Projects
American Indian Community Data Profile, 2002
Namadji Youth and Elders Project Report, 2001
Forum Reports
1997 Fall: Tribal Sovereignty and
American Indian Leadership
1996 Fall: Tribal Governments: What will they look like in the year 2010?
1996 Spring: The Threatened State of Tribal Sovereignty
Tribal Sovereignty and American Indian Leadership
October 17, 1997
Discussion Groups about Presentations by Judy Roy and Vine Deloria Jr.
Facilitated by
Ron Libertus
Professor, University of Minnesota Cecilia Martinez, Ph.D.
Professor, Metro State University
flo wiger, Ph.D.
Professor, Metro State University
Jacqueline Miller
President, J. Miller Associates
Discussion groups provided an opportunity for participants to reflect and discuss their views on tribal sovereignty, American Indian leadership and the ideas put forth in presentations by Judy Roy and Dr. Vine Deloria Jr.. Participants spoke of the challenges American Indians face and of the importance of maintaining traditions that form the foundation of strong Indian communities.
One of the challenges in American Indian communities is the difficulty for the younger generations to learn about traditional American Indian ways. Participants pointed to a break-down in the traditional methods of leadership training. Traditionally, American Indian elders were responsible for maintaining cultural tradition through the telling of stories and singing songs. Elders shared this information with young persons who showed an interest in and respect for the cultural traditions. It was the responsibility of the younger generations to seek out the elders. Nowadays, however, as one participant stated, "You hear the kids asking about when the elders are going to come and teach them what they are supposed to learn. And on the other side, you have elders asking when the kids are going to come ask the questions they are supposed to be asking."
Living in urban areas makes it difficult for the oral transmission of cultural knowledge. For the large urban population of American Indians it is a challenge to maintain cultural connections. "Where do they go [for the traditions]" a participant asked, "especially those that have a weaker link to the reservation?"
Information about American Indians is generally not available through mainstream educational systems. American Indian curricula is just beginning to become a part of mainstream educational requirements. Moreover, even at schools with American Indian curricula, it is difficult for the traditional lessons to compete with messages from the dominant culture. An employee at Heart of the Earth Survival School in Minneapolis, is challenged by his work with American Indian children in the Phillips community. He stated, "We have the pipe and the drum on Mondays and Fridays. It's those pre-adolescent and adolescent years where that gang fascination really seems to set in hard. All the traditional, positive stuff seems to get lost, forgotten, discarded."
"What's the best way to keep this from happening?" asked one participant. A central theme was that cultural traditions are the strong point of American Indian communities. They echoed Judy Roy's sentiment that American Indians are "culturally advantaged" because their cultural traditions, while not as strong as they once were, have survived despite everything that has happened to American Indians. Also, many were encouraged by Deloria's recommendation for regular storytelling between elders and youths.
Several participants spoke of the importance of encouraging communication and connections between the generations. Maintaining traditional American Indian languages is essential to this effort because certain things can only be expressed and understood in traditional Indian languages. Moreover, some feel a sense of urgency about nurturing intergenerational connections as our elders will not be alive forever. One participant said, we need to recognize "the importance of elders who are just waiting to be asked, but are so shy, and are such a wealth of understanding and knowing." Another participant noted, "They [elders' stories] don't all have to be historical and political epithets about Indian survival, but rather just stories of growing up, going to school, and being a teen."
While it remains a challenge, traditions are being passed down in urban settings. One person shared, "I teach songs. I teach my sons and their friends how to sing after school. I teach language, but not too many urban Indians can teach their children."
In agreement with Roy and Deloria, many participants believe returning to traditional leadership methods is essential to maintaining cultural strength. Rather than, or in addition to, contemporary tribal councils, many would like to return to a leadership style where leaders become leaders when they're needed. In the traditional ways, no one person was a leader and when one person was more able to lead in an area, the rest of the people let him or her lead. Strong leaders said "this is the way it is" and the people trusted their judgement. If their judgement came into question then they were no longer leader. About her own effort to maintain traditional American Indian leadership, one participant shared, "I lead, but quietly and indirectly."
Participants believed tribes need to find ways to incorporate traditional American Indian leadership. In developing leadership, one participant stated, "There are bad leadership examples within and outside our own American Indian communities. There are also many good leadership ways to emulate or create."
Community-building was seen as essential to the development of American Indian leadership. Respecting and honoring differences within and between individuals, communities and cultures is an important aspect of this effort. Moreover, many participants stressed the importance of manifesting social responsibility at the individual as well as at the community level. One participant asserted, "We have to be a society of responsibility, rather than a society of rights." The interrelationship between individual and community social responsibility was seen as a traditional way of being, shared by many indigenous peoples. A participant commented, "The easiest way to start [community- building] is in small, local ways to build socially responsible communities." This is the way it has traditionally been done.
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