Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1999-08-20

              CORRECTION:
Chief
Greenhill is
Ojibwe, not
Lakota, pg. 4
Man beat to
death on
Mille Lacs
reservation,
Pflf-3
COMMENTARY:
Life getting
worse on Mille
Lacs
reservation,
P9-4
Apparent
mis-steps on
White Earth
projects cause
concern, pg. 1
Full text of
MOU between
EPA, MPCA
and Mille Lacs
Band, pg. 8
Mille Lacs
band's water
company
gone down
the tubes,
pg-1
Mille Lacs Band's water company
gone down the tubes
c
Voice ofthe People
web page:   www.press-on.net
By Julie Shortridge
According to news reports in
the San Francisco Chronicle,
Indian Wells Water Co. has ceased
operations and is filing for
protection under Chapter 11
Bankruptcy.
CEO Jim Stevens, a veteran of
Perrier and Coca-Cola, pitched
his new company as marketing
"pure spring water from pristine
tribal lands," and benefiting
American Indians.
The Mille Lacs Band of Oj ibwe
invested $10 million for a 10
percent stake in Indian Wells. Five
other tribes were also developing
springs toparticipate in theproject.
"The goal is to help American
Indians develop a new economic
template besides casinos," Brian
McCarthy told the Chronicle.
McCarthy was company president
at the time and still owns 30% of
the company.
Wells was to be amajority owner
of a bottling company and state-
of-the-art water processing plant
located on its reservation. As part
of the joint venture agreement,
each partner tribe also became a
shareholderoflndian Wells Water
Co. The company planned to
purchase the water produced by
each tribe and distribute and
market itnationallyunderthe Indian
Wells brand name.
Native
American
Press
FREE
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 1988      Volume 11  Issue 45
August 20, 1999
Each tribe entering into a joint    .....      . . m^m^mmmmmmmm—m^
venture agreement with Indian Mille Lacs/to pg. 3 ^ weekly publication.        Copyright, Native American Press, 1999
Apparent mis-steps on White Earth
projects cause concern
By Gary Blair
The White Earth Reservation
Business Committee (RBC) will
have to pay property taxes to
BeckerCounty on20 low-income
single family housing units being
constructed near Ponsford,
Minnesota.
Less than a year ago the White
Earth RBC announced that they
had purchased some private
property to build subsidized
housing for the reservation's
southeast communityofPinePoint
—somethingreservation officials
had never done before. They called
theproject the "Strawberry Lake
housing site."
Becker County officials recently
informed theRBC thatsingle family
low-income housing is taxable on
property that is not held in trust by
the federal government forthe tribe
- a fact the RBC apparently was
surprised to learn.
Why the RBC wouldn't know
that the tribe'sprivately-held land
is taxable when well-publicized
court cases and federal rulings have
made this clear, is unknown. It's
possible they intend to petition the
federal government to put the land
in trust status.
MiS-Steps/to pg. 6
Clinton signs bill that compensates
Menominee Indians
WASHINGTON (AP) -
President Clinton signed a bill
Tuesday that releases $27 million
to theMenominee Indians to settle
a lawsuit which claimed the
government temporarily
tenriinatedthetribe'sfederal status
and mismanaged its resources.
"Mismanagement by the Bureau
oflndian Affairs in the 1950s led
the tribe to the brink of economic,
social and cultural disaster," said
Sen. Herb Kohl, thebill's sponsor.
"The tribe will finally be
compensated for the damages they
suffered."
The Menominee Indians, in a
1967 lawsuit, said the BIA
mismanaged the tribe's forests and
mills and damaged their livelihood.
After Congress terminated the
tribe's federal status in the 1960s,
it plunged into years of poverty
and turmoil, the Menominee said.
The government eventually
restored the tribe's federal trust
status in the 1970s.
The Menominee Tribal Fairness
Act of 1999 passed the House
and Senate earlier this month.
Congress approved a settlement
of about $32 million with 15
percent, or$4,800,000, allocated
to tribal attorneys.
The legislation requires that at
least 30 percent ofthe settlement
be distributed to tribal members.
Menominee leaders agreed on a
figureof about $8 million forthe
7,782 tribal members.
Tribal chairman Apesanahkwat
said every tribal member,
regardless of age, will be given a
share amounting to $ 1,050 each.
Checks should be mailed to tribal
members by Dec. 1, the chairman
said.
Apesanahkwat said one likely
use for the remaining $ 19million is
a new courthouse.
Smith says time for Cherokee Nation
to step forward, bury differences
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) - inhisinaugurationspeechSaturday
Cherokee Chief Chad Smith spoke as he stood where he was arrested
aboutunity andburyingdifferences  two years ago when atribal dispute
Red Lake Band expands
Thief River Falls casino
RED LAKE, MN (AP) ~ The
Red Lake Band of Chippewa will
show off its expanded casino and
newrestaurantthis weeknear Thief
River Falls.
The 5,000-square-foot, 200-
seat restaurant featuring a country
street-market atmosphere and the
addition of 250 new gambling
machines to the River Road Casino
"is allowing our people to make
memostofmeopportunity gaming
has afforded us," tribal Chairman
Bobby Whitefeather said.
The tribe also is considering
adding lodging, a waterpark, golf
course and even a race track at the
River Road Casino, he said.
Last spring, Whitefeather and
Bemidji Mayor Doug Peterson
floated apian to make Bemidji a
destination venue with a 1,000-
slot machine casino in conjunction
with a hotel/convention center, an
18-hole golf course, horse stables
and trails and arecreational vehicle
park.
Because of community
opposition, however, both Red
Lake and the city backed off in
May.
Whitefeather said he would like
to develop a major casino and an
accompanying tourism trade at
Red Lake on the reservation, but
the Tribal Council wants to expand
the River Road Casino, which will
have a ribbon-cutting ceremony
Friday.
In addition to the Thief River
Falls casino and a small casino in
Red Lake, the band also operates
a casino and hotel at Warroad.
threatened the nation's second-
largest tribe.
"It is here and today that we
mark a continuation to fulfill our
designed purpose," Smith told the
thousands who gathered.' The task
on our journey is to preserve our
richculture,re-establishour strong
tribal government and achieve
economic self-reliance of our
people."
Outgoing Chief Joe Byrd briefly
attended the ceremony at the
Cherokee Courthouse Square.
Former Chiefs Ross Swimmer and
WilmaMankiller stayed through
the program.
Smith was dressed in historic
wear as took his oath of office to
lead the 200,000-member tribe.
The ceremony was moved from a
local college because Smith said
thecourthousehasspecialmeaning
to the Cherokee people.
"The Cherokee Courthouse is
the most sacred symbol of our
nation's sovereignty and survival
as a people," Smith said. "The
courthouse and square belongs to
the Cherokee people and was the
Cherokee/to pg. 5
Grand Entry at
Grand Portage
Reservation
Pow-wowon
August 14.
State court    denies appeal of
former Fond du Lac hunger striker
By Jeff Armstrong
The conviction of a Fond du Lac
man who asserted his innocence
of sexual misconduct charges by
waging a 48-day hunger strike in
Carlton County jail in 1997 has
been upheld in an unpublished
opinion by the Minnesota Court of
Appeals.
Gary McFatridge was arrested
in October of 1997 on a criminal
complaint alleging two counts of
2nd degree criminal sexual
conduct, two counts of 4th degree
sexual misconduct, and one count
of obstructing legal process.
McFatridge pleaded not guilty
to all charges, but was convicted in
February 1998 on one count of
4th degree sexual conduct for
allegedly touching a 15-year-old
girl's breast and sexually
propositioningher. The Anishinabe
man was also convicted of
misdemeanor obstructing legal
process, a charge McFatridge
apparendydidnotfactually dispute.
On appeal, McFatridge
maintained that thetrial court should
have declared a mistrial when a
prospective juror alleged in court
that the defendant assaulted his
son some years earlier. Because
the statement was made in the
presence of 11 of the 12 jurors
ultimately chosen to hear the case,
McFatridge argued that it unfairly
prejudiced the jury against him,
necessitating anew trial.
In its August 10 rulingthe appeals
court disagreed, holdingthat'The
prospective juror's statement was
notswomtestimonyandconcerned
a separate incident; therefore, any
prejudice to McFatridge was
minimal." The court found that
McFatridge waived his right for
jurors to receive instructions from
the court to disregard the statement
by failing to request a corrective
statement duringjury selection.
- The court further ruled that
statements bv the defendant and
her cousin served as sufficient
evidence to convict McFatridge
of 4th degree sexual misconduct
based on the age ofthe girl. "She
testified that McFatridge put his
arm aroundher shoulder, touching
her breast, and said that he wanted
Hunger/to pg. 5
State initiates legal action against
Ho-Chunk Nation over bingo
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - State
officials are a step closer to filing a
lawsuit against an American Indian
tribe that inspectors say does not
have the correct license for a game
it offers at agambling hall.
The state argues that the so-
called Bingo Evergreen games at
the DeJope Gaming and
Entertainmenthall look andoperate
too much like slot machines, which
are not allowed at the facility. The
hall,inMadison, is runbythe Ho-
Chunk Nation.
Earlier this week, Scott
Scepaniak, head of the state
Division of Gaming, invoked a
dispute resolution, as set forth by
the gambling agreements the state
and tribes reach to continue
gambling in the state.
The resolution calls forthe tribe
to open negotiations with the state
over the dispute or risk the state
filing a federal lawsuit.
"We just came to the conclusion
that we have irreconcilable
differences on the class ofthe game
at this point," Scepaniak said.
Ho-Chunk Nation casinos with
slot machines, such as those in the
areas ofWisconsinDells, Nekoosa
and Black River Falls, require a
Class 3 license.
A Class 2 license is for bingo.
TheBingo Evergreen video gaming
machines make up one-third of
DeJope's electronic games. At last
count, Scepaniak said there were
98 machines at the gaming hall.
The machines offer bingo with
the characteristics of a video slot
machine, inspectors said.
In a letter to Gary Brownell,
attorney general forthe Ho-Chunk
Nation, Scepaniak wrote: "The
state alleges that the game
Evergreen Bingo ... is correctly
classified as a Class 3 game."
.Scepaniak said he heard from
the tribe Thursday after he sent the
letter invoking the dispute
resolution. In a written response,
Ho-Chunk officials said the tribe
believed Evergreen is a Class 2
game, Scepaniak said.
The tribe has 30 days to begin
discussions with the state.
Brownell did not return a
telephone message left by The
Associated Press Friday.