Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-03-03

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Tidbits 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 6-7
Commentary
MIAC business loan
program needs
accountability,
supervision
pg4
Commentary
Father Ron Meyer's letter on White
Earth law enforcement agreement
insulting
pg4
Commentary
White Earth's John
Buckanaga, Erma
Vizenor unfairly
criticized
pg4
Minnesota willing to give up state
hunting licenses in Red Lake's
Northwest Angle
pg3
U. S. Supreme Court rules on Hawaii
case: No more racial discrimination
in voting
P9 1
Leech Lake tribe accidentally put casino
expansion on private property
Voice     o f     t he     People
web page: www.press-on.net
By Gary Blair
A recent decision by the Leech
Lake officials to construct a $20,000
building for employee training at the
Northern Lights Casino located near
Walker, Minnesota could ultimately
cost tribal members an additional
$250,000.
Apparently, the Leech Lake tribal
council, the reservation's gaming
director and the land manager were
unaware that part of the building
would be constructed on private
property owned by Roger
Donderlinger of Brainerd, Minnesota. Reports say, Donderlinger, a
car dealership owner, is asking
$250,000 for the property and has
posted, "No trespassing" signs on
the new building. The property is a
small parcel of land located behind
the casino.
Attempts to contact Donderlinger
for comment were unsuccessful.
Staff at Donderlinger Chevrolet in
Brainerd reported on Feb. 28 that he
was out of town.
Northern Lights Casino's manager,
Rodney White, said in a phone inter
view Feb. 28 that he was told to refer inquiries about the matter to Judy
Hanks, the reservation's public relations director.
Leech Lake chairman, Eli Hunt
said in a phone interview Feb. 28
that he was aware of a call from
Donderlinger that was referred to the
reservation's legal department. "If
this is true, then 1 acknowledge it's
an embarrassment, but I 've never
been afraid ofthe truth."
"Let me check into this some more
and get back to you," Hunt said.
ft
'tee<
Ojibwe News
Tribal leaders say proposed $1.2 billion budget
increase for Indians is not enough
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weeKiy publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2000
Founded in 1988
Volume 12 Issue 20
March 3, 2000
By Matt Kelley
Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President
Clinton's proposal to provide $ l .2
billion more for Indian health care,
law enforcement and education is not
enough to meet the dire needs of reservation communities, tribal leaders
and their allies in Congress say.
Indian programs have been
underfunded for so long that more
money is needed to, bring them up to
minimal standards, the leaders said
Thursday at a meeting of the National
Congress of American Indians.
PRESS/ON Publisher's Note:
There are approximately 2.4
million Indian people in the
United States, with
approximately 20 percent, or
500,000, living on the
reservation where federal
funding is directed.
The president's proposal to boost
spending on Indian programs to $9.4
billion, more than a 12 percent increase over the current year's level,
"does not begin to address the Third
World conditions on our reservations," Congress President Susan
Masten said.
"lt is only the first step to recognize
the trust obligations and treaty responsibilities to Indian Nations," said
Masten.
Lynn Cutler, the top White House
aide on Indian issues, and other administration officials acknowledge
the budget proposal won't meet all
tribes' needs, but say a larger increase
might have trouble in the GOP-con-
trolled Congress.
"It's still not enough to meet basic
needs, but it's a good package to go
around," White House adviser Mar}
Smith, a Cherokee, told the tribal
leaders Thursday.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.. said he
would welcome proposals for addi
tional spending.
"A billion dollars is nothing to
laugh at, it's pretty good," Domenici
said Wednesday during a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing. "Hut
it may be that somebody might want
to put more (money) in, especially in
school construction."
Clinton's budget proposal for the
nation's 2.4 million Indians includes
$300 million for reservation school
construction and renovation, more
than double the SI33 million lo be
spent this year. The money would pay
for six new schools, mostly in Arizona and New Mexico, but would not
erase an estimated $800 million '
backlog in vital repairs and construction for Indian schools.
The budget also calls for S140 million in new spending on Indian law
enforcement, more than S60 million
more for building and repairing reservation homes and nearly $230 million more for the Indian I lealth Service.
Racial profiling in Minnesota courts disallowed
By Jeff Armstrong
The Minnesota Court of Appeals
Feb. 29 overturned the sexual assault
conviction of a Hmong man based
on the prosecution's attempt to use
alleged cultural practices as evidence against die man. A Dakota
County court had allowed prosecutors to present testimony about the
role of women in Hmong culture by
a white Minneapolis Park Police officer in the trial of Chia James Vue.
"Expert testimony linking a
defendant's ethnicity with a propensity to engage in conduct consistent
with the crime charged is inherently
prejudicial and inadmissable," the
appeals court ruled.
The court upheld defense arguments that the testimony needlessly
prejudiced the jury by implicitly
criminalizing an entire race.
"By asserting that Hmong men
tend to abuse their wives, the expert
testimony directly implied to the
jury that because defendant was
Hmong. he was more likely to have
assaulted his wife. It is self-evident
that this is highly prejudicial. It is
impermissible to link a defendant's
ethnicity to the likelihood ofhis
guilt," the court wrote.
Ironically, the court noted, the
state admitted in oral arguments before the three-judge appeals panel
that it would have objected to a defense attempt to use similar cultural
arguments to justify Vue's conduct.
"Our criminal code is supposed to
be blind to the array of cultures
present in the State ofMinnesota.
The state wants it that way when
cultural testimony goes against
them," the opinion states. "The prosecutor stated she would object to
that as irrelevant, if offered by a defense attorney. But here the state
urges the same kind of cultural evidence be allowed to bolster a case
against appellant."
The court also expressed deep
skepticism about the qualifications
ofthe police officer as an expert witness.
"Further, the credentials of this
-
Minneapolis Park Police officer to
give expert opinions bn Hmong culture are suspect. Ihe record shows
that the officer's contact with
Hmong culture arose primarily from
personal experience with family
friends, thai his exposure to Hmong
culture as .1 pence officer w i- 1
ited, and that he had little OT no academic training involving Hmong
culture." the court stated.
in any event, the court observed
that the officer's testimony itself
tended to refute its applicability to
the case.
"The expert testimony itself confirmed the lack of relevancy to this
case and to this victim." the court
wrote. "Thus, the "expert's" cultural
testimony emphasized the barriers
on reporting 'among older Hmong
citizens where English is nonexistent
or very difficult at best.' This is not
our case."
The unanimous decision was considered and decided by judges
Peterson. Randall and Klaphake.
University ofMinnesota hosts
American Indian high school students
About 30 American Indian students from reservations throughout
Minnesota visited the University of
Minnesota Twin Cities campus
Wednesday. Feb, 23.
The visit to the U was part of
Project 120. a program that helps
American Indian students grades
nine to I 2 develop an in-depth understanding ofthe basic structure of
government and the political process. The high school students
spent most ofthe week at the stale
Capitol observing the Legislature m
action. They also met with U faculty, counselors and special guest
••(loldy Gopher." I hey also visited v
with trjhal leaders at a reception on
campus.
The visit is sponsored by the
I niversity's Department of American Indian Studies and the Office
of Multicultural and Academic Affairs. For more information, contact
the Department of American Indian
studies at (612)624-1338.
Pictured: Cass Lake High School
student Sarah Jaspers meets
"Goldy Gopher" during Project t20
at the University of Minnesota.
No more racial discrimination in
voting, court says
Leech Lake
tribal chair
candidate Ross
seeks more
control of land
Excerpted from Devlyn Brooks ,
Bemidji Pioneer
BEMIDJI, MINN. - A candidate
for tribal chairman says the Leech
Lake Band of Chippewa needs to
fight the federal government for
more control of land.
Lenee Ross recently announced
he will challenge incumbent Chairman Eli Hunt. Ross, 43, is Bemidji
State University's director of
American Indian Services. He has
served as the reservation's executive director.
Ross said he would advocate for
all federal and state lands within the
exterior boundaries ofthe reservation to be returned to the tribe because they were taken, if not illegally, at least immorally.
Ross said this philosophy is at odds
with Leech Lake's current government, which is trying to buy back
some of that land piece by piece.
Other important issues include
court reform, education and economic development, he said.
In his State ofthe Band address
last week, Hunt said the Tribal
Council's priorities for the next
year include acquiring more land,
expanding tribal housing and alleviating such social problems as teen
pregnancy.
Filing for the position opens Friday and closes March 6. The primary is set for April 18; the general
election is June 13.
Authorities: Sisseton-Wahpeton
tribal protesters were heavily armed
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Seven AR-15 assault rifles and 472 rounds of
ammunition were found in the building occupied for two days by protesters upset with Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribal government, tribal police
say.
The activists, including Vietnam War veterans and tribal elders, barricaded themselves in the headquarters building late Tuesday afternoon.
They alleged corruption in the tribal government and wanted changes
in the panel that controls the tribe's casinos. The siege ended peacefully
on Wednesday after organizers said their demands were met.
David Heller, resident senior supervisory agent for the FBI in Sioux
Falls, said the agency was aware that weapons had been recovered.
"Any investigation into these matters will be determined through further discussion with the U.S. Attorney's Office," he said.
During the siege, several protesters and their supporters denied they
had any weapons. "They probably saw someone carrying a mop," one of
their supporters said.
SISSETON-WAHPETON  to pg. 6
Oglala Sioux president dismisses
13 of 17 tribal council members
By Steven Barrett
Associated Press
RAPID CITY, S.D. -       Oglala Sioux Tribal President Harold Salway
apparently has suspended 13 of 17 tribal council members on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation.
Council member Darwin "Bogie" Carlow ofthe Pine Ridge District said
he, Robert Red Owl ofthe Wakpamni District, Emmett Kelly ofthe Wounded
Knee District and Philip Good Crow ofthe Porcupine District were the only
members not given 30-day suspensions.
"I'm one of the good guys," Carlow quipped in a telephone interview late
Friday night.
The suspended council members will not be paid as long as the suspension
lasts, he said.
Carlow said Salway took the action within the past two days.
'The council members were acting out of line here," he said, though he
added that he was unsure of what exactly prompted the suspensions because
he had been out of town when they took place.
Salway and other council members could not be reached for comment.
OGLALA SIOUX to pg. 6
(AP) The Supreme Conn has outlawed Hawaii's practice of letting
only people of I law.nian blood vote
for leaders of a program that benefits
descendants ofthe island's original
residents. The state's voting restriction is a form of unlawful racial discrimination, the court ruled 7-2 Feb.
23.
"A stale may not deny a abridge the
right to vote on account of race, and
this law does so," Justice Anthony
Kennedy wrote for the court.
Although not likely to have an impact outside Hawaii, the ruling reinforces the court's devotion to racial
equality - which has led the justices
in recent years to strike down various
governmental efforts to give racial
minorities extra help to make up for
past discrimination.
The ruling is rare because it rests
on the 15"' Amendment, a post-Civil
War measure to protect the rights of
former slaves. Fro the first time, the
court said that amendment protects
everyone, including whites.
A white Hawaii rancher had challenged the slate's limits on who can
vote for trustees ofthe Office of Hawaiian Allans, which administers
slate funds and proceeds of public
land to aid descendants of original
1 lawaiians.
The state's constitution limits voting for the trustees to people descended form the original 1 lawaiians
on the islands in 1 77S. the date ofthe
fust known arrival by Europeans.
Kennedy's opinion rejected arguments that the limitation is based on
ancestry, not race. "Ancestry can be a
prosy for race," he said. "It is that
proxy here."
State officials, supported by the
federal government, had argued that
the voting limitation was valid because Congress and the state have an
obligation to native Hawaiians who
lost their land, similar to the
government's obligation to American
Indians.
"when the culture and way of life
of a people are all but engulfed by a
history beyond their'control, their
sense of loss may extend down
through generations and their dismay
may be shared by many members of
the larger community." Kennedy
said.
But he added that Hawaii's attempt
'to address these realities" must keep
in mind that the U.S. constitution
"has become the heritage ofall citizens of Hawaii"
Justices John Paul Stevens and
Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
The plaintiff did not challenge the
state's right to create a trust to benefit people with Hawaiian blood.
Minnesota tribes risk renewing slot debate with poker\
legislator warns
Excerpted from Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
Indian tribes that are planning to add
poker tables to their casinos risk renewed political pressure for a state-
sponsored casino that ultimately could
hurt them, a legislator involved in gambling issues warned Feb. 29.
"1 was told by representatives ofthe
tribal communities that [poker] would
be something they would not be interested in," said Rep. Mike Osskopp, R-
Lake City, recalling discussions last
year before the Legislature authorized
poker for Canterbury Park racetrack.
"Now we're finding out it's possible
that's not the case."
Osskopp, chairman of a House gambling subcommittee, reacted to reports
that the tribes that own Jackpot Junction in Morton and the Shooting Star
Casino in Mahnomen each have made
plans for poker rooms with four tables.
"I would caution them to consider
whether the revenue from four tables
would be worth reinvigorating the call
for slots at Canterbury'' or elsewhere in
die state, Osskopp said.
Gov. Jesse Ventura, the Department
of Public Safety and the attorney
general's office are considering how to
react to tribal moves to start poker.
"At first blush, this looks like something that can be done by the tribes,"
Ventura spokesman John Wodele said
Feb. 29. "At this point, we don't see
the kinds of obstacles that would prevent something like this."
Wodele said he didn't know whether
gambling agreements between the
tribes and the state, called compacts,
would need to be amended. Lawyers
for tribes have said they don't need
new compacts to run poker because
the game involves gamblers playing
against each other, not against the
house, as they do when playing blackjack or slot machines.
Because federal law says tribes can
offer games allowed elsewhere in the
state, when legislators approved poker
for Canterbury they created the potential for poker in tribal casinos.
Minneapolis attorney Jim Genia said
his firm, Lockridge Grindal Nauen in
Minneapolis, studied potential issues
and the effects of a poker club for.
tribes last spring when the Legislature
considered the poker proposal for
Canterbury.
"We took a look at it because our
lobbying department was involved in
the decision by tribes not to oppose
the Canterbury Park legislation,"
Genia said. The conclusion was that
"the legislation would allow the tribes
to operate the same kinds of games"
as Canterbury without requiring diem
to reopen compacts.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota, which owns Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, have said there are
no plans to open a poker room to
compete with Canterbury, which is 5
miles down the road.
But the Lower Sioux, owners of
Jackpot Junction in Morton, have
advertised for a poker manager for a
room to open in June. And the White
Earth Chippewa are considering putting a poker club in the Shooting Star
Casino in Mahnomen.
Poker also could be an option for
the Grand Portage Chippewa.