Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2000-12-22

              '    -I: \
INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
News Briefs 3
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 7
Commentary
UND "Fighting
Sioux" name
issue debated
pg4
r
T
Ik
U
Cop-killer Peltier
should remain in
prison
pg4,5
Feds await
Minnesota's
wolf plan
pg6
Holiday
shopping
plentiful at
Ancient
Traders Market
pg8
4J| Happy Holidays
from Native American Press/
Ojibwe News
We are on vacation next week.
Look for our next edition    .
January 3, 2001 &£>
Park land
returned to
Grand Portage
Band
Associated Press
GRAND PORTAGE, MINN. —
About 200 people attended a deed
ceremony
Thursday as
J  the Grand
Portage State
Park was
given back
to the Grand
Portage
Band of Chippewa, making the 300-
acre parcel of land that includes the
state's highest waterfall the only state
park not owned by the state.
When the land was put up for sale
more than a decade ago, it could have
been developed as a resort or closed
off entirely. But a nonprofit parks organization stepped in to buy it, and a
coalition of American Indian and public agencies helped convert it into
Grand Portage State Park in 1994.
On Thursday, in the final step ofa
complicated deal to preserve the High
Falls ofthe Pigeon River and the land
around it for public use, the property
was returned to the Grand Portage
Band, which had lost it more than 50
years ago in a tax forfeiture.
The Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) and the
band signed a trust agreement in
Grand Portage giving the property to
the U.S. Bureau oflndian Affairs to
be held in tmst for the band. Under
the agreement, the tribe will lease the
land, which lies along the Canadian
border within its reservation, back to
the DNR for a dollar a year as a state
park.
More infonnation on the park is
available on the Web at http://
www.dnr.state ,mn. us/
parks and recreation/state parks/
grand portage.
Shakopee tribe, local officials can't
agree on land issue
By John Mueller
Shakopee Valley News
Although there was little agreement,
elected officials and staff from the cities
of Shakopee and Prior Lake and Scott
County met with the leadership ofthe
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community last week to discuss the tribe's
trust application and long-term relations.
Meeting behind closed doors, the
gathering marked the first time elected
leaders from the tribe, the cities and
county met to discuss a common issue
face to face. Meetings and conversations at the stafflevel between the tribe
and local governments are common.
County Commissioners Art
Bannerman of Shakopee and Barbara
Marschall of Prior Lake, along with
County Administrator David Unmacht
and Public Affairs Coordinator Lisa
Kohner represented the county. Mayor
Jon Brekke, Councilor Gary Morke,
City Administrator Mark McNeill, and
Community Development Director
Michael Leek represented Shakopee.
Mayor Wes Mader and City Manger
Frank Boyles represented Prior Lake.
The tribal representatives included
council Chairman Stanley Crooks. Vice
Chairman Glynn Crooks and Secretary-
Treasurer Lori Crowchild, as well as
tribal staff.
City and county officials have been
seeking the chance to meet with tribal
officials since tlie summer of 1998, the
last time the community sought permission from the federal government to
place 597 acres in Shakopee into permanent trust status.
"There really weren't any surprises,"
Unmacht said. "They said essentially
SHAKOPEE to pg. 6
State prepares for 1854 treaty negotiations
By Rob Drieslein
Outdoor News
St. Paul, MN - The Minnesota DNR
hopes to commence discussions with
the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe early
next year to complete negotiations in
the 1854 Treaty Case.
DNR Legislative Director Michelle
Beeman said three recent public meetings outlining the status ofthe case to
the public proceeded smoothly, and the
state is prepared to move forward with
negotiations. Representatives from the
Attorney General's office will be in
touch with Band attorneys to arrange
face-to-face meetings.
About a dozen people attended meetings held in Grand Marais and Tower
on Nov. 13 and 14. A later meeting,
held in Duluth on Nov. 28, had 50
people in attendance, she said. Each
meeting lasted about an hour, and public questions were relatively sparse, she
said. The DNR scheduled the meetings
to bring the public "up to speed" on the
status ofthe second phase of tlie 1854
lawsuit prior to direct negotiations with
the Band.
Beeman attributed die lack of interest
to the fact tliat tlie public in the 1854
Treaty area has been living with tribal
harvest for more than a decade.
"Tlie tone was pretty low-key," she
said. "Most people wanted to know infomiation in terms of background on
the lawsuit."
In 1996, U.S. District Court ruled that
the Ojibwe bands tliat signed the 1854
Treaty, including Bois Forte, Fond du
Lac, and Grand Portage, retained tlie
rights to hunt, fish and gather in the
1854 Treaty area largely free of state restrictions. The court delayed ruling on
how to implement those rights (Phase
II) until after tlie 1837 Treaty case was;
resolved. Bois Forte and Grand Portage
FOND DU LAC to pg. 6
Feds await Minnesota's wolf plan
i
By Tim Spielman
Outdoor News
St. Paul, MN - By early next year, th
Minnesota DNR hopes to have a gray
wolf state management plan submitted
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At that point,
the federal agency will decide how it will proceed
regarding removal ofthe.
species from federal protection.
"We're anxiously awaiting the plan to see what
information it contains,"
said Georgia Parham, a
USFWS outreach coordinator based in
Bloomington, Ind. At that
point, USFWS officials
would decide how to pursue de-listing ofthe wolf.
But first, the Minnesota NDR must
revise its wolf management plan, making it similar to one passed by the state
Legislature, and members ofthe state
Wolf Roundtable will review the new
plan, before the DNR forwards it to the
USFWS, according to Ed Boggess, resource manager for the DNR's Division
ofWildlife.
What could delay the de-listing process is another proposal that's currently
in the works.
Public comment wrapped up about a
month ago on a national proposal to re-
classify the species from "endangered"
to "threatened," a move that would allow lethal control of problem wolves.
This proposal, however, doesn't affect
Minnesota, sinci the wolf already is on
the federally threatened list. It does affect other states in the Western Great
Lakes Distinct Populations segment of
wolves - Wisconsin, Michigan and the
I
Dakotas. In those states, gray wolves
are endangered.
"We're in the content analysis stage
and then we'll make a decision on how
to formulate the final rule," Parham
said.
About
20,000 comments were
received from
people across
the nation and
testimony was
received at a
series of public hearings
held by the
USFWS.
"We're
going to try to
meet the one-
year deadline," Parham
aid regarding the proposal's timeline.
The proposal was listed in the Federal
Register midsummer of 2000.
Public meeting were held in three
Minnesota locations, and a public hearing was held in Duluth in October. Following the mid-November deadline for
comments, the USFWS expected analysis ofthe public input to take about
eight months.
"It may be a daunting task," Parham
said.
Comments will be reviewed and
sorted by a federal analysis team before
USFWS officials review them. Parham
said a summary ofthe comments should
be available online (www.lw.gov/) sometime in January.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota DNR expects its management plan to be presented to the USFWS early next year.
Since the Minnesota Legislature failed
to pass a consensus plan from the state's
Wolf Roundtable group, the DNR must
revise its plan, Boggess said.
'There were substantial differences,
especially in the ag zone," he said.
"We're redrafting it to be consistent with
the Legislature."
When dial's done, the revamped plan
will be circulated to roundtable members
for their review and comment. The most
noticeable revision, Boggess said, concerns wolves in die transition/ag zone of
the state.
The legislative bill allows people to
"preventatively" kill a wolf where there
hasn't already been a confirmed kill of
livestock.
"It gives livestock owners a little more
discretion," Boggess said.
Previous language stated there must be
a prior confirmed killing of livestock by a
wolf and diat the wolf must be in the process of harming livestock.
Whether die UFW would begin the
de-listing process before the current proposal has run its course is unknown.
"We're hoping to have something prepared for reclassification this summer,"
Parham said. "So summer could be the
earliest we could start the de-listing process."
But, pending USFWS approval of
Minnesota's state management plan, it's
known the Midwest states meet the criteria for de-listing.
Population estimates are 250 and 216
wolves in Wisconsin and Michigan (excluding Isle Royale), respectively. The
1992 Recovery Plan specifies the need
for at least 80 wolves for three years in
order to reclassify (the current proposal)
and for at least 100 wolves for five consecutive years to de-list
The recovery plan also says the Minnesota population - now estimated at
about 2,450 animals - must surpass the
recovery level of 1,251 to 1,400 animals.
Archaeologists find evidence of possible bison hunting site
Associated Press
LAKE GEORGE, Minn. —Archaeologists examining property for sale in
northern Minnesota say
they found
evidence suggesting that
people used a
site there
about 9,000
years ago.
Grant
Goltzand
Christy Caine
Grant Goltz y^e hired to
do an archaeological survey on four
sites that sit on Beauty Lake because of
private development that will take place
around the lake. Four Seasons Taylor
Investments of Brainerd has purchased
the land just east of Itasca State Park
and plans to sell off lake lots soon.
Because the development encroached
on land deemed wetlands, Goltz said,
the developer needed a permit from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which
required an archaeological survey looking for any sites of historical significance. Four Seasons Taylor Investments
hired Goltz and Caine.
" Once that lot is sold, that's it,"
Goltz said." There's no recourse."
A small terrace located on the southwestern shore ofthe lake would have
been a perfect place for some ancient
bison hunters to set up camp overlooking the lake, Goltz said. A large boulder
embedded into it would have been perfect for making stone tools.
A discarded piece of stone tool gave
Goltz a clue to just how old the site
might be. Caine found an oddly shaped
stone flake that was the obvious result
of making a stone tool. But it was Goltz,
who in his spare time tries to re-create
ancient stone tools, who knew what the
piece was. Goltz said it was a piece that
broke off a rock when ancient people
were making rock knives. Goltz has
studied similar stone tool debris and
rock knives from Itasca State Park and a
site near Leech Lake.
" So now we' ve got pretty good evidence that ties this site to the same time
period as the Bison Kill Site in Itasca,"
Goltz said, which dates back to about 8.
000 to 9,000 years ago.
Evidence of other tool making activities
and indications that there was a fire
hearth on the terrace make the site invaluable, Goltz said.
" This site has a very high potential of
giving us some clues ofthe life ways of
these people, which we don't know
very much about," Goltz said.
Because ofthe onset of winter, Goltz
and Caine weren't able to fully explore
the site, but will issue a report to the developer and the Corps of Engineers recommending the site somehow be preserved.
But because the site will most likely
be sold to another private party wishing
to build a home on the lake, preservation ofthe site is unlikely.
Goltz said that if the Corps and the developer deem that an inevitable sale
makes it impossible to preserve, he and
Caine could be back out studying the
site next spring. Because of historical
preservation laws, any significant she
that cannot be preserved must be fully
studied and any information available
must be removed from the site.
" The evidence we found suggests
there were tool-making workers on that
spot from 9,000-year-old bison hunters
that we really know nothing about" he
said.
Three other sites that Goltz and Caine
studied on the northern end of Beauty
Lake turned up evidence of logging era
activity and American Indian activity
about 1.000 years ago.
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Volume 13 issue 6
December 22, 2000
r
Sharon
Lussier
honored as
foster
Parent of
the Year
2000
By Molly Miron
^Bemidji Pioneer
If she had a 10-bedroom hoase,
Sharon Lussier, Northern Minnesota
Foster Parent ofthe Year 2000, would
fill it with children.
"In a minute," Lussier said with a
smile. "When you look at these little
guys and they do something as simple
as walk, that's what's rewarding."
Such accomplishments are particularly exciting in Lussier's family, because she specializes in raising children bom with fetal alcohol syndrome and crack babies. A member
ofthe Lac Courte Oreilles tribe from
Wisconsin, Lussier, 49, raised five of
her own children as a single parent,
and took in children needing foster
care. She also works with teenage
mothers, sitting widi them and comforting them during labor and delivery. She lives in Bemidji and works in
Cass Lake.
An international authority of fetal
alcohol syndrome and effect Lussier
lectured in Ireland last year on the
birth defect and preventing it. She
said it was hard for people in Ireland
to admit they had a problem with fetal
alcohol syndrome, but she said these
babies started to be bom 20 years ago
when the pubs were opened to
women.
Lussier was honored Saturday by.
Northern Division PATH, Professional Association of Treatment
Homes, as Foster Parent of the Year.
Photos by Molly Miron, Bemidji Pioneer
Sharon Lussier of Bemidji, left, sits with her foster care helper and traditionally adopted daughter, Fawn Dewitt Dec. 2 after Lussier was honored by PATH as the Northern Minnesota Foster Parent of the Year 2000
Lussier said she began fostering children, mostly American Indians, 16
years ago when a friend needed to
separate an aggressive foster child
from a baby she also was caring for.
Lussier, a Head Start teacher, accepted
responsibility for the baby S^nce then
many children have grown up calling
her Mom.
"I always make it clear to them diey
have a birth mom, but I'm the mother
who takes care of them," she said. "I've
been honest widi them. I .tell them,
'Your mother right now isn't able to
take care of you.'"
She recalled some ofthe children
who blossomed beyond expectation.
One 18-month-old boy came to her unable to walk or do much of anything.
"He was just a little body, no vitality,"
she said. "Now she could be personality
of die year."
She also remembered three siblings
she took on temporarily for foster parents who were moving. She said she
was washing dishes and felt them tugging n her shirt. "Sharon, Sharon," the
children said. "Can we call you Mom?"
Those children stayed with her seven
years.
"It's worth it just to see a child grown
up. I can't explain the feeling you get to
know you're part of it" Lussier said.
She said she grew up die daughter
ofa single mother herself, and later realized that some ofthe older children
in her family were kids her motiier
took in because they needed a home.
Because many of her children have
disabilities, Lussier said she concentrates on life skills. "All my children
when diey leave my home are able to
cook, wash their clothes, go shopping."
she said.
She has help raising her children
from Fawn Dewitt, a young woman
Lussier adopted in the traditional Indian manner.
"I'm die disciplinarian. She's for
fun," Lussier said of Dewitt
Dewitt, 27, is a licensed respite care
provider. She said die older children
call her their big sister and the younger
ones call her auntie.
"I've known Sharon since 1 was
little," Dewitt said. "She has kids all
over."
Lussier said she had to educate herself and tries to teach others about the
results of fetal alcohol syndrome on
children. Best teachers, she said, arc the
children themselves.
"All these kids arc individual people.
You have to respect diem." she said.
Babbit's decision
reverses water
policy
By John Howard
AssociatedPress
ON THE TRINITY RIVER, Calif.
— Four decades after most ofthe
Trinity River's precious water was diverted to California's fanners, Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt has tightened
the spigot ordering some ofthe water
restored to two Indian tribes.
Farmers, irrigation districts and utilities denounced the action, saying the
river is crucial to California's water-
delivery and power-generating systems. The federal pledge Babbitt
made to the tribes already faces a
court fight
In an emotional ceremony on the ancestral land ofthe 4,000-member
Hoopa tribe, Babbitt said he was fulfilling a pledge he made in 1993 to it
and the Yurok tribe, which once depended on the river's salmon runs.
"It was a cause invested with a moral
imperative," Babbitt said after being
ferried to the signing ceremony in a
dugout canoe hand-hewn from a redwood that by Hoopa tradition, was
cut seven days after the full moon.
The Trinity — which joins the Klamath 25 miles from the coast some
300 miles north of San Francisco —
is at the heart ofthe culture and
economy ofthe Indian tribes, which
have inhabited the region for thousands of years.
"For 500 generations, the Hoopa tribe
has known a different river than what
they see today. Gone are those deep
spawning pools, those alluvial gravels,
those different salmon at different
times ofthe year, those spring, fall
POLICY to pg. 6
Judge blocks marshals from
entering Indian reservation
Associated Press
MIAMI - A federal judge has blocked
prosecutors from using U.S. Marshals
to issue subpoenas to witnesses inside
the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in
die case ofa man accused of drowning
his two young sons.
U.S. District Judge Paul Huck ruled
that although it was important for the
prosecution to pursue its case against
Kirk Douglas Billie, sen. ing the subpoenas would violate the tribe's rights
as a sovereign nation.
However, Huck also ruled that attorneys for the state may serve the subpoenas outside the reservation.
The ruling makes it more difficult for
prosecutors to prepare a first-degree
murder case against Billie, 31, who au-
thorities say killed his 3- and 5-year-old
sons by driving his estranged
girlfriend's car into a canal as the boys
slept in the back seat.
For months, both sides have been battling over whether federal agents can
serve state subpoenas for trial witnesses
living in a sovereign nation, in diis case,
the Indian reservation.
A Miccosukee Tribal Court last
month denied a request by prosecutors
to serve subpoenas on the reservation.
Billie has been in a state jail since the
boys" deaths on June 27,1997. He has
said he did not know the boys were in
the Chevrolet Tahoe, and that he accidentally veered into the canal on the reservation that also falls under the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County.
The Miccosukecs are a 600-member
tribe with a combination bingo hall-casino on the edge of Miami, as well as
Everglades attractions. Most tribal
members live on a narrow strip of Everglades land off a state highway linking
Miami and Florida's Gulf Coast.
The Miccosukecs were granted federal recognition in 1962.
Clinton considering pardon for
McDonald, imprisoned ex-Navajo leader
Associated Press
PHOENIX - The former leader of
the Navajo Nation,
imprisoned seven
years ago for his
role in a reservation
riot and accepting
kickbacks and
'fljg^ '  bribes, reportedly
i be released
President soon on a pardon
Bill Clinton from President
Clinton.
Peter MacDonald has been in a
Fort Worth medical prison since his
1992 sentencing for his role in a
Window Rock riot that resulted in
two deaths 11 years ago.
On June 20, 1989, about 200
MacDonald supporters attacked police officers and stormed the tribe"s
administration and finance building.
The melee followed five months of
tension and other violence on the
reservation after MacDonald was
suspended from office by the Tribal
Council. The cou©ulmT©Aq(&oj)^e^