Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-06-23

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Briefs 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 6,7
Bruce Graves no
longer a judge at
Red Lake
pg3
Readers comment
on Minnesota
ChippewaTribe band
election results
pg4
LaRose files
protest with
Leech Lake
elections board
pgi
White Earth bond
issuance raises
concerns
pgi
Buckanaga's
request for
severance pay
denied -
Meisinger fired
pgi
Melanie Benjamin
Incoming White
Earth, Mille Lacs
chairmen favor
more direct
democracy
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - The incoming
leader ofthe White Earth Chippewa
wants more referendums to be held so
members can weigh in on major issues such as casino development.
The Rev.
Doyle
Turner,
newly elected
chainnan of
tlie American
Indian band
in northwestern Minnesota, the
DoyleT. rner state's larg-
* est, and in
coming Mille Lacs chief executive
Melanie Benjamin are calling for the
referendums.
Benjamin
wants membership meetings and a
vote on how
to spend profits from the
Grand Casino
in Mille Lacs
and in
Hinckley.
Turner and
Benjamin were elected over incumbents in tribal elections last week, but
they came up with plans for the referendums on their own.
"It's interesting that it's coming up
on two reservations," Turner said.
The strategy is likely aimed at a
longstanding complaint of tribal
members on reservations across the
state that their officials sometimes
make major decisions without listening to them. The move toward referendums has picked up steam in recent
years.
Leech Lake band members narrowly voted last September in favor of
a $30-milhon expansion ofthe N<
ern Lights Casino in Walker. And
members ofall six bands ofthe Minnesota Chippewa tribe voted in 1997
to accept S20 million from the federal
government to settle a dispute over
claims to 600,000 acres.
"I think they want people to have
more input, and basically the way to
do that is with a referendum or public
meeting." said Gary Frazer, executive
director ofthe Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe.
The current White Earth tribal government began a S31 million expansion of Shooting Star Casino in
Mahnomen. Turner said tribal members needed to know more about
plans for the expansion before it got
underway this year. He said the expansion could be a good idea if the
tribal government's marketing study
justifies it, but he doesn't know if it
does.
Turner, 56, of Waubun, will be the
third White Earth tribal leader in the
four years since Chip Wadena went to
prison for rigging construction bids
for the Shooting Star Casino.
Turner said he also favors diversifying the reservation's economy by add'
ing stores that provide services and
jobs, and recycle money among band
members "so we are not so dependent
on the casino" and tribal government.
In other elections for tribal chairman last week among the state's
Chippewa bands, Norman
Deschampe beat June Evans at Grand
Portage, Robert (Sonny) Peacock beat
Kevin Dupuis Sr. at Fond du Lac, Eli
Hunt defeated Lenee Ross at Leech
Lake and Gary Donald beat Doris
Isham at Bois Forte. Deschampe, Peacock, Hunt and Isham were incumbents.
White Earth casino bond
issuance raises concerns
By Bill Lawrence
According to documents obtained
by Press/ON, only $20.7 million of
the $31 million in recent bond sales
by the White Earth Tribal Council
will be used for actual casino remodeling and expansion. Ofthe balance, approximately $5.3 million
will be used to finance existing debt,
$2.6 million for bond issuance fees
and insurance, and $3.1 million for a
debt service reserve. The Council
also expects to earn $0.7 million in
interest on the money it holds.
Press/ON was unable to locate any
pro forma projections for the casino
expansion project, nor have any
been provided to White Earth tribal
members. The economic viability of
the expansion is unclear.
According to bond issuance documents, the White Earth Tribal Council was required to pledge the Shoot-
in" Star Casino and all its revenue as
Red Lake
Chippewa settle
timber claim
against U.S.
government
Associated Press
RED LAKE, MINN. — The Red
Lake Band of Chippewa has agreed to
accept a $53.5 million settlement for
50-year-old claims against the U.S.
government.
The claims alleged that the Bureau
oflndian Affairs (BIA) mismanaged
the band's timber resources, resulting
in the loss of$400 million in revenue.
Red Lake Chairman Bobby
Whitefeather said the offer may be the
best deal the band gets.
TIMBER topg. 6
collateral for tlie bonds, meaning if
the Council is unable to make payments on the bonds, the bond holders could take over the casino.
Press/ON was unable to find out
who bought the bonds, which were
sold in minimum increments of
$25,000, with additional multiples
of $5,000. The Council was also required to agree that it would not exert its sovereign immunity in any
disputes arising over the bond issuance.
Repayment ofthe bonds will be
over an 11 -year period, May 1, 2000
through December 1, 2011, at an interest rate of 7 to 7.75 percent.
Based upon these terms the annual
repayment amount is approximately
$5.5 million and the total amount to
be repaid will be more than double
the $31.000,000 borrowed.
Several tribal members have ex-
BOND ISSUE to pg. 6
Buckanaga's request for
severance pay denied
Meisinger fired as chief financial officer
By Julie Shortridge
The Press/ON newsroom fax was
hot this week, with White Earth
sources providing insight into a
battle between out-going Chairman
John Buckanaga and severe] members ofthe Tribal Council. What fol
lows is a chronology of
the events:
Buckanaga's
severance request
On June 15, Buckanaga
submitted a request to
tribal finance officer John
Meisinger asking for 24
weeks-worth of sev erance
pay as an exit package for
his four years of service
as an elected representative at White L.anh    two       JOtln B
years as District 111 Representative
and two years as tribal Chairman.
The request was signed by out-going
District 111 representative Ralph I
"Bucky"Goodman, District ll representative Terrance Burnette, ami
Buckanaga.
In the request, which was obtained
by Press/ON, Buckanaga wrote:
"During this period of time leave
vacation time was virtually non-c\-
islent. In addition I came to work
when I should have taken sick leave.
The long hour evening sessions and
weekend meetings anil travel prohibited me from a formal vacation. I
am therefore requesting (> weeks
leave per year (4 years)
comparable lo nn previous employment system.
The tribal work was
more demanding. My
accomplishment during
mv -4 veils speaks lor
itself."
Vv Ink' it did not
ulcntil'v a specific dollar
amount, the request was
alleged!) in the amount
of $45,148 for
uckanaga   Buckanaga aiui
fol i ioodman. Bv all accounts.
Meisinger had the checks issued immediately.
Judge Fineday's order
hib.il District I Representative
Irene Auginaush- lurncy. having
BUCKANAGA topg. 8
Transition team set after White
Earth election
By Nathan Bowe
Bemidji Pioneer
White Earth Tribal Chainnan John
Buckanga, defeated by challenger
Doyle Turner in the June 13 general
election, says he bears Turner no ill
will and will help in any way he can to
ease Turner's transition to leader of the
White Earth nation.
"I wish the Rev. Doyle Turner good
luck as our new tribal chainnan." said
Buckanaga. "1 accept the election results and I have no regrets. I am proud
of my two short years as tribal chairman."
Turner will be sworn in as tribal
chairman on July 11. He says a transition team is already in place to help
him assess current programs and department heads and decide where
changes need to be made.
"We'll start looking at programs and
positions and talking to existing diree-
Leech Lake Housing, School
Board election results
Tie-vote yet to be decided
Excerpted from Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer
In addition to reinstating Eli Hunt as chairman and Richard Robinson Jr. as
District III representative, Leech Lake Band of Chippewa voters also voted on
Housing board and Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School Board candidates.
In the housing and school board elections, the top vote-getter won the seat
(winner in bold).
A tie between Marilyn Bowstring and Samuel Johnson, Jr. for the District I
school board scat is being recounted and is not yet to be decided.
SCHOOLBOARD
•District I
Marilyn Bowstring
Samuel Johnson, Jr.
Aurelia S.Goggleye
•District!!
Hartley White, Sr.
Melody Joy White
■District III
Rocky Papasodora
Harold J.Monroe
Angela Denise Reyes
HOUSING BOARD
'District I
114 Terrence Roy White Sr
114 (ran unopposed)
51 'District II
(Result not in)
81 'District!!!
56 Jennie Reyes
Jean Howard
305 Harold J. Monroe
268 Sally Morrison
147 Eugene D.Whitebird
OrasM. Smith
Donald Staples
Kenn Mitchell
Carol Roy
Voice     of     t hl     People
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
#
'tee*
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2000
Founded in 1988
Volume 12 Issue 36
June 23, 2000
tors we need lo make an assessment.
Obviously, it's a change in administration and wc need to sec if the) can
work with us. I said w hen I ran for office we didn't intend to clean house in
any way. but we need to make assessments."
Turner defeated incumbent John
Buckanaga 1.602 votes lo 1,002, according to die While Earth Tribal Election Board, which certified the June 13
election results on June 14.
Incumbent District III committee
person Ralph "Bucky" Goodman also
lot to Kenneth "Gus" Bevins, 661
votes to 621, according to the election
board.
Turner said the election was much
cleaner than the last time he ran for
tribal chairman in 1996, when he lost
by 14 votes to Eugene "Bugger"
McArthur.
TRANSITION to pg. 6
photo credit: Brad Swenson, Bemidji Pioneer
Training
center to put
Red Lake
members in
meaningful
jobs
Associated Press
REDBY, Minn Red Lake Band of
Chippewa members who receive
technical training at a new lv-dedi-
cated center here will soon be on
their way to high-tech jobs.
Tribal chairman Bobbj
\\ bitefeathei said the Whitefeather-
Moe Training, Education and Technology Center vv ill conned the tribe
to the world.
"In this era. technology is going to
be of vital importance where we can
have a place in the economy ofthe
world," Whitefeather said June 15
during dedication ceremonies for the
Red Lake Tribal Chairman Bobby Whitefeather cuts the ribbon to the
$2.1 million Whitefeather-Moe Training, Education and Technology
Center in Redby, Minn., during dedication ceremonies June 15. With
him are tribal councilors and local officials from the Legislature,
Beltrami County and Northwest Technical College.
center in this northern Minnesota city.
Whitefeather said the center fulfills
a dream ofhis to not only bring training to Red Lake members, but also
meaningful employment after training.
Whitefeather said he worked with
Vem Treat, a Northwest Technical
College v ice president, on a concept
for a "facility that would bring all the
programs in that have a common purpose - education, training, employment."
But it was stale Senate Majority
leader Roger Moe. DFL-Erskine,
who helped form a partnership with
the state, authoring measures in the
1998 legislative bonding bill for $2.1
million to fund the facility bearing his
and White-leather's names.
Both stood together by the drum
during honor songs at the dedication,
which drew about 200 people the
morning of June 15. Later, an 8-foot-
lall wood-carved eagle on a pedestal
was unveiled, representing Moe. who
was given an Indian name in 1997
which means "eagle."
The facility will house all job-related programs run by the Red Lake
Band, as well as labs for training
Red Lake members given by Northwest Technical Collcge-Bemidji
staff. A Beltrami County Human
Services office is also located in the
Redby center.
The new workers learned "tlie
gears and tools" at Redby and are
now on-site at the firm's Wisconsin
plant learning wood-work ing and
shortly will be employed, Powell
said.
The new center has already moved
out two groups of Red Lake members now in jobs, saidCharlce
Archambault. a Lakota from Rosebud, S.D., who was hired as executive director, after stints with the
state of South Dakota, the Rosebud
Sioux Tribe and the U.S. Labor Department.
Completing training were workers
for the U.S. Census on the reservation and 23 workers for the soon-to-
open water bottling plant at Redby.
LaRose files protest with Leech
Lake Election Board
'Archie" LaRose
By Diane White
Cass Lake, MN -Arthur"Archie"
LaRose filed a "Notice of Protest"
with the Leech Lake Election Board
on Tuesday,
June 20 to
protest was he
claims were
irregularities
in the District
111 Cass Lake
precinct general election
vote for district representative held
June 13.
LaRose is asking that the Reservation Business
Committee (RBC) nullify the election
results for the Cass Lake precinct and
that a new election be held.
In his Notice of Protest, LaRose
lists the reasons for his protest as:
1) "The Election Board was not
properly constituted. Board member
Elaine Brown (Tibbets) is not an enrolled member ofthe Leech Lake
Reservation, but of Nett Lake, and as
such cannot sit on the Election Board.
2) "At least one person voted more
than once at the ( ass Lake precinct
necessitating cross tabulation and
physical verification of voting list.
3) "The vote tally at the Cass Lake
precinct was irregular in that only one
ofthe Election Judges physically saw
the ballots as they were counted. No
other judge, or tribal members, were
allowed to verify the ballots, lt is con- ,
ceivable that the judge viewing the
ballots miscalled ballots and then during transport removed and replaced
the same number of ballots with appropriately pre-marked ballots.
4) "Upon closing the polls, the doors
were locked at the Cass Lake precinct
for approximately 15 minutes and no
witnesses were allowed to view the
process.
5) "The Election Judge that visually
verified the ballots as they were tallied
transported the ballot box to the Palace. He did not lock the key in the ballot box to the Palace. He did not lock
the key in the ballot box but had it in
his pocket.
6) "Upon completion ofthe tally,
and prior to transporting the ballot
box to the Palace, the Cass Lake Election Judges did not phone in the results to the General Election as was
done in all the other precincts.
7) "The Cass Lake precinct did not
complete the tally in a timely manner.
Although only miles from the Palace,
the ballot box did not arrive at the Palace until shortly before the ballot box
from the Twin Cities precinct which is
over two hundred miles away.
8) "A statistical analysis ofthe election results for both the primary and
general elections shows that there is a
PROTEST to pg. 6
Alaska fights
move to expand
tribal powers
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE - The state wants
to intervene in two lawsuits in Washington, D.C, that could establish
Native gaming in Alaska along with
extending tribal self-government
powers to more than 1 million acres
of allotments and town sites.
"The Knowles administration
doesn't want to see substantial expansion of gaming and another
battle over Indian countiy." Attorney
General Bruce Botelho said ofthe
state's recent effort to join the lawsuits.
Indian country is the legal terminology for Native lands where tribes
have self-governing powers.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled two
years ago in the Venetie case that
such lands generally do not exist in
Alaska. But the court held out in a    '
footnote a possible exception for
Native allotments. Those are land
parcels,of up to 160 acres apiece that
were deeded to individual Natives
until 1971.
If allotments are an exception,
then it's because the federal government retained some trust responsibility over them by requiring the
secretary ofthe Interior to approve
ALASKA to pg. 8