Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2001-03-23

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 6-7
Commentary
Misuse, abuse of
Red Lake court
harms entire
community
pg4
Minnesota Indian
Affairs Council holds
elections in April
pgi
Cass Lake-Bena
wins section title
for first time since
1934
j pg3
Violent crime rises for
American Indians
pgi
White resigns as Leech
Lake Tribal rep -
reasons may include
illegal activities
pgi
Deficit financing
at Red Lake
By Bill Lawrence
The Red Lake tribal council general
fund budget figures for fiscal year 2001
(October l, 2000 - September 30,2001) show a balanced budget of $7,845,520.
However, closer examination
reveals a $400,420 shortfall.
The tribal council planned
for $4,000,420 "needed from
Gaming." Gaming preferred
to contribute only $3.6 million, leaving the $400,420
deficit. The budget documents received by Press/ON suggest
proposed "options to provide for difference" between income and expenditures, but careful scrutiny indicates that
the tribal council general fund budget
has a built-in deficit this year.
Expenditures for fiscal year 2000
were budgeted at $4,923,570. Actual
expenditures were $6,657,388. The difference, a shortfall of $1,733,818 in fiscal year 2000, was met by withdrawing
funds out of tlie tribal trust accounts.
The biggest line-item in the fiscal year
2001 budget is salaries, totaling—for
the General Fund and Indirect Cost Pool
employees only—$3,575,234.87.
The tribal council's general fund budget does not include the various tribal
enterprises, including casinos. It also
does not include programs funded by
federal and state contract funds and program grants, nor does it include grants
from foundations.
The only general budget income from
Red Lake Indian enterprises Is the
money from the tribal casino, which in
fiscal year 2000 contributed to the general fund in the amount of $2,750,000.
The fiscal year 2000 budget included
$3,250,570 dollars from Ganing; the
actual contributions left a shortfall of
half a million dollars last year.
SALARY DETAILS topg. 3
Crime, punishment on the Rez
Crime prevention discussed for Red Lake
Voice      of     the     People
By Clara NiiSka
Violent crimes against Indians were
"alarmingly high" in 1998, about three
times the rate of violent crimes against
whites, according to a
Hf _^ Justice Department
study released March
18. One in nine Indians is a victim of violent crime—rape,
sexual assault, robbery,
or assault—each year.
There has been a
nationwide decline in
major crimes nationwide during tlie past eight years. Violent crimes against whites fell 29 percent, against blacks 38 percent, and
against Hispanics 45 percent. But
rates of violent crimes against Indians
have remained about the same since
1993, according to the Justice Department study.
In part because reservation population figure* are disputed, statistics in
"Indian country" are subject to interpretation. The Bureau oflndian Affairs, in its Budget Justifications and
Annual Performance Plan submitted
to Congress for Fiscal Year 2001, presented "actual" Class I and II crime
rates for the fiscal year 1998 which
were about double the violent crime
rate reported by the Justice Department. And, according to the BIA,
crimes in "Indian Country" are twice
as likely to be violent as crimes elsewhere in the U.S.
In its justifications to Congress, the
BIA proposed to spend $319 million
dollars on reservation public safety
and justice in fiscal year 2001, and set
its performance goal at reducing crime
by one percent. The BIA planned expenditures in training, increased staffing, equipment purchases, and crime
prevention programs such as the Community Policing Program. BIA expen
ditures for public safety and justice
were about a third ofthe $14.6 million
total budgeted for Minnesota reservations, including $21,420 for tribal
courts at Mille Lacs, $246,900 for
Red Lake tribal courts, $118,420 for
tribal courts at Boise Forte; and
$16,984 for justice at White Earth.
In addition to State and County law
enforcement and court expenditures
on reservations subject to Statejurisdiction under Public Law 280—every
reservation in Minnesota except Red
Lake—money to combat crime in "Indian country" also comes from a variety of sources beyond the BIA. These
include the Department of Justice,
State funding, and foundation grants.
The Blandin and Wilder foundations
are among those making significant
contributions to crime prevention and
law enforcement on Minnesota Indian
reservations.
In 1883 the U.S. asserted federal jurisdiction over murder, rape and certain other violent crimes in "Indian
country." The Department of Justice
is directly involved with law enforcement on Indian reservations through
the FBI and federal jurisdiction pursuant to the Indian Major Crimes Act.
In 1997, the Department of Justice
found an "urgent" public safety crisis
on Indian reservations. Following
fonner President Clinton's directives,
in fiscal year 1999 the Justice Department began budgeting even more
money, for new Justice Department
programs intended to address the "significant" rise in serious and violent
crimes on reservations. Since then,
the DOJ has spent more than $5.6 million for "Indian Country Law Enforcement Improvements" in Minnesota,
expended as federal grants administered through reservation tribal councils. The $5.6 million includes nearly
CRIME to pg. 6
Native #%—
webpage: www.press-oft.net
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.    Copyright, Native American Press, 2001
Founded in 1988
Volume 13 Issue 18
March 23, 2001
ssa
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council holds election in April
By Judy Archibald
The Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council, which is tlie official advisory body on Indian Affairs to the
Minnesota State Legislature is currently holding an election to fill two
at-large council positions. The two
open positions are to represent Indian people who live in Minnesota
but are not members ofa tribe in
Minnesota.
The following candidates are on
the ballot:
Norman Benson, Mandan Tribe;
Betty Bissonette, Oglala Sioux;
Linda Bowman,Oneida; Iva Jean
Bunker, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa;
Gene Couture, Anishinabe-Ojibwe;
Clara Ann McArdle, Sisseton
Wahpeton Sioux; Christine
McDonald, Lac Courte Oreilles
Objiwa; Lyle Iron Moccasin, Cheyenne River Sioux; John Poupart, Lac
du Flambeau Chippewa; Kristine
Rhodes, Bad River Band Lake Superior Chippewa; Gabrielle Strong,
Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux; Gordon
Thayer, Lac Courte Oreilles Objiwa;
Patricia Virginia Thompson, Ho-
Chunk Nation; Noya Woodrich,
Alaskan Native/Athabascan.
To be eligible to vote in this election, you must live in Minnesota;
provide identification or verification
of tribal enrollment; and be a mem
ber ofa tribe located outside ofMinnesota.
Tlie Council is currently mailing
ballots. In addition, ballots may be
obtained by writing, calling or visiting the Council office at: 525 Park
St., Suite 303, St. Paul, MN 55103;
651-284-3567.
Ballots will be counted on Tuesday, April 10, 2001 by Election
Judges Sharon Romano, Nancy
Masiello and Joe Day who are paid
staff of the Indian Affairs Council
and Marilyn Quail, selected by the
Minnesota Secretary of State's Office. Names of tlie new Council
members will be announced, Thursday, April 12,2001.
TEC unlikely to meet June 1 constitutional
convention deadline
By Jeff Armstrong
Apparently receiving a less than
overwhelming response to its invitation for proposals to prepare and
moderate a constitutional convention, the MCT's Tribal Executive
Committee has extended its March
16 proposal deadline to the end of
this month. Successful applicants
would be "expected to devise a
framework for the convention including the schedule, agenda, and
procedures and guidelines" for a
two-day convention of members of
the six-reservation MCT "prior to
June 1, 2001" and to present a written summary ofthe event to the
TEC.
Tribal activist Marvin Manypenny
said the entire process is suspect at
best and should be further delayed,
especially given diat the TEC has already prepared a draft constitution
which would effectively remove
members' existing, unrealized constitutional rights.
"I think first [the constitutional
drafts] should really be dissected. If
we're going to have government that
truly reflects the people, the powers
ofthe people must be retained. If the
people are taken out of it, we'll have
government of and for the government. That's dangerous," said
Manypenny.
Manypenny noted that the TEC
was by resolution to have held a constitutional convention within 18
months ofa historic 1987 meeting at
which tribal members blocked a
similar constitutional power grab by
tlie governing body.
"They've had 14 years to deal with
this. Then all ofa sudden, they come
up with this and say we have to get it
done in two weeks? Maybe they
think we're more susceptible to buying into this right now," said
Manypenny.
Tribal members, Manypenny said,
should gather together to educate
themselves and others as to what
form of government they wish to establish, while the TEC should confine itself to facilitating such forums.
Manypenny said perhaps the most
crucial issue will be how to hold the
governing body accountable to whatever constitution emerges. Failure to
do so, he said, would end in "absolute dictatorship."
"There has to be an independent enforcement mechanism there,"
Manypenny said. "Even die constitution we currently are under, being an
organic document, if it were adhered
to would be better" than remodeling
the existing power structure, he said.
"I'd like to see something related to
self-determination. If we're a self-
detennining people, we have to be
involved in the process."
Submitted photo
1st row (l-r): Dan Jourdain, Bryon Lawrence, Pat Green, Gary Spears, Ron Kingbird; 2nd row (l-r): Robyn Kelly,
Jerry Begs His Own, George Bailey, James Weise, Clyde Perkins; 3rd row (l-r): Dominick Johnson, Ron Graves,
Matt Graves, Fabian Cloud, Jeremy Neadeau
Red Lake
falls short of
boys' 8A title
game
Excerpted from Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer
Crookston, MN - The Red Lake
Warriors failed to advance to the
Section 8A championship game
March 15 for the lirst time since
1996, falling 61-47 to the Badger-
Greenbush-Middle River Gators.
The loss ended the season for the
Warriors, who finished 20-8 and
claimed their sixth straight Subsection 8-29A title to advance the section meet. The Gators (20-7) will
play Fertile-Beltrami (18-8) at 7 pm
BASKETBALL to pg. 8
Red Lake Senior Clyde Perkins (right) is consoled by teammate James
Weise in the waning seconds of the Warriors' 61-47 loss to Badger-
Greenbush-Middle River March 15 at the University of Minnesota-
Crookston Gymnasium.
Violent crime rises for American Indians
By Karen Gullo
Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D. C. - A Justice
Department study of violent crime
among dif- 	
ferent races
in the
United
States shows
an alarmingly high
rate of violence
against
American
Indians,
while crime
against other
groups has
fallen.
Indians
were twice
as likely to be victims of violent
crime than blacks, whites or Asians.
Indian women were victimized by
their partners more than twice as often as black women but the incidents
were reported less often than among
The staggeringly
high rates of
violence, especially
domestic violence,
reflects the impact
of severe poverty,
alcoholism and lack
of access to social
and legal support
systems and
education.
blacks, according to the study, released March 18 by the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The study, which looked at statistics for rape, sexual assault,
robbery, aggravated assault and
simple assault, showed that
crime against blacks, whites
and Hispanics fell significantly
during the study period - 1993
through 1998.
Violent crime against
blacks fell 38 percent; for
whites the decline was 29 percent, and it dropped 45 percent
for Hispanics.
The drops are in keeping
with an eight-year nationwide
decline in major crimes.
But violence against Indians in 1998 was about the same
as it was in 1993, the study
found. In 1998, 110 Indians out of
1,000 were victims of violence.
The rate for blacks was 43 per
1,000; for whites it was 38 per 1,000
and for Asians, 22 per 1,000.
Criminologists say the high rate of
violence among Indians can be attributed to the combination of poverty and lack of access to social services.
"The staggeringly high rates of
violence, especially domestic violence, reflects the impact of severe
poverty, alcoholism and lack of access to social and legal support systems and education," said James
Alan Fox, criminal justice professor
at Northeastern University.
The study also showed that:
• Violent crime against whites and
blacks was committed primarily by
members ofthe victims' own race.
' • While the rate of violent crimes
against blacks and whites has narrowed, blacks were murdered at far
higher rates than other people.
• Blacks and Asians were more
likely to face an offender with a firearm than whites and American Indians.
On the Net: Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://www.ojp.usdoj .gov/bjs/
White resigns
as Leech Lake
Tribal
representative
Reasons may include illegal
activities
PRESS/ON report
Cass Lake, MN — Leech Lake
tribal representative Peter D. White
resigned March 19, citing "personal
reasons" for his decision, according to
tribal Executive Director Judy Hanks.
Elected in June 1998, White represented District I, the reservation's
northeastern communities, including
Inger, Squaw Lake, Lake
Winnibigoshish, Federal Dam, Ball
Club, and Deer River. White was one
of three district representatives who sit
on the Leech Lake tribal council with
the chairman and secretary/treasurer.
Hanks said White met with the rest of
the tribal council March 19 to announce his decision and to say that his
resignation would take effect immediately.
Leech Lake tribal chainnan Eli
Hunt said March 20 that White told
him two weeks ago he was considering resigning. Hunt said he asked
White not to resign because there was
only about a year remaining in his
term, but added that he accepts
White's decision.
"I was very sorry and sad to see
Pete go," Hunt said. "He was an important part ofthe council. He brought
good balance to the council." Hanks
said after accepting White's resignation March 19, the tribal council
WHITE to pg. 6
Campuses blast bill to remove
affirmative action rules
By Janell Cole
The Fargo Forum
BISMARCK, N.D. -Abill meant
to end preferential treatment in construction contracts and hiring would
wipe out the state university system's
efforts to diversify their student bodies, higher education officials predicted March 16.
House Bill 1435 says "the state may
not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any person on the
basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or
national origin in the operation of
public employment, public education
or public contracting."
It was heard March 16 in the Senate
Government and Veterans Affairs
Committee.
College officials said the bill would
outlaw tuition waiver programs for minority students and international students and many other programs.
The bill is "a death knell
for our diversity efforts,"
said Bismarck State College President Donna
Thigpen. She said her
campas' Phoenix program,
which helps women pursue
training for nontraditional,
high-paying jobs - and
which targets women exclusively - would be outlawed.
Dickinson State University President Lee Vickers
said the bill conflicts with
the Senate's previous endorsement ofthe Higher
Education Roundtable's
study that called for educating students to thrive in a diverse,
multicultural world.
He said the state's colleges won't
achieve diversity by waiting for it to
happen.
"You can't do this unless you reach
out and make it happen," Vickers said.
If the state is truly concerned about
out-migration of its population and
spurring economic development, "we
also have to be concerned with this
bill," he said.
But sponsors and other supporters say
they don't see any threat to affirmative
action programs in their bill.
"I think it was intended to address reverse discrimination," said tlie committee chairwoman, Sen. Karen
Krebsbach, R-Minot.
Rep. Rick Berg, R-Fargo. one of tlie
Joint state-tribal
casinos proposed
Excerpted from Jim Kern
Star Tribune
Sen. Doug Johnson (DFL-Tower) said
he'll propose a casino in the Twin Cities
area that would be run jointly by the
state and Indian tribes.
He contends that the state and a majority of Indians don't benefit from Indian-
owned casinos.
Tlie Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, which includes nine ofthe state's
11 tribes, indicated that it would oppose
tlie bill.
f