As I have said before in recent comments made public, journalism is a challenge today for writers who want to report the news within reservation boundaries

I first got my taste of reporting back in the early 1990's when I met a man by the name of Bill Lawrence. Let me tell about my friend Bill.

Bill published his own private independent newspaper in Minnesota and reported on financial irregularities and other questionable practices taking place within tribal government walls. His reporting eventually would help send several tribal leaders to jail for corruption.

Bill's effort in exposing the truth of what was happening on Minnesota reservations made someone mad enough to shoot bullets through his office windows in Bemidji. Even though an act of violence took place, he continued to be one one of the nation's most ferocious tribal government watchdogs.

Lawrence would later receive an editorial award in 2003; the "Freedom of Information Award" from the Society of Professional Journalists. He filed suits to open the books of Indian casinos, which he called "state sanctioned monopolies."

Lawrence positioned me as a novice reporter and commentator in the inner city limits of Minneapolis during of my new venture. In one incident I was attacked physically because of my reporting, but I handled this situation quite well.

Lawrence managed two papers: The Native American Press and The Ojibwe News. He would eventually combine both papers and the content would consist of reservation/inner city news. The name of his paper would later be called The Native American Press/Ojibwe News.

I became more interested in journalism after I became involved with urban politics and at which time I represented the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis; which is also known as the "Indian community." I served on several boards and was also awarded a city seat to work with elected officials from city, state and federal government offices.

I later would become a state delegate twice in the state of Minnesota and I would argue the people's treaty rights and issues as they pertained to Minnesota tribes.. With this experience and the knowledge of city/state/federal politics, I felt I have gained enough "hands on" experiences which I felt I could accurately report the news to our tribal population.

As a journalist, I've lived an interesting life. I grew up on the reservation at Turtle Mountain until I was 17 years old; I would take in some college courses at the Spirit Lake Nation in Fort Totten, North Dakota, and then I lived in Minneapolis for 22 years. Currently, I have been back home at Turtle Mountain for over 7 years and have been very active in our community, which has been a benefit to our tribal population.

In the last 7 years since I have been home, I have helped the tribe during the implementation process of the 10 year poverty reduction plan for the benefit of our people. With the help of community members I helped implement another poverty reduction plan for the Dunseith tribal community.

Some of my other volunteer duties include assisting a Washington D.C. firm with the nationally known Cobell v. Salazar Individual Indian Monies Account lawsuit, which some tribal members are due awarded monies. I'm also a named plaintiff in the Pembina Judgment Fund lawsuit aka The Turtle Mountain Treaty lawsuit which some of my duties are to negotiate a settlement with the U.S. Government which most of tribal members will benefit. I also played a role in two land associations: One, which was the Tribe's Allottee Association and the other is one I founded back in 2008.

I volunteered much of my time in the past year as the Tribe's Oil and Gas Specialist, when I prepared the groundwork for the tribe if oil exploration were to come to the reservation. During my time working in the area of oil development, I met with congressional leaders as well with our state's oil experts and their staff regarding some of the benefits we would be able to capture from the oil industry.

I want to note, at an important press conference I was acknowledged for the work I was performing for the reservation from U.S. Senator John Hoeven. Much of my activities in relation to the oil and gas industry have been published in our tribal newspaper and other media outlets.

For a man who has accomplished so much in my lifetime, I feel my life's experiences have set the tone in regards to my reporting skills and my personal perspective on tribal issues. My "hands on" experiences and course education in small business, journalism, tribal law and construction have also been beneficial to me as a person.

Unfortunately, as a daily contributor to news media outlets on the reservation and elsewhere, some local leaders feel differently about my style of reporting and the coverage of questionable activity taking place within our tribal administration. Our Chairman is one of those individuals who want to silence me and he will do anything to stop me from reporting daily activities currently taking place.

Right now the chairman and some of his followers have been putting up roadblocks to prevent me from exposing the truth of what's happening within tribal walls. As tribal members who have elected our tribal officials - it's your right to know whats going on and you need to know how they are performing.

At time's, the information provided in local newspapers may not put a positive spotlight on the tribal leadership here at Turtle Mountain. Our elected leaders at some point, have to face some sort of criticism during their tenure in office.

Unfortunately, some of these leaders can't handle it. Instead they rant and rave and cut down the people who are accurately reporting the news. I'm one of those individuals who has been criticized by our tribal leaders and surprisingly, our tribal chairman showed some of his unprofessional behavior in a recent 'letter to the editor' in the county's newspaper. Why he didn't publish his letter in the tribal newspaper is in question.

In the chairman's recent letter, he made unsubstantiated statements about me and the work I have been performing for the benefit of the tribe on a volunteer basis.

I want to challenge the chairman on his statements he made publicly and would like for him to show proof to his claims. A court room setting would be the appropriate place to take care of this matter.

Currently, the chairman has censored our tribal newspaper and has advised I report non-political stories. Because of this action, I have created, (along with others) an alternative - online news source for the Turtle Mountain tribal community. The chairman and tribal leaders have no control over this internal news source.

"The Tribal Independent" will be publishing up to the date community news on a daily basis. We have been in operation for a week and have grown interest from the outside population. Other media outlets are also monitoring this site as well. The web address is www.wix.com/thetribalindependent/home. If you want to submit a comment or contribute something, feel free to submit your request to thetribalindependent@gmail.com and we will promptly get back to you.

Right now, The Tribal Independent currently staffs journalist "who are or have been" associated with the larger media outlets. We welcome other contributors to be part of our new endeavor and we welcome comments or contributions from the Indian community and elsewhere.

I will continue reporting for the Turtle Mountain Times, but according to the chairman, I'll be doing "fluff" stories which to me is no problem. I do a variety of reporting stories anyhow. I have to say, working with the great staff and freelance team of the tribal newspaper has been enjoyable. I know there will be more of them moments. This team is doing well despite the current censorship taking place.

On a last note, I know my ole buddy Bill Lawrence is giving us the "Thumbs up" gesture from up above. But what the heck Bill, you showed Indian Country how to report the tribal news without political interference. That's what we'll do! Thanks ole buddy!

Delvin Cree is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.

Related Stories:
Delvin Cree: Media censorship on Turtle Mountain Reservation (11/28)
Delvin Cree: No freedom of the press for Turtle Mountain Band (10/17)