Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2001-06-15

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country 2
Commentary/Editorials/Voices 4
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events 5
Classifieds 7
Woman, five
children expelled
from Eagle's
Nest shelter
pgi
Death statistics
among Native
population in
Bemidji alarming
pgi
Indian courts: a
brief history
continues
1886-1965
pg6
Financial statements
reveal inside story of
Red Lake Casino
operations
pg4
Commentary
Sunshine comes to
the Indian gambling
industry in Minnesota
pg4
Press/ON wins
ruling that state-
held gaming
data is public
information
(NAP/ON) In a June 6 opinion regarding a request by this
newspaper for Red Lake gaming records, tlie Minnesota Department of Administration
ruled that tribal audits submitted to the stale under tribal
gaming compacts are public information subject to the stale
Data Practices Act.
Press/ON publisher Bill
Lawrence filed his initial request to the Department of
Public Safety for tlie Red Lake
gaming audits on Feb. 26.
Upon denial ofhis request by
DPS, Lawrence appealed to the
state administration department
April 19, citing the 9th U.S. Circuit Court ol"Appeals ruling in
Confederated tribes ofSiletz
Indians v. Oregon that siate
records laws apply to information generated tinder state-
tribal compacts unless the compact specifically stipulates to
the contrary.
"Neither the Tribal-State
Compacts nor Minnesota Statutes § 3.9221 precludes the release of Indian gambling audits," Lawrence wrote. "The
Red Lake Band's gambling operations are reasonably a matter of public infonnation—including the audits ofthe expenses and revenues generated
by those operations."
Commissioner David Fisher
found that because Red Lake
had not included explicit provisions in the compact requiring
confidentiality of audits, it had
not fulfilled one ofthe four requirements ofMinnesota law
for the withholding of business-
related data held by the state
government.
" "The Band and the State did
not agree to Compact language
like the Oregon case that says
proprietary data are protected,
but instead agreed to a vague
statement that the data are protected to the extent allowed by
law. The failure to include such
language indicates that the
Band did not exert reasonable
RULING to pg. 7
Financials reveal inside story
of Red Lake Casino operations
Voice     of     the     People
by Bill Lawrence
According to financial statements Press/ON obtained from
the Minn. Department of Public
Safety via the Minn. Data Practices Act, Red Lake's three tribal
casinos had operating income of
$3,309,453 inl 996 and
$3,035,316 in 1997. The statements prepared by the CPA finn
of Miller, McDonald, Erickson
& Moller, Ltd., of Bemidji,
Minn., indicated that total revenues for the 3 casinos were
$15,242,112 in 1996 and
$14,379,445 in 1997.
Total costs and expenses were
$11,069,992 in 1996 and
$12,206,769 in 1997.
Distributions of casino profits
to the Red Lake Tribal Council
RED LAKE to pg. 4
PATH not responsible for sexual
abuse of juvenile, court rules
By JeffArmstrong
One of Minnesota's largest foster care providers won a state appeals court ruling last week
which would substantially limit
the rights of juvenile sexual
abuse victims to sue for damages.
By a 2-1 vote, the Minnesota
Court of Appeals upheld a
Ramsey County decision barring
a claim against the Professional
Association of Treatment Homes
(PATH) and former foster parent
Kennedy Barber for sexual assault because the lawsuit was
filed more than six years after the
victim reported the abuse. At
least three other former foster
children filed legal complaints alleging similar abuse in the household, which remained a PATH
home after the plaintiff's initial
report.
Native children make up 11%
of those in foster care placement
in the state, about ten times their
percentage ofthe population. According to PATH's annual report,
18% of its foster children are indigenous. PATH is one ofthe 100
largest non-profit organizations
in the state.
The plaintiff, identified as
D.M.S., reported the repeated
abuse at the age of 13 to his
mother on Feb. 22, 1993, at
which point he was removed
from the foster home by PATH,
which then had no further involvement with the youth. Although D.M.S. was subsequently
abused by tlie defendant at his
home and car into 1994, while
Barber's residence remained a licensed PATH foster home, the
appeals court majority ruled that
the six-year statute of limitations
began when the victim reported
the abuse.
"The district court did not err
by concluding that PATH had no
duty to protect D.M.S. after he
left PATH'S care in 1993 and
that the later acts of Barber cannot be used as the date from
which the six-year statute of
limitations began to run as to
D.M.S.'s claims against PATH,"
the majority opinion states.
Prior state court decisions had
held that the statute of limitations for juvenile victims begins
alter the plaintiff reaches adulthood. In an analogous case in
1998, the state supreme court in
WJL v. Bugge found that the six-
year period started when the
claimant turned 19, but could
also be extended under certain
conditions.
"Absent a disability," the high
court ruled, "the limitations period for the plaintiffs claim began to run one year alter the
plainli If reached the age of majority and expired when she
turned 25 years of age."
Patrick Tiemey, an attorney
for D.M.S., said the plaintiff
would petition the supreme court
for review.
"We think tlie decision is not
consistent with state law," said
fiemey.
Dissenting judge Robert
Schumacher agreed, arguing that
the court impropei I late
in 1993 when the abuse continued into the following year and
PATH to pg. 6
MN appeals court rules juvenile records
cannot be used as evidence
By JeffArmstrong
In a unanimous June 5 opinion,
the state court of appeals reversed a
lower court ruling allowing a
juvenile's previous delinquency
record to be cited by the
prosecutor as supporting evidence
in a subsequent charge.
"It is a clear error for a district
court to consider a juvenile's prior
delinquency adjudication as substantive evidence to support its legal conclusion that the juvenile
should be adjudicated delinquent
for the charged offense," judge
Randall wrote for the court in In the
Matter ofthe Welfare of S.S.E..
The case involved a youth accused of felony-level theft of $858
found missing while he was per
forming community service work in
Duluth. Because the juvenile's public defender failed to object to a St.
Louis County prosecutor's question
about a prior juvenile adjudication
for receiving stolen property, the
state argued that the defense waived
its right to raise the issue on appeal.
While the appeals court did not
nile on whether tlie district court
made a clear error in admitting the
juvenile's response in the absence
of objection, it found that the prosecutor impermissibly shifted the
burden of proof upon the defendant
based on his prior record.
"As in adult criminal trials, tlie
state must prove each essential element of a juvenile delinquency petition beyond a reasonable doubt,"
the court stated. "The mere fact that
appellant has a prior felony conviction cannot, standing alone or
coupled with other testimony, be
the substantive evidence that convinces the court at a bench trial that
tlie appellant committed the
charged crime."
Remanding the case back to district court for a new trial, tlie appellate court noted tliat no witnesses,
fingerprints or money was found
linking tlie youth to the missing
funds.
"Even though the district court
found appellant's explanation 'hard
to believe,' a defendant never has to
'prove his innocence.'As stated
previously, the burden is always on
the state to prove all elements ofa
crime beyond a reasonable doubt,"
the appeals court concluded.
METIS GRAVEYARD
RET THE SPIRITS
by Jean Pagano
The spirits of long past remain
restless: Pembina, North Dakota is
home to a Metis Graveyard that is
in dispute. Father Severe Dumoulin
established a Catholic mission at
Pembina in 1818. The community
moved north in 1823, but 49 burials
had already been recorded. Unfortunately, the names of those buried
were destroyed in a fire at St.
Boniface Cathedral in 1860. Volunteers from Assomption Catholic
Church in Pembina have compiled
a list ofpeople buried in the graveyard from 1849 to (lie time of tlie
last recorded burial in 1892. Ofthe
165 names on the list, only one person was moved out ofthe graveyard.
The settlements around Pembina
were originally established in the
1790's as fur trading posts. Father
Dumoulin established his mission
on a ridge, safe from the occasional
flooding which afflicted the area.
The ridge is located near Highway
1-29 between the Red River and a
wayside stop. Tlie State Historical
Society erected a plaque on the site
in 1963 stating that the graveyard is
"three hundred feet to the east".
The Catholic Church stopped
burying people in tlie graveyard in
1892. In 1893, the State Legislature
ofNorth Dakota passed an appropriation of $500 "to purchase and
maintain the site". Sadly, the money
was never set aside and tlie cemetery was virtually abandoned.
A farmer named Frank Moris obtained tlie land from Edward
Lemon, the original landowner. According to neighbors, Lemon respected the cemetery by farming
around it. Stories are also told tliat
the oldest Christian burial ground in
North Dakota was well known and
respected. However, sometime dur
ing the 1920's or 1930's, Frank
Moris decided to plant a crop on
the site. He subsequently fanned
over the mound or ridge and his
relatives continued to fann over the
graveyard. Fattier Belleau, the local
Catholic priest in the 1930's, recorded that a local Metis, Mr.
Francois-Xavier Gosselin estimated
the mission to be five acres and the
cemetery at ten.
According to Fattier Belcourt's
biographer, James Reardon, Frank
Moris uncovered squared timbers
that were part ofthe mission build-
CEMETERY to pg. 4
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
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A weekly publication.    Copyright, Native American Press, 2001	
Founded in 1988
Volume 13 Issue 30
June 15, 2001
Photo credit: Bill Lawrence
Red Lake Walking Shield Project homes await site preparations on the west end of Red
Lake Reservation. These eight homes are the first of eighty scheduled to be moved
from Grand Forks Air Force Base to the Walking Shield Village to be installed on the
reservation. The $410 million dollar project is a collaboration between the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa, the U.S. military, and other federal agencies. Planners expect that
the project will be completed next summer.
Woman, five children expelled from Eagle's
Nest Shelter
Srhe had filed human rights complaint alleges "retaliation"
by Clara NiiSka
On May 18,2001, the St. Paul
Department ofHuman Rights
tiled a charge of discrimination
against Women of Nations, the
board of directors tor the Eagle's
Nest shelter in St. Paul. The complainant was Cannelita Otter
Robe, a Native American woman
who was a resident at the battered
women's shelter. Her sworn affidavit includes tlie statement, "I
have been subject to harassment
on the basis of my race/ancestry
by other residents at the shelter.
Several residents ofthe shelter have
made disparaging remarks about
Native American tradition to my
children ... and have called the NativeAmerican culture 'stupid'and
the medicine 'shit'." She stated that
she had reported these and other incidents to the shelter management
"on several situations and tlie situation still has not been corrected."
Two weeks later, Carmelita Otter
Robe and her live children were
summarily evicted ■from die battered women's shelter. In a May 29
memorandum signed by Pamela
Zeller, Interim Executive Director,
Women of Nations - Eagles Nest
Shelter, "Carmelita Otter Robe &
family" are directed to 'Vacate the
premises immediately; a staff member has already packed all of your
belongings." According to documents obtained by Press/ON,
Carmelite "stood on the corner of
7"1 and Leech with my daughter...
silently for about live minutes. My
daughter asks me, 'mom, where are
we going?' I said to [her], 'don't
wony, as long as we are free of this
abusive man [the interim director of
the shelter]. 1 then realized that 1
didn't even have bus fare. I went
across ?h to this gas station and
called [a friend]. I said, 'Jaime
[Longria the interim director] just
told me to leave and I don't know
of anyone else to call. I don't have
any money to get on the bus. Can
you come and give me a ride?'
[The friend] said, 'Stay there and I
will be right over.'"
An infonned source with more
than a decade of shelter management experience, who asked to remain anonymous, told Press/ON,
"Ifthey needed to immediately
eliminate one person from another,
whatever the accusation, they
should have found a safe-home or
a motel," someplace else for
Carmelita to go. The source was
appalled that a battered women's
shelter would ever evict a resident
and her children onto the street.
After being evicted, Carmelite
filed a second complaint with the
Human Rights Department, which
included an affidavit stating, "I believe tliat reprisal for my discrimination complaint was a factor in
Respondent asking me to leave the
shelter."
"Alot of turmoil" at Eagle's Nest
SHELTER to pg. 3
Mortality statistics among
Native populations in Bemidji
almost double U.S. average
By Jean Pagano
The Indian Health Service
maintains statistics for general
mortality rates among Indian
peoples. The latest available statistics, from 1995, show some
alarming date for Natives in the
Bemidji area.
The adjusted death rates for the
Bemidji population for all causes
was roughly double tlie U.S rates.
The measurement for Years of
Life Lost Rates for the whole
population in the United States is
53.7. The Bemidji area Years of
Life Lost Rate for the same period is 95, or almost twice tlie
U.S. rate. Years ofLife Lost Rate
are a mortality indicator that measures the burden of premature
deaths.
Among the general population in
tlie United States, the leading
causes of death are diseases ofthe
heart, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and
accidents and adverse affects.
Among Indian populations for the
same time period, the leading
causes of death are diseases ofthe
heart, malignant neoplasms, accidents and adverse affects, diabetes
BEMIDJI to pg. 6
Dodd seeks reform of tribal recognition process
By Ken Maguire
AssociatedPress
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democratic control ofthe U.S. Senate
should give Sen. Christopher Dodd
more influence in shaping tlie process by which American Indian
tribes are recognized _ a process he
calls "out of control" and too often
influenced by gambling interests.
"This is out of hand," Dodd, D-
Conn., said Wednesday "We've got
to get our anns around the process.
This is all about casinos now."
Twelve tribes or factions of tribes
with ties to Connecticut are currently seeking federal recognition.
Only two, the Mashantucket
Pequots and the Mohegan tribes
currently have the status. Both operate highly successful casinos in
the state.
The Eastern Pequot and
Paucatuck Eastern Pequot tribes in
North Stonington, and tlie Nipmuc
tribe, with ties to Massachusetts,
Connecticut and Rhode Island,
have already received preliminary
recognition _ and are pursuing casino plans.
Dodd said he will discuss a possible moratorium on recognitions
with Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii,
new chainnan ofthe Indian Affairs
Committee, "to see if we can't get
something adopted here to slow this
down a bit."
"I'm talking about slowing it
down for a very small amount of
time to sort out what the Bureau of
Indian Aflairs needs in order to do
its job right" he said.
Inouye's office said he plans to
hold hearings soon on legislation
he's cospoasoring to create a commission that would take over the review process from tlie BIA. Although he agrees the process needs
improvement he's unlikely to support a moratorium.
"He believes the process of peti-
REFORM to pg. 5