Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2001-10-12

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INDEX
2
4
5
7
Terrorists
Uncovered:
America's
internal problems
pg4
Cultural Voices:                        ^,_.
Interview of mayoral               fe—-
candidates by
journalists of color                mKlSRKL
pg 1
In loving
memory of
Wub-e-ke-niew
pgs
Split Red Lake Tribal
Council enacts recall
ordinance
pg 1
Commentary
News Around Indian Country
Commentary/Editorials/Voices
^fft
Recall ordinance
•   necessary first
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events
Classifieds
step in making
RLTC accountable
1 pg4
Split Red Lake Tribal Council
enacts recall ordinance
Council authorizes $4 million of stumpage funds for casino
construction overruns — now at $12 million
V  o 1  c  E
o  F
T   H   E
People
by Bill Lawrence
At its regularly scheduled
monthly meeting on Tuesday October 9, a split Red Lake Tribal
Council enacted an ordinance providing for tlie recall oftribal council
members. The ordinance was
passed by a vote of 5-4, after more
than an hour of contentious debate
and before a packed council chamber. After council members and hereditary chiefs concluded their remarks about the proposed ordinance, chairman Whitefeather
opened tlie floor to tribal members.
Francis Brun, Archie King, Bill
Lawrence, and James White spoke
in favor ofthe ordinance and Linda
Bedeau spoke against.
Although tlie Revised Red Lake
tribal coastitution of 1958 mandated the tribal council to enact a
recall ordinance, no previous council had ever considered its enactment. As the first one who stood up
and spoke publicly at the meeting,
Francis "Chunky" Brun said, "It's
time to do this. This provision has
been in the Constitution for 43
years, and it is time that it was enacted." A number of Red Lakers
present also expressed concern that
as the financial problems worsen,
the tribal council is operating with,
"more and more secrecy, behind
closed doors in executive sessions."
The recall ordinance has become
a highly charged issue on the Red
Lake Reservation because of tlie inability oftribal members to hold
tribal council members accountable
once they are in office. As a result
of this, there has been a widespread
loss of confidence in the manner in
which several members ofthe tribal
council have been conducting the
business affairs ofthe band. There
are allegations of blatant misuse of
power and abuse of office by several members ofthe tribal council,
including hiring of friends and payout of "bonuses." There have also
been repeated allegations of bid-
rigging and kickbacks in the tribal
council's dealings with the River
Road construction project. The allegations of mismanagement of
tribal businesses have most recently
manifested themselves in the staggering indebtedness ofthe band for
its casino expansion.
There has been no public discussion ofthe situation forthcoming
from the tribal council, and there
has been no report made detailing
the $4 million bailout with stump
age trust funds. People at Red Lake
have not been informed as to
whether the S4 million will pay off
the overruns. At the council meeting, Bill Lawrence urged the council not to commit any more tribal
funds to the River Road expansion
until a full and detailed disclosure
ofthe tribal financial situation is
made. The tribal council's mishandling oftribal finances has left
people suspicious ofthe council's
integrity, and the present chaotic financial situation eventually inspired
people into seeking tlie recall ordinance.
The#l subject of the people's
concerns is tlie way tliat Red Lake
treasurer Dan King has handled
tribal businesses, in an exclusive
clique including just three other
tribal council members. Tlie clique,
widely known as the "fab four," in
addition to King includes council
members Fabian Cook, Harlan
Beaulieu, and former council member the deceased Lawrence Bedeau,
who apparently has now been succeeded by council member Delores
Lasley.
Tribal member Archie King
RECALL to page 5
LaRose to
challenge
county
restraining
order from
Leech Lake
tribal offices
By Jeff Armstrong
One week after publicly denouncing tribal officials for
criminalizing political dissent,
Roxanne LaRose found herself
summoned to Cass County court
on a protection order request by a
reservation employee who alleged
the tribal activist proclaimed her
affiliation with America's Public
Enemy Number One.
Leech Lake Native Employment
Works Program employee Marilyn
Harrison filed a petition for a Harassment Restraining Order on
Oct. 5, alleging LaRose stated, "I
have ties to bin Laden. He should
come up here and do terrorist attacks on the reservation to
straighten things up." Harrison
said LaRose further frightened her
when she "stood up and pointed
her finger [at] me and hollered [at]
me."
Accusing the social worker of
misusing the state legal system to
deny her access to tribal services,
LaRose said Harrison was far from
alarmed by her statements, which
were in reference to a two-week
delay in a tribal background investigation to clear her for employment at the tribal Bug-O-Nay-Ge-
Shig School. She said she has undergone several reservation background checks in the past, none of
which took more than a lew days.
"What I said was, 'What's taking so long? Are they investigating
my ties to bin Laden?'And she
laughed," said LaRose.
Harrison declined to comment
on whether she felt genuinely
afraid of LaRose.
"I'm not going to answer until I
LAROSE to page 3
Beltrami County judge upholds
decision enforcing tribal court
custody ruling against mother
By JeffArmstrong
Apparently basing his ruling on
contradictory statements by
Donald Brun, Jr., father of four-
year-old Meghan Brun, Beltrami
County district judge Terrance
Holter refused to rescind his previous decision to enforce an ex parte
Red Lake Tribal Court order revoking state court custody from
the mother, Jawnie Hough.
Hough, who says she has been
denied all contact with her daughter since Meghan was taken from
her last January, termed
the decision "heartbreaking."
In an Oct. 3 ruling, Holter concluded that Hough "took the parties' child.. .to tlie reservation and
freely and willingly left it there for
quite some time in the custody of
the Respondent's grandparents. In
short, she submitted herself to another jurisdiction, as any person
does when he/she crosses state
boundaries."
Contrary to the court's assumptions, however, Hough says she
did not bring the child to Red
Lake but rather met the
grandparents in Bemidji. She said
the visit was intended to be for
two days, as Hough had to work a
weekend double shift.
Hough further maintains that
she was notified of neither the
May 8,2000 tribal court process
nor the June 19, 2000 state court
"comity" proceedings. The Leech
Lake mother of two says Brun's
parents, Donald, Sr. and
Geraldine Brun, refused to return
Meghan from a routine visit to
their Red Lake home in March of
last year.
When I lough reclaimed the
child during a chance encounter
in Bemidji—a jurisdiction to
which the grandparents had willingly submitted themselves—the
mother had undisputed legal custody under state law. However,
the child was subsequently seized
and Hough charged with felony
kidnapping after the Bruns ob
tained state enforcement ofthe
tribal order.
Saying he was "flabbergasted"
by the reasoning ofthe court,
1 lough's attorney Frank Bibeau
said he would file a motion within
days requesting the judge amend
his ruling before submitting the
case to the state appeals court.
"Brun's inconsistencies in
sworn affidavits would constitute
perjury in most courts," said
Bibeau.
On April 13, Brun, Jr. filed suit '
in tribal court seeking sole custody ofthe child, claiming the
mother had abandoned Meghan
to her paternal grandparents,
whom Hough had allegedly failed
to contact. Brun claimed that
Hough was aware ofthe tribal
court hearing but wished to relinquish Meghan's custody to him.
The Red Lake court on May 22
awarded legal custody to Brun,
with physical custody to remain
in the hands of Brun's parents.
The only alleged notice ofthe
original state court hearing presented at a July 31,2001 review
ofthe June 19, 2000 comity order
was a letter faxed the day ofthe
hearing to two legal aid organization which were not currently representing Hough, who quite reasonably suggests that she would
have obtained a lawyer had she
known ofthe need to do so.
Yet Holter identified no due
process violation in a same-day
notice to the incorrect location of
a person without legal representation.
"Ofall the reasons offered by
the Petitioner, the only one having
any credibility concerns insufficiency of notice," the district
judge wrote. "On the evidence before it, the Court has no basis to
conclude that the Petitioner did
not have notice ofthe pendency
of either the Red Lake custody
Motion or the later Motion before
this court to have the Red Lake
HOUGH to page 3
Indian bison co-op at odds
with New Rockford co-op
over meat sales
Associated Press
FARGO, N.D. - Two cooperatives are at odds over the federal
purchase of bison meat for Indian
reservations.
A protest by the InterTribal Bison
Cooperative has stopped the North
Dakota-based North American Bison Cooperative from selling frozen bison meat for the government
program.
The purchases under the federal
Agriculture Department's Agricultural Marketing Service are for a
program coasidered an alternative
to food stamps.
Congress approved up to $3 million for the program. The agency
rules said it would include 15 percent to 20 percent "USDA contracted boneless bison with 80 (percent) to 85 percent 'commercial
product'"
American Indians selling bison
for the program must have owned
the animals for at least six months.
Slaughter animals eligible forthe
program would be 18 months to 36
months of age.
USDA issued a request in May
for proposals to provide meat under
the program. Shipments were to run
Aug. 1 to Nov. 30.
InterTribal Bison Co-op officials
filed a protest with the Agricultural
Marketing Service on July 6.
Acting Director Kenneth C layton
dismissed the InterTribal Bison Coop protest a month later. The
InterTribal Bison Co-op then filed a
new protest, this one with General
Accounting Office.
USDA tiled its report with the
GAO late last month, which opposes the protest.
InterTribal was given until Tuesday to comment on tlie USDA report, said InterTribal's lawyer,
BISON to page 3
White Earth
Band undecided
about casino
audit lawsuit
by Ben Lathrop
for the Bemidji Pioneer
The White Earth Band of Ojibwe
has not yet decided whether to join
a growing number of bands filing
lawsuits to block the Minnesota
Department of Public Safety from
releasing financial information
about the state's American Indian
casinos.
Five bands have filed suit so far
in response to a recent advisory
opinion from the attorney general's
office tliat said casino audits submitted to the Department of Public
Safety are not exempt from
Minnesota's public records laws.
At this point, however, the White
Earth Band is not familiar with the
details of those lawsuits, said Zenas
AUDIT to page 5
web page: www.press-on.net
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American
Press
Ojibwe News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2001
Founded in 1988
Volume 13 Issue 46
October 12, 2001
Kitura Main from the Headwaters Science Center in Bemidji entertained and educated approximately 350
people at the September 26th Family Fun Night at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School. A delicious meal of
lasagna was followed by Kitura's reptile program. The program featured many types of reptiles with
children and adults lined up to get a chance to touch and feel the reptiles. The evening was topped off
with door prizes and raffle winners.
Cultural Voices
Interview of mayoral candidates by journalists of color
by Jean Pagano
Journalists from four minority
publications will be interviewing
mayoral candidates from Minneapolis and Saint Paul on Twin Cities Public Television on October 12
and October 26. Journalists Nghi
I luyhn (Asian American Press),
Stephenelta Harmon (Insight
News), Lorena Duarte (La Prensa),
and Clara Niiska (NativeAmerican
Press/Ojibwe News) will be interviewing mayoral candidates Jay
Benanav and Randy Kelly forthe
Saint Paul's mayoral race and Sharon
Sayles Benton and R T. Rybak for
the Minneapolis mayor's contest.
The journalists will first interview
Minneapolis mayoral candidates
Sharon Sayles Benton and R.T
Rybak on October 12. The second
interview for Saint Paul candidates
for mayor Jay Benanav and Randy
Kelly will be held on October 26.
The interviews will last for one half
hour. Mary Lahammer will moderate each ofthe interviews. Candidates will be asked a series of questions and will be asked not to give
lengthy answers. Each ofthe four
journalists will be given approximately the same amount of time to
present questions to tlie various
candidates. Journalists will draw
straws to determine the order in
which questions will be presented.
Prior to the interviews, community forum organizers (Jim Cook,
Bruce Corrie, Mario Duarte, and Al
McFarlane) along with the journalists will have met to agree upon
which questions will be asked of
the candidates. Questions of interest
to all represented groups will be
distributed evenly among the various journalists so that no duplication occurs. Community representatives will then choose which questions are important to their representative communities, and those
queries will be assigned to individual journalists.
The Minnesota Minority Media
Coalition sponsors the Cultural
Voices program. Attenedees at the
StarTribune planning meeting included Jim Cook, Lorena Duarte,
Mario Duarte, I lector Garcia,
David Glass, Stephenetta I lannon,
Brendan Henehan, Nghi 1 luyhn,
Georgia Lickness, Clara Niiska, Art
Serotolf, Brad Stokman, Mike
Wassenaar, and Larry Werner.
California
silent as Feds
rewrite Indian
land conversion
rules
By James P. Sweeney Copley
Over the past year, 24 states
and a number of local governments, including San Diego
County, persuaded the Bush administration to freeze critical   ■
new rules for removing Indian
lands from state and local controls.
The guidelines, pushed
through in the waning days of
the Clinton administration, pose
profound implications for California, which is home to 108, or
nearly a fifth ofthe nation's 561
federally recognized tribes.
The state also is rapidly becoming the Indian gambling
capitol ofthe world. Tribes already operate 44 Las Vegas-style
casinos and at least 18 more
have compacts authorizing additional casinos. Yet, as other
states sounded an alarm over the
new federal rules, Gov. Gray
Davis and Attorney General Bill
Lockyer rebuffed appeals to
weigh in and chose to remain
conspicuously silent.
The federal policy in question
outlined for the first time a comprehensive set of standards to
guide the conversion of Indian-
owned land into coveted federal
trust status.
Trust lands are removed from
RULES to page 5
Mold-infested reservation to get
100 military homes
By Brian Witte
Associated Press
The Air Force has decided to
give 297 Minot Air Force Base
homes to a nonprofit group that
plans to move 100 of them to
Belcourt to replace mold-iniested
homes there.
The duplexes will be giverrto the
Walking Shield American Indian
Society, a California-based group
that works with the military to bring
housing to American Indian reservations.
Phil Stevens, the group's founder,
said Tuesday he hopes to get 50 of
the homes to the Turtle Mountain
Indian Reservation before Christmas.
'We will then close down be
cause ofthe weather, and then next
spring we'll install the next 50
units,' Stevens said. Tlie other 197
homes will go to other reservations
in need, Stevens said.
Stevens wants to start moving the
homes from the Minot base on Oct.
22.
"Then we've really got to hurry,'
he said 'That is a big order, but we
think we can do it if weather permits and if the foundations can be
put in in lime.'
The Department of Housing and
Urban Development will help pay
to transport the homes, Stevens
said. It will cost about S 12,000 to
move each duplex, he said, and he
MOLD to page 5
Native Americans building
business network
ByJanitaPoe
Dean Parisian, a Native American money manager in Alpharetta,
wants to network with other Indian
business owners in a professional
group similar to those of Asians,
Latinos and African-Americans.
But American Indians make up
one ofthe smallest racial groups in
the country, and that makes networking difficult, particularly in
places such as Georgia, where they
make up less than 1 percent ofthe
population.
"There are a lot of things that the
Native business owners could do
for each other," said Parisian, 47,
owner ofNative American Advi
sors and a member ofthe White
Earth Chippewa tribe based in
Minnesota. "They're here, but
nobody's connected." Enter the
newly created U.S. American Indian Chamber of Commerce. The
national group, founded this year,
unites a half-dozen smaller Indian
business groups — five statewide
Indian chambers and the Native
American Business Alliance —
and companies such as
DaimlerChrysler, Disney, Ford,
General Motors, IBM, Philip Morris, Texaco and United Parcel Service.
NETWORK to page 5