Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-09-29

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INDEX
News Around Indian Country
News Briefs
Commentary/Editorials/Voices
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events
Classifieds
Commentary
Leech Lake Band not
up to task of being a
"Nation"-politically,
socially or culturally
pg4
Commentary
Leech Lake Band
abusing enrollment
criteria, falsifying
membership
pg4
Buffalo owners
may not be to
blame for herd's
demise
pgi
Primary election
results for Red Lake
Band, Mille Lacs Band,
Beltrami County
pgi
Tentative
settlement
reached in
Leonard Prescott
abuse lawsuit
pgi
Matrious, Weyaus advance in Mille Lacs
Secretary-Treasurer primary election
Run-off election to be held November 8
By Bill Lawrence
Two former Mille Lacs Band Secretary/Treasurers, David Matrious and
Herb Weyaus, were the two top vote
getters in last week's election for a new
tribal Secretary/Treasurer with 89 and
112 votes respectively. They will advance to the Nov. 8 run-off election for
band secretary/treasurer.
The election was necessary because
Weyaus resigned last Spring to run for
Band chief executive. He finished third
in that primary election behind Melanie
Benjamin and Marge Anderson.
Matrious served two terms as band
Secretary/Treasurer from 1994 to 1998.
The official election results are as
follows:
SPECIAL ELECTION BALLOT DISTRIBUTION • SEPTEMBER 18
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TOTALS
Founded in 1988
Volume 12 Issue 49
September 29, 2000
Fairbanks, Bedeau advance for
District 4 Beltrami County seat
Excerpted from Cathy Axvig
Bemidji Pioneer
In a tight race Quentin Fairbanks and Linda Bedeau have
won the primary District 4 Beltrami County seat.
Fairbanks received 40.4 percent ofthe votes with 392 votes
and Bedeau 22.9 percent with 222. Both are
members ofthe Red Lake Band of
Chippewa.
Fairbanks said he has never run for public office before, but has been active in
county government. "I have a pretty good
view of economic development," said
Fairbanks, who filed last week for the District 4 Beltrami County Board seat.
Fairbanks is the past chainnan ofthe
Beltrami Planning and Zoning Board and
has been on the Blackduck Norwest Bank
Board, the Red River Basin Board and the
Partners for Rural America board as a representative for nine states.
Bedeau said she feels she is ready and
qualified to do the job. "I've always wanted
to run for public office but I feel it is very important to be qualified to do so," she said "I
feel I am qualified now to take on the task."
Bedeau is the Red Lake Tribal planning
director, who is responsible for the preparation and completion of development plans,
studies and other planning activities for the reservation. District
4 is the largest ofthe five districts in the county and includes
Blackduck, Kelliher, the Red Lake Reservation and 17 northern
BELTRAMI to pg. 5
Quentin Fairbanks
Linda Bedeau
Stillday and Johnson
square off for Red Lake's
Ponemah District
Excerpted from Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer
For the third time, two Red Lake Tribal Council
candidates square off Sept. 27 to win the
Ponemah District seat.
Bmce Stillday Sr. and Rudy W. Johnson are on
the ballot in an effort to fill a four-year term on
the Red Lake Tribal Council in a process that
started in May with six candidates.
In that May 17 vote, incumbent Stillday finished second with 79 votes while challenger
Johnson led the field with 95 votes. In a July 26
run-off election, the two tied with 217 votes
apiece.
Even that vote was climactic as a first tally had
the pair tied at 214 votes but tribal election officials later found a box of uncounted absentee ballots from tlie Minneapolis polling site. But both
candidates got three votes each fonn that count.
"One vote does in fact make a difference,"
Tribal Secretary Judy Roy said after the vote
count.
The process allows the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa to exercise provisions of its revamped
election ordinance, a 1998 effort. Under that new
document, in the event ofa tie between candidates receiving the most votes, another election
will be held within 60 days, excluding a five-day
coniest period once results are'posted, and up to
10 days to consider any contests, if filed.
Federal judge
dismisses plea
agreement in
Gangelhoffcase
By Randy Furst and James Walsh
Star Tribune
In a startling ruling Sept. 25, U.S.
District Judge Paul Magnuson rejected the plea agreement federal
prosecutors had reached with Jan
Gangelhoff, calling it "overly
broad." He dismissed the one-count
felony charge against her.
He also denounced the leaks to the
news media in the federal investigation associated with the academic
scandal in the University ofMinnesota men's basketball program.
Magnuson's ruling could signal
serious problems for the Justice Department, according to people with
knowledge ofthe case.
Some legal experts suggested that
the Sept. 25th ruling was an implicit
condemnation ofthe federal prosecution or, at least, a criticism ofthe
way authorities have gone about it.
Others speculated that Magnuson
may have been uncomfortable with
the sentencing provision that would
have limited his discretion in the
GANGELHOFF to pg. 5
Tentative settlement reached in
Leonard Prescott abuse lawsuit
Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
After six years of maneuvering that
went all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court, a lawsuit that told of sex,
money and power in one of America's
richest Indian tribal casinos appears
on the verge of being settled quietly.
On the eve of trial this week,
former Mystic Lake Casino executive
Leonard Prescott and the ex-employee who sued him for allegedly
abusing her have reached a tentative
settlement; neither side would disclose terms Sept. 27.
A settlement would allow Prescott
and the former employee, Jill Gavle,
to avoid the embarrassment of testifying. Moreover, if Prescott had lost the
suit he would have risked being required to disclose information about
profit-sharing from the Prior Lake casino, a subject that Shakopee
Mdewakanton Dakota Community
leaders have tried with limited success to keep secret.
Gavle was 26 in 1994 when she accused Prescott, then 43, of coercing
her to have sex with him on the job,
beating her when she told him she
was pregnant and threatening her life.
Prescott has denied the accusations.
She once offered to drop employment
claims against Little Six (the tribal
corporation that runs Mystic Lake),
Leonard Prescott
Prescott and two
other casino officials for
S750,000. The
offer was rejected.
"Little Six
finds no merit to
Ms. Gavle's
claims, including
any claims
against the corporation or the
individuals you have identified," the
company said in 1994.
Lawyers for both sides confirmed
Sept. 27 that a tentative settlement
was reached Sept. 26 as they were
preparing to select a jury in Scott
County District Court. But attorneys
said a confidentiality agreement prevented them from discussing the
terms ofthe deal.
As a member ofthe Shakopee
Mdewakanton, Prescott has received
profit-sharing checks from Mystic
Lake Casino. While tribal officials
have declined to talk about the
amounts, some dissident tribal members said a year ago that checks have
risen steadily to $72,000 a month.
Prescott was not available for comment Sept. 27.
When the suit was filed in 1994,
Gavle had the possibility of reaching
PRESCOTT to pg. 5
Buffalo owner may not be to
blame for herd's demise
By Connie Bonniwell
On July 14,2000 Daniel
Tapio of Delano, Minnesota
was arrested, taken to Wright
County jail, and charged with
animal cruelty for not providing
food and water for his buffalo
herd. Pending further court action, he was released on the
condition that, while tlie buffalo
remained on his farm, he would
not interfere with the Minnesota
Federated Humane Society taking over the care ofhis herd.
While under the supervision ofthe
veterinarian that the Humane Society
brought in, four buffalo died. Alanned
about this, Daniel Tapio brought in a
veterinarian via the Minnesota Buffalo
Association, a 200-member organization of buffalo owners in MN, who correctly diagnosed the buffalo as suffering
from a parasite found in horses - a
wonn which scars the digestive tract
and lodges in the 4* stomach ofthe buf-
Photo by Devlyn Brooks
falo, causing malnutrition.
Daniel Tapio had treated some ofhis
buffalo for parasites prior to his arrest,
and has hay and com receipts which
prove that he had been providing adequate food for his animals. The hay he
had been feeding them was tested and
found to be good, non-moldy. He states
that he fills their water trough three
times a day since they can drink it dry.
BUFFALO to pg. 5
Americans'
incomes soar,
poverty rate drops
Excerpted from David Westphal
Star Tribune Washington Bureau
Chief
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Americans grew more flush than ever last
year, with median household income
soaring past 540,000 for the first time
and the incidence of poverty falling
to 11.8 percent, the lowest mark since
1979, the Census Bureau reported
Sept. 26.
The gains were particularly strong
among minority groups and those at
the lowest income levels. Blacks and
Hispanics each had the single largest
increases in income since the Census
began keeping such data in 1969, and
earnings grew fastest for the poorest
20 percent of U.S. households.
And, in Minnesota, that economic
POVERTY to pg. 5
Women of Nations
Pow Wow honors
victims of
domestic abuse
Photo credit: Judy Archibald
Robert Desjarlait, member of the Red Lake Nation, leads the Grand Entry at the Women of Nations
Powwow held on September 23 at Como Park in Saint Paul.
By Judy Archibald
The enthusiasm ofthe intertribal drummers, singers and
dancers at the annual Women of
Nations Pow Wow held Sept. 23
and 24 at Como Park in St. Paul
was in staric contrast to the seven
life-size silhouettes standing
nearby as "silent witnesses"- representing Indian women who had
been killed by domestic abuse. A
ceremony on Sunday added an
eighth, Jennifer Lynn Frye, Mille
Lacs Band who became an "unsolved homicide" in April, 1995
at the age of 22.
The pow wow provided an effective way to educate the public
about domestic violence. "In addition, the pow wow is to honor
elders and children with a giveaway and feast to give thanks for
what we have received for the
year and to teach children about
their heritage," said Ellie Favell,
Executive Director of Women of
Nations which provides emergency shelter for battered women
and their children at Eagle's Nest
emergency shelter in St. Paul
POWWOW to pg. 8
Eagle's Nest Shelter for women
recognizes spirituality
By Judy Archibald
Eagle's Nest in St. Paul, Minnesota is a different kind of battered women's
shelter - one that recognizes the importance of culture, tradition and spirituality in the healing process. "We provide talking circles, pipe ceremonies,
sweat lodges, healing ceremonies and field trips to teach the women and
children about harvesting sage and sun dances," said Ellie Favell, executive
director of Women
of Nations which
runs the shelter.
"All of these are
needed to help a
woman's spirit
heal."
Eagle's Nest was
the original name of
Women of Nations
when it was
founded in 1982 by
four Native American women, Wanda
Weyaus, Eileen
Hudon, Leslie Snow and Norma Heider, who realized that Indian women
didn't feel comfortable in other shelters. "Indian women also need to
strengthen their spirits to be strong enough to overcome abuse," said Ellie, a
EAGLE'S NEST topg. a
Photo credit: Judy Archibald
Ellie Favell, Executive Director, Women of Nations
Individual
Indian
property
owners
excluded from
Oneida land
claim case
Associated Press
UTICA, N.Y. — U.S. Sen. Charles
Schumer has asked the justice department not to appeal a federal
judge's ruling that property owners
cannot be included in the Oneida Indian Nation' s land claim.
Meanwhile, landowners took it
upon themselves Sept. 27 to write a
letter to Congress asking for a law
that would permanently protect
property owners from eviction in Indian land claim cases.
On Sept. 25, U.S. District Judge
Neal McCurn rejected the Oneida's
motion to add 20,000 individual
property owners as parties to their
claim seeking compensation for
250,000 acres of lost ancestral lands
in Madison and Oneida counties.
McCum did allow the Oneidas to
add the state of New York as defendants in their 26-year-old lawsuit.
The Oneidas could appeal McCurn's
decision, but representatives for the
three bands ofthe Oneidas said they
have reached no decisions. Mark
ONEIDA to pg. 5