I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
June 22, 1997
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
RED LAKE -- Tribal Chairman Bobby Whitefeather had terse words for both his own people and for others in his opening address here Friday at the second Red Lake Nation Economic Development Summit.
The summit, sponsored by the Red Lake Tribal Council, hopes to stimulate business on the reservation in order to generate revenue which stays longer on the reservation, in return providing more full-time employment. A similar summit was held a year ago.
Standing before the 200 attendees, Whitefeather said he had mixed emotions about the conference.
"It's my desire to include a lot of members of the Red Lake Nation (in this summit)," he said. "However, I don't see many members here."
Whitefeather said the tribe's people working in human services would have to bear the responsibility of the reservation's future even though it will not be an easy task -- especially with welfare reform legislation taking effect July 1.
"We try our best with the limited resources and expertise we have access to, and we struggle on," he said. "But the challenge is not insurmountable."
That's the importance of the summit, Whitefeather said, to generate ideas as to how Red Lake can increase employment and its asset base.
Calling welfare reform "election-year legislation," he said it will be a major challenge to the tribe in coming months, but the potential to overcome the task is there.
"The people most affected (by welfare) were not consulted, and they do not have a voice," he said. "Perhaps come election time there will be some outrage at how the poor people are treated."
In addition, the chairman said the people of Red Lake have to stop relying on others to solve their problems.
"We can take care of our own business. We do not need the sensationalism of the media about our situation," he said. "We in Red Lake are getting sick and tired of our own members using the media to create chaos ... and fear. We have enough to do in putting people to work."
Whitefeather told the tribe's members who attend the summit they needed to network with the people not associated with the reservation at the conference because they knew of many resources which might help Red Lake.
With the July 1 date welfare reform takes effect only two weeks away, he said there was a lot of uncertainty among Red Lakers about the future of the reservation. Most of the employment here is generated by tribal government and the school district, while there is little private sector employment.
The members of the tribe have to generate enthusiasm and concern about the endeavor facing the American Indian nation, he said. The community has to stick together, and change the trend of tribal members moving off the reservation to find good-paying jobs.
"Across the nation, reservations' problems come from poverty and unemployment, so we aren't alone. We make gains and have setbacks just like anybody else," he said. "I'm not apologizing for my terse statements because I have a sense of disappointment today. We have a major task ahead of us."
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