{"id":40538,"date":"2026-11-08T01:38:55","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T06:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/two-troubled-elections-held-at-northern-cheyenne-in-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T01:38:58","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T06:38:58","slug":"two-troubled-elections-held-at-northern-cheyenne-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/two-troubled-elections-held-at-northern-cheyenne-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Troubled Elections Held at Northern Cheyenne in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dana Eaglefeathers, former tribal council member mans the \u201cFeed Station\u201d on Election Day. (Photo by Clara Caulfield)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

LAME DEER, MT\u2014Things were hopping at Lame Deer on Tuesday, November 3, election day. Tribal members can then vote in the national, state and tribal elections at the same polling place.<\/p>\n

Elections times at Northern Cheyenne are conducted tribal way. \u00a0Traditionally, proving food is extremely important, expressing regard and appreciation for fellow human beings. Thus, on election day, candidates provide \u2018feeds\u2019 for prospective voters, unspoken promise to follow up on that type of generosity if elected\u00a0 Sometimes, it seems that Cheyenne vote with their stomachs, those candidates offering food along the streets were lined up on the streets leading to the Tribal Office on election day.<\/p>\n

The parking lot at the Northern Cheyenne Tribal office was packed, as was the parking lot of the second unofficial Tribal Office manned by the \u201ceight\u201d (the previously elected Tribal Council, ousted by traditional forces and then re-instated by Tribal Court Order), yet to be recognized by the BIA.<\/p>\n

This writer hoped to photograph of the election machines at the Small election, something brand new to ensure objectivity and alleviate the possibility of ballot tampering. \u00a0\u00a0However, that did not happen as the opposing Council through some sort of manipulation hindered that by resolution.<\/p>\n

Neither of the two tribal elections were incompliance with the Tribal IRA Constitution which calls for a Primary at which members vote at a district level. Following that is to be a General where the top two candidates from each District can vote for candidates from all districts. Due to political chaos, a primary was not held, though in process from the Small contingent. So, both sides punted, going with the one general election. By all rights, in observance of the Tribal Constitution, neither election has been conducted correctly and in compliance with the Tribal IRA constitution. \u00a0Tribal candidate, Henry Speelman, former Council member observed. \u201cWe have to get back to the Constitution\u201d.<\/p>\n

What will happen next. Perhaps Tribal officials on both ends should be reminded about \u201cSecretarial Approval\u201d, standard in every IRA constitution, which means that any action an IRA Tribal Council does not go into effect without BIA stamp of approval. Of course, they can conduct internal tribal affairs such as, for example declaring a Head Start Appreciation Day, but anything doing with Federal funds, use of land, elections and so forth is null and void until Uncle Sam via BIA approves. No matter what the Chiefs say.<\/p>\n

That concept became ingrained into American Indian Law when the Supreme Court defined us as \u201cdomestic dependent nations\u2019, entirely different from sovereignty which means supreme power especially over a body politic and freedom from external control : autonomy. <\/em>Yet, it seems that many Tribes till \u00a0hang their hats upon a fanciful interpretation of that word.<\/p>\n

Are we kidding ourselves?<\/p>\n

In the meantime, a very heavy cloud hovers over all Tribal Nations which is plenary power, a concept which is apparently not clear to many contemporary tribal offices, but was firmly established back in 1903 in Loneman v Hitchcock. Through an act of Congress, treaties and agreements with other nations (including Tribes) could, by majority vote be either altered or declared null and void. It is a very real thing, fundamental tenant of American Law. It has been exercised against Indians and the harsh reality is it could be again.<\/p>\n

Maybe we should think about that.<\/p>\n

(Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennereview@gmail.com)<\/p>\n

The post Two Troubled Elections Held at Northern Cheyenne in 2026<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Dana Eaglefeathers, former tribal council member mans the \u201cFeed Station\u201d on Election Day. (Photo by Clara Caulfield) LAME DEER, MT\u2014Things were hopping at Lame Deer on Tuesday, November 3, election day. Tribal members can then vote in the national, state and tribal elections at the same polling place. Elections times <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> November 8, 2026<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":40540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[6657],"class_list":["post-40538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}