decision making

Wolves Have A Constitution: Continuities in Indigenous Self-Government

Year

This article is about constitutionalism as an Indigenous tradition. The political idea of constitutionalism is the idea that the process of governing is itself governed by a set of foundational laws or rules. There is ample evidence that Indigenous nations in North America–and in Australia and New Zealand as well–were in this sense constitutionalists. Customary law, cultural norms, and shared protocols provided well understood guidelines for key aspects of governance by shaping both personal and collective action, the behavior of leaders, decision-making, dispute resolution, and relationships with the human, material, and spirit worlds. Today, many of these nations have governing systems imposed by outsiders. As they move to change these systems, they also are reclaiming their own constitutional traditions.

Resource Type
Citation

Cornell, Stephen. "'Wolves Have A Constitution:' Continuities in Indigenous Self-Government." The International Indigenous Policy Journal. Volume 6,  Issue 1. January 2015. Paper. (https://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/continuities-in-indigenou..., accessed March 24, 2015)

Indigenous Land Management in the United States: Context, Cases, Lessons

Year

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is seeking ways to support First Nations’ economic development. Among its concerns are the status and management of First Nations’ lands. The Indian Act, bureaucratic processes, the capacities of First Nations themselves, and other factors currently limit the ability of First Nations to add lands to reserves or to use their lands more effectively in productive and self-determined economic activity.

As it confronts these issues, AFN has been interested in how Indigenous land-management issues are being addressed by Native nations in the United States. What is the status of Indigenous lands in the U.S.? Do Native nations in the U.S. face similar challenges to those facing First Nations? Are Native nations in the U.S. engaged in practices that might offer ideas or lessons for First Nations?

There are substantial historical, legal, and political differences between the situations of Native nations in Canada and the U.S. But there also are substantial similarities. In both countries, land has been a pivotal issue–in many ways the pivotal issue–in the history of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations. In both countries, despite massive land loss, Native nations retain remnant land bases with varying potential for economic development. In both countries, Native nations fiercely defend their remaining lands, seek to expand them, and are determined to exercise greater control over what happens on those lands.

This report addresses the status of Native lands in the U.S. It is divided into two parts. Part 1, “Overview of the U.S. Context,” reviews the history of Indigenous lands and provides an overview of current Indian land tenure and jurisdiction. Part 2, “Meeting the Land Management Challenge,” specifies the primary challenges facing Native nations in the U.S. as they attempt to manage their lands in ways that meet their own objectives and summarizes some of the innovative practices currently in use or being developed by American Indian nations. It identifies what we believe are key features of those practices. It also summarizes some of the relevant research on the relationship between control of Native lands and socioeconomic outcomes. Finally, it offers some recommendations based on the U.S. experience...

This report is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the Assembly of First Nations.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Cornell, Stephen and Miriam Jorgensen. "Indigenous Land Management in the United States: Context, Cases, Lessons." A Report to the Assembly of First Nations. Grogan|Cornell Consulting. Tucson, Arizona. December 2011. Report.

Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission's Treaty Rights/National Forest MOU

Year

The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), a tribally chartered intertribal agency, negotiated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US Forest Service that both recognizes and implements treaty-guaranteed hunting, fishing, and gathering rights under tribal regulations and establishes a consultation process for National Forest management decisions that affect treaty rights. Under the MOU’s government-to-government process, there is increased communication, consultation, and integration of the tribes into National Forest decision-making on issues such as sugar bush management and timber harvesting. The MOU establishes standards and processes by which the Forest Service and the Tribes will act consistently across the four National Forests located within areas ceded by the Chippewa in the Treaties of 1836, 1837, and 1842. The MOU provides a model for other tribes seeking to exercise tribal self-governance and to protect treaty resources through a negotiated agreement with a partnering agency from another jurisdiction.

Resource Type
Citation

"Treaty Rights/National Forest Management Memorandum of Understanding". Honoring Nations: 2000 Honoree. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2001. Report.

Permissions

This Honoring Nations report is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.

From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "Learning to Make Informed Decisions"

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Native leaders share what the role of a leader entails from studying the history of the tribe to listening to and learning from elders of the community; all the tools necessary to making informed decisions.

Native Nations
Citation

Jordan, Paulette. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy. University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 25, 2010. Interview.

Luarkie, Richard. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. October 1, 2012. Interview.

Miles, Rebecca. "What I Wish I Knew Before I Took Office." Emerging Leaders seminar. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 23, 2011. Presentation.

Mitchell, Michael K. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2008. Interview.

Norris, Jr., Ned. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2012. Interview.

Peacock, Robert. "What I Wish I Knew Before I Took Office," Native Nation Rebuilders program, Bush Foundation.  Cloquet, Minnesota. July 14, 2011. Presentation.

Pouley, Theresa M. "Reclaiming and Reforming Justice at Tulalip." Emerging Leaders Seminar. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 26, 2008. Presentation.

Michael Mitchell:

"Don't be ashamed to say you've got stuff to learn to be a politician. And I might take the first six months and learn my leadership craft well. I need to consult with more established leaders. I need to talk to the staff. I need to go seek feedback from community people, from elders. You spread yourself out there and tell them you're not here to make decisions right away because if you don't know what kind of decisions you have to make and you're making decisions, it's likely to be wrong. It's likely to be selfish and it'll come back on you. So give yourself a little bit of time to know what people, why things are in place and what people are feeling, what's on their mind. And for a good leader, he'll always go around, the first six months of his term, and listen. And it's not a crime to stand up and say, ‘I've got a little bit to learn here and I see some chiefs here that have been here for a while. I know some people here who used to serve on council. I'm going to make sure I learn my craft well.' You get a lot of respect in the community if you can say that."

Rebecca Miles:

"What I can't tell you enough is do your research. What you're going to hear, and you've probably already heard, tribal leaders, let's say the person that you beat to get in office, is going to be at the public meeting and say, ‘You don't know what you're doing and yada, yada...' And I did. I pulled out every resolution and did a timetable of when we got in this settlement. The first question for the first five months was, ‘How did we get here?' Well, I needed to know that and I needed to be telling my people, how did we get here? I looked at every decision that was made and I found every resolution that appointed members of our council to negotiate this settlement. They were appointed as the negotiator. And so I was able to put faces and accountability to the tribe, that it's not just the person who just walks in, this is a bigger deal. And so research is important as well to avoid continuously making mistakes and not being accountable."

Paulette Jordan:

"That's the thing. You're jumping on the treadmill, going 90 miles an hour. You're having to do research left and right. You really have no time to sleep because you have to read everything and making sure you're prepared for tomorrow's meeting or council session and that you can ask the right questions so that you make the right decision. But the tough thing is you have to get your rest, pay attention, make sure that you do ask the right questions from the right people and making sure you connect with your fellow leaders. Because for me, and that's what made it easy for me because my fellow leaders are people that I've known all my life and respected and felt like I had a mentor relationship with them. So I guess that's why I'm fortunate, but if I didn't have that I wouldn't be able to be as successful in terms of understanding and trying to make positive or a good decision for our people."

Theresa Pouley:

"Your tribal court system is part of your government every bit as much as any other department. And the fact that we have separation of powers doesn't mean we have a separation of problems. You and I all have the same problems. It doesn't mean that we have separation of solutions. Because I'm a judge, I know a variety of things about promising practices. Because you're tribal council people, you know a variety of things. If we put our heads together, we can get it done."

Robert Peacock:

"You have to be ready to take and make decisions but not always with 100 percent of the information. And I think good leaders do that, they have people around them that know a little bit about everything and you take all of that information and you make decisions based on the best information that you can get. And I've had people that I don't personally get along with that are intelligent, smart and knowledgeable and I use their information. I don't have to go and have lunch with them or anything else but I do have to listen to them and I do have to take their knowledge into the overall concept of decision making. And then sometimes you'll only get 70, 80 percent of a concept of what's going on, you have to take that risk. You have to be able to pull the trigger because if you wait for 100 percent it's never going to happen, you're never going to pull the trigger, you're never going to be able to take advantage of it and move. And if you see that you probably made a bad decision, deal with it. That's only that decision, it's not the rest of the world, it's not everything else. You don't get anyplace if you don't make mistakes but you have to get past those mistakes and make some more decisions and you learn from those so that the next time the situation comes by you can set it up differently or make a different decision. So pick yourself back up, all the time, because if you don't, then you're done."

Ned Norris, Jr.:

"I like to do assessments. I like to do that mainly because you think you might understand what the situation is and you think you might have the right answer as to how you're going to attack that situation or address that situation. But too many times we go into the situation not realizing what the impacts of your addressing that issue is going to be. So for me, I like to, ‘okay, I agree with you. Let's address that issue, but let's make sure we understand what it is we're dealing with and whether or not we have the ability to address that issue,' because to me, to do something with half of an understanding, really creates, to some extent, false hope. Because people are going to see that you're moving in that direction. And if you're not able to fulfill that movement, you're going to stop. And people may have liked to have seen what you were moving on but don't understand, ‘why did you stop? We had hope in that. We thought you were going to address that issue.' ‘Well, you know what, we do our homework and we couldn't move it any further. That's why.' I think that we need to be, if we're going to make a decision as a tribal leader, we need to fully understand the ramifications of what that decision is. And to the best of our ability, make informed decisions about decision we need to make, and then move forward."

Richard Luarkie:

"In our environment, in our council environment, you often hear the reminder [Laguna language], which means do it properly, take your time, be diligent. It doesn't mean sit there for six or eight months. It means be analytical, be objective in your decision-making, turn the stones that you need to turn, but do it properly. And so I believe that for us, decision-making and being able to frame decisions in a manner that is diligent is critical for us. So those are all very important elements for us in our decision-making." 

From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "The Importance of Strategic Planning"

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Native leaders explain the importance of strategic thinking and planning to effective Native nation governance and emphasize the consideration of future generations in Native nations' decision-making processes.

Native Nations
Topics
Citation

Hurtado, Denny. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 26, 2009. Interview.

Makil, Ivan. Nation Building seminar. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. April 6, 2005. Presentation.

Minthorn, Antone. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Cambridge, Massachusetts. September 17, 2009. Interview.

Ninham-Hoeft, Patricia. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 26, 2009. Interview.

Antone Minthorn:

"When you're talking about planning, our negotiators at the Treaty of 1855 were always concerned about the children. 'We're here because of the children. We're negotiating because of the children. That's why we're here.' They made that point very strongly while they were there negotiating. And to me as I'm sitting there reading that, all of a sudden it just dawns on me: 'They're talking about me.' And you know that kind of hits you deep because you say, 'Well, I have the same responsibility...to the children.' They've got to be taken care of."

Ivan Makil:

"And as leaders, that is one of the responsibilities you have. Is to have that vision and to help define a vision for your people so that there's gonna to be several paths you can take. But you want to define something that provides the kinds of things your people need, the kinds of things your people are looking for, the kinds of things that are consistent with the lifestyle and those values that are important to your people, the kinds of things I call seven-generation thinking. Seven-generation thinking, meaning very simply, that when we make decisions -- and this is a traditional concept as well -- that we think about the impacts of our decision on the next seven generations."

Patricia Ninham-Hoeft:

"I've seen too often, especially in my tribe, where the focus has been on helping the general manager of the casino manage the casino better. So, conversations maybe about how to get a better slot system in or how to get the air conditioner to work better. And we'll spend hours talking about those kinds of things -- or how to hire the next public relations campaign to educate the business community around our tribe. When what's missing then is that no one is talking about, 'Where is this tribe going a hundred years from today?' and 'What do we want to be a hundred years from today?' And it's hard to do that.

I think I've come to the realization that we don't really spend a lot of time talking about those things as kids, or as young adults, or even in college. So when you're elected and you figure out that's what you are supposed to do, it's hard to do that. It's hard to carve out the time to really talk and debate with one another about what you think the future should be and so you get distracted by the little stuff. Because those are things you're familiar with and you know how to help that way and when you leave you feel like you have a sense of accomplishment that, 'Yup, I helped avert another crisis today. I must be earning my keep.' So it really takes discipline to get yourself to talk about vision."

Denny Hurtado:

"The tribal council itself having some stability and some continuity. I think that's really critical. Because what happens is, when you have elections and a whole new council comes in, it just set the tribe back another five years because you start over new, basically. So, I think what successful tribes do is, they have these long-term plans -- five, ten, fifteen, twenty years into the future. And I think that helps the stability of the tribe in a way that creates a venue for when a different council member gets on there, a different chairman; at least they still have this plan that they follow and it creates some continuity."

Jaime Pinkham: How Do You Hit the Ground Running?: Strategies for Handling the Load and Forging Ahead

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Former Nez Perce Tribal Treasurer Jaime Pinkham speaks about his experience as a leader of his nation and what it takes to "hit the ground running" when one assumes a leadership role.

People
Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Pinkham, Jaime. "How Do You Hit the Ground Running?: Handling the Load and Forging Ahead." Emerging Leaders Seminar. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 26, 2008. Presentation.

"I'm not sure I'm the one who can really give this presentation when you've got such talent in this room like Peterson Zah. I noticed my friends from the north, colleagues on the Native Nations Institute board -- Mike Mitchell and Sophie Pierre --and they're some true leaders who have really carried a lot of weight for all of Indian Country. And I'm always excited to have a chance to come and work with NNI because of the quality of work that they do in providing, taking the lessons, taking your stories and converting them into positive lessons to take back and share with tribal communities to build stronger Native nations. And actually they asked me to talk about 'how you hit the ground running?' And for me that really depends on what kind of tribal leader you want to be. If you're someone that just wants fame and fortune, believe me, you're in the wrong business. And for those of you that may think this is a great job, post-retirement job, well I hope you have charm and good looks in your political survival kit, because it's not a position for retirement and I learned that. But what I found out is if you really want to make a difference in life that there's probably no better job that suits you than to be on tribal council.

Tribal politics to me it embraces a full challenge -- there's no recesses. When I was on tribal council, it's a full-time tribal council, and a recess for us was a chance to go out hunting with my father on a weekend. My constituencies were right there and you live amongst them each and every day. And I think that's what sets us apart from other forms of government, if you look at Congress or state legislatures who work out of Washington, D.C. or state capitols. Tribal politics to me was about where rubber really meets the road. Nowhere else I think you can find where tribal citizens, or any citizens of any government actually, have such direct access to their elected tribal leaders. They're members of your very same community. And so with that blessing of having that direct access and relationship with your constituents, that also to me brings one of the cornerstones of the challenges that we face as tribal leaders, because it becomes a test of your time, of your endurance, your patience, your enthusiasm -- and as I found out -- it's the test of the strength of your family.

When I got out of college I had a forestry degree from Oregon State [University]. And I was out laying out clear-cuts and building logging roads, but something triggered me inside, that it was time to move back home to Indian Country and work for the tribe. And fortunately when I moved home to manage the tribe's natural resource department, that was like political prep school to me because of the things that I learned while I was there. And the reason I ran for council really was because I was watching things rise and fall under the scrutiny of tribal politics. And I realized that if I really wanted to make a difference in a tribal community I could do it from the inside being on tribal council than from the outside. And so I ran and was elected to two terms on the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. And in all those years I kept the position as the tribal treasurer. So I'm guilty, I did think that once I would run for tribal council after I retired but truly I knew that my time was to do it now. And it was the best job I ever had, but quite honestly it did come with a high price. I was having the time of my life running the Nez Perce Tribe's marathon and we were doing things like bringing wolves home to Idaho, regaining ancestral lands in Oregon -- and I was packing and repacking my suitcase and just racking up the frequent flyer miles -- and then we were building two casinos, we got gaming launched, and we were fighting for salmon, water rights and Native sovereignty and we were doing it all it seemed like. We were financing and investing and buying and selling and building and always expanding and indeed, we were gambling. At the same time we were testifying and negotiating, collaborating and mitigating, commiserating and celebrating and, when it was important to us, we were litigating.

But then I lost my balance and I had learned that if you want to play blind ambition on a political treadmill your membership dues come at a pretty high cost. And so my greatest losses I learned were not the political or professional ones. My greatest losses were personal ones. Those are the ones that sting the most. And unfortunately after a divorce I learned that tribal politics was too expensive of a hobby for me to carry on and so I decided it was time to take a break. But it was as I said earlier, it was the best job that I ever had as I said because that's where tribal communities, we understand that tribal politics is where the rubber does meet the road. You look at state and federal governments and they may take months and even years to pass some sort of an action -- then after that you have to worry about rule-making processes and different tiers of government to get those actions implemented -- but in tribal governments it can be altogether different. Tribal governments have the unique role of being more responsive to their constituents and to their citizens. But this is I think where we do meet the challenge is that we must remain leaders of an entire tribal, an entire Native nation, but at the same time we're conscious of those people who put us into those positions. And it can become very difficult and time consuming if we spend our time trying to be a leader one voter at a time.

Like I said, I had what I thought was the good fortune, my political prep school, to be a tribal departmental manager for about six years before I ran for tribal council. And what that allowed me to determine was just to observe the tribal government, the infrastructure and the capacity of the tribe. And I learned who were really the go-to people when you were in a pinch to get something done in a tribal bureaucracy. I also learned who those employees were that weren't afraid to lift any additional weight. And also I learned who were the people who could make the organization functional as well as dysfunctional. And those were all lessons that served me well, but one of the most important lessons I felt I learned as a tribal manager, before coming onto council is, I learned just what tribal councils do to make the staff mad.

There were many things that I saw when I was a tribal departmental manager that was really kind of frustrating at times. It seems like there were times that I'd always have to...I'd be instructed by a tribal council member to write a report or do an analysis or conduct some kind of an interview or set up a meeting for them or write their remarks for some kind of a public presentation. And then sometimes they didn't use it or they failed to show up for the meeting. And so at times I used to think, 'Well, maybe they're just asking me to do that just because they have the simple power to make me do that. But I remembered each and every one of those people who sent me on a wild goose chase. And so I promised myself that if I ever became an elected tribal leader, I'd never send the staff on wild goose chases because I know that they would remember who I was. And my background was in natural resources, but when I was elected to tribal council what I wanted to focus on was the tribal budget and that's why I became the treasurer, which meant it was budgets and audits, government operations, tribal enterprises.

When you're elected, your IQ level doesn't automatically just go up. So there's a lot of learning that I needed to do. And so I formed a personal core team, which for me as tribal treasurer meant the finance manager, the tribal executive director as well as the enterprise manager. And for me, it was important for us to develop this common understanding and a deep sense of trust. I knew that my operation, really my survival as a treasurer, really depended on their ability to get the job done. And I made certain that that feeling was mutual, that their survival was dependent on me as well. And over time we became trusted confidantes who I could just bounce ideas off of, or when you needed that private confidential discussion and someone to vent on, they were the people to go to. And it was pretty important for me I think to maintain a sense of sanity to have people like that that I knew I could trust.

On tribal council when we ran -- as natural resource manager, I was watching that we were very heavily dependent on our natural resources to fund tribal governmental programs. And it was predominantly timber revenues and agriculture revenues plus some mining revenues. And we had this very limited natural resource funding base, but at the same time we watched the tribal programs growing and expanding and more needs being pressed against our community. And for sure we were destined to outgrow our capacity to rely on our natural resource base to fund the growing tribal programs. And that was one of the things that compelled me to run is we needed to diversify the tribal revenue base. And right after I was elected we opened up two casinos back to back on the reservation. And at the same time we found ourselves in negotiation over some damage claims to our fisheries caused by two utilities within the reservation. And part of the settlement of the damage claims brought in additional money; it was a financial settlement in part. And all of a sudden we had gaming revenues and two financial settlements and all this money started pouring into the tribe.

And one would think that would make your job easier, but as a treasurer it doesn't make your job easier. Actually it complicates your job even more, because with this new resource coming in and this new source of revenue and this feeling that we had the riches, comes with it is the pressures of what to do with that money and also who should get a piece of it and just how much. And so we were embroiled in a lot of debates over how the investments like Manley and Peterson Zah shared with you earlier and how to sock money away and where we needed to focus in on the future. And those were very difficult decisions to make, but at times we also found that even the best-laid plans can hit a bump in the road, an obstacle and when you have very...our tribal community at the time, there were segments of our community that were still living on the front lines of human despair and their needs were immediate. And how do you provide for their needs while trying to also set money aside for the long-term future? And I had this saying on my office when we had all this money coming in and it said, 'No one is more on trial than in moments of good fortune,' and that is so true.

As tribal leaders what I learned is that we have the power to make a difference and the decisions that we take and make at the tribal council table not only characterize what our communities are going to be like in the future but also it helps define the character of our neighbors. We can try to reinvigorate the world, we can try to help the world act on its own behalf, but we can also bring it harm with the best and the worst of intentions. I found that some people like to measure political decisions. The best political decisions are those that make you popular with over 50 percent of the registered voters, but regardless the best political decisions can be the tough-love decisions that really show you how the natural world works or how the economic world works. And those are the kind of decisions you make that are based on substance and not solely based on your image. And during debates I learned that some people like to come in and they like to bloat issues with guilt and melodrama. They like to personalize them and moralize them. And granted this can be pretty seductive, but our job as tribal leaders is to take those issues, to clarify them and to act fairly and firmly. And our communities continue to demand that we continue to gather the right information free of prejudice and have us weigh those diverse perspectives carefully. We also must be willing to answer to the critical public debate and the scrutiny that goes on within our community. I learned in reading a book by Colin Powell that one must learn never to put their ego on the table along with your position because in a vote if your position goes down, your ego goes with it.

The other thing I want to stress is as a former manager who turned into a tribal politician is be kind to the staff, make them feel appreciated and respected. And kindness, believe me, kindness accomplishes a lot more than brutal strength and anger and it makes the staff be more responsive and actually it's more encouraging for them to come back to the tribal council chambers time and again. And as I learned, well a couple of my colleagues learned this the hard way is that tribal staff have extended families and make for pretty damn big voting blocks. So a couple of my colleagues learned that when they were up for re-election and lost their bid. And so we need to promote that understanding and that appreciation of the people who support us, the tribal staff.

I also want to make particular note of our non-Indian staff. At Nez Perce, we don't have all the expertise to fill all the critical positions within our tribal government and so we are heavily dependent on outside expertise within our...attorneys, some of our biologists, some of our financial managers. And at times, I know it seems like they get singled out and I often thought of why would these people want to come and work for an Indian tribe because quite honestly, sometimes they're put under the spotlight that has this racial tilt to it where they get scrutinized because they are non-Indians. I came to understand working with some of them is why would they work for a low paying job out in a rural community. Well, I think in some cases where else can they go and apply their trade where they can work with a heart. The kind of things that they encounter day in and day out takes a lot of heart and patience to get those things accomplished. So I think they're inspired by the ability to work with Indian tribes.

And don't be shy about offering the emails or the thank you notes when somebody does a job well done. Actually when I was a manager I kept those notes and I remembered those people that sent them to me. And I was never shy to put in a little extra effort to lend them a hand if they ever called upon me. There was great mileage that I even got when I started sending out those kind of notes. And I also learned from a supervisor of mine years ago the value in, I could call it, the 'how's life?' walk. There were times on council when I just felt I needed to get up and decompress, unwind and just get out of my office and wander down the halls. And I'd walk down to the different program departments and walk in and just walk up to one of the staff people and say, 'How's life?' It's amazing what they'll share with you. They'll share about the latest project that's going on or they'll share with you something about their family. I think what they really enjoyed was the fact that somebody was willing to listen and somebody cared. It wasn't about becoming popular with them. It was not a popularity contest, but really it's the fact that they do want to be heard, they do want to know that their tribal leadership cares about them because really what popularity is, if you really want to be popular by both your allies and your adversaries, this is how you become popular: you be fair, you be honest, and you be consistent. That's what really wins popularity contests I feel on tribal council.

Believe me, those of you out there know this better than I do, that it's not easy and there's more that we need to do. Half the challenge is just winning at something. The other half of the challenge is protecting it once we win it. And still today I worry about the fate of our communities. I was at Portland State University -- I sit on the NNI Board and Portland State University has the Institute for Tribal Government, a similar board to what NNI does -- and I was asked to talk about the work that NNI is doing. And I was sharing with them -- and if you've ever read Charles Wilkinson's book, Blood Struggle, some of the people that Charles highlights in his book sits around the Portland State table -- and we were talking about some of the research work that NNI is doing about per capita distributions, about constitutional reform and blood quantum levels and enrollment policies and so forth. And as the discussion unfolded, we began to talk about how these are becoming wedge issues within our very own tribal communities. If you remember in our past, our struggles were against the colonials, the cavalry, the states and the provinces. But in the coming generations, the blood struggles that Charles Wilkinson once wrote about might be the ones we fight in our very own communities as these wedge issues become very divisive if we don't get control of them.

The other thing I learned is just how we go about measuring our success as tribal leaders. When I was a forester, my success was board feet and stumpage values and that was the language of the trade that I spoke. But when I look back on the things that we accomplished at Nez Perce, they meant more than that. Everything we accomplished didn't have a purpose you could find on a spreadsheet. Building casinos wasn't just about gaming revenues, it was also about a clear expression of tribal sovereignty and to engage our tribal members so they could have jobs to safeguard their families. When we brought wolves back to Idaho, that had nothing to do with wildlife biology. That was all about restoring a tribal voice to the land. And when we regained those lands in northeast Oregon, that wasn't just about wildlife mitigation. That was about rebuilding a Native homeland. And just recently we've gone back to hunting bison in Wyoming and in Montana. And doing that wasn't just about the exercise of a treaty right but it was about renewing, for our youth to renew an allegiance to the future. And for me today in the salmon restoration work I do, that has nothing to do with science. Well, it has some to do with science but really it's about a strong will to preserve a culture. So everything that we did, if you look back, everything we did on tribal council was about saving a homeland and building strong Native nations.

And among the challenges that will face you as tribal leaders, remember there's also the joy of life. My divorce taught me that I was probably doing more to help other people's families than I was spending trying to help my own. So I ask you that you take care of your families and take care of yourselves and taking care of yourselves means that we take care of ourselves physically and spiritually. The Nez Perce homeland covers a portion of Idaho. And Idaho is the most Republican state in the union. And life in Idaho is tough if you're an Indian, life is tough if you're salmon, but life is really tough for people like me who are salmon-eating Indian Democrats. But there is a lesson to that; there is a lesson to that. Because what I learned by trying to work with these very conservative state and federally elected leaders was that political relationships, the best political relationships were human relationships. So at any political scale, it was best never to burn a bridge over a single issue because someday, somewhere, you're going to find agreement and you're going to need one another.

I also learned as a tribal leader that people in the outside community also looked at me to be a leader of a larger community. They expected leadership qualities of me that extended beyond, outside the tribal community, especially when we got into debates and arguments over sovereignty. Also when we had some incidences of our youth and violence and dealing of drugs, those are community problems that we all share. So sometimes we need to look at ourselves as being leaders beyond just the tribal boundaries. We can't always go it alone.

And another lesson from Idaho, I found that it was important for us to try to build bridges and to mend those that had weakened because for our communities, our tribal communities to be strong, sometimes we need to look at our neighboring communities and insure that they are strong and they are surviving and thriving. It's what Daniel Kemmis called the 'politics of place.' And we all agree that, hopefully our neighbors agree that, tribes are able partners because we're in this game for the long haul.

Never let a fight become more important than the issue. In a debate, in a fight don't you like a person who's always smiling when you're fighting? I think that shows quite a bit of character on their part. And so in a debate it's always best to seek out the friend or foe with the characteristics of leadership who's willing maybe to debate you today, but tomorrow maybe to stand up with you and help you in collectively solving your problems. The other thing is some people I think they get, they like the D.C. delegations. And Sophie, I guess for you it would be going on the big provincial, or beyond the provincial to the national delegations, and we think that's a very glamorous trip and that's where we should be investing our time. But I also would ask you to make sure that you invest your time at the local level. The school board member, the county commissioner, the mayor is going to be tomorrow's state legislator, who's going to be tomorrow's congressman, who's going to be tomorrow's governor, and with good strong relationships at the local level, those relationships should last as these individuals move along in their political travels.

And the outcome of good decisions do fade if we do make those hasty, comfortable political decisions for the present. I remember we used to get requests to fund a variety of things from a basketball tournament to registration fees. And at the time it was not the highest priority for the expenditures of tribal revenues, but there'd be pretty strong voting blocks coming in asking for these funds. And usually when they would be outside the guidelines of what we should fund, there was always somebody willing to make a motion to make an exception to the rule. That happens quite often I'm afraid. And I remember when he would make the motion to give somebody a $1,000 for example for a basketball tournament, they'd add on to the end of the motion and the treasurer to find the funds. Well, that's me. Where am I going to find the funds? After a while, I got so frustrated I started taking the funds out where I knew it was going to hurt the tribal council the most, take it out of the travel line item. And let's face it: we can't hide from our history. I became a grandfather a couple of years ago and I'm thinking about my granddaughter who someday she's going to have her grandchildren who will be students of my history and I wonder what they're going to learn. Are they going to learn about how we failed to act or how poorly we acted? Or are they going to learn about how we came together as tribal communities to be cohesive with honor and trust and respect to meet the challenges that we faced in our day?

I made three findings when I was on tribal council. One of the first was I found inner strength in prayer and I found myself praying more than ever before. And truly, it helped me cope with some of the issues that we were facing in those days. And second, believe it or not, I found that I gained more patience. I think some people would think you'd lose patience on tribal council, but I think I gained more. And truly, it was a characteristic that I really needed to work on because the easy decisions, they go off to somebody else. The tough decisions come to the tribal council table. And making a difference is rarely accomplished by those people who sit up in the cheap seats, who have never played the game, or who have an obscured view of the playing field. Yet as leaders we cannot...we need a high level of patience to deal with our critics because we cannot cast them aside. Our critics deserve the same kind of leadership that we give to the people who are unable to act on their own behalf or speak on their own behalf. So we need to be leaders of our critics as well. I've been involved in a lot of spirited debates and lengthy deliberations and at times honestly my vote was cast on the losing side, but I learned that you need to accept the loss with the same dignity you accept victory. Pouting over a loss was no different than taunting the defeated when you won. And third, I learned that power alone doesn't make a difference. Political power alone does not make a difference, because if compassion and courage are absent, then our decisions have high likelihood to become reckless and that power becomes useless and our actions become hollow. We can't let politics just be about gaining more power, because power sometimes is possessed by those who have least earned it and is seen as such a supreme value, but if you watch, sometimes power shifts back and forth. You'll have one group of political leadership, a new group come in, and you'll see that political pendulum swinging back and forth. What happens is we see our tribal communities caught in the middle of that. So let's remember that power is not what makes the difference.

And I guess to just kind of wrap things up here is I've learned that we can't do it all in our lifetime, but certainly we give it our best and with age and time I think I've come to learn when the best time of my life is going to be. It's yet to come, because if we truly make a difference and we truly make that lasting difference, the best time of our life is going to come long after we're gone. I think about my granddaughter when she grows up and maybe someday she'll run for tribal council. And I hope the examples that we set for her today are things that she can follow to protect that very sacred place, that sacred place that we call home. Thank you." 

Ned Norris, Jr.: Perspectives on Leadership and Nation Building

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr. speaks to aspiring and current Native nation leaders about the keys to being an effective leader and shares his personal experiences in preparing to become the leader of his nation.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Norris, Jr., Ned. "Perspectives on Leadership and Nation Building." Emerging Leaders seminar. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 26, 2008. Presentation.

"Thank you. How is everybody? Good. Alright! Thank you, Manley Begay, for that introduction. I just wanted to take this opportunity to welcome you, welcoming you to the Tohono O'odham Nation and welcome to our home. This is one of our business facilities that we just opened in the beginning of January [2008] and we're pretty proud of it. We're proud of what we have been able to accomplish thus far, and realize that there are more things ahead of us that we know and that we may not know that we'd like to accomplish for our people. This gives us the opportunity to establish some economic base for us to do some of those things that we just dream about.

Just a little bit of a background, the Tohono O'odham Nation, when you think about our ancestral lands, you will know that the ancestral lands of the O'odham include those lands which are where the city of Tucson sits today all the way east to where the Rincon Mountains are at, all the way north to the city of Phoenix and Scottsdale is at, all the way west to where the Colorado River is, and all the way south some 130 miles south of what is not the international border of Mexico. Those are ancestral lands of our people, of the O'odham. Today, we ended up with 2.8 million square acres and always tell an audience, 'We're 2.8 million square acres small.' And usually when you have a non-Indian audience, they kind of look at you like, "˜What are you talking about? 2.8 million square acres is a pretty big piece of land.' But when you think about the ancestral lands of our people, 2.8 million is nothing. So I wanted to give you that background. Also, we have about 28,000 enrolled tribal members, so there are about 28,000 of us running around here in the United States and in some other countries. In fact, we have about 1,500 enrolled tribal members that live in Mexico and not necessarily because they want to live in Mexico, it is because when the international border was established, they cut them off from the rest of the people, from the rest of the land here. We continue to have about nine communities that still exist within Mexico, and my trip to Nogales, Sonora this afternoon is meeting with a couple of members of the O'odham in Mexico, because the lawyer that they are working with can't get on this side of the United States, so we're going to go meet with him down there and talk a little bit about land issues that are important to us that still exist in Mexico.

And actually I wanted to get a feel of the audience. I was asking Manley Begay, "˜Who is the audience here?' And he said to me that "˜there are newly elected tribal leaders here, there are aspiring tribal leaders here.' I was speaking to one of the young persons here and they said there are some people from a college up in Phoenix area that are here to learn about leadership, and learn about what you might want to be thinking about as you are emerging into a tribal leader. And then I was also told that there are some emerging old tribal leaders, and I'm like emerging old tribal leaders, and I'm wondering what he's talking about. And I'm assuming that they are those newly tribal elected leaders that, for some odd reason, you decided to get back into the thick of the politics and get elected again, so you're back. It's a return of the old leadership. He pointed out a couple of you to me, take for example, "˜So and so over there or so and so over there, they are old returning tribal leaders.' And I won't point you out because you know who you are.

I was sharing with Manley that I knew I wanted to do this job 30 years ago. I knew I wanted to be the Chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation 30 years ago. When I started my first job in 1977 as the assistant director for the Tohono O'odham Nation Children's Home, I knew someday I wanted to hold this job. And over the course of the last 30 years, I have done different things -- consciously and sub-consciously -- preparing myself for this day, preparing myself for this job. And people ask me today, "˜How do you like what you're doing?' And I tell them, "˜I love it. I love this job. It's everything that a job needs to be. It's challenging, it's exciting, it's frustrating, it's disappointing.' All of those things that our jobs need to be in order for us to grow, in order for us to challenge ourselves, in order for us to be challenged. We have to have all of those experiences, all of those ingredients in order for us to be successful as tribal leaders. And I know that over the course of the last 30 years, there are things that I have done in my life that probably put question on whether or not I should or shouldn't be elected as a tribal leader. And I think every single person in this room has done something questionable in their lives that may have put question on whether or not we should elect you or not elect you, but you know, we learn from those situations as well. We learn from those mistakes. We learn from that part of the journey in our lives in order to prepare us for what we are doing today as tribal leaders. And that's the way I like to look at it. That is the way I like to look at the past 30 years. And I've been married for 35 years. My wife -- and actually I tell this story -- that my wife has put up with me for 35 years. We just had our 35th anniversary in February, and I'll share with you now that in the 35 years that we have been together, there have been things that I've done that would have probably required her or wanted her or forced her to leave me, but she didn't. She didn't leave me, she didn't give up on me. For some reason, she believed in me and my ability and my capability, and I love her more today for not giving up on me because she stood by me. And I always say that, "˜Behind a good man, there is always an even greater woman,' the woman that is there to help us, to pick us up when we fall. To help us gain the strength or regain the strength we may have lost at different times in our life, and so I appreciate that of her.

You know, over the course of my years involved in politics -- and we see sometimes on the TV commercials, the commercial about Michael Jordan and there was a commercial that said, "˜Be like Mike.' It caught a lot of the attention of our young people: "˜Be like Mike Jordan, buy these $250 tennis shoes and you can be like Mike Jordan. Be like Mike.' Well, you know, there's people in my life that I would like to be like, that I had sat back years ago watching leaders, watching aspiring leaders, watching people over the course of time that I have said, "˜You know what, I'd like to be like that person. I'd like to be like that leader. I'd like to be able to think like that leader. I'd like to be able to have the good heart that I see that leader have and be like them.' Just like the commercial is saying, "˜Be like Mike.' There are several Mike people out there that I would like to have been like. You know it really is an honor for me to be standing in front of you sharing these thoughts with you, because one of those people that were "˜Be like Mike' for me in my life' was Dr. Peterson Zah. I am standing up here thinking, "˜What am I going to be able to say to Dr. Zah that is going to make any sense or that he hasn't already said or has already experienced himself?' So it is an honor for me to stand in front of you, sir, and be able to share some thoughts with you, because I'm thinking, "˜Man, I can't share, I can't teach you anything.' But it's out of that respect that I hold for him as a leader, as a continued leader, and what he's been able to do not only for his own people, but for all nations, all tribal people nationwide.

One of the things that I have shared with different audiences is some of these quotes. I keep these, I keep some quotes in this thing that we use now called this Blackberry, and I keep these in here because at times over the course of, you know, when you are feeling down or when you are feeling like maybe you're questioning what you are doing or questioning the worth of what you are doing, I go back to these and I start reading these. One of the things that I've always thought about -- and I try to live my own leadership ability after -- is this quote, and it says, "˜You can accomplish anything in life provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.' 'You can accomplish anything in life provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.' As leaders -- and that quote is attributed to Harry Truman -- as leaders I like to think of myself in that way. That what I have to do -- the people have entrusted in me their trust to lead them and to guide them for the term that I have been elected. As a leader, I should not ever take advantage of that trust that the people have placed in me. I should never take the position that, "˜That was my idea, not yours.' I should not take the position that, "˜It's my way or the highway.' As a leader, that should not -- that's not something that we should be doing as tribal leaders. The [Tohono O'odham Nation] vice chairman and I -- Isidro Lopez -- when we ran for these offices, we ran on a campaign that we say in O'odham, it says [O'odham language], and [O'odham language] translates to "˜All of us together.' And what we wanted to be able to do was to bring the people together, to bring our people together, to give our people the opportunity to actively participate in the decision-making process. Too many times, we get tribal leadership that think they are going to impose those decisions on the people. We can't accomplish that, we can't accomplish what we need to accomplish if we are going to dictate to our people. That's not our purpose. Our purpose is to lead, our purpose is to work together, and our purpose is to bring our people to the table so that we can hear what they have to say. And there have been times in the last nine months that the Vice Chairman and I have served in office that people have said, "˜So much for [O'odham language], because I thought we were going to work together.' And that is because they were on the short end of a decision. You know, and we have said that this theme is going to be the heartbeat of our tenure in office. We intend to make sure of that. Now, people need to understand that we're not always going to agree on what the outcome of a decision is. We can't expect to always agree. There are going to be things that we disagree with each other on, but we are always going to make the effort to try and involve you in the decision-making process. So that is what I wanted to share with you on that.

The other quote that I look at, that I've always tried to model my leadership after, it says here, "˜The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he or she wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.' You know we're elected leaders, we are elected to lead, we are elected to direct. I always make comments to my staff, I say, "˜We only are as good as you are.' You know, we end up getting the credit for a lot of the work that a lot of other people that aren't elected leaders do, and I try every time to let my staff do what they need to do in order to get done what I gave them the direction to do. If I keep meddling in what they are doing and micromanaging what they're doing, why do I have them? If I'm going to take that responsibility, why do I have them there to do that job? So that's what I like to look at and think about at times.

One last one that I want to share with you is -- wow, what happened to it? But I remember it, because I remember it off of a fortune cookie, and I put that thing in my wallet many, many years ago, probably about 20 years ago at least. I know that for a fact. I opened this fortune cookie and I read it and it says that, "˜One of the greatest things in life is doing what people say you can't do. One of the greatest things in life is doing what people say you cannot do.' I usually use that in an audience of young people, of teenagers, high-school age, and I tell them, 'I'm not telling you to be defiant. I'm not suggesting you violate school rules or the rules of the household. What I am telling you is that when people stand there and tell you that, "˜You are not going to [amount] to anything. All you are is a troublemaker, and you are not going to be worth anything in your life,' that you challenge them on that.' And I stand here before you and tell you that I was one of those students. I was told that by a teacher in high school at one time. You know I probably gave him reason to think I was going to be worthless. I probably gave my family reason to think I was worthless. I know I gave my wife reason to think I was worthless, but you know I took that and I try to live that as a challenge to me in my life as a leader.

So those are things that I wanted to share with you. I really am honored that I was given the opportunity to stand in front of you and to share these thoughts with you and that you were actually listening. I was wondering, "˜This is going to be difficult. I'm going to be hearing papers clashing and cups making noise.' I've talked to audiences before lunchtime before, and I might as well just not stand here and say nothing because nobody is listening, but that's not true today. I see you listen, I feel listening, I see what you are doing here. And in closing, I wish all of you the best of success in your leadership. I wish all of you the best of success for your people, for your tribes. You know we have many, many challenges ahead of us. And I say that it's been nine months that we've been in office, but it feels like nine years. I think in nine months my hair had grayed more than it has if I wasn't sitting in this office, but you know that is the sacrifice that we make. That is the sacrifice that we make. And I wish all of you well. I congratulate you for the positions that you were elected to lead in, and I want to say to those young emerging leaders, "˜Stay on course, stay focused, and know that you have support out there.'

I want to share this last thought with you. One of the most honorable times that I was honored in my life in being able to sit down at a lunch table with the late Wendell Chino. Years ago, Wendell Chino, a great Mescalero Apache leader for many many years. He was one of those "˜Mike' people for me, it was like I wanted to be like Wendell Chino. I wanted to have his drive, his same good heart, and his same good thoughts. One time we were sitting at a luncheon and it was just, it ended up me and him being the last ones at the table and I was like, "˜Wow, man I'm sitting here with Wendell Chino, man, this is great!' I started picking his brain about leadership and at the end, he said, "˜You know what the sign of a true Indian leader is?' I'm asking does anybody in this room know what the sign of a true Indian leader is? And he said, "˜It's those people that can take the bullets from the front and the arrows in the back.' So be prepared for those bullets and those arrows. Thank you very much."

Tribal Governments Come In Many Forms

Year

When the U.S. and Canadian governments suggest and support Western-style governments for indigenous nations, they are trying to improve Native government and make it more compatible with national government. Indigenous nations have diverse political arrangements and forms of government. When adapting to present-day nation states and market economies, if possible, indigenous nations will make political changes that express their historical political and cultural relations...

Resource Type
Citation

Champagne, Duane. "Tribal Governments Come In Many Forms." Indian Country Today Media Network. June 23, 2015. Article. (https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/tribal-governments..., accessed June 24, 2015)

Back to Our Path is not a Trip Backward

Author
Year

Many of us are familiar with our expression Ohnkwe Ohnwe. It is what we use to describe ourselves as the original people of Turtle Island. The approximate translation is “real human being, forever.”

There was never any question that we had a future. We were never tied to a spot on a timeline. We were never frozen in history. We were neither primitive nor at the end of our evolutionary scale. We continued to develop.

The entire concept of Seven Generations was based on knowing that our growth and development would require a priority placed on the impacts on the unborn faces — those ones who would come long after us.

But for all the certainty of those that have come long before us, our future would not be a sure thing, certainly not over the last two centuries and certainly not going forward from here. That path, so meticulously crafted by the tens of millions of feet of those that came before us, has been so neglected and deviated from that it is only Creation and our language that guide our feet back to it. But that course correction back to that great path, the Kaianerehkowa, is not a trip backwards or back in time. It is a trip forward, into the future...

Resource Type
Citation

Kane, John. "Back to Our Path is not a Trip Backward." Let's Talk Native. The Two Row Times. January 14, 2014. Opinion. (http://tworowtimes.com/opinions/columns/lets-talk-native/back-path-trip-..., accessed March 7, 2023)

Indigenous Nations Have the Right to Choose: Renewal or Contract

Year

When making significant change Indigenous nations make choices about whether to build on traditions or to adopt new forms of government, economy, culture or community. Many changes are external and often forced upon contemporary Indigenous Peoples. Adapting to competitive markets, or new bureaucratic programs, or changes in policy and administration of nation states are matters that are outside an Indigenous nation’s control. Changes that are not generated within Indian nations often do not have community or tribal government consent, and therefore are taken in compliance only...

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Champagne, Duane. "Indigenous Nations Have the Right to Choose: Renewal or Contract." Indian Country Today. November 3, 2013. Opinion. (https://ictnews.org/archive/indigenous-nations-have-the-right-to-choose-renewal-or-contract, accessed July 25, 2023)