Star Tribune of Minneapolis

CASS LAKE, Minn. -- Like citizens of a war-torn country, they came together: hundreds of people from this little community on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, pleading once more for an end to the killing.

An Ojibwe pipe carrier who performs healing ceremonies, Kenn Mitchell, came to the front of the room where they gathered at the Palace Casino, asked the spirits for guidance and then held up a $20 bill.

Mitchell's son and grandson are serving decades-long sentences for the 2002 beating death -- on Cass Lake's main street -- of Louie Bisson, a blind albino man.

"All day we've listened to people talk," Mitchell said, "and not once has somebody said, 'Here is what I'm going to do.'"

The $20, he said, was to start a reward fund to catch the killers of Brandon Humphrey, 17, and Michael Littlewolf, 20, this fall.

"I'll contribute $100!" someone yelled. A line formed, and, when they were done, a basket contained $970.

That was the reservation's latest expression of hope that it can pull itself from the whirlpool of poverty, chemical abuse, gangs and violence that have given it -- despite its isolation and beauty -- a serious crime rate that is consistently among the state's worst.

Leech Lake Tribal Chairman George Goggleye hosted the gathering last week after announcing that he was declaring war on what he called a rising tide of alcohol abuse, drug use, lawlessness and tragic death, a tide spiked by a half-dozen senseless killings this fall alone.

Most often, young adults were involved.

"The youth are the future of our people," Goggleye said with tears in his eyes. "If we don't do something, I have to question our ability to survive."

With a population of only 860, Cass Lake is the largest community on the reservation, a large, forested tract marbled by large lakes and bogs. Lately, the town has become northern Minnesota's epicenter of drugs, gangs and increasingly brutal violence.

Young people at risk

While teenagers and young adults are often perpetrators, they also are frequent victims of neglect, chemical abuse in their families and crime.

"A lot of kids are getting angry that nothing is being done," 16-year-old Ashley Williams told the gathering. "I don't think it's right that kids can't feel safe in their community."

A place Williams says she can feel safe is the local Boys and Girls Club, which was started in Cass Lake in 1999 after an earlier wave of violence. The club was cited by many at the gathering as one of the reservation's most positive influences on children, hundreds of whom show up daily.

"All our kids need is time -- special time with some grown-up who will treat them like they are the one and only person in the world," said Joanie Johnson, director of the club's newly opened branch in Walker.

While the kids need time, the club needs money; executive director Tuleah Palmer said the club is trying to raise $240,000 to buy a building for a third branch in the tiny town of Ball Club.

Community needs

Vikki Howard, administrator of the Leech Lake Band's education division, listed some acute needs that many say the band has had for years.

They include a drug treatment center and an after-care program that could deal close to home with members' addictions. Among those are addictions to prescription drugs, which is a growing problem.

They include a shelter where police could bring kids who are out late or drunk and have no parents at home.

Cass District Judge John Smith drew applause when he announced that the county will change how it handles many chronic, chemically addicted offenders by creating a "wellness court" geared more toward treatment than punishment.

"We don't perceive people with alcohol problems as criminals," Smith said. "We're going to focus on getting them back on track." He said the stakes are high because Cass County's rate of drunken-driving fatalities is one of the highest in the state.

Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, a guest at the meeting, said the state government has a responsibility to invest more in programs for children and renew funding for initiatives such as the statewide Gang Strike Force.

He said the state needs effective treatment facilities for methamphetamine addiction, a growing scourge, especially in rural areas. He said such efforts would cost less per person than the $28,000 a year it costs to imprison one inmate.

Cooperative effort

Cass Lake-Bena schools Superintendent Todd Chessmore, American Indian Movement founder Clyde Bellecourt and several others agreed that the reservation's myriad levels of local, state, federal and tribal government need to end petty rivalries and join their considerable forces.

Bellecourt added that the Ojibwe now more than ever need to teach their children Ojibwe history and traditions, to restore their pride.

"We have to somehow, some way come back together," he said. "Do something to let the youth know we love them and care about them and will do something to help them."