hudson City Attorney William
Radosevich questions whether the
gifts are ethical. "It's an outright effort
to purchase support ... about as close
to bribery as you can get without
breaking the law," Radosevich said.
Legally, the offers aren't considered
bribes because the money would not
go directly to public officials. It also
would not go directly to citizens in
exchange for their votes on the issue.
Giving gifts to groups to gain their
support on a project is a common
practice by nearly everyone, said Mark
Goff, a spokesman for the casino
Gifts/to pg. 6