Ben Grignon, IAIA or CIA?
On Mission to Washington D.C.

SANTA FE--Ben Grignon, Institute of American Arts student, Menominee from Wisconsin, and Treasurer of the IAIA Associated Student Government, has joined the CIA. That’s the rumor, at least. And as a journalist, I firmly believe in following the story, no matter how ridiculous the story might seem. After all, there are many ridiculous stories in the news today.

CIA-affiliation seemed suspect to me, so inquiring among IAIA students, I discovered the seed of suspicion: Ben was seen in the Albuquerque airport on Feb. 13 disembarking from an American Airlines flight from Washington D.C. wearing a CIA sweatshirt. He promptly covered up the sweatshirt with a suit and tie when he noticed the witness (who does not want to be named) lurking at the baggage claim. Could CIA represent anything other than Central Intelligence Agency? College of Indian Arts, perhaps? Is this CIA another school in competition with our own?

Grignon made no comment on his weeklong absence to Washington D.C., and as a journalist-in-training in the United States in 2003, I have learned I’m supposed to investigate anything remotely suspicious.

Besides my commitment to journalism, I was also concerned for more personal reasons (I know, I know: one is not supposed to mix the search for objectivity with personal concerns). But Ben is my roommate and I had begun to worry when he suddenly disappeared from the house on Feb. 9, having only left behind a cryptic note on his pillow that read: "Had to take emergency leave. Don’t worry. I’ll bring back souvenirs." I’ve always known Ben as a man of mission, but never had he been so secretive.

Before I began the interview, I defrosted a Betty Crocker's All-American apple pie as a peace offering, and in return, he handed me a gift-wrapped coloring book of the George W. Bush Family cut-out paper dolls (how’d he know I’d been wanting that for my collection?) In the spirit of U.S. diplomacy, I decided not to ask direct questions, hoping I could trick him into revealing the story (I mean, the truth) I was looking for.

J.F: So, Ben, what were you doing in Washington D.C.?

B.G: (grins suspiciously) I’m sure the school would like to tell you that I was there as a part of the AIHEC fundraising project.

J.F: What is AIHEC?

B.G: AIHEC is the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. It is a group representing the thirty-five tribal colleges in North America.

J.F: What was the goal of this AIHEC fundraising trip to Washington D.C., and what was your role with them?

B.G: It’s an annual lobbying meeting. The purpose is to raise funds for tribal colleges. Basically, it’s a lot of begging, pleading and thanking our state representatives and senators. AIHEC requested that each tribal college send one of their student government officers along with the college president to help lobby. Having student representatives present helps to affirm the student voice from the tribal colleges, so the senators and house representatives have personal stories and student opinions rather than just statistics.

J.F: So how many students were there with you?

B.G: Around twenty. For the New Mexico tribal colleges there were three of us. There was me, from IAIA, a student from Dine College, and one from SIPI (Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute) in Albuquerque.

J.F: Who did you talk to there, and what did you talk with them about?

B.G: I spoke with Senator Jeff Bingaman, Joaquin Sanchez who was representing Senator Pete Domenici, and New Mexico Representatives Heather Wilson and Tom Udall. It’s a funny thing talking with these representatives. First you thank them while introducing yourself, then you tell them a little about what’s going on at your college, what your needs are, thank them for the stuff you’re benefiting from as a result of their votes, and then you ask for money.

J.F: Can you share some of the requests that were being made?

B.G: I basically shared my perspective and personal story as an IAIA student. IAIA President Della Warrior was with us, and requested $5.25 million for daily operations at IAIA, which was up from the $4.9 million we’re getting now. She was also asking for help in raising $8 million for the Life Long Learning Center. We are expecting a letter of support from the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. The Kellogg Foundation will match this $8 million if we can raise it within two years, as we’re already funded for 2 years by the Kellogg Foundation for the initial planning of the Life Long Learning Center.

J.F: Were the Senators and House Representatives responsive to the requests?

B.G: It’s hard to say. It’s hard to read a politician. It seemed like they knew what they were doing, and that they do this all day long with different lobbyists. Basically, they nod their head, throw in a couple of "yeps" to show some semblance of concern, and then they thank you when you’re leaving. It seemed robotic to me.

J.F: What kind of feeling did you leave with?

B.G: Well, it was definitely a learning experience. I know a little more about the system and how we’re working it as Native peoples and as AIHEC.

Our other roommates had polished off most of the apple pie by this point in the interview, and I was getting frustrated at Ben’s persistence on this AIHEC lobbying story. It was a good story, but what about the CIA clothing? What about the phone tapping my roommates and I had begun to encounter since his return? Thinking it too risky to ask about these things directly, which would let him know I was suspicious of his underlying motives in going to the Capitol, I decided to try another angle of questioning.

J.F: Will you be going to Washington D.C. again?

B.G: Not for this particular AIHEC project - I think I’ve learned what I could from the experience and if I was asked to do it again, I would recommend another student to try it out–someone interested in getting involved in the system.

J.F: The system?

B.G: The whole political system. You do get a lot of contacts there.

J.F: Contacts? Aha! What kind of contacts?

B.G: A lot of people who would listen to you if you wanted to bring an issue to the floor. There is a way to get in.

J.F: To "get in"?

B.G: If you have a strong enough argument and you could convince these politicians in their views, then you could have a say in the way funds are allocated and laws are passed.

J.F: You’re a photographer. Did you bring your camera with you on your trip?

B.G: I did.

J.F: What were you looking for?

B.G: J. Edgar Hoover.

J.F: Did you encounter any difficulties in your search?

B.G: Government buildings are a lot like airports now, in terms of security. You have to go through serious checkpoints. Often they’d confiscate your camera.

J.F: You were born in Fairfax, Virginia, which is a D.C. suburb. What’s your feeling about D.C. now?

B.G: You can definitely feel how scared people are. I even felt that way towards the end when they pulled out Surface to Air missiles and parked them near the National Mall and airports. We were on High Security Alert when I was there. People were buying bottled water, supplies, duct tape and plastic sheeting. Seemed to me like they might as well just duck and cover with all the useless stuff they were buying. It’s a pretty dangerous place right now, and there probably aren’t as many tourists as usual.

I continued to ask about the atmosphere and people in D.C., such as the presence of Native people, and the presence of artists. Ben’s response to both questions was that there wasn’t a clear presence of either group, though he knows they are there, continuing their work behind the scenes. Though I was getting nowhere with my initial investigation into Ben’s spy work, I was beginning to discover some other interesting questions: what is it for an artist to be hanging out in an epicenter of political activity and tight security? What is it for an artist to be participating directly with the government?

J.F: How does being an artist influence your political voice? In other words, how does being an artist influence what you learned from this clearly political trip?

B.G: Well, it wasn’t an "art" aspect or artist-identity that I used in lobbying; I used my sense of creativity. When I spoke to our representatives, I would tell them my personal stories. I didn’t want to say the same thing to all of them, so I would look around their office and see what kind of people they were. Then I’d speak about things I thought they could personally relate to.
For example, when I was in Heather Wilson’s office, I saw tons of pictures of her kids, so I talked about the Native American Youth Outreach Program and how I worked with kids. It seemed an easy way out to use the same story over and over again. It was great to be in Senator Bingaman’s office because he had tons of black and white photos, so I knew I could tell him my story of why I came to IAIA and how I came to be a photographer. I think that IAIA doesn’t just teach you to be an artist, but it nurtures your creative side, and teaches you how to apply it. So, even if I graduated from IAIA and decided to go to law school, I’d do well in law because I could use my creative side. You need that creativity in anything you do.

J.F: Thank you, Ben.

Though I didn’t get any confirmation on the rumors that led me to this story, I gained a lot of respect for the amount of work it takes to get funding and federal support, especially for tribal colleges like IAIA. I realized, also, that one individual speaking face to face on a personal level with a political figure can make a difference, especially if that individual is a creative person.
A nice, satisfying conclusion. But we are on high-suspicion alert in this country, and that’s a contagious psychology. I thought the American media was supposed to question information before delivering it, considering there’s law against disseminating propaganda in this country (we still have that law, don’t we?)

So Ben’s idea of creativity as a political angle is something that leaves me curious – was my interviewee’s story all an invention? How come a very professional and flawless photographer returned from an important trip with only "overexposed and ruined" film for evidence? And what’s with that CIA sweatshirt?

Copyright © 2003 IAIA Chronicle