Post by Okwes on May 11, 2006 12:02:57 GMT -5
Tribal Governments (Yellow Bird)
Tribal governments change, not always for better
Column by Dorreen Yellow Bird
In Indian Country, tribal governments seem at times to be hurtling
toward great change, with some tribes on a steady course and others
careening wildly. The engine is power - power that is bolstered by
casino money; power that results in some leaders voting in hefty
paychecks and too-generous benefits for themselves.
Unfortunately, checks and balances often seem to stumble over each
other, stymieing rather than furthering good government.
One of those checks could be a free press. But many reservation
newspapers are funded by the tribe, and the salaried staff doesn't want
to bite the hand that feeds them.
Without a free press, some tribal memberships have found a way to bring
tribal governments to account. The recall of tribal council members and
chairs is becoming common.
The most recent is the recall of J.C. Crawford, chairman of the
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. His council voted him out
amid allegations that he misappropriated $698,000 since 2003, reported
the Indian Country Today newspaper of Rapid City, S.D. Crawford strongly
denied the charges.
Last year, I covered the recall of Valentino "Tino" White from his post
as tribal chairman of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe. He was accused of
abusing power. White did not appear at the June 23 hearing to defend
himself, and the membership moved ahead with action. Myra Pearson was
elected in his place.
Eli Hunt, tribal chairman of the Leech Lake Ojibwe Tribe of Minnesota,
was recalled in 2002. Cecilia Fire Thunder, tribal chairman of the
Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, has
been served with recall petitions, but they were found unjustified. So
Fire Thunder continues to be the first female chairman of this Lakota
nation in southwestern South Dakota.
I don't know about the guilt or innocence of these tribal chairmen. I
only know they were put on the chopping block - some escaped the ax,
others are history. The bottom line is that recall seems to be a growing
method of toppling tribal governments.
Does having the threat of recall hanging over their heads make tribal
leaders more accountable? In my experience with the Three Affiliated
Tribes on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, recall is a
roll of the dice. Some rumors about a particular leader may be true, but
others are only as real as a scary ghost story.
When my mother and aunt were alive, they and their friends would bend my
ear about the wrongdoings of the tribal council. After I was riled up
enough, I would check out their accusations. But many times, what they'd
heard was based on rumor. In reservation communities where we know each
other well, we get bits and pieces of a rumor, then start to chew on
those tidbits until we've formed a story into something that pleases us.
Watching the government squirm can be entertaining.
Of course, not all rumors are untrue, and some councils should squirm.
The Three Affiliated Tribes' tribal council has done poorly with
finances. From information gleaned from an elder's newsletter, I found
our tribe is about $80 million in debt. This growing debt is fed by
council members' salaries that far exceed the wage of the average person
on the reservation. In addition to those hefty salaries, councilmen also
are allocated pickup trucks and other things that are paid for with
tribal money.
"How can they justify this?" I asked a council member from White Shield,
N.D. The council members are managing large budgets and deserve big
salaries, I was told. They are like the executives of big corporations.
But those national CEO's don't live in areas where you get a meal for $5
or pay $300 or $400 a month for a house.
A free press on the reservations is sorely needed but hard to build.
Tribal government skirmishes are covered by mainstream press when there
is a major crime or a recall petition, but other than that, there is
little day-to-day coverage by off-reservation media. That is where
hometown, reservation-type newspapers could come in. They can change
tribal government. If the press is not controlled by the tribal
government, it could cause that tribal officials to pause and have
second thoughts before misappropriating funds or abusing power.
There are some downsides to a free press on reservations. The press has
to be free to provide both sides of a story and be unencumbered in the
process. To be unencumbered, they need funding from sources other than
the tribe. Unfortunately, there are few reservation newspapers that can
keep themselves afloat with revenue from subscriptions and advertising.
There is also the issue of bias. If, for example, a tribal member can
own and manage a newspaper, would not his or her biases be evident in
the writing? It is hard not to let your own experience color what you
write.
But "the perfect is the enemy of the good," as the saying goes. A
newspaper that makes an good effort is better than a whole community in
the dark.
Traditionally, tribes did have good governments, but they were
different. I remember listening years ago to Byron Wild, Sahnish
councilman from White Shield, N.D. He was one of the old guard on the
council. These old men had to have their arms twisted to take a council
seat. Not everyone met the criteria; they had to be respected, fair,
generous, strong and a good leader.
Too bad that some of our tribal governments have changed, and we've come
so far from that kind of requirement. And it's too bad that we've
incorporated so much of the non-Indian kind of government, where power
and money have come to be the new culture of some tribal governments.
Tribal governments change, not always for better
Column by Dorreen Yellow Bird
In Indian Country, tribal governments seem at times to be hurtling
toward great change, with some tribes on a steady course and others
careening wildly. The engine is power - power that is bolstered by
casino money; power that results in some leaders voting in hefty
paychecks and too-generous benefits for themselves.
Unfortunately, checks and balances often seem to stumble over each
other, stymieing rather than furthering good government.
One of those checks could be a free press. But many reservation
newspapers are funded by the tribe, and the salaried staff doesn't want
to bite the hand that feeds them.
Without a free press, some tribal memberships have found a way to bring
tribal governments to account. The recall of tribal council members and
chairs is becoming common.
The most recent is the recall of J.C. Crawford, chairman of the
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. His council voted him out
amid allegations that he misappropriated $698,000 since 2003, reported
the Indian Country Today newspaper of Rapid City, S.D. Crawford strongly
denied the charges.
Last year, I covered the recall of Valentino "Tino" White from his post
as tribal chairman of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe. He was accused of
abusing power. White did not appear at the June 23 hearing to defend
himself, and the membership moved ahead with action. Myra Pearson was
elected in his place.
Eli Hunt, tribal chairman of the Leech Lake Ojibwe Tribe of Minnesota,
was recalled in 2002. Cecilia Fire Thunder, tribal chairman of the
Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, has
been served with recall petitions, but they were found unjustified. So
Fire Thunder continues to be the first female chairman of this Lakota
nation in southwestern South Dakota.
I don't know about the guilt or innocence of these tribal chairmen. I
only know they were put on the chopping block - some escaped the ax,
others are history. The bottom line is that recall seems to be a growing
method of toppling tribal governments.
Does having the threat of recall hanging over their heads make tribal
leaders more accountable? In my experience with the Three Affiliated
Tribes on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, recall is a
roll of the dice. Some rumors about a particular leader may be true, but
others are only as real as a scary ghost story.
When my mother and aunt were alive, they and their friends would bend my
ear about the wrongdoings of the tribal council. After I was riled up
enough, I would check out their accusations. But many times, what they'd
heard was based on rumor. In reservation communities where we know each
other well, we get bits and pieces of a rumor, then start to chew on
those tidbits until we've formed a story into something that pleases us.
Watching the government squirm can be entertaining.
Of course, not all rumors are untrue, and some councils should squirm.
The Three Affiliated Tribes' tribal council has done poorly with
finances. From information gleaned from an elder's newsletter, I found
our tribe is about $80 million in debt. This growing debt is fed by
council members' salaries that far exceed the wage of the average person
on the reservation. In addition to those hefty salaries, councilmen also
are allocated pickup trucks and other things that are paid for with
tribal money.
"How can they justify this?" I asked a council member from White Shield,
N.D. The council members are managing large budgets and deserve big
salaries, I was told. They are like the executives of big corporations.
But those national CEO's don't live in areas where you get a meal for $5
or pay $300 or $400 a month for a house.
A free press on the reservations is sorely needed but hard to build.
Tribal government skirmishes are covered by mainstream press when there
is a major crime or a recall petition, but other than that, there is
little day-to-day coverage by off-reservation media. That is where
hometown, reservation-type newspapers could come in. They can change
tribal government. If the press is not controlled by the tribal
government, it could cause that tribal officials to pause and have
second thoughts before misappropriating funds or abusing power.
There are some downsides to a free press on reservations. The press has
to be free to provide both sides of a story and be unencumbered in the
process. To be unencumbered, they need funding from sources other than
the tribe. Unfortunately, there are few reservation newspapers that can
keep themselves afloat with revenue from subscriptions and advertising.
There is also the issue of bias. If, for example, a tribal member can
own and manage a newspaper, would not his or her biases be evident in
the writing? It is hard not to let your own experience color what you
write.
But "the perfect is the enemy of the good," as the saying goes. A
newspaper that makes an good effort is better than a whole community in
the dark.
Traditionally, tribes did have good governments, but they were
different. I remember listening years ago to Byron Wild, Sahnish
councilman from White Shield, N.D. He was one of the old guard on the
council. These old men had to have their arms twisted to take a council
seat. Not everyone met the criteria; they had to be respected, fair,
generous, strong and a good leader.
Too bad that some of our tribal governments have changed, and we've come
so far from that kind of requirement. And it's too bad that we've
incorporated so much of the non-Indian kind of government, where power
and money have come to be the new culture of some tribal governments.