Dakota Hoksina

Yesterday was a sad day.  My granddaughter and namesake, Erica Ann Longie moved out of my home.  I loaded up her, her boyfriend, their baby daughter and all their stuff into my Suburban and drove them to Minot, ND where he (the boyfriend) plans to attend ND Job Corps. 

I knew I was going to feel somewhat sad when it came time to leave her in Minot, but I wasn't expecting the flood of emotions that went through me as I gave her a hug and said good by. I think my tears embarrassed her and make her feel bad because she said, "I'll be back papa" and quickly turned away.

I don't know why I became so emotional. Actually, I sort of looked forward to her and her boyfriend moving out. Not only it gave me my space back and an old bachelor like me needs my space.  And I knew as long as they lived with me their lives would remain stagnant. So in a way I was relieved to see them go.

Where did all my emotion come from? Maybe it is because she was my first and only grand child for almost 10 year and during those years her and I became especially close. Not to mention the fact that she is my namesake. The first time I held her I swear I traveled back in time 20 years and was holding her mother Angie instead.  Angie was my one and only daughter.  When Angie was a teenager she would often get mad at me so I would tell her, "But you're my favorite daughter my girl".  And, pouting, she would reply, "I'm your only daughter".

Anyway, back to my story.  Erica has always spent a lot on time with me.  From the time she was baby up until she moved in with me several months ago she was always close by. She had actually lived with me off and on the past couple of years before she moved in for good several months ago.  I think it was pre-determined that she would end up living with me. When she was around 7 - 8 years old she told her mom, "When I reach sixteen I am going to live with Papa." 

I would often take her on trips with me during her pre teen years.  When we would stop at a gas station I would buy each of us a pop but we would always share a bag of chip together.  One day when she was about 12 years old we had stopped a gas station and she asked me, "Can I have my own bag of chips papa?" I smiled when she said that for I knew it was sign that she was "growing up" and it was just a matter of time that I would "lose" her to hanging out with girls her own age and to chasing boys.

Probably the primary reason my Erica will remain closed to my heart is this; when my son Joel when to the Spirit World she was eight years old. Even at that young age she seem to sense the profound impact it had on my life. She made sure I was never alone, she came we me on my numerous trips to Joel's grave, and when I went walking in the evenings she walked with me.   And she was often with me when no one else was around - never saying much but her quiet respectful presence was comforting.  She would write Joel's name in various format, always with hearts around his name, some with his date of birth and the day he passed away.  She would write short notes to him telling him how much we loved and missed him -- and she was only eight years old at the time.  Those were tough times, when I cried she did not say anything but her quiet loving presence helped me tremendously.

I am going to miss my granddaughter and namesake very much but I am glad she has a strong and independent nature that allows her to go out on her own at a very early age.  It may take her awhile but eventually she will get established and then I will go and visit her and stay at her house.  Something I look forward to doing. 

Talking to tribal members about improving ethics for tribal workers is like talking about a cure for cancer... everyone is for it and almost no one will speaks against it.  In fact, most people will talk at length about the unethical behavior of "other" tribal workers and how shameful they are.  Unfortunately that is all most people will do... talk about how much we need ethics in the work place but will do nothing about it.

Part of the problem is that we make many "ethical" decisions every day that have nothing to do with the work place. And we confuse what are actually practical decisions such as getting our of bed in morning, cooking breakfast for your children, sending children to school, going to work, cleaning house, etc., as ethical decisions.  According to the website, Arizona Character Education, "Those decisions don't necessarily involve right or wrong; they involve efficiency, availability, practicality or preference." Because most of us are proficient in making these easy "ethical" decisions we claim to be ethical individuals.

Unfortunately, these easy "ethical" decisions at home do nothing to prepare us for the tough decision we face everyday in the work place. And many of our workplace decision are about doing the right thing.  That is why when faced with a choice between a right and wrong decisions at work all to often we make a wrong or unethical decision.  For example, say you come to work late; you are faced with two choices: 1. Do I punch in and get docked for coming to work late?  2. Or, do I not punch in and write my (incorrect) time when I turn my time sheet in at the end of the week?  "In a split second our minds review the facts, explore our feelings, study consequences, compare the options against our beliefs and priorities, consider what others may think, and give the cue for action."  And in that split second say you make the decision not to punch in instead you decide to lie about the time you came in by writing the incorrect time on your time card when you turn it in.


Remember decisions may happen quickly but the consequences can last a lifetime. Pretty soon you will get in the habit of lying all the time.  (And quite possibly your children will grow up to be unethical also.) Say there is a change in the higher up administration.  Your new immediate supervisor has heard about your practice of falsifying your time card.  And he has the moral courage to conduct an investigation into your habit of falsifying your time card. Not only will you end up losing your job but your name is dragged through the mud, every one will be is talking about you etc, (of course if you have political connections you can run to them and against all sense of fairness you might be able to keep or return to your job). That's why careful consideration is important when you make any kind of workplace decisions.

 
Most, if not all tribal workers know the difference between right and wrong.  If you "forgotten" this knowledge maybe you should try to recall it. Remembers no person with strong character lives without living by the universal values of courage, honesty, perseverance and generosity.

 Here is an excerpt from the article to help you, Making Ethical Decisions: What's the Big Deal About Decisions?

"Ethics is more than doing what you must do. It's doing what you should do. Because acting honorably sometimes means not doing what we want to do, ethics requires self-control.

Ethics involves seeing the difference between right and wrong. It's a commitment to do what is right, good and honorable. Ask yourself if you are willing to pay the price for making an unethical choice. Are you willing to sacrifice pride, integrity, reputation and honor by making an unethical choice? Are you willing to suffer the consequences of a bad choice?

Because doing the right thing can cost us more in friendship, money, prestige or pleasure than we may want to pay, practicing ethics takes courage. The right thing to do isn't usually the easiest thing to do, but learning to say no when you feel like saying yes builds character."

Making Ethical Decisions: What's the Big Deal About Decisions?

http://www.azcharacteredfoundation.org/parents/ethical-decisions.html

For those of you who have been regular visitors to our website I am sure you noticed a huge drop off in blog the last month or so. The reason for that decline in blogs is the Tribal Leaders Institute project (TLI) has come to an end as of August 31, 2010. And we were spending the majority of my time wrapping up the project and writing the Final Technical Report and Commercialization Plan which we submitted to USDA today. There was a huge drop off in the number of people who visited our site when we quit writing blogs. We went from approximately 1630 (April) visitors per day to approximate 1380 (June). At our peak our website average 50,000 hit per month. There are a lot of tribal member visiting our site, which bodes well for the commercialization phase of TLI, which I will talk about later on in this blog. We completed five courses:

• Introduction to Ethical Issues on Indian Reservations,
• Courageous and Ethical Managers,
• Courageous and Ethical Tribal Boards
• Becoming a Responsible Worker and
• Courageous And Ethical Decision Making For Tribal Leaders.

The courses were very well received by tribal members who pilot tested the courses. Every single one of them said the courses are needed in Indian Country. Not one individual criticized our project. At least not openly but I did get the impression the subject of ethics training made some tribal members nervous although they verbally supporting the project.

I grew up in the 50's, 60's and early 70's (Hey, it took me a long time to mature), and I remember there were certain elders that you just automatically respected. It didn't matter what gender they were or their physical statue, or how much material items they possessed. These things didn't matter at all -- everyone respected them because they had character.

I am a 57-year-old Dakota man, and I suppose I am considered an elder, at least in Indian Country. Lately, I have noticed that I am asked to say the prayer before meetings begin more frequently -- an honor usually reserved for the elderly. So, I guess I am an elder.

During a conversation with an acquaintance a few years back, he asked me what was really important to me. After thinking about it for a while, I answered him something to the effect of, "I would like to be known as a person who has acquired a considerable amount of knowledge and wisdom in my fifty-some years here on this earth. I would like to be known as a person who treats everyone fairly. I would like to be known as a person who has the courage and honesty to stand by my principles. I would like to be known as a person people could come to for advice when they wanted or needed it..." I was thinking about the elders I had known as a child when I answered his question.

He appeared surprised and asked, "What about having an important high profile job or getting elected to the tribal council?"

I replied, "Yes, I would certainly like to have a high paying important job and/or get elected to the tribal council; but if you are in one of those positions, you have to confront someone nose-to-nose every now and then. I've been there and done that, and although I am still capable of doing that, I think that type of behavior is best left to people who are younger than me."

His question reminded me of a similar conversation I had with my advisor when I was in my doctoral program at UND. I was around 45 years of age when I entered into my doctoral program. One day I jokingly told my advisor when I got my doctorate, I was going to kick back and take it easy. My advisor looked shocked and said, "Erich, in our world (non-Indian), we are barely getting started at 50.

Another time, I was explaining to a non-Indian why a war-chief gave up his position at a "young" age" and assumed the role of an advisor. "A war chief is supposed to do everything that the warriors following him do," I said. "How do you think a man who is over 30 is going to match up with young men who are in their late teens and early twenties? Not very well, especially in hand-to-hand combat," I said. I went on to say, "if they lived long enough, they turned their responsibility over to someone younger than them."

I also attended a workshop at which an older person was explaining the stages of life we Dakota's go through. He made a lot of sense. One of the more profound concepts I got out of his teaching was this: "You can't turn the clock back. Once you've passed from one stage to the next, you are there because it is natural for you to be there." My point in regards to this blog is, "if you are an elder, than you behave like an elder."

Anyway, back to the point of this blog; as I was saying, the elders I knew as a child are so different than some of the elders I know today. As a child I was taught, mainly by example, that elders were dignified, were patient, were honest, and were fair.

Today, most of the elderly I know are also this way, but what about the one or two that don't follow our ways? I am thinking about one elder in particular. This elder uses fouls language at basketball games, lies about the hours worked, lies about other people, is obnoxious and rude in public, etc.

Here's my answer; treat them as you would any other elder. For example, a few times I caught my grown children and their friends making fun of this elder, so I reminded them, "_________ is an elder to you, and you should not be saying those bad things about _____."

Once, one of them replied, "but Dad, ________ lies so much..."

"It doesn't make a difference," I interrupted him, "________ is still an elder, so don't make fun of _______."

Because they respect me, they listened to me. But what about the many other young men and women out there who do not have a parent to admonish them when they make fun of an elder who is not behaving like an elder?

It has been awhile since my last blog, the reason being we are almost finished with the Tribal Leaders Institute Project (TLI). The initial development phase of the TLI will come to an end at the end of August, and I have been working hard to make sure we meet the deadline. Beginning in September, our website will be somewhat different. I will eliminate some features, but I will continue to write blogs.

Right now, I am writing the fifth and final course, which I titled, Ethical Decision-Making for our Tribal Leaders. The goal of this course is to encourage tribal members who are in leadership positions to approach decision-making using the same ethics: courage, honesty, perseverance, and generosity, as our ancestors did 150 years ago. This blog is a sneak preview of the course:

The Tale of Two Tribal Leaders

(Disclaimer - the case studies below are not describing an actual event.
They are the product of my imagination.)

Tribal Leader #1

On the last day of high school, Tribal Leader #1 received a phone call from a parent of a senior who had an unusual request. Apparently, the parent's child did not complete all the requirements needed to graduate. His request was to let his child walk across the stage with the other graduates and he would make sure the student completed all the work the week following graduation, so the student would receive her graduation diploma.

A month earlier, Tribal Leader #1 attended a board meeting in which the subject of students who might not graduate came up. Tribal Leader #1 and other tribal leaders present directed the principal to make sure he notified every parent a month in advance of graduation if their child was in danger of not meeting graduation requirements. And parents notified were to do everything possible to ensure their child graduated.

Therefore, the first thing Tribal Leader #1 did was ask the parent, "Did the principal call you about a month ago and notify you your child was in danger of not graduating?"

"Yes," the parent replied, "but they told my child yesterday that [the child] only needs to finish a couple of tests to graduate."

Tribal Leader #1 wanted to make sure he heard both sides of the story before he or she replied to the parent. "Let me make a phone call, and I will get back to you," Tribal Leader #1 told the parent. He then called the superintendent (not the principal) and relayed the parent's request. As a responsible board member, Tribal Leader #1 knew all communication with the school staff should go through the CEO; in this case, that was the superintendent. When he called the superintendent, the superintendent responded by assuring Tribal Leader #1 that everything was done to help the student in question. In fact, the superintendent said one of the parents acknowledged it was the student who shirks responsibility, not the school.

Tribal Leader #1 called the parent back and informed the parent there was nothing he could do. The parent became irate, so Tribal Leader #1 explained to the parent that a prior board had stopped the practice of letting students walk on the stage when they were close, but did not meet all graduation requirements. And Tribal Leader #1 added, "it sends a wrong message to other students that they do not have to finish all the graduation requirements to take part in graduation and all its pageantry." The parent kept insisting on having his way until Tribal Leader #1 said, "I was one of the members of the previous board who decided not to let seniors walk across the stage if they did not meet all the graduation requirements." The parent became more irate, but knew Tribal Leader #1's reputation for standing by his principles, so after informing Tribal Leader #1 that he was going to talk to the rest of the board members, he hung up.

What makes this case study interesting is that Tribal Leader #1 was facing a tough re-election fight in a couple of weeks. The outcome would be decided by a few votes, and the parent in question had promised Tribal Leader #1 his support a couple of weeks earlier. "My whole family will vote for you," he told Tribal Leader #1.

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Homework assignment: Identify which traditional values (courage, honesty, perseverance, and generosity) did Tribal Leader #1 exhibit in his decision-making process when dealing with the parent's request.

Homework assignment: What is your opinion of Tribal Leader #1 as a tribal leader?

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Tribal Leader #2

Tribal Leader #2 looked over the crowd of angry tribal members. As usual, they were before the council because most of them had no respect for the chain-of-command. Tribal Leader #2 almost said, "You guys need to follow the damn chain-of-command," but thought better of it due to a number of his important supporters being with the group. And it was getting close to election time, so Tribal Leader #2 did not say anything. "Even if I told them to go back and follow the chain-of-command, they [tribal members] would ignore me anyway," Tribal Leader #2 thought. After all, it always has been done this way.

So, Tribal Leader #2 prepared for the humiliation that he would have to endure and for the blatant disrespect for council authority he knew would surely come. Especially since most of the accusations thrown back and forth were mainly to distract council members from the truth, and therefore prevent them from making a decision based in fact. Tribal Leader #2 thought, "I wish someone would try to control the shouting and mean spirited behavior that will come," never once realizing that he, himself, as a tribal leader, should try and control the behavior.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the meeting to get out of control. Tribal Leader #2's conscience bothered him briefly, because a tribal member who had the courage and honesty to stand by his convictions was getting verbally abused and attacked from all sides. "But what the heck," Tribal Leader #2 thought, "that is how tribal politics works sometimes."

Tribal Leader #2 breathed a sigh of relief when the meeting was finally over and due to keeping quiet during most of the meeting, Tribal Leader #2 felt he did not alienate too many voters. Tribal Leader #2 knew tribal members would interpret his or her action as cowardice for letting the meeting get out of control and not standing up to the bullies in the crowd, but that would not matter. Tribal Leader #2's supporters would still vote for Tribal Leader #2, anyway. After all, Tribal Leader #2 supporters did not want Tribal Leader #2 to show any courage or honesty at these types of meetings. In fact, they did not vote for Tribal Leader #2 because of Tribal Leader #2's courage and honesty. Instead, they voted for Tribal Leader #2 for exactly the opposite reasons. They wanted a leader who could be counted on to let their group get away with their unethical cowardly behavior.

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Homework assignment: Identify which traditional values (courage, honesty, perseverance, and generosity) Tribal Leader #2 exhibited in his decision-making process when he decided how to approach the meeting.

Homework assignment: What is your opinion of Tribal Leader #2 as a tribal leader?

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I expect to be finished with this course in three weeks and will start on the final report to our funding agency then. After two years of writing courses about ethics, or lack of, on Indian reservations, I am convinced these courses are needed. The biggest question mark is, will tribal organizations be willing to hire Spirit Lake Consulting to train their employees in ethical behavior in the work place?

We tribal members who attend or attended UND and are against the nickname have very good reasons for wanting the Fighting Sioux nickname to go. Our first hand accounts about the "hostile and abusive" nature of the Fighting Sioux logo cannot be discredited by the pro logo side. Therefore, they ignore addressing our concerns. Instead, they conjure up many other reasons to restore the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

On April 18, 2010, the Forum published an editorial titled, UND logo fallout gets silly. It pointed out that the tactics used by pro logo supporters to restore a racist nickname and logo was - well silly. Apparently, this editorial prompted the use of another new strategy by logo supporters, the old "smoke and mirrors" trick, to restore the Fighting Sioux nickname.

For those who are not familiar with the term, here is Wikipedia's definition: Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

After being called "silly" by the Forum, almost every letter writer who wrote to the Herald in support of the nickname had written nothing but positive statements about us Indians. Man! I never read so many positive things about us in my entire life. Why all this sudden outpouring of "generosity"? Because it is a ruse, maybe not a conscious ruse, but a ruse none-the-less. The ruse is a softening up tactic that is manifesting itself in the form of false generosity.

Writing positive things about us is supposed to make all the problems associated with the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo "disappear." Hence, my reference to the old "smoke and mirrors" trick.

Another old ruse often used is this. "It is easier to get forgiven then get permission." This is exactly what Fool Bear, tribal member and a logo supporter, is attempting to do. On a Grand Forks radio station he said, "Trust democracy." According to Fool Bear, "democracy" on the reservation will ensure that "grassroots support" would stay strong in the years to come preventing future council members from dropping the name. He may fool non-Indians, but those of us who live on Indian reservations know how fickle tribal politics can be. Trying to predict tribal politics is like trying to predict the weather. He hopes the Standing Rock tribal council will fall for his ruse.

Frankly, I do trust democracy. It is the pro logo people who I do not trust because they are not speaking for themselves. A young lady from the Standing Rock reservation addressed both the trust issue and the democracy issue in her comment section on the Bismarck Tribune: "I find it very insulting to our tribal governance for their stance on the issue [against the logo] to not be respected. They are elected officials just like the elected officials of the State of the ND and those we send to DC. They are not free to shoot at the hip on what they feel they should vote. They have a constituency they are representing when they vote on council. They are required to attend their community meetings and vote accordingly to what their district decides on for different issues. This issue has already been voted on in these communities. This issue has gone through the democratic process. However, the people who are for the name, and it is definitely not UND, it's a third party who is at work here, a third party who has paid tribal members to push this referendum and to undermine out democratic process here on the reservation. This third party truly has no respect for Tribes or Tribal governments.

The third ruse is the claim that we are all "Fighting Sioux." No. If you are not an enrolled member of one of the many bands that make up the Great Sioux Nation, then you are not a Sioux. This outrageous claim by Fool Bear reveals how frightened pro logo tribal members are of freedom and equality. Instead, they want to be exactly like those who perpetuate a racist logo and nickname. This "fear of freedom" guides them down a prescribed role or path that the REA (Ralph Engelstad Arena) Foundation has laid out for them. This "fear of freedom" also leads them to try to silence tribal members who are against the nickname.

In my opinion, the most accurate poll to determine whether or not the Fighting Sioux logo and mascot is hostile and abusive is one that polls all the American Indians who have attended or currently are attending UND. The wrong people to poll are the Indians who never set one foot on the UND campus or in a UND classroom or the screaming fan that attends hockey games painted up and/or dressed up as an Indian.

I know I can safely say that all tribal council members would like to see younger tribal members get a college degree. In fact, many tribes provide scholarships to their members who attend college. A tribal leader's role is to insure the safety of its tribal members including those who attend UND. Why would tribal leaders jeopardize our children's safety and/or education at UND by sanctioning a racist harmful logo? This is not our way.

This past fall the Athletic Director (AD) at Four Winds Community School resigned after he admitted to illegal tampering of a student's records.  His supporters, and he has many, were outraged, not at him, but at us, the school board and administration, for accepting his resignation (I'm the president of the school board).  Their constant harassment forced us to go to the tribal council for guidance.  At the meeting with the council, many of the AD's supporters showed up and did a very good job of intimidating the faint of heart.  At this meeting, I passed out my response (below) to one of the AD's supporters who kept insisting Rick was not to blame.  Read my response and judge for yourself if the AD should be rehired and allowed to work with student athletes again.

John,

 

I read your email to me in which you expressed your concerns about our school.  You have been a long-time employee at the school, and you have a Master's in Educational Administration; therefore, I am assuming that you know any grievance you may have against a fellow employee must be filed by following the grievance process laid out in the employee handbook. 

 

By deciding not to utilize the grievance process in relaying your concerns to me, I am taking the contents of your email as your opinions rather than an official complaint. 

 

Your opinions appear to originate from your concern over Rick Smith's resignation.  Apparently, you believe that other people should be held accountable for Rick's unethical behavior.  Here is a statement that Rick wrote last year which he read on the radio, and please note Rick takes full responsibility for his incompetence.

 

I sincerely apologize to the school boards, the administration, staff, and students for causing great stress, humility, and displeasure.  I take full responsibility for my actions.  The oversight on the rules infraction and any other type of eligibility of our student/athletes lies solely on my shoulders.  This is a part of the Athletic Director's duties and I am the Athletic Director at the Four Winds Community School.  The Four Winds Community School has put their trust in me as their employee and I have let them down.  (Written Statement by Rick Smith to the Spirit Lake Community, March 17, 2009)

 

You also express concern that the board allowed the business manager to attend a national conference.  When I was elected to the school board six years ago, the school's finances were in shambles.  The business manager worked very hard, had to make some tough decisions, and now our finances are in the best shape they have ever been.  The board is not remiss if we decide to send an excellent employee to a conference.

 

In my six years on the board not once has anyone, including you, complained about the business manager attending the NSBA conference.  In addition, with your Master's degree in Educational Administration, I find it curious that you would request that I blame Rick's unethical behavior on someone else.  Your education would suggest that you would know better.  This peculiar request leads me to ask several questions of my own:

 

Are you aware that Rick had promised to write a letter to the North Dakota High School Athletic Association taking full responsibility for his actions to help us get our post season back?  He was going to ask them to not punish our boys for his failures.  Apparently, he changed his mind.  I strongly believe had Rick followed through with his promise to write a letter to the NDHSAA they would have voted to allow our boys to play in post season.  In my opinion, he deliberately abandoned our boys' basketball players in retaliation for us (the board) not letting him to continue on as coach after he resigned.  Not only did Rick's unethical action cause our sports teams to be barred from competing in post-season play, but he abandoned them when they needed him most. 

 

Are you part of that group that wants us to lower our academic standards so that our students can play sports?  If this is true, do you know what you are asking?  My goodness, do you realize how many people have come to me over the past six years and gave me heck because our students are not prepared academically?  And now you want us to lower our academic standards?  Why should we risk the future of all our students just so a few can play basketball?  A couple of years ago an angry parent approached me.  She said she wanted to ask Rick to look after her boy.  She went on to say that Rick let him get away with everything when he was in school just so he could play basketball and now he cannot fend for himself.  It's Rick's fault he is that way, she said.

 

The problems with Rick are not new.  When I was voted in six years ago, one of the first big problems we had was with the way Rick did his job.  We had at least three meetings in which people screamed and yelled at each other because Rick did not do his job in an ethical manner.

 

In regards to your statement, "Remember, these people, along with myself, voted you into office and all of them want something to be done."  Here is my response: The majority of people who voted for me wanted me to promote academics.  Over the past six years, the board and administration have worked very hard to accomplish that.  This is what my voters want, and this is what I will continue to do.

 

John, I have known and worked with you for many years.  I know you to be a good, decent person, but I have to admit, I am puzzled by your blind loyalty to the former Athletic Director and your persistence in placing Rick's mistakes on other administrators. 

 

This leads to two final questions: Do you and whatever group of people you represent hope to have our current administration fired whereby you can become principal and hire back Rick Smith as coach and Athletic Director? Is this why you are constantly disparaging our administration?

 

The bottom line is this: Not one of the individuals you mentioned in your email was involved in the illegal tampering of a student's record, which led to Rick's voluntary resignation.  Rick and Rick alone did that.  And this violation of the trust placed in him is what resulted in our boys' basketball post-season play being denied.

 

It is time for you and your small group of people to accept that Rick is no longer the AD, that his resignation was voluntary and final, and let it go and move on.  We--the school board, the administration, and community members--have moved on. 

 

cc: Board members 

 

Dr. Erich Longie, President
Spirit Lake Consulting. Inc.
PO Box 663
314 Circle Drive
Fort Totten, ND 58335
http://www.spiritlakeconsulting.com/

Fax # (701)766-4401
Cell # (701) 351-2175 wk

 

A few days ago, a person asked me what my thoughts were on cultural diversity, and how we can promote it. Here was my answer:

Cultural diversity starts with respect, high self-esteem, (moral) courage, (self) honesty and a belief in equality. In my opinion, human beings are naturally ethnocentric, and it takes all the characteristics I listed above to overcome that ethnocentrism (At some point and/or in some cases, for whatever reason, ethnocentrism morphs into racism.).

As a young man, I had no respect for non-Indians in North Dakota, mainly because of how they treated my mother (family) and me as I was growing up. At that time in my life, I didn't have the moral courage or the self-honesty to admit my attitude was racist. Although, even at that young age, I knew that racism was wrong. Due to my low self-esteem at the time and a little physical courage, I responded to every hostile action from non-Indians with plenty of hostility of my own. And I admit, I sometimes initiated acts of hostility first.

I'm an avid reader and listener. As a young man, I read dozens of books about us. I listened to many stories from my mother, aunts, and older relatives about how my parents, grandparents, and ancestors overcame adversity and survived, despite the hardships they faced, and I became extremely proud of who I was and where I came from.

When I quit consuming alcohol, my self-esteem skyrocketed, and I like to say I worked hard (and I am still working hard) to develop respect, high self-esteem, (moral) courage, (self) honesty and a belief in equality. These characteristics help me very much in understanding the need for cultural diversity.

What prevents a race from interacting with another race?

When I was a young man, I didn't have the self-honesty to admit my attitude was racist, and I openly practiced racism. At that time, I had some physical courage, but no moral courage, and as a result committed some stupid acts against non-Indians. I also had no self-respect; therefore, I had no respect for non-Indians. Due to my low self-esteem, any mention of words like "Chief," "Tonto," "Squaw," "Prairie Nigger," "Lazy Injun," etc., and yes, the "Fighting Sioux" usually elicited a strong response from me. As a result, I had very few (if any) interactions with the "other" race, and I liked it that way. Looking back, I can say I hurt race relations between the two races, and I had very few non-Indian friends, if any.

As I grew older and developed some self-honesty, I admitted my racism was (is) wrong. As my self-respect grew, so did my respect for other races, and as my self-esteem rose, I didn't have a knee jerk reaction whenever a non-Indian threw a racial epitaph at me. At the same time, my (moral) courage and my belief in equality rose tremendously, and I began to speak up, in an objective manner, against all forms of what I consider racism. The strange thing about it is instead of losing the few non-Indians friends I had, I gained many, many more. In fact, let me state this, in spite of my very vocal and public opposition to the Fighting Sioux Logo and other forms of racism, I enjoy many interactions with non-Indians:

• I am the only Indian member of a pool team that consists of five other non-Indian players. Two of them are brothers (Hanson). I travel quite frequently with these individuals. We often share the same hotel room, and they often invite me to their homes. We have hung around so much together and for long that I am often teased as being a "Hanson."
  
  
• Every Friday, I travel to Grand Forks and shoot pool with another non-Indian who is in a wheelchair. We have been doing this for the past 25 years, and it is now considered a "tradition" by some pool players in Grand Forks. This Scandinavian is now 62 years old, but 20 years ago, we traveled to every pool tournament in the state often competing as partners. His dad (deceased) and his brother think very highly of me, and my boys consider him an "Uncle."
  
  
• My CPA is a non-Indian, and I consider her a personal friend as well, as I do two other non-Indians who I work with. Both are from Grand Forks. Actually, one retired and moved to St. Paul.
  
  
• 50% of my FaceBook friends are non-Indian.
  
  
• About a month ago, three non-Indian Democrats approached me and asked me to be on the ticket with them. I agreed, and I am now the Democratic candidate for North Dakota House of Representatives for District 23. At the beginning of our meeting, I informed them that I was a very vocal and public opponent of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. That didn't make any difference, and I am now a candidate for the North Dakota House of Representatives, running in District #23.
  
  
• I was asked to sit on the "Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts" in North Dakota state courts. This commission is made up of about 60% non-Indians: state judges, and people who associate with the state courts.
  
  
• I am invited to talk to North Dakota State University faculty on Thursday.
  

I could list many more examples of productive enjoyable interactions I have with non-Indians but I think you get the point.

In my opinion, people respect you not so much for what you believe in or support as they respect you for what your character is. People admire courage, honesty, perseverance, and generosity in an individual. I will be the first to admit, I did not follow these values when I was a young man. However, I would like to think I now work very hard on practicing them. Although, I am certainly not perfect. By working hard to live by our traditional values to the best of my ability, people - non-Indians and Indians alike - judge me on my character, not what my stands are on certain issues. I also judge people on their character, not what their stands are on issues. As a result, I enjoy many, many friendships and interactions with the non-Indians that we share this state with.

It was with great interest that we watched the events unfold at Standing Rock; events that led to a petition that was submitted to their tribal chairman. As soon as it became apparent that pro-logo supporters at Standing Rock were carrying a petition to put the Fighting Sioux logo and mascot to a vote, those of us here at Spirit Lake, who oppose the use of the logo by Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA), decided to collect signatures for a petition of our own. This is something we had planned on and talked about for the last year.

Our petition expressly requests that the Spirit Lake Tribal Council hold another election to determine if the majority of Spirit Lake tribal members are still in favor of Ralph Engelstad Arena's use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. We haven't been idle this past year. Since the last vote, we have been working hard to educate tribal members on how the Fighting Sioux nickname is used as an avenue for racist behavior. We know we have been changing a lot of minds.

When we presented our petition to tribal members, we showed examples of the disrespectful uses and images that always accompany the use of the logo, albeit, in the background, just out of sight of most of the public. The pictures that helped us the most were pictures of a sorority party where UND students dressed up in costumes that mimicked Native Americans, costumes that were extremely disrespectful toward Native Americans. They used gunnysacks as dresses, red paint to paint handprints on their bodies. One picture showed them in a sexually suggestive pose. ... and, NO, this was not 20 years ago, but only a few years ago.

We had hoped we would not have to carry a petition against the Fighting Sioux logo and mascot because there is too much division over the name here on Spirit Lake. The mention of the nickname often starts an argument between opposing sides. One young tribal member who was carrying the petition for us had an older lady tear the petition up in front of her face and throw it in the garbage. It was retrieved from the garbage, taped together, and will be among those signatures we turn in with our petition.

On the other hand, the ease and quickness with which we were able to collect 300 signatures was heartening. We heard positive comments to the effect, "If you had shown these pictures the last time, we would not have voted for the logo." They awaken to the fact that they are not mascots and will vote to reverse the prior decision made by our council. We will present our petition with its required number of signatures to the tribal council within the next few weeks.

Our (Spirit Lake Nation) constitution requires that a petition must have 20% of the number of people who voted in the last election sign the petition before the tribal council can accept it. There were approximately 1100 tribal members who voted in the last election. Therefore, we needed approximately 220 signatures. We started a couple of weeks ago, and we now have approximately 300 signatures.

Nickname supporters may be winning some battles, like having tribal members get petitions in favor of the Sioux nickname, and filing lawsuits. We may not be able to match you in resources, but we are more than a match for you in determination. Our determination partly stems from our desire to protect our youth and other Native Americans, who attend or will attend the University of North Dakota, from the racist behavior that always accompanies the use of the Fighting Sioux logo and mascot.

In closing, we want to make it perfectly clear to the Ralph Engelstad Arena Foundation and other nickname supporters: we will never rest until the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo is retired from the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Right now our tribal constitution gives us tribal members the right to petition to the tribal government. We will exercise that right, and will continue to petition until we get rid of the nickname. There is no doubt in our minds, we will win the war by attrition - we will keep fighting until you are worn down.

 

How many of you have heard about Chief Clarence Louie from the Osoyoos Indian Band in British Columbia? After reading a few articles about him, I thought to myself, "Wow! He makes the material in my Tribal Leaders Institute sound tame."

Speaking at a large aboriginal conference, Chief Clarence Louie said, "I can't stand people who are late. Indian Time doesn't cut it. My first rule for success is 'Show up on time.' My No. 2 rule for success is follow Rule No. 1." He goes on to say, "If your life sucks, it's because you suck. Quit your sniffling. Join the real world - go to school or get a job. Get off of welfare. Get off your butt." (MacGregor, 2006, para.s 3-4, 6-10)

However, the comment I appreciated most was this, "Our ancestors worked for a living," he says. "So should you" (MacGregor, 2006, para. 14). This is exactly the point I try to drive home in Tribal Leaders Institute courses.

Who is Clarence Louie?

He is "chief - and CEO - of the Osoyoos Band in British Columbia's South Okanagan. He is 44 years old [now 50], though he looks like he would have been an infant when he began his remarkable 20-year-run as chief. He took a band that had been declared bankrupt and taken over by Indian Affairs and he has turned it into an inspiration." (MacGregor, 2006, para. 17)

According to MacGregor (2006), "Chief Louie is tough. He is ... proud of the fact that his band fires its own people as well as hires them." He understands that there will always be those who disagree with him, but that does not prevent him from making courageous and honest decisions. As tough as he is, he says he is nothing compared to his mother. Especially, when it comes to how to deal with what she calls today's lazy aboriginal male youth. "Rent a plane," she told him, "and fly them all to Iraq. Dump 'em off and all the ones who make it back are keepers" (para.s 21-22).

When competent leaders in Indian country hold their tribal members accountable, one thing is for certain; their own people will attack them. Chief Louie's situation is no different. He is accused of abandoning their traditions in favor of money. Some people say he is "... sacrificing traditional First Nations culture and values at the altar of capitalism ..." (Findlay, 2009, para. 3). Chief Louie's response to this accusation is, "You're going to lose your language and culture faster in poverty than you will in economic development" (MacGregor, 2006, para. 27). To further defend his actions, he asserts his people come first. "I won't go to a meeting these days unless it has to do with creating jobs and making money," he said. "I spend my time on economic development and I don't care what you say; everything costs money. Even our traditional ceremonies cost money" (Findlay, 2009, para. 2). He goes on to chide fellow aboriginals "who claim to be following the 'red road' (adhering to traditional values and spirituality) while collecting a social assistance cheque" (Findlay, 2009, para. 3). Ironically, as a result of his focus on economic development, his band was able to build the beautiful Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre that promotes First Nations aboriginal culture.

Chief Louie does not discriminate. Nobody - First Nations people or the federal department of Indian affairs, which he says is "an inept bureaucracy that has perpetuated a First Nations welfare state" - is immune to his criticism (Findlay, 2009, para. 3). The bottom line is that he wants aboriginals to move "beyond entry-level jobs to real jobs they 'earn' - all the way to the boardrooms. He wants to see 'business manners' develop: showing up on time, working extra hours. The business lunch, he says, should be 'drive through,' and then right back at it" (MacGregor, 2006, para. 6).

I often point out in my Tribal Institute courses that most Indians love courageous and honest leaders and will follow them anywhere. This seems to be the case with Chief Louie. The audiences love his speeches. They are not turned off by his tough talk at all. And judging from the success his band has experienced over the last 20 years, I would say they have definitely followed his leadership. According to Findlay (2009):

"The Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corp. currently owns nine businesses, with annual revenues topping $13 million, including the award-winning Nk'Mip Cellars, the first First Nations-owned winery in the world. Every Christmas, 12 per cent of profits are distributed to band members. In 2005, more than 1,000 First Nations and non-First Nations were employed by OIB businesses and joint ventures. That same year, OIB Holdings generated nearly $2 million in lease payments from non-First Nations companies such as Calgary-based Bellstar Hotels & Resorts, which is putting the finishing touches on a four-star property - Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa - on the shores of Lake Osoyoos. Not too shabby for a band that has fewer members than your average urban high school has students" (para. 5-6).

Finally, Chief Louie, "prides himself on being 'a stay-home chief who looks after the potholes in his own backyard' and wastes no time 'running around" the country (MacGregor, 2006, para. 30). Perhaps the best phrase Chief Louie has uttered is this one, "Get over it." Louie says, to the twenty per cent who don't like what he says or his leadership. "Get some counseling" (MacGregor, 2006, para. 29)

REFERENCES:

Findlay, A. (2009, December 11). Ruffling feathers: The tough-talking, no-bullshit genius of Chief Clarence Louie. ibrii. Retrieved from http://www.ibrii.com/n/95v6t

MacGregor, R. (2006, September 21). Indian Time doesn't cut it' for innovative chief with on-the-edge humor. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article844275.ece