Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2001-12-14

              INDEX
News Around Indian Country
Commentary/Editorials/Voices
Smoke Signals of Upcoming Events
Classifieds
2
4
5
7
Indian Country
Today closes
Rapid City offices
pgi
StarTribune to file
amicus brief to Indian
casino audit cases
pgi
NiiSka petitions U.S.
Supreme Court to
restore human rights
to Indian law
pgi
King fails in
attempt to revoke
recall ordinance
pgi,8
Commentary
Dan, the
party's over
pg4
King fails in attempt to revoke recall ordinance
Whitefeather breaks 4-4 deadlock
VOICE
O   F
THE
People
by Clara NiiSka
At the Red Lake tribal council
meeting on Tuesday, December 11,
treasurer Dan King did his best to
avoid facing Red Lake voters in a
potential recall election—by trying
to revoke the recall ordinance enacted by a split Red Lake tribal
council on October 9"'.
Despite the fact that reconsideration ofthe recall ordinance was not
on the agenda, according to several
sources King spent an hour and
forty-five minutes presenting a 55-
page document criticizing the recall
ordinance at the December 11 *
tribal council meeting. He detailed
25 things that, according to King,
were wrong with the recently enacted recall ordinance. These included three separate allegations by
King that the recall ordinance was
in violation ofthe Red Lake constitution.
After presenting liis criticisms of
the ordinance, King asked tribal
council secretary Judy Roy to introduce a motion to revoke the recall
ordinance, and he asked Redby
representative Julius Thunder to
second it. According to Press/
ONs sources, King asked Roy and
Thunder because Roy had introduced the October 9* motion for
passage ofthe recall ordinance,
and Thunder had seconded it.
Since Roy and Thunder would not
introduce and second liis recall revocation motion, Dan King made
the motion himself. It was seconded by Little Rock representative and hay entrepreneur Harlan
Beaulieu, one ofthe "fab four."
(The other two "fabs" are Red
Lake representatives Fabian
"Nickel" Cook and Delores
Lasley.)
During discussion of King's motion to revoke the recall ordinance,
tribal attorney Dave Harrington le-
portedly stated that everything in
King's one hour and forty-five
minute presentation was "laughable and ludicrous." Sources told
Piess/ON that the reason Dan King
attacked the ordinance so vigorously was that it was prepared by
tribal attorney Dave Harrington.
There lias reportedly been conflict
between King and Harrington in
the past.
Following King's lengthy presentation, other council members expressed their views on the proposed revocation.
Secretary Judy Roy, Julius Thunder, and the two Ponemah representatives, Rudy Johnson and
Clifford Hardy, voted against
King's proposed revocation ofthe
recall ordinance The "fab four"
voted to revoke it. Redby representative Al Pemberton abstained.
He had voted for passage ofthe recall ordinance at the October 9th
tribal council meeting. A source
told Press/ON that shortly after the
recall ordinance was enacted,
Pemberton was hired as director of
the Red Lake DNR, a tribal job for
which a number oftribal members
feel he is unqualified. His appointment as DNR director was supported by the "fab four," and some
sources felt that this influenced
KING to page 8
web page: www.press-on.net
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Ojibwe News
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A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2001
Founded in 1988
Volume 14 Issue 3
December 14, 2001
WERBC charged with severing
'lifeline' of reservation
By JeffArmstrong
Citing an economic downturn it
attributed to the Sept. 11 attacks on
the eastern United States, the White
Earth RBC recently dismissed at
least 15 employees, including the
entire emergency dispatch staff.
Senior reservation dispatcher Bev
Johnson warned the latter move
was shortsighted and could liave
dire consequences for White Earth
residents, particularly elders in need
of transportation and critical care.
"They didn't really stop and realize what they were doing to the
people and programs," said
Johnson, a 23-year veteran ofthe
fonnerly round-the-clock dispatch
unit.
White Earth deputy director Ron
Valiant could not be reached for
comment.
Jolinson was particularly critical
ofthe decision to contract dispatch—which handled calls ranging
from child welfare, ambulance and
clinic transportation to detox and
tribal police—out to the three adjoining Minnesota counties. She
said Becker County alone will be
charging S35,000 annually forthe
service, slightly more than
Johnson's yearly salary as one ofa
five-member staff.
"Dispatch was the lifeline ofthe
reservation and they more or less
sold us out to the white people, to
the counties," said Jolinson.
"They're setting us back 20 years."
In critical situations, Johnson
said, White Earth dispatchers' intimate knowledge ofthe geography
and personalities ofthe reservation
can make a lite and death difference.
"I'm sure it's going to be a different response time," said Johnson.
She cited one occasion when she
was able to wake up a White Earth
housing employee at an early
morning hour to board up windows
which had been broken out at the
home of elder who was out of
town, averting a possible burglary.
"If people expect to receive that
kind of service from the counties,
they're going to be sadly disappointed," said Jolinson.
Johnson said the RBC decision to
cut essential public services for
budgetary reasons was misplaced
and ill-timed.
"They wouldn't need to eliminate
dispatch if they'd get rid of some of
the big shots upstairs. We just got
new equipment and got our office
all fixed up for nothing. They've
got three or four deputy directors
doing what (former executive director) Darb McArthur did for 20
years, and he did it himself,"
Jolinson said. "They do (current ex-
' ecutive director) Frank Annette's
job and he does (chairman) Doyle
Turner's."
According to Johnson, no tribal
police officers have been laid off, although their service area has been
reduced by 2/3 since Mahnomen
and Clearwater comities pulled out
oflaw enforcement agreements
with the state.
"Our officers kind of stay away
from Nay-Tali-Watsh and Rice
Lake now," she said.
Jolinson said she would not be
personally affected by the action but
expressed concern for dispatchers
with young children.
"This is the first winter I've had
off in 40 years," said Johnson. "I'm
a little bit more fortunate than some
ofthe others. I was looking forward
to retirement, but I didn't expect to
be retired like this."
ilk:
Courtesy James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota
The Red Lake Chief with some of his Followers Arriving at the Red River and Visiting the
Governor. Watercolor by Peter Rindisbacher. Rindisbacher was born in Switzerland in 1806,
and migrated to Selkirk's Red River Colony in 1821. Rindisbacher lived in Winnipeg and
Pembina forthe next seven years, sketching and painting scenes of everyday life there.
State regulators favor
casinos, Hatch says
NiiSka petitions U.S. Supreme
Court to restore human
rights to Indian law
By JeffArmstrong
In a petition for a writ of certiorari, Clara NiiSka has asked
the highest court in the United
States to do what no other court
can—review more than a century of the contradictory hodgepodge of case law, legislative
acts and bilateral treaties known
collectively as Indian Law.
Since the 1997 death of her
husband, columnist and author
Wub-e-ke-niew (a.k.a. Francis
Blake), NiiSka has submitted
thousands of pages of legal and
historical documentation to various courts in support of the deceptively simple proposition that
her traditional 1984 Mide marriage on Red Lake was legally
valid under tribal, state and fed
eral law of questionable applicability.
A PhD candidate, anthropology professor and journalist in
her own right, NiiSka carries on
her late husband's belief that the
Ahnishinahbasojibway never legitimately lost or surrendered
their jurisdiction over land
which includes the current diminished Red Lake Reservation. She harbors no illusions
about the likelihood of prevailing.
"Are they going to consider
on it those grounds'? Probably
not," said NiiSka. "When I
started this, I wasn't out to
change the world. I just wanted
PETITION to page 3
Tribal dispute centers on
court firing
Associated Press
A dispute is brewing on the
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation over an alleged misuse of
power in the tribal court system.
Last month, the tribal council
suspended Chief Tribal Judge
William Bossman and lower
court Judge Gill LeBeau with
pay. Also, two other judge positions are being advertised as
open, effectively replacing the
entire bench on the reservation.
Last week, the court administrator, Mona Cudniore Demery,
unexpectedly left her job in protest over Bossman's firing.
Indian Affairs Council
quarterly board
meeting scheduled
The quarterly meeting of
the Minnesota indian Affairs
Council is scheduled for
January 15,2002 at 10 a.m. The
meeting will be at the Kelly
Inn, St. Paul, MN.The agenda
will follow at a later date.
The firings and other actions
by the council have "wrecked the
judicial system," in Eagle Butte,
Demery said.
Gregg Bourland, the tribal
chairman, agrees the court system is in crisis. But he denies doing anything wrong. Any problems that have come up were
caused by the court, the tribal
chairman said. According to
Bourland, Bossman wrongfully
used the court's authority in a
case where an Eagle Butte man
was extradited to state custody.
The tribal council plans to take
up the matter later this month.
Norton's
contempt trial
opens
Associated Press
WASHINGTON- A lawyer
representing American Indians
seeking millions of dollars the
NORTON to page 3
Star Tribune to
file amicus
brief in Indian
casino audit
cases
Press-ON
On Wednesday, December
12, the Minneapolis Star Tribune requested the state court's
permission to file a brief "as
amicus curiae in conjunction
with the tribal casino audit litigation" arising from Press/
6Ws Data Practices Act request
for Indian casino audits held by
the State. The Star Tribune has
also requested the audits.
Star Tribune attorney Mark
Anfinson faxed the
newspaper's request to participate in upcoming hearings as
amicus curate ("friend ofthe
court") to Judge Louise
Bjorkman, who is the Ramsey
County Judge hearing the lawsuits filed by the Mille Lacs
Band and the Prairie Island Indian Community against the
State. Both lawsuits seek to bar
the release of the Indian casino
BRIEF to page 3
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune
Citing e-mails in which state
gambling regulators appeared eager to please tribal casinos, the
Mnnesota attorney general's office
Wednesday criticized regulators
working with American Indian
tribes fighting to keep casino audits
from the public.
Chief Deputy Attorney General
.Alan Gilbert wrote a judge tliat the
e-mails demonstrate tliat the Department of Public Safety, which
regulates gambling, isn't representing state interests in a fight over
whether to release the audits.
After the Public Safety Department sided with the tribes in seeking to temporarily classify the audits as nonpublic, an official sent
an e-mail to the head of its gambling enforcement division.
In her e-mail, Laurie Beyer-
Kropuenske told gambling enforcement director Frank Ball,
"The tribes are really happy by
how [the Department of Public
Safety] has handled this issue.
They think your division is fabulous! "     Aid an offi cial from a
state agency that helps detennine
what government data are public
warned his bosses about the political ramifications of an opinion that
agency issued in June saying the
casino audits are public.
"Just wanted to be sure that you
were aware that the larger issues
associated with the opinion we issued ... are becoming increasingly
political," Don Gemberling wrote
in a July 20 e-mail to Administra
tion Commissioner David Fisher
and Deputy Commissioner Kirsten
Cecil.
Gemberling said he was approached by a lobbyist for the
Minnesota Indian Gaming .Association who "wondered if there
was some way to deal with the
same issues about which we issued
the opinion, but to produce a different result."
On Aug. 19, Fisher granted a request by Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver to classify
the audits as temporarily nonpublic
so the Legislature lias a chance in
2002 or 2003 to change the law to
make that nonpublic status permanent.
Cecil said Wednesday that the
decision to classify the audits as
temporarily nonpublic was made
on its merits. Public Safety had argued tliat releasing the audits
would discourage tribes from cooperating with regulators.
The e-mails were included in a
letter Wednesday from Gilbert to
Ramsey County District Judge
Louise Bjorkman. She is hearing
lawsuits by two tribes that want to
prevent the state from releasing the
casino audits to the public.
Beyer-Kropuenske, Ball and
Fisher did not return phone messages Wednesday seeking their reaction to the letter and the e-mails.
Gemberling is out of state through
Friday and couldn't be reached, his
staff said. He did not return phone
messages.
HATCH to page 4
Indian Country
Today closes
Rapid City office
Associated Press
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Movers on
Saturday cleaned out the Rapid
City office oflndian Country Today, one day after the Oneida Nation of New York told workers the
newspaper was being moved.
The Oneida Nation bought the
newspaper three years ago. It has '
operated from Rapid City for 12
years.
David Melmer, the acting manager, said the announcement was a
shock but added he understands
the Oneida Nation wants to save
money by moving the newspaper
to Oneida, N.Y.
Seven ofthe 13 workers were
told they could relocate to New
York. Several other workers were
fired.
Printing ofthe paper will continue to take place in Rapid City.
Melmer said he thinks the closure was "strictly economics."
"It got expensive having a whole
operation here, and then 1,500
miles away in New York having
the managerial offices," he said. "It
was cumbersome. .And in order to
cut expenses, it made sense to cut
here first."
Employees got the news Friday
morning. Movers liad emptied the
office by Saturday.
"It was very somber," said
Melmer, who has accepted a reporting job in Rapid City. "There
were some tears, of course. A business family has been broken up."
Tribe wins with gambling ruling Santee Sioux can keep
their video pull-tab machines, a federal judge says
By David Hendee, Dave Morantz
Omaha World-Herald
Nebraska's Santee Sioux Tribe
pulled a winning ticket Friday
| out of U.S. District Court in
I Omaha.
Judge Joseph Bataillon said the
tribe has the right to operate
video pull-tab gambling machines at its casino in Knox
County. The tribe's 60 machines
dispense paper games known in
Omaha as "pickle" cards because
they once were commonly sold
in pickle jars at bars.
Reaction was immediate and
joyous on the tribe's tiny reservation in northeast Nebraska.
"We're so happy, we feel free,"
said Thelma Thomas, the tribal
vice chairwoman. "We feel good.
We feel optimistic that life can
only get better for our people.
This was always about employment."
Bataillon rejected the federal
government's arguments that the
casino's pull-tab machines -
known as Lucky Tab II - rise to a
level of gambling sophistication
that would require the tribe to
have a compact with the State of
Nebraska.
He agreed with the tribe that its
pickle machines are similar to the
less-sophisticated devices found
at many Nebraska bars and restaurants.
U.S. Attorney Mike Heavican
said it was too early to decide
whether the government would
appeal the ailing. His- office will
study Bataillon's decision and
consult with the Justice Department, he said.
Tribal Chairman Roger Trudell
said the ruling vindicates the
tribe's efforts to provide jobs and
income for some of its 1,300
members living on the reservation.
"It is a daily struggle just to ensure the basic necessities for our
children and elders," Tmdell
said. "We know our struggle to
operate gaming is not over, but it
is time for the Department of Justice to stop its cruel and unjust
treatment of our tribe."
Bataillon's decision brings a
five-year standoff between the
tribe and the federal government
one step closer to being resolved,
although the tribe still faces more
than S 4 million in contempt-of-
court fines that were levied before May 15. That was when the
tribe replaced its traditional slot
machines with the pull-tab machines.
Gov. Mike Johanns is conferring with the attorney general
and the State Department of Revenue to determine the impact of
the decision, said spokesman
Chris Peterson. The federal government allows tribes to sign
agreements with states to offer
gambling on tribal land, but Nebraska has refused to do so.
Kimball Mayor Greg
SANTEE to page 6