Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-08-25

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INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Briefs 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 6,7
Two Elk interview
not whole truth on
Aquash murder
pg4
American Indian elders
give message to youth
pg4
Campus Report:
We have ability,
strength to
suceed
pg5
Appeals court denies
Mille Lacs Band's request
for jurisdiction in child
custody case.
pgi
FormerWhite
Earth business
manager barred
SUo^yi€tt from casino
£
^
CAjr/AK> m norm.
pg4
Stillday, Johnson
face off Sept. 25
and 27 in election
for Red Lake
Tribal Council
By Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer
Bruce Stillday Sr. and Rudy W.
Johnson will try again Sept. 25 and
27 for rights to a district seat on the
Red Lake Tribal Council from
Ponemah.
Survivors of two elections already,
the two tied in a July 26 run-off -
each with 217 votes - so they'll go at
it again. And what ifthey tie again?
"We keep voting," Red Lake Tribal
Secretary Judy Roy said Aug. 22. "ft
must be awfully stressful on the candidates. 1 think they will marshal every vote, and 1 think the voters realize too how important their vote is.
"One vote does in fact make a difference," he said.
Voters in an initial election May
17 had a six-candidate field to fill
the Ponemah District seat, which is
held now by Stillday. Then, chal-
TIE topg. 6
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Federal Appeals
Court affirms ban
on motor vehicles in
BWCA for Indians
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Four members of
the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa violated the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness Act of 1978 by using motorized transportation to reach off-reservation fishing areas, a federal appeals
court ruled Monday.
The decision affirmed District Court
rulings that had been consolidated for
the appeal.
On various occasions, David
Gotchnik, Terry Lee Anderson and
Thomas Jay Anderson had used boats
equipped with outboard motors to get
to fishing locations within the BWCA,
and Mark Stepec used an all-terrain vehicle to travel over the frozen waters of
Basswood Lake, according to the court.
The men argued that Indians retained
the right to hunt and fish on the land that
was ceded to the United States under an
1854 treaty, and maintained that the
treaty secured their right to use modem
transportation to get to the areas where
they planned to hunt and fish.
The three-judge Appeals Court panel
disagreed.
"A motorboat, all-terrain vehicle, or
helicopter for that matter, may make it
easier to reach a preferred fishing or
hunting spot within the Boundary Waters Area, but the use of such motorized
conveyances is not part and parcel of
the protected act of hunting or fishing,"
Chief Judge Roger Wollman wrote.
"To be sure, the prohibition on motorboat and motor vehicle use may
make it somewhat less convenient for
appellants to reach the most remote regions ofthe Boundary Waters Area, but
we do not think this inconvenience impermissibly infringes upon their Treaty
rights," Wollman wrote.
The court noted that the appellants
have the same access to all parts ofthe
BWCA that the bands had when the
treaty was signed.
I Indian Affairs Councfl's business
| loan program a mess, in default
1 $1.6 million being withheld fvm eligible Indian businesses
Voice     o f
he     People
By Bill Lawrence
According to documents obtained
by Press/ON, the Indian Business
Loan Program (IBLP) that is administered by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC) is carrying 19
of its 27 active loans in a default status.
The documents containing the
loan information are poorly assembled and difficult to read and interpret. But based on the information
recently obtained, and the data contained in previous stories about the
IBLP, Press/ON was able to determine that of the 90 loans made by
the IBLP since its inception in 1981,
27 have been paid in full and 36
have been written off as un-collect-
ible. That leaves 27 active loans in
the IBLP portfolio with 19 carried in
default status.
Here's what the financial reports
reveal: The total value ofthe 90
loans made by tlie IBLP to date is
$1,704,694. The value ofthe 27
loans paid in full is $369,400. The
amount ofthe 36 loans written off is
$386,452. The 19 loans in default
total $287,235, and the value ofthe
eight current loans is $215,471.
In addition, the amount that the
IBLP is currently carrying on its
books, that is available to loan to eligible Indian peopie, is $1,605,480.
The Minnesota legislature established the IBLP in 1973 to provide
Minnesota-based Indians low-interest loans to start or expand businesses in Minnesota. Funds for the
program are derived from mineral
taxes. The taxes are collected by the
LOANS to pg. 8
Native
American
Press
web page: www.press-on.net
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Ojibwe Nbws
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2000
Founded in 1988
Volume 12 Issue 44
August 25, 2000
Appeals court denies Mille Lacs Band's
request for jurisdiction in child custody case
By Robert Imrie
Associated Press
WAUSAU. Wis. -The Mille Lacs
Band of Ojibwe on Aug. 22 tailed to
convince a state appeals court to transfer
jurisdiction ofa custody case involving
a 15-year-old tribal member from a
Wisconsin court to the tribe's court.
At issue was the U.S. Indian Child
Welfare Act designed to prevent Indian
children from being separated from
their families and tribes by adoption or
foster care placement in non-Indian
homes by state social agencies.
The 3rd District Court of Appeals
said Burnett County Circuit Judge
James Taylor complied with the law,
finding good cause not to transfer the
case from state to tribal court by properly taking into consideration the teenager's wishes.
According to court records, the boy,
removed from his mother's custody in
1992 because of allegations of neglect,
is a member of Mille Lacs Band of
Chippewa in Minnesota.
Since 1992, the boy has been in the
legal custody of Burnett County's social services agency and living with
non-Indian foster families, except from
February 1997 to July 1, 1999, when he
was in a treatment foster home in Eau
Claire, court redords said
The Mille Lacs Band sought jurisdiction ofthe case in May 1999, but Taylor
denied the request, ruling the boy
wanted to live in Turtle Lake in a foster
home arranged by the county near the
St. Croix Chippewa Reservation.
In addition, the judge said the tribe's
"late intervention" was disruptive and
not in the child' s best interests.
The tribe argued it had a representative at nearly all the legal proceedings
involving the boy since 1995 and once
had the case in tribal court on the matter
of terminating the boy's parental rights,
court records said.
In refusing to overturn Taylor's decision
on Aug. 22, the appeals court said the
judge based it on a "correct interpretation ofthe law and an accurate view of
the facts, it represented a rational de
sion thai a reasonable judge could
reach."
Two fawns venture out to feed on foilage
Leech Lake Reservation: Law
A
.ai.
Photo credit: Monte Draper, Bemidji Pioneer
Two fawns felt it safe enough to venture out of the woods near Bemidji, Minnesota to feed on some foilage.
enforcement agreement with four    j Report issued on Babbitt's actions in Hudson Casino case
area counties gaining momentum
By Robby Robinson
Bemidji Pioneer
Tribal officials don't
see prosperity
talked about at
Democratic
convention
Excerpted from John Sundvor
77ie Forum
ST. PAUL - The eight years of
record prosperity that speakers have
been touting at the Democratic National convention, has been a bittersweet message for Erma Vizenor
and other American Indians attending the Los Angeles convention.
A first-time national delegate,
Vizenor is caught in the tug of wanting Democrats to do well in the fall
general elections and realizing that
not everyone has been given a share
ofthe new wealth. As a member of
the White Earth Tribal Council, she
is keenly aware that her people are
struggling while others are prospering.
Minnesota's record low unemployment has not been shared by
Native Americans on the White
Earth Reservation, where unemployment and underemployment is a
staggering 55 percent - so bad that
Tribal Chainnan Doyle Turner
pleaded with Gov. Jesse Ventura earlier this summer for state assistance.
The Minnesota Department of Eco-
CONVENTION to pg. 6
A long awaited law enforcement
agreement between the Leech Lake
Reservation and four area counties
may become a reality by the end of
August, said band attorney Mike
Garbo.
Although representatives of Cass,
Itasca, Hubbard and Beltrami counties, the city of Cass Lake and the reservation have been discussing a joint
law enforcement agreement for more
than a year, discussions had hit an impasse because the sides couldn't agree
which officers should keep certain responsibilities.
Similar compacts have been in effect for some time between the Mille
Lacs and White Earth bands and local
county and municipal and state law
enforcement agencies.
Although some ofthe issue was
muddled in a mess of federal and state
law, the basic issue they couldn't agree
on was whether Leech Lake tribal police should assume more responsibility
lor policing the reservation in all matters, not just traffic law as they do cur
rently.
Before they signed an agreement,
officials from Cass and Itasca counties
had said they wanted Leech Lake officers to become fully licensed. Minnesota peace officers who share the
same responsibilities for policing civ il
and criminal matters on the reservation as county deputies.
Currently, the Leech Lake trial police only have authority over civil matters, meaning the tribal police officers
are much like officers ofthe State Patrol.
According to federal and state law,
they patrol the reservation's highways
for traffic violations and if a crime is
discovered in the process they must
call a deputy to make an anest. They
do, however, provide support to
county deputies in criminal matters.
But with a state-recognized law enforcement agreement, county officials
say, the tribal police could become
state certified and would be licensed
peace officers enforcing the same laws
that non-reservation police do. That
would mean Leech Lake police could
help, respond to criminal calls as well
LEECH LAKE to pg. 6
Bush promotes education proposals
By Tom Raum
AssociatedPress
MESILLA, N.M.- George W Bush
sharpened his attacks on rival Al Gore
on August. 19 as he began a post-convention campaign and advertising blitz
of battleground states with a focus on
education.
"My legislative priority will be to improve public education in America," the
Republican presidential nominee asserted at rallies here and in Dallas.
At the same time, his campaign released the text ofa new education-oriented television ad that will begin airing
August 28 in 21 states.
The ad includes footage from Bush' s
GOP convention speech pledge to
"teach all our children to read and renew the promise of America's public
school."
After a boisteroas home state rally in
Dallas, Bush traveled to New Mexico,
which voted Democratic in both 1992
and 1996, to promote a proposal to provide federal assistance to repair and upgrade Indian reservation schools.
He proposed $802 million for overdue school repairs and another $126
million to replace six schools and said
he would seek tlie funds from Congress
next year if elected.
The Texas governor met with 10
tribal leaders to discuss the nanowly focused aid proposal, then broadened his
appeal at a town square rally in this
former trading-post community adjacent to Las Cruces.
While education primarily remains a
state responsibility, the federal government can "demand strong accountability," Bush said. He pledged a campaign
against "schools that will not teach and
will not change."
"We mast be bold enough to challenge the status quo," he said.
Bush has proposed school vouchers
to provide tax breaks to parents of children in private schools, a restructuring
ofthe Head Start program to put more
emphasis on reading, a $5 billion giant
program to encourage states to fund
pre-school reading programs and new
standards of educational "accountability" for states to follow.
Gore spokesman Douglas Hattaway
replied tliat, unlike tlie vice president,
Bush's plan "does little or nothing" to
help local communities build new new
schools, repair old ones and reduce
class size.
"The centerpiece of Bush' s education
agenda is a voucher that would drain
money away from public schools,"
Hattaway added in a statement.
J By D. Ian Hopper
Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The special prosecutor tasked to investigate
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt released her final report August 22, explaining why she had previously
found insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
The investigation stemmed from
allegations that Babbitt rejected a
proposed Indian casino in Wisconsin
because of campaign contributions
and then lied to Congress about it.
The proposed casino in Hudson,
Wis., was rejected by the Interior
Department in 1995. A partnership
involving the Red Cliff, Sokaogon
and Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa
bands in Wisconsin made the proposal, which is still being pursued
after court rulings against opponents
trying to block it.
The report, over 600 pagesiong,
was met with sharp words from the
chairman of the House committee
Babbitt testified to, and relief from
Babbitt' s office that the ordeal is finally over.
Government Reform Committee
Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., said
he was disappointed at statements in
the report that Babbitt conceded to a
grand jury that some ofhis sworn
statements "either were not entirely
accurate or at least constituted 'overstatement.' "
"I am very disturbed that a cabinet
official would come before my committee and give false testimony,"
Burton said in a statement.
To the grand jury. Babbitt described some ofhis testimony as hyperbole, and occasionally was "paraphrasing and summarizing and overstating in an argumentative way" to a
hostile committee.
Independent Counsel Carol Elder
Bruce, a veteran prosecutor who was
assigned the case in March 1998,
said in October that she would not
seek indictments against Babbitt or
anyone else involved in the controversy.
In the report, Bruce said she found
"no evidence that there was a quid
pro quo" in the Indian casino decision, and was left with a "marginal
case of potential perjury," taking into
account Babbitt' s awkward statements trying to play down how he
deceived an old friend — who was
also a lobbyist for the pro-casino
tribes — in an attempt to get him out
of Babbitt's office.
Bruce noted that the friend, Paul
Eckstein, and Sen. John McCain, R-
Ariz., would also attest to Babbitt's
"good character and reputation for
truthfulness" in any potential perjury trial. McCain was also involved
in the affair, as Babbitt said his office made some inaccurate statements in a letter to McCain, then
later called the senator to apologize
for them.
The investigation involved interviews or grand jury testimony of
more than 450 people and 630, 000
pages of documents, investigators
said. Bruce was expected to close
the case when she submits a lengthy
report on her investigation to a special three-judge panel ofthe U.S.
Court of Appeals, possibly within
weeks.
Attorney General Janet Reno asked
for an independent counsel for Babbitt in February 1998. A month later
Bruce was given the case by the special three-judge panel.
Babbitt complained he was being
attacked for political reasons and
that the allegations already had been
thoroughly aired at hearings in both
the Senate and House, and internally
by the Justice Department.
When Bruce's conclusions were
released in October, Babbitt said he
was "gratified" at the outcome. Babbitt' s office said Aug. 22 that the
secretary is happy to put the issue
behind him.
Sides line up at Hudson casino hearing
Associated Press
HUDSON, Wis. — A proposed Indian casino at a financially struggling dog track would either create
valuable jobs and generate new tax
revenue or bring unwanted noise,
traffic congestion and moral degradation.
Those were some of the arguments
proponents and opponents ofthe casino expressed at a fonim on the
project Aug. 22 that attracted more
than 250 residents to Hudson Middle
School.
The U.S. Interior Department is
gathering opinions about the impact
ofthe project as it moves toward
making a decision later this year
whether to support it.
A partnership involving the Red
Cliff, Sokaogon and Lac Courte
Oreilles Chippewa bands wants to
develop a casino at the St. Croix
Meadows Greyhound Racing Park
near Hudson, which is just minutes
from the lucrative Twin Cities area
gambling market.
In 1995, the Interior Department
rejected the tribes' application for
the project, but the agency agreed to
reconsider it in settling a federal
lawsuit alleging that it acted improperly the first time.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
was investigated on allegations that
he rejected the casino because of
campaign contributions and then
lied to Congress about it.
A special prosecutor released her
final report on the matter Aug. 22,
explaining why she found insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
At the Aug. 22 forum, casino opponent Carolyn Belle said it was not
right for Indian tribes to "prey
upon" the weaknesses of some
people.
"To allow it would be a violation
of our obligation of stewardship for
this river community," she said. "A
second and deeper concern 1 hold is
that gambling has negative spiritual
consequences both for individuals
and for society."
Former city alderman Don Bruns
favored the casino, saying it would
only be remodeled on the inside,
there would be little pollution and
he disputed allegations the facility
would bring crime, including an increased amount of drunken driving.
Bruns said Hudson businesses opposing the facility are afraid ofthe
competition for workers, wages and
benefits that a casino will bring in
the area, which has a tight labor
market and a shortage of affordable
housing.
If the Interior Department approves the tribes' application forthe
casino, Gov. Tommy Thompson
must still approve it. He has said he
would approve an off-reservation
casino only if it has local support.
So far, the Hudson City Council
and the St. Croix County Board
have refused to endorse the project.