Former Oglala Sioux Tribe treasurer accused of theft

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Mason Big Crow, the former treasurer of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was detained on Nov. 20 on federal charges related to embezzlement.

Court documents indicate Big Crow, Northern Arapaho and Oglala Lakota, was formally indicted on Sept. 19 on charges of larceny and embezzlement.

Big Crow’s indictment states that on or about between January 2021 and March 2023 Big Crow allegedly stole an amount exceeding $1,000. And second, on or about between January 2021 and March 2023 Big Crow stole or embezzled more than $1,000 of monies, funds, credits, goods, assets or other property belonging to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Big Crow is currently being held in the Pennington County Jail.

His initial appearance is scheduled for Friday at the Andrew W. Bogue Federal Building in Rapid City.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Big Crow served as treasurer from 2022 until September 2023 when he resigned in a special session. Big Crow had previously served several terms as tribal treasurer from 2020-2022 and 2018-2020.

At the time of his resignation, Big Crow was behind on filing numerous tribal audits, claiming COVID had delayed the process.

In a May 31, 2023, tribal council meeting, Big Crow said the tribe’s previous audit firm had quit and he was securing a new firm, Whipfli Firm in Rapid City, to help complete its audits. At the time, the tribe was struggling to gain funding for projects due to the unfinished audits.

“This puts the tribe in a world of hurt when we can’t get anything done about the audits,” Councilman DonRoy “Cubby” Ghost Bear said in the May 31, 2023, meeting. “You’re telling us one thing and I’m hearing another thing. We’re three years behind. We can’t be having that, Mason.”

Councilwoman Anna Halverson brought attention to missing COVID finance reports during the meeting. Millions in federal COVID relief funds given to the tribe were unaccounted for as of May 2023, she said during the meeting.

Both Ghost Bear and Halverson sat on the tribe’s finance committee and expressed in the 2023 meeting that Big Crow had not been transparent about finances with the committee.

“The audit isn’t our fault,” Big Crow told them. “The auditors up and quit on us. I didn’t call them and tell them not to do the audit if that’s what you’re trying to say.”

In that meeting, Big Crow said the audits should be completed by the end of 2023, but today the tribe is missing audits for 2020, 2021 and 2023, according to records from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

At the time, there were also concerns the tribe was in default to the First National Bank of Gordon, Neb.

The tribe had consolidated a roughly $40 million loan from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe with the bank. The Shakopee Tribe had provided a loan to the tribe in the early 2000s for improvements to the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Prairie Wind Casino.

Tribes are required by law to have audited financial statements and compliance audits. The Single Audit Act requires an annual audit of all non-federal entities that spend over $750,000 in Federal Financial Assistance, including tribes, every fiscal year.

Big Crow was replaced as treasurer by Cora White Horse.

During his term as treasurer, tribal citizens had raised concerns of Big Crow’s inability to effectively file information needed for federal audits – something South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem attacked the tribe and other tribes for in early 2024.

After resigning, Big Crow attempted to run for a tribal council position as Wakpamni District Representative in the 2024 tribal election but lost.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Big Crow’s attorney, Gregory J. Sperlich, was in court and unable to respond to requests for comment.

This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.

The post Former Oglala Sioux Tribe treasurer accused of theft first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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