The Thunderbird Alliance
Reclaiming the Legacy of Tribal Democracy
by Iron Thunderhorse, November 1989
In times gone by, when this land we call Turtle Island was a virtual paradise, tribalism was literally the law of the land. Tribal nations lived in harmony with their environment. Everything was respected as sacred --- from a grain of sand to the stars above. Everything on our Mother Earth was part of the great cycle of life, therefore everything was honored as a relation.
The concept of true democracy in its purest, original form originated with tribal nations right here on Turtle Island. Long before the coming of the boat people (Caucasians) America was a vast paradise where tribal confederacies such as the Iroquois League or the Duwamish Confederacy lived and flourished under the principles of indigenous free will and liberty.
The rights of the handicapped, the young children, the elderly, the women and the environment were absolute. Their laws were natural laws, based on thousands of years of careful observation within the natural world. Tribal nations here on Turtle Island lived to become true human beings and to express the true human condition: to become a part of the environment, not separate from it.
These were the Ani-Yunwiya: the Real Human Beings as aboriginal concepts of self and other were understood. The people did not call themselves Indians or Americans, but simply: The People, and reflected how their respective areas of land owned them, not vice-versa. The experience of being truly human manifested itself in many rare qualities by which indigenous Turtle Islanders were best known. As Edgar L. Hewett (1963, p. 41) publicly stated many times:
“There can be no question that the redman had evolved a better civilization than our own… In aesthetic, ethical, and social culture, the Indians surpassed their (oppressors)… It is to the glory of the American Indian race that it developed a type of government entirely different from that of the European and more effective. The welfare of the people was the supreme end of government.”
The difference between European government and tribal government is the difference between civilization and tribalism, or the difference between artificial lifestyles which exploit the environment and natural lifestyles which respect the natural cycles of life thus sustaining other life on our Earth Mother. It was from tribal democracy that the early American statesmen learned and subsequently developed the United States Constitution (Johansen 1982).
The Thunderbird Symbol
One of the oldest symbols known to all aboriginal nations is the thunderbird. From time unmemorable this totem has been a central motif representing the mystical forces of transformation, healing, emergence and free will. The spiritual and cultural significance of this totem is likened as an aboriginal equivalent to the phoenix. Yet the thunderbird has no ashes (ignorance, greed) from which to arise, as in the case of the phoenix, simply because there was no oppression to free itself from prior to colonization.
The symbol of the thunderbird for contemporary Native American people represents the cultural, political, and spiritual renaissance of tribalism. It is for these reasons that the Thunderbird Alliance adopted this ancient symbol to express the complete liberation and transformation of an oppressed people from the clutches of racism, ethnocide and genocide.
The Thunderbird Alliance
During the 95th Congress in 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was passed, allowing the practice of indigenous religions outlawed since April 25, 1883 by the Department of the Interior. In the past decade, since the implementation of AIRFA, a great transformation has been taking place as the real human beings begin practicing ancient religious ceremonies dating back thousands of years. Along with this revival of spiritual traditions came a concomitant interest in the resurrection of tribal languages, legends, prophecies and political structures.
In American prisons this transformation has been extremely profound for Native American prisoners. Cultural groups and spiritual circles began testing the waters and soon extended the AIRFA doctrine to several institutions. The sacred pipe, the INIPI or sweat lodge purification ceremony, talking circles, WACIPIS or pow-wows, and cultural workshops were organized by the prison circles. Language classes, arts and crafts collectives, and spiritual circles were the results these groups accomplished.
Three and a half years ago several people who had worked with these groups for the past decade and who were also activists or jailhouse lawyers noticed that there was a definite need to form an alliance among these prison groups. Disparity from state to state and prison to prison was evidenced in the manner in which prison officials began implementing or not implementing similar programs organized by Native American inmates. For instance, in a few states there existed several exemplary group projects while in other states only lip service was given in the form of culture clubs that were only allowed a very minimal access to spiritual or cultural activities. The difference between a culture club and a spiritual circle might seem frivolous to outsiders but to the inmates it means the difference between vital recognition and mere crumbs being tossed around to avoid detection of the unwillingness to have any cultural or spiritual programming which interferes with the philosophies of penology. Prison administrators often use total deprivation techniques that strip all political, spiritual, cultural and individual identity that does not fit into their pattern of blind obedience to statehood authority. At the other end of the spectrum lie the states which refuse to acknowledge the existence of Native American people or their culture which is a reflection of the regional prejudices of racism and ethnocentrism still very strong in many geographic regions.
Hence the Thunderbird Prison Alliance was born in an effort to alleviate the disparity in the “Iron Houses.” Task forces were set up along with regional networks in cooperation with such national organizations as XAT Medicine Society to address the problem areas. The enthusiasm of the Thunderbird Alliance led to progress that can be measured in the many changes taking place. For the first time there was organization to the struggles of Native American prisoner's rights.
As the Alliance grew it was evident that a need existed to adopt two separate but related forms of organizational structure, the non-profit corporation and the indigenous tribal council structure. The Thunderbird Alliance was now inter-tribal and transcultural, and linked the Iron Houses with the outside world as a continuum. Balancing the interests between a non-profit organization and a sovereign confederacy, between the prisons and outside support groups, and between Native and non-Native philosophies has been a very difficult task. Numerous staffers within the Alliance have had to part because of conflicts in religious, political, or cultural variances.
Indigenous Confederation
The indigenous tribal confederacies of pre-contact Turtle Island practiced the arts of peacekeeping based on principles of peace where balance was predicated on a delicate understanding of justice through the sovereignty of common law and natural law. Peacekeeping was maintained through a profound belief that all things are connected. Decisions were made bearing in mind how those decisions would affect the next seven generations to come.
In keeping with those indigenous traditions the Thunderbird Alliance adopted a primary structure called the Grand Peacekeeper’s Council which was designed after the original confederacies of Turtle Island. The GPC began to study the problems of crime, rehabilitation, oppression, minorities in prison, how and why native peoples go to prison, and what can be done to regain our cultural independence once more. Native American rights and the preservation of traditional sovereignty became the primary focus of the GPC. Its goal is to re-establish the elements of tribal culture and identity through living them in a meaningful way and to share this independence and tribal sovereignty with the peoples of the world and especially with other indigenous cultures who are being oppressed by powermongers who seek to exploit natural resources for the sole purpose of making money.
Concepts Formed by the GPC
The Grand Peacekeeper’s Council maintains that the sacred Tree of Peace, Truth and Unity is a symbolic paradigm of harmonic balance. There is a definite need to re-establish this balance in the world. The indigenous peoples of Mother Earth hold the keys and secrets to this balance.
As all things are connected, humanity can no longer afford to deal with life through a process of linear thinking (Iron Thunderhorse 1989, p. 13). A process of holistic thinking must replace the evaluation processes in order to re-establish a true human condition as it effects all life on Mother Earth. Responsibility for the environment was a primary part of indigenous governmental affairs. To poison the air, the water and food supply with contaminants would in turn poison the human species.
The contemporary fear of crime is another area the GPC has dealt with considerably in its literature. Crime is a catch-all term used to isolate the malfunctions of a failing social structure. Oftentimes poverty, racism, sexism and similar variables play a primary role in how crime is perpetuated. Foreign countries are amazed at just how much private behavior is characterized as criminal in America. Likewise, the United States government claims it has no political prisoners behind bars. In this country there are no distinctions between political and social crimes. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of political dissidents are imprisoned under the guise of crime. Behind bars, however, the goals of penology become incorporated with the goals of genocide in the outside world. Breaking the spirit of the person who deviates from the status quo becomes the aim and sanction of penology as a punishment for crime. The Iron Houses have become literally concentration camps for domestic dissidents. Society today fails to deal with the roots of so-called crime but deals instead with its after-effects. We feel this a product of linear thinking processes.
So the Thunderbird Alliance pondered these problems with activists, spiritual leaders, tribal leaders and scholars. The resulting discussions led to the formulation of many Alliance projects and philosophies.
The Thunderbird Free Press
The Alliance publishes an official forum called “The Thunderbird Free Press” (TFP) which prints relevant news, networking information, profiles of prison circles, literary reviews, and opportunities for Native American prisoners. TFP is presently a quarterly newsletter. Plans are being laid, however, to transform the newsletter into a grass roots newspaper beginning in January of 1990.
The Thunderbird Free Press Publishing Cooperative offers a variety of grass roots publications to prisoners such as Thunderbird Voices Speaking, a handbook concerning the legal, political and spiritual rights of Native American prisoners. These publications are mailed free of charge to prisoners. Freeworld people are charged a fee for TFP publications to help support the work of the Alliance.
There are also several publications written about the Alliance as well as the many projects performed by the GPC. A major publication scheduled for release in early 1990 is entitled Return of the Thunder Beings published by Bear and Company Publishing, co-authored by Iron Thunderhorse and Donn Le Vie, Jr. Bear and Company Publishers specializes in books to “celebrate and heal the earth.” Return of the Thunder Beings covers the ancient Thunderbird teachings, ancestry, and prophecies from the perspectives of a Thunderbird Shaman and a New Age Scientist. There is a comprehensive interview at the end of the book which details the history and development of the Thunderbird Alliance as they grew from the visions of Iron Thunderhorse.
The Iron House Project
The Iron House Project consists of three major proposals and projects based on a broader study dealing with the rehabilitation of Native Americans in prison. A brief outline of those proposals follows.
I. THE THUNDERBIRD ALLIANCE GRAND PEACEKEEPER’S COUNCIL is structured from an 8 page document consisting of 17 MIDES or laws similar to the wampums in the Great Law of Peace which establishes a council of a Grand Peacekeeper, Peacekeepers, Spiritual Firekeeper, Political Firekeeper, Medicine Society, Medicine Chief, Warrior Society, Women's Circle, Clan Mother's Society and Duda or Headwoman, as well as many other positions. This structure enables the Alliance to deal with indigenous problems from an indigenous perspective both inside prison and with relationships in the freeworld.
II. THE IRON HOUSE RELEASE CAMP PROJECT AND AFTER CARE PROJECT is a plan to develop tribal re-entry programs, where, upon release, Native prisoners are prepared to re-learn the indigenous way of life. After Care was developed by XAT Medicine Society in cooperation with the Thunderbird Alliance and the Flowering Tree Medicine Society, and consists of Pre-Release Programs, Skills Workshops, Mentor Programs, fellowship Programs, and Community Service Projects using the resources of many local, state, and national agencies. At the Release Camps prisoners can work and live in a natural setting complete with buffalo herds, mustang herds while they perform social tasks such as environmental reclamation work.
III. THE THUNDERBIRD ALLIANCE AIRFA AMENDMENT is a proposal to amend the AIRFA legislation with a bill or rider to include a comprehensive avenue of redress for injustices such as religious discrimination suffered in prison by providing a remedy to protect the rights of Native American prisoners against religious, racial and cultural prejudices. The proposal asks Congress to study these injustices and to pass legislation authorizing the justice Department to exercise its jurisdiction under the Institutionalized Persons Act and establish a level of parity regarding access to Native cultural programs in prison. If such programs are not available the justice Department would have authority to transfer prisoners of Native American culture to other prisons that have adequate facilities. Incentives would also be given in terms of funding to those prisons who do maintain recommended programs.
The Thunderbird Alliance has been informed by Cindy Darcy, Legislative Secretary at Friends Committee on National Legislation (245 Second St., NE, Washington, DC 20002, 202-547-6000), that a bill is being considered by Congress right now to replace S. 2250 of last year. The new bill would call for a cultural rights omnibus bill that would deal with indigenous languages, reburial of remains, and repatriation of sacred objects, etc. Cindy Darcy has also asked what other areas needed to be addressed under this bill, and, after reviewing the proposal of the Thunderbird Alliance, raised a very important question as to why prison issues are often forgotten completely.
Congress has received our proposal but, without a strong showing of outside support, the issues of Native prisoners will once again be left out. [Outdated contact information for Iron Thunderhorse has been removed. - ed.]
Bibliography
Hewett, Edgar L. 1963. The Gospel of the Redman (ed. Ernest and Julia Seaton). Santa Fe: Seaton Village Press.
Iron Thunderhorse (William Coppola). 1989. “Walking in Balance - Part I” in News From Indian Country, The Journal. January III (1).
Iron Thunderhorse (William Coppola) and Le Vie, D., Jr. Return of the Thunder Beings. Santa Fe: Bear & Company Publishing, forthcoming 1990.
Johansen, Bruce E. 1982. Forgotten Founders: How The American Indian Helped Shape Democracy. Cambridge: Harvard Common Press.
This article was originally published in Humanity & Society, Volume 13, Number 4, November 1989
