Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-07-23

              News Tidbits,
Complete text of
Atty. General to
New information
State audit
Don't forget:
P9-3
Pres. Clinton's
review how
emerges about
reports MN Indian
Affair Council
business loan
Friday, July 30^
Smoke Signals
speech at Pine
Leech Lake
Wadena
election, Mille
of Upcoming
Ridge
TERO applies to
corruption, pg. 1
program plagued
Lacs District 1
Events, pg. 5
Reservation,
reservation
by mismanagement,
rep seat, pg. 1
P9-5
property, pg. 1
pgs. 1 & 4
Voice ofthe People
Suzanne Merril and Arlene Weous 	
vie for Mille Lacs District 1 Rep. seat webpage: www press-°n net
i
By Julie Shortridge
On Friday, July 30, the Mille
Lacs Band of Oj ibwe will elect a
new District 1 Representative..
Former District 1 Rep. Myron
Gahbow passed away on April 9,
leaving the seat vacant. The district
includes the main reservation area
near Kathio township.
The field was narrowed in the
Tuesday, June 8 special election
primary from five candidates to
the two top vote-getters, with
S uzanne Merril receiving 69 votes,
and Arlene Weous receiving 64.
This reporter called both
candidates to ask them four
questions:
1) Why are you running for the
Dist. 1 Rep. seat?
2) What would you like to
accomplish if you are elected?
3) What are some ofthe issues or
problems facing the Band?
4)   What   baqkground   and
experience would you bring to
the position?
Arlene Weous, who works in
the Mille Lacs Band's Office of
Management and Budget, did not
return this reporter's three voice-
mail messages left over a three day
period, in which I explained my
Dist.1 Rep/to pg. 3
Native
American
Press
FREE
OjiJweNews
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
New information emerges about
Wadena corruption
Founded in 1988     Volume 11 Issue 41
July 23,1999
A weekly publication.     Copyright, Native American Press, 1999
1
By Gary Blair
Additional information continues
to emerge about former White
Earth Band of Chipppewa
Chairman Darrell "Chip"
Wadena's theft of funds. Wadena
served approximately two years in
federal prison for his criminal
activity while Chairman, having
been released several months ago.
In July 1996, then newly-elected
White Earth officials hired aprivate
investigator to try to locate funds
that were stolen by convicted
former reservation chairman,
Darrell "Chip" Wadena and two
other reservation business
committee (RBC) members.
An August 1996 report issued
by the Talbot Investigative Group
of Chanhassen, Minnesota
concluded that the funds were most
likely being held in two area banks,
and in an Alaskacorporation with
large land holdings.
The information is contained in a
report recently obtain by Press/
ON.
The report says that investigator
Jack Talbot was recruited by
former White Earth attorney M i les
Lord, and the investigation was
approved by three of the
reservation's RBC members.
Those approvingthe investigation
were newly-elected Chairman
Eugene "Bugger" McArthur,
newly-appointed Secretary/
Treasurer Erma Vizenor and
newly-elected District 3
Representative, John Buckanaga
Wadena/to Pg. 3
Red Lake walleye stocking appears to be working
Doug Smith
Mpls. Star Tribune, July 18
The historic attempt to restore
Red Lake's walleye population
appears to be working.
Two months ago, Red Lake-
arearesidents and fisheries officials
dumped about41 million walleye
fry into the sprawling Red Lake
basin in northern Minnesota, then
sat back and hoped the fish would
survive and prosper.
They apparently have—so far.
Minnesota Department of  thepastfiveyearscornbined,"said^
Natural Resources fisheries   Bob Ekstrom, DNR large lake
workers are conducting their
annual six-week summer fish
reproduction assessment, using
100-foot seines in shallow water
to capture and count small fish.
They are pulling in large numbers
of 3-inch walleyes, which they
believe were mosquito-size fry
when they were poured into the
lake two months ago.
"We'vecaught more walleyes in
the first week than we have over
specialist. "We'repretty excited
about it."
Said Gary Barnard, DNR area
fisheries manager: "We haven't
seen these kinds of numbers since
1985."
Chippewa natural resourceofficials
are findingthe same good numbers
of small walleye in their surveys of
band-controlled waters. But it's
Walleye/to pg.8
Justice Hunter
Humphrey, son of
singer songwriter
Annie Humphrey, was
one ofthe dancers at
the Bemidji, MN
lakefrontfestivities
July 16 (See additional
photos page 8.)
State audit reports MN Indian Affairs
Council business loan program plagued
by mismanagement
Atty general to review how Leech Lake
TERO applies to reservation property
By Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer, July 16
The state attorney general's office
will review how the Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe's Tribal
Employment Rights Ordinance
office has had substantial
communication with Cass County
Attorney Earl Maus and attorneys
representing the Leech Lake
Band.
"We have assigned attorneys to
enforce rules assessing fees to
construction projects within the
reservation' s boundaries and rules
governing the employment of
American Indians on such projects.
About a month later, the band
announced it was putting its TERO
ordinance on hold for 30 days to
address concerns about it.
Yochum said the attorney
general's review is scheduled to
review TERO and its application
applies to various aspects of to various aspects of reservation
reservation property, accordingto property," Hatch's letter states.
Cass County Administrator Bob Leech Lake' s TERO ordinance
Yochum. which was enacted last year,
In a June 23 letter, Attorney sparked a controversy in May
General Mike Hatch states his when the tribe announced itwould    ' tKvJ/to pg. 8
Sec'y of State Madeleine Albright
speaks to Native American Groups
By Jeff Armstrong
The Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council (MIAC) has mismanaged
and failed to utilize hundreds of
thousands of dollars in state funds
earmarked for business
development on the state's
economically depressed
reservations, according to a
scathing review of theprogram by
the legislative auditor's office.
In a rare disclosure of the
workings of aprogram specifically
excluded from Minnesota's open
records laws, the auditors released
the report publicly on July 15.
"The counci 1 did not administer
the Indian business loan program
in a reasonable and prudent
manner, and did not comply with
some statutory provisions and state
policy," the audit concluded.
Less than half of the more than
$2millionavailableto the business
loan program in fiscal year 1998
was spent by the MIAC, with only
about 10% of expenditures going
to actual loans. Between 1996
and 1998, the council approved
just eight loan requests totaling
$205,614 and entered fiscal year
1999 with a surplus of more than
$1.1 million.
By comparison, the MIAC
expended $163,157 on travel
expenses during the same three-
year period and nearly $400,000
on purchased goods and services.
As of March 1999, no loans
were issued for the current fiscal
year.
Although the state audit found
relatively little fault with the
council's administrative
expenditures, it concluded that
several purchases of goods and
services conflicted with state law
and accepted business practices.
Most notably, the legislative
auditors took the MIAC to task
for temporarily hiring Minnesota
ChippewaTribe executive director
Gary Frazer and an unidentified
tribal employee to oversee
Audit/to pg. 6
Signs  to  mark  White   Earth
boundaries
The exact boundaries of the reservation have not been clear
Issues relating to the treatment
and rights of minorities and
indigenous peoples are increasingly
influencing mainstream U.S.
foreign policy, according to
Secretary of State Albright.
The Secretary underscored this
point during her July 14 remarks at
the State Department's Fourth
Annual Meeting with
representatives of American Indian
and Alaska Native, Native
Hawaiian and other indigenous
Americans.
She said these questions are
increasingly recognized as affecting
such important foreign policy issues
as fair trade, sustainable
development and global climate
change.
Albright noted that the United
States has vigorously pressed other
cultural identities.
Following is the State
Department transcript of remarks
by Secretary of State Madeleine
K. Albright before the State
countries to improve treatment of Department's Fourth Annual
their own indigenous minorities,   Meeting with American Indians
from Central and South American
Indian peoples to tribal groups in
Indonesia and Southeast Asia and
the people of Tibet. She also
pointed out that the State
Department has play ed a key ro le
in negotiating international
agreements that protect Native
American subsistence hunting and
fishing practices vital to their
and Alaska Natives, Native
Hawaiians and Other Indigenous
Americans July 14, 1999
Washington, DC.
"Thank you, Frank. I'm
pleased to welcome everyone
on the second day of these
consultations. I know that many
Albright/to Pg. 6
By Debra Harmon
Bemidji Pioneer, July 18
BAGLEY— Road signs
identifying WhiteEarthReservation
boundaries may help local law
enforcement with jurisdiction
issues, officials say.
Clearwater County Highway
Engineer Dan Sauve met Tuesday
with the C learwater County Board
to discuss a request to place signs
at the boundaries of the
reservation.
Peter Thompson, crime
prevention coordinator for the
White Earth Reservation, says
placing signs at the boundaries
would improve law enforcement
abilities on both sides of the
boundary.
The 3-by-5 green and white signs
wouldbe imprinted with "Entering
White Earth Indian Reservation."
Thompson said about 15 roads in
Clearwater County would be
marked. The estimated cost of the
project is $1,500.
According to District 1
Commissioner Duane Hayes,
Clearwater County' s policy calls
for the cost of the signs and
continued maintenance to be paid
by the party making the request.
As a result, White Earth would be
responsible for paying for the
signage.
Thompson said the plan is
endorsedby other law enforcement
entities, including local
Conservation Officer Greg
Spaulding. Through the years, the
exactboundariesofthereservation
have not been clear to residents of
the reservation. As a result,
Spaulding has cited numerous
American Indians for game
violations off the reservation, such
as uncased gun.
According to Thompson, those
same people would not have
violated any laws if they had
Boundaries/to pg. 3
-,