How long has Daschle been Senator? And only NOW he is ready to discuss issues important to Indian people?
An interesting concept, given that most American Indian cultures were highly communal in nature, and private property and individual land ownership were mostly alien concepts.
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, however. Means is a highly charismatic individual, who had a starring role in The Last of the Mohicans and who often is front and center in protests. If he has gone on his own pilgrimage to a center-right philosophy, it might bode well for the state of Native Americans in general. Maybe he saw Kayenta, a town in the middle of the Navajo reservation where the elders have allowed free-market rules and private enterprise. That town is flourishing amidst the abject poverty and Stalinist economics of the rest of the reservation.
Catching the dream of free enterprise
by: Brenda Norrell / Today Staff / Indian Country Today
KAYENTA, Ariz. - From working behind the counter of Kayenta Trading Post as a child, to building the beautifully designed Hampton Inn and three Burger Kings on Navajoland, Navajo businessman Richard Mike learned the ingredients of successful business in Indian country the hard way.
He also learned to love it.
"What I've learned is that there are two sets of laws, one for white people and one for Indians.
"White people can own land wherever they want. Indians lease their lands for their homes and businesses.
"Freedom is based on land ownership."
Free enterprise is going nowhere in Indian country, because "the United States supports socialism," Mike said.
Tribal enterprises, such as the floundering Navajo Agricultural Products Industries, suffocate ideas of free enterprise, he said.
Routinely, off tribal lands, businesses have to answer to a board of directors for their failures. "If they don't make a profit, the board kicks out the CEO."
But, that's not the case in Indian country.
"That accountability doesn't exist. The BIA continues whatever the tribe wants."
There's no impetus for success.
"Free enterprise means capitalism without government interference. That just doesn't exist on any Indian reservation."
Mike said if tribal enterprises facing bankruptcy were left with repercussions - like having to pay the money back - tribes would think more carefully about "jumping into business so fast."
When a casino or other enterprise is successful, he said it simply means more power for the powerful and more dependency for everyone else.
"The incumbent chairman becomes more powerful if a casino or enterprise is successful. And the people either want more freebies, more goodies or go on welfare."
While states and many towns have Chambers of Commerce, there is a void of support for businessmen in Indian country. Tribal divisions, such as Navajo Economic Development and Navajo Office of Tourism, do not meet the needs.
"They are generally bureaucrats that monitor. They don't work for business people, they work for the tribe," Mike said.
Two years ago, after building a successful chain of Burger Kings on the Navajo Nation, Mike and partner Nina Heflin built a Hampton Inn in the heart of Kayenta, in drop-dead Southwestern style.
After securing a loan guarantee from the Office of Rural Development in the Department of Agriculture, Mike soon learned the hard truth about one bit of business advice.
During the first 10 months, no one knew he was there.
"I couldn't believe it. There's such a need for hotels in Kayenta," he said of the community on the edge of scenic Monument Valley.
During the first year, he used his savings and Burger King profits to pay the bills for the hotel, offering an outdoor heated pool, outdoor dining and fine gift shop, Kayenta Trading Co. The second year, the hotel paid its own bills. A profit is foreseen for this year.
Recommending franchises for American Indian businessmen, Mike said they offer benefits like training and setting standards of service, which guarantee success in a tough market. One way they do it is by way of secret shoppers.
"If you continue to flunk with your secret shoppers, they get rid of you."
But, the former owner of a Navajoland trading post, says, "Don't ever buy a trading post. You end up carrying a lot of credit, a lot of debt."
The whole concept of making money in Indian country has been slow to catch on. He said the idea of the "rich trader having it all," at the expense of everyone else, is a carryover from the trading post days.
While many Navajos are educated to go into public service, he said business is a way to bring jobs home.
Preparing to open a new Burger King at Burnside Junction near Ganado, he said, "A lot of people just say, 'There he goes again, taking more land.' But I create jobs.
"It's not fun to build. It's not a picnic," he said of the difficult work of constructing sewage, water and electric facilities on tribal land.
Already with 200 employees on the Navajo Nation at Burger Kings in Kayenta, Chinle and Shiprock, N.M., and the Hampton Inn in Kayenta, Mike is building a Burger King with convenience store and gas station at Burnside Junction that will create 60 new jobs.
When he first started out with the purchase of the Crystal, N.M., Trading Post in the 1980s, Mike learned that American Indian businessmen are perceived as rich in the community.
He said tribal members probably don't know about the 30-year debt commitment and mortgages.
During the past 10 years, he has changed his mind about the need for local taxation on tribal land. The Kayenta Township Commission, where he serves as a commissioner, is collecting 2.5 percent tax on all sales.
With those revenues, the township upgraded the airport and built a new post office and trash transfer station. It is now building 230 homes with its sales tax.
Mike says the homes are "for working Navajos who are having to sleep in shacks and trailers."
Mike grew up with the Anglo trading family of Reuben Heflin in Kayenta whose grandfather was Stokes Carson, turn-of-the-century trader at the nearby Inscription House.
"I got to see Indian business from behind a counter! From behind the counter, it all just seemed natural," he said.
Recently, Mike built traditional Navajo male and female hogans and a sweat lodge, between his Kayenta Burger King and Hampton Inn. There's a self-guided indoor hogan tour past sheepskins, enamel coffeepots and charcoal mutton grills. A museum is under construction.
The Navajo Codetalkers Exhibit in his Kayenta Burger King is extensive, with written accounts and military items Navajos returned with from World War II. The U.S. Marines credit the code, declassified in 1969, with helping win the war in the Pacific.
When well-meaning friends push Mike to take a vacation or retire, he asks, "Why? I love what I'm doing."
Besides, he said business is "not a big deal if you enjoy it."