Editor of Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Times fired after writing critical tribal news article

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, who is, or was, the editor of the MHA (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes) Times newspaper on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, North Dakota, posted the following on the MHA Tribal Politics page on Facebook:



Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, September 28 at 6:33pm · Makoti, ND

"For all the people who encouraged me to write about the truth here at Fort Berthold, I just got fired today. MY last column is one of the trending stories on Indianz.com. Here are the four TAT (Three Affiliated Tribes) councilmen whose board reps fired me: chairman Mark Fox, Fred Fox, Randy Phelan, and Frank Grady…”



Indianz.com posted an update on September 29, 2015 that Rave-Spotted Bear has been fired by the MHA Times and her letter of termination indicated that the cause was insubordination.



Jodi Rave-Spotted Bear wrote in an article posted recently on MHA Times that she "had been summoned to Tribal Council meetings twice—once, in a closed session and off the record — regarding an accurate story [she] wrote about the tribal budget. The second time was on Sept. 2 in which [she] was told to make a formal request for a media packet. Both instances felt like an ambush."



On September 28, 2015, Indianz posted an article written by Rave-Spotted Bear regarding a recent Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) decision in Hudson v. Great Plains Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs. The original article was published in the MHA Times last week and titled "Interior Appeals Board Upholds Much Needed Changes to TAT Constitution."



In the full article posted on MHA Times, Rave-Spotted Bear stated "the TAT Constitution, which leaves seven councilmen to engage in controlling, cavalier, power-drunk politics. The rest of us are left with an unsettling choice: Do we kiss the rings?'



It seems that this statement was the last straw with the oversight board. It's hard to find anything that lays out the governing responsible entity overseeing the MHA Times, which leaves the termination action without full knowledge and understanding of the causes leading to her termination.



The tribal membership is somewhat divided. Postings in Facebook expressed support of Rave-Spotted Bear's article, while others lambasted her article for their belief that she lacked full understanding of the ramifications of the IBIA decision. However, everyone has a right to have an opinion and it probably won't be exactly like mine or yours. Nothing gets done until we stir the pot. If we don't stir it, it burns and is not fit to eat, but needs to be thrown out.



This is an all too common practice in Indian Country where tribes financially assist or manage tribal newspapers." One of the greatest freedoms we have is the freedom of the press. Without it, we are left in the dark about issues or concerns except in the dark recesses of secrecy. We are left to wonder if the Gawonisgi (Cherokee word for gossip) is true or just another attempt to discredit another person.



I worked 20 years for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. The tribes financially supported the nationally award winning tribal newspaper, Wotanin Wowapi. A few years back, a new tribal administration attempted to reign in the news if they believed it to be negative reporting about tribal council actions. Eventually, they fired Bonnie Clincher, now passed on, and handed the newspaper over to another individual. Clincher was respected nationally as a Native American Journalist and won many national awards.



It didn't deter Clincher who proceeded to establish a new weekly newspaper named Fort Peck Journal. It was fully funded without tribal funding by Clincher and her former Wotanin Wowapi staff who followed her in establishing the Fort Peck Journal. I'm sure others who believed in Clincher as a protector of their right to know also contributed in some manner.



Clincher still experienced opposition from tribal council members, but she persisted in presenting the truth to the tribal membership without fear of being fired. The Journal has now become an award winning newspaper and the Wotanin Wowapi eventually failed under new leadership and no longer exists.



I write because I love to - so I can write it how I see it without fear of being fired. Doesn't mean I can run roughshod past the truth, but I can write the truth even if folks get upset. News isn't news when it's replaced by perception and manipulation, but lacks substance.



Did Rave-Spotted Bear step over the line? I don't know. But I do know that I haven't seen anything written yet that she was given any rights to appeal her employee termination. Maybe the tribes have but it hasn't been divulged by Rave-Spotted Bear or on the Facebook site yet. Wrongful or Right termination? Too little is known to say accurately. Did she deserve to be terminated? I don't know all of the facts. Did she have a responsibility to report the truth? She would be in the wrong profession if she didn't. After reading the various articles she wrote and reported along with negative and positive comments in her community, I still can't and don't need to express what I think. It's a tribal matter which must be handled by the tribe and their citizenship.



Rave-Spotted Bear's bio denotes she is a Harvard University Nieman Fellow, a journalism fellowship for national and international journalists. She’s the recipient of national awards and honors for news and opinion writing, including the Society of Professional Journalists, the Native American Journalists Association, the Montana Newspaper Association, Columbia University School of Journalism and the University of Nebraska. In 1999, she received the Paul D. Savanuck Military Print Journalist of the Year Award.



Very impressive for an editor who was just fired. But, if reports are true, she was terminated for insubordination, which is usually failing to maintain the company mission in the eyes of the supervisor. Sometimes their eyes are clear and other times their eyes are fuzzy. I'm sure she will bounce back in a bigger way.



My mentor, who is the editor of a Native American news publication, taught me that journalists must remain unbiased in reporting and present both sides so that their readers can make their own informed decisions rather being manipulated into believing what the journalists believe, or want them to believe.



Tribally managed newspapers will always present a positive report of tribal council actions. But I found out a long time ago that it requires negative plus positive to produce power. You can't get electric without either, because then, there is nothing but darkness.



Jay Daniels has 30 years of experience working in Indian Country, managing trust lands and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. You can find resources and information at http://roundhousetalk.com.