The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

The Ginew Grandmothers, the six women who participated in the attempted Lac du Flambeau government takeover on March 26, Ronda Snow, Dorothy Thoms, Anita Koser, Penny Chapman, Goldie Larson and Betty Jack, are fighting against a new bill, HR5680, that has been introduced to Congress and which, if passed, would allow the tribal council to sell reservation land.

To date, the women have received the support of the Great Lakes Native American Elders Association, which represents 11 Wisconsin tribes. They now plan a speaking tour and fundraising events to increase local and national awareness about the problems in Lac du Flambeau.

In particular, the women are speaking out about the controversial issue of the mortgaging and sale of reservation land, which sparked the takeover bid last month that could land the grandmothers in jail.

“I don’t want to go to jail in my golden years,” said 60-year-old Larson, a former grade school teacher, “for standing up for our land. The whole concern for all of us is protecting the land for generations to come, and that was our reason for participating in the protest.”

The Ginews (golden eagles in Ojibwe), a group of tribal members and descendants, broke into tribal offices last month to protest against what they say is a corrupt and despotic government, after months of growing unrest and tension on the reservation. While scores of law enforcement officers surrounded the building, and supporters gathered on the streets, the Ginews remained inside a small office for 14 hours until an agreement was reached that Carl Artman, secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, would visit the reservation to listen to their concerns.

However, upon leaving the tribal center, the protestors were arrested and spent a night in Vilas County jail cells. They are now scheduled for trial on May 19th, facing possible felony charges for their actions but, to date, Artman has not been to LdF.

“We felt like our issues would be heard by someone outside the community,” said Jack on the Ginews’ March protest. “That the BIA or the National Indian Gaming Commission or some of the agencies in Washington would hear about what’s happening in Lac du Flambeau and come here to help.”

Land essential to Native Americans

No stranger to the struggle of Native Americans to protect their culture and treaty rights, 76-year-old Jack says that the land and traditional activities such as spear-fishing, hunting, and gathering berries, maple sap and medicinal plants, are an essential part of native people.

Selling the land is equivalent to selling their heart, says the spirited grandmother, whose life story was featured in the 1978 Oscar-nominated documentary “The Divided Trail: A Native American Odyssey.”

“It’s who we are,” she said. “Our lands and our rights are an important part of us – take that away and you are taking away who we are.”

All other efforts to deal with the cash-flow crisis, the job and program cuts, the expenses of certain tribal employees, some of whom had racked up $49,000 annual credit card bills, and expensive, questionable investments on off-reservation projects, had been exhausted without results, the Ginews say, including attending council meetings, asking for specific information regarding finances and tribal spending, signing petitions, and organizing public question-and-answer sessions.

But the women say information requests were ignored, people who’d signed petitions for change contacted by the tribal government and threatened with losing their jobs and tribal police called to break up public meetings.

“We’ve tried all ways,” Larson said. “And we’ve been denied.”

Thoms, who was born on the reservation in 1929 and has spent much of her life there, agrees.

“We’d go to council meetings,” she said, “and ask questions, but never get a straight answer. We asked for treasurer’s reports, to find out where money had been wired to, and for what. Five different times I asked why three tribal members had been on a $7,000 trip to Las Vegas, when the conference they were due to attend had been cancelled. I was always shut up. Sometimes we were escorted out of meetings by the tribal police chief (Eliot Rising Sun). The final straw was the selling of our lands.”

Referendum

In a hastily organized referendum on Feb. 14, tribal members voted 429 to 267 to mortgage two percent, or 1,880 acres of a total 86,360 acres, of the tribe’s fee lands, to raise an additional $5 million to keep tribal services functioning.

But tribal members now say they were not given enough information before the referendum, which was held a day after the initial discussion instead of the usual seven to 10 days, and that the land sale could violate the tribe’s constitution, which states, in Article VII, Section2: “the unalloted lands of the reservation, and all lands which maybe hereafter acquired…shall be held as tribal lands, and no part of such land shall be mortgaged or sold.”

But attorney Brian Pierson, acting on the tribal council’s behalf, said this language was ambiguous, and the referendum went ahead. Now a bill, HR5680, has been introduced to Congress which, if passed, would allow the tribal council to sell reservation land.

“We are about to experience an unprecedented attempt from tribal government,” Snow wrote in a recent letter to legislators in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, “to sell our sacred lands in order to cover up their misdeeds and financial blunders, under the guise of business and economic development…without the knowledge, consent, or support of tribal members.

“On the brink of bankruptcy, our administration is now scrambling to keep our reservation afloat by negotiating more loans, creating more debt, and risking as much as two thousand acres of reservation lands. Allowing for the sale of lands is sacrilegious to our people. We ask you not to move forward with this legislation.”

National significance

The Ginew Grandmothers say that the issue has tremendous national significance because of the long, arduous and often bloody battle by all Native Americans to protect their lands from the waves of immigrants and pioneers during the past four centuries.

“The land issue is important to all tribes,” Larson said. “It’s bigger than us.”

The GLNAEA agrees, and has also submitted a letter of protest to the United States Congress.

“We are strongly opposed to the bill,” wrote chairwoman Ellen Martin. “It is a great affront to our people, and harmful to the future of all Native Americans.”

In addition to opposing the sale of reservation lands, the Ginew Grandmothers are also calling for a forensic audit of tribal spending and an investigation into the $50 million bond that was taken out by the council in January, which they say is taking 100 percent of the tribe’s gaming revenue – possibly in violation of NIGC regulations.

“We need open government and accountability,” said 54-year-old tribal descendant Koser, who has seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, “and we need to stop the financial bleeding of this tribe.”

The Grandmother Ginews hope their continued protests will solidify support among other tribal members both from Lac du Flambeau and other tribes – and none of them regrets occupying the tribal building on March 26, despite the personal cost.

“I was there for a reason,” said Thoms. “I was taught by my parents and grandparents to stand up for the things that I was right about, and believed in. It’s the children and their future that I’m thinking of. We still want answers, and we won’t be satisfied until we get them.”

Tell us what you think...

Comments »

ALLISON wrote on Nov 2, 2008 1:26 AM:

" I can hardly believe that the government on the reservation could be as crooked as the government off. I do not understand how any monies could legally be kept from the people. I feel like the so called tribal government should be put on trial. It sickens me to think that such a big part of me, has anything to do with selling out. These people should not even be considered natives. We need a new government. We need real leaders. I want to suport Ginew, in any way possible. Perhaps one of these women would make the finest leader. "

The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.