Tragedy Strikes at Red Lake, Minnesota Jail as Inmate Passes Away

RED LAKE, MN (NativeNewsOnline.net) We have a detailed story regarding the tragic, recent death of a woman at the jail in Red Lake, Minnesota.
Story by Darren Thompson of NativeNewsOnline.net.
a tragic story out of Red Lake Minnesota a native woman has died while in custody at the Red Lake Detention Center this from nativenewsonline.net use with their permission a story by Darren Thompson quote on Monday June 11th a woman who was an enrolled member of the Mandan hadatsa erikora nation of North Dakota died while in custody at the Red Lake Detention Center on the Red Lake nation in Minnesota Don White Owl 42 was pronounced dead at the Red Lake Hospital less than a mile from the Detention Center white owl and her daughter danitra warpaint 24 were arrested at the red Lakes seven Clan Casino in Thief River Falls on Friday June 9th the woman were booked in the same jail cell and placed in the whole same holding cells at night war paint said she had been pleading with jail staff to help her mother who said she was having cold sweats migraines chest and stomach pains and vomiting with medical assistance since they were booked into the jail on Friday quote I was asking for help all day and night a war paint told native news online warpaint says it wasn’t until midnight on Sunday June 11th that her mother was taken out of the jail cell and transferred to the Red Lake hospital where she was discharged and returned nearly two hours later at approximately 2 A.M Red Lake Hospital could not be reached for comment on why white owl was discharged Upon returning to jail staff placed white owl and warpaint together in a different jail pod a war paint stayed up all night with her mother after white owl returned to jail she and her daughter continued to plead with staff to be returned to the hospital quote every time they came I kept asking for help but they didn’t want to help warpaint said of jail staff routine monitoring of inmates which usually occurs every 15 minutes they kept telling us to wait until the nurse comes in the morning but when she came in the morning she didn’t check on her a red Lake citizen who wishes to remain anonymous was in the jail pod with the mother and daughter when whiteall passed away in an interview with Native News Online The Source said multiple women were pleading with jail staff to take white owl back to the hospital quote in the morning during gel’s cell cleaning between 9 and 10 a.m jail correctional officers brought a cleaning car to our pod she said everyone cleaned while Don was lined by the Pod door on a mat while her daughter was lying with her by the time our cleaning was done nearly 15 minutes one of us noticed she wasn’t breathing according to war paint on Monday June 12th at 11 15 a.m jail staff came to check on Whiteout who was unconscious and began administering CPR the CEO correctional officer came in and tried to give her CPR the anonymous source confirmed but they didn’t even know how they didn’t even layer fully on her back while doing CPR and it took them about 10 minutes to even get an airbag around her mouth the nurse couldn’t even hold the airbag in her mouth properly from how badly she was shaking there was no urgency whatsoever in the EMTs the CEOs are the nurse it’s like they weren’t trained for that after the staff saw CPR was unsuccessful they stopped CPR and shortly after medical staff transported white out to the hospital war paint was also transported separately to the hospital and was later told by a doctor at the Red Lake hospital that her mother was deceased no known reason for her death was given and additional details on the circumstances of her death have not been released native news online reached out to the nation and detention center and left multiple voicemail messages but neither responded before this story’s publication war paint was released from the Red Lake Detention Center on Wednesday June 14 on her own recognizance the FBI said in an email to Native news online that they are aware of the situation around white owl’s death but did not provide additional information as the investor is ongoing quote there is no public information available and we cannot comment any further at this time Diana Friedman a spokesperson for the Minneapolis FBI field office wrote in an email to Native news online White House family is frustrated at the lack of communication from law enforcement quote it’s been a week and no one has informed our family of any details Shelley belgaard the sister of white owl said because Red Lake is exempt from public law 280 the federal government and not the state our tribe is investigating the death of white all PL 280 was passed in 1953 giving Six States including Minnesota criminal jurisdiction of major felony crimes on Indian lands because the Red Lake because Red Lake is a closed reservation and non-members do not have land on the reservation the law does not apply and Red Lake and the federal government have jurisdiction over crimes and deaths on the res reservation the Red Lake Center is regulated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is subject to federal laws policies and mandates according to the Jail’s website inspections of the jail are conducted annually to ensure the facility is compliant with overcrowding properly staffed and staff is adequately trained and meet safety standards set and regulated by the federal government according to a report by NPR in 2021 nearly 28 percent of Bia correctional officers and staff who spend the majority of their time supervising supervising inmates had not completed training to be certified in first aid Suicide Prevention and handling medical emergencies a report published by the U.S Department of Justice in May 2023 revealed that four persons died while in custody in tribal jails or detention centers 12 months before June 30th 2022 three of them by Suicide according to the Bureau of Justice statistics there are 80 dissension centers operating in Indian Country in 2022 not all federally recognized tribes have detention centers collecting data in Indian country has been challenging for decades and American Indians are often excluded from incarceration rates there are many reasons given for disparities in data but when data is available for American Indian people it often shows higher numbers of involvement with the criminal justice system Native Americans are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections American Indians represent more than nine percent of the state’s prison population but compromise just more than one percent of the state’s population 20 percent of the women in state the prison system are American Indian in Minnesota the deaths of indigenous prisoners have had a dark past in the state in 1862 the largest mass execution of federal prisoners occurred on December 26 after Abraham Lincoln issued a list of 39 men from the Dakota tribe to be hanged in Mankato after the hanging was carried out it was discovered that two men were accidentally hanged one was a white man that was adopted at an early age by the pro of tribe deaths from service calls and law enforcement encountered revealed that Minnesota American Indians are 5.7 times more likely than whites to be involved in a fatal encounter with law enforcement as of December 30th 2022 the study mentioned that it did not include deaths in Correctional Facilities though last week the doj released results from a two-year investigation revealing the Minneapolis Police Department unlawfully discriminated discriminated against Native American people including the use of force after a traffic stop in Beltrami County Where The Red Lake Indian reservation is located inmate deaths are usually among the highest in the state along with Hennepin County in Minneapolis White House family has not heard from Authorities on when they can retrieve the body for burial the family organized a GoFundMe to assist with hiring an attorney to hold officials accountable quote Don was a few beautiful kind-hearted woman said uh White owl’s sister Shelly bellgaard she always brought joy and happiness to people who knew her she had a laugh and smile that would light up any room humor was her medicine and gift to the world her loss is one that reaches many loved ones far and wide Don’s spirit will be forever in the hearts of everyone who knew her unquote this is a developing story again that story from a native news online.net I’m Neil Berg reporting for itrfnews.i234.me