The Native American Freedom Foundation’s logo, as depicted on the entrance of its second floor suite at 909 Saint Joseph St in Rapid City, South Dakota.
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA -- A nonprofit agency claiming to provide social services for the local Native American community recently fired the bulk of its workforce after questions were raised by the employees regarding the organization’s true intent and purpose and lack of working capital to cover paychecks. The Native American Freedom Foundation, which has been in operation for approximately two months, officially – and quizzically – referred to the downsizing as both a “hiring freeze” and “layoffs” in the same sentence of a brief, vaguely-worded memorandum to the 11 Native American employees it let go. The en masse firing came shortly after several employees directly confronted John Miller, founder and director of NAFF, about their lack of pay. “We were fired because we asked why we weren’t getting paid,” said Johnabeth Flying Horse, former administrative assistant for the American Indian support foundation. “We were basically working for free,” she said. Citing an inability to “certify the funding contract” and “tampering with certain funding” as reasons for the small novice agency’s lack of operating revenue, the memorandum of severance was hastily hand-delivered to the affected workers, most of whom were fundraising telemarketers, at the behest of Miller. “I was fired the day after I started because I asked the director if I was going to be paid for sure or not,” said Vanessa Two Lance, former telemarketer. “And the people working there who are close to John Miller are still there,” she said. Concerns as to how Miller is appropriating funding solicited from local residents and businesses were also raised by the former employees. Two Lance alleged, “He is scamming the local community to get money for himself.” “One of the first things he did with the money was buy his girlfriend a car,” said Flying Horse, who had been with the agency since its inception. Miller’s girlfriend is a current employee of NAFF, both Flying Horse and Two Lance concurred. Miller also allegedly services his personal vehicle and covers the expense of his pricey hotel living accommodation using company money. “He is exploiting Indians for his own gain,” said Flying Horse. “And I think we have already been exploited enough.” As a charitable organization, NAFF purports to “Specialize in various outreach programs” for area Indian residents, according to an official donor solicitation letter distributed to the Rapid City community. These outreach programs include a youth center located in Black Hawk, substance abuse treatment under the auspices of the national Wellbriety Movement organization, job placement assistance, and Lakota language, culture, and lifestyle classes. “These programs do not exist,” said Flying Horse. “I have never even seen or heard anything about them,” she said. Miller has also been accused by his former staff of operating the organization without proper certification and authorization by appropriate state and federal governmental entities. “He only recently got nonprofit status through the State and an actual tax ID number,” said Flying Horse. “Prior to that, he was giving us a tax ID number that he had used in Iowa,” she said. Miller had previously established and operated the NAFF in Marshalltown, Iowa in 2009. Following a brief stint, the agency abruptly and inexplicably closed, according to the Marshalltown Times-Republican. The Marshalltown Police Department had received complaints about insufficient funds checks issued by the organization and subsequently launched a criminal investigation at the time of the closure. At least one Native American employee of the former Marshalltown, Iowa location of NAFF, Sydney Apple, said she was never paid for her time at the agency and was effectively fired in what might be deemed an unprofessional manner. Prior to the start of a regularly scheduled shift, Apple said she received an early morning text message from an unidentified source informing her that she would not need to show up for work. “I worked there a couple of weeks and really needed the money,” Apple said in an interview with the Times-Republican. Calls placed by the Times-Republican to the NAFF at the time of its shutdown in Iowa ultimately went unanswered, and a message on the organization’s voicemail system said the mailbox was full. The Rapid City NAFF employees were not terminated, according to Miller. “They are still technically employed here. They were only laid off,” he said in an interview in his downtown Turnac Tower office, where lease rates average around $45,000 per year. “Terminated” and “laid off” are interchangeable labor industry terms, however, connoting a reduction in workforce. Miller acknowledged that incorrect terminology had “probably” been used in the pink slips he issued to the 11 employees who have accused him of wrongdoing. “I am going to take legal action against them because they all signed a confidentiality agreement,” said Miller in response to the charges of mismanagement, misappropriation of funds, fraud, and exploitation made by his former staff. Miller did not divulge any further information regarding the confidentiality agreements. “We use the money for exactly what it’s intended for: to further our programs,” said Miller in defending the intent and purpose of the NAFF. “We are set up to be an organization to do drug and alcohol counseling, which I am currently doing with some folks from the jail, and the youth development program starts on October 3,” he said. Miller, by his own admission, does not presently hold a college degree and is therefore not qualified to be a drug and alcohol counselor. “I have been trained to provide substance abuse treatment,” he countered. The State of South Dakota requires, at a minimum, a two-year associate’s degree in order to legally – and competently – practice as a chemical dependency counselor. Miller’s desktop nameplate is authoritatively engraved with the title of “counselor.” The Pennington County Jail was not able to substantiate Miller’s claim that he provides substance abuse treatment for Native American inmates. Only one paycheck issued by the Foundation bounced, according to Miller. “And that gentleman has been paid in full, in cash,” he said, referring to a former employee. Miller professed that his foundation has received substantial donations from Native American tribes outside of South Dakota in addition to monies generated locally by former employees. He refused to identify the charitable tribes and the amounts of their contributions. “As soon as we get this funding thing figured out, (the “laid off” employees) can come back to work,” Miller said in direct contrast to his prior statement of taking legal action against the disgruntled former workers. “Each one of them knows that,” he said. During the course of the interview, Miller produced a tribal enrollment ID card issued by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. Rather than work with his own people, Miller came to Rapid City to help this region’s Native American population. He claims that the Chickasaw Nation does not require external financial support for its social programs. “My people have lots of money,” he said. “The folks out here are where these kind of programs are needed.” Miller also produced official documents issued by the South Dakota Secretary of State and the Internal Revenue Service The legal documents – dated from the recent week of Sept. 12 through the 16 – appear to grant NAFF nonprofit, or 501(c)(3), status and provide a tax exempt ID number for the agency. A Lakota language instructor from the area has been secured to provide classes to children enrolled in the organization’s afterschool program at the Black Hawk youth center, Miller said. He refused to provide the instructor’s name, however. “We put the youth center in Black Hawk because rental rates on the North side are too high,” Miller said, referring to the fact that the youth center might be more beneficial if situated in North Rapid, a sector of the city with a substantially higher Native American population. “We will provide busing services, and we already have 40 children enrolled in the program,” he added. As told to the Times-Republican, Miller conceived the idea for the Foundation while serving time in prison. “We are still in the infant stages,” said Miller of his reputed not-for-profit organization. “We have everything in place now” to move forward, he said. Formal complaints have been filed with the South Dakota Office of the Attorney General by the former employees of the local NAFF. “We can’t let (Miller) get away with what he has done to us,” said Two Lance. (Contact Jesse Abernathy at staffwriter@nsweekly.com)
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