The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-11-26

              MjWiw»»*)W>*W«tf»**SIWIMi»<^ .'.ViiEpwwllwWiflTnuiwiilEilBflruaiiCwi
■'«»iii^m«»i i ii   -Hi«uiwm<m*rmn*x*nMnimmm i WJ_ »-.i — mi mi——<—»» u im!s,tfm^vn<nnnmnwmnp?
^FJPW^P^^PPIOPOM
Roger "Bucky" Head resigns from Minnesota
Indian Affairs Council
By Mel Rasmussen
Thursday, November 18, 1993, Mr.
Roger "Bucky" Head resigned from
his position as Executive Director of
the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.
AccordingtoMs. Joanne Barr-Stately,
the current acting director Mr. Head
handed a letter over to her in the
afternoon stating that he was resigning
for personal reasons effective at 4:30
that afternoon.
Numerous calls were made around
the state by concerned employees and
friends. They have failed to provide
any further information about Head.
Also, Stately went on to state that
there was an enormous state of
confusion at the office and it appeared
that it will take some time to straighten
out the mess that exists within this
office.
No further information is available
about Head's locatioa However several
theories have come forth. The PRESS
will confirm these rumors and will advise
the community of any of its findings.
Thanksgiving prophesy comes from the past/ Page 3
Native Arts Circle receives award/ Page 5
Little Earth Patrol begins/ Page 5
Leonard Peltier special to air on KTCA/ Page 5
Grandpa gets caught in time warp/ Page 5
Fond du Lac Follies returns to discuss Indian issues/ Page 8
BIA employee and four others arrested on
cocaine charges
Voice ojthe Anishinabeg
1
By Melissa Kleingartner
Reprinted with permission of
Bemidji Pioneer
Five Bemidji men were arrested
Tuesday on charges of delivery of
cocaine and conspiracy to deliver
cocaine, after a six-month drug
investigation by the Minnesota Bureau
of Criminal apprehension.
Thomas Green, 23, a student; Jerry
Louis Colley, 30, an employee ofthe
Bemidji Parks and Recreation
Department; William Burnham
Tibbetts III, 34, and employee with
the Bureau of Indian affairs; Chad M.
Lange, 26, manager of a local retail
store; and Carl Eugene Parker, 36, a
construction worker in Cass Lake,
were all charged.
The suspects are also accused of
conspiring to import cocaine from
another state and to process and
distribute it in the Bemidji area,
according to a press release from the
BCA.
BCA officials described the drug
operation as well organized and fairly
sophisticated. The five allegedly used
pagers and cellular phones to maintain
contact with and receive orders from
their customers.
Agent Terry smith said the exact
amount of cocaine confiscated over
the six month period isn't known,
however, he did say it was "quite a
quantity. These guys were fairly
significant distributors of cocaine for
this area."
Search warrants for the drugs and
other evidence were executed Tuesday
at six separate locations intheBemidji
area by agents of the BCA and the
Paul Bunyan Task Force, Bemidji
Police officers and Beltrami County
deputies, the release said.
The search warrants weren't issued
so the teams could find a large amount
of cocaine but were issued mainly to
gather tangible evidence to solidify
the case against the men.
"We were not searching for drugs
as much as we were searching for
information, like records, to complete
the case," Smith said.
Five motor vehicles were also
confiscated because ofthe Minnesota
Statute which makes cars used for the
delivery of drugs subject to forfeiture.
A number ofthe group's customers
have been identified by authorities
and charges against additional persons
are pending further investigation.
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support: Equal Opportunity For All
Founded  in 1 98B
Volume 5   Issue 22        November 26, 1993
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The OJMmre News, 1993
Native American attorney accepts position at
Hamline University Law School
By Gary Blair
Native American Attorney at Law,
Mary Jo Brooks, has returned to the
Twin Cities and has taken a position
with Hamline University located in St.
Paul, Minnesota. hiring, she becomes the first full-time
Robert Sheran, Dean of the Law Native American staff to teach on any
School,announcedherappointmenton law campus in the state.
Friday, November 19th, to a group of      Brooks,   who is a member of the;,
friends and colleagues who gathered for Winnebago Tribe ofWisconsin, holds a
the formal announcement. With her HamlillC/See Page 5
"Ironlegs" brings his message to Washington
- on foot
By Susan Stanich
Duluth News-Tribune
A turtle told Jim "Ironlegs" Weaver
to hit the road last July.
On Tuesday -1,700 miles, 19 weeks
and a considerable length of Turtle
Island continent later - the 72 year old
White Earth Chippewa entered
Washington, D.C. with plans to talk to
President Clinton.
He walked the whole way.
' 'I can't believe it myself,'' he said by
telephone from Washington, minutes
after his arrival.
Chippewas and some other Native
Americans viewNorth America as being
in the shape of a turtle and call it Turtle
Island
Weaver hopes to get an audience with
Clinton on December 7. He wants to
discuss poisoned earth, air and streams,
and a tribal government system that
Weaver believes works against Indian
people.
Weaver has been something of an
activist on White Earth and in the
Minnesota Chippewa tribe. In 1989 he
went on a 53-day fast to protest tribal
Pictured is Ms. Wilma Mankillcr, First Principal Chief of the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation
Wilma Man killer speaks in Twin Cities
Photo by Mel Rasmussen
Pictured is Jimmy "Ironlegs" Weaver in Northern Wisconsin
NAP File Photo
government activities.
Then, about a year ago, he received
what he described as a "message'' that
he must take this journey.
"Later on I waited for the signs to
come, and they did, oneby one, and then
I got a big sign - a turtle, a humungous
turtle. He came right up on the front
porch, and there he was.
"Sol knew it was time to go then. I got
ready that night."
He picked up his eagle-feather staff, a
packsack, a little bottle of Mississippi
River water and some earth, and
Ironlegs/See Page 6
Prairie Island Dakota, officials at odds over
casino ad sign
By Mel Rasmussen
High above the city streets, Ms. Wilma
Mankiller, first Principal Chief of the
Oklahoma Cherokee Nation prepares
herself for her speaking engagement at
the City Center Inn. She is the keynote
speakerfora "Women in Leadership"
conference sponsored by the College of
St. Catherine. Minneapolis is the last
stop in a twelve city speaking tour for
her before she returns to Oklahoma.
In an interview with Mankiller she
talked about her new book and her life
experiences. She stated that her book is
half about herself and half about history.
She had been approached by several
publishers and asked to write a book
about her experiences. She thought that
this was a little premature as she was
only 48 and had some health problems.
This ranged from a major car accident
to having a form of muscular dystrophy
and a kidney transplant. She felt people
were intrigued about these conditions
versus my life history and position. She
stated that she would write a book but
that it would alternate between her life
and the history through the oral traditions
Mankiller stated that the book had
been receivcdfairlywellbut emphasized
that there is still a problem that the non-
Native press understand the important
history that weare doing today. Shefelt
that we all see ourselves within the
context of our history and our tribes and
we don't think of ourselves outside of
this context. It is very hard for non-
tribal to see that. This is the issue that
the book addresses.
Mankiller talked about her life and
hertrialsinlife. ShewasborninStillwell,
Oklahoma and her family was caught
up with the relocation process in the late
50's. Her entire family was relocated to
Oakland, California.
In Oakland, her family faced a total
change of lifestyles. She stated that the
promises that the BIA gave did not truly
meetthe reality ofthetimes. Thesaving
grace was that there was a active Indian
Center in Oakland and that the Indians
that were there banded together to help
one another. Mankiller stated that there
are now three generations living in the
bay area and there is a problem in there
being able to reconnect back into their
roots and culture.
Mankiller stated that the Relocation
program was just another injustice that
was foisted on the Native American
community. She felt that it was a
continuation of such failed projects that
the BIA and the federal government
continued to place on the Native
American community.
Mankiller stated that she was active in
the occupation of Alcatraz in the early
sixties and seventies and that her father
insisted that their family become
involved in the affairs of their people.
She stated that after her father died in
1971 shecontinuedtoworkatbecoming
Mankiller/See Page 5
St Paul (AP)
A dispute over placement of a sign has
touched offa confrontationbetween the
Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota
and officials of Dakota County and
nearby Ravenna Township.
In a battle peppered with allegations
of racism and preferential treatment,
thefederal government will decide how
the 10-acre plot near the tribe's Treasure Island Casino will be used.
The tribe wants to put a convenience
store and a sign advertising the casino
on the land at the prime intersection of
Hwy. 316 and County Rd. 68, about 8
miles from the reservation atRed Wing.
The tribe bought the land and has
asked the U.S. Department of Interior
through its Bureau of Indian Affairs to
" place the land in trust That would have
the effect of giving reservation status to
the land, which would make it immune
from many state and local regulations.
Township and Dakota County officials say the tribe is trying to avoid the
procedures that any other group would
have to follow to change the zoning of
the land from its current agricultural-
residential designation to commercial
status. The tribe says it wants to bypass
the procedure for fear it wouldn't get a
fair hearing.
"They're having a little war down
there,'' said Michael Constant, an offi
cial of the Minnesota Department of
Transportation.
The tribe bought the land in the fall of
1992, using a corporation it formed that
summer. One of the tribe's attorneys,
Kurt Bluedog, said the corporation,
Northern Minnesota Investments, Inc.,
was created so the tribe could seek and
buy land without theowners "bumping
the price up,'' because they thought the
tribe had deep financial pockets. It paid
$26,500 for the parcel.  '■
In the spring, the tribe posted a small
sign on the plot indicating that County
Rd. 68 is a shortcut to the casino. That
route is about 5 miles shorter but saves
little or no time because the road is
narrow and winding.
Township officials complained to the
state Department ofTransportation that
the 3- by 4-foot sign was illegal because
the land was not zoned for the commercial use and the sign was too close to the
roads. Constant said he called the tribe
and the sign was removed
Laurie Beyer-Kropuenske. the tribal
attorney, said that shortly after the tribe
removed its sign, a local developer
posted a sign at the same comer advertising the nearby Rainbow Ridge
housing development
The tribal council became "pretty
adamant," she said. "Why isn't someone doing something about this? They
[township officials] did not object to the
white man's sign, but they asked us to
remove ours. That's when the trailer
went in."
Last summer, the tribe parked a white
semitrailer atthe intersectionand placed
a banner on it advertising the casino.
The banner was stolen, as were its
replacements.
Constant offered a different chronology, saying the Rainbow Ridge sign
was placed after the trailer was brought
in. But he did confirm that no township
official had complained to him about
the Rainbow Ridge sign.
He said that when he called the tribe
and asked that they remove the sign on
the trailer, the tribe refused and informed him that it was asking the BIA
to put the land in trust
That is when his department "decided to leave everything the way it is"
until the BIA decides the trust question.
"If the BIA says it's part ofthe reservation, I don't know that we'll have a leg
to stand on," he said, because tribes and
reservation land are sovereign entities
not subject to local land-use regulations.
Local officials say that exemption is
what upsets them. Joseph Harris, the
County Board member who represents
the area, said no one else could erect a
sign or build a store there without per-
Casino/SeePage3
Sabes voted out of Arizona casino deal
AP - Minneapolis
The final vote was 200-7, and Bob
Sabes lost.
The Yavapai-Apache tribe in Camp
Verde, Ariz., put the Minneapolis
businessman and topless nightclub
owner on the ballot Saturday and
decided that they did not want their
tribal government to do business with
Sabes.
Sabes was chief executive officer of
Gaming Corp. of America (GCA)
until he resigned last spring. He's
also owner of Solid Gold, the topless
club in downtown Minneapolis, and
other restaurants in the Twin Cities.
He resigned from GCA because his
other business interests made it difficult for the company to obtain
regulatory approval to operate casinos.
Those business relationships also
thwarted his efforts to win the management contract from the
Yavapai-Apache, according to Ted
Smith, tribal chairman.
Sabes has acknowledged in testimony before the Wisconsin
Winnebago Indian Tribal Commission that he has had business
dealings with James Williams, an
associate of M.J., Peter Club Man
agement Co., which operates Solid Gold on Sabes'behalf. Williams
was convicted in 1987 for tax fraud
in connection with his management of Indian bingo halls in
Florida. Also, federal prosecutors
and the FBI have alleged that Williams is connected to New York
crime families.
Sabes has said that his relationships with Williams and M.J. Peter
Club Management are at "arms
length," and he has denied any
association with organized crime.
He declined Monday to comment
on the tribal vote in Arizona.
Nuclear waste storage opposed
By Charles Laxzacwski
Staff Writer
[Reprinted with permission of the
St. Paul Pioneer Press]
The Prairie Island Mdewakanton
Sioux community and its allies took
their shot Monday at Northern States
Power Co. 's plan to place radioactive
waste in metal casks outside the
utility's nuclear power plant there.
Tribal council members and community residents told the Senate Jobs,
Energy and Community Development
Committee that they have borne the
risk for too long from the power plant
a half mile away, so that people in the
Twin Cities could have cheap electricity.
"Not one of you here can prove to
me that in 40 years they won't leak,"
tribal council member Edith Pacini
told the committee. "I would say to
you there are open lands in Woodbury,
there are open lands in Eagan. there
are open lands in Burnsville. Why
don't you put it there and see what
happens? Whether it is or is not safe.
we don't want more there."
The issue is one of the most important and contentious the Legislature
will have to decide next spring. The
federal government has failed for more
than 20 years to keep its promise to
take used fuel from nuclear reactors
and dispose of it permanently. The
used fuel remains highly radioactive
for 10,000 years, so finding a site that
could keep it isolated that long, much
less a place where a community would
Nudear/SeePage3