Finally! After two years my autobiography of my years in Western Colorado and working at the Menominee County Community School and the Menominee Indian Tribe has been published. I have copies in hand that can be found or ordered in bookstores throughout the world and all major online venues like amazon or Barnes and Noble. The book tells of growing up in Delta and Grand Junction Colorado, my love affair with Ethel Mortenson Davis (still happily married after closing in on 59 years), and so much history from the early 1970s that occurred because of the remarkable Menominee leaders of those days, resulting in the Indian controlled schools movement and the restoration of the Menominee Tribe and the start of the dominance of the self-determination era that changed the relationship of American Indian Tribes to state governments and the federal government. I was a participant in what happened, an observer.
Part of the reason I wrote this book is to rescue a part of American education and American Indian history that seems to be in danger of being lost. The Indian controlled schools movement was short-lived, but it was the spark that led to the creation of the tribal colleges and universities, which I have played a part in moving forward all these decades, and the contract schools operated by nearly every tribe in the country. The innovations from that movement are still echoing throughout American education.
The history of the Menominee Restoration Committee and its creation of the contemporary Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is every bit as important since this was one of the major foundations of the Self-Dermination era in tribal and government relationships that changed the arc of American history.
There are also stories about the Menominee Indian Warrior takeover of the Alexian Brother’s Novitiate outside of Gresham, Wisconsin that made international news, the rise of the Posse Comitatus in Shawano County (one of the first major right wing militia groups), and how a handicapped Colorado boy overcame his limitations and insecurities to find love, the strength of Indian values and Indian people, and a small place in the history of this country and its relationship to Native people.
Hopefully readers will find the history informative, the stories exciting, and understand that their lives have been impacted by what happened back then.
Although Beginnings: The Trail from a Boyhood in Western Colorado to the Indian Controlled Schools Movement and Restoration of the Menominee Indian Tribe chronicles the work of the Menominee Restoration Committee and the formation of formal tribal government after the Termination Era in American Indian history—helping usher in the era of Indian Self-Determination—it is a different kind of book.
For one thing, in the Western Colorado sections and in the chapters where I recount the magical love story between Ethel Mortenson Davis—the poet, artist, and my wondrous wife—I integrate narrative poetry into the larger story of being born in the small town of Delta, our move to Grand Junction, our marriage and early years together, and, finally, my success in earning a teaching degree in history and English at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.
The other aspect of my story during these years was the struggle against physical handicaps caused by Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary disorder that affects much of my extended family. The theme of how physical handicaps can affect American children growing up in a culture that extols exceptionalism while often denigrating intellectual and physical disabilities is, I believe, both powerful and universal. I was fortunate that my particular affliction was one I learned, somewhat shakily, to overcome, partially because of the glory of falling in love with Ethel.
I am often asked whether I am American Indian. Then, after I answer, another question follows: How did a Western Colorado boy end up spending most of his life serving American Indians through the Indian-controlled schools movement?
That question reflects the difficulties American society has always had in embracing the patchwork quilt of its own population. In my story, I move from being a true-blue inheritor of the Western ethic of independence, self-reliance, and connection to the landscape to becoming a participant in the effort of Indian people to control their own futures within a country that has often preferred to deny the history of the Indian Wars and the treatment of Native peoples after the wars ended and the Treaty Period gave way to new federal policies.
This meant that I became a participant in some of the most important historical movements in modern American history: the birth and development of the Indian-controlled schools movement and the legal and political foundations of the Self-Determination Era, which recognizes tribes as independent nations possessing constitutional and treaty rights that have too often been violated by national, state, and local governments.
The Major Themes of Beginnings
There are many major themes woven throughout Beginnings. I hope readers discover many of them for themselves.
The Power of Beginnings
How childhood experiences shape a lifetime of values, decisions, and leadership.
The Formation of Character
Lessons learned through family, work, hardship, and responsibility in rural western Colorado.
Leadership Through Service
Leadership emerging from commitment to a cause rather than the pursuit of authority or recognition.
Finding Purpose
The unexpected path from a small-town upbringing to involvement in national Native American issues.
Education as Self-Determination
Education as a means for communities to control their own future rather than simply transmit knowledge.
The Indian Self-Determination Movement
The historic transition from federal control toward tribal governance and local decision-making.
The Menominee Restoration
The political, legal, and human struggle to restore federal recognition to the Menominee Tribe.
Community Building
Creating institutions that outlast individuals, including schools, organizations, and partnerships.
Cross-Cultural Learning
The mutual education that occurs when people from different backgrounds work together with respect.
The Importance of Listening
Effective leadership beginning with understanding rather than directing.
Courage During Change
Individuals willing to challenge established systems in pursuit of justice.
Ordinary People Making History
How significant historical events are often shaped by people who never intended to become historical figures.
The Evolution of Tribal Education
The emergence of Indian-controlled schools and, eventually, tribal colleges as expressions of sovereignty.
Institution Building
The practical challenges of creating new educational and governmental institutions from the ground up.
Perseverance
Continuing despite political setbacks, financial uncertainty, and organizational obstacles.
Relationships and Mentorship
The influence of remarkable individuals whose guidance changed the course of my life.
The Intersection of Personal and National History
One person’s life unfolding alongside transformative events in federal Indian policy.
Hope and Renewal
Restoration not only of a tribe’s legal status but also of dignity, identity, and opportunity.
The Value of Place
The landscapes of western Colorado, Wisconsin, and Indian Country as active influences on identity and perspective.
History Through Personal Experience
Understanding major historical movements through the lived experiences of someone directly involved.
Beginnings ends before the years I spent helping establish and expand the tribal college movement—the work for which I am probably best known at the age of eighty. That story belongs to another volume.
For now, I hope readers find in Beginnings a story that contributes to a broader understanding of this country, its history, and what it ought to stand for.
Our yo yo President (I liked yo yoing when I was a kid) has been doing a lot of yoing lately. Tariffs are up--or down, or maybe tomorrow they’ll yo again. Walmart suggests increased expenses, brought about by higher tariffs, will result in higher prices in their big box stores, and Trump’s snarl of rage yos like a tornado through the news media-- those evil instruments of darkness.
But let me tell you, the slightly overweight clownish ring master with orangish hair that looks like a wig who has a bright red face is a yo yo master. He spins words and emotions down, walks them around, and then pulls them back up until his supporters are spinning like a mad field of glorious tops, sparking emotion, rage, laughter, and feelings of we've got the elites now! all of the place.
And they are the calm ones as the media dances, his opponents foam, and what has been no longer is. Topsy-turvy is just the yo yo master yoing his yo, claiming that everything destructive of the old order is, after all, a jest-- even if some child in Africa dies of hunger or disease because of what he’s done. Of course, the dead are the undead. We all know that.
Lately he’s been yo yoing out pardons to insurrectionists, crooks, tax cheats, and crooked politicians (as long as they’re Republican). At the same time, he’s accepted a flying palace from a rich Arab nation eager to buy his favor and hawking worthless meme coins with His image. He glorying in crypto, the path to becoming rich! If your name is Trump, And Tesla cars that his rich buddy Elon Musk sells. Mostly, he’s stuffing his and his family’s pockets While removing cash from those who believe in Him.
The South African President told him, after he found out he was leading a nation of racists against white people, that if he had an airplane, he’d give it to the Golden One. The Golden One declared that he’d sure accept something like that. But, of course, the South African President doesn’t have a flying palace, and anyway, he’s one of those black men that didn’t like Apartheid. Too bad for him.
My own opinion is, LET THE CORRUPTION RISE! America has been the citie on the hill too long. It’s time for poor people and regular citizens to suffer while the rich have their opulent parties. When the idea of American has been destroyed, Trump, no longer the President, will still be using his golden toilet and proclaiming He’s the Greatest President ever! in the entire history of the universe and the Time of God, his Eternal friend!
is on the roll of rolls. I mean, tariffs are terrifying the world as Mr. Trump trumps his ego with a paroxysm of actions that have Americans checking their wallets and the rest of the world wondering who unlocked Pandora’s box this time. But don’t worry, Putin’s not worried. Russia wasn’t hit with a single tariff. After all, they haven’t signed on to the cease fire Mr. Trump said they’d sign, and what’s happened? The PPP has come out with excuses piled on excuses, and the bombs have continued to blow up schools, hospitals, and power plants, and Russian soldiers have continued to die as they inch forward on Ukrainian soil, and NATO is scared to death it’s collapsing as Trump fumes about his allies and knows Putin is his best friend.
There was a time when the GOP was a stalwart against Communism. The Red Menace was a plague that had to be stopped! There was even a time when Dwight Eisenhower stood as solid as a giant and took on Facism worldwide and beat it and then joined Churchill in decrying the evils of the Russian Empire. I remember all that. Don’t you? Eisenhower was once the President and the leader of the GOP.
But that’s old history now. The PPP is in charge. They have the majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and Mr. Trump won a landslide by the skin of the skin of his teeth, although he denies the latter part of that statement— and don’t worry. The stock market is collapsing, a recession, or maybe stagflation, that strange beast, is around the corner, and the entire world wonders what kind of new enemy has arisen in the west, but the PPP is assuring us we can trust in Trump. After all, Mr. Putin says we can. I tell you, the PPP, even as it repeats endlessly strings of lies, never leads anyone astray!
First, secure a charismatic character, preferably a male who has lived a flawed life seething with perceived slights and resentments. Then have him attract two kinds of followers: those who believe society has left them unfairly behind and those who can imagine their support for such a leader can help them gain power, wealth, or prestige.
After the charismatic leader secures followers through outrageous statements and dramatic performative art, enflame resentments against elites and their status quo, laying claim to a mythological glorious past with glorious values that only a Great Leader can magically bring back to life— as Christ did with Lazarus. Claim divine intervention in the Great Leader’s life, proving beyond doubt that God is on the Great Leader’s side as he crusades against society’s carnage brought about by elites, even if they masquerade as common people, that have gained benefits they clearly don’t deserve.
Then, have the Anointed One win His election by making Him the only news worth covering by the press as he attacks the press and paints them as part of the hated elite. Let the Great Leader encourage his followers to attack those not absolutely on his and their side so that everyone begins to fear being the target of the Great Leader’s wrath. Attack the integrity of elections, claiming fraud where no fraud exists. Eliminate voters from voting rolls in places where the vote might be negative. And always, let the Great Leader be outrageous and bold and filled with the glory of who He is and who He will be.
Then mix in rich oligarchs willing to fund ugly campaigns against any opposition, creating division among different populations of people whenever possible, making good people afraid to step out in the line fire, fearing to have reputations and lives damaged by lies advertised against them. Enrich the supporting rich with government largesse beyond measure. as power flows into the Great Leader’s glory. Develop and implement policies that hurt the stranger, the poor, the old, the handicapped, anyone who his followers can see as lesser than themselves because of his actions.
Create a new Golden Age brought to fruition by the Great Leader’s genius as he thumps his chest and has his minions praise his glorious leadership over and over again.
Celebrate dictators around the world and attack democracies as leeches taking unfair advantage of a country that has benefited from their trade and become the rich democracy it has become. Get the public to recognize the glorious strength of strong men.
Accustom those who have always seen themselves as good people to cruelty as immigrant children and families are deported, starving children in famine areas die as aid that kept them alive is yanked away, and families with the need for special programs spend nights crying as they worry about whether they are going to lose benefits and lose all as they face increased disability, illness, or some other devastation.
Let the Great Leader mock those who fought in the War to End All Wars or the soldiers who protected the country or became prisoners of war because they were fools as he declares love for the military he attacks, weakening the honor a country has for its independent military structure. Then begin to erode the rights of the press and poets who write poems he doesn’t like or artists who create art that anybody who is Great can see is ugly. And always, create dramas that dominate the news as He mocks those who report on or oppose his antics, claiming He is the only one whose words count, that the Great Leader who saves the country can break no law or tell no lie.
And as you are doing all of this, use raw power to begin dismantling society’s norms and institutions, creating norms and institutions in Your image, claiming norms and institutions that created and maintained peace and prosperity for seventy years has led to carnage and failure.
And after institutions and norms have been damaged beyond repair, point out how terrible the previous leadership was to allow such failures and blame them for every problem the Great Leader creates. Surround the Great Leader with sycophants as everyone must acknowledge the gloriousness of the Great Leader’s Glory.
Metamorphosis is complete: Democracy is no longer needed. The Great, divine Leader is the country that serves him.
fourwindowspress 