If you think there were some election problems in Florida, try these!

An email to us last month asked, " My husband’s on the roll of White Earth (Chippewa Band). The last time he got a ballot was too late to vote. He is not aware of what is going on with the tribe. When asked if they thought the tribal election process is fair or if their rights are being upheld, they answered, "No, I don’t think they’re fair because we don’t get information and we don’t get the ballots until after the vote. My husband doesn’t know what’s going on the ballot, or what he’s voting for."

My husband, Roland, had a hard time answering their concerns. T here could be many reasons why this happens. The sad part is that it’s not surprising. The Native American Press (NAP) reported in June 1996 on tribal corruption at the ballot box. According to Greg Blair of NAP, nearly one hundred enrollees testified in Federal court that they were denied the right to vote by fraudulent practices.

Some of the witnesses reported that they had never lived on the reservation or voted in tribal elections, but there were ballotssigned for them. Some said they had voted once, but prosecutors had two sets of signed ballots for them. A common sentiment was expressed by one witness, who said, "That’s the reason my parents left the reservation, there was too much corruption … and it’s still going on."

Last Se p t e m b e r, the Navajo Times Today printed a letter complaining about their Navajo Nation Council, the governing body of the Navajo Nation. The letter went on to say, "The current system of government derived from the BIA, is not Navajo. Our current system is not a democracy but an oligarchy; a form of government wherein the administration of affairs is lodged in the hands of a few … the 88 members of the Navajo Nation Council." 

In Minnesota, Jeff Armstrong reported for NAP that reservation officials, including White Earth tribal Chairman Chip Wadena, used funds from a $1.1 million public assistance program to pay off Leech Lake and White Earth members who helped them certify fraudulent ballots in 1990 and 1994.

Eleanor Craven testified she and a fellow Leech Lake member were campaigning for absentee votes on May 25, 1994, when they stopped at a south Minneapolis home. A man showed up with hundreds of signed absentee ballots in sealed envelopes . She and another tribal member notarized the invalid ballots. Among absentee ballots delivered on that date were those of Cheryl Boswell and her bro t h e r. Ms. Boswell testified that she never voted and that the ballot in her name was a forgery. Boswell also testified that her brother had died six months prior to the election. Another man stated it was common practice at both Leech Lake and White Earth to gather ballots to be notarized, with or without the voter’s presence. 

Pat Doyle of NAP reported that council members tapped tribal accounts to buy themselves vehicles or to pay their taxes. They also created gambling and fishing commissions that provided them with checks for work they didn’t do, and accepted bribes to assure that a drywall firm would get the contract to help build the tribe’s Shooting Star Casino.

To avoid opposition, council members also raised their pay at secret meetings. Defense attorneys suggested that tribal officials believed treaties and federal statutes gave them the authority to do all they did. They also argued that federal investigators singled out the defendants for conduct common among Indian officials. 

Roland Morris, Vice Chair of CERA, testified at a Senate hearing, "Cronyism, nepotism and ballot box rigging are all part of political reality on many reservations. Everyone seems to accept it as a given and because tribal governments control tribal jobs, HUD housing, tribal loans and land leases, many members are reluctant to speak out. "I have seen tribal governments pressure members to rally to their cause and political goals through misinformation, bullying, and even bribes."

Writer Julie Shortridge reported in 1995 that the Mille Lacs Anishinabae People’s Party (MAPP) was established due to concern about corruption in tribal elections. MAPP endorsed a candidate for the Secretary Treasurer in 1994, who lost by 29 votes. But MAPP Chairman Vince Hill said many absentee voters did not receive their ballots in time to vote, and the polling location for tribal members in the Twin Cities did not open on election day.

Another issue for MAPP is constitutional protections for tribal members. MAPP had been forbidden to speak or assemble on reservation land. Hill stated to Shortridge, "I could understand restricting our assembly if we were supporting violent overthrow of tribal government. But we’re advocating democracy, dialogue, and accountability. That’s what they’re afraid of—democracy."

Several MAPP supporters have been targeted for harassment. Some have lost jobs, been denied services, and even had their lives and safety threatened. Hill told Shortridge that tribal leaders "systematically violate reservation , governmental, and civil laws to oppress tribal members for their own gain. The Tribal Council hides behind "sovereign immunity" to give them that right. …The mainstream media is not asking the questions that need to be asked, so MAPP is trying to bring these issues to the public’s attention."

Today, years later, Vince Hill and MAPP continue to fight these same issues and are beginning to make some progress. The last election brought fresh faces to the administration, and Hill is hopeful for change.

Scott Kayla Morrison, Attorney and Mississippi Choctaw member, wrote in 1998, "Anne Wilson Schaef has done marvelous work on addictive organizations. When you compare the characteristics of an addictive organization to the characteristics of a tribal government, they are the same: confusion, dishonesty, control, and abnormal thinking processes. This can happen when there is dishonesty and ethical deterioration in tribal leadership. Being around Indian politics makes me feel the very same way as growing up with an alcoholic dad, the "we don’t air our dirty laundry in public" mentality insulates an alcoholic family from public scrutiny.

The fear is that if the public knew that Indian leadership is not any better than federal administration of Indian affairs, we would lose what little administration we have. All energy is spent covering up our dirty laundry instead of trying to clean it up.

They trot out the elderly, infants, and socio-economic statistics so Congress, burdened by collective white guilt, will give them more money to address these issues. The next year, Congress doesn’t ask what was done with all the money given the previous year. Instead, they give even more money. Tribes have to keep their members in a state of illness to keep receiving sympathy and they accept no responsibility for creating the situation.

"The media falls for the touchy-feely articles of the poor End of the Trail silhouette Indian. We should begin putting the red circle and slash over that symbol. We are not a beaten, defeated people. We are/can be as smart, educated, and savvy as the next but we can’t do that as long as we are pawns used by our tribal leaders to get more money." And you can say that tribal governments merely mirror larger societal ill, and I will say, "So what?" If all we have become is a mirror of the mainstream society, then why are we a tribe with separate lands and separate laws?

"With no leadership, ethical deterioration through dysfunction, and a legal system that encourages such behavior, no wonder we are in a world of hurt. Tribal members cannot be healthy in this environment. When the role models for our kids are tribal leaders who are not accountable to anyone, what can we expect for future generations?"