Anishinaabe Syndicated : A View from the Rez

3. American Americans - 1991

29 3. American Americans 8 1991 It was tribal court time on the Fond du Lac Reservation. Before the wheels of justice began to turn, the Shinnobs smoked red willow. Anishinaabe Judge Dee Fairbanks came in. She seemed upset about the smell. The first order of business was to outlaw smoking in the courtroom a half hour before she arrived because of her asthmatic condition. She told one Shinnob to put out her cigarette. The Shinnob showed the judge the pen she was holding. AFonjalackernamedNapoleonRosswasincourt.Hewascharged with snagging (not that kind of snagging) a salmon from the Lester River in the ceded territory. Fond du Lac was not in an agreement with the state about treaty rights at the time of the snagging. Nappy said he never received notice of a court date. He had been found guilty when he didn’t show up for tribal court the first time. Nappy said he had been out of state attending a ceremony. He was fined seventy-five dollars for the snagged salmon. In this latest hearing he was ordered to show cause why he didn’t pay the fine. Nappy explained his reasons. He thought he shouldn’t have been found guilty for exercising his treaty rights. The judge listened to his reasons and ruled against him. His hunting, fishing, and gathering rights were taken away. Until the fine is paid, Nappy can’t legally gather medicine from the woods. The prosecution was handled by the rez lawyers, Henry Buffalo and his new sidekick Dennis Peterson. We wonder if justice was served in this case. We know there is no appeal process from tribal court. Are the wheels of justice attached to a locomotive? Sitting Bull’s doorknob and hinges are still missing. The Fairlawn Museum in Superior was recently given two dance shields recov- 30 Anishinaabe Syndicated ered by the FBI in St. Louis, Missouri. The artifacts were stolen in 1978, and the museum received ÷30,500 from the insurance company for their loss. The museum spent their money on repairing the roof and buying more David Francis Barry pictures. Other items missing from the museum’s collection include Sitting Bull’s rifle and war shield, a Lakota ceremonial dress, and other war clubs. The doorknob and hinges are still missing. Harold Gronquist, president of the historical society, said that security has been increased since the theft. He also said, “They’re backwheretheybelong.”Ownershipofthetwodanceshieldspassed to the insurance company when they were recovered. The insurance company donated them back to the Fairlawn Museum. No one thought to ask the Lakota people if they would be interested in getting the dance shields back. We are still wondering what happened to the missing doorknob and hinges. I have been trying to avoid writing about the war but that has proved to be impossible. Here are some rambling, disconnected war thoughts. I speak as a Vietnam veteran, an Anishinaabe, and a father . Honor the warriors but not the war makers. A very difficult concept.HowcanwesupportthetroopswithoutlettingGeorgeBush (president number forty-one) do anything he wants with them? We have sent our best and brightest to the Gulf. Now that the ground war has started, how many will we get back undamaged in body or mind? Only time will tell if the sacrifice will be worth it. Gulf Oil. The start of the war was big news last month. It was on all the stations for three whole days. They didn’t even break for commercials. After three days the regular programming came back on. It started with the soap operas. I wondered about that, then the titles of soaps jumped out at me. all my children have but one life to live. We know they need a strong guiding light in these days of our lives. 31 American Americans But as the world turns, we don’t want them to end up in a general hospital in santa barbara or anywhere else. We know they are the young and restless and the bold and beautiful, but we pray they come home safe and soon. I feel like we have been stroked into this war by the media. It has been interesting to see how the war has been portrayed. At first we were just there to defend Saudi Arabia. The goals have shifted. We are now liberating Kuwait. We are also going to remove Saddam as a military influence in the region. I am...