April 18, 2003
One of the things I particularly despise about the way legislation is
passed in this great country of ours is the standard practice of
tacking on the bottom of a bill that is likely to pass all the crap
that won't take the light of day scrutiny to get passed on a
stand-alone basis. The fact that it's a standard practice in no way
dilutes the fact that it's often used as a sneaky and devious way to
get something made into law that couldn't make it on its own...More
April 11, 2003
Finally, yes finally, it has happened. It has been a long wait. Last
week a couple of indictments and one arrest were issued, in the murder
of my friend Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, by a small faction of the American
Indian Movement (AIM). As a result, Arlo Looking Cloud was arrested in
Denver, and an arrest warrant was issued for John Boy Patton, currently
known as John Graham (in the seventies, many AIM members did not use
their real names)...More
March 21, 2003
The Preamble of the Revised Constitution and Bylaws of the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe reads in part “We, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, ... in
order to form a representation Chippewa TRIBAL ORGANIZATION, ... do
ESTABLISH and ADOPT this constitution .... (my emphasis!)...More
March 21, 2003
For several years, OU has had a scholarship program called “The
Generations Scholarship Program” that gives $12,000 each in tuition
waivers to out-of-state students whose parents or grandparents
graduated from OU. The Oklahoma City Branch of the NAACP is working
with Fannie Bates, M.P.H., to determine if this program has a racially
disparate impact amounting to discrimination...More
March 7, 2003
I want to commend your paper for printing the article by Gregory D.Luce
(February 14, Who Profits? For Jim Graham, it may be his company, as
well as the company he keeps) regarding Ventura Village Carriage House
grant program. Your paper honored the Freedom of Information Act by
helping build an informed public. That is truly commendable.
According to Luce’s article, conflict of interest exists
on the part of Ventura Village founders, Jim Graham and his wife, Jan,
about their potential use of public funds to build carriage houses in
Phillips. In other words, here comes some “loot” and “we want it!”
Oh no, could this be de-ja-vu all over again? ...More
March 7, 2003
Many of our people have forgotten the traditional way "War Stories" are
used and respected in the sacred ceremonies of the people of the
Sundance and Pipe, we who have always lived in the center of our turtle
island. Long ago our wise ancestors understood that a powerful moment
in time existed when a warrior performed a great deed and tested
himself to the ultimate.
In english we call them war stories but in our own
languages the story and the person chosen to tell it have names with
far more meaning. War stories are actually "Warrior Stories" because
they are told individually by the warrior who is bringing his actions
into the circle. They are told in front of witnesses who can attest to
their truth because the story must exemplify the great virtues of a
warrior...More
By D.J. Tice, St. Paul Pioneer Press - February 28,
2003
A spirited brawl in Wisconsin over budget troubles and Indian gambling
looks downright weird to Minnesota eyes. That's just further evidence
of the odd character of Minnesota's own arrangements for tribal gaming.
Wisconsin's new governor, Democrat Jim Doyle, faces the
same sort of budget crisis as Minnesota's new GOP governor, Tim
Pawlenty. Doyle also shares Pawlenty's determination to balance the
books without hiking state taxes.
Doyle, however, has one option Minnesota's governor
lacks. Last week, Doyle announced his intention to extract $237 million
in budget-balancing help — about 7.5 percent of the whole amount needed
over two years — from Wisconsin's 11 Indian tribes...More
February 21, 2003
I’ve given a few dollars over time to NAHA (Native American Heritage
Association).
Are they legit? Why does not Mystic help their
impoverished sisters / brothers? Is this not proof, if true – gambling
doesn’t make a dime’s worth of difference to the average American
Indian?
To say the least, things are lopsided, for example
Mystic vs. Rosebud. Correct me if I’m wrong, but was Indian gaming
supposed to support self sufficiency...More
Time Magazine rehashes old news, lumps sovereign
Indian nations into single category
February 21, 2003
Imagine this news headline: "Dirty Dealing: U.S. corporations are
making millions for investors and providing little to the poor."
How would the business world react?
Aren't U.S. corporations expected to make money for
their investors? Isn't that expected in a capitalistic society? And
while businesses create jobs, do we expect them to solve this country's
poverty problems...More
By Maxine V. Eidsvig - February 14, 2003
A little over three months ago, this writer attended a showing of
Sheldon Peters Wolfchild’s docudrama New Buffalo at the Thunderbird
Hotel in Bloomington. The thirty-minute film focused on Dakota elder’s
rights and enrollment issues.
Two of the attendees, Vernice Walker Weber, 84 years old
and Forrest Leith, 63 years old, were featured in the film and each
gave moving testimony of their individual fight to gain recognition...More
January 31, 2003
We would like to inform the public on the actions of
the Red Lake Police Department during the early morning hours on
January 16, 2003.
At approximately 2:15 a.m., Doug White and Chad Beaulieu
were followed into Mike Beaulieu’s residence by a couple squad cars.
Officer Ernest Smith told Doug he was being stopped for going over the
fog line. Doug told Officer Smith that he didn’t realize he did that.
Officer Smith told him he was just making sure they were not
intoxicated. Doug told Officer Smith that they not drinking and to
check their vehicle for alcohol if they wanted to...More
January 31, 2003
Summary judgment before Federal District Judge James M. Rosenbaum in
St. Paul, MN on Friday, January 24, 2003. What’s the problem?
If there was any merit to the Mille Lacs County lawsuit
against the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, surrounding issues of
boundaries, and jurisdictional disputed claims, then, why did the judge
repeatedly pose to Attorney Tom Tobin, a clarification of the issues or
problems?...More
January 17, 2003
Melanie Benjamin, “Chief” of the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians in
the State of Minnesota continues to be consistent, and on target in her
warning of real dangers existing, whereby local whites, through their
elected representatives, are continuing to seek the legal
“disestablishment of the Mille Lacs Reservation.”
The Mille Lacs County Board filed suit last year in
Federal District Court seeking an order that the court “reaffirm the
long past disestablishment of the 61,000-acre 1855 Mille Lacs Indian
Reservation.” This lawsuit will be heard next week (January 24th) in
St. Paul, Mn. The Mille Lacs Band will be making a motion to dismiss
the lawsuit. It will be interesting to see what will happen legally, in
what may be a first round of costly litigation...More
January 24, 2003
[In response to the comment, “Attorney General Bill Lockyer and
Davis ran smack into tribal sovereignty, a wall of legal independence
that has thwarted state and local officials across the nation” …]
...Don't complain about the loss of your tribal programs
if you are going to vote for Senators who are carte blanc Israel in
preference to supporting our Indian programs. Next time you crowd
around some Senator or Congressman, better check his real voting track
record...More
January 10, 2003
We now have a new mayor in Mpls: Chimook- slick as a whistle, with his
balancing act to please the poor, middle class, and the rich at the
same time. The last mayor, both female and black, was beholden to the
rich at the expense of the under classes; in the case of the
Anishinabeg, she looked the other way at their pleas for justice. Her
agenda was to uplift her people, and no one else. So much for white
guilt in Liberal Mpls...More
December 20, 2002
I have accumulated some 600+ names of Morrison family descendants from
the fur-traders: Roderick a.k.a. White Bear (at Grand Portage and
LaPointe); William a.k.a. Shaganasheense (at Fond du Lac and Otter Tail
Lake); and Alan III a.k.a. Tebishcondib Morrison (Crow Wing and White
Earth); including two other later arrivals, George Allen Oliver (at
White Earth) and Donald George Morrison (at Fond du Lac). I am
interested in people who are related to any of these early settlers of
the Great Lakes region, and any documented, or proposed family trees of
the same...More
December 20, 2002
Dear Mr. LaRose: Your treatment of Leech Lake people causes me great
concern. I do not claim to speak for the people, but I am going to
share with you my observations and concerns, which I believe many Leech
Lakers share. It is obvious that our tribal communities are under
attack by drugs, alcohol and violence. One only needs to take time to
listen (with an open heart and mind) to the concerns of the elders on
the Reservation. What you would hear them speak of is fear for the
future of our people. Our youth are being choked by the death grip of
violence and drugs; our people cannot even walk in their own
communities at night without the fear of violence...More
December 20, 2002
Regarding the recent petitions, the people of Leech Lake have been
wanting an audit of their finances for some time. A good question,
“where is all the money going?” We have three casinos on our
reservation. It brings a person to wonder if money is being misused
somewhere, or going into someone’s pocket...More
December 13, 2002
I am writing in regards to an article published in the Minneapolis Star
& Tribune Saturday December 7, 2002 the headline said, “Violence
feared in Leech Lake tribal vote.” Apparently some law enforcement
officials in our area are concerned that recall petitions, a primary
election, and gang activity could lead to violence among ourselves.
Five northern Minnesota prosecutors and law enforcement officials sent
word to the U.S. attorney for Minnesota that there is a possibility of
violence and concern about the election. Tom Heffelfinger, the U.S.
attorney for Minnesota stated that the federal government has authority
over our reservation and that he will work with law enforcement to
ensure safety of Leech Lake enrollees and a fair election. He also
stated that the federal government is aware of the election and is
watching it...More
December 13, 2002
The news media recently reported that your office, Office of the U S.
Attorney, is watching what is happening here at the Leech Lake
Reservation. This is totally a surprise to the tribal membership,
almost SCARY, for some of us, Sir.
For years we have filed complaints and asked for
oversight of the corruption here at Leech Lake and throughout our
tribe, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, including Mille Lacs, Grand
Portage, Nett Lake, White Earth and Fond du Lac, and we could never get
any one to listen or take a good look at what is going on here. While
we DO NOT AGREE with the media coverage or the attempt to slander
Tribal Membership, We should, however, be thankful to the county
attorneys and officials who have finally gotten the attention of your
office on behalf of the Tribal Membership here at Leech Lake...More
December 6, 2002
Each Thanksgiving Day memories of Thanksgivings past
reminds me of loved ones no longer with us. One of the people I think
about is my paternal grandmother, Emma Wells Goodthunder. She was born
at Prior Lake, MN in the 1860s. My father died in May, 1927, about
three months before I was born. My brother, who was a year and a half
older, and I were raised by our grandparents on the Lower Sioux Indian
Reservation in southwestern Minnesota, after my mother had returned to
South Dakota and had remarried.
How it was decided that we would live with our
grandparents was never important to me. Extended families were not
unusual in Indian families but one would think my grandparents would
have given serious thought to adding two more to the family after
raising 11 children, especially in the 1930s with the country gripped
in a Depression...More
December 6, 2002
I want to thank you for allowing me to serve as Chairman for the past
six years. It has truly been an enjoyable experience and a great honor.
After the Recall Election of October 11, 2002, stepping
aside was a difficult thing to do because I felt such a strong sense of
obligation about many issues. I was urged by many to sign up as a
candidate in the special election. I heard from many people who did not
vote because they felt I would prevail. They talked to others who said
the same thing...More
December 6, 2002
I have been bestowed with a great honor from you, the Leech Lake
People. I knew it would be very challenging; however, I never thought I
would have so much resistance from some of the current Tribal Council
members and their administrators. I had heard of the corruption and
political favors that were promised, as you already know. I began with
one simple question; I would like to see the financial records of the
Band. I had heard rumors that Leech Lake was broke and in total chaos.
I never dreamt how serious our financial dilemma was or the conflict
within our divisions...More
Tribe has legal and moral authority to limit nuclear
waste at Prairie Island
December 6, 2002
The Prairie Island Indian Community today reaffirmed its opposition to
expanding nuclear waste storage at Prairie Island. The tribe’s
announcement is in response to Xcel Energy’s 2002 Resource Plan and
disclosure that it plans to continue operating the Prairie Island
nuclear power plant and will likely seek permission from the 2003
Minnesota Legislature to store additional nuclear waste at Prairie
Island. Xcel Energy’s Resource Plan was filed late Monday with the
Public Utilities Commission...More
November 15, 2002
The one thing I have never been able to understand is
how election after election, certain groups of people seem to enjoy the
focus of the politicians while American Indians are rarely mentioned.
Oh, you can see the occasional politicking by candidates just before
elections, but it is always with the tribal governments...More
October 25, 2002
Our Sacred ceremonies are the very core of our existence. The
foundation of our very being. To live as our "Grandfathers and
Grandmothers" in the days of old maybe unimaginable to some people, but
to all of us rests somewhere deep inside a pain that only our very
Sacred ceremonies can address. To just ignore the voices of our
"Spiritual leaders and Elders" is the same as stepping on the bones of
our ancestors...More
October 25, 2002
“I'm an Alaska Native Woman who used to work for a Native HealthCare
Facility …I'm also a US Citizen, what about the Bill of Rights, Civil
Rights Act, nobody wants to help me…” - Kim E. Perkins
So begins one of many letters my husband, Roland Morris,
and I have received from both tribal members and non-members. Some are
seeking legal help, some simply seek someone who will listen and
understand. Here are a few other examples...More
October 25, 2002
Recently, someone asked me if Chevrolets were around when I was born.
When one is their mid-70’s, those are the kind of questions you are
asked. It is the types of questions that you get many times from your
children and your grandchildren. However, the question did jog my
memory and I replied that I was not sure but I did remember going to
traditional dances, which were usually held in someone’s home, as a
child in South Dakota and hearing a song with the words “I will take
you home in my Chevy car.”...More
October 25, 2002
The historic Oct. 11 victory of a grassroots movement on the Leech Lake
Reservation for the constitutional recall of former chairman Eli Hunt
within a tribe whose purported leaders have regularly manipulated and
perverted their highest law for personal gain should have been an
occasion to celebrate for all who believe in the principles of
democracy. Hunt, too, could have gained in stature as the first MCT
official to allow the constitutional process to function as it was
intended under the recall provisions of Article X--though he had
previously favored amending the article to render recall petition
efforts all but futile...More
October 25, 2002
MYTH: Native American people are ALL doing just fine since the onset of
legalized gaming. If you are Native American and want to start a
business, just go ask the tribal council of a successful community with
HUGE proceeds for some start-up venture capital and they’ll probably
flip you some cash. If you are an educated Indian and want to start a
professional career, just go to any casino and apply; you’ll be on the
fast track to management in no time. Most Indian people get casino per
capita checks of some sort – they just go to their mailboxes every
couple weeks and there’s a check waiting for them. And, of course,
wealthy Indians share their money with the not-so-wealthy and are
always willing to lend a helping hand...More
October 25, 2002
I have been reading numerous articles and editorials
in the Ojibwe News claiming how a new day has dawned at Leech Lake. A
day where tribal leaders are held accountable and Band members are
speaking out freely and providing valuable input into their tribal
government...More
October 18, 2002
On October 20th, 2002, Traditional Spiritual Leaders representing the
Plains Nations will gather again to address concerns involving our
Sacred Ceremonials and the exploitation thereof. The meeting, which is
not open to the public, will include discussions of current issues
regarding the exploitation of culturally traditional Sacred Ceremonials
such as the Sacred Sundance, Sweat-lodge and related ceremonials of our
most sacred ways of life...More
October 18, 2002
South Dakota’s reservations have been in both state and national news
lately because of fraudulent voter registrations and absentee ballots.
Perhaps more important than the illegal fraud on these reservations is
a fraud that passes as “legal.”
October 4, 2002
This is a quick note concerning the apparent paper heist that occurred
with last week's edition of Ojibwe News. Yes, it's funny, but it also
indicates that the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is
unprepared to argue with the facts. Up to now, the attorneys have
created interesting smoke and shadows to deflect attention from the
true issues. Thus, no one has ever dealt with the facts.
October 4, 2002
Thank you for printing my letter to former Assistant Secretary Kevin
Gover (September 27, 2002). I have spent years researching the problems
at Prior Lake. In so doing, I have discovered that the legitimate
Mdewakanton people face issues of vital importance to all American
Indians.
October 4, 2002
It’s been hard to read all the sordid accounts of men of the cloth that
have abused children. Even harder knowing what I know. My mother took
her secrets to the grave but she left behind a very scarred family. Her
children and my father became her victims.
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