NewsNight Minnesota; 5144; NewsNight Minnesota Episode from 05/07/1998; SD-Base

At night at night at at night. But it's not at all. NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is a production of Katy CA with the stations of Minnesota

Public Television. I'm Michael Kay you're not going to St.. Tonight on NEWSNIGHT tobacco talks stall as lawyers make their final pitch to the jury then 25 years after Wounded Knee. As we explore the legacy of a more active Native American community it's NEWSNIGHT for Thursday May 7th. Welcome to NEWSNIGHT Minnesota a statewide news and information program for thoughtful Minnesotans bringing context in depth to the region's most important stories. Tonight's broad of NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is supported in part by Ampere's 12 independent public radio stations statewide include. Minneapolis WCL Twin Cities and the river falls aren't reporting on NEWSNIGHT is supported by a grant from Target stores Peyton's and Mervyn's for the Dayton Hudson foundation. We begin tonight with the headline summary. We'll get to the Wounded Knee reports a bit later. Minneapolis is one step closer to hosting

the Democratic National Convention in the year 2000. The Democratic National Committee today named the mill city one of seven finalists in the running for the event. Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton was in Washington D.C. yesterday where the city made a pitch for the convention. The mayor promised a smoothly run event in what she calls a clean safe city. A DNC site selection committee will visit Minneapolis later this month. But the city has some tough competition. The other finalists are Boston Denver Los Angeles Miami New Orleans and Philadelphia. Both sides in Minnesota's tobacco lawsuits say settlement talks have broken down and it now appears very likely a jury will decide the case. Attorneys for the major tobacco companies gave their final arguments today. The lawyers told the jury that despite all the hype about secret documents the state never found any evidence tobacco companies had created a safer cigarette and withheld it from the public. Yesterday Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick instructed the jury that any knowledge by smokers of the health risks of cigarettes isn't a defense if the tobacco companies broke the law.

The plaintiffs in the case agree but one defense lawyer says the jury can consider what caused people to smoke and what caused them to quit. People always have had the ability to make their own practical decisions about what to do with their lives and there is nothing in this case that provides us with more information on those practical decisions than the people who started to quit 30 and 40 years ago when they decided they no longer want to smoke. It has nothing to do with individuals as everything to do with the fact that the industry is a manufacturer of hazardous products. Suppressed all the information kept secret. Didn't tell the public about it then so the public was misled. Lawyers for the state and Blue Cross make their closing arguments tomorrow. After several quarters of going up up up analysts predict that the current labor problems at Northwest Airlines will cause a crash landing for this quarter's bottom line. How bad.

Maybe as much as 19 million dollars according to analyst Thomas Schreier an airline stock watcher. It's the first estimate of what the unofficial work slowdown could cost the Egan based air carrier. Northwest never estimates its earnings so a company spokesperson refused to comment on the report mechanics have apparently been staging a work slowdown angry at the pace of contract negotiations with management. All five of Northwest unions are in the midst of negotiating new contracts. From the air to ground transport remember the oil crisis in the late 70s. Well take a look apparently we don't remember it very well at all. A lot more cars many of them sport utility vehicles plus a lot more drivers each driving more miles. What does it all add up to 400 million more gallons of gas used last year in Minnesota than in 1987. We used 2.3 billion gallons last year from one point nine and eighty seven. One upside or downside depending on how you look at it the increased spending on gas means the state is collecting more gas tax money and putting more of that money into building and maintaining state roads. Veterans who served in the

Gulf War may have some money coming from the state. The problem is less than half of those eligible of claim their bonus. If you are from Minnesota and served in the military between August 2nd 1990 and July 30 1st 1901 you got from three to six hundred dollars coming the state Veterans Affairs Commission are expected to have handed out about three quarters of the checks by now. But he hasn't handed out even half that half yet. Veterans still have some time to file though the deadline isn't until June 30th 1909 to collect. And that is a summary of the day's news can over to you. Thanks Mike. It was 25 years ago today that Native Americans at Wounded Knee South Dakota began to lay down their weapons for 71 days members of the American Indian Movement had been in a standoff with federal forces. The event focused worldwide attention on the federal government's treatment of Native Americans but it also raised questions about the legitimacy of Amen its leaders and most of all Wounded Knee prompted the federal government to change some of its Indian policies. Now in a moment we're going to

talk about all this with some Minnesotans who were involved with Wounded Knee. But first a look back at what happened in 1973 the occupiers also built bunkers and trenches outside the church on the trading post. They held the hostages inside the church. They were armed with high powered rifles and they vowed not to give in without a fight. When two hundred armed Native Americans took control of the small hamlet of Wounded Knee in February of 1993 the federal government responded in force. FBI agents U.S. marshals and Bureau of Indian Affairs police surrounded the village. The Indians under the banner of the American Indian Movement dug in at a small Catholic church. There were negotiations during the day but during the night there were firefights Aime demanded an investigation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Many Indians considered the be-I a either inept or corrupt and wanted the federal government to open talks about broken treaties and a wanted free elections on Pine Ridge Reservation where Chairman Dick Wilson hired so-called

goon squads to keep people in line on the woman he was necessary to draw the attention of the world community and certainly the American community. Charlotte Black Elk is a nationally known Lakota activist who lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation the reservation is located along South Dakota's Badlands. It is a beautiful but desolate place. Typical of the kind of land the federal government to push Indians onto in the 19th century and typical of the poverty that Native Americans still suffered in the 20th century. 1973 four years after Americans landed on the moon only a handful of tribal members had indoor plumbing or electricity. AIM leaders also wanted to draw attention to a corrupt Tribal government. While two people died during the well publicized siege over a three year period largely unnoticed by the media more than 60 Indians were murdered on the reservation in a violent tribal feud. I think it was necessary

to bring attention to the violence that was here and we had a murder rate higher per capita higher than Detroit in the 70s and Detroit was a place you weren't supposed to go in broad daylight. People were dying in my own family in this whole range of violence. My grandfather Ben Black Elk was one of the first who died the killing was on both sides those aligned with the tribal government. Not only killed but were killed by tribal dissidents during that period. It was cousins against cousins brothers against brothers. It was like a civil war yes. John Steele is now chairman of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Back then his father was aligned with Chairman Dick Wilson. When you drove around on the reservation you know what had to have good with you. You always watch the mirror and all the cars around you and the people around you. You had brothers on different sides you know cousins.

It was really difficult because being a cop rubber duckie became a police officer for the B I A N 1075. He's now superintendent of the B I A on the reservation. And basically in 73 probably through 76 I was in the lot areas it was kind of like to have field of McCoy's it was a lot of people that were beat up assaulted and killed in the name of one side versus the other and you know so I think that it had some long ranging scarring impacts on family relationships here. They should know his sister was an AIM activist. His father aligned with Chairman Wilson today instead of political violence the Tribal Council talks about economic development. And this year to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Wounded Knee the Council passed an ordinance creating a tribal holiday. A remarkable event when you realize that Chairman Steele's father was shot and killed in 1975 presumably

by name sympathizers as a period of healing and it's still going to but very basically the people don't want to see that kind of a life here again. One thing you got to recognize is that it was 25 years ago. And so next year well the election that's coming up this tribal council you may get because 25 you have to be 25 years or older to sit on the code so you may get a council member that wasn't even born then. And so a lot of them don't remember it but those that do remember just don't want that back again for as awful as that time was something much worse ones happened at Wounded Knee only 200 yards from the church where a member is dug in back in 1973. There is this sign.

It was here in 1890 where the U.S. Army killed more than 140 unarmed Lakota men women and children. For years it was called the Battle of Wounded Knee but about 10 years ago the federal government agreed to change the sign and call it what it was a massacre. I think there's a lot of people who will not forget. And I come from crazy versus people. We have not forgotten the death of Crazyhorse. I think it's one thing to never make sure it never happens again. I think keeping the memory of the Wounded Knee occupation present in our conscience ensures that we will never be mistreated by our own people again. Clyde Bellecourt is one of the co-founders of the American Indian Movement. Larry Leventhal was an attorney for ame back in 1973. He is the attorney for the Pine Ridge Reservation today. And John Breaux part is head of the American Indian Research and Policy Institute that is located at Hamlin University. Thank you all for coming. I want to start off very quickly about the trial Dennis Banks Russell Means it was the biggest trial to come out of

the wounded in age. You were one of the attorneys thrown out of court. Well it was dismissed because of government misconduct after nine months of trial. It went to the jury one of the jurors had a stroke so the judge went into the motion to dismiss previously he said he was brought to the brink at that point he was over the brink he found that there had been a number of government lies that there had been perjury misuse of the military illegal wiretapping at 9:00 and on. So after 71 days and five hundred thousand rounds of ammunition that were fired basically except for a couple of minor cases that did get convictions nothing came from it legally. Well what came was the legal declarations that indeed there had been government misconduct there'd been government misconduct for generations against Indian people and this was a milestone case where a lot of this came to light and it wasn't all historical it was happening right then Clyde Bellecourt to aim was founded in 1968.

A lot of people think that 1973 was the high water mark for AIM that's when it made its biggest impact and it hasn't had as big of impact since then. When people look at the American Moving on for if you look at a militant organization if we're not current we've got in they are taking over some building we don't think they're we don't exist. There's a tremendous a lot of things have happened since then. All over Native America for instance we run one of the top job training programs in the nation today. Ik stablished in 1979 called American Indian Opportunities Industrialization under President of them a fond of that. We have service over 16000 Indigenous clients who have the highest retention rates and there we have taken over 14000 people off welfare rolls put them on pay rolls are legal rights center has represent over 30000 Indigenous clients. Here and here and we've saved taxpayers here in the state of Minnesota millions and millions of dollars are survival school system was one of the first in a controlled educational programs in the

nation. Pro control in curricula we graduate more students from hardier survival school than the hold me up as public school system put together. But you had a problem with a name in that game was a grassroots organization so it made it hard to keep it together as a national organization several years ago that was already it was over we all made an agreement to go back home and take care of business at home and I was one of those people are dead that I came back home and we were ecstatic over eight or nine different programs right here in the city of Minneapolis which had brought millions of dollars into the economy here and it's helped hundreds and thousands of Native families right here in the Twin City area in the state of Minnesota. John two part one of the aims of aim at the time was getting the federal government to pay attention to tribal governments and that has happened over the 25 years hasn't it. Well before the 70s where. We found tribal leaders without too many resources to lead with. But since since the 70s we've had. Several national policies that have

brought tribes to the forefront in terms of exercising their sovereignty are even identifying. The sovereign. Basis that tribes have the ability to govern their own affairs through the Self-Determination Act. And later the self-governance act. All of these things came about because more attention was focused on tribal governments and in the news. There's a lot of arguments right now on Larry Leventhal knows this about well how actually how sovereign are these nations and there's a lot of fights over taxation with state courts and with state governments and trust lands and so forth so I mean it's still activism in the conversations other not losing her there may be court actions but the union cases are losing and they're just simply. Certifying that us through the courts in many cases the sovereignty of tribes has been re-established. Tribes

have the original sovereignty. The United States has passed some laws there's some interplay with that but one must remember that among the entities within this continent we got this tribes we got the States we got the federal government tribes are part of it and the sovereignty of tribes goes into the whole area of control of the reservations goes into the areas of natural resources goes into the areas of law enforcement. And it's a very important source of pride of Indian people that this is being reestablished. It also gets into the issue of democracy for the tribes though because I mean a lot of the tribes have struggled with corruption with setting up some sort of government that works for the people not just for the leaders or for the BIA or what have you or recognize that they're going to reorganization careers but 60 years older and this is where most of those years we had very little government to exercise very little resources to distribute in and of our selves on the reservations. So it's only in recent times that we've begun to actually exercise. The

parliamentary form of government that reorganization and brought us forward. We're we have some growing pains to do and I think comparative we're looking at. At the broader political context of the nation you will find that you will find it in other sectors through the inner party squabbles. Or those kinds of thank you hinting that you're tired of fighting the same old fight. You know there's another part of history that has been totally forgotten in 1978 there was twenty four bills pending before the Congress United States to terminate in people all together in going to steal what resources we have left in the American union movement walked the length and breadth of America from San Francisco all the way to Washington D.C. and we were successful in creating enough awareness and support to stop every piece of legislation to terminate in the people know we were successful in doing that. We were successful in getting the American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed. So in it people could practice their own religion or tradition in their own culture and their own spiritual in their own country.

What's the biggest issue today. Is it economic development is it the poverty on the reservations on Pine Ridge. Sixty nine percent of the children are still in poverty and there I think you said I think the major issue is that we need to understand the trust responsibility that exists between the U.S. government and the Indian tribes. And to clarify just what that means and there aren't many people who can articulate what that trust responsibility is you know some nation to nation relationship and a trust responsibility. Is the United States of America's obligation to protect the human tribes in this country. But isn't that part of the tension you're talking about sovereign nations and yet you're also talking about a federal government which is responsible towards giving it some money. The tension is based on ignorance. The tension is based on ignorance that people do not understand this relationship between tribes and the U.S. can I let me clarify something that the government isn't giving us anything. Every penny that the government has come out of a resource even in people who are too open pit gold

mines in the black to world wars big goal of land that doesn't belong to them and the fight over the Black Hills the Oglala Sioux nation still claims that those are separate depending on who is almost half a billion dollars now which were set up as a twenty four point five million dollar settlement due to refuse that the government offered the payment and the tribes rejected it. That's still sitting in government accounts. None of the tribes have taken a penny of it. Is it ever going to be legal reason legally resolved or is it going as far as it can in the courts. It's gone into the courts but the people have spoken louder than the courts. The people have said they're not going to take the money the spirituality the orientation towards the Black Hills that's what's the guiding forces have been it's hasn't been the court decrees that have related to their lands where incidentally the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Black Hills had been taken illegally got about a minute to go. Project 25 years from now and take a look at the Indian community communities

in Minnesota. How much progress is going to be made more than we've seen over the last 25 years is going to slow down. Were you hopeful about. I think we've got to continue to deal with the racism and ignorance in America I maintain that America is totally scholastically retarded when it comes to Indian people their culture their tradition the history of the whole treaty question the trust response really don't know anything. And if they did we would be having a lot of the problems that we're having today. We've always been here as a people will always be here as a people and as each day goes on. We're strengthening ourselves from the great struggle that we've been through. Union nations have been a major historical story of survival they'll continue to survive and grow. All right gentlemen thank you very much. And there is an interesting piece of the Wounded Knee story that also has a Minnesota connection and Mike Mulcahy has that. Thanks Ken. Good discussion. Back in 1904 two of the defendants from Wounded Knee Dennis Banks and Russell Means went on trial in St. Paul. Fears of armed

confrontation ran high. It never happened. Larry Cohen is now the chief judge of Ransey County District Court back then. He was the mayor of St. Paul and Judge thanks a lot for being with us tonight. Can you set the scene for us a little bit. What were you what what was it like back in 1974 and what were you hearing about what might happen as a result of this trial being moved into St. Paul. Well first of all it was kind of a surprise nobody talked to us and then all of a sudden we learn that the trial was being transferred to St. Paul. We started hearing all kinds of stories about. Tens of thousands of American Indian people that were going to be coming into the city of St. Paul they were going to be demonstrating was going to cause a colossal problem for law enforcement in place stress on the resources of the city. That's what we were hearing. And you decided to take sort of a proactive approach and even to have your picture in the paper smoking a peace pipe as I remember. Right. What happened.

Well look I'm a believer that if you get stuck with lemons you make lemonade. And I thought that the best thing we could do was to work with the Indian people and work with law enforcement and coordinate them. And I I'm an optimist and I thought that if we work with people and we do it in good will that there would be no trouble. And it happened that way and we had no trouble. Did you get the sense that there was a lot of sympathy in this area for the defendants or did people just not know what to expect. I don't know that I'd call it sympathy but there was a spirit of fairness that people were willing to listen to the side given by the American Indian people. And listen they did. And there was an atmosphere of fairness that existed and the attorneys for the defendants in the case

commented on this numerous times. I held a dinner and welcomed the defendants I welcomed their attorneys and I welcomed them not taking sides on their position that they had as to their guilt or innocence but I welcomed them to a city of peace and I welcome them in peace. And they certainly returned to the American Indian Movement that I heard talked about. I cooperated totally with the city and we we actually empowered them we gave them a pact sets. We provided transportation. We provided housing. And we coordinated over 60 agencies including 18 in making sure that nothing happened and probably tougher on anybody in the Indian community. It was probably aim to make sure that the peace in the city was kept. But there was still some tension. One story I heard you walked into a room with. They

tell us about that. That was a river that was really built consular down a cross-examination of an FBI agent from New Orleans. And it was a stablish that he had been involved in some illegal wiretapping. And Russell Means and Dennis Banks were in the courtroom and they heard the FBI agent admit to having done the illegal things. And they also heard that perjury was against the law. They stood up and they advanced towards the. The FBI agent and wanted to affect an arrest. Judge unethical told him not in my court room. Well to them that meant not in the courtroom but everybody else was was fair game. And so they blocked all the entrances to the building. Well the FBI agent had been skirted out over the skyway entrance that was there but I was called and everybody was

really up tight this was going to be a showdown. This was going to be thing that the FBI agents and others had their hands inside their pockets and they were all set for trouble. When I got there things quieted down. And we were brought into a room where we could talk with the judge or talk with someone else. And the FBI agent brought us into the wrong room brought us into a room where all the U.S. Marshals were with their guns out and everything and it was quite a sight. But what it turned out OK and everybody survived and everybody survived. All right thank you very much. Thank you Larry Cohen. Now do you have your own story from 25 years ago. Here's the way to tell us about it. And that's about it for NEWSNIGHT tonight except the weather. Yeah which you'd probably rather we

forget about going to a great day saving up for tomorrow and a bit cooler too. Chance of showers all over the land of 10000 lakes highs in the 50s and maybe 60 down by a walk tomorrow night on Almanac Join Erica Hill and Kathy Wormser and Paul Douglas. He's going to be giving a lot more details about the weather and you'll ever get from our 20 seconds to tell you where. Plus Senator Paul Stone historic preservation in St. Peter after the tornado. The latest on tobacco. That's all an act. And as for Newsnight Thanks for watching. Good night. NEWSNIGHT Minnesota has made possible by they think. The power of two campaigns program

front with major grant. The Brandon foundation. And the McKnight foundation.