Tribal Leaders With Character- Under Construction

Welcome to the Latest On-Line Workshop by Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
For an explanation of why we put our 'work in progress' up on the web before it is a finished project, click here.
To see the first drafts of Tribal Leaders with Character, just follow the links.

Read any history book, any article, watch any movie on Native Americans - all have something in common, that Native Americans have ‘spirit’. There is a discussion of honesty, of how the experiences and beliefs in Native American society helped build character. In contemporary sources, many, many Native American sites mention honesty. Although there is great diversity among tribes, it is safe to say that honesty is highly respected among all tribes.

Among my own ancestors, the Spirit Lake Dakota, I find it interesting that while it was honorable to steal from an enemy, I could not even find a word that meant stealing from another tribal member. It appears it was so rare that there was no need for a term for it. Historically, we Native Americans were very ethical people. Ethics and morality were interwoven through all aspect of our ancestors' daily lives. The specifics differed from tribe to tribe but they all had ceremonies to help built character. The Pipe Ceremony. The Purification Ceremony, The Vision Quest, The Naming Ceremony, Smudging. They had many sacred objects, sacred symbols, and sacred land.

This is what our project stresses .... if we are proud of our Indian roots and traditions, we should act like Indians.

Why we are concerned, and why the time to do something about it is now

Every society has its own customs. The mores of a culture determine what is socially accepted and what is not. Traditionally, stealing, dishonesty and disrespect toward elders were socially disapproved in Native American culture. In 2006, Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc. conducted a survey of tribal leaders around the nation. According to the survey, either the mores in Indian country have changed or we are accepting an unusual amount of ethical violations being tolerated.

Why take an Ethics course?