President Fire Thunder reinstated

By David Mehmer
Indian Country Today

PINE RIDGE, S.D. - Oglala Sioux President Cecilia Fire Thunder, accused of mortgaging tribal land and of abusing elders and a council member, was given a vote of confidence by the tribal council, which acted as a jury in her impeachment hearing on Dec. 30.

On a 12 - 5 vote, the complaint was dismissed; and by unanimous consent of the council, she was reinstated with full power of the office of president.

The original complaint accused Fire Thunder of perjury, trespassing, fraud, disloyalty and assault and battery. The complaint, filed in October, asked for her impeachment and removal from office.

At the heart of the complaint is a $38 million loan acquired from the Shakopee Mdewakanton (Dakota) Sioux Community to pay off immediate debt and begin work on expansion of the tribal casino. Opponents claimed Fire Thunder did not consider tribal members' wishes when negotiating the loan.

Under current tribal law, Fire Thunder - the first woman to sit at the head of the tribal nation - was suspended for 20 days pending a hearing; but with frequent delays and postponements, she was actually out of office for 66 days.

William Birdnecklace Tate, who originally brought the complaint, did not have a chance to present his case as it was dismissed before a hearing ever took place. Tate started his presentation with objections, including one that asked for a council member's removal from participation in the hearing because that council member allegedly was convicted of a felony. After a lengthy discussion on the issue, the council cited the tribal constitution and voted to allow the council member to set in on the impeachment hearing.

Tate's actions were called ''stall tactics.'' Craig Dillon, LaCreek District councilman, became frustrated with those tactics and moved that the complaint against Fire Thunder be dismissed. His motion, made early in the proceeding, negated the need for a long list of witnesses from both sides to be heard.

Another complaint, filed by Councilman Juanita Sherich, was also dismissed. She withdrew her complaint that claimed Fire Thunder threatened her with bodily harm. Sherich did not ask for removal from office in her complaint.

A large, supportive crowd stood and listened as Fire Thunder spoke briefly but emotionally.

''The person filing the complaint needs to bring proof. The complaint has no merit.

''If I ever violated my oath of office, I would leave,'' Fire Thunder said. At times her words were muffled with emotion.

Although a hearing did not take place, as was requested by some members of the council and Tate, some elders were allowed to speak. Most of them were against Fire Thunder.

The Indian Reorganization Act form of government, care of the elderly and children, and a few other issues not related to the case were discussed by elders, most of who spoke in their native language.

One of Fire Thunder's strongest opponents told her that what she did was against tribal sovereignty.

''People were never given the right to speak. You didn't believe in the treaties. You haven't looked out for our people,'' elder Anita Ecoffey said to Fire Thunder.

Myrna Whiteface Youngbear said she came to present her complaints. ''The elderly were attacked by Cecilia at the radio station [KILI]. The elderly are concerned with the $38 million loan.''

The $38 million loan surfaced in most of the elders' speeches. The council approved the loan with the Shakopee Community on a 14 for and four against vote. What angered the elders and others was what they perceived as a leverage of the tribal land to secure the loan.

Fire Thunder frequently defended the loan and said the land was not leveraged, but the revenue from tribal land would be adequate to pay for the loan.

''We want our grandchildren to walk on that land,'' said elder Marie Randall.

Randall accused the council of dipping into the $38 million to put into their own pockets, an allegation that had not before been raised.

''If she opens that bag of money so they [the council] can go to Reno and Las Vegas and go to rodeos, they won't get rid of her. We have to create our own elderly government,'' Randall said.

What began in October with the impeachment complaint may have ignited a firestorm of change for the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Tribal council members came forward to speak of curtailing corruption they claimed had permeated the council. They stood to voice the often-heard mantra of accountability to the people with more communication and work with the districts.

Will Peters, councilman from Pine Ridge District, was the most vocal about corruption. After the vote to dismiss the complaint, which he voted against, he warned Fire Thunder about listening to the wrong people: the people, he said, that were corrupt.

''In the beginning I thought we would stamp out corruption. This is a people issue; it shouldn't be decided by us.

''She [Fire Thunder] walked into a government system of corruption and dysfunction. She did some acts and cover-ups, but she was not alone,'' Peters said.

Peters also, at the beginning of the proceeding, introduced a complaint that asked for the impeachment and removal of Councilman Walt Big Crow. He asked that Big Crow be removed because he acted alone to negotiate a settlement with a private construction company that is the general contractor at the tribe's Prairie Wind Casino. The company, C&W Construction, filed a claim for more than $1 million that it asserts the tribe owes for preliminary work.

One tribal attorney resigned over the informal arbitration process. What is wanted, Peters and others argue, is formal arbitration. An Environmental Protection Agency report said the environmental work done by the company was inadequate.

Fire Thunder, Peters claims, is directly involved because he alleges that Big Crow went directly to Fire Thunder with an informal arbitration agreement.

A hearing for Big Crow is set for the first part of the new year.

Laundry was hung out to dry on Dec. 30. It may not all have dried, but a good part of it did. In true Lakota tradition, disagreements and hatreds eventually eroded. Most people who attended the hearing expected a contentious battle with animosity and hatred. What ended up was almost a lovefest.

Peters told Fire Thunder to make amends to Sherich and to the elders. But that was all planned by Fire Thunder in advance: after the proceeding, she presented the elders, whom she allegedly offended, with star quilts and presented Sherich with a star quilt as well. Sherich is Fire Thunder's niece.

''We didn't get our hearing, that's why I voted against the [dismissal motion]; I also voted 'no' on the $38 million. That was for the youth, the hungry and the elderly. This was a people's issue,'' said Lydia Bear Killer, tribal council representative.

In Fire Thunder's absence, Vice President Alex White Plume stepped into the position.

Fire Thunder said that after the 66-day hiatus, she had a lot of catch up work to do. One of the first issues is the contractual dispute with C&W Construction over the casino expansion project.