Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2001-04-13

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events   5
Classifieds 6-7
Artist Jim
Denomie's
paintings on
display
pg5
Indian-related bills at
Minnesota Legislature
pgi
13 candidates running
for Leech Lake district 1
council seat
pgi
HUD's Potemkin
Villages on Minnesota
reservations
pg 1
Memos reveal
^ controversy over Red
Lake commercial code,
loan
pg4-5
HUD's Potemkin Villages on Minnesota reservations
By Bill Lawrence and Clara NiiSka
According to documents recently received by Press/ON, the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, Eastern/Woodlands Office of Native American Programs (EWON AP) spent more
than $58 million for Indian Housing
Block Grants and Community Development Block Grants on eight Minnesota
reservations during Fiscal Years 1998-
2001. The State ofMinnesota also
spends more than a million dollars a
year on Indian reservation housing
through the Minnesota Housing Finance
agency.
During the past four years, HUD
granted: $5.4 million to Bois Forte, $14
million to Fond du Lac, $1.3 million to
Grand Portage, $ 12.6 million to Leech
Lake, $.6 million to Lower Sioux, $ 14
million to Mille Lacs, $2 million to Upper Sioux, and $8.5 million to White
Earth Reservation. Grants to Red Lake
were not included in HUD's Minnesota
Indian reservation summary—Press/ON
has asked HUD for this infonnation. A
spokesperson at HUD's Chicago regional office indicated that HUD may
not have funded any recent programs in
the relatively wealthy Shakopee and
Prairie Island Indian communities.
The average expenditure per Indian
adult for HUD Minnesota reservation
housing and economic development
programs during the past four years was
about $8,728. Tlie highest per capita
expenditure was in tlie Upper Sioux
community—$58,849; the lowest was at
White Earth—$4,294. Press/ON
calculated expenditures using 2000 census data. HUD is actually spending
more per person, since tribal members
residing on their own reservation are the
only people eligible for reservation
housing programs.
George Myers, Affiliate Support
Manager for Habitat for Humanity in
Minnesota, told Press/ON tliat the statewide average cost for a Habitat for Humanity home in Minnesota is $48,000.
This often includes the expense of land
purchase (up to $20,000 per lot), as well
as salaries for certain skilled labor and
for supervisors of volunteers.
By building homes on tribally-owned
land, using locally-available timber, and
working with volunteers and vocational-
training programs, HUD expenditures
during the past four years could have
paid for, or nearly paid for, a new home
for every adult Indian at Boise Forte
($19,219), Fond du Lac ($18,160), and
Mille Lacs ($21,730), as well as at Upper Sioux. At press time, the documents
available to Press/ON did not detail the
number of homes actually provided by
HUD programs on Minnesota Indian
reservations. However, 1998 HUD construction and administration costs at
While Earth were in excess of $90,000
for a three-bedroom "mutual help"
home and an average of about $75,000
for a 3-4 bedroom "low rent" home.
Under HUD's the "block grant" funding
protocol, income eligibility guidelines
HUD to pg. 3
13 candidates
running for
Leech Lake
District 1
council seat
By Devlyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer
Competition forthe Leech Lake District 1 council seat should be fierce as
several formidable candidates have entered the 13-person contest.
On April 10, Leech Lake officials released the list of candidates who will
vie for the position during the May 21
primary election.
Included in the field are fonner
Leech Lake Executive Director Bruce
Baird and least a couple current tribal
division directors. Voters will see several familiar names, as Leech Lake
election regulations allow tribal employees to run for election as long as a
direct conflict of interest doesn't exist,
according to current Executive Director
Judy Hanks.
Former District 1 Representative Peter White resigned March 19, creating
the Tribal Council vacancy. He was
elected to the Leech Lake Tribal Council in 1998.
Because there was more than a year
of White's four-year term remaining,
the tribe was required to hold a special
election to fill tlie position that expires
June 30,2002.
The list of primary candidates is
Baird, Beatrice E. Bevins, Gerald
"Jake" Bowstring, Marilyn Bowstring,
Mike Brown, Guy Cloud, Alfred W
Fairbanks Jr., Lawrence (Sandy)
Gorchie Sr., Steven A Jackson, Samuel
Johnson Jr., Ralph Schaaf Gerald L.
White and Burton "Luke" Wilson Sr.
Leech Lake's District 1 includes the
communities of Inger, Squaw Lake,
Winnie Dam; Ball Club and Deer
River.
Eligible District 1 voters may cast
their ballot at the Inger Community
Center, Ball Club community Center
and Squaw Lake Community Center.
CANDIDATES to pg. 3
Audit finds tension between state
archaeologist office, Indian council
Asscmaled Prvss
ST. PAUL, Minn. —The state archaeologist office and state Indian Affairs Council have a tense and mistrustful relationship, creating a need for outside help in disputes, according to a legislative audit.
The archaeologist office "is a small
office with a small budget but that
doesn't mean it's a small problem," said
Jo Vos, project director for the legislative auditor.
The two groups clash over the
council's role in locating human burial
grounds and tlie exact role that the council should play in archaeological sites involving Indian heritage, according to the
audit released April 10.
The audit recommends that the Legislature pass a law requiring the two- parties to submit to a dispute resolution
process when conflicts arise. It also recommends that tlie state clarify the organizations' roles so there's a clearer understanding of which should do what.
"The Legislature has reiterated that
it's in the public interest to protect the
state's archaeological resources," Vos
said. "That makes it atopic with statewide interest."
The office ofthe state archaeologist,
located at Fort Snelling, is a two-person
office headed by state archaeologist
Mark Dudzik. Its mission is to preserve
the state's archaeological resources.
The Indian Affairs Council is an eight-
person office that is the official liaison
between the state and its 11 tribal governments. It advises tlie governor and
the Legislature on Indian affairs.
The council apparently had a good
AUDIT to pg. 3
DNR, White Earth Band officials hold
public meetings on possible resource
management agreement
Officials with the White Earth Band
of Chippewa and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
have announced a series of three
open-house meetings to initiate public
discussion and receive comments on
the possibility of negotiating a natural
resource management agreement,
similar to what the state negotiated
with the Leech Lake Band in 1973,
and the Grand Portage and Bois Forte
bands in the 1854 ceded territories of
northeast Minnesota in 1988.
The public meetings have been
scheduled for Thurs., May 3, from
6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Pine Point
School in Ponsford, and on Sat., May
5, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the
Mahnomen Elementary School gymnasium in Mahnomen. A third meeting
will be held in St. Paul, with the date,
time and place to be announced later.
Both DNR and White Earth Tribal
resource managers, enforcement officers, and other state, tribal and local
government representatives will be at
Leech Lake donates $50,000 to
BSU American Indian Resource
Center, work progressing
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Leech lake Tribal chairman Eli Hunt presents a $50,000 check to BSU
president James Bensen April 5 at the David Park House. The funding
supports the construction of the American Indian Resource Center.
Excerpted from Devlyn Brooks and
Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer
A third Minnesota American Indian
tribe contributed a significant amount
of money toward the construction of
Bemidji State University's (BSU) future American Indian Resource Center.
In a small ceremony April 5, BSU
President Jim Bensen accepted a
$50,000 contribution from Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe Chairman Eli Hunt at
the university's David Park House.
This marks the fourth Minnesota Indian tribe to contribute to the facility,
with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa
and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe contributing $50,000 earlier. The
Shakopee-Mdewakanton Sioux Community also has contributed an undisclosed sum and the White Earth and
LEECH LAKE to pg. 3
tlie meetings to discuss issues, answer
questions and receive comments related to a potential natural resources
agreement. Representatives from the
Leech Lake Reservation and the 1854
ceded territories will also be on hand
to answer questions about those agreements.
"This is not a forum to decide
whether or not tribal hunting, fishing
and gathering rights exist, because
that fact has already been well established by state and federal courts,"
said Paul Swenson, DNR regional director at Bemidji. "These meetings are
being held to gather information and
opinions from area residents, band
members, sportsmen and other interested citizens to help both the state
and the White Earth tribe to determine
what issues and concerns need to be
considered before entering into negotiations to explore the possibility ofa
cooperative, formal agreement to
manage and protect natural resources
DNR to pg. 3
Bush budget
includes funding
for Indian
schools,
museum
Excerpted from AssociatedPress
and Janell Cole, Fargo Forum
.. .The [President's] Interior budget
.. .includes $293 million for maintaining
185 Indian schools in 23 states and replacing six of them....
One new school would be a $29 million Ojibwa Indian School in Belcourt
ND. Sen. Dennis Bercier, D-Belcourt,
said the news about the Ojibwa School
is wonderful. "That is really a needed
project We've been trying to do that for
many years," he said.
The school consists largely of several
dilapidated double-wide mobile homes,
he said Children often have to go outside in below-zero weather to change
classes and the site is on a hill with frequently icy conditions. "It's not a good
setup for kids," he said....
Under the President's request, the
Smithsonian Institution's 16 museums
and the National Zoo would be authorized to spend $494.1 million, an 8.9
percent increase from the current year's
$453.9 million.
Lawrence Small, secretary ofthe
Smithsonian, said the major projects
currently under way are the Museum of
the American Indian on the National
Mall and the annex to the Air and Space
Museum, at Dulles Airport in suburban
Virginia.
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Volume 13 Issue 21
April 13, 2001
Jon Stewart and Tom Hill, both Walker volunteer firemen, watch as fellow firemen retrieve a fireproof safe belonging to
Minnesota Cnippewa Tribe. The fire began at 3 a.m. on April 2, destroying the offices of the MCT and Log Homes
Minnesota.
Investigation into MCT fire continues
By Molly Miron
Bemidji Pioneer
Investigation continues into the cause
ofthe fire that destroyed the Log Homes
ofMinnesota building north of Walker,
MN early tlie morning of April 2nd.
Mark Germain of Brainerd, an investigator with the State Fire Marshall's
Department said it is clear the fire was a
case of arson, but that is about all the information he has.
Germain said he does not know what
material the arsonist used to start the
fire, but the perpetrator broke a window
out ofthe Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
headquarters, one ofthe businesses in
the building.
An alarm sounded shortly before 3
a.m. April 2nd, triggered by motion on
the property, Germain said. He said he
did not know if a fire alarm also
sounded.
A Cass County sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene within a few minutes
ofthe alarm and the Walker Fire Department followed soon after.
Germain said the owner, John Melhus
of Walker, had the building insured.
Walker Fire Chief Scott Bruns said he
and other firefighters battled the blaze
all day, trying to save at least the model
log home attached to the 13,000-foot
log office building completed in July
1999.
Firefighters continued working at tlie
site all day, returning at 7 p.m. April 2nd
when tlie fire flared up again, Bruns said
the Melhuses had just moved from a
larger house into a duplex, so much of
their personal property was in the office
building.
Bruns said Walker's two tankers, one
carrying 2,000 gallons of water, and one
with a capacity of 1,500 gallons, soon
needed back-up. The Cass Lake and
Laporte fire departments arrived with
additional tankers just before Walker
firefighters ran out of their first load.
He said the fire started in the west side
ofthe building and traveled east through
the structure.
"We're dealing with over a $1 million
loss," Germain said ofthe destruction.
Gary Frazer of Cass Lake, director of
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, said a
temporary office was set up Tuesday in
Pine Center, the Leech Lake Head Start
Building in Tract 33 north of Cass Lake.
"We're up and running right now. It
blew us down for a day, but we've got to
continue. We're operating sitting at
tables instead of desks," he said.
He said some tribal documents were
destroyed in the fire, although
firefighters using a wrecker were able to
pull some fireproof filling cabinets and a
safe out ofthe debris. However Frazer
said back-up copies exist for all the lost
paperwork.
"It's just going to take some time to
retrieve it," he said.
...[A]n arsonist destroyed the previous Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe headquarters in Cass Lake.
...[Ijnvestigators were taking the possibility of tribal
political problems into consideration, but there were
many other possibilities as well....[I]nvestigators were
looking for tips from community members.
[S]ome tribal
documents were
destroyed in the fire,
although firefighters...
were able to pull some
fireproof filling cabinets
and a safe out ofthe
debris. ...[B]ack-up
copies exist for all the
lost paperwork
Germain said he is aware that an arsonist destroyed the previous Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe headquarters in Cass
Lake. He said he and other investigators
were taking the possibility of tribal political problems into consideration, but
there were many other possibilities as
well.
"Obviously, you need to look at all
angles for any given crime," Germain
said. "But that's not the only angle
we're looking at."
Germain said investigators were looking for tips from community members.
ARSON HOT LINE - anyone
with information is asked to
call the Cass County Sheriff's
Department at (800) 450-
2677 or the Arson Hot Line at
(800) 723-2020. A reward is
being offered for information
leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fire.
Wisconsin Gov.    Indian-related bills at MN Legislature
McCallum met
with tribes on
casinos
Excerpted from Gary Dawson
Pioneer Press
Hudson, Wis.- Gov. Scott McCallum
met with the leaders of three northern
Wisconsin Ojibwe bands April 6 to discuss their proposal to build a casino at
the financially struggling St. Croix
Meadows Greyhound Racing Park. But
GOVERNOR to pg. 3
Associated Press
Casinos
Senate Minority Leader Dick Day
(R-Owatonna) decided weeks ago not
to seek a vote on his bill (S.F. 525) to
allow the Minnesota Lottery to open a
Twin Cities-area casino. Sen. Doug
Johnson (DFL-Tower) introduced a
somewhat similar bill (S.F. 1841) to
authorize a state-owned casino that
would split its profits with Indian
tribes. But there will be no floor votes
on the gambling proposals until at
least 2002. Johnson's bill could be
more attractive to some lawmakers
than Day's because it would especially benefit northern tribes left out
ofthe Indian gaming boom.
Healthcare
There's a bill progressing through
the Legislature that would extend
MinnesotaCare to many areas not
currently covered, including Indian
health service.
Tribal LD.s for voting
A proposal to allow a tribal identification card to be used for same-day
voting registration easily won the endorsement ofthe House Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs
Committee April 10.
The bill now goes to the floor. If
approved by the House and Senate
and signed by the governor, the law
would take effect in April 2002.
S