Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-05-12

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tamm
INDEX
News Around Indian Country
News Briefs
Commentary/Editorials/Voices
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events
Classifieds
University seeks
retention,
graduation of
minority students
pg4
New angling rules
for Lake Mille Lacs,
other treaty lakes
pg5
Absentee votes
could decide White
Earth elections; but
incumbent won't
share mailing list
pg4
Commentary
The real issues at
Mille Lacs aren't
hard to figure out
Mille Lacs
tribal elections
up for grabs
pg 1
Minnesota
Chipppewa
Tribe TEC
quarterly
meeting held
at Mille Lacs
Grand Casino
by Anne M. Dunn
Following a closed subcommittee
meeting, the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe's (MCT) Tribal Executive Committee (TEC) meeting was held at
Mille Lacs Grand Casino May 3, attended by approximately 65 people.
All 12 TEC members were present,
as were MCT Executive Director
Gary Frazer and Minnesota Indian
Affairs Council Executive Director
Joe Day. The TEC consists ofthe
Chair and Secretary-Treasurer of each
ofthe six MCT bands.
Following is a summary of topics
discussed at the meeting:
Pemberton denied
Alfred "Tig" Pemberton appeared
before tlie Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe's (MCT) Tribal Executive Committee (TEC) to present a complaint
concerning his being denied the opportunity to run for office in the re
cent Leech Lake primary. He told the
committee that the Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee (RBC)
had judged him unfit to run for the
office of chairman and refused to certify him, although he met all legal requirements. Therefore, he believed
that his civil rights had been violated.
Pemberton was convicted: in 1996
in federal district court of three separate felonies for theft and misappropriation of funds belonging to the
Leech Land Band of Chippewa. Me
served nearly three years in federal
prison. Pemberton committed these
crimes while serving as Leech Lake
tribal chairman.
"I want to know if the MCT-TEC
will uphold LL's decision,"
Pemberton said.
MCT-TEC President Pete DeFoe
said, "Although I disagree with your
MCT to pg. 6
Mille Lacs tribal elections up for grabs
Excerpted from Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
Mille Lacs Indian Reservation —
Boasting new schools, a health clinic
and businesses built with gambling dollars, the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation
often is touted as the prime example of
how tribal casinos can help poor people.
While other tribes in Minnesota and
Connecticut hand out big shares of
profits to their members, the Mille Lacs
Band of Chippewa plows money into
government projects and economic development. Tlie policy has been called
farsighted and has earned praise for
tribal chief executive Marge Anderson,
who was named Tribal Leader ofthe'
Year in 1997 by an organization of
tribal officials.
Within
her tribe,
not everyone is
cheering.
Next
month,
Anderson
faces a
tough bid
for reelection as some band members challenge
her vision of their future. The race be:
tween Anderson and Melanie Ben-
The debate echoes a
theme running throughout American politics
on whether government
or individuals can do a
better job of improving
economic and social
conditions.
At Mille Lacs, it
boils down to two questions: Should tribal
leaders spend profits on
Marge Anderson Melanie Benjamin government programs
jamin, a former tribal administrator now    in hopes of pulling people out of pov-
"Once we get our unmet
needs taken care of, then
maybe it's time to talk
[about increasing
payments]."
- Marge Anderson
working as an assistant librarian,
is taking place amid a growing
debate on tlie reservation on how
to spend casino money.
"They don't need any more
infrastructure or
buildings," said
tribe member
Mushkooub, 50,
who took the
Chippewa name
in the early
1970s. He and
some other Mille
Lacs members
say their government can afford to give
them bigger shares of an
estimated S80 million in annual profits
from Grand Casino Mille Lacs and
Grand Casino Hinckley.
erty? Or should they hand over more of
the
money
to
members so
they
can
make
their
own
choices?
"My pledge is to host
public meetings to
educate ourselves on the
governmental budget
and then allow the band
members to vote on
the issue."
■•it
- Melanie Benjamin wouid
be
good for some people and not good for
other people," said Zhaawan, 54, who
has taught Chippewa for 20 years on
the reservation and supports Anderson.
MILLE LACS io py. C
Rfcd Lake starts expansion of Thief River Falls casino
By Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa
this week breaks ground on a major
S22 million expansion to its river
Road Casino at Thief River Falls.
A year-round water park, scheduled to be open in early to mid-winter
2001, highlights expansion efforts to
the band's Thief River Falls casino,
but expansion is also planned at its
Lake ofthe Woods Casino in
Warroad. says Dan King, Red Lake
tribal treasurer and executive in
charge of development for the River
Road expansion project.
Groundbreaking ceremonies are
slated for noon May 10 adjacent to
the River Road Casino.
The expansion will "catapult us
into the big leagues of combined
non-gaming recreation, leisure, hospitality and gaming venues," Tribal
chairman Bobby Whitefeather said in
a statement. "The 40.000-square-
foot, year-round indoor water park,
similar to Wisconsin Dells, will make
us the world's largest Indian casino/
hotel with a water resort attraction.
"And with the addition of 600 more
slot machines, and the eventual construction and completion ofa golf
course, snowmobile/MotorCross
track, gas station and convenience
store, this will truly have the ability to
become the year-round destination
resort of choice for visitors to northwest Minnesota," Whitefeather said.
Features ofthe River Road expansion include:
• 40,000-square-fbot indoor water
park which features four 50-foot tall
water slides that empty into an indoor
"lazy river," and are insulated for
four-season use. A beach-like zero-
entry swimming pool with small toddler and children's areas and small
slides are also featured.
* An 8,000-square-foot video arcade, featuring simulated golf, virtual
reality simulated car races.
• A state-of-the-art child care center for children of hotel and casino
guests.
* A hotel with at least 150 suites
with a Northwoods look, with suite
interiors resembling log cabins, and
Voice     of     the     People
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May 12, 2000
constructed with real logs. The typical suite will have spas and be technologically wired for Internet and fax
access.
• Expanded gaming area,for at
least 600 new slot machines.
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa,
through its operating company, Red
Lake Gaming, operates casinos in
Thief River Falls, Warroad and
Redlake. It opened a major expansion
at the River Road Casino last August
with the addition ofa 5,000-square-
foot, 200-seat restaurant directly connected to the casino. At the same
time, 250 slot machines were added
to the casino.
The restaurant features different
food cart stations and an indoor
country street-market atmosphere for
the complex eight miles south of
Thief River Falls and east of U .S.
Hwy. 59.
A year ago, tribal leaders and
Bemidji officials proposed a major
Red Lake-run casino near the
Bemidji-Beltrami County Airport,
EXPANSION  to pg. 8
Graduation
dinner for
American
Indian
graduates
by Julie Shortridge
Approximately 200 people attended the I4'h
Annual Graduation Dinner for American Indian
graduates, held May 4 at the Minneapolis Shrine
Center on Park Avenue South.
Seventy-nine Native American students from 12
institutions were recognized for together receiving four Medical Doctor degrees, five Juris Doctor degrees, 11 Master degrees, 22 Bachelor of
Arts degrees, 14 Associate of Arts or Science de-
GRADUATES  to pg. 8
TOP PHOTO: Gilbert Ben Huie (Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa) of Duluth,
Minnesota, was recognized for receiving a Master degree in Liberal Studies
from the University of Minnesota, Collegeof Continuing Education.
Huie is on the Board of Directors at Metro State Alumni Association, where he
graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts. He also holds an
Associate of Arts from North Hennepin Community College, and is a registered
Tool and Die Maker in the State ofMinnesota.
Hui was accompanied to the banquet by his mother, Beatrice Hui of Fond du
Lac,and his three daughters (l-r) Deanna Sjoberg, Cassandra Ofsthun-Grey,and
Angela Lindback.
BOTTOM PHOTO: The graduate who received the loudest cheers from his table
of relatives at the dinner was Andrew Warrington (Menominee Tribe), who
received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the University of
Minnesota this year. He is accompanied by his daughter Breana and son Andyr.
Some Indians say multi-race census choice not a positive
Native Americans concerned about undercount
Excerpted from David Hanners
St Paul Pioneer Press
When the government decided last
fall to let people list themselves as
members of more than one race on this
year's census fonn, it was aimed at getting a more accurate picture of just how
much ofa melting pot America had become.
But the change has created a controversy among minority groups — particularly American Indians — because
of concerns that people of mixed race
might not be counted as minorities.
"We might wake up in 2005 and find
out that in some areas ofthe country, we
don't have any American Indians living
there anymore," said Gregory
Richardson, executive director ofthe
North Carolina Commission on Indiai
Affairs and a member ofa special Census advisory committee on Indian matters.
At the heart ofthe controversy is a
change in tlie 2000 census made by the
Clinton administration last October. In
previous decennial counts, people had
to choose whether they were white,
American Indian/Alaska native, Asian,
African-American or Native Hawaiian/
Pacific Islander.     They could only
check one. (For tlie census, Hispanic is
not considered a race, but an ethnic
group.)
For tlie 2000 Census, though, people
were allowed for the first time to check
more than one box. Among those advocating the change were groups representing parents of mixed-race children.
They objected to having to pick one
race or the other to identify the race of
their children.
Tlie change means there are now at
least 63 different racial combinations
the government
will officially
recognize. At
tlie time ofthe
change, census
officials estimated that
roughly 2 percent ofthe
population
would indicate
that they were
more than one
race.
"We had an
undercount in
1990, and on
the reservations, the
undercount was 12.2 percent,"
Richardson said. "So ifyou have families that are splitting out various racial
categories, my question has been what
impact is that going to have on the data?
Will that have the effect of increasing
the number ofpeople in Indian country,
or will it have the effect of reducing fur-
"It gives credence to
some ofthe more
conservative elements
in our society who say
we should just do away
with all of these special
relationships we have
because they're really
not Indians anymore."
ther the undercount of American Indians? How do you count half a person? I
haven't heard an answer, to tell you the
truth."
Some Native American officials are
concerned about how tlie data will be
used. They fear the change in the race
question may lead to an even greater
undercount of American Indian populations and could have
an impact on federal
and state financing for
programs targeted at
Indians.
Despite the concerns voiced by members ofthe Census Advisory Committee on
the American Indian
and Alaska Native
Populations, it appears
little ofthe controversy has filtered
down to the reservations, including tlie 12
located across Minnesota.
American Indian
officials in Minnesota say they're unsure how the change in tlie race question will affect this year's count. In the
past few weeks, census enumerators
trained by the Bureau ofthe Census and
the tribes have been going door-to-door
on the state's 12 reservations, getting
CENSUS to pg. 8
Indian mother files
discrimination
complaint over
school rally
Assoc iatetl Press
BEMIDJI, Minn. - The mother of
two American Indian students has filed
a civil rights complaint over a high .
school pep rally that she says was insulting to Indians and degraded her
children.
The pep rally was held March 17 at
the Win-E-Mac High School in
Erskine-to get the students fired up for
a sectional basketball game against the
Red Lake Warriors, a team from tlie
Red Lake Indian Reservation.
According to the complaint filed
April 24 with the U.S. Department of
Education, as the lights dimmed in the
school gymnasium, Win-E-Mac teachers dressed as "Indians" danced to a
"tom-tom." They were followed by another teacher, dressed as a cowboy,
who said in effect, "We're going to put
Red Lake back on the reservation
where they belong."
Tlie woman who filed tlie complaint
reported her eighth-grade son, distraught by the skit, told some students
he hoped Red Lake would beat Win-
E-Mac. She said that son was then
kicked by another student and others
yelled racial slurs at both sons.
The two boys have since left the
school and enrolled elsewhere.
Win-E-Mac is a consolidated school
district, which includes the communi-
SCHOOL topg. 6
Tribal judge accused of civil
rights violations
Associated Press
MACY, Neb. - The federal government and Omaha tribe will continue
to investigate allegations of civil
rights violations in a suspended
tribal judge's court.
Judge Jerre William Moreland,
chief judge ofthe Omaha Tribal
Court, has been suspended indefinitely over a review that alleged civil
rights violations occurred in his
court.
Nolan Solomon, administrative
manager ofthe Bureau oflndian Affairs in Winnebago, said his office
and the tribal council will continue
to investigate. Only the tribal council
has the authority to reinstate
Moreland, Solomon said.
The tribal council suspended
Moreland on Tuesday after it heard a
report detailing possible civil-rights
violations of defendants in his court.
Moreland, 44, said Thursday that
tribal police told him three days ago
that he was suspended, but gave him
no reason.
Solomon said Moreland was
aware of the review and was even
interviewed for it.
Moreland, who is a Cherokee Indian, said he was surprised at the allegations.
"I can't think of any case where
there would be a valid claim ofa
civil rights violation," Moreland
said.
Members ofthe council offered no
comment on Moreland's suspension.
The tribal council started the review of Moreland after numerous
complaints.
Tribal members have accused
Moreland of using contempt-of-
court sentences to bypass the rights
of defendants appearing before him,
and other rights violations.
The review was conducted by retired assistant U.S. attorney Ray
Murley of Sioux Falls, S.D., who
also is a former tribal judge. He will
not participate in the further review,
Solomon said.
The review provided information
that convinced the council that civil
rights were violated and Moreland
should be suspended, said Michael
Hackett, superintendent ofthe Bureau of Indian Affairs in Winnebago.
The council met Tuesday for five
hours in a closed-door meeting at its
headquarters in Macy in northeast
Nebraska. Details ofthe report are
confidential.
Moreland was appointed as chief
judge on Jan. 29 last year.
Tribal judges are hired by tribal
councils and have jurisdiction over
cases on reservations involving
American Indians.
Moreland also has been the subject of two federal lawsuits alleging
civil rights violations in his court. In
October, some tribal members tried
to oust Moreland with a recall petition drive.