Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-06-04

              ■
....  "-;   .-.
County board
stunned by
TERO
ordinance
Reader
questions tribal
claims to
spiritual
superiority, pg. 4
News Tidbits,
P9-3
Smoke Signals
of upcoming
events, pg. 5
Don*t forget --
Mille Lacs
District One rep.
primary,
Tuesday, June 8,
pg. 3
Commentary:
Proposed new
MN Chippewa
Tribal
Constitution
worse than the
old, pg. 4
Red Lake Tribal
Secretary and
Treasurer
exchange
criticisms, pg. 4
Chicago Avenue detox center faces ongoing problems
By Gary Blair
Nearly seven and a half years
ago the State ofMinnesota entered
into adeal with Hennepin County
officials that closed theold county
detoxification center at 1800
Chicago Avenue South in
Minneapolis due to abusive
conditions there. That agreement
allowed the county to keep seven
other facility licenses that should
have also been revoked as required
under existing state law. This
arrangement wasn't made known
tothepublicuntilafteritwas already
done. As a result, no corrective
actions were taken by the state or
county to avoid a repeat of the
problems that might occur if that
facility were reopened.
Shortly after the Chicago Avenue
detox center closed, the county
contracted with the Salvation Army
to operate the facility that had
been dubbed "the Chamber of
Horrors," because ofthe extreme
acts of client abuse that occurred
there. The Salvation Army had
already been operating a similar
detox center in downtown
Minneapolis. Since that time the
new operation ofthe old county
detox center has been fairly
uneventful—until this week.
On Wednesday your writer
learned that abuse of clients by
staff is once again occurring and
other problems are also developing
at the Chicago Avenue detox
center. During ameeting attended
by state detox coordinator Wayne
Raske and five ofthe center's staff
members, the fol lowing was heard.
As recently as this past week a
detox staff person was written-up
DetOX/to pg. 8
County Brd. stunned by TERO ordinance
By Gail DeBoer
Walker Pilot
May 27, 1999
Using words like "bombshell" and
"stunned," the Cass County Board
tried May 18 to sort out the
implications of TERO, an
ordinance adopted last year and
about to be implemented by the
Leech Lake Band of Oj ibwe.
The Tribal Employment Rights
Office ordinance would impose a
three percent tax on construction
and remodeling work within the
reservation's jurisdictional
boundaries, and would require
hiring oflndian-owned firms and
Indian workers under certain
circumstances.
"The TERO Ordinance is
designed to provide employment,
training and business opportunities
for Leech Lake Band members
and other Indians 1 i ving on or near
the reservation," a memorandum
from TERO director Mark Rogers
stated.
As the ordinance now reads,
private individuals,businesses and
public entities including counties,
townships and school districts
would be affected by the tax and
hiring provisions. This would
includepublic prqjectslike schools
or highways. Revenue would be
used to support the program and
TERO/topg.8
County takes go-slow approach to tribal
jail plan
By Nathan Bowe
Becker County Record
May 26, 1999
Hope for the best and expect the
worst, that's the attitude ofBecker
County commissioners when it
comes to a proposed tirbal jail on
the White Earth Reservation.
"My reading is, we've lost some
ground, and we better go back to
ourown people and get on with it,"
said Commissioner Jack Murray,
referring to ongoing plans by nine
counties to build aregional jail.
Murray and County
AdministratorMike Williams were
amongahandful ofcounty officials
Court hears arguments on Prop 5
By Bob Egelko
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -
The battle between California
Indian tribes and Nevada casinos
over expanded gambling on
reservations, subject of a $100
million ballot campaign last year,
moved to the state Supreme Court
today.
Proposition 5, approved by 63
percent of the voters last
November, has been put on hold
until the justices decide whether it
violates restrictions on casino
gambling in the state Constitution
or a federal law on tribal casinos.
The suits were filed by agroup of
homeowners opposed to nearby
casino expansion and by a labor
union that disliked the initiative' s
provisions forcasino workers. The
homeowners are supported
financially by Nevada casinos that
also bankrolled the No-on-5
campaign.
The combined spending on the
proposition, including $70 million
by tribes supporting it, was a
national record foraballotmeasure
campaign.
Proposition 5 would allow
previously banned video machines
_ some of which fit the state law's
definition of slot machines —as
well as blackjack, several other
card games, and off-track betting
on reservation casinos.
The measure is crucial to the
economic futureofdozensoftribes,
which have relied increasingly on
gambling revenue to support their
social programs.
Tribal leaders put the measure
on the ballotafter Gov. Pete Wilson
refused to negotiate increases in
video gambling and card games
allowed on reservations. Gov.
Gray Davis, by contrast, supported
Proposition 5 and has begun
negotiations that couldleadto state
Prop 5/topg. 3
Tribal Council votes to remove
president, vice president
MESCALERO, N.M. (AP) --
The Mescalero Apache Tribal
Council has ousted the tribal
president and vice president after
allegingmisappropriatedfunds and
sexual harassment.
Tribal officials didn't want to talk
about it.
"The Tribal Council considers
this to be an internal matter ofthe
Mescalero Apache Tribe, (and)
no further statements will be
released to non-tribal entities," they
said in a four-line news release
Friday.
"In an action taken today," it said,
"the Mescalero Apache Tribal
Council has remo vedPresident A.
Paul Ortega and Vice President
Oliver Enjady from office."
A message was left seeking
comment from Ortega, who
became president lastNov. 4 when
longtime tribal president Wendell
Chino died.
On May 20, Ortega received a
tribal document accusing him of
several unauthorized fiscal actions
plus sexual harassment against a
tribal employee, an allegation he
said had already been thrown out
ofcourt.
The document alleged:
•The unauthorized purchase of
metal buildings after the Tribal
Council voted againstthe purchase.
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1
from the area who attended a recent
tribal presentation on its proposed
jail.
"They've talked to a lot of
agencies, and I'd be happier than
anyone ifthey got their ducks in
order with (the agencies that
County/to pg. 5
Bob Greywolf's Ojibwe language class meets Wednesday evenings at 510 North
Robert Street in St. Paul. Greywolf and partner Monika DeNasha have the "Looking
for Horses " arts and craft store at the same location. For more information or to sign
up to learn the Ojibwe language, call (65J) 224-9727. Pictured: Theresa Zottola,
Monika DeNasha, Bob Greywolf and Kelvin Nichols.
U.S. appeals court denies injunction
against state cigarette seizures in WA
By Jeff Armstrong
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld a district court
ruling that the Yakama Nation
cannot sue the state ofWashington
to prevent it from seizing untaxed
cigarettes bound for the
reservation. Although the court
denied the injunction based on the
11th amendment bar on suing
states, it also ruled in favor of state
jurisdiction to enforce its laws upon
tribal cargo.
Rejecting Yakama claims that
state officers acted outside of their
legal authority when they
confiscated a truckload of
cigarettes from the tribe in 1997
and sold the contents for $235,000,
the court ruled that the tribe did not
possess sovereign immunity from
state tax regulations. The appeals
court denied Yakama assertions
of sovereign immunity from
DepartmentofRevenue regulations
requiring reservations to notify the
departmentofshipmentsofuntaxed
cigarettes.
"Pre-approval is obtained by
giving advance notice to the
Department. In the absence of
such notice, any unstamped
cigarettes are considered
contraband.. .and are subject to
seizure and sale," the court ruled.
"In addition, the Supreme Court
has specifically approved of states
enforcing their tax laws through
the off-reservation seizure of
unstamped cigarettes."
Yakama had argued that its
cigarette shipment could only be
Seizures/to pg. 6
UN calls for investigation of shooting
death of Potawatomi activist by
Ontario police
•The purchase of three new
vehicles for the tribe's
ConservationDepartmentthatwas
not authorized by the tribal budget.
•Failure to reduce the president's
salary in a timely manner after a
proper vote ofthe Tribal Council.
•Giving away or assigning tribal
property without the approval of
theTribal Council.
Ortega and Enjady had been
placed on administrative leave last
week pending Friday's vote, and
the eight-member Tribal Council
appointed counci lor Sara Misquez
as interim president at that time.
Tribal/to pg. 8
By Jeff Armstrong.
A United Nations committee
charged with reviewing
governmental adherence to the
International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR)
criticized Canada's indigenous
policies and called on the
government to sponsor a public
inquiry into the fatal shooting ofan
unarmed Native activist at a
peaceful land occupation in Ontario
four years ago.
The UN Human Rights
Committee, which conducts
reviews every five years of nations'
compliance with the ICCPR,
praised Canada's recent
establishment of the Inuit self-
governing territory Nunavut but
condemned the "practice of
extinguishing aboriginal inherent
rights" as a violation of Article I of
the human rights treaty, which
guarantees the right to self-
determination.
The Coalition for aPublic Inquiry
into the Death of Dudley George,
abroad-based coalitiondemanding
an investigation into the shooting
death ofthe Potawatomi activist at
the hands of Ontario Provincial
Police (OPP), described George
in its report to the UN as the "first
indigenous person this century to
be killed in a land rights dispute in
Canada." One of 250 officers
deployed to end the nonviolent
occupation ofa park claimed as a
sacred burial site by 24 Ojibwe
and Potawatomi demonstrators,
OPP sergeant Kenneth Deane was
convicted in 1997 of deliberately
firing on the Potawatomi activist
and falsely claiming he thought
George was armed. Deane was
sentenced to just 180 hours of
community service.
"The Committee is deeply
concerned that the State party so
far has failed to hold a thorough
public inquiry into the death ofan
aboriginal activist who was shot
dead by provincial police during a
peaceful demonstration regarding
land claims in September 1995, in
Ipperwash. The
Potawatomi/topg.5