Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-12-17

              :-:.■' ''■-■■-
INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Tidbits 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 6-7
Donald Trump,
Paucatuck Eastern
Pequots sign
agreement
pg5
Mille Lacs Band reinstates
sovereign immunity defense in
newspaper's civil rights lawsuit
P9 1
Editorial/Opinion
Our Sister's Keeper
pg4
I
fa   ^
United States Forest Service
plans to buy more land
in Minnesota
pg3
Director of Red Lake
Family and Child
Services jailed
pgi
4M.
Mille Lacs Band reinstates
sovereign immunity defense in
newspaper's civil rights lawsuit
(Press/ON) — Reversing position for at least the third
time in the last four months, an attorney for the Mille Lacs
Reservation Business Committee (RBC) has asked a U.S.
District Court judge to suspend action on a federal civil
rights complaint until reservation courts can litigate the
case.
Filed on behalf of the Native American Press/Ojibwe
News and reporter Jeff Armstrong, the lawsuit asserts that
Armstrong was wrongfully arrested while attempting to
cover an Oct. 22, 1997 meeting ofthe Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe on the Mille Lacs Reservation. Armstrong
was taken into custody by tribal officer Marc Gabiger and
detained on trespassing charges by Mille Lacs County for
refusing to voluntarily depart the meeting upon the order of
then Tribal Executive Committee (TEC) president Nonnan
Deschampe.
On April ,5,1998, Mille Lacs County District Court judge
Thomas Knapp dismissed the criminal trespass charges brought
under Minnesota law.
Despite being required to waive sovereign immunity as a
condition of state legislation authorizing its creation of a police
force, Mille Lacs officials filed a "Motion, for a stay of
proceeding pending exhaustion of tribal remedies" on Dec. 9,
1999. Significantly, Mille Lacs County is apparently supporting
the reservation's assertion of immunity, which argues that the
county was bound to enforce the tribal arrest by "a sub-agency
ofthe Tribe [which] cannot sue or be sued in any court as an
entity in its own right."
The attorney for the Band argues in his brief for the RBC that
the plaintiffs have failed to invoke or contest the jurisdiction of
the tribal court.
"They do not allege and further admit that they did not
exhaust any tribal court remedies, nor did they ever advance
any ofthe above claims before any judicial tribunal ofthe
LAWSUIT to pg. 6
Director of Red Lake
Family & Children
Services jailed
Political interference in tribal court
jeopardizes safety of 4-year-old boy
By Bill Lawrence
Rebel Gale Harjo, the Director of Family and Children
Services for the Red Lake Reservation, was charged with
Civil Contempt and jailed by Red Lake Tribal Court judge
Dan Charnoski Dec. 9th for being 25 minutes late for a
pre-trial hearing regarding a child custody case.
With neither party to the case present, the tribal judge
also turned the pre-trial hearing into a trial without notice,
denying the parties an opportunity to present evidence and
call witnesses.
According to Red Lake Tribal Court documents, Harjo
was jailed for being late, despite the fact that the legal
custodian ofthe child in question — the child's paternal
grandmother Edith Bush — had not appeared at two
previously scheduled hearings and was not present or
represented by counsel at the Dec. 9th hearing either.
Harjo, in her position as Director of Family and
Children Services, had filed a Petition for a Temporary
Protection Order based upon evidence of severe medical
and physical neglect of a four-year-old boy in the Red
Lake Tribal Court on Aug. 6, 1999. The petition was a
result of a phone call to the Red Lake police department,
reporting that a child was being neglected in the home of
his paternal grandfather Ray Smith, Sr. east of Red Lake.
According to Red Lake Tribal Court documents, tribal
police found the four-year-old boy alone in the Smith
residence. The small boy was extremely dirty, with
impetigo sores on his head, and feces caked on his
  RED LAKE COURT to pg. 8
People
,   web page: www.press-on.net
*
/L>ee>
Ojibwe News
Support Equal Opportunity For Ail People
Copyright, Native American Press, 1999	
Founded in 1988
Volume 12 Issue 10
December 17,1999
Leech Lake elders oppose U.S. Attorney decision
By Anne M. Dunn
Cass Lake, MN - Twenty-five
Leech Lake residents, the majority
being elders, met Dec. 11 at the
Veteran's Memorial Building in Cass
Lake to discuss their dissatisfaction
with the U.S. Attorney's failure to
prosecute former Leech Lake
officials who allegedly scammed
$300,000 out of reservation casinos
through a "checks to cash" scheme.
The three-year-old federal investigation had focused on management
ofthe casinos from Jan. 1, 1990 to
Nov. 10, 1997.
Hartley White was disappointed
with the small number ofpeople
present and complained, "We have
2,000 people on this reservation. I'd
expect more interest. The children are
out concern. Leech Lake Reservation
Business Council [RBC] lets people
steal form out children! We are
seeing a second wave of crooks and
another wave is getting ready. White
people wouldn't' put up with this!"
Walter "Frank" Reese believes that
the decision not to prosecute leaves
the door open for further thefts.
On-going theft using computer
phone lines
According to Reese, who is a
phone technician for the LL Band,
the RBC phone systems were
networked together through a
"phantom panel" located at Northern
Lights Casino.
"The number rang at the Bug-O-
Nay-Gee-Shig School. From the
school to the Northern Lights
modems that controlled accounts. I
tried to discuss it with my supervisor
but he was not interested.
"So I disabled the access code,
changed passwords and cleared
attempts on security. Then I waited,
Reese said. He believed thai whoever
would call to complain about the
password not working would be the
person who was accessing the code
to withdraw funds from the casino. I
got a call from a person at the school
who said the calls wouldn't go
through and asked for the access
codes. I said I didn't have them but
would get them.
"I reported this to my supervisor.
He said, 'No big deal.'
"I was having lunch at the Northern
Lights. It was my day off. But
someone came up and said the phone
company wanted to know what wires
go to which computers.
"I called the phone company and
they said they had an order for a four
wire modem at ATM. A unit that
goes direct to a branch bank in Park
Rapids. Who set it up? Charlie
Brown.
"Brown was on the U.S. Attorney's
list. He was fired and later rehired in
marketing.
"The Ojibwe News ran the 'hack
story.' [Oct. 29. 1999 I88UC ^'Press-
ON] but there was no hacker! It was
set up from the inside to be accessible. I believe money was taken
before it went to the accounts so the
LEECH LAKE to pg. 6
The new retail center, Ancient Traders Market, at 12th
and Franklin Ave. in Minneapolis features a cafe, art
museum, and Indian arts and crafts stores.
Pictured Above: Kenny and Marilynn Bellanger in their
Northland Native American Products store. Left. Exterior of
new development.
Photo credit: Gary Blair
Bands awarded nearly $4 million for costs of arguing
treaty rights
By Laura Baenen
Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Money
would likely come from Minnesota's
general fund to pay a nearly $4
million award to seven of eight
Minnesota and Wisconsin Indian
bands for the cost of proving their
treaty rights all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
Minnesota officials, including
Attorney General Mike Hatch and
Gov. Jesse Ventura, are expected to
decide soon whether to appeal the
Dec. 10"' court award, said Dennis
Stauffer, a spokesman for the state's
Department of Natural Resources.
If the state decides against appealing, the DNR will likely ask the
Legislature for permission to tap the
state's general fund to pay the award.
The Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa
filed a lawsuit in 1990, contending
that an 1837 treaty still allowed the
tribe to hunt and fish without state
regulation on non-reservation land.
The other bands later joined the
lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court
voted 5-4 earlier this year that those
rights continue to exist.
The state then argued the bands'   *
request for payment of legal fees
should be rejected entirely, or at least
lowered substantially.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis,
though, granted the request in its
entirety.
The Mille Lacs Band received the
biggest award, about $2.8 million.
Last month, the state rejected a
land transfer to the Mille Lacs Band
as a way to pay legal fees. A transfer
likely would have been controversial
in central Minnesota, in part because
it would have taken land off property
tax rolls, reducing local government
income.
New retail development on Minneapolis'
Franklin Ave. raises hopes
By Gary Blair
The East Franklin Ave. area in south
Minneapolis, from Chicago Ave. to
16th Ave. south, is receiving a major
face-lift. $3.5 million is being pumped
into the neighborhood from city loans
and foundation grants.
The revitalization plans included the
opening this week of Ancient Traders
Market, located at 1113 East Franklin
Ave., formerly D.C. Sales. The mall
contains professional office space and
Native American stores selling finely
displayed arts, crafts and other
products. The market also houses an
art museum and Maria's Cafe.
According to the project's Executive
Director, Theresa Carr ofthe American Indian Development Corporation
(AIDC), the street will eventually be
torn-up and turned into one large mall
area. "The mall will be lit with lower
lighting. The wood on the front ofthe
old Franklin Mall next door will be
removed and the building will receive
a new frontal image. Gone will be a
place for drug dealers and prostitutes
to hide at night," Carr said Dec. 15 of
AIDC's plans to change the image of
the long-troubled Franklin Ave.
Carr said there are also plans to
improve the low income housing
around Franklin Ave., in an attempt to
draw more Native American families
back to the neighborhood that had
once lived there.
The Franklin Ave. area of Minneapolis once had the highest concentration of Native Americans found in
any U.S. city. However, that population has deceased considerably over
the last decade. Many Indians that
once lived in the area, were displaced
by recent arrivals from other foreign
groups.
A new burgeoning Indian community has since formed around the
Lowry Ave. and Central Ave. area in
Northeast Minneapolis.
Those who attended the open house
on Dec. 15 say they hope the improvements will have a lasting
positive effect on the community.
Three years ago, the City of
Minneapolis' Community Development Agency was criticized when
funds that the agency pumped into the
AIDC were not paid back. Carr
wasn't AIDC's executive director at
the time those short-falls were
created.
Leech Lake adopts revised version ofTERO
By Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer
The Leech lake Band of Ojibwe
announced Dec. 8 it has adopted a
revised version of its Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance (TERO),
ending a process that began more than
a year ago.
"We feel confident that the revised
TERO ordinance will be viewed
positively by those who had problems
with the original ordinance," Leech
Lake Tribal Chairman Eli Hunt said in
a statement.
The primary purpose ofTERO,
according to the tribe, is to ensure that
members of the Leech Lake Band and
other American Indians gain their
share of employment business and
training opportunities in construction
projects located on or near the Leech
Lake Reservation.
The ordinance, which was enacted
in December 1998, sparked a controversy in May when the tribe announced it would enforce rules
assessing fees to construction projects
within the reservation's boundaries
and rules governing the employment
of Indians on such projects.
About a month later, the band
announced it was suspending its
TERO ordinance for 30 days to
address various concerns. In August,
the band announced it was accepting
comment on a new ordinance and just
recently adopted its revised version.
The revised TERO ordinance
includes three major revisions,
including reducing fees assessed to
construction projects, limiting the
scope ofthe ordinance to construction
contracts that are consensual contracts
with the band, and providing incentives for those willing to voluntarily
comply with TERO.
Consensual construction contracts
are contracts in which tribally certified
contractors and subcontractors
perform work on lands within the
reservation's boundaries for the tribal
government or its entities.
The new ordinance will reduce the
TERO fee applied to consensual
construction projects from 3 percent to
2 percent on each contract valued at
$200,000 or more. Contracts under
that amount will be assessed a 1
percent fee.
In addition, the new ordinance will
not assess a fee on non-consensual
TERO to pg. 8
Hudson residents debate merits of casino
HUDSON, Wis. (AP) - A court-
approved settlement has resurrected
a proposal to develop a casino at a
Hudson dog track and renewed the
debate among residents over
whether they want tribal gambling in
their town.
The settlement, recently approved
by U.S. District Judge Barbara
Crabb of Madison, requires U.S.
Interior Department officials to
reconsider their decision to deny
three Chippewa bands permission to
buy the St. Croix Meadows Greyhound Track and convert it to a
casino.
Resident Jim Seidling said he
views the proposed casino as a
means of bringing better-paying jobs
to Hudson. The carpenter, who
currently earns about $20,000
building homes, said he may want a
job in the gaming industry.
But Nancy Bieraugel, a St. Croix
County supervisor, said local
prosperity is not worth the
community's soul.
"With 20,000 people coming into
Hudson (to gamble) every day, it's
going to destroy this community as
we know it today," Bieraugel said.
"We just don't need this type of
development."
Hudson, along the Minnesota
border, is among the state's fastest-
growing regions.
The county's population has
grown in the last three decades from
34,354 residents in 1970 to an
estimated 56,751 in 2000, according
to state demographers. Another
4,000 residents are expected in the
next 15 years.
The economic benefits would
outweigh the casino's drawbacks,
restaurant owner Fred Kremer said.
But Dennis Lovold, managing
general partner of two motels, said
the local labor pool is already
stretched to its limit.
Wisconsin audit
finds fewer on-site
investigations of
casinos
Division of gaming says technology
now allows monitoring from
Madison
Anthony Jewell
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis.—The Division
of Gaming has completed far fewer
on-site audits oflndian casinos over
the last three years, according to a
Wisconsin audit released Dec. 9.
Even though the number of
auditors in the division increased
from two to seven from 1996 to
1999, the number of completed on-
site audits dropped from nine to two,
the Legislative Audit Bureau report
found.
Division of Gaming officials said
the number of such audits has
dropped because of improved
technology that lets them monitor
casinos without leaving Madison.
The division receives daily or weekly
reports that detail activity on every
slot machine at 17 major and nine
minor casinos around the state.
Officials evaluate that information
continually throughout the year,
looking for unusual entries or
patterns.
"When auditing, we focus on the
integrity ofthe games," said Scott
Scepaniak, administrator for the
AUDITS to pg. 6
Appeals court won't re-hear
Yankton Reservation case
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The
8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has
decided not to reconsider a ruling
that diminishes the size ofthe
Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation.
In late August, the appeals court
returned 220,000 acres to state
jurisdiction. In a ruling dated Dec. 8,
the court turned down requests to
rehear the matter.
The August decision was a blow to
the Yankton Sioux Tribe and a
victory for state officials. The state
had argued that criminal and civil
jurisdiction in most ofthe area
belongs to the state and Charles Mix
County.
Much ofthe original 400,000-plus
acres ofthe reservation has been
under state and local authority for the
past century.
"The 8th Circuit denied
everybody's petition," said Charles
Mix County State's Attorney Scott
Podhradsky.
Petitioners wanted a three-judge
panel to reconsider this summer's
ruling and asked that the full court
hear the matter.
Also requesting reconsideration
were the state and the Southern
Missouri Waste Management
District. They argued that the August
ruling should have said the reservation was disestablished, not merely
diminished.
Most ofthe land has been treated
as a disestablished reservation for
100 years, the state has argued.
Now, any of the parties can appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court,
Podhradsky said. If that doesn't
happen, the case goes back to U.S.
District Judge Lawrence Piersol, of
Sioux Falls, to determine the boundaries within the guidelines ofthe
previous ruling, the state's attorney
said.
That ruling said the reservation
could encompass up to 40,000 acres
of trust land, according to
Podhradsky.
"It would, in reality, put us back
the way it was in 1995 for the last
100 years, because the state has never
tried to exercise jurisdiction over
trust lands," he said.
The reservation was created by an
1858 treaty. About 168,000 acres of
the 430,000-acre parcel were sold to
the government in 1894 and opened
to settlement. The rest was allotted to
individual tribal members, and most
has since been sold to non-Indians.
About 40,000 acres remains in trust.
In 1998, Piersol had ruled that
270,000 acres ofthe original reservation was still Indian Country under
tribal and federal jurisdiction. The
state appealed, and Piersol's decision
was reversed, returning about
220,000 acres to statejurisdiction.
RC3(1 Native American Press/
ojibwe News Weekly