Finding My Tribe Within the Criminal Justice System
Contributing Author: Lou Anna Red Corn, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office (KY)
Eagle feather — deer hair roach — brow feather — otter hide — bandolier beads… I’m inventorying the items of clothing and accessories the men in my family will wear at our annual Osage Ceremonial Dances, the end of June in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. I’m also sewing a new dance shirt for a niece and finishing up a new otter hide for my younger son’s dance clothes.
Our dance is called the I’n-Lon-Schka. It came to our people from the Ponca and the Kaw tribes in the mid-1880s after the Osage tribe made its final move to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) from Kansas. And as author Alice Anne Callahan describes in her book, The Osage Ceremonial Dance I’n-Lon-Schka, it came at a time when the Osage “were a driven, confused, and divided people” from broken treaties, the pressures to allot their reservation, and to assimilate. But as Callahan notes, it “helped guide them through a time of great stress and spiritual confusion then, and it continues to serve as a cultural and spiritual reinforcement in the 1980s”. And it continues to serve our people well into the 21st century, especially as we come out of a global pandemic.
The dance is held on three weekends in June at the Osage Villages in Grayhorse, Hominy and Pawhuska, Oklahoma. My family is of the Pawhuska Village named for Chief Paw-Hiu-Skah (White Hair), who lead the band of Osages who settled in the area after relocating from Kansas to Indian territory. The Pawhuska Osages called themselves the Dwellers of the Thorny Thicket.
I’m an Osage born in Oklahoma, was raised and live elsewhere. The dances are a reunion with family, yes, but they’re so much more than that. The I’n-Lon’Schka is culture and custom; discipline, obedience, and sacrifice; but most importantly, it is identity and unification for the individual and the collective. We no longer refer to ourselves as “members” of a “tribe”. By the adoption of an Osage Constitution in 1994, an Act of Congress in 2006, and a referendum vote that same year, we are a sovereign nation and I am a citizen of the Osage Nation. Yet the elements of the I’n-Lon-Schka that are valuable — custom, discipline and unity — seem very tribal to me.
These days there’s a lot of talk about the importance of finding your tribe — and we aren’t talking Indian tribes here. It’s about the value of being a part of a group of people that support you, make you feel empowered and give you sense of belonging.
I think of the people I work with each day as my tribe (although we usually call it our office family). We are unified in a common purpose — seeking justice for victims and accountability for offenders. The work is important and it’s hard — requiring sacrifice, discipline, and adherence to rules to get it done responsibly. And in 2021 as we come out of the pandemic, open the courts to in-person proceedings, and finally start moving cases along, we are in a time of great stress. We may not be facing an existential crisis like the Osages of the 1880s but just as my ancestors drew inspiration, hope and comfort from the dance and drum, prosecutors’ offices today have unifying and motivating ways to moving forward in times of stress and transition.
What makes an office tribe strong, vibrant, evolving, and able to withstand individual and collective challenges? Here are some areas of focus:
Integrity — ethics are not negotiable — we are part of a criminal justice system that demands it and truth and justice should always be the cornerstone of our work — for victims and the accused.
People — we must trust, respect, and truly care for one another. The members of the tribe are our most important asset.
Professional development — everyone should be given the tools to grow professionally — training, responsibility, and encouragement. This can be in out-of-office training, but professional development is a communal endeavor that can be and should be performed every day. This is also not limited to rules of evidence or trial advocacy but is also about bridging the gap many of us have with technological and cultural changes.
Team spirit — we are the team — complete with matching Big Blue Nation shirts — prosecutors, advocates, and administrative professionals. It takes all us working together, building diversity of thought and unity in action.
Partnership — we are part of an even bigger team — law enforcement (local, state, and federal), courts, government, AND the community. It takes all of us to make our city a safe and good place to live.
Innovation — the criminal justice system and the community is changing. We must keep our minds open to other ways of doing things, in the office and in the system. This includes growing in the areas of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
In his TED talk entitled Tribal Leadership, author David Logan describes his thoughts of various types of tribes and how to move a tribe from Stage One (the bottom) to Stage Five (the top). You’ll find the link at the end of this blog if you would like to watch it. Logan notes that the challenge is in moving the tribe from stage three — to four and finally on to stage five. Logan says “… when individuals come together and find something that unites them that’s greater than their individual competence, then something very important happens. The group gels. And it changes from a group of highly motivated but individually centric people into something larger, into a tribe that becomes aware of its own existence. Stage Four tribes can do remarkable things.” I would like to think our office-tribe is in this place but still improving.
When this blog posts I will be in Indian Country — with my Osage people and family — dancing around the drum with other Osages and my own family, in the home of the Dwellers of the Thorny Thicket. I will have made that shift from elected district attorney to an Osage Ena (mother), who delights in seeing her own children participate in the In’Lon-Schka that has and will prepare them both mentally and physically to take care of life’s challenges.
Sources:
Callahan, Alice Anne, The Osage Ceremonial Dance I’n-Lon’Schka, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Adkins, Ben. Adkins and Associates, Fort Worth, Texas. “Increasing Morale: Transforming a Boss into a Leader”. NDAA Office Administration, October 24, 2016, Louisville, KY.
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_logan_tribal_leadership/transcript?language=en.
And for more information about the Osage Nation: https://www.osageculture.com/.
Lou Anna Red Corn is the elected Commonwealth’s Attorney in Lexington, KY and a citizen of the Osage Nation.
