OST staff doesn’t know which president to follow

By Ryan Woodard, Journal Staff Writer | Thursday, December 07, 2006

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PINE RIDGE — Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellow Bird Steele didn’t oust President Alex White Plume from his office at the tribal building in Pine Ridge on Wednesday.

Instead, he worked from his own office in the tribal building, while White Plume remained in his office.

Steele, who has been serving as director of revenue affairs in the tribal building, quietly walked into his second-floor office just after 11 a.m. without stopping at White Plume’s first-floor office.

It wasn’t clear whether Steele’s appearance was an official claim to the presidency or just another day at his regular job, as he walked in without acknowledging White Plume or talking to reporters at the scene.

Both men are still claiming the OST presidency, with White Plume insisting he shouldn’t have been left off the ballot in the tribe’s Nov. 7 general election — in which voters picked Steele for the role — and Steele insisting that he won the election fairly.

White Plume, who took the place of impeached President Cecelia Fire Thunder in June, was taken off the ballot four days before the election when the election board declared he was disqualified.

Steele was sworn in as president Tuesday at Kyle — a

swearing-in White Plume called null and void — and claims that the post is rightfully his. Steele was sworn in with 16 tribal council members elected with him Nov. 7.

Steele said Tuesday evening he planned on occupying his office as president Wednesday.

White Plume insists he remains president, calling the swearing-in illegal.

Neither man publicly confronted the other at the offices Wednesday, although White Plume said that he and Steele spoke Tuesday evening.

In any case, confusion reigned at the OST building Wednesday, with old and newly elected council members filing in and out and tribal staffers in the building wondering exactly who to take orders from.

Tribal law enforcement stood outside the door, ready for possible conflict.

White Plume called a staff meeting Wednesday morning to try to explain the situation before Steele arrived.

He told the staff he feels bad about all of the confusion, but he also assured the workers that he isn’t leaving.

“I just want you guys to know I’ll be here until the election is over with,” he said.

White Plume’s office has set a new primary for Feb. 13 and a new general election on March 20. He declared the Nov. 7 election won by Steele null and void.

Only about half of White Plume’s 30-person staff attended the meeting, and those who were there seemed confused.

“We don’t know who to listen to,” Eldon Forney of OST security support services told White Plume.

“That’s a choice you’ll have to make yourself,” White Plume told Forney.

Forney said he didn’t know what to do if Steele came to claim his office.

“What happens if John Steele shows up ... who do we escort out, you or him?” he asked.

Forney later issued a news release explaining that his security forces would not get in the middle of the confusion.

“The OST Support Services Program will not nourish, secure or be a part of the current political turmoil within the OST administration,” Forney explained in the release. “We will not be escorting past public officials out of the building, delivering termination letters to/serving restraining orders on political employees or preventing newly elected officials from entering the building.”

The Journal was unable to contact tribal police chief James Twiss for comment.

Steele and White Plume weren’t the only ones involved in the dispute to show up at the building claiming to be in office.

Also in attendance were newly elected Vice President William “Shorty” Brewer, newly elected LaCreek District Representative Kim Clausen and the Pine Ridge District’s Will Peters, elected in 2004.

Brewer, like Steele, refused to comment on the situation. But both Clausen and Peters claimed that they were the rightful representatives.

“We took office yesterday,” Clausen said, referring to the swearing-in at Kyle. “There (are) reasons we did that.”

She said that she had gone door to door in her district, and that her constituents had encouraged her to take office. She also said the constitution makes it clear that officials elected in 2004 cannot extend their terms past two years.

And the government has to forge ahead, Clausen said.

“We have to keep tribal government,” she said. Clausen doesn’t support a new election, saying that it would be too expensive.

Peters said he is still a representative for the Pine Ridge District.

“I’m in here until they drag me out,” he said.

Peters said the law wasn’t followed when the tribal election board didn’t recognize the elections court of appeals decision to call for another election.

He said the decision for a new election should be referred to a public vote.

“It is a time of mass confusion that can be put through a referendum of the whole tribal membership,” Peters said.

Both sides have differing reasons for claiming they rightfully belong in office and have made various attempts to prove it.

On Tuesday, Steele obtained a court injunction against White Plume’s plan for a new election.

But White Plume said his attorneys are attempting to overturn the injunction.

Steele sent out a news release Wednesday evening saying he and the new council held a meeting after the swearing-in ceremony at Kyle. He said the council certified the Nov. 7 election and voted to recognize the tribal elections board that conducted the Nov. 7 election.

Council members signed up for committee assignments and voted to keep the present executive board on a temporary basis.

White Plume has maintained that he is trying to uphold the decisions made by the election court of appeals.

The election process has been surrounded by controversy since the Oct. 3 primary.

The tribal court of elections appeals ruled the Oct. 3 primary null and void because of misprinted ballots and other irregularities.

However, the tribal council dismissed that appeals court and named a new one. Plans for the general election went forward.

White Plume and Steele had finished first and second, respectively, in the primary voting and were set to face off in the general election.

Then, on Nov. 3, the tribal election board — not to be confused with the court of elections appeals — removed White Plume’s name from the ballot because of his federal assault conviction in the 1980s.

White Plume appealed, and the court of elections appeals ordered a new election. The election board refused, saying it never received an official ruling. Cecelia Fire Thunder replaced White Plume on the ballot, and she lost to Steele in the general election.

But since then, the two sides have argued about the validity of the election.

Requests have been made to have Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., help resolve the situation. White Plume said Wednesday that he was scheduled to meet with Thune on the topic this morning.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has so far declined to get involved in the dispute (see related story).

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com