The Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1995-08-25

              Indigenous Games behind-
a tale of mismanagement u
By Gary Blair
The outcome surrounding the 1995
North American Indigenous Games,
recently held at the National Sports
Center in Blaine. MN. will not be remembered by some Twin Cities residents with pride. For them the nine
day event that ended July 5th will be
remembered as one marred by fraud
investigations and probable criminal
charges.
Former Games manager George
Spears, enrollee from Red Lake, said
on Wednesday. "I'd describe the planning of the Games as one drunken
parts and the office environment was
a lot of sexual harassment ofthe Indian women who worked there."
"As for the 1.2 million that was
raised for the event," he continued,
"it seemed to be there just for the taking by certain board members and the
main organizers. There were drunken
parties wherever they met to promote
the Games.'7
Spears said little concern was
shown for the kids who supposedly
the Games were all about." Right now.
their accountants arc bunching up the
expenses into categories so they can
try to cover up how they spent the
money. Wc need to ask for the receipts," he advised.
According lo Spears, some of the
misspent money was the result of an
employee who was hired during the
last nine months before the Games
were held. "Robert Strohm was hired
as the marketing manager." he said.
"We found out later that the first thing
he did was to take a three week vacation in Florida. He was hired at
$60,000 per year and he was given
an expense account. He billed everything that he did to the Games."'
Spears wrote a letter to the board
members about this vacation trip and
he said nothing was done. "The man
worked for the games illegally because
we weren't able to get him a green
the-scenes: a
nfolds
card to work in this county," he added.
The PRESS has learned that the
Games cost the Minnesota taxpayers
$300,000 when a grant was approved
by the Stale Legislature to offset the
costs of promoting and hosting the
Games. However, the local merchants
may be the biggest financial losers in
the whole affair. Spears says there is
at least $500,000 in unpaid bills and
there could be more.
"Employment taxes and sales taxes
weren't withheld or paid," he continued. "The original Games organizers
never applied for a tax exemption
from the IRS. They also never registered with the Minnesota Attorney
General's Office, something that's required law, before they started their
fundraising activities."
Spears said when he advised the
Games board members about the laws
governing non-profit organizations,
they told him they were going to "do
Games cont'd on pg 4
Federal investigation sought in Leach Lake dispute
By Jeff Armstrong
Just half a day after an August 12
meeting to deal with the lack of law
enforcement on Tract 33 ofthe Leech
Lake Reservation, the worst fears of
meeting participants nearly
materialized. A series of reported
threats, break-ins and assaults in the
early morning hours of Aug. 13
culminated in the shooting of Mike
LaRose and the severe beating of his
companion, Pete Jones.
The timing of the incidents, the
failure of police to credibly
investigate, and incessant rumors—
which have proven to be just that—of
an.all-out conflict between the
Headbird and LaRose families, have
combined to generate fear, suspicion
and calls for a federal investigation
from both sides. "The cops from
Beltrami and Cass are hoping
something will happen. They want
somebody dead before they step in.
This has got to stop. We gotta get the
FBI involved," said Bill Croaker, a
suspect in the assault on Jones and
LaRose who denies any involvement.
The 46-year-old Croaker, married to
Faye Headbird, said several witnesses
can attest to the fact that he was at the
Country Side Inn in Cass Lake until
after 2 a.m., and family members
support his contention that he was
Group protests Keweenaw Bay tribal policies
BARAGA, Mich. (AP) _ About 50
members ofthe Keweenaw Bay Indian
Tribe on Tuesday vowed to remain
inside the Tribal Center, saying an
"elite group" has taken over decisionmaking for the tribe.
The tribe members locked
themselves in the Keweenaw Bay
Tribal Center at midnight. No one
inside the center was believed armed.
Keweenaw Bav Indian Tribal Police
Capt. Bill Scppanen said.
No one has been injured. Scppanen
said. Officers have been stationed
outside the center, but have not
entered, he said.
A U.S. Justice Department official
from Detroit was expected to help
with the negotiations. Scppanen said.
The protesters have demanded
mediators be brought in.
The mediator had noi arrived late
Tuesday and was not expected until
sometime Wednesday, said Karen
Curtis, the sister-in-law of protest
spokesman Jerry Curtis.
The protesters have also demanded
that U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
American Indian Movement leader
Russell Means and U.S. Sen. Ben
Nighthorse Campbell. R-Colo.. come
to the reservation. Scppanen said.
The dispute began afi
Group cont'd on pg 3
New law no help to burdened Indian courts
WASHINGTON (AP) _ It's
becoming a familiar story: Congress
identifies a serious problem on the
nation's Indian reservations, passes a
law to correct it _ and nothing
happens.
That was the case with alcoholism
and child abuse. Now it's the tribal
court system that isn't getting the
federal help that Congress intended.
Judges inside and outside the system
say that tribal courts are in crisis,
overwhelmed by growing criminal
and civil caseloads and a lack of money
for such essentials as clerks and
telephones.
As it did with alcoholism and child
abuse, Congress passed legislation to
provide a steady source of federal
money andassistance. But the Clinton
administration has requested little of
the money that was authorized by the
2-year-old Indian Tribal Justice Act
and a judge hired to administer the
program for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs recently quit in protest.
The agency has "decided to abandon
any serious effort lo seek funding for
and to implement" the law. said Carey
Vicenti, who resigned from the BIA
position in May.
BIA officials deny his allegation.
Nevertheless, tribal courts are
"woefully under-funded" at the same
time they're faced with an increase in
crime and a huge, growth in civil
cases, said William Canby Jr., ajudge
on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.
Tribal courts handle many criminal
offenses committed by Indians on
reservations and have broad civil
jurisdiction, including the power to
impose multimillion dollar
judgments. The Navajo courts alone
handle 25,000 cases a year.
The existence of competent courts
is considered vital for tribes if they
are to curb social problems and bring
outside investment. There are 254
tribal courts nationwide and more are
opening this year.
Canby warned the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee at a recent hearing
Law cont'd on pg 3
Finn, Pemberton and Brown hearing set for
August 30th in Duluth
By J. Rainbird
This should peak the interests of a
lot of Anishinabe people throughout
Indian Country and elsewhere. The
Finn, Pemberton and Brown
hearings will be heard in a federal
courtroom in Duluth, MN., on
August 30, 1995.
The case will be heard before U.S.
Magistrate Raymond L. Erickson.
The time of the hearing is set for
11:00 a.m. in room 3, fourth floor of
the federal court building in Duluth.
The address ofthe federal building
in Duluth is 515 West 3rd Street.
It's been said ofthe hearings that
this is an attempt by the defendants
to challenge the jurisdiction ofthe
federal courts to hear and/or to
decide the case before them. "It's
probably more of an attempt by them
to build a case for an appeal rather
than lo actually get it thrown out of
court," said an anonymous observer.
On June 7, 1995 according to
documents obtained by the PRESS,
a federal grand jury indicted
Minnesota State Senator Harold R.
"Skip" Finn, (former lawyer) ofthe
Leech Lake Band of Chippewa
Indians, along with Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton, (chair ofthe Leech Lake
Band), and Dan Brown, the Band's
secretary-treasurer.
The 38 count felony indictment
charges the three Leech Lake
officials with their involvements
in the wide-ranging conspiracy
since 19S5, to steal almost a million
dollars of the band's funds.
Finn, is charged with 24 felony
counts with conspiracy, theft,
bribery, mail fraud, money
laundering, and corruptly
impeding a grand jury
investigation. Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton  is charged with 9
Hearing cont'd on pg 6
Indigenous Games behind-the-scenes/ pg 1
Finn, Pemberton and Brown hearing set/ pg 1
LaRose to appeal trespass conviction/ pg 3
Urban League takes action to fight crime/ pg 5
Some adoptive parents to return children/ pg 8
Voice ojthe Anishinabek (The People)
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We  Support  Equal  Opportunity  For All  People
home sleeping when lliQ assault was
reported at 3:55 a.m. But Croaker has
been identified by others-including
LaRose—as the one who pulled the
trigger.
Cass Lake Police Chief Charles Vikre
arrived on the scene at 3:59, but never
took statements from any of numerous
people gathered who said they saw
the assailants. The house where the
shooting occurred was never cordoned
off by a police line, nor were photos
taken ofthe inside ofthe residence.
Nearly two weeks later, police have
still not questioned witnesses or
neighbors, the county has still not
Dispute cont'd on pg 5
Founded   in 1988
Volume 7    Issue 9
August 25, 1995
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe Mews,  1995
Staff carriers stand ready at recent area pow wow.
Photo bv John Rainbird
Blaeser becomes first American Indian
Judge in metro area
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Robert
Blaeser is the first American Indian
to serve as ajudge in the Twin Cities
area and the second to serve as a trial
judge in the state.
Blaeser was sworn in Monday as a
Hennepin County District Courtjudge
in Minneapolis, which has one ofthe
largest urban Indian populations in
the nation.
Blaeser, 41, grew up on the White
Earth Indian Reservation in
Mahnomen. His mother is Chippewa
and his father is German.
He graduated from Concordia
College in Moorhead in 1976 and
received his law degree from the
University of Minnesota Law School
in 1979. A year later, Blaeser started
his own law firm and built a civil
litigation practice.
He served on a Minnesota Supreme
Court task force on racial bias in the
judicial system, where he took a
leadership role on such issues as the
Indian Child Welfare Act which was
enacted to preserve Indian families.
The task force found that Indians
and other people of color are
sometimes treated with insensitivity
or hostility in court. Blaeser says he
hopes to change that.
"I hope I am able to make people
feel, when they come into a courtroom
where I am, that they have not been
just heard but they've also been
understood," he said in an interview-
prior to the swearing in.
Blaeser, who lives in Eden Prairie,
is the second Indian to serve as a state
trial court judge in Minnesota. Peter
Cannon sat in Park Rapids for a year
before he was defeated in the 1990
election. Another American Indian,
John Durfee, was appointed to a
Duluth judgeship in 1986 but died
before he could take his seat.
Blaeser replaces HaroldKalina, who !
retired from the Hennepin County
bench on April 30.
Gaming questions top agenda at convention
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ A movement
to greater states' rights could force
changes in Indian gambling activities,
an attorney said at the National Indian
Gaming Association convention
under way here.
In a standing-room-only session
Monday, attorney Paul Alexander of
Berkeley, Calif, said there's a move
afoot to amend the federal Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Indian gaming, a fixture in 29 states,
is under growing scrutiny in
stalehouses and on Capitol Hill.
Denver attorney Tim Knaus, who
tracks state legislatures, said that so
far this year. 50 measures have been
proposed in legislatures pertaining to
Indian gaming. He said Republican
victories last November changed the
face of most statehouses.
"The bottom line for legislators is
there's a lot of money changing hands
in their states, and they want to get
involved," Knaus said.
Federal law prevents states from
taxing Indian gambling. According
to International Gaming & Wagering
Business magazine, tribal gambling
operations nationwide had revenue of
$3.5 billion in 1994'.
A task force ofthe National Indian
Gaming Association and the National
Congress of American Indians has
approved a resolution opposing major
changes in Indian gambling, which
are now pending in Congress.
The Senate Indian Affairs
Committee approved the measure
Aug. 9 and sent it to the full Senate
after removing a provision that would
have made it easier for tribes to obtain
the right to have casino-style gambling
when states oppose such gaming.
State governors argued that the
provision would limit their ability to
negotiate gambling compacts with
tribes.
Governors oppose the legislation
even without the provision, however.
They say the measure doesn't go
beyond current federal law in
restricting the types of gambling
allowed.
Agenda cont'd on pg 6
Oglala tribal member leads Aberdeen Area BIA
By Kendra Rosencrans
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) J As a boy
growing up on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation, Delbert Brewer watched
friends and neighbors spend their last
dollars on gas to get to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs agency office, only to
be turned away without getting help.
He's vowed that won't happen on
his watch at the BIA.
"What kind of agency is that, that
they can't even meet a family's basic
needs?" Brewer asked. "I've mandated
a change. We don't send anyone away
without assisting them."
Brewer, 55, is the director of the
BIA's Aberdeen Area Office. He took
over the job from Jerry Jaeger in
April. It's a job that straddles the line
between the federal government and
the 16 tribes the office serves in the
Dakotas and Nebraska.
It's also a job that may not exist by
2002, the year by which Congress
wants to balance the budget. The
federal government is already
streamlining the BIA and other
agencies. The next step may be to
combine or close the BIA's 12 area
offices, including Aberde.en.
Even if the area office isn't closed,
budget cuts are forcing the BIA to
change.
"By 2002 it's conceivable that we
won't see the BIA as we see it today,"
Brewersaid last month inan interview
at his office in Aberdeen's federal
building. "Congress wants the BIA
out ofthe Indian business. They're
saying we need to change the way the
U.S. government deals with the
tribes."
Congress is pushing the nation's
500 tribes toward self-governance, a
BIA cont'd on pg 3