Wetherelt, Northern Cheyenne Tribal President survives removal attempt

LAME DEER, Mont. – On March 5, 2024, the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council convened to consider removal of Tribal President, Serena Wetherelt.

The matter at hand was a formal complaint, in compliance with the Tribal Constitution, formally lodged and served against Wetherelt by Tribal Council member Melissa Lonebear, Lame Deer District. The complaint alleged that President Wetherelt had violated the Tribal Constitution by failing to approve a tribal resolution passed unanimously by the Tribal Council. That resolution was related to the Tribal Grazing Ordinance. The details of that interaction still seems somewhat fuzzy to tribal membership.

Within the past few decades, the Tribal Council has successfully removed several Tribal Presidents. Therefore, the current Tribal Council apparently felt they had a “slam-dunk” in hand. Under the Tribal Constitution, eight votes are required to remove a Tribal President. The voting members include ten council people and the Tribal President.

Turns out they considered wrong.

A contingent of tribal elders, primarily grandmothers said, “We have had enough of this silliness,” Mable Killsnight, of the Muddy District was the one to articulate that.

They organized several planning sessions. The result “A Grandmothers Walk of Protest,” showing support for President Wetherelt. Many elders participated, those capable of walking doing so, while others were transported by car, bus, and pickups to accompany the walk.

Along the way from the BIA parking lot to the Tribal office front yard (about a mile), they stopped to be fortified by prayer and cedar smudging. “That is what got us through,” said Laurie Four Horns, a local community activist, prominent in the effort to support Wetherelt.

The hearing procedures for removal of a Tribal President are familiar to the Tribal Council which has used it upon more than one occasion. The defendant (the President) has the right to engage legal counsel, at personal expense. The Tribal Council, on the other hand, is represented by the tribal legal counsel, the Chestnut law firm of Washington State, that budget approved by the Tribal Council.

Wetherelt engaged the services of Jay Harris. Although an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe, he is also of Cheyenne descent and formerly a two-term elected official – Big Horn County Attorney. As such, Harris is well versed in law (American, state, county and tribal).

According to Four Horns, Harris punched numerous holes in the Tribal Council complaint against Wetherelt. Furthermore, he advised the Northern Cheyenne to be more accountable. “Grow up and start acting like adults,” he reportedly said.

Tribal vice-president Ernest Little Mouth also weighed on. “I had nothing to do with this,” he commented in Cheyenne tongue. “I do not want to become the Tribal President. We should treat each other better.”

Eva Foote, Tribal Council representative from the Ashland District strongly opposed the proposed removal of President Wetherelt. At the request of the Grandmothers group, she requested a roll call vote of the proceedings, a procedure not normally recorded in tribal minutes.

Thus, the following recorded votes have been made available to the tribal membership. In favor of removal were Melissa Lone Bear, Lame Deer District; (the council member who lodged and signed the initial complaint); Melissa Fisher, Ashland District; Debbie Charette, Muddy District; Torrie Davies, Busby District and Donovan Limberhand, Lame Deer District.

Those who voted “no” included: Eva Foote, Ashland District; Norma Gourneau, Busby District; Silver Little Eagle, Lame Deer District; Nachoni Robinson Sweet, Lame Deer District and vice-president Ernest Little Mouth.

In August 2024, the election cycle for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe will begin again.  Should President Wetherelt have been removed, another election would have been held, a considerable cost to the Tribe.  As Elizabeth Brady, a formidable tribal elder reflected: “Perhaps things can be stabilized during that brief time. This sort of crazy conduct must end.”

(Contact Clara Caufield at 2ndcheyennevoice@gmail.com)

The post Wetherelt, Northern Cheyenne Tribal President survives removal attempt first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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