In little towns all across America you see them...   people who "lead" and people who LEAD.  Sometimes they are the same people, but many times they are not.  Nowhere is this more evident than on the reservation.  

When the Reservations were being set up the "brilliant minds" in Washington DC said "You need to elect leaders but if we don't approve of them we will appoint someone that we approve of instead.   Only the leaders that WE choose FOR you are 'valid' leaders."   This led to men such as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph no longer being "leaders" because they weren't what are called "Hang around the fort Indians" and ONLY "hang around the fort Indians" were acceptable.   Today we are still only allowed those "leaders" that are recognized by others rather than those that are recognized by the individuals within the tribes.  For the vast majority of tribes what that means is that we have "leaders" who are, at best, "hang around the fort" Indians rather than being LEADERS.   

Just yesterday the President held a meeting in Washington DC with "tribal leaders" from the tribes where he made a bunch of statements that, cynic that I admittedly am, I have absolutely NO "reasonable belief" that he MEANT.  I say this NOT because of the person making the statements, as many will claim, but because the people who were there are "leaders" rather than LEADERS.  How do I know this?   I KNOW some of the folks who were there as "leaders" and believe-you-me they are, for the most part, not LEADERS.  Theresa Two Bulls is the President of the Tribe that I am a member of.  I voted for her as a matter of fact.  She's a good paper pusher and a GREAT "Hang around the fort Indian".  What she is NOT, despite the fact that she was elected tribal President, is a LEADER.  She does not "speak for" me nor does she "represent" me even though I voted for her.

Larry EchoHawk, Under Secretary to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is a PRIME example of a "cigar store Indian".  Larry is NOT culturally Native American for all that he is a member of the Pawnee Tribe.  Culturally he is WHITE and he does NOT "represent" anyone or anything other than himself.  It is his NAME and the fact that he is a member of the Pawnee Tribe that got him the position that he has rather than whether or not he is QUALIFIED to represent Native Americans.  How do I know this?   I know his history.   I know the things that he has done that are undeniably detrimental to Native Americans across the board.  How do I know these things?   Research.   Religiously Larry is Mormon.  Mormons do NOT "represent" Native Americans and they never have.  One of the things in Larry's past happened while he was the Attorney General for the state of Idaho was something that shows just how LITTLE of a "leader" he is.  While he was the AG for the state of Idaho the United States Supreme Court ORDERED him to negotiate with the tribes "in good faith" in Idaho with regards to casinos.   Instead Larry, in direct violation of that court order, went to the Governor of Idaho and DEMANDED an "Emergency Session" of the Legislature to make casinos illegal on reservation lands in Idaho. Tell me... would YOU consider someone who knowingly and deliberately violated the orders of the United States Supreme Court to be someone worthy of respect?  I don't.   I consider him "worthy" of nothing.  Larry is "in it" for LARRY.  He is (IMHO) a vainglorious paper asshole and yet he's JUST what the WHITE folks from the President on down consider to be a "good leader".   In reality Larry is, at best, a "cigar store Indian".  Good advertising.. but no more a real Native American than "Kaw-Liga".  

One of the concerns that I and many other Native Americans have with regards to President Obama is that he asks for "suggestions" on Native American issues from people who are either "hang around the fort Indians" or "cigar store Indians".   Good advertising.   I'm SURE he will get all kinds of "suggestions".  I'm also sure that those suggestions will do about as much good in the long run as small pox infected blankets.

Time will tell if I am correct or not.    This cynic may well finally be surprised by a politician.   I doubt it but hey it COULD happen. 

In the mean time... I'm NOT taking any wooden nickles OR any blankets from Washington D.C.   

Edited to add the following:  

I am certain that many will not understand the reference to "Kaw-Liga" and so I am including the song that the reference comes from.