At the annual General Council meeting in October 2020, Quapaw citizens could be heard gasping in disbelief as figures from a forensic audit were released and presented to the crowd of nearly 100.
The Quapaw Nation celebrated success, and in new business announced the Downstream Development Authority (DDA), was being dissolved. Former Tribal Chairman John Berrey and several others in his administration were being publicly accused of misspending more than $34 million. Berrey alone is alleged to have received $17 million in bonuses.
On Friday, April 16, 2021, Berrey was charged in Quapaw Nation Tribal Court with attempted embezzlement, conspiracy, abuse of office and improper gifts to tribal officials or employees.
During his tenure, Berrey held multiple roles simultaneously. He was the Tribal Chairman, but he also headed the business committee and the Downstream Development Authority. This triple appointment allowed him the authority to make decisions without approval of the General Council or the Business Committee.
A New Constitution
Five months later, the tribal nation of 5,600 citizens is grappling with why it took more than 20 years for the alleged graft and corruption to be discovered. Citizens say the Quapaw Nation is at an important crossroads in their history and want a new governing document to meet the challenges of a more transparent government.
In the summer of 2020, Berrey was defeated in his bid for reelection by newcomer Joseph Tali Byrd. Shortly after, a new committee was formed, and it was tasked with creating a new Constitution that would restore transparency and trust in the government.
The new governing document would also create a way for citizens to file a grievance without it being dismissed or thrown out, handle enrollment issues and provide accurate reporting on the tribal nation's financial picture.
They've got their work cut out for them.
"When our first governing document was created, we were a poor tribe," said John Rodgers.
Rodgers is on the Constitution committee. He ran for a seat on the Business Committee and lost, but still works as the Tribal liaison.
Rodgers said the Quapaw Nation has experienced many changes, and they need a government that will address the challenges that go along with their growth.
"People who signed our governing resolution didn't know that we were going to have three casinos, multiple businesses and money coming into the tribe," said Rodgers.
Dr. Mindy Mayfield, like Rodgers, wanted to become more involved in the Quapaw tribal affairs. Following Berrey’s ouster, the veterinarian of more than 20 years thought the tribe needed more citizen engagement and oversight.
"I have always said that money and power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely," said Mayfield.
Mayfield thought there needed to be a way for people to file a complaint against people running the government, especially when the same people were governing the Nation and making decisions about its business ventures.
"I think one of the big things that we've had trouble with is a grievance committee," said Mayfield.
In 2018, a citizen on Quapaw Nation’s Business Committee suspected Berrey was illegally spending the tribal nation's money. She filed a grievance against him but claimed the complaint went nowhere. That's because the former chairman, not an independent body, had the power to allow complaints to go forward.
"We have a grievance committee, but they have kind of had their hands tied...by the way that was set up with having the chairman had some oversight," said Mayfield.
To Betty Gaedtke, who did file a complaint against the chairman in 2018, that's the problem.
"Who's allowing the grievances to go forward? It's the chairman," Gaedtke said.
The History
Before the United States was even a country, Indigenous societies had their own governing bodies and their own laws and rules. So, the creation of Constitutional documents were thought of as a colonial construct that tribal nations didn't need or want.
The Quapaw Nation is governed by a document created in 1956, more than 20 years after the Indian Reorganization Act was passed. The centerpiece of that federal legislation was assimilation and abolishing traditional governments tribes had for centuries. Because of that, Quapaw Chairman Byrd said, the Quapaw rejected a western form of government.
"The whole reason we switched from this traditional system of governing by a chief and council to a Business Committee model was because of money and population growth," said Byrd.
The land that was reserved for the Quapaw contained rich, subsurface minerals coveted by white settlers that leased, bought, sold and profited off the land and off the Quapaw.
"And it was during this time that the traditional council system could no longer compete with these business interests."
That's when the Quapaw established the Business Committee and adopted the governing resolution. The document laid out a process for a grievance committee, which was not to include any members of the business committee and allowed for the Business Committee chairman to allow for a special committee for complaints to be heard.
Members of the Constitution committee acknowledge it won’t be easy.
"The biggest challenge we have is making sure that we still retain our tribal traditions and our culture," said Mayfield. "We don't want it to look too... business-y."
Another thing Mayfied would like is to establish term limits governing how many times a person can run for the office of tribal chairman.
The Osage Experience
Jim Gray, former Principal Chief of the Osage remembers when his Tribal Nation started the process of creating a new constitution in 2004. He said the process was painful but necessary.
"It was definitely historically significant in terms of how it accomplished its goals of empowering politically over three-fourths of our tribe that had been left out for generations," said Gray."We brought them back into the umbrella of the constitutionally formed government."
Gray said the Osage were operating under a constitution pushed on them by the federal government.
The need to reform the Osage Constitution was because of how the Osage mineral estate was set up. Osage political rights, including voting, the right to govern oneself and determine citizenship depended on if you were a headright owner in the tribal nation's mineral estate. At one time, that meant only 30% of Osages could participate in the Tribal affairs.
Some Osages had to wait until a family member passed away to have political rights in the tribe.
"You would hear people say, 'I'm not Osage and I'm proud of it," laughed Gray. That meant their parents were still alive so they didn’t have political rights."
That changed in 2006 when a new Constitution was voted on and approved overwhelmingly.
"A constitutional government will succeed long after these elected officials are gone, long after they moved on. What determines the success or not is whether or not the people feel like their ideas and aspirations are represented in that document," said Gray.
The Quapaw Process
The Quapaw Constitution Committee says they are committed to that process and want to have something to present to the General Council. They've distributed a survey to citizens of the tribal nation asking for input.
It asks citizens if they feel like they're being adequately represented by the current tribal government and what does it look like when elected officials being transparent? All these answers will be collected as the members of this committee are still in the beginning stages of creating something to the General Council
However, Byrd and his administration are also competing against mistrust that could get in the way of the process. There are rumors that long-overdue settlement payments owed to some Tribal citizens are being mishandled.
There is the shadow of Berrey himself. He's filed a lawsuit against Byrd and others alleging libel and slander related to the corruption allegations that have since become criminal charges.
Berrey has also announced he intends to run for Business Committee Vice Chairman in the upcoming elections…
And, the 2022 election for Business Committee Chairman and Secretary Treasurer is not far off.
But for Mindy Mayfield, this process, even if it's lengthy, is important. She knows it might not please everyone, but she hopes for unity.
"We can all come back together and function more as a united tribe," she said. "So that our businesses can flourish, and our culture can flourish and that we can, pass this on to our children and our grandchildren so that it continues for many generations."
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