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Ramona Bennett – Leadership Qualities

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Compassionate

Throughout all of her as a hardworking activist, Ramona never lost sight of what it means to be a leader to her people. A big component of her leadership qualities is compassion; Ramona has always had the well-being of everyone in mind as she fought for more Tribal rights. In 1978, Ramona was able to secure the National Indian Child Welfare Act. This act was solely intended for assisting Native children who would be possibly mistreated by the WA child service laws, which might separate the child from their family. Adding to her generosity and selflessness toward children, she founded the Rainbow Youth and Family Services in 1989. The goal of this organization was to protect Native children from any hate, abuse, neglect, or anything traumatic. More than that, this organization would connect these children to foster parents or to parents who are learning about the process of adoption and would like to take these traumatized children into their families. Ramona’s compassion is not forgotten by many, even after the many years that may pass after she has performed kind deeds for others. When Claudia Kauffman presented Ramona with the 2018 Bernie Whitebear Award, she recalled how helpful Ramona was toward her family. In order to allow Kauffman’s family to attend yearly powwows, Ramona would pick them all up, feed them sandwiches and snacks, and drive them all to the powwows. The compassion that Ramona Bennett has for her Tribe as well as her friends and supporters is remarkable. To this day, Ramona is active in fighting for Tribal rights while still making sure that everyone around her is well-cared for and protected, making her an amazing example of a compassionate leader.

Inspiring

Almost all of Ramona Bennett’s achievements would have never come to fruition had she not been able to rally supporters into action. She inspires her people, and has been inspiring them since back in the 1960s. Ramona led her people in a misunderstanding between her people and the law enforcement that resulted in what is now known as the BIA Takeover of 1972. There were threats made by the U.S. government to break down the doors and barge into the BIA office to arrest the occupants, but Ramona stood strong against these words and performed in such a way that inspired the people with her to stand strong with her. Later, in 1976, Ramona again led her people to seize the Tacoma Cushman hospital, claiming it as the property of the Puyallup Tribe. Alone, Ramona would have been unable to perform such a feat. But she was not alone; she had accrued a following in her time as the Chairwoman of the Puyallup Tribe, and her followers readily marched with their leader to take back their property. Even in recent times, Ramona has been present in the protests against the Tacoma Natural Gas project that will ruin Puget Sound. There is no doubt that a strong activist like Ramona Bennett bolsters the the protestors and makes them fight harder against the gas project. More than that, she gave a speech back in 2012 demanding clemency for Leonard Peltier, adding more fuel to this fiery battle for Peltier. For her entire career as an activist, Ramona Bennett has managed some incredible feats. However, many of these feats were made possible through her ability to be an inspiring character that her people would readily want to follow through thick and thin.

Ramona Bennett with Native Activists meeting outside the Bureau Of Indian Affairs in Washington DC
Ramona and other native activists outside the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington DC in 1976

Resilient

Despite enduring tumultuous hardships, Ramona has continued to advocate for the human rights of Indigenous peoples across America as well as Natives across the PNW. In the face of discrimination and violence, Ramona has accomplished and paved the way for multiple pieces of legislation to be passed. She has faced police brutality and numerous loses and setbacks but has continued to fight for Native rights for over sixty years. When she started participating in fish-ins she was not discouraged in the face of continuous police harassment and brutality. When police came with clubs and riffles, Ramona was arrested along with numerous other protesters, but she was soon bailed out and despite her fear, went back into the fray. In 2013 at a meeting for solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence, Ramona offered her own words on the perseverance of Indigenous activism: “Keep it up, keep shouting, keep fighting. If all you have is your body put it there. Your ancestors did, they fought for every right you enjoy! Freedom of religion, property, resources, and you know what your great great great grandchildren will do the same thing. That’s the indian, that’s who we are, that’s why we’re here.” At the age of 81, Ramona continues to fight for tribal rights today, as her own Puyallup tribe fights against a fracked gas facility being built on their land, and will most likely never stop. Her enduring spirit and unwavering devotion to her cause has inspired many to take up the fight for Indigenous rights and has allowed the Puyallup tribe to flourish. Her never-ending resilience throughout decades of turmoil has not only inspired others in her community but makes her a fantastic leader and shows what can be accomplished with dedication.

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Chief Leschi – Schaghticoke Nation Lawsuit

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities | Schaghticoke Nation Lawsuit | References

In October of 2016 the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation filed a lawsuit against the State of Connecticut claiming the state unlawfully seized the nation’s land and  has profited from since 1801 without properly compensating the tribe. The suit is seeking compensation from the state to the tune of $610 million and announcing the tribe’s intention to seek restoration of its federal recognition that was granted in 2004 then revoked the following year.

Modern boundaries of the Schaghticoke reservation. It is bounded by the New York border on the west, the Housatonic River on the east, and is downstream from the town of Kent, CT.

In 1736, the Colony of Connecticut established 2,400 acres of land in its northwest corner along the border with New York as a reservation for the Schaghticoke people. The state is required to act in the best interest of the Schagticoke people in managing the tribe’s land (which is held in trust by the state for the tribe) and funds as per statutes dating as far back as 1757. Between 1801 and 1918, the state sold or in other ways profited from portions of the reservation promising to compensate the tribe, and today, only 400 acres remain in the hands of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. Both the constitution of the United States and of the State of Connecticut mandate proper compensation for any and all land seized by the government, but to this day no compensation has been given to the Schaghticoke people for the 2,000 acres stolen from them. The State of Connecticut is likewise required by Connecticut law to render an annual accounting of the funds of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and any profit made from their lands–a mandate that has been similarly ignored.

Location of the Schaghticoke reservation in Connecticut.

Were Chief Leschi still alive today, he would certainly not stand for Native lands being stolen and not properly paid for. It is likely that he would even go a step further and demand the return of the land itself and not just compensation. This is a motion the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has attempted to no avail. In 2010, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation filed a land claims action for the return of 2,100 acres of the stolen land–the majority of which remains undeveloped and sparsely populated. This suit, however, was dismissed by the Second United States District Court in light of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ reasoning for revoking the tribe’s federal recognition in 2005–a move resulting from a massive lobbying campaign by members of the government of Connecticut that began when the tribe was granted federal recognition in 2004. The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation appealed the ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld the District Court’s ruling whereupon the tribe appealed their case to the United States Supreme Court which denied to review the decision.

This assessment of Leschi’s view is based on his actions with regards to the Medicine Creek Treaty and his stand that the Nisquallies be granted proper land–not merely the leftover scraps proposed in the treaty. The negotiation process and treaty terms were rife with grievances against the Native representatives. Washington Territorial Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Isaac Steven expressly instructed the interpreters to only communicate in the crude trade language of Chinook Jargon (a language with only five hundred words and unsuited for negotiating the complex language of treaties) and not the full language in which the representatives were fluent, Lushootseed. Stevens arrived at the negotiating table with a pre-drawn treaty and, by most accounts, strong-armed the Native representatives into signing instead of listening to their perspective and negotiating terms that fit their needs. Yet, Leschi, a man with a reputation for level-headedness and a renowned moderator, was willing to look past these and plenty other grievances, but he would not waver on securing a proper land deal for his people.

A sign marking the border of the Schaghticoke reservation.

The 1854 treaty granted the Nisquallies a reservation of 1,280 acres made of the least desirable land that could be found along the Puget Sound. It was made of densely forested rocky hillsides and marshy shoreline unsuitable for farming with no access to the rich prairie land or Nisqually River from which Nisquallies drew most of their food and wealth–not to mention their name which literally translates to “people of the grass country.” Accepting these terms would have meant relegating his tribe to dependence on outside forces as the vast majority of the land that enabled Nisquallies’ self-sufficiency and livelihoods was being stripped away. Such an arrangement was so unacceptable for Leschi that there are several accounts claiming he stormed out of the negotiations without signing the treaty and that his signature was forged. The subsequent war that erupted the following year in 1855 between United States forces and several tribes around the South Puget Sound area under Leschi’s leadership forced Governor Stevens back to the negotiating table. New reservation lines were drawn giving both the Puyallup and the Nisqually greatly expanded borders on much more productive and desirable land–one of the very few instances in United States history whereupon a war with Native Americans resulted in better treaty terms for the Native Americans.

Considering his determination to prevent his people from essentially getting ripped off and to defend their ability to function as a sovereign nation, and the fact that, of everything in the negotiation process and treaty terms that could cause grievance, it was the land issue that drew the greatest opposition and resistance from Leschi, were he alive today he would in no way stand by and permit the State of Connecticut to break their own laws in order to unjustly (and unlawfully) steal land from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.

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Chief Leschi – Leadership Qualities

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities | Schaghticoke Nation Lawsuit | References

Chief Leschi was not simply selected to be a leader, the Nisqually people believed that the stars aligned on the day of his birth and he was predestined to lead his people someday. Chief Leschi was a leader who was held in the highest esteem.

Leschi had pacifist tendencies, which made him a graceful and level-headed leader. He did not believe that fighting would resolve any of the issues that his tribe was facing. Regardless of the mistreatment of Native people by Americans, he strongly discouraged his people from killing Americans.  He believed that reasoning with other tribes and the government was more progressive than combat. He even offered to cut off his right hand to show he would not fight the Americans in exchange for peace for his people. Even when the American government was threatening imprisonment, he decided to flee instead of fighting back because he so strongly stuck by his moral values of avoiding combat.

Chief Leschi was known for being a loyal leader. He prioritized the wellbeing of his people over his own. When the government asked him to sign the Medicine Creek Treaty which would relocate the Nisqually people as well as other bands who spoke Chinook Jargon, he refused because he felt as though the new land would result in a deterioration of his people. There were not means for sustenance at the new location– it was lacking a river and a place for horses to graze. Leschi fought against the signing of this treaty, even though he knew that it would potentially put himself in great danger. His persistence allowed for better treaty terms to be negotiated after the end of Puget Sound War. He eventually, gracefully, accepted his resulting death knowing that he was able to give his people land that they could sustain themselves on.

Not only was Leschi loyal to his people, but he was also persistent. When the Americans first settled, Leschi constantly monitored the foreigners to decipher their intention with his land. As the governor moved from tribe to tribe to evaluate more land, Leschi followed and observed the interactions and how the local tribes treated the outsiders. Leschi even made a trip to Olympia to negotiate with the American government for peace. After fighting between natives and foreigners broke out, Leschi was persistent in his pacifist efforts to obtain peace. Leschi attempted to bargain with an American that he had befriended for peace, but nothing was achieved even though his American friend John Swan visited the native lands. Leschi’s love for his land brought him back to the Nisqually Plains, and once again he made a plea with an American colonel for peace. Even when Leschi was on trial for a murder he did not commit, he fought for justice and the truth for his people. Although Leschi was hanged, his persistence lives on today through his people who now use his name in their fight for education for their children.

 

 

 

 

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Louis Riel – Leadership Qualities

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Louis Riel exemplified a myriad of impressive characteristics. Specifically, he sought to preserve the culture of the Métis. He did so by persevering through uprisings, and strategically fighting against the Canadian Government to better the lives of his fellow Métis.

Preserver of Culture

 

Métis and priests in Beauval, SK

Riel sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands in the Northwest came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence. Riel was an intelligent leader who fought to protect the social, cultural and political status of the Métis in Red River and the Northwest more generally. As tensions mounted among the Métis in 1869 it was clear that strong leadership was needed, and Riel had leadership coursing through his blood. Although Riel’s experiences growing up produced a lifestyle quite different from that of the traditional, buffalo-hunting Métis, it was these people he aspired to lead. He struggled not only for himself but for his people. Riel fought for the Métis and their rights to own land. He battled an unreasonable and irresponsible government while protesting central Canadian political and economic powers. After leading the Métis and bringing Manitoba into Confederation, it is clear that Riel struggled for the Métis, the people of Manitoba and the Northwest. By leading the Métis in a time of economic, political, and cultural turbulence, he was able to provide the nation with a sense hope, strength, and pride. Riel’s execution made him the martyr of the Métis people; he is a heroic rebel who fought to protect his people from the unjust encroachments of an Anglophone national government. It is more than clear that Riel was a rebel with a cause, fighting to preserve his people’s culture and rights.

 

Persevering

Riel’s perseverance is apparent throughout his career as both a politician and a rebel leader. Despite being threatened by high-ranking government officials, Riel never faltered in his attempts to achieve justice for his fellow Métis. After being convicted by the Canadian government for the murder of Thomas Scott, a warrant was issued for Riel’s arrest and he was exiled to Montana for five years. Although he was in exile during the important governmental elections of 1872 and 1873, Riel was determined to provide a voice for his people. Despite his naturalization in the United States, Riel continued to uphold his status as an influential indigenous individual by fighting against alcoholism within indigenous communities and again campaigning for another governmental institution. Despite gaining a U.S. citizenship and settling down in Montana, Riel valiantly gave up his life in the states when he was appointed to lead the Métis people who were left in distress back in Saskatchewan.

Not long after his return to Canada, Riel issued a Bill of Rights to Imperial Ottawa consisting of the grievances and the compensations the Métis deserved. Although these grievances were neglected by Prime Minister John Macdonald, Riel did not lose hope and continued fighting for the rights of Métis people. He pursued his quest for justice by creating the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan and actively rebelling against the Canadian government in hopes of regaining native rights. As a young man, Riel embodied perseverance as he fought for his fellow Métis; he exemplified this characteristic up until the moment he was hanged. Riel was passionate about the Métis people and believed that they had a right to their freedom, to own property, and to be separate from Canada’s dominion government.

Strategic

War Map of the North-west territory

Before Louis Riel’s more militant and rebellious approach towards the maltreatment of his fellow Métis, he pursued a more diplomatic alternative to violence. Riel pinpointed unjust governmental actions towards his people and combined his personal vision with a national vision to form the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. With the provisional government, Riel was able to officially represent his people in the eyes of the public. He filed the Manitoba Act, which stated that Métis lands would be protected, but all other lands were to remain the property of the Dominion of Canada. This act marked the legal resolution of the struggle for self-determination between the Métis and the federal government.

After returning from his exile in 1884, Riel’s first course of action was to collect all the grievances and requests of Métis, half-blood farmers, and prairie natives to be condensed into a Bill of Rights where settlers demanded that they be given title to the lands they occupied, that the districts of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia, and Alberta, be granted provincial status, that laws be passed to encourage the nomadic Indians and Métis to settle on the land, and that the Indians be better treated. After the petition was neglected by Prime Minister Macdonald, Riel retaliated by seizing a church in Batoche, making it both a jail and a storehouse, a tactical move that proved a useful advantage in the fight. While capturing the Church, Riel also strategically cut telegraph lines between cities to delay the notice of the rebellion to the dominion government, providing his rebel forces with more time to effectively retaliate. Familiar with the unsettling outcomes of other native groups who were oppressed in North America, and aware that his more peaceful forms of protest were not effecting change, Riel resorted to war. He sought to strategically help the Métis and other Indigenous groups, whether it be through diplomatic acts or rebellions, Riel acted upon the government’s negligence and fought for the rights of his people.

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Neville Bonner – Biographical Timeline

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities  | Mauna Kea | References