Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-05-19

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Briefs 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 6,7
Sergeant Ernest
Robinson, Leech Lake
Chippewa, recognized
for service to country
pg4
Criticism of Shakopee
Mdewakanton Casino
employment practices
draws fire
pg4
News Briefs
Wakanabo's art
receives critical
acclaim
pg3
Public radio told to
turn off tape recorder
at Mille Lacs
Reservation forum
pgi
Leech Lake tribal
candidate Richard
Robinson charged
with theft
pgi
Public radio
told to turn off
tape recorder
at Mille Lacs
Reservation
forum
Excerpted from Mille Lacs Messenger
At an April 13 primary election candidates fonim, held on the Mille Lacs
Reservation, a reporter firan Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) was told he
could not record the meeting.
According to Leif Enger, reporter for
MPR's Main Street Radio, after recording the candidate forum for over a half
hour, he was asked to rum off this tape
recorder.
Enger, who has covered the Mille
Lacs Band for Public Radio on numerous occasions, told the Messenger he
was shocked when it happened.
"I was told during the meeting that
the tribal officials didn't want me taping," Enger said. "I was told I could take
notes if I wanted."
Enger was not sure who the person
was who asked him to turn off his recorder, but he said he assumed it was an
aide for current chief executive, Marge
Anderson.
Enger said that upon being told he
could not tape tlie meeting without permission, he asked forpennission and it
was denied.
Hie spokesperson wno asKea mm to
turn off his tape recorder also announced to the audience that a radio reporter who did not have permission to
record tlie forum had been asked to shut
off his tape.
Enger said he stood up and addressed
the candidates pointing out that he was
used to recording public meetings and
that he was under the impression the
candidates forum was public.
"I got no response from any ofthe
candidates," Enger said
Candidates participating in the forum
included incumbent ChiefExecutive
Marge Anderson, and challengers
Melanie Benjamin, Clifford Churchill,
Timothy Jackson, Mushkooube, Joe
Nayquonabe, Larry Nickaboine and
Herb Weyaus.
Enger did not include the incident in
his story which ran a few days later, nor
did the editors at public radio protest the
incident to the tribal government.
Mille Lacs residents air complaints with federal, state officials
Excerpted in part from Brett Larson
Mille Lacs Messenger
On Friday, May 5, a group of about
75 activists from tlie Mille Lacs area
tr4aveled to St. Paul to lobby their
elected officials about issues related to
tribal sovereignty.
Sen. Wellstone's office
The first stop was the office U.S.
Senator Paul Wellstone, where they met
with state director Conni Lewis and senior policy advisor Mark Anderson.
Eight members ofthe group addressed Wellstone's staff, including Joe
Karpen, Mary Jevne, Clarence Fitz,
Vincent Hill, Carroll "Keck" Melby of
Grand Portage, Darell Smith of South
Dakota, Scott Seaborne of Wisconsin.
Roland Morris of Montana. Hill and
Monis are both Anishinabeg; Hill is enrolled at Mille Lacs, and Moms at
Leech Lake. Hie group expressed concerns about expanding jurisdiction of '
the Mille Lacs Band in the area, the
definition of reservation boundaries, tlie
new wastewater treatment facility being
built by the Band, expansion of tmst
lands, impacts ofthe treaty case, civil
rights protections on the reservation,
and the fact that non-Indians cannot
vote in tribal government elections even
though the government is perceived as
advancing authority over non-Indians.
State Capitol
Tlie group then met with state Senator Dan Stevens (R- Mora), state Representative Sondra Erickson (R-
Princeton), Diane Drewry, general
counsel for Governor Ventura and Ken
Peterson ofthe Attorney General Mike
Hatch's office in a hearing room at tlie
State Office Building next to the State
Capitol, where many ofthe same issues
and concerns were discussed.
Mille Lacs area resident Glare Fitz summarized tlie problem this way, 'There is
no reservation in Mille Lacs County at
this time. However, the EPA tlie BJA and
the band have all said tlie reservation exists. It docs not exist That is our number
one problem in Mille Lacs County."
Superintendent refuses to release pep fest tape
Second incident alleged at Win-E-Mac
Excerpted from Mike Benedict
Bemidji Pioneer
A local school district superintendent
is still refusing to release a copy ofa
videotape taken of an alleged racist and
degrading skit performed at the
district's high school.
Win-E-Mac superintendent Gail
Sells said she contracted the district's
attorney and was told not to release tlie
tape.
Win-E-Mac School Board chairwoman Geraldine Olson said the district hired a Twin Cities attorney and
won't comment at this time.
In earlier interviews and written requests, Sells also refused to release a
copy ofthe tape to The Pioneer. She
cited federal and state statutes that protect educational and personnel data of
staff'and students.
Tlie videotape was filmed during a
March 17 public pep fest, which allegedly featured teachers dressed as stereotypical "Indians," prior to a section
final basketball game against the Red
lake Warriors boys' basketball team.
After the pep test, an American Indian woman's sons were allegedly harassed and assaulted by other students
in the district.
The Erskine mother withdrew her
two children from the district and filed a
civil rights complaint on April 24 with
the U.S. Department of Education.
Second incident
Sells commented about another alleged degrading event that was promoted by the district. It was held at the
Win-E-Mac district April 5 and also
videotaped.
A copy ofthe music-program videotape was made available to The Pioneer,
but tlie tape officially wasn't released by
tlie school district.
The music program featured third-
grade students dressed in Indian head
dresses, wearing war paint and beating
ice-cream buckets that were decorated
to look like drums.
During the event, the diird-graders
peifonned what were described as au
thentic Indian chants, songs and dances.
A "rain dance" was also pcrfonned
and the third-graders wrote their own
Indian music, which was performed
with song, drums and shakers.
They talked about American Indian
people diey studied and described what
the war-paint colors allegedly mean to
American Indian people.
Tlie Erskine woman, who withdrew
her children from the district, said the
program was held as a way the heal relations after the pep fest. But she said it
further degraded and stereotyped Indian
people and trampled on spiritual, social
and cultural beliefs, and did not provide
an accurate depiction.
Saying die event was no different
than the Indian statue of Niimi - depicting an Indian man in a pow-wow dance
-on the Lake Bemidji waterfront Sells
said Indian people didn't always wear
Levi jeans.
She said the music program was held
as a way to study Indian history.
But Indian people contacted by Tlie
Pioneer said Niimii is realistic ait
Red Lake tribe betting
water park, hotel will
boost casino
Excerpted from Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
Firing a new round in a business battle with anotiier tribe
over gambling dollars, the Red Lake Chippewa began constniction this week on a $22 million, five-story indoor water
park and hotel next to its casino in northwestern Minnesota.
One of Minnesota's poorest and largest Indian tribes, Red
Lake is comparing its future park and water slides to those at
Wisconsin Dells. The tribe said the indoor facility is part ofa
strategy for luring families of gamblers in die winter to its
River Road Casino in Thief River Falls.
Red Lake hopes the park will attract Canadians, North
Dakota residents and others who otherwise might drive 60
miles down the road to visit the Shooting Star Casino in
Mahnomen.
The Shooting Star, owned by the White Earth Chippewa,
is the largest casino in northwestern Minnesota, and it plans
next week to begin its own expansion that it hopes will
counter Red Lake.
The Shooting Star dominates the Winnipeg, Grand Forks,
Fargo and Bemidji markets.
The S32 million project at Shooting Star will include a
convention center and a bigger hotel, 300 more slot machines and a new form of gambling — poker. Indian tribes
believe they now legally can offer poker because the state
approved it for Canterbury Park.
Despite the expansion of Shooting Star, that casino's marketing director said May 10 he was "shocked" to learn of
plans by Red Lake to suddenly expand.
Will families come?
It's unclear how successful an indoor water park will be in
attracting families from Winnipeg, Grand Forks and elsewhere to the River Road casino complex.
Las Vegas has made several attempts to make casino complexes attractive to the whole family.
"It's a bit ofa mixed record," said William Eadington, professor of economics and director ofthe Institute for the
Study of Gambling at the University of'Nevada-Reno.
Red Lake says the lukewarm experience Las Vegas has
had with theme parks and family entertainment isn't relevant
because Vegas is primarily a gambling center and the casinos were trying to draw families from around the nation.
The tribe is trying to appeal to a family market that already
lives in Minnesota, said Dan King, the tribe's treasurer and
executive in charge ofthe project.
The tribe says it expects the water park and a suites hotel
to make money on their own and compares them to similar
attractions at the Wisconsin Dells that have been successful.
WATER PARK to pg. 6
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Civil Rights Coalition protests
Grand Casinos Mille Lacs
M I g I I
i.ni
Forty-two people protested outside of Grand Casinos Mille Lacs
on May 13, saying that tribal governments do not recognize the
• . •■, ii rights ofpeople on reservations, including at tribal casinos.
The Civil Rights Coalition, led by David Price, held a similar
protest February 12 and Grand Casinos Mille Lacs, and one April
2C) at Mystic Lake Casino in Shakopee.
To avoid arrest, the group stayed within the right-of-way of
Hwy. 169, which runs passed the casino, and parked on the nearby Grand Casinos Mille Lacs May 13. Participants
old Hwy. 169. A reporter from Minnesota Public Radio inter- held signs reading "Civil rights protections aren't
viewed several ofthe participants. protected here."
Civil Rights Coalition members picket outside
Tribal Court/State Court
forum meets in Mille Lacs
White Earth sells bonds
for Shooting Star Casino
expansion
Excerpted from Gerry Gilmour
The Forum
The White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians will sell
$31 million in bonds May 17 to back a remodeling and
expansion project at the Shooting Star Casino complex
in Mahnomen, Minn.
The sale will finance an expansion ofthe casino, an
addition to the Stardust Suites motel and construction of
a convention and events center.
Tribal chairman John Buckanaga said construction of
the 79,500-square-fbot center puts the casino in contention for countless state and regional conventions and
conferences.
Construction can begin tiiis month with the sale ofthe
bonds, he said.
Buckanaga and other tribal leaders signed 80 pages of
bond documents May 16 for the $31 million in loans
for die project. Tlie bond sale is being handled for the
tribe by Hutchinson, Shockley, Erley and Co. of Denver. The sales is broken into two parts: S 17.5 million of
the bonds are tax exempt; the remaining SI3.5 million
are tax revenue bonds.
The project is the largest expansion ofthe Shooting
Star since it opened in 1992 just off Minnesota Highway 59 along the Wild Rice River. The casino and hotel
cost SI 5 million to build.
Buckanaga said the expansion is consistent with the
tribal council's efforts to make the Shooting Star one of
the region's state-of-the-art gambling and gathering
complexes.
He said the Shooting Star complex generates nearly
half ofthe tribe's S96 million annual revenue. The
Shooting Star employs 925 people and the addition will
create another 200 jobs, Buckanaga said.
The Shooting Star's dining facilities were expanded
in 1998. In 1999, the tribe acquired full interest in the
adjacent Manitok Mall, and acquired the privately
owned Stardust Suites and the Great Northern Restaurant and Brewery in Fargo.
Buckanaga said the Fargo acquisition has paid off so
far. The downtown business serves as a staging point for
six busloads weekly. Each of those patrons averages a
"drop" of between S65 and S75, he said.
Butch Gordon Construction, the Native American-
owned Mahnomen business that built the Shooting Star,
has been awarded the general construction contract for
the expansion project, said Dave Bren, marketing manager for the casino. The project was designed by EAPC
SHOOTING STAR to pg. 6
By JuHe Shortridge
The state's Tribal Court/State Court
Fonim held their quarterly meeting May
12 at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs Convention Center in Onamia, Minnesota,
for what turned out to be a short but substantial meeting.
About 20 ofthe approximately 65 forum members were present. Mille Lacs
Band Judge Scott Lundberg chaired the
meeting, which went from 10:15-11:30
am., followed by lunch.
Tribal jurisdiction over
off-reservation Indian child
welfare cases
Pat Eyrich and Kelly Saranpa, social
workers with Hennepin County Department of"Child and Family Services who
serve on the American Indian Research
and Evaluation Task Force, gave a presentation asserting that tribal governments should establish "satellite" courts
and service agencies in die Twin Cities,
widi tribes receiving direct federal funding so diey can take control the approximately 700 Indian child welfare cases off
the reservation. They said the Department of Health and Human Services
supports the effort
Sarenpa said die County could save
$3.5 million in property taxes if tribes
could take over services to Indian children in die Twin Cities.
"We encourage and support tribes exercising sovereignty and taking jurisdiction in these cases," said Sarenpa, who
said the idea has been discussed with,
and given initial support from, die Leech
Lake and White Earth bands of
Chippewa.
State district court Judge Joseph
Halloran questioned what would happen
if one ofthe parties objected to a case being sent to tribal court. Sarenpa said diat
under ICWA, die tribal court can take jurisdiction, regardless.
State district court Judge James
FORUM to pg. 5
Leech Lake tribal
candidate Robinson
charged with theft
By Diane E. White
Richard Robinson, Jr. (dob: 02-04-53),
a candidate for District II representative
in die Leech Lake tribal election, was
summoned to appear in Cass County
Court regarding a felony complaint on
January 12,1995. Robinson is accused
of receiving $265 per week in unemployment benefits form the Minnesota
Department of Jobs and Training during
the time period of August 29,1992
tiirough March 13,1993, when he was
actually employed as a gaming consultant for the Leech Lake Tribal Council,
Leech Lake Gaming Division, receiving
pay of" $2,400 per month. The complaint
states: "As a result of Defendant's [Richard Robinson, Jr.] failure to report the income, Defendant received $7,420 from
the Minnesota Department of Economic
Security that he was not entided to."
The complaint made against Robinson
ROBINSON  to pg. 6
White Earth gets law enforcement
agreements in three counties
By Stephen Shueller
Bemidji Pioneer
BAGLEY, Minn. - Following many
months of negotiations, Clearwater,
Mahnomen aid Becker counties have
consented to a cooperative law enforcement agreement with the White Earth
Band of Chippewa Indians and a joint
signing ceremony is planned for later this
month.
Tlie Clearwater County Board gave its
general consent to a cooperative compact
with the White Earth Band on May 9.
Clearwater County Board Chainnan Ken
Solberg said diat an official motion authorizing the band to sign the document ■
with White Earth will be approved May
16.
Zenas Baer, general counsel to the
White Earth Band, said that the No. 1
goal of die White Earth Tribal Council is
ensuring die safety of its tribal members
and ofall the people who use the roads
on the reservation.
Baer announced to Clearwater commissioners that die tribal council approved a resolution May 9 authorizing
die band to sign an agreement under
which the reservation and county cooperatively will work together to enhance
public safety efforts on the reservation.
Becker and Mahnomen county had previously consented to law enforcement.
agreements with White Earth.
White Earth Reservation encompasses
all of Mahnomen County and parts of"
Clearwater and Becker counties. The impetus behind the three-county law enforcement agreements widi White Earth
are two 1997 Minnesota Supreme Court
decisions, State v. Stone and State v.
Robinson, which severely limited state
jurisdiction within the boundaries of
American Indian reservations.
Through die Stone decision, the state
lost jurisdiction to enforce civil regulatory laws within reservation boundaries
including stop sign, driver's license and
automobile insurance violations. In response to die lack of jurisdiction, last
year Gov. Jesse Ventura signed a bill authorizing the white Earth Band to establish a law enforcement agency.
Creation ofthe band's police depart-
AGREEMENT to pg. 6
Cherokee Nation
to consider free
press statute
By Kelly Kurt
Associated Press
TULSA, Oklahoma - Cherokee
Nation Chief Chad Smith welcomed
a proposal May 15 that would give
the tribal newspaper license to print
the truth - "whether it be good, bad
or ugly."
Lawmakers for the second-largest
American Indian tribe were expected to vote the evening of May
15 in Tahlequah on the act that
would establish "a free and independent press," even though the newspaper would remain funded by the
tribe.
The free press vote comes to a
tribe whose long newspaper history
has been marked by tangles between
press and politics, even the murder
of its first editor.
"We firmly believe that it will
make our tribe a stronger organization," said Smith, who pushed for a
free press when seeking election last
CHEROKEE to pg. 6