Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-12-15

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Briefs 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 7
Commentary
Publisher wrong about
Republicans, Peltier, real
world
pg4
Retired
engineer
documents Trail
ofTears route
pg6
Shakopee
Mdewakanton
SiouxTribe high-
level review on
trust land request
pgi
Time to tell sacred
truth about
murder of Anna
Mae Aquash
pg4,5
■I
Peltier is no
Nelson Mandela,
deserves no
mercy
pg4
Nevadan says Twin
Cities casino could
bring state $100
million
By Robert Whereatt
Star Tribune
A Nevada casino owner hoping to win
state approval to build a casino in the
Twin Cities area not operated by an Indian tribe said Dec. 11 that the deal could
be worth more than S100 million a year
to the state.
The push by Don Laughlin, a former
Minnesotan, appears to be shaping up as
one ofthe hotter issues ofthe 2001 Legislature, which will convene Jan. 3.
House Speaker Steve Sviggum said
that although he personally opposes any
expansion of gambling in Minnesota,
many members ofhis Republican caucus
feel otherwise, and he said the issue will
probably be given serious consideration.
"If there's a bill, there will be a hearing," said Sviggum, who met Laughlin
last spring when the Nevadan visited
with some legislators.
Laughlin, who has a team oflobbyists
CASINO to pg. 6
Casino owner dangles cash
in pursuit for state casino
AssociatedPress
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Nevada casino
owner is betting that a megabuck payout to the state treasury will help him
win approval to build a non-tribal casino in the Twin Cities.
Don Laughlin, a Minnesota native
with a town named after him in Nevada,
is offering to give the state's general
fund a jackpot of an estimated $100
million per year — 90 percent ofthe
proposed casino's profits.
He said he and a team oflobbyists
will continue a push began last session
when Laughlin met with about 20 legislators but did not move a bill.
Nobody is making promises, but lawmakers are listening.
House Speaker Steve Sviggum said
he opposes expanding gambling in the
slate but said many members ofhis Republican caucus feel otherwise. Some
have told him there is a need for competition with casinos owned by Indian
tribes, he said, adding that the issue will
probably be given serious consideration.
"If there's a bill, there will be a hearing," said Sviggum.
Laughlin said the estimate of S100
million — based on a feasibility study
of gambling in Minnesota and on professional advice — is "probably conservative."
George Anderson, director ofthe
Minnesota State Lottery, agreed
The State Lottery would probably
manage casino-style gambling games
for Laughlin because the Minnesota
Constitution allows only the state to operate lottery-type games, which include
slot machines.
Gov. Jesse Ventura recently said he
isn't inclined to expand gambling, but
he also said he wouldn't rule out the
possibility of using gambling proceeds
to raise additional funds for the state.
John McCarthy, executive director of
the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, said his organization will vigorously oppose any intrusion by "Las Vegas gambling interests" on tribes' casino
monopoly. "Our position is that there's
just the right amount of gambling in
Minnesota today," McCarthy said.
Laughlin is the owner of Riverside
Casino and Resort in Laughlin, Nev.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe
getting high-level review on trust land request
By Frederic J. Frommer
Associated Press
WASHINGTON, DC—A Minne- ,
sota Indian tribe is seeking to place several hundred
acres of land into
tax-exempt federal trust for the
second time in
three years, but
this time the request is being
handled at the
highest level of
the Interior Department' s Bureau of Indian Affairs.
If it succeeds, the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community
would essentially annex 776 acres of
farmland it owns to its reservation, making the parcel off limits to taxation and
zoning regulations. The cities of
Shakopee and Prior Lake, along with
Scott County and tlie state ofMinnesota, oppose the application.
"Our concern, frankly, is that the Interior Department has pulled what is ordinarily a field-level decision to the policy
level for a hurried decision prior to the
end ofthe administration," said Guy
Martin, a partner in the Washington law
finn of Perkins Coie, who represents the
three local governments.
But a BIA official in Washington said
a decision would probably not be made
for several months, well into the next
administration.
In 1998, the BIA's Minneapolis Area
Office denied a similar request, ruling
the tribe didn't need the trust status for
economic development or self-determination. The roughly 280 tribe members
each earn $600,000 a year from their
casino in Prior Lake and other business
ventures.
In the more recent application, the
tribe was able to bypass the area office
and have its application reviewed by
BIA headquarters in Washington. The
state and local governments have until
Dec. 20 to file their comments.
The tribe's influence over a previous
Interior Department decision led to a
special prosecutor's investigation in the
mid-1990s. The Mdewakanton Sioux
was one of several tribes that contributed heavily to Democratic causes after
successfully lobbying Interior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt to reject a casino license
for rival tribes just across the border in
Hudson, Wis., in 1995. A special prosecutor investigated Babbitt but found no
evidence ofa quid pro quo.
The tnbe contributed $100,000 to the
Democratic National Committee in the
1995-96 election cycle. In the 1999-
2000 cycle, it contributed $25,000 to
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee.
'This tribe has an extraordinarily high
and demonstrated political profile," said
Martin, who served as Assistant Interior
Secretary under President Jimmy
Carter. "In the context of this trust land
application, that political profile may be
quite important."
William Hardacker, the tribe's legal
counsel, bristled at that notion.
"The suggestion that tlie tribe is using
political influence is irresponsible on
his part, absolutely irresponsible,"
Hardacker said.
The tribe simply believes the Washington office is the proper venue for a
decision, he said, arguing that tlie BIA's
Minneapolis Area Office made a policy
decision when it rejected a similar application in 1998.
"We believe that policy decision
needs to be made by someone higher
up in the chain of command, and that' s
why the tribe requested it be handled by
the central office," Hardacker said.
Sharon Blackwell, the BIA's deputy
commissioner oflndian Affairs in
Washington, said her office decided to
review the application because it was
seen as a good case to examine in connection with proposed new rales for
land trust status. Those rules would give
greater weight to local concerns when
deciding, whether to take tribal lands
into trust.
"We are most concerned with setting
definable standards so that local communities will have some idea of what
we examine when we review an application for trust," Blackwell said." This
was one that presented an issue that was
in consideration within the deliberation
ofthe rules."
Blackwell, a civil servant, said her office probably won't make a recommendation to the Interior Department's As-
SHAKOPEE to pg. 5
Hudson casino developers offer city $3.65 million a year
By Pat Doyle
Excerpted from Star Tribune
Pitching a casino to a resistant community, gambling developers have offered to pay Hudson, Wis., nearly
enough to cover its property-tax levy if
tlie venture wins approval.
The developers say they would give
tlie city $3.65 million a year if an
American Indian casino opens at St.
Croix Meadows dog track on tlie edge
of the Twin Cities area. City Council
members unofficially have opposed the
casino proposal, which is being considered by tlie U.S. Interior Department.
The Miami owner of St. Croix Meadows wants a casino to rescue his
money-losing track. He is the partner of
three Wisconsin Chippewa tribes with
reservations 80 to 200 miles from
Hudson that hope the Interior Department will grant them a new gambling
reservation at the track.
The developers have offered to add
$3.12 million to money they committed
earlier to pay for city services, bringing
the total to $3.65 million for the year at1
ter the casino would open. City administrator Brian Gramentz said the city's
tax levy is S3.79 million.
"You need not respond in any way to
our commitment," said leaders ofthe
Lac Courte Oreilles, Mole Lake and
Red Cliff tribes. "Should the casino
open, checks ... will be sent annually to
the city."
They also promised to give St. Croix
County $ 1.83 million a year, predicting
that would make an expected property-
tax increase there unnecessary.
Payments to the county and city
would continue for eight years.
Mark Goff, a spokesman for the developers, declined to comment on why
they floated the offer now. They posted
it on their Web site after sending letters
Dec. 8 to the city and county.
The offers may be intended to influence residents or the Interior Department, which must consider whether
such a casino would be detrimental to
the surrounding community. The
governor's approval is also needed.
But Nancy Bieraugel, a County Board
member and longstanding opponent of
the casino, said, "1 don't think by trying
to throw money at this that they will be
able to change opinion in any way to
any great degree."
The St. Croix County Board voted
22-7 not to negotiate a services agree
ment for a proposed casino unless
Hudson and adjacent Troy Township
do.
Troy Township opposes it. Hudson
dropped its "official" opposition to the
project to settle a lawsuit by developers,
but City Council members have individually opposed it. They sent a letter to
the Interior Department outlining negative or questionable impacts ofa casino
on the community.
The Hudson school board approved a
resolution 6-1 saying it "would strongly
prefer that a casino not be located adjacent to our future school site." And the
Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area
Commission came out against it.
Gambling developers lined up support from 21 towns, villages and cities 8
to 25 miles from Hudson by promising
them more than $25 million over eight
years. They also said they have gathered
support from 4,654 county residents
who returned postcards or otherwise endorsed the project
That petition drive was intended to
counter one organized by casino opponents who collected 4,222 signatures
within the Hudson School District.
Leech Lake Tribal College installs NASA prototype
remote sensing laboratory
By Robby Robinson
Bemidji Pioneer
With the installation this week ofa
satellite link to NASA's Landstat 7 photographic satellite, instructors at Leech
Lake Tribal College will now be able to
utilize satellite images ofthe earth from
space in education, research and tribal
resource assessment, says LLTC Department of Science and Mathematics
Chairman Michael Wassegijig Price.
The college recently entered into a
partnership with the University of Cincinnati and NASA Glen Research Center to test a prototype remote sensing
distance learning laboratory funded
through NASA and the Ohio View Consortium.
The Ohio View Consortium consists
ofthe University of Cincinnati, NASA
Glen Research Center, U.S. Geological
Survey and several other high tech organizations.
Its mission is to deliver low-cost satellite imagery and data to educational institutions and the general public.
LLTC will serve as a remote test site
where distance learning technology will
facilitate the distribution of satellite data
and college courses in remote sensing.
The laboratory, when completed, will
consist of six computer stations
equipped with two-way audio-visual capability so that instructors from the U of
Cincinnati can interact with tribal college students.
LLTC will offer its first course in Basic Remote Sensing on Jan. 8. It will be
taught by Richard Peck, project director
and founder ofthe Ohio View Consortium. From the U of Cincinnati. Todd
Hanson will assist students locally at the
college.
The college will have the capability to
train students and personnel to analyze
and utilize landscape data from NASA's
Landstat 7 photographic satellite, said
Price.
"Remote sensing technology will empower natural resource managers and
tribal councils to better manage land use
and naturals resources such as wild rice
beds, maple sugar bush and forests
within the reservation boundaries," he
said.
"We are very honored to be part of
this dynamic project.. .we are very
grateful to David Plumer ofthe
NASAA Glen Research Center and Dr.
Speck for bringing this technology to
the Leech Lake Reservation community." he concluded-
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Volume 13 Issue 5
December 15, 2000
(above) A wonderful array of Indian sundries to be found at the Spirit of
., tlie Red Horse store located at the Minneapolis International Airport,
(right) Carol Howe showcases her love of Indian art in her office.
Spirit off the Red Horse:
galloping to success
Photos by Judy Archibald
By Judy Archibald
"Indian art isn't just feathers and
drums," said entrepreneur, Carole
Howe who turned her passion for
Native American culture into the
S15 million dollar a year CBR, Inc.
which includes a chain of successful
retail shops known as "Spirit ofthe
Red Horse." "It's named to honor an
Indian legend about the first horse
being created from mother earth's
red clay," said Howe.
Mainly located in airports across
the country — Chicago, Atlanta,
Los Angeles, Denver, Pittsburgh,
Portland, Minneapolis and Orlando,
as well as the Mall of America in
Bloomington, Minnesota — Spirit
ofthe Red Horse has two major
missions - to bring Native American
products to a wider market and to
educate the public about Native culture.
While every Spirit ofthe Red
Horse shop features Native American and Western jewelry, clothing,
gifts and home furnishings, merchandise varies according to the demographics ofa shop's location.
"Quill baskets are only in Minnesota
because other markets aren't as
likely to understand quill work,"
said Howe. "And the Portland store
has more arts and crafts from the Pacific Northwest tribes."
Possessing an intuitive sense of
what the public wants, Howe
searches the country looking for just
the right selection of tribal art for the
shops which currently represent an
eclectic blend of fetish carvings.
baskets, jewelry, paintings, pottery,
beadwork, clothing, metal and bronze
sculpture from more than thirty
American Indian tribes. In the beginning, to find distinctive tribal art she
would fly to New Mexico, rent a car
and drive to reservations throughout
the West. "Tliat was my favorite part
ofthe business," she said.
A typical store mix includes 50 percent fine art and silver jewelry; 20
percent souvenirs and the rest a variety of theme based merchandise.
"However, Indian themed does not
necessarily mean Indian-made," said
Howe. "If we sell a three dollar
beaded coin purse made in China that
a child can afford and that makes the
child want to learn more about American Indians then we've accomplished
part of our mission."
Respectful of Indian culture, Howe
once made the executive director ofa
New York corporation sign a contract
agreeing to treat feathered Indian
headpieces respectfully before selling
him several reproductions. "1 didn't
want the headpieces used to promote
inappropriate stereotypes," said Howe
whose two sons are Navajo/Apache.
Howe takes a unique approach in
her relationship with Native Indian
vendors, preferring to nurture and
mentor artists and craftsmen. For example, providing an interest-free startup loan for a company in New
Mexico which hired Navajo silversmiths to make contemporary jewelry,
and paying a struggling artist for a
year's worth of orders in advance.
"Our intention is to help vendors succeed so as to have long-term partner
ship relationships with them that will
benefit us both," she said.
Howe's retail experience started in
the 1970s when she and her husband
owned "The Leather Indian" on St.
Paul's Grand Avenue at the same
time that the Economic Development Association was looking for a
minority owned business to open a
unique shop at the Minneapolis-St.
Paul International Airport. "We
opened "Touch the Earth" with Indian and regional merchandise in
1975," said Howe. "When wc got divorced, I ended up with the airport
store."
As a single parent, she intentionally kept Touch the Earth regional
until both sons were in junior high
school. Then she increased the
square footage ofthe original airport
store and opened additional outlets at
airports in Chicago and Denver.
Three years ago Touch the Earth
shops were re-named and "branded"
as Spirit ofthe Red Horse which has
currently grown to 12 stores - the
RED HORSE to pg. 6
Groups meet, discuss human rights
By Ben Lathrop
Becker County Record
Racial profiling, tribal sovereignty,
welfare reform - all those issues arose
during a lively (but generally cordial)
discussion concerning human rights
the evening of Nov. 28 at the
Anishinaabe Center in Detroit Lakes,
organized by Executive Director
Marvin Manypenny.
County Commissioner Carolyn
Engebretsoa County Administrator
Al Roder and Police Chief Kel Keena
were among those present at the gathering, whose main focus turned out to
be the possibility of creating a "human right commission" in Detroit
Lakes or Becker County - a body to
which victims of human rights violations could bring their complaints.
Dr. Lisa Albrecht, a professor at the
University ofMinnesota and a member
ofthe Minneapolis Commission on
Civil Rights, addressed the small audience.
"You're on the edge of taking a courageous leap together," Albrecht said "I
know it is not easy, but I urge you to
take the first step."
What should that step be? No one had
a decisive answer - though various suggestions were offered. But, the theme
that emerged was the need for dialogue
- between Indians and Whites, between
those in power and those not in power.
"I would just like to have people sit
down and listen to some of tiiis stuff"
Manypenny said. "I think that information and education empower."
At the meeting. Native Americans
voiced concerns about "racial profiling"
- law enforcement officials pulling
people over on the basis of color - as
well as perceived unfair treatment in the
social service and educational systems.
Attorney Ed Peterson, who alone
comprises a "human rights task force"
for the Anishinaabe Center, told the audience he had 35 open and 27 closed
files on such violations - mostly cases
related to law enforcement and education. "I feel that what they're saying is
not something trivial." he said.
No one disputed allegations that human rights violations have occurred in
Becker County.
Neither, however, did anyone propose
a concrete plan of action.
Some suggested that commissioners
like Engebretson should use their influ-
HUMAN RIGHTS to pg. 5