Native American Press/Ojibwe News

The culture of corruption at Leech Lake

January 10, 2003
New defenders of the culture of corruption on the Leech Lake reservation are promoting their own selfish agenda under the banners of “justice and peace” and gender equality.

Leech Lake vested interests profiting from the corrupt status quo have finally poked their heads out from under a rock under the misleading name of “Equay Wug for Justice and Peace.” The out-in-the-open ringleaders include the “nonprofit” organization’s chairwoman Lenore Barsness, vice chairman Linda Johnston, secretary Sally Morrison, treasurer Judy Hanks, and public relations Cherylin Z. Martin-Wade, all of whom are making hefty salaries as a part of Leech Lake’s old guard tribal establishment, and who make it clear that they “accept and appreciate donations.”

Big Bucks Leech Lake Indian “leaders” including district rep Luke Wilson and district rep and acting chairman Rich Robinson appear to be hiding behind these women’s expensive skirts. Their “Equay Wug” have draped themselves with schmaltzy Chimookindian rhetoric, trying to portray their advocacy of status quo tribal corruption as some kind of poetic “tradition.” “Dancing the Women’s Dance, she carries a water drum. A gift song she sings,” they write in their tabloid pseudo-newsletter, “She continues to Dance …”

Respect for women is undeniably among the foundations of Ojibwe tradition, but there’s a big difference between respecting women generally, and letting yourself be deceived just because the would-be fraudster is wearing skirts and reciting poetry.

Who are these self-proclaimed “Equay Wug,” and the “Bimadiz Equay” who uses the same logo and website? Whose interests are these BE/EW really protecting, promoting in their new tabloid? What do they mean by “tradition” and “tribal law”?

Among other things, the BE/EW have launched a vitriolic, innuendo-laced attack on the attorney representing Archie LaRose. Behind the ugly personal attack made by these “Equay,” their main point is that any attorney who takes on the entrenched ‘tribal establishment’ is, they claim, “anti-Indian.” What about some of the tribal attorneys we’ve got, who have done so much damage to Indian people?

Maybe the BE/EW are so full of it that they’ve managed to dupe themselves, thinking that supporting the tribal government’s status quo (even if tribal government officials are ripping off their own people) is what it really means to be a “traditional Indian.”

The apparent leaders of the BE/EW have been feeding at the public trough for a long time. They still are, and now they are fearful of losing their privileged positions feeding off of the poverty of their own people. Some of them are likely also very concerned about other possible circumstances from the forensic audit and revealing the true financial position of the Leech Lake Band.

The BE/EW are out attacking Archie’s attorney, and they are doing everything they can – including cheating on the names of the recall petition – trying to shame their opposition into silence. The purpose of public hearings, fair trials, and forensic audits is that both sides get heard and that records become public, open to the scrutiny of all Leech Lakers.

What are the BE/EW trying to hide, with their “in my heart my heart my heart my heart” poetry, unfounded allegations, ‘drug’ and ‘gang’ innuendos, and unwarranted personal attacks? What and who are they trying to protect?

Archie LaRose and his backers are pushing for open government, accountability, and financial responsibility. The BE/EW is making a lot of “Indian mystique” noise, and they are pushing for just the opposite: hiding their own and their friends’ rich (and sometimes corrupt) privilege behind “tribal sovereignty” and claims of “tradition.”

The BE/EW are clearly opposed to applying the rule of law. Anyone who has a petition filed against them has a fundamental right not only to oppose the charges, but also to challenge the political nature of any petition which has been mishandled by council appointees, by people protecting vested interests.

Are the BE/EW really advocating “Indian tradition”? Well … if the culture of corruption which has plagued Leech Lake reservation for decades has finally become “traditional,” probably so.

The women involved with the BE/EW are quite a contrast to the three women ‘whistleblowers’ recently featured as “Women of the Year” by Time magazine.

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