(4)Divided—Traditional Vs Progressive & (5)Crossing Tribal Boundaries (From The Book, Skins In Shirts) Text Only

Renegade Essays

Divided—Traditional Vs Progressive

After Alcatraz, the buzz of the "Movement" polarized communities. The labels Traditional and Progressive were coined. To understand what these two terms represent we need to understand, in a general way, the processes of original tribal leadership and government.

Traditional leadership was often based on service and the inherent qualities, talents, and character of those who most effectively provided that service. So the best hunters were often followed or depended on to lead the hunt. The most daring and resourceful warriors were given the opportunity, by the power of their ability, to lead during battle. The most visionary and spiritually oriented people were expected to oversee the spiritual welfare and ceremonial life of the Peoples. The most proven and effective healers were expected to provide their Power and skills to care for the sick and injured. In this way, Native abilities, talents, and superior character were rewarded and encouraged.

As always, with human beings, the intricacy of social politics sometimes puts the wrong person in charge at the wrong time, but by and large, many true democracies existed in the pre-Columbus Americas. An example of these might be the Councils that enforced the Great Law of the Six Nations, guided the Choctaw Confederacy, or sustained the Mississippian Civilization during its 5000 years. Felix Cohen wrote, "It is out of a rich Indian democratic tradition that the distinctive political ideals of American life emerged. Politically, there was nothing in the Empires and Kingdoms of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to parallel the democratic constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy, with its provisions for initiative, referendum and recall, and its suffrage for women as well as for men."

One of the unique characteristics common to many different Nations was the right of an individual to follow the leader of choice based on a "what have you done for me lately" approach to service. Though leaders did have a certain status among the people--that status was never guaranteed to last. Even though respect might endure, should a better and more effective leader demonstrate his or her abilities, the People could "change horses" at will.

Often decisions were made by groups of leaders reaching consensus, rather than by one individual making a solitary choice. This confused Europeans, who were used to appointing, electing, or being forced to accept one man as their spokesman or leader. Most of the unintentional misunderstandings that occurred during treaty making happened because Americans were looking in vain for one "Chief" when; in fact, the power resided in the hands of a group of leaders directly responsible to their People. Of course as time went on the U.S. Government became aware of this and used it as a tool against the Peoples to illegally obtain treaty signatures to steal lands and resources they knew would never be given up intentionally by the Nations.

After George Washington declared the first policy of "assimilating" Indians into the mainstream society through an inter-breeding of the races, the job of pushing assimilation was taken over by missionaries and organized religion. Nevertheless it was the reaction to the corruption of the Department of the Army's individual Indian Agencies that pushed for a reorganizing of the "savages" into more malleable political entities—that could be watched over (and controlled) more effectively. In the early 1900’s, the American Government began looking for a way to introduce their own brand of "democracy" to the Tribes.

Though some Tribes received the outlines of the American plan in 1927, it was the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 that provided for the formation of tribal constitution—with governments comprised of general councils of the enrolled tribal memberships, along with quorums, parliamentary procedures, tribal chairmen, secretaries, treasurers, organized meetings, elections and voting.

The push to enroll tribal members came with the Reorganization Act, ostensibly to establish official membership lists for voting purposes. During all of these registration attempts some people were left off these lists intentionally, some refused to register out of fear or as a sign of continuing resistance; nevertheless these lists became the basis of official tribal membership. Knowing that the die-hard Traditional peoples (and much of the common membership) would shun or ignore this foreign approach to governing themselves, the Federal Government sought to establish governing bodies more sympathetic to assimilation and Progressive thinking. Smaller Tribal Councils came into being. We have come to see clearly, in the last few decades, how government employees and unscrupulous leaders would eventually misuse this formula for tribal re-organization.

As decades passed, some Indians were drawn to the Council positions offered by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). It was gainful employment, close to home, and it had advantages beyond a paycheck. These "leaders" often involved themselves for the same reasons many American political figures do, not because they have innate talents or special abilities to serve the People, but simply to gain influence, power, economic profit, or special status for themselves and their families.

To be fair, those early Tribal Council pioneers probably did not enter into their positions with these questionable goals in mind, but to attempt to help their families out of poverty. Perhaps some of the old-time values for serving the people remained. Nevertheless, the 1934 Reorganization Act precipitated numerous intra-tribal conflicts, though it was still to be decades before the right conditions would exist for significant economic exploitation of the Tribes through these new "governments." In fact, it was the 1950 and 1960’s Tribal Councils that were often comprised of members or descendants of the lost generation. Lacking the values of a Traditional upbringing, these fully assimilated Natives were completely taken with the consumer ethic of mainstream America. Primarily interested in success and security, Progressives lacked any commitment to Traditional values and even considered those values ignorant and outdated. Thoroughly convinced that they should assimilate and share in the American dream, they took advantage of the Traditionals reluctance to become involved, and through tribal “elections”—became the federally recognized representatives of their Tribes. This served the interests of the BIA perfectly. As Tribal Chairmen, Councils, or Chiefs—they were in perfect position to commit Tribes to relationships with non-Indian lawyers and the large corporations that were discovering vast quantities of valuable resources on heretofore “worthless” Indian lands. The Tribal leaders often received under-the-table payoffs or “kickbacks” for successfully negotiated agreements. These assimilated American’s, as important tribal leaders, despised the Traditionals for holding onto what they (the leaders) regarded as obsolete social, spiritual and cultural practices. They relished their new power to be a VIP.

Rather than creating true democratic representation for Tribes, to replace their traditional consensual democracies, the 1934 tribal government Constitutions saddled them with a system that depended on government social and economic programs.

If the general memberships of the Tribes had fully understood the principles of the Indian Reorganization Act, and had immersed themselves in the process of General Council decision-making from the outset, the form might have been effective, but culturally the Tribes were not ready for an American kind of government. Traditional suspicion and lack of participation (plus the missing checks and balances that attempt to make the American process equitable) accomplished a contradictory result. Rather than encouraging tribal members to participate in the General Council process, it caused them to shun or ignore it, leaving the government-to-government interaction and decision-making solely to the small Tribal Councils, Chiefs, or Tribal Chairmen.

The U.S. Government and Corporations finally had those single "chiefs" they'd always been looking for with the recognized authority (at least by the BIA), to push and approve any program and proposal regarding tribal lands and resources. With so much money involved—fraud, corruption, graft, and nepotism within the Tribes was bound to occur. The pie-in-the-sky promises of corporations like Peabody Coal sounded wonderful on paper. Strip-mine Black Mesa in the Four Corners area, powder the coal, pump up water from the aquifers, and send it all through a pipeline to make electricity for the west. The Tribes would make big bucks. Traditionals foresaw that a future water and energy crisis might severely tax not only their precious resources, but their unity—causing them enormous inner turmoil and political strain. However, with the usual shortsightedness of American Progress, Progressive leaders, with generations of poverty under their belts, were easy targets.

In the late 1960’s, and particularly after Alcatraz, Traditional protests of proposed land leases and concessions to mineral and resource mega-corporations publicized one of the fundamental differences between the Progressives and the Traditionals.

Traditionals believed the land to be Sacred. Traditionals were for protecting their resources, not exploiting them. They were for preserving language, ceremony, and tradition—not discarding them. Also, since they refused to involve themselves in the "puppet" governments they despised, they had no real power to effect change except through public demonstration, civil disobedience, protest, and media publicity.

Progressives wanted "economic progress." Their ideas about what they did, or did not believe were obscured by their adamant acceptance of Government programs and "economic" issues. Since the Government (i.e. BIA federal law enforcement) stood behind the "recognized" Tribal Councils, bitter and often violent confrontations between Traditionals and Progressive tribal police and Federal Agents occurred.

These conflicts led to deep divisions between the two groups. Political and vindictive murder, rape, and assault were commonplace in the 1970’s—especially where morally bankrupt federally recognized "leaders" held total power over their Nations and their lands. Even the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, which centered on the alleged misconduct of a tribal chairmen and his Progressive government did not solve the poor system of government most Indian Nations endure, though quite a few people lost their lives in the effort.

Many Tribes today are still in the grip of criminals or carpetbaggers who manipulate these obsolete and ineffective systems for their own gain. A few Nations have managed, with educated and responsible leadership, to benefit their Peoples. Other Tribes are ignorantly racing to diminish the power of their general memberships by rewriting their constitutions and placing that power in the hands of fewer and fewer, often unqualified, "leaders."

The Dream that was born innocent at Alcatraz, came into its adulthood during these times. The Movement suffered the death, loss, and imprisonment of many of our brothers and sisters. The repercussions of the killing of the two FBI Agents, Williams and Coler, at the Jumping Bull's compound on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975, echo around the Nation even now, more than three decades later. Leonard Peltier, though almost universally recognized as innocent of the charges he was convicted of, still sits in prison as of this writing; (Authors note- Leonard’s sentence was commuted in 2025, after 50 years of imprisonment) a victim of a corrupt law enforcement agency (the FBI), and the war that existed in those times. (This same agency of misfits and low-lifes has only recently been given broad powers to undermine the Constitution and infringe on the rights of citizens again.)

The U. S. Government and the American people have never accepted that the various local conflicts of the 1970’s were simply a continuation of the Indian Wars against the United States and not just isolated events perpetrated by activists and dissidents. As evidenced by solemn Treaty agreements, we have never stopped believing in the Sovereignty of our Nations.

At Pine Ridge, hostility and fear ran high. Those who talk about how the Agents were executed, forget that the FBI had previously, and callously, ignored the violence on the rez. No warfare conventions had ever applied to Federal/Indian conflicts of the past and none existed there. Armed Federal Agents entered a Sovereign Nation, knowing that there was a similarly armed group of Indians near there (as well as a camp full of Elders, women, and children), purportedly to pursue an unknown person, in an unconfirmed vehicle, who had stolen a pair of cowboy boots! It was an ill-advised, if not foolhardy act to begin with. The Feds were well aware of the fear they evoked in the people of this area. Few remember that an Indian, Joe Stuntz, was also killed in the gunfire that followed, and that these Agents were not the only Federal Law Enforcement Agents on the reservation at the time. Fifteen minutes after the firefight the area was literally swarming with agents, including helicopters. Fear and violence were directing the actions of both sides. Eventually, even though his two "accomplices" were exonerated of any crime, and despite proven Government tampering and intimidation, Leonard was chosen to be the "sacrificial goat" to fulfill the FBI need for someone (guilty or not), to pay for the murders of their two comrades. But no one was ever held accountable for the killing of Joe Stuntz.

Similarly, though emotions regarding the American Indian Movement occupation of Wounded Knee still run deep and divided in the local Lakota population, Indians definitely sacrificed a greater number of lives in the conflict and no one has ever been prosecuted for those murders.

The lines between Progressive and Traditional have blurred over time. Many Nations still labor under the yoke of unresponsive or unrepresentative leadership. Tribes continue to have their resources exploited and their trust monies unaccounted for. Whistleblower Dave Henry's revealing book, "Stealing From Indians," details his firing by the BIA after his discovery of a multitude of accounting errors and questionable practices resulting in billions of missing Indian trust fund dollars--a result of government mismanagement, fraud, and corruption involving both Tribal and Federal government employees. Legal action to force the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the BIA to admit the mismanagement, if not the outright theft of billions of dollars of Indian trust monies continues today. (Google Cobell to find out the latest info on the web.)

For a while, the government was "losing", contaminating, or destroying boxes of evidence and being threatened with contempt by the Federal Judge appointed to the case. All this is a direct result of the Reorganization Act and the consolidating power of Progressive tribal councils who failed to demand accurate BIA accounting of funds because they were ignorant dupes, or active participants, in the theft. Today the Government acknowledges the exact amounts missing may never be known, and a settlement offer is in the wind.

Most of those who were once committed to Traditional ideals still hold to that commitment. AIM is still around, as are many of the Warrior Societies, but the focus and unity of the Traditional Movement has diminished nationally. Fortunately, the awareness of the importance of what is being lost culturally within individual Nations has increased. Even Progressives are spouting Traditional rhetoric. Meanwhile some Traditionals, at least superficially, approve of the meager economic benefits being experienced by gaming Tribes. The viciousness of the struggle between Traditional values and Progressive economics has lessened, and in some places, there is even a spirit of cooperation toward both ideals. However, as time counts forward, there has been a lessening of the cooperative spirit, a jaded satisfaction with the trappings of newly found wealth, and a loss of the feeling of imperative necessity that the Nations continue to push for treaty recognitions, land claims, and real sovereignty. Ultimately we must ask whether the Spirits of the missing in action, the murdered, and the imprisoned who paid with their lives or freedom will be respected and remembered as they should. Because we loved them, we hope a new generation of Red Power Children will emerge to follow in their tracks.

Crossing Tribal Boundaries

In the 1970s, Alcatraz and the efforts of the All-Tribes Movement encouraged Indians all over the continent to come together and find common ground. Traditional Elders agreed unity was a prerequisite to preparations of the Nations for the difficulties foreseen ahead. Unity Conventions and Gatherings were held. At these Gatherings, representatives of the Hopi and Six Nations Peoples continued to reveal and compare the prophecies of their Nations. These prophecies had common themes—Indians should not become too dependent on the modern world. We were encouraged to remember our original responsibilities and relationships to the land and each other. We were told to always teach our coming generations that the world can change at any time, and that it is always purified when the misdeeds of men become too great for the Creator and Mother Earth to tolerate. Today much of what was said then has been forgotten, but in our minds, their call to unity has never diminished.

Some call it Pan-Indianism. We prefer to think of it as an expression of a visible and intentional attempt at Inter-Tribal Unity. Once our spiritual life was to be found in everything we did. A sense of magic and mystery filled our lives and we believed that anything was possible. We did not separate the sacred from the mundane. Power was everywhere. We shared a love for our families and had a long time tradition of respect for the circle of the family and the role each member played within it. Now, though alcohol, poverty, and grief weaken us, we recognize that the Creator has given each of our Peoples specific Ceremony and Ritual to keep our Balance. We share the all-important ideal of "Respect." Indeed, we share many things. Just as the Pipe of Red Stone crosses the boundaries of Nations as a Sacred symbol, as sign language once fostered international communication, and as the Ghost Dance brought Peoples together in hope and prayer, so do today's inter-tribal forms unite the vastly different Indigenous Nations that inhabit this land. At one time, we were as different from one another as the Europeans—English from Spanish, French from German, Basque from Portuguese, etc. We had different languages, different stories, and different cultures.

It is first in our minds to acknowledge that those of us who still have the opportunity to learn our language and oral traditions are obligated to preserve those original and distinct qualities of our Nations.

But for those Indians who cannot, there exists a desire to learn Traditional methods of dealing with the daily events of ourlives, as well as a desire to pass to the children essences of what made our cultures and values different from the dominant society of today. The shared experiences of subjugation, imprisonment, isolation, poverty, dependence, and survival have forged us into Nations that should be obsessed with preserving culture. Some Tribes still remember their languages and speak them, performing their ancient Ceremonies and Rituals to fulfill their obligations to the Creator. Others have lost almost everything of what they once were.

Today, we believe everyone benefits from the All-Tribes Spirit. Moreover, especially for the thousands of un-enrolled, separated, or unknowns that live away from their Original Peoples—that spirit may be all that remains of the ties to their heritage. Shared ways give them an opportunity to maintain their spiritual balance and harmony, to feel their Indian extended-family strength, and to help pass on Traditional values and culture to their children. They may not be active members of a specific tribe, but they are "in-support", and that is important.

Despite the fears of some that this cross-cultural sharing will open the floodgates to wannabes and opportunists; we believe Indians are smarter than that. They can easily recognize the genuine from the bogus. For those who slip by, unless they demonstrate the desire to profit or gain recognition, what harm will they do?

A greater threat to our Peoples is that we will allow materialism and consumerism to usurp our values, causing us to slowly and surely give up speaking our languages, holding to our lands, supporting our families, dancing and singing, performing our ceremonial duties, honoring our older ones, introducing our newborn, caring for those who pass away, and teaching our youth the discipline and values of our Elders.

We must qualify our endorsement of this "unity". Just because ways may be shared does not mean we believe they may be adapted or altered indiscriminately. In regard to spiritual form and ceremony for example; one does not simply “decide” to be a Ceremonial Leader or Instructor. There is a protocol and a correct way for these things to come about. This is one of the differences between Traditional Indians and those who have adopted methods that are more modern. Not every Indian can carry a Pipe, instruct a Sun Dance, or pour water in a sweat lodge. First you are chosen, then prepared, then instructed, then authorized (and there may be limitations to your authorization.) We're generalizing of course, all Nations have their own ways, but our family believes that it is primarily through oral tradition that our ceremonies and rituals are taught and preserved, not by reading, or writing books.

To understand the bond between us that crosses Tribal boundaries, one has only to visit large inter-tribal gatherings, spiritual ceremonies, or unity conventions. The feeling of extended family is ever present. These gatherings have been occurring from times even before Europeans came to our shores. Our greatest victories against our opponents occur when we act together in unison for a common purpose.

There are still Indians who believe that their Tribe is the only one. Similarly, there are those who judge each and every person by their color of skin or tribal affiliation. While we agree that preserving specific tribal languages, identities, and culture is of paramount importance, we also believe that many of our old family prejudices must be discarded so that the unnecessary divisions between us will disappear.

To share what we hold in common between our Nations is an important step toward the unity that will make us a power that cannot be ignored. Unlike those superficial symbols of Hollywood, to which we have been compared and subjected, we hope to fulfill the prayers of those Elders, now gone, who wished only that our Nations endure.