Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-04-30

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HHHHB
Legality of WE-
Ordway Music
Quote of the
1998 test scores:
Movie "Super
Leech Lakers
State police
Theatre presents
Week: Czech.
Indian students
Chief shows
concerned about
proposal
Without
Pres. Havel
continue to be at
Wadena defeat,
proposed
questioned
Reservations, pg.
speaks of
risk
glimpse of
Bemidji casino,
5
freedom, civil
society, pg. 4
i,
reservation life
pg -4
Legality of WE-State police proposal
questioned
By Gary Blair
In an attempt to reduce crime at White
Earth, the reservation's business committee (RBC) appears to have violated
existing U.S. Indian Federal Law, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions
effecting both Indian and non-Indians
living on reservations, and opened the
door to infringement by the State of
Minnesota.
Reservation officials are now seeking to legalize their police department
by having the State ofMinnesota certify their police officers under an existing law-enforcement agreement that
uses the Mahnomen County sheriffs
cross-deputization of theirofficers. At
leasttwo othereffected county's have
yet to sign similar agreements with the
reservation. The governor is expected
to sign the bill into law that would
allow forthis certification next month.
White Earth official's ignorance of
these laws and court decisions
could spell more chaos for the already
troubled reservation. The question of
cross-deputization by the Mahnomen
County sheriff is at issue, and whether
reservation police officers have jurisdiction over non-Indians whom live
on, or visit the reservation has not
been answered. White Earth Indians
who are arrested by the reservation's
newly formed police department apparently will be able to raise the same
jurisdictional issues.
A1978, U.S. SupremeCourt ruling in
the case of Oliphant v. Suquamish
Indian Tribe may apply to the White
Earth situation. That case contains the
following wording: "Mark Oliphant, a
non-Indian residing on the Port Madi-
Ousted tribal judges says council had
no right to remove him
By John MacDonald
Associated Press Writer
FARGO,N.D. (AP)_Anousted tribal
judge in Fort Totten is asking a federal
judge to intervene in a dispute with the
tribal council, claiming its members
had no right to remove him from office.
Judge Douglas Longie filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Fargo
against the chairwoman of the Spirit
Lake Sioux Tribe, its four council members and the new tribal judge they
appointed to replace Longie. Longie
alleges tribal leaders violated theirown
bylaws when they voted to remove
him from office last month.
He is asking U.S. District Judge
Rodney Webb to rule the council's
actions were illegal and demand that
they let him to return to work. A phone
message left at tribal headquarters   tice."
Monday was not immediately returned.
Neither Tribal Chairwoman Myra
Pearson nor the council members have
listed home phone numbers and could
not be reached for comment Monday.
Longie was elected chief judge ofthe
Spirit Lake Tribe in 1997, the same year
the tribal council passed a resolution
making thejudge an elected position,
rather than an appointed one. In his
complaint, Longie said a group of tribal
members circulated petitions in February 1999, asking the council to remove
him for imposing unfairsentences and
violating the rights of tribal members.
In March, the tribal council voted to
remove both Longie and the tribal prosecutor, John Ballard, saying the petition from tribal members was "in the
best interests ofthe tribe and in the fair
and impartial administration of jus-
The council also said the 1997 resolution that made both positions elected
was void because such a change can
only come through a constitutional
amendment. Longie said he was ordered to leave the tribal court and
threatened with arrest if he returned.
He maintains the actions were il legal
because the council can remove ajudge
only for cause and must give him a
hearing beforehand to present testimony and witnesses in his own defense.
"The judge also is entitled to fivt
days written notice of hearing and ar
itemization ofthe charges against him,'
Longie said in his complaint. Longii
said he filed the complaint in federa
court only after exhausting appeal
through the Northern Plains Intertriba
Court of Appeals in Aberdeen, S.D.
Tribal-owned bank helps Mille Lacs
band diversify
By Dee DePass
Minneapolis Star Tribune
ONAMIA, Minn. (AP) - Nestled in
the heart of Main Street in downtown
Onamia is a tiny 90-year-old bank that
is the hope ofa nation. Inside Woodlands National Bank, a carved wooden
sheriff greets visitors at the door. Four
teller windows and a lobby the size of
a hallway belie the potential held by
this paneled box.
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians bought the community bank, which
sits 10 m iles from the reservation, from
brothers Wally and Bert Young three
years ago, making it the only tribal-
owned bank in the state and one of just
seven nationwide. The band kept the
entire bank staff, pumped in money
and turned itfromastagnantshell into
a holding company on the move.
The idea is to help the tribe diversify
into other businesses besides gaming,
and it's working. In three years, assets
have grown from $22 million to $27
million, and the bank is now in the
black. Return on assets climbed from
0.5 percent to a respectable 2.07 percent.
ATM machines have been installed.
Y2K-ready computers have replaced
outdated systems. A $ 1.2 million bank
building is under construction across
the street and is scheduled to open in
July. Businesses in town are expanding. Loan requests are up.
"There's movement there now," said
Ron Nelson, who manages the combined Conoco Gas and Subway sandwich shop eight miles from the bank.
"It's not the same old ghost town."
Nelson liked what he saw. He opened
an account. While it's still small, Woodlands has transformed from an unprofitable underdog to a business that is a
source of pride on the reservation.
"We have struggled for so long to say
we own one ofthe finest gaming re-
Bank/to pg. 3
American Indians get stiffer penalties
for reservation crimes
By Joe Kafka
Associated Press Writer
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) ~ People prosecuted in the state's federal court system often receive tougher sentences
than those convicted ofthe very same
crimes in state courts, said U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann.
Thejudge said he is appal led by some
ofthe sentences he must hand down.
Kornmann's hands are tied by strict
federal sentencing guidelines that give
him little discretion.
Most of those who appear in his
courtroom are American Indians who
have been accused of reservation
crimes. People charged with assaults
and sex offenses, among the most frequent crimes on reservations, are prosecuted in federal court. "In other states,
hardly anybody is prosecuted in federal court for an assault," Kornmann
said. Because many convictions for
reservation crimes carry much harsher
penalties than the same crimes committed elsewhere, a disproportionate
share of Indians are imprisoned,
Kornmann said. "Does that make any
sense that these Indians are subject to
greater penalties than the rest of us?"
the judge asked.
"It's ridiculous." Frank
Pommersheim, a University of South
Dakota law professor and member of
two tribal appellate courts, said sentencing rules in the federal court system are unfair to Indians. "The impact
ofthe federal sentencing guidelines is
particularly severe and disproportionate in Indian Country," he said. "Crimes
that if they were committed off the
Penalties/to pg. 5
Indian school today focusing on
counseling and support
ByMattKelley
Associated Press Writer
WAHPETON,N.D.(AP) -TheCircle
of Nations-Wahpeton Indian School,
seeking to help children cope with
troubled lives, has itself been coping
with change. Today, it has about 200
students in grades four through eight,
ranging in age from 9 to 15. The students
include members of 31 tribes and 18
states.
Federal officialssay theboardingschool
hasmade significant improvements since
the early 1990s when its superintendent,
Robert Hall, was forced to resign amid
reports of violence and vandalism.
The Bureau oflndian Affairs threatened to cut off funding unless Hall was
fired. Joyce Burr, a former student who
took over as superintendent in 1995, said
she cut expenses and balanced the
school's budget. But she said more
money and staff are needed.
Most ofthe children there have serious problems, including histories of
physical orsexual abuse, drug or alcohol
abuse. "We have children on probation.
We have kids who haven't been in school
for three years, children with deceased
parents, homeless children," Burr sad.
The school focuses on providing one-
on-one counseling for the students,
supplemented with substance abuse
treatment and other support. Students
who seriously misbehave are sent to a
special dormitory with aregimented program designed to gradually bring them
back into the school community. Rela-
SchOOl/to pg. 3
Voice ofthe People
son Reservation in the State of Washington, was arrested by tribal police
and charged with assaulting a tribal
police officer and resisting arrest. He
claimed that he was not subject to
tribal authority, and the Supreme Court
upheld his claim. The case was considered by Indians as damaging blow to
the revival of their sovereignty."
On Monday evening of this week,
"News Night Minnesota," a production of channel 2 public television in
St. Paul, Minnesota aired an eight
minute segment on White Earth's
latest plans for law-enforcement. Reservation secretary/treasurer Erma
Vizenorprovided most ofthe information about the reservation's proposed
police department.
However, Vizenor stopped short of
Police/to pg. 3
-mail: pressoiKBpaulbiinvan.net
Malm
American
Press
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity Fur All People
in
Volume 11 Issue 29
Apr! 30,1999
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Native American Press, 1993
i
Writers Sherman Alexie, who's
best-knownforwritingthescreen-
play for the movie Smoke Signals, and Alex Kuo, who has
written about culture, religion and
politics in Hong Kong, China and
theU.S., are featured guests at the
U of MN American Indian and
Asian American Heritage Month
activities. The three-day celebration will kick off at 7 p.m. Monday, May 3 at t the Coffman Union
Theater.
1998 test scores: Indian students
continue to be at risk
By Jeff Armstrong
The results are in from last year's state
educational standards, and while there
are notable bright spots for Native students in individual school districts the
overall prognosis looks rather grim.
At the state level, Native youth
scored significantly lower than the
norm in all categories of Minnesota
basic standards testing administered
to 3rd, 5th and 8th graders in the state.
The problem is especially acute among
older students, with less than half of
8th grade Natives meeting the minimal standards required for graduation.
In fact, indigenous students passed
the latter test at barely half the overall
state average.
Of 11 on- or near-reservation school
districts examined by Press/ON, Red
Lake students had the lowest rate of
passage in every area except 8th grade
math, while Duluth posted the most
consistently high scores through all
grades.
In 3rd grade reading, Detroit Lakes
topped the list with an 81% passing
rate, matching the results of white students and the overall district rate,
which was the highest of the 11 districts. Bagley was close behind at 77%,
a rate above both white students and
the overall district results.
At the other end ofthe spectrum, Red
Lake's passage rate of 27% was followed closely by Bemidji's 37%— the
same percentage as that ofthe district's
special education students.
In math, 3rd grade Natives scored at
or above the state average of 82% in
Waubun, Detroit Lakes and Cass Lake,
with Bagley missing the mark by a
single percentage point. Waubun's
89% passage rate for Natives was
higher than the overall district total of
any ofthe districts studied.
Bemidji again scored the lowest of
Test scores/to pg. 5
Movie "Super Chief shows Wadena's defeat,
offers accurate glimpse of reservation life
Excerpt of article by Deborah Locke
St. Paul Pioneer Press
April 29, J 999
... "Super Chief a documentary [by
filmmakerNickKurzon] ofthe 1996 tribal
chairman election at White Earth, [is]
showing this weekend at the Minneapolis International Film Festival....
In 1997, Wadena and two members of
the reservation governing board were
convicted in federal court of theft, embezzlement, election rigging and bribery.
Wadena was released from jail late last
year. Hewastribalchairmanfor20years,
and the film title refers to Wadena's
description of himself. The words were
inscribed on the back of Wadena's car.
This long-in-the-makingproject freezes
a chapter of recent Minnesota history
that's as important to non-Indians as it
is to Indians.
For Indians, it's a reminder ofthe frustration of taking on what seemed an
insurmountable task: the unseating ofa
powerful 20-year incumbent. The film
records the impact of people who were
bent on change and fed up with the
status quo.
For non-Indians, "Super Chief provides a telling glimpse into reservation
life against the larger backdrop ofthe
election. To those people especially, I
recommend this movie. It captures the
humor and pathos of reservation life
without sappy sentimentality....
The75-minute documentary will show
at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at the Bell Museum
Auditorium on the University of
Minnesota's East bank, 17"1 Avenue
Southeast and University Avenue
Southeast in Minneapolis. Admission
is $6 ($5 for seniors and students).
Private investors testing Indian housing
market
By Philip Brasher
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)- Nowhere is
good housing more in short supply
than on the nation's Indian reservations. Banks and other private investors have been reluctant to help because ofthe difficulty in foreclosing
on Indian property and the political
turmoil on some reservations.
But now a major investment firm,
Raymond James Financial Inc. of St.
Petersburg, Fla., announced recently
that it would sink at least $20 million
into reservation housing projects, starting with the Red Lake and White Earth
reservations in Minnesota and the
Menominee reservation in Wisconsin. Projects in North Dakota, New
Mexico and other states are in the
works.
Indian housing advocates hope this
is the start of a major private investment on reservations, where there is a
shortage of up to 200,000 homes and
apartments. "The fact that they
(Raymond James officials) want to brag
about the work they are doing in Indian
country is phenomenal," said Chris
Boesen, executive director ofthe National American Indian Housing Council.
"If businesses were afraid of the
business they were doing in Indian
country, they wouldn't come out and
brag about it." The investment fund
will finance 50 new homes on the Red
Lake reservation, 28 at White Earth
and 19 at Menominee. "It's real diffi-
Investors/to pg.5