Text and Interview by Reid Slaughter
Photography by Christopher Marona

Colorado's maverick Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell rides fast and fearless as a man with many missions

Cruising along on his Harley, his ponytail whipping in the wind beneath his red bandanna, Ben Nighthorse Campbell is in his element. Today he will glide below the timbered mountains of his beloved Colorado, drinking in the impossibly fresh air and cerulean sky on his way to visit friends outside Durango. Later in the day he will steal a moment to work at his latest jewelry design, catch up on family matters with his wife, Linda, and for a moment escape the maelstrom that is his other life.

He is a United States Senator.

A member of the Cheyenne tribe, Campbell is the first Indian to serve in the Senate in more than 60 years.

Marching down the halls of the Russell Senate Building, Campbell brings a biker's swagger to the role of lawmaker. "When others are still grasping for the right bills to help their constituents, Ben has already moved his legislation. His anti-crime measures are just a few recent examples," states Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Campbell's friend and fellow Republican. "Some say Ben is a maverick, but I say he's a leader, not a follower, and woe be to those who don't get out of the way when Nighthorse charges up Capitol Hill on his Harley!"

Traces of Cheyenne warrior mentality are evident in many facets of Campbell's world. A sign warning "NO SNIVELING" sits in the center of his desk, and he eschews "handlers" and spin doctors who would seek to moderate his all-too-straightforward tone. Campbell served in the Air Force, is a veteran of the Korean War, and now sits on the Veteran Affairs committee. At 65, his handshake is pig-iron firm, a testament to his post-college days when he captained the U.S. Olympic Judo Team at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Charming one moment, demanding the next, his dual nature of dreamy artist and determined achiever was evident early on. Born in 1933 to Mary Vierra, a Portuguese immigrant, and Albert Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne Indian, young Ben was a scrappy Depression-era kid who learned to be resourceful. Doing odd jobs such as driving a tomato truck, he put himself through college at San Jose State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and fine arts, and later attended Meiji University in Tokyo as a special research student.

He married the former Linda Price and moved to Colorado in 1977 to raise their two kids, Colin and Shanan.

After stints in ranching and raising Quarterhorses in addition to his jewelry making, Campbell felt moved to pursue public service in an effort to "make a difference for a lot of people who didn't seem very well represented." A relentless campaigner, he won his first race for the Colorado State Legislature in 1982, and a storied political career was born.

The move up to the U.S. House of Representatives came in 1987, followed by a successful Senate campaign in 1992. Campbell was logically named chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, and also earned leadership roles on two important Senate subcommittees: Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation, and Forests and Public Lands Management.

Two years into his Senatorial term, a funny thing happened: the life-long Democrat decided to switch parties. Fed up with "give away programs" which he felt fundamentally enslaved Indian peoples to welfare, he abruptly became Republican in 1994, much to the delight of GOP colleagues who admired his tenacity.

"Senator Campbell is an American original," says Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. "After God made Ben, he threw away the mold. On Capitol Hill, Ben has proved himself to be a solid ally, somebody you want in your corner, and I can always rely on his word."

Campbell serves millions of people with thousands of different agendas, all wanting immediate results in a town where any change comes slowly and with considerable pain. Throw in a workload that routinely demands 70-80-hour work weeks away from his family, his cherished mountains, and the comfy saddle of his motorcycle, and being an acclaimed national figure has it drawbacks.

Campbell is up for re-election this year, and his Democratic opponent looks to be Dottie Lamm, the wife of former Colorado governor Dick Lamm. While Ms. Lamm has spent substantial time in the political arena, she has never held major public office, and early polls show Campbell a heavy favorite for re-election.

The election is months away, but Campbell is ready to go now, as revved as the bikes he rides. Those who wish to keep up better shift to high gear.

INTERVIEW

C&I: You are not only the Senator from Colorado, but also the de facto representative of more than two million Native Americans. That's a daunting task.

BNC: It's very difficult. I sometimes say we need more Indians here or none, because one is the wrong number. You get caught in so many crossfires it's unbelievable. Not just between Indian and non-Indian, but Indian and Indian. Just because they are all Indians doesn't mean they all think alike, act alike or believe in the same things. They may traditionally have a common thread. But when you're talking about things like market share for casinos and production licensing for handicrafts, it becomes much more complicated than just all being Indian.

C&I: You are incredibly involved in the very important but very unsexy issue of water rights. What is the core issue of water rights and why should average Americans in the West care about this?

BNC: Well, first of all they should care because it's over-appropriated, which means there are more people in the American West who have a legal right to water than exists. The problem begins with the 1920 Compact, when they measured the amount of water to divvy it up and establish who owns what. Upper basin states, lower basin states, Indian tribes. Unfortunately, the years they measured happened to have bumper crops of water. So guess what? There's not that much water in the rivers anymore, probably never will be. So what we basically have is a lot of people with the legal right to more water than exists in a normal year.

C&I: What's your answer?

BNC: Mainly we're pushing water storage projects. Unfortunately, the environmental community fights tooth and nail every time we try and store water. But Indian tribes have water by virtue of Priority Rights which are based on treaties, treaties that are powerful but non-specific as to the amounts of water. So a lot of disagreements arise out of trying to identify how much water those old treaties give the Indians and at whose expense. The cases often go to the Supreme Court, where the Indians rarely lose a water fight.

C&I: You served in the House for three terms before being elected to the Senate. How different is the experience?

BNC: The House, they have different rules and consequently it's much more go-for-the-throat rhetoric. There are just so many people with so many agendas, and you know they can't offer amendments unless they are screened by a Rules Committee. Things of that nature. In the Senate you have much more latitude to speak to issues or try to make change. You can feel that. In a word, you have more power.

C&I: And you have to raise more money to stay in office. Is that the most onerous thing about your job?

BNC: It's unbelievable. I don't know, I can't remember when I've had less than a 70-hour work week. Monday, I put in 22 hours straight.

C&I: Ouch. With that kind of workload, how much time is spent on substantive pursuits? How often can you say, 'Wow, we really helped the people of Colorado' or 'we really did something good for Americans today?'

BNC: Probably 70 percent of the time. Every day is a 12-14-hour day, and straight through, everything is dealing with legislation and policy and so on. It's nights and weekends where you're attending dinners to raise money and going to other fund-raising functions. Also, because I'm Chairman of Indian Affairs, 10-15 percent of my legislative duties involve handling those issues.

C&I: Washington is a notoriously self-obsessed, inward-looking community. How do you stay sane and keep your perspective on America outside the Beltway?

BNC: I go back to Colorado every week. I commute to work. I don't live here and my family is not here. It's where the job is.

I also keep two things which are distractions...not distractions, but therapy. One is my jewelry, and the other is riding my motorcycle. I still do the layout and design of the jewelry and my son does all the finishing at home. As a designer, I've often thought that the difference between the art world and the political world is that in the art world, you strive for creativity. In the political world, when you get creative you scare the blazes out of people who can't handle doing anything unusual or different that hasn't been done before. It can be a real drag dealing with that mentality.

C&I: Somehow I don't see Jesse Helms cruising around North Carolina on a motorcycle. What makes a distinguished United States Senator such as yourself want to hit the road on his Harley?

BNC: There's a timing and a rhythm and a feeling and a mood because you're out in the air and the wind and the sun...there's that combination. Bikers, as opposed to just motorcyclists, have a clannish lifestyle and a code of dress. They like tattoos and turquoise and fringe and buckskins and freedom of the road. They're nomadic like that.

Same as Indians. I sometimes think these bikers are a reincarnation of the old trappers and Indians and cowboys of the old days where they could do anything they wanted. There are unbelievable similarities; some obvious, some subtle.

C&I: You exhibited a little of that maverick attitude when you abruptly switched parties in 1994, in mid-term I might add, from Democrat to Republican. Why the change?

BNC: I was tired of give-away programs. And I think Indian tribes are a good example of people that have been almost forcefully made dependent on Federal programs. They were never dependent on anything. They were free in spirit and heart, worked hard, and got along just fine without the Federal government. Now I would guess that probably 80-85 percent of all Indian money comes from the Federal government. Unfortunately, I felt the Democrats were just perpetuating that spiral, making a proud people more dependent instead of trying to make them less dependent.

I just knew that eventually you had to pull the rug out from under them and take away programs, but at the same time offer alternatives in which they can survive and prosper. That's real independence, and that's what Indians want. That's why there is such a love/hate relationship with the Bureau [of Indian Affairs]. Indians need the Bureau but they know darn well that the Bureau tends to stay in business to help the Bureau.

C&I: After ten years on the Hill, and with all the hard work and aggravation, is it still fun to be a Senator?

BNC: Well, if working 70-80 hours a week non-stop and being away from your family and dealing with press wolves jumping out of bushes and shoving microphones in your face and constantly misquoting you and being threatened by rabid splinter groups and hounded by special interests and their lobbyists and facing constant criticism from people you're busting your ass trying to serve sounds like fun, then I'm having a hell of a time!

The truth is, even though some of these fellows love being on television and are in love with the sound of their own voices, you just can't do this job day in and day out if you don't believe in what you're doing. It's just not that glamorous. So yes, after 10 years, I still believe in what I'm doing.

Copyright ©1998 Cowboys & Indians

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