Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-03-26

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
2
3
Honoring indigenous
culture for
generations
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4
CLASSIFIEDS
7
no^Q fi-7
Successful business
owners, Jones & Jones,
respond to Mindowe
page 4
End White and
Rose reign of
financial terror
page 6
REMEMBER TO VOTE1
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
primary election 3/30/04.
Contact your local tribal office
for information on voting places.
Press/ON endorses
Diane White for
Chair, Randy
Finn for District III
Representative
page 4
Annual federal award of $156,185,370 to Minnesota
Indian Tribes
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
According to the Office of
Management and Budget (OM13)
information, the most recent
audits of federal funds awarded
to Indian tribal governments and
reservation housing audiorities
in Minnesota detail federal giant
and contract funding to Minnesota tribes in excess of $156
million.
These federal single audits of
Indian tribal governments and
Uibal housing agencies do not
include tribal corporations funded by Indian casino revenues.
They do not include on-reserva-
tion organizations that expend
less than $300,000 annually in
federal funds, for example, Indian community programs and
agencies funded mostly by state
or foundation money, and the
OMB does not report audits of
state-funded schools.
The Minnesota reservation
receiving the largest share of
the "federal awards" detailed by
federal single audits is Red Lake
at $44,821,584. The complete
breakdown is printed in die chart
on page 3.
According to the 2000 census
less than a diird of the people
who identified diemselves as
single-race Indians lived on reservations (or on off-reservation
mist land). Less than 15% of the
total people describing themselves as Indian or mixed-race
Indian in Minnesota lived on-
reservation last year. Whether
or not off-reservation Indians
receive benefit from federally-
funded programs operated by
tribal councils and tribal housing
programs on the reservations
depends on the program, as well
as.the politics and eligibility
procedures used by the tribal
governments.   Other sources
of funding to reservations not
included in the below chart include expendinires from other
agencies, e.g., Department of
Transportation (Reservation
Roads), Indian Health Service
(operating hospital on reservations), U.S. Department of Agriculture and EDA giants, etc.
The federal funds awarded to
Indian tribal governments are,
ultimately, appropriated by Congress for purposes described in
the laws authorizing spending
die money.
Under federal law (Title 31
U.S.C. Chapter 75), non-federal
entities that expend $300,000
or more in federal awards annually are required to have audits
conducted in accordance with
the OMB regulations. These
audits are compiled by the
Federal Audit Clearinghouse
(FAC). The FAC describes its
primary purposes as including
"to disseminate audit information to die public and Federal
agencies," and it posts audit
summaries on die internet, accessible through its website at http:
//harvester.census.gov/sac/
The OMB notes that its audit
clearinghouse "does not verify"
the financial information in the
audits posted on its website, and
emphasizes diat, "the accuracy
of the information on the data
collection form is the responsibility of die auditee and auditor,
who both must sign the completed form."
For the reader's convenience,
we have broken down die
amounts into two groups, Minnesota Indian Gaming Association
(MIGA) tribes and non-MIGA
tribes. See chart on page 3.
Minnesota Indian Economic Development Fund
ends up in court
By Delvin Cree
Twin Cities Correspondent—
According to I lennepin County
court documents, a dispute exists
among several board members
of the non-profit organization,
die N linnesota Indian Economic
Development Fund (MIEDF)
located at 2380 Wycliff Street in
St. Paul. The disagreement arose
over the proposed purchase by
Ml EOF of the Executive Director's failed business property.
The information came available
in a Petitioner's Affidavit and
Petition for 1 larassment Restraining Order filed by a recent
Board member of the MlEDF
organization.
David E. Larson, a former
Vice-Chairman of die agency,
filed two restraining orders. The
first one was served lo Georgia
Lickness, Board Chair. The second one was served recendy to
David Glass, various described
as die previous Executive Director or Chairman of die Board.
The first Order was filed on
January 29,2004, after Larson
said he was threatened and ha
rassed by Lickness. Larson had
contacted other board members
in January, regarding a purchase
by the Agency of die Executive
Director's propery. He said die
transaction was orchestrated by
I ickness.
The second Order was filed
on March 8,2004 after Larson
attended a public meeting at die
State Capital in St Paul. Capital
security were called by Larson
after Glass made a threading
gesture toward Larson. Capitol
Security asked Glass to leave.
He did so after a 15 minute verbal exchange.
In the same affidavit filed in
District Court, Larson stated,
"On February 24, 2004,1 received a letter from an attorney
threatening me with legal action
if 1 continue to make false statements. "The attorney works at
die direction of David Glass. I
took diis as harassment," Larson
said.
Apparently legal action was
taken toward Larson, but the
lawsuit was dismissed after a
facmal hearing held on March
23,2004 at die Hennepin County
Government Center. The hearing
took place in Judge Oleisky's
private chambers. Larson
dropped restraining orders
against both I .ickness and Glass.
In a heated meeting on January
29,2004, Larson questioned Ihe
decision of the \ IIEDF Board to
authorize the purchase of David
Glass's failed business property,
"Black Bear Crossings" in St.
Paul. Glass at the time was
the 1 Executive Director of the
agency.
According to sources, the
board was willing to pay
$485,000, die price suggested by-
Glass. It is reported diat Glass
paid $229,000 for die property
several years ago. The 2004 assessed tax value is $348,000.
According the website of die
realty company listing Black
Bear Crossings, die property
had a price tag of $585,000 in
January. Yearly property taxes
are $12,000 according to Paul
McQuaid of J.B. Realty Co. The
FUND to page 7
Red Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians
May 19,2004 Tribal Election
Preliminary Candidates List
Chairman-2 Year Term
Roman "Ducker" Stately. Jr.
Floyd "Buck" Jourdain
Ramona R. Desjarlait
Bobby Whitefeather
Red Lake - 2 Year Term
Cynthia L. King
Eugene L. "Slug" Sayers, Jr.
Phillip B.Johns
Donna J. Morrison
Rebecca A. Barrett
Keith L Stately
Robert D. Beaulieu, Jr.
William R. "Butch" Jourdain
Donald E. Desjarlait
William G. "Bill" Pemberton
Bob Neadeau
Rose M. "Rosie Bee" Barrett
Donna Mae Sumner
Red Lake - 4 Year Term
Jim White. Incumbent
Deanna K. Lasley
Kevin F. Cook
Collins W. Lussier. Sr.
Donald J. May
Ponemah
Rudy W.Johnson. Incumbent
Gail G.Mills
Barbara M. Thomas
Murphy A. Thomas, Jr.
Melvin Whitefeather, Sr.
Pete C. Black
Glenda J. Martin
Randall W. Kingbird
Jeffrey D. Kingbird
The Wally, Richard, and Gerald Show:
Let's all sing, "Federal laws, yah!
I'm sovereign" as Aitken boys
dance back in
Little Rock
Richard W. Barrett.
Incumbent
Charles A. Norris
Chris G. Jourdain
Sr.,
Redby
Allen D. Pemberton, Incumbent
Sheldon "Skin" Brown
Vernon D. Clark
Dorothy W. Cobenais
NOTE: All candidates must pass
a Background Check and be
certified by Tribal Council. They
will be certified as soon as the
background checks are complete.
By Mindy Jones-Ruby
Leech Lake Reservation- Gerald White as die Acting Executive Director of die Leech Lake
Band of Ojibwe may have jeopardized die 401(k) plan of die
entire Leech Lake Reservation's
workforce by audiorizing an
illegal entry in the computer
software program that logs die
benefits of all employees of the
Band. If diat wasn' t enough
Gerald White also handed a
clearly unqualified person a
Personal Service Contract, in
what appeals to be a political
favor (again), for the Reservoir
Operating Pool Evaluation Study
(ROPES) grant. This study
concerns Tribal Water Rights;
die end result will set policy concerning water levels for the next
25-40 years.
The first issue, a February 23,
2004 memo from Roger T. Aitken, Director of Central Purchasing to Gerald White, Executive
Director, Leech Lake states, "On
September 22,2003 I re-entered
employment with the Leech
Lake Band.. .blah blah... In fact
I recently received a Band award
recognizing the 10+ years of
employment.. .blah blah blah. .J
asked for credit for the previous
12 years in order to receive die
maximum 10 horns annual leave
per pay period. Unfortunately,
I was not granted my request
due to a matter of interpretation.
Therefore I am making an appeal
to your office for consideration
of tiiis request. I think with your
approval the Business Corporation will accept and provide me
with my request... Reviewed
and Concur (Approved) Gerald
White, Executive Director Leech
Lake Band of Ojibwe, Feb.
26,2004." Apparently acting
without RBC input or approval
Gerald White signed Roger T
Aitken's memo that vvould authorize the request for Maximum
Leave Hours.
Unlike other people who leave
employment with die Band, Mr.
Aikeirbelieves he is exempt
from normal procedures. Any
other employee would have to
build back up dieir annual leave
hours, however, Mr. 'Aitken
wants die Band to act as though
he never left and there is no gap
in his employment history which
would make him eligible for
maximum leave hours.
Red flagging tiiis apparent self-
centered maneuver of die Purchasing Director and attempting
to correct die Executive Director,
Lisa Schulman, Administrative
Officer, Business Corporation, in
a memo states, "In other words,
die software will not allow an
employee to accrue vacation at
a rate otiier dian that which is
appropriate for the lengdi of his
or her continuous employment.
It is possible to apply a different
accrual rate to an employee by
altering his hire date. Doing so,
however raises a host of legal issues.. .Backdating hire date sufficiently to alter vacation accrual
rates would result in immediate
full vesting of 401 (k) contributions. The IRS is particularly
strict with regard to 401 (k) rules.
Our plan is audited annually
and violations could jeopardize
die entire plan's eligibility. This
would extend not only to LLBC
[Business Corporation] and
Gaining, but to Tribal Gov eminent as well since all participate
in die same plan. Changing this
date vvould create problems with,
and draw attention from our
401(k) administrator, the IRS
and die Social Security Administrator as all diree would reflect a
period of employment for which
no information was reported."
The second issue concerns die
$45,000 Reservoir Operating
Pool Evaluation Study (ROPES)
grant. As stated its importance
and significance was diminished by the Executive Director
when it was "given" out under a
Personal Service Contract to an
SHOW to page 3
web page: www.press-on.net
Native ,*»»
JUnriaa
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 40
March 26, 2004
Carla Piestewa, 4, wipes a tear from the cheek of her grandfather, Terry Piestewa, as he and
Percy Piestewa, right, the parents of Spc. Lori Piestewa, Carla's mother, speak to those who attended the sunrise service to remember her life and death, Tuesday, March 23, 2004, at Piestewa
Peak, in Phoenix. Spc. Piestewa is believed to have been the first American Indian woman killed
while fighting for the U.S. military. (AP Photo/Roy Dabner)
Piestewa's mom: Don't change name of mountaintop
By Jacques Billcaud
Associated Press •.
PHOENIX - A woman
whose daughter died in the
Iraqi war urged Arizona lawmakers Tuesday to honor die
decision to name a Phoenix
mountaintop alter die fallen
soldier.
Percy Piestewa said die
Legislature shouldn't try to
revamp die state board (hat
renamed Squaw Peak after
her daughter, Lori Piestewa,
a Hopi tribal member who
was die first servicewornan
to die in the war.
The lawmaker who proposed the changes said he
only wants to strengthen die
board and isn't trying to change
the peak's name.
Percy Piestewa and leaders
from several American Indian
tribes in Arizona said they were
skeptical of diat claim.
"If it hadn't been for die name
change to Piestewa Peak, diese
bills vvould not be before you
today," Piestewa said.
The Arizona Geographic and
Historic Names Board voted last
year to rename die mountaintop.
Republican lawmakers
said Democratic Gov. Janet
Napolitano's stall" pressured
board members to adopt the new
name. They also said the panel
waived a requirement that people
be dead five years before tiieir
names can be used on geographic features.
"It was obviously the heavy
hand of die executive branch
diat caused this," said Rep.
Phil I Ianson, a Republican
from Peoria who proposed the
changes.
Hanson's proposals, which
already cleared the state
House, were considered but
not voted on Tuesday by die
Senate's Government Committee. The panel is expected
to vote on the proposals next
week.
Hanson said his proposed
changes don't include revers-
PIESTEWA to page 3
Internet
shutdown
affects Indian
students,
interferes with
public comment
on land issues
By Robert Gehrke
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The
court-ordered shutdown of
many of die Interior Department's Internet connections
is depriving American Indian children of educational
opportunities and preventing
public input on land management decisions, a leading
senator and environmentalists say.
U.S. District Judge Royce
Lamberth ordered die department to pull die plug
on many of its Internet connections because of security
holes dial could have jeopardized hundreds of millions
of dollars iu royalties from
Indian lands managed by the
Interior Department.
Senate Minority Leader
Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said
die shutdown has left sni-
dents at schools run by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
unable to connect to the
Internet, depriving them of
"solid computer skills" that
INTERNET to page 6
Schwarzenegger urges Congress to
reject gambling changes
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - Congress
should retain state limits on
a new class of gambling machines that, if unregulated,
would severely hurt California's chances to renegotiate
tribal casino compacts and demand a share of gaming profits,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
said Tuesday.
Proposed amendments to
die Indian Gaining Regulatory.
Act pending in the U.S. Senate
"shifts the balance unfairly in
favor of die Indian tribes and
undermines the ability of the
state to adequately protect its
own citizens from the adverse
consequences of tribal gaming," Schwarzenegger wrote to
members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to express his "exUeme opposition"
to the legislation.
He particularly objected to
letting tribes operate a new
class of gambling machines
widiout requiring them to first
negotiate a compact with states.
Schwarzenegger is trying to
renegotiate the 20-year compacts signed by his predecessor,
holding out die possibility of
letting tribes operate more slot
machines in return for a state
share of the profits.
' "This bill would subject
states to the widespread operation of sophisticated gambling
devices" with no state regula
tion, Schwarzenegger wrote.
Officials of the California
Nations Indian Gaming Association did not return telephone
messages from The Associated .
Press when the governor's office
released the letter after normal
business hours.
Schwarzenegger also objected
to proposed resUictions on revenue sharing between tribes and
state and local governments, an
issue he said should be left to
state and tribal negotiators.
"The sole purpose of this,
amendment appears to be to limit
the ability of the state to ensure
its fair share of the revenue
generated by the uibes gaming
operations to adequately offset
impacts of tribal gaming of the
state and its citizens," Schwarzenegger wrote.
He ran for election last fall in
part by promising to make tribes
pay (heir "fair share" to the
state's budget, which earned him
opposition from many tribes.
Finally, the bill would allow
regulation of slot machines by
the National Indian Gaming
Conunission instead of by states,
but asserts that tribes themselves
retain primary jurisdiction"
over slot machines operation.
That undermines existing law
giving states and tribes jurisdiction over slot machines, Schwarzenegger contended.