Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-04-02

              Red Lake walleye
recovery plan to
be launched next
week
Hudson Casino
lawsuit
Jdelayed
Mother finds help
for abused
daughter
Feature Story:
Fewer Indian
children
graduating than
20 years ago
Choctaw attorney
exposes "The Big
Lie", pg.3
Heston to
Harvard:
Speak up,
'cowards' of
correctness,
P9-4
Fewer Indian children graduating than
20 years ago
Indian control and Increased spending not helping
By Bill Lawrence
Since passage ofthe federal Indian
Education Act of 1972 and the federal
Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Ac t of 1974, the education oflndian children has become
big business for the Native community. In Minnesota it has meant the
establishment and operation of four
reservation tribal schools. It has meant
the establishmentof Local Indian Education Committees (LIEC) in school
districts that educate significant numbers oflndian children. It has requ ired
Indian parental involvement in the
educational process of their children.
It has meant Indian culture and language courses at hundreds of state
elementary and secondary schools. It
has meant more jobs for Indian people
and more revenue to tribal governments. All of which are accomplishments of sorts, but what has the impact
been on Indian students?
Per student costs at schools with
Indian students varies dramatically.
For state school districts, the 1998-99
per pupil average was $7,456, but the
three all-Indian state school districts
received substantially more: Red Lake
received $10,441 per pupil; Nett Lake
received $17,328 per pupil, and Pine
Point received $ 17,414 perpupil. Nett
Lake and Pine Point are no longer K-12
schools for lack of students in the
upper grades.
The four tribal schools on reservations, including Nay Ah Shing (Mille
Lacs Band ofChippewa), Fond du Lac
(Fond du Lac Band ofChippewa), Bug
O Nay Ge Shig (Leech Lake Band of
Chippewa), and Circle of Life (White
Earth Band Chippewa), each received
between $ 16,000 and $34,000 perpupil
from the federal Bureau oflndian Affairs and the state last year, for an
average of $22,161 per pupil for the
tribal reservation schools. But if calculated according to the number of students who actually attend school,
versus the number of students the
schools claim are enrolled, the per
pupil funding is double in some cases
because of high truancy. The tribes
are also notorious for over-stating their
enrollments. With truancy and overstated enrollments included in the calculation, tribal schools appear to receive farin excess of $30,000 per pupil.
Per student costs at Heart of the
Earth Survival School, which is operated under the Minneapolis School
District, and the two contract Indian
schools, Center School and Four
Winds, were notavailable at press time
and will be covered in a later article.
Despite per pupil expenditures that
far exceed the state average, many
tribal schools are not graduating a
single student, and most graduate only
a few.
Overall, graduation rates for Indian
kids have fallen in the past couple of
decades. In 1981, according to the then
Minnesota Department of Education,
there were 10,972 Indian students in
state school districts, with 503 Indian
kids graduating from high school. By
1997, after two decades of heavy Indian involvement in Indian student
education. 16,956 Indian students were
enrolled in public schools, but only
447 high school seniors graduated. In
addition, tribal and Indian alternative
schools graduated 24 students in 1981,
but only 18 in 1997, according to reports ofthe MinnesotaChippewa Tribe
and tribal officials. The state's new
graduation standards, which will be in
effect starting with next year's seniors,
will likely lower the Indian student
graduation rates even more.
Children/to pg. 5
Mother finds help for abused daughter
By Gary Blair
A Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) mother
who left Wisconsin to protect her eight
year old adopted daughter from alleged sexual and physical abuse by her
adoptive non-Indian father, has finally
found help. Hennepin County has now
issued her and her daughter an order of
protection from her husband. However, she now faces contempt of court
charges and possible jail-time in Wisconsin.
Patricia Price, formerly of Hayward
says she had gone to at least 20 agencies in the Twin Cities, both Indian and
non-Indian, before she found assis
tance at the Women of Nations in St.
Paul. (A list of those agencies and the
brush-off remarks Price received from
their staff will appear in the second
part of this article next week. Comments from others involved in the case
will also be included.) Price said on
Wednesday that she had just about
given-up when she contacted Maggie
Cox and "Sam" Eliot, legal advocates
for battered women and children.
Price, age 51, says she was unable to
get assistance from LCO, although her
daughter represents the reservation
as their princess. She said her husband
is part ofthe "good old-boy system" of
SawyerCounty and thejudge involved
in their divorce and custody battle is
Judge delays Hudson Casino lawsuit
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A lawsuit
by American Indians against the U.S.
Interior Department's rejection of their
western Wisconsin casino proposal
has been postponed at least until June.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb
extended Thursday a stay on the case
that has been in place for more than a
year.
The stay was originally issued Feb.
20, 1998, while a special investigator
working for the U.S. Justice Department reviews circumstances surrounding the rejection.
Three bands ofChippewa Indians
contend theirbidforacasino in Hudson
less than an hour's drive east of St.
Paul, Minn., was vetoed in July 1995
because other Minnesota and Wisconsin tribes with casinos disapproved
and applied political influence.
The proposal by the Red Cliff,
Sogaogon and Lac Courte Oreilles
bands ofChippewa had the endorsement ofthe Minneapolis office ofthe
department's Bureau oflndian Affairs.
Testifying before a congressional
committee in 1997. Interior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt denied that campaign
donations to the Democratic National
Committee from the tribes affected the
rejection decision.
The U.S. attorney's office asked
HudSOn/to pg. 5
Interior lawyer alleges he was ordered
to'purge'records
WASHINGTON (AP) - An Interior
Department lawyer who says he was
ordered to dispose of some Indian
trust records will be questioned next
week in a lawsuitoverthe government's
handling of accounts worth $500 million. In an affidavit made public Thursday, Ralph Williams said he was given
the job of reconciling discrepancies in
some ofthe accounts in late 1997. Once
his work was done, he was supposed
"to ensure that... any other information which was inconsistent from my
findings could be purged from the
files," he said.
Williams said he declined to get rid
ofthe material because he thought it
would be illegal. He said the instructions came from the department's
deputy solicitor, Ed Cohen.
Interior officials denied any wrongdoing. Lastmonth, U.S. Districtjudge
Royce Lamberth held Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt for
the government's two-year delay in
turning over checks and other documents related to five account holders
who filed the lawsuit. It was not clear
whether Williams handled any of those
documents. Lamberth released the af-
Logging, American Indian interests clash
at Medicine Wheel
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (AP) - A
lawsuit filed over logging near the
ancient stone Medicine Wheel in Bighorn National Forest threatens to undo
years of planning to protect the sacred
site, an American Indian advocate said.
"It would be a tragic ruling from the
courts to say, 'Too bad, you spent
seven years of your life for nothing,
because it was i llegal,"' said Jerry Flute,
executive director ofthe Association
on American Indian Affairs, which is
based in Sisseton, S.D.
The group is an advocate for American Indian sacred sites, religious freedom and health issues. Flute was one
of several American Indians who participated in years of discussions intended to protect the Medicine Wheel
from a rising tide of tourist visits.
The discussions led to a sweeping
plan that ensures American Indians
will be consulted on any projects
planned within sight ofthe wheel, a
circle of stones used in religious ceremonies.
When tribal, federal and local government officials signed the Historic
Preservation Plan in 1996, it was hailed
as a model agreement for cooperative
protection of sacred sites.
One ofthe plan's provisions called
for closing a logging road near the
Medicine/to pg.5
Voice ofthe People
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friends with her husband. "They both
belong to the Knights of Columbus'
shooting club and they shoot together.
Thejudge is also a member of a group
that is against Indian treaties," she
said on Wednesday.
"Lutheran Social Services tried to
help me, They al least u rote :t letfc
Sawyer County and my husband's
attorney in Wisconsin," Price said of
the Twin City's agency. "But, the others (agencies) wouldn't do anything
to help mc," she continued.
In a letter dated March 24, 1999,
Lynne Hagen, Psy. D of Lutheran Social Services in Minneapol is wrote (the
Mother/to pg. 3
fidavit Thursday along with an order
protecting Williams from retaliation by
the department. Williams is scheduled
to be questioned by lawyers in the
case on Tuesday. The department's
chief attorney, Solicitor John Leshy,
issued a brief statement defending
Cohen and denying that his office
would attempt to dispose of records
that are relevant to the lawsuit. Department officials declined to make Cohen
available foran interview. Lawyers for
the Indian plaintiffs brought Williams'
allegation to the judge's attention af-
Interior/to pg.3
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press, 1999
*«
h    *
Spring lias officially arrived in Bemidji1.    Canadian "honkers" have been congregating on Lake Bemidji
White Earth Band wants to build $30
million regional jail complex
The White Earth Band ofChippewa
wants to build a multi-million dollar regional correctional center on the reservation.
Tribal Chairman John Buckanaga said
theTribal Council has hired aconsultant
and is in the initial stages ofa feasibility
study.
While the size and cost have not yet
been determined, Buckanaga said he
envisions a facility with a capacity of
about 400 beds.
The tribe has hired Bemidji-based
Cloud Hammitt & Associates to as
semble a proposal and find the necessary federal and state funding to build
the regional jail.
Consultant Monte Hammitt said the
facility could cost in the "$30 million
ballpark, probably in that range."
The facility would house and offer
drug, alcohol and other rehabilitative
programs for low-level adult and juve-
nileoffenders.
It would not be exclusively a tribal
corrections center but wouldoffer space
to nine counties in northwest and west-
central Minnesota, as well as Indian
tribes in the Dakotas and Wisconsin,
Buckanaga said.
The tribe's interest in a corrections
center has been spurred by rising public
safety concerns in both tribal and county
government.
"It used to be our number one problem
(on the reservation) was education, then
health," Buckanaga said. "But now, the
way things are going, law enforcement is
our highest priority."
Increased adult and juvenile crime has
prompted the tribe to establish its own
police force and team up with the Mah-
Jail/to pg. 5
Tribal police one step closer to state OK
By Gary Blair
Minnesota senate file #1674, which
gives tribal law enforcement authority
to be licensed under the Minnesota
PeaceOfficers Standards and Training
(POST) Board passed through an-
othersub-committeeonMarch31,1999.
The bill is sponsored by Senator Roger
Moe (DFL) district two, who lives in
Erskine, Minnesota.
If approved by both the House of
Representatives and the Senate, the
bill could be sent to the governor for
signing in May. The House of Representatives' crime prevention committee past their version ofthe same bill
(#1607) last week.
Claims by tribal activists that the
potential law would result in a violation of Tribal Sovereignty and Indian
Federal Law, has so far been ignored
by legislators. Tribal activists say they
plan to file an injunction in federal
court against the legislation if it becomes law.
Red Lake walleye recovery plan to be
launched next week
By Doug Smith / Star Tribune
The long road to recovery for Red
Lake's walleye fishery begins April 9.
That's when the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa, the federal Bureau oflndian Affairs and the state Department
of Natural Resources will sign an historic 10-year agreement to try to restore the walleye population.
The restoration of a body of water
the size of Upper Red Lake and Lower
Red Lake, which cover 275,000 acres, is
unprecedented in Minnesota. Once
one of the premier walleye fisheries in
the state, Red Lake's walleye population has collapsed from years of overfishing, includingcommercial netting
by the band.
The walleye numbers now are so low
that officials don't believe the lakecan
recover without drastic action. That
action begins with the signing next
week.
"It's a tremendous opportunity," said
Henry Drewes, regional DNR fisheries
supervisorinBemidji."Ifsuccessful, it
could be one the best fish and wildlife
restorations that we've seen in some
time.   It's exciting."
Under the plan: There will be no
walleye harvest of any type allowed
for either the band or sport anglers.
A bill in the Legislature would help
businesses in the area deal with the
fishing ban. 500 quarts of walleye fry
per year will be stocked, beginning
this spring.
Enforcement, both band and non-
band, will be increased.
Once the walleye population has
been restored, harvest will be regulated by quotas — similar to those
usedonLakeMilleLacs— to prevent
overharvest.
Developing the plan wasn't easy
because of the geographical and political natureofthesprawlingRed Lake
area. All but 48,000 acres ofthe lakes
are within the Red Lake Indian Reservation, aclosed reservation. The stocking is estimated to cost about $68,000
the first year; the Bureau of Indian
Affairs will pay $40,000 of that, the
DNR the rest, said Jack Wingate, DNR
fisheries research manager.
Both Drewes and Wingate said it will
be well worth the state's investment.
"We see it as an opportunity of getting 48,000 acres of prime walleye
fishing back to our anglers," Wingate
said.
The walleye fry — newly hatched
Walleye/to pg.3