Feds 'Unleash The Power Within'
The Bureau of Indian Affairs sent 14 officials to a leadership seminar last month that featured a barefoot walk on glowing coals and advice on re-igniting "the passion in your physical relationships."
David Anderson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, said he approved the arrangement because BIA officials "get pretty beat up and I was looking for something that could energize them."
Two senators and an American Indian coalition said the money should have been used for Indian services rather than the "Unleash the power within" seminar in Chicago.
The BIA serves some of the most needy Americans, who live on reservations with pressing problems of joblessness, alcoholism, and deteriorating schools. Separately, a federal judge has ruled the agency breached its responsibility by mismanaging billions of dollars in Indian trust fund money.
"The BIA is trying to deal with a crisis on the reservations and there's not enough money," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "And here, they're sending executives to walk on hot coals. It's a tragic waste of taxpayers' money."
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said it was "a clear example of warped logic" to spend taxpayer funds for the seminar.
The senators said Interior Department records show the cost of airfare, hotel and the four-day seminar totaled about $28,000. This could have paid the yearly salary of a fifth-grade schoolteacher on a reservation, they said.
"I would have to question the dollar value against the critical needs in Indian country," said Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, an umbrella group representing tribes across the country.
The group has criticized President Bush's 2005 budget proposal for Indian affairs because it included a drop of $52 million from the amount enacted in 2004.
In an interview, Anderson, the Interior official, said that when he assumed his post in February, he asked whether there were any leadership programs for Indians Affairs personnel.
When told there were not, Anderson said he considered the response unfortunate "because many bureau employees have to deal with all the negative pressure you find on reservations."
"Any successful company has a personal development training program," he said. "I've been through it four times. I think it made a huge difference in my life," said Anderson, an American Indian businessman who owns a chain of restaurants.
Run by motivational speaker Tony Robbins, the seminar was aimed at coaching participants to "master the key communication skills, beliefs and physiology of truly successful people."
An official of the Robbins company said Tuesday that executives were at a meeting and not immediately available for comment.
The Friday session of the seminar program was scheduled from mid-afternoon to midnight, and by night's end, participants were given the opportunity to "storm barefoot across a hot bed of glowing coals."
The Monday session on "Living Health" focused on increasing energy with less sleep, shedding excess weight, bolstering the immune system and learning to "re-ignite the passion in your physical relationships."
The senators released a list of those who attended, including BIA chief of staff Gerry Gidner; Debbie Clark, chief financial officer; Ed Parisian, director of the Office of Indian Education programs, and George Skibine, who oversees economic development.
Clark said the seminar was valuable in teaching her "to go the extra mile" to accomplish her goals, especially when "you feel you don't have another ounce to give."
"The BIA can be a negative environment because there are so many things that need to be done," she said. "You go away feeling you're beating your head against the wall."
The course, she said, taught her to stay focused — the reason, she added, that she was able to walk on the hot coals.
Parisian, the educator, said government officials "tend to be fearful of stepping outside the box and making changes." The seminar, he said, taught him "not to be afraid to take that step."
By Larry Margasak