The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1993-04-15

              Minnesota Indian Affairs Council Exec.Director
Roger Head may have misused his position
By Mel Rasmusscn
Recently the PRESS obtained a copy
of a termination letter given to an
employee of Catholic Charities in ST.
Paul, Minnesota. While it is not the
position of the PRESS to pass
judgement on the abilities of an
employee's work habits nor the right
ofthe employer to invoke such actions,
it is paramount to address the misuse
of one's position in interfering with
the rights of an individual in their
terms and conditions of employment
and civil rights.
According to the letter the employee
had been given a written warning and
a Performance Improvement Plan to
correct any deficiencies with the
employees work habits. This letter
was received on March 10, 1988, by
the employee and was given a 60 day
time frame for improvement.
An excerpt from the letter indicates
that there was a complaint from Roger
Head about this employee. The excerpt
. reads, "On March 27,1988,1 received
a telephone call from Roger Head,
Executive Director of the Indian
Affairs Council of the State of
Minnesota. He called on behalf of
representatives ofthe tribal chairmen
of Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, and Grand
Portage Reservations who had
expressed their concern over your
active efforts to defeat legislation
which reflects agreements between
the State and those Indian reservations
regarding hunting and fishing rights.
Mr. Head called and now has written
to me inquiring why the Catholic
church is opposing this bill through
your active involvement without
having sought the views ofthe tribal
chairmen. I told him that you were
not authorized to lobby against this
legislation and that the Catholic
Church has not taken a position on
the matter. Sinceyou are employed by
Catholic Charities and undertook
some of this effort during regular
business hours, you active and
unauthorized efforts led the tribal
chairmen and their representatives to
misconstrue the position of Catholic
Charities."
While the issue of the employees'
misuse of their time to actively lobby
against the Tri-Band Agreement was
not correct, the morecondemning feature
of this letter was the active involvement
ofthe Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
Executive DirectorRoger Head to take
an active involvement in controlling
and manipulating the rights of this
individual.
It would appear that Head's input into
impeding and prohibiting the basic
rights ofthe individual to express their
rights of dissension directly denies their
rights under the United States Bill of
Rights; yet aloneby affecting their terms
and conditions of employment. His
actions interferred with an individuals
right to earn a sustainable income. Again
thisactionby Head denies the individual
due process in any instance.
In a follow up interview with the
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese
of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Office for
Social Justice, therehasbeenno response
from the current administrator, Ron
Krietemeier. According to staff at this
office, the past administrator, Rev.
Timothy J. Sawina, who issued this
letter of termination, is no longer in
office and is attending law school.
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The Largest Weekly Native Newspaper In North America
Management of Phillips Neighborhood
Housing Trust under scrutiny
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Founded In 1991     Volume 2 Issue 49    April 16, 1993
to|iiirii|lit, Tlw IV.it ive Ainerii .111 Press.  1 393
By Dclvin Cree
In the March 19 edition of The Press
there appeared an article concerni ng a
complaint against the Phillips Neighborhood Housing Trust (PNHT) in
Minneapolis. Thecomplaintwas made
by Jacqueline Raisch, a former tenant
of PNHT. At the request of other
members ofthe community, we have
checked further into the day to day
operations, both past and present, of
the agency.
As stated in the previous article,
PNHT is subject to a moratorium by
the People of Phillips Neighborhood
Organization. The Press has received
a letter addressed to Margaret
Kirpatrick, Chair of PNHT, written by
the People of Phillips Neighborhood
Organization and dated February 25,
1993. The letter reads as follows:
"In August 1991, the Neighborhood Congress of People of Phillips
passed a resolution stating that a moratorium would be placed into effect,
denying approval for City funded
projects performed by PNHT. TI;is
moratorium was to stay in place until
such time that a POP-PNHT task force
investigates allegations of impropriety and submitted a recommendation
to the Neighborhood Congress concerning further action.
The reasoning for the moratorium
was based on the fact that Mr. Gary
Blair [Phillips resident] had approached People of Phillips on a
number of occasions dating back to
1988 regarding housing programs
designed to aid limited income individuals. Blair had documented
instances of discriminatory practices,
poor and/or uninhabitable living conditions of rental units, misuse of
Section 8 funds or units, and tenants'
unwillingness to go through the grievance procedure because of a feeling
that there would be repercussions
against them if they pursued it.
Needless to say, these allegations
are of a serious nature and, as such,
POP wanted to try to mediate any type
of concern that arose in relation to
housing within the Phillips neighborhood. We do not feel that we are in a
position to monitor your activities but
rather we wish to offer our assistance
in helping to initiate the necessary
dialogue that will ultimately bring a
closure to the implied concerns.
In short, the issues at hand concerning the allegations are:
1. During the period of 1988-1990,
numerous reports of discrimination
had been filed.
2. Substandard housing is being offered to both Section 8 and non-Section
8 applicants.
3. Management practices that are in
consistent with the needs of a limited
income clientele.
4. Harassment of tenants who plan to
file a grievance.
As we stated, we are interested in
helping to resolve these issues so that
both our organizations can continue
with our respective missions. Providing a much needed service to the
Phillips Neighborhood, our ultimate
goal being to improve the quality of
life within Phillips."
The letter signed by Shada Buyobe-
Hammond, Chair, Neighborhood
Congress, and Don J. Vargas, Executive Director.
In addition to the letter to Ms.
Kirpatrick, another letter was sent to
City Council President, Sharon Sayles-
Belton by the District 1 representatives
ofthe POP organization. The letter is
as follows:
"At the April 1 meeting of the
People of Phillips District Council #1,.
the council discussed the proposal by
the Phillips Neighborhood Housing
Trust about 2800 Portland Avenue.
The council wants to inform you that
POP has a moratorium on the support
of proposals by PNHT until a list of
conditions are met as outlined by POP
Neighborhood Congress. Therefore,
POP's silence on the proposal of 2800
PhilHps/SeePage3
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Photo by Catherine D. Smith, Brooklyn, NY
Anishinabe Liberation Front (ALF) schedules
Mille Lacs Opener
MAIC reneges on commitment to PRESS for
review of records
By Bill Lawrence
In a letter to the Native American
Press dated march 30,1993, Jo-Anne
Stately, President ofthe MAIC Board
of Director, informed us that "all
requests for information concerning
the MAIC shall be addressed in writing
to our legal counselor, Mr. Ron
Rosenbaum, 2220 American Bank
Building, St. Paul, MN 55101." The
said letter requiring the PRESS to
now go through MAIC's attorney is a
complete reversal of the position of
their Board President Jo-Anne Stately.
Ms. Stately stated at now famous
Frannie and Clyde meeting of the
17th of March that the PRESS would
be allowed to review all the Center's
government contracts and would
receive a written response to our letter
of March 17, 1993.
The PRESS has on three previous
occasion in writing requested to review
copies of or to obtain copies of selected
financial information ofthe Center.
The Center which has been in operation
for over 15 years is funded nearly entirely
by foundation and government grant and
contract. Community reports of
misma nagement and financial abuse have
led to the PRESS'S review ofthe Center's
financial records.
Staff of Red School House seek investigation
By Gary Blair
For weeks The Press has received
complaints from parents and staff
members, both past and present, regarding problems at the Red School
House, a contract school of the St.
Paul Public School System designed
to be culturally specific to Native
Americans. The Press met this week
with the school's newest Principal,
Melvin Rautanen.
At first Mr. Rautanen was reluctant
to discuss any issues surrounding the
school's present situation without the
school board chairperson, Mike
Poolaw, present. However, on April
13, 1993, he did finally agree to be
interviewed.
During the interview Rautanen, a
Chippewa from upper Michigan,
stated, "They've had five people in
my position in the past two years. At
present three out of five of our students can only read at a third or fourth
grade level. In spiteof this we haven't
given up, there is a lot of positive
things that are happening here."
From what The Press has learned
this week, numerous internal problems have plagued the school during
its twenty one year history. Problems
which many say are connected to the
school's present board of directors.
Mr. Rautanen says he was hired in
Novemberof lastycarand many if not
all the major problems that are being
complained about occurred before he
arrived. School staff say that may be
true but, he hasn't taken any steps to
address them.. Staff members that
met with The Press feel that Rautanen
doesn't really know what isgoing and
hasn't bothered to find out.
In the interview, Mr. Rautanen addressed these statements by saying
that they are simply not true. He has
tried to find out what's going on but
hasn't been able to do so. He admits
he still doesn't have a clear understanding of theschool'sfinancial matters. However, he says at present he
and school board chairperson, Mike
Poolaw, are the only ones who can
sign checks at the school. Apparently, the school board didn't feel it
was necessary for their principal to
have a clear understanding of the
financial status ofthe school because
they authorized Rautancn's check
signing power.
Many ofthe recent complaints about
the school's present operation surfaced after seasoned staff were terminated by the school's board of directors and principal Rautanen for what
they say were personal reasons. According to letters obtained by The
Press, the recent dismissals of the
school's only administrative assis
tant a nd bus driver/maintenance man
was the result of reorganizing determined by the school's board of directors.
However, the reasons given in the
dismissal letters to the employees are
totally different than what The Press
learned in the recent interview with
the school's principal.
According to the former bus driver,
he was let go because Principal
Rautanen told him he wanted to develop his own rapport with the students and the driver stood in the way
of that happening. Mr. Rautanen said
that was not the case. He said, the
person wasn't doing his job and he
was seen by students physically involved with one ofthe school' s teachers. The bus driver says his relationship with the teacher was no secret:
"We live together," he stated.
Dismissal of the school's administrative assistant came after she refused to
issue a second check to a consultant who
the school board had hired to write a
grant to raise funds for the school. A
check the assistant said would have
been a double payment for services the
person never completed. It has been
learned the consultant is also a personal
friend of school board chairperson, Mike
Poolaw.
Red School/See Page 6
By Mel Rasmusscn
In a early meeting Saturday on the
10th of April at Sawyer, Minnesota,
organizers of ALF met to determine
their strategy with the opening ofthe
lakes in Minnesota and the upcoming
spearing program. The different
spearers from across Minnesota,
Wisconsin met to pass on their
accomplishments during the last week
in furthering the mission of ALF.
Further planning was done in the
development of legal contingencies that
will be necessary in light ofthe verbal
sparring that the Minnesota DNR and
the tribal RBCatMille Lacs made to the
various media sources during the week.
Itwasclearfromthcactionsandaltiludcs
of this group that their resolve and
constitution was not threatened by these
paper tiger roars of defiance to their
existence.
ALF plans to meet again this week on
Saturday, April 17,1993, at the Sawyer
Community Center in Sawyer,
Minnesota. The location of thcCcntcr is
4 blocks north of the Sawyer Store.
According to ALF there willbea number
of activities occurring during the day.
The ALF legal team will meet at 8:00
a.m. to determine their legal strategies
and plan for the covering of all possible
adverse actions that may be thrown in
front of the group in their upcoming
endeavors.
At 10:00 a.m. there will be a training
session for the Witness For Nonviolence groups. ALF recommends that
any or all people who plan to support
ALF at the landings go through the
witness training so they canbe prepared
for any negative incidents that might
occurat the boat landings. According to
ALF members, they have sent letters
out to numerous important people who
have an interest in the actions of ALF.
These included the various sheriffs of
the counties surrounding Mille Lacs
Lake, the Commissioner of the
Minnesota DNR, the Captain of the
Minnesota State Patrol. Ms. Marge
Anderson. Tribal Chair of the Mille
Lacs Band.
ALF felt that it was important thai this
trainingandopcnfonimbcmadcavailable
to these individuals as they needed to be
informed that ALF is serious in its efforts.
Also, it was important to let these people
knowtliat ALF will not tolerateanyviolence
or confrontation by their group while on
the landings. Their main concern was for
tiiesafetyofmesupportgroupsandpeaceful
dissension at the lakes.
ALF is planning to gather at the Sandy
Lake Reservation near McGregor,
Mnnesota ,on April 23, 1993, to initiate
their spearing opening. However, there is
no guarantee that the spearers will be able
to go out on the lakes because ofthe ice
conditions. ALF has its observers now
constaiiUywfltchingthelakessothatafinal
determination can be made which lakes
will be speared this spring. The PRESS
was told that the decision to spear can only
bemadeateachindividuallake. Thereisno
set time for this action as it is up to the
Creator to determine when the lakes will
open.
For further information on the Sandy
Lake Encampment and the ongoing
training that will occur interested parties
can contact the Sandy Lake Reservation at
(218)426-3832.
Experts discuss preservation plan to save the
Great Plains
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ What to do
about the Great Plains, the vast section of
central and western North America
extending from northern Mexico to
Manitoba? Concern about the future of the
hugeprairieregion drcwscicnlists. scholars
government officials and representatives
of agricultural interests to Kansas City for
a three-day conference that wound up
Friday. They are trying to put together a
plan to protect the environment while also
permitting sustained economic growth in
the Plains states. Their recommendations
will bepresented to the Western Governors
Association in June, said Jo Clark, who
manages the Great Plains Initiative for the
association. They were not made public
Friday. The association embarked on the
project last year after former Kansas Gov.
MikeHayden,thenanassistanlU.S. Interior
Department secretary, proposed what he
hoped would become a national model for
wildlife preservation. The idea was to
address an area'senvironmcntal concerns
before dire problems arose. Improved
managementof rivers, wetlandsorforcsts,
forexamplccouldprotcctwildlifeliabitats.
Ms. Clark said the group hopes to avoid
clashes like those in the Pacific Northwest,
where clTortsto protect endangered species
have restricted logging.' 'The spotted owl
has really gotall of the Western governors'
altcnuoiisbccauscitwas allowed to become
a full-fledged disaslcrwilh huge economic
consequences,'' she said. The GrcalPlains
region includes ninestates, and isbordcrcd
roughly by hitcislate35on the cast and the
Rocky Mountainsonthe west. Because the
region lacked a lot of moisture and trees, its
rivers often were too shallow for early
settlers to na\agalc. Even today, the Great
Plains lias fewerparks and preserved areas
tlianany other partof the West. Florcs slid.
The Dust Bowl seared into the nation's
memory howfragilcaixldifficultthcPlains
am be. "Ecologically, the Plains remain
an imperceptible echo of wliat they once
were, to the discomfort of many of us,"
Flores said. Agribusiness irrigation has
drained the Ogallala Aquifer, underlaying
large parts ofthe Plains. In Texas, wells
have stopped pumpingon 20 percent of the
cropland irrigatedjustlOyearsago. On the
Southern Plains, ground water may be
gone in 20 to 50 years. Dozens of Great
Plains birds and animals are considered
potential endangered species, accordingto
some environmentalists. Among the
threatened species are the Western snowy
plover, harlequin duck, white-faced ibis,
the North American wolverine and the
spotted bat. Robert Sopuck, executive
director of the Sustainable Development
CcordrauonUnitinWinnepegManitoba,
said fanners or ranchers should not be
blamed for the troubles on the Plains. He
said prairie soils will long be capable of
producing agricultural products. He
suggested that federal subsidies be used to
enu'ee fanners to preserve wildlife habitats,
just as in the past government policies
encouraged development.
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