What
is the effect of fear on our Indian leaders?
Educated tribal members are
supposed come back to the reservations and change things
for the better. Why is that not happening? Listen to what
Dr. Carol Davis who is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band
of Chippewa Indians has to say about: "Higher Moral
Character" and how Indian people who are in positions of
leadership on the reservations find it difficult to comply:
"Higher
Moral Character" and how Indian people who are in positions
of leadership on the reservations find it difficult to
comply...
On the reservations, Indian leaders who have earned
advanced degrees have studied system and organization
management strategies, administration using policy and
procedures, ethics and law, and an abundance of strategies
in their degree programs that are designed to move systems
forward. But, when they get into management positions on
the reservation, they don't have the opportunity to use
what they learned because they are governed by boards and
elected leaders who, in the majority of instances, are not
educated and don't understand that there are ways to manage
organizations so they will be productive. Even when boards
have educated people on them, they still demand that the
educated leaders ignore their years of training in favor
of Tribal
politics.
These boards and elected leaders want to manage the tribal
systems for political gain, which means providing jobs or
other opportunities for the relatives and friends of the
board members. If the educated managers want to survive,
they have to do as they are told. When they attempt to
operate using standards of "Higher Moral Character”,
they lose favor with those in power and their authority is
either taken away or they lose their job.
Courageous
Leadership is having the honesty to admit what is happening
on our reservation and having the courage to do something
about it.