Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-11-17

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UBBm&BBBSm
INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Briefs 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 7
Tentative
Trump lobbying
settlement
calls for record
$250,000 fine
pg2
Commentary
Shakopee
Mdewakanton
enrollment issue
needs resolution
pg4
JSH-t-lH
Min-E-Mac,
federal
government
resolve racism
allegations
pg 1,4,5
Minneapolis firefighters
discrimination case nearly
resolved after 30 years
pg4
National Congress of
American Indian conference
convenes in St. Paul
pgi
Civil rights
lawsuit goes
to Mille Lacs
tribal court
By Julie Shortridge
In compliance with a federal court
order, Native American Press/
Ojibwe News (Press/ON) publisher
Bill Lawrence filed a lawsuit in
Mille Lacs tribal court on Nov. 14 in
the nearly two year old Armstrong
civil rights case. Jeff Armstrong, the
other plaintiff in the case, is expected to file a similar suit in the
next few days.
The suit, filed by Armstrong and
Lawrence in federal court Dec.
1998, involved an incident in which
Press/ON reporter Armstrong was
removed from an otherwise open
meeting ofthe Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe (MCT) on the Mille Lacs reservation Oct. 1997. Armstrong was
removed from the meeting, arrested
and held in Mille Lacs County jail
for the duration of the meeting.
Armstrong was charged with violation ofa state trespass law, which
was later dismissed by a Minnesota
District Court judge. Armstrong and
Lawrence are suing for violation of
civil rights, including denial of free
speech and free press, false arrest,
false imprisonment and defamation.
The order by U.S. magistrate
judge Raymond L. Erickson of
Duluth, Minn, required the plaintiffs
to submit that part ofthe lawsuit
which names the tribal defendants
(i.e. the Mille Lacs Band, the Mille
Lacs tribal police department and
tribal police officer Mark Garbinger)
to tribal court to determine what, if
any, jurisdiction the Band has in the
matter before the federal court
would consider the case.
Armstrong and Lawrence had opposed the removal to tribal court on
the grounds that the Band had
waived their civil and criminal jurisdiction over non-members in their
application to the Minnesota Legislature seeking legislation to allow
the Band to create and operate a law
enforcement program pursuant to
state law. Minnesota Statute 626.90
was passed in 1991 authorizing the
Band to operate a law enforcement
program. Armstrong and Lawrence
also argued that the Band showed
bad faith by waiting nearly 11
months before they filed the motion
to remove the suit to tribal court.
Judge Erickson kept jurisdiction
over the county defendants in the
suit. They are Mille Lacs County
and the Mille Lacs County Sheriffs
Department, which held Armstrong
in county jail pursuant to tribal police actions.
Armstrong and Lawrence are representing themselves pro se for that
portion ofthe lawsuit that is in Mille
Lacs tribal court. No date has been
LAWSUIT to pg 6
Shakopee Mdewakanton discuss, not halt trust application
By John Mueller
Shakopee Valley News
Although the leadership ofthe
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community has expressed a willingness to sit
down with elected officials from
Shakopee, Prior Lake and Scott County
to talk, the tribe has no intention of asking the Bureau oflndian Affairs (BIA) to
shelve its application to place 776 acres
in the two cities in trust.
Early this week, city and county officials expressed frustration over tlie tribe's
rejection ofa request for face-to-face
meetings and the suspension ofthe trust
application. They believe that the looming deadline for comments, a part ofthe
land-trust application process, makes it
difficult if not impossible to conduct substantive discussions.
The two cities and county are facing a
Nov. 17 deadline to submit their comments on tlie tribe's application to the
BIA. The county and cities have yet to
leam if their request to the BIA for a 30-
day extension for comments will be
granted Willie Hardacker, the staff legal
counsel for the tribe, said the
community's Tribal Council would not.
oppose the request for more time.
During the Nov. 7 County Board
meeting, Commissioner Art Bannerman
of Shakopee called the tribe's arguments
in favor ofthe trust status "baloney." Lori
Crowchild, tribal secretary-treasurer,
took issue with Bannerman. She said the
issue of an extension and the rules governing trust applications is between Scott
County, the cities and the federal government Crowchild said the trust status on
Indian land is very important to the tribal
community given a history of broken
treaties between Native Americans and
the federal government.
The tribe is seeking trust status [meaning federal ownership] of 670 acres of
land it owns in Shakopee and 106 acres
in Prior Lake. The Tribe wants trust status on the land to use it for housing for a
growing population and institutional and
infrastructure needs.
However, city and county officials fear
that the tribe's 50-year land-use plan
could change in the years to come, possibly to commercial uses. At Tuesday's
county Board meeting, tribal officials
would offer no guarantees that the land
would only be used as indicated in the
trust application. When the last trust application was rejected by the BIA in
1998, the BIA said that because ofthe
tribe's successful Mystic Lake Casino, it
did not need commercial development.
The granting of trust status would
remove the land from local property tax
rolls, and also local zoning and environ-
SHAKOPEEtopgS
Voice     of     t he     People
web page: www.press-on.net
Minnesota's nuclear waste not welcome in Utah,
governor says
By Tom Meersman
Star Tribune
Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt said Nov.
13 that Xcel Energy Inc. is deceiving
Minnesota regulators about his state's
willingness to accept nuclear wastes
from Minnesota, adding that he plans to
travel to St. Paul soon to express Utah's
strong opposition directly to Gov. Jesse
Ventura, utility executives and suite officials.
Leavitt is upset that Xcel officials, in a
planning document filed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission,
characterized the proposal to store
nuclear wastes on tlie Goshute Indian
Reservation in Utah as one that has
"continuing support from the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians, and grow
ing support among members ofthe
public."
"That's disingenuous," Leavitt said
Nov. 13. "Not only is there opposition,
but it's statewide, it's deep and it's heartfelt. And we're going to tight it by every
means possible: legal, political, legislative and environmental."
But Xcel project director Scott
Northard said that public reaction in
Utah to nuclear waste storage has been
turning more favorable, and that the
governor is using scare tactics to alarm
the public. "We've talked with hundreds
and thousands ofpeople and we've received a lot of positive response," N
orthard said.
. Elected officials in the county nearest
WASTE topg 7
State officials concede treaty rights for Chippewa
in Minnesota's Arrowhead region
By Larry Oakes
Star Tribune
Duluth, Minn. — Last year the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that under an
1837 treaty, eight bands of Chippewa
Indians still have special off-reservation
hunting, fishing and gathering rights in
east-central Minnesota, including on
Lake Mille Lacs.
In light of that decision, the state now
says it has no plans to appeal a lower
court's 1996 ruling upholding similar
rights for three Chippewa bands that
ceded what is now Minnesota's Arrowhead country to the federal government
in 1854.
A pair of private landowners involved
in tlie 1854 case still could appeal. But
tlie state's position appears to amount to
greater official recognition that some
bands retain resource-harvesting autonomy despite being subjected to state
fish and game laws for most ofthe 20th
century.
As state officials prepare for resource-
allocation meetings with tlie Fond du
Lac Band of Chippewa, which filed the
lawsuit over tlie 1854 treaty, officials today will begin holding public informational meetings on the issue in north-
TREATYtopg3
Win-E-Mac,federal gov't resolve racism allegations
By Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Press
The Win-E-Mac School
Distinct has agreed to enter
into a voluntary resolution
agreement with the federal
goveniment to end the investigation of several alleged racist
events that took place in
March.
By entering into tlie agreement with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil
Rights, however, the district does not admit that it engaged in any discriminatory
conduct.
OCR spokesman Roger Murphy said
Win-E-Mac Superintendent Gail Sells
signed tlie agreement Oct. 18 and agreed
to voluntarily comply with the five
courses of action outlined in the resolution agreement.
"We obtained this through our early
complaint resolution process and we
brought this investigation to a close,"
Murphy said. "But there's no indication
(in the agreement) that they are at fault."
At least one person, however, is not
happy with tlie outcome of OCR's investigation.
Deanne Fox, the woman who filed the
racism complaint against the school district on April 24, said although the voluntary resolution is a first step, she doesn't
believe it is a strong enough reprimand
She especially dislikes that no one in
the rlistrict has to claim responsibility for
an allegedly racist skit that was performed March 17 at a Win-E-Mac High
School pep rally that two of her sons had
to watch. The skit allegedly depicted stereotypical headdresses and also led to
verbal and physical harassment of Fox's
sons, who are American Indian.
"I'm sure Win-E-Mac won't ever admit to it" she said. "But (the voluntary
resolution) is one more step."
The Pep Rally
During the March 17 pep rally, which
was held preceding a Section 8A boy's
basketball championship game between
Win-E-Mac and Red Lake High School,
several teachers allegedly dressed in de-
Win-E-Mac High School, located in Erskine, is where the March 17 pep rally, which allegedly included a racist skit depicting cowboys and American Indians, took place.The school district and federal government
have reached a voluntary resolution agreement.
• grading Indian costumes, according to
Fox's complaint she filed with OCR.
Win-E-Mac is a coasolidated school
district comprised ofthe communities of
Winger, Erskine and Mcintosh, Minn. -
all located on or near U.S. Highway 2
about 50 miles west of Bemidji. The
rally allegedly took place at the district's
high school in Erskine.
To begin the skit, teachers dressed as
Indians entered the gymnasium to a
"tom-tom beat," which was played by
one person in the group who was wearing a drum around their neck. Another
teacher then entered tlie gym dressed as a
cowboy, complete with toy guns and
boots tliat had fake Nike Swooshes taped
to them.
The cowboy then allegedly strutted
with his hands on the toy guns over to
the teachers dressed as Indians and told
them to get back to the reservation. The
Indian characters cowered and left the
gymnasium.
During that skit, Fox said, students
yelled, "Patriots" - the school's athletic
nickname - in the faces of her sons. After
the pep rally and during the after-school
bus ride home, students allegedly continued to verbally and physically harass
Fox's sons. She said her oldest son was
kicked in the groin.
Fox quickly withdrew the two boys
from school in tlie district and filed tlie
civil rights complaint with tlie Department of Education on April 24. She went
public with the story in early May and
since that time has acquired the services
of a Twin Cities' law finn. The OCR officially opened an investigation on May
15.
OCR's Murphy confirmed the agency
WIN-E-MAC topg6
School to increase awareness of cultural diversity in faculty, students
By Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Press
By entering into a voluntary resolution agreement, the Win-E-Mac School
District doesn't admit it engaged in any
'discriminatory conduct' last March.
But, to end the federal investigation, the
District has agreed to perform several
actions to increase the awareness of cultural diversity in faculty and students.
Tlie U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights has the authority
to investigate racism complaints in
schools because of Tide VI ofthe Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or
national origin.
The OCR and Win-E-Mac agreement
contains the following stipulations.
■ The district will hold a six-hour cultural diversity training session on Nov.
11, presented by tlie state's Cultural Dynamics Education Project. All faculty
and staff will be required to attend the
program and it has been designed to
help increase the attendee's understanding of persons from diverse cultural
backgrounds, especially American Indians. Faculty and staff unable to attend
the training session will have to attend a
similar session.
■ The district must follow through
DIVERSITY to pg 5
Native
American
Press
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'Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2000
Founded in 1988
Volume 13 Issue 1
November 17, 2000
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Photo by Monte Draper, Bemidji Pioneer
Cass Lake teen named High School Student of the Year by MIEA
Lavendar Hunt, a freshman at Cass Lake-Bena High School, was selected as the Minnesota Indian Education Association High School Student ofthe Year. Tlie award is given annually to the American Indian student who shows
leadership in their community and academic excellence and participation in their school.
NCAI
conference
convenes
in St. Paul
Develop plan for lobbying next
administratio, Congress
By Steve Karnowki
Associated Press
St. Paul, Minn. — Whether the next
president is George W Bush or Al
Gore, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is making plans
this week to press its agenda as early
as possible with the next White House
and the new Congress.
"Tlie fact that we don't know who is
our next president does not matter to
us at this point," said Susan Masten,
president ofthe group and chair of tlie
Yurok Tribe in California. "What we
need to be worried about is preparing
for whoever is going to be sitting as tlie
president ofthe United States."
The NCAI is tlie countiy's largest
and oldest organization oflndian
tribes. Its 57th annual session opened
at RiverCentre on Nov. 13 with leaders
and officials from more than 300 tribes.
Tlie weeklong conference will develop
strategies for placing Native Americans
and their supporters in key administration jobs, such as Interior secretary, and
decide on a few top priorities for the
107th Congress, such as education, infrastructure or economic development.
Lobbyists who addressed the delegates Nov. 13 stressed tliat tlie next 60
to 90 days will be tlie most critical period in determining how Washington
deals with Native American concerns
for the next two to four years.
Thomas Collier, former chief of staff
and chief operating officer ofthe Interior Department, said unity is crucial for
getting people appointed to tlie administration posts of greatest importance to
Indians.
NCAI intends to act as a clearinghouse for identifying and supporting Indian candidates for those jobs. Collier
said it's crucial to put forward just one
CONFERENCE topg5
Two cabinet secretaries pledge
continued support for Indians
By Steve Kamowski
Associated Prvss
St. Paul, Minn. — Two of President
Clinton's cabinet secretaries pledged at
an American Indian conference
Nov. 13 that they
will continue to
support the
causes of Indians
when they leave
office in January.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Energy
Secretary Bill
Richardson spoke
at the annual
session ofthe
National Congress of American Indians, the
country's largest
and oldest organization oflndian tribes.
Leaders and officials from more
than 300 tribes
are attending the
weeklong meet-
interior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt
Energy Secretary Bill
Richardson
ing at RiverCentre.
Neither secretary would predict the
outcome ofthe presidential election and
neither said what they plan to do after
the Clinton administration turns over
power to the next administration. But
both said their close working relationships with Indian tribes would continue.
"P m not going to practice law...and I'
m not going to be a paid lobbyist," said
Babbitt, a former governor of Arizona.
But "as long as I live, I will be back
among you. ...Our partnership has been
one ofthe greatest, most transcendent
experiences of my life, and I will always, always be available to speak and
fight for your cause, whenever and
wherever you call upon me to do so."
Richardson urged those worried
about the snarled transition to a new administration to remain calm, saying nobody will be disenfranchised as a result.
"Regardless ofthe outcome of this
election, I will be active with Native
American tribes," said Richardson, a
former congressman from New
Mexico.
Babbitt urged the Indian leaders to
keep education high on their agenda for
the next government, saying it is " the
SUPPORT topg5
DOI Secretary Babbit says improving
education on reservations is top priority
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
Speaking to the largest American Indian organization in the nation, Secretary of die Interior Bruce Babbitt told
tribal leaders in St. Paul Nov. 13 that improving education on reservations
would be a top priority no matter who
becomes president
"The single most important opportunity for the coming year is education,"
he told tlie 57th annual conference of
the National Congress of American Indians. "It's predictable that the next
president is going to have an agenda"
He urged tribes to prepare a program
to take advantage of money that will
likely be spent on improving Indian
education.
During the campaign, Vice President
Al Gore pledged to strengthen the tribal
college system and Texas Gov. George
W. Bush proposed spending $928 million to repair, maintain or replace tribal
schools.
Improving Indian education is shaping up as a major issue at the confer-
. ence, which will explore ways to narrow the gap between Indians and non-
Indians in Internet use and other technical skills.
Red Lake tribal chairman Bobby
Whitefeather, who welcomed the delegates, said the uncertainty over the outcome ofthe presidential election gives
them a chance to reflect on the issues
Indians face.
Actor Danny Glover, star ofthe
BABBITT to pg 5