ROSEBUD, S.D. – More than 100 tribal members gathered for a community meeting to address an earlier rumor that Rosebud Sioux Tribal President William Kindle allegedly resigned from office in an executive session.
They then used the Oct. 20 meeting to address other and related issues as they scolded their elected officials.
Councilmen denied his resignation. Kindle appeared early at the community meeting to let tribal members know of his intention to remain in office. He didn’t turn in a written resignation. That isn’t required under the tribe’s constitution.
The story of the supposed mid-week resignation went out over KINI Radio and insiders suggested he verbally resigned. However, Councilman Wayne Ducheneaux denied Kindle’s resignation and other tribal officials said he was still the tribe’s leader.
Most councilmen refused to return telephoned inquiries and those who did speak wouldn’t divulge what took place during the meeting nor would they confirm Kindle’s resignation, stating it would be inappropriate to discuss an executive session. The tribal chairman refused to return phone calls.
Meanwhile, tribal members were left wondering if they were without a leader and if there was a move afoot on behalf of their councilmen to remove the tribal chairman.
“He never did resign. He never did leave us,” Ned Metcalf, who served as a moderator for the meeting, assured tribal members.
The tribal constitution is clear about a removal from office. It occurs if any member of the council is convicted of a felony or if two-thirds of the council votes to expel a member – with the exception of the president or vice president. To remove either of them, requires a petition for a recall election.
Some of those attending the Oct. 20 meeting went there to discuss a potential petition to recall the tribal president. Such a petition requires signatures of at least 50 percent of those who voted in the last tribal election. If a sufficient number of signatures are collected, the petition must be submitted to the council which has to adopt a recall ordinance for the action to proceed.
Tribal members, largely the elderly, complained their elected officials were unresponsive and failed to follow their duties as councilmen by holding community meetings or bringing issues to them to consider before voting on them.
Some of the problems cited were in the administration of housing, the tribe’s ambulance service and on terms, which they said, hinder progress.
“We need to be informed of the decisions that are made here. Our councilmen cannot make a decision without our approval. When they want to make a decision here, they should take it back to our people, present it to our communities and our communities will vote on it,” said Gabriel Medicine Eagle of the Winner/Ideal community. “Then they can come back and make the decision based on the members of the communities. If a councilman makes a decision on his own, he’s overlooking our community. He is not showing respect for us as a community.”
Medicine Eagle wasn’t pleased about the apparent dispute between tribal councilmen and the tribal president.
“We elected our tribal chairman. Whether they like it or not, we chose him. We elected the ones sitting here. It’s their responsibility to work together for our people. If they don’t work together for our people, it is the people who suffer.
“I don’t think our councilmen realize the responsibility that is laid upon them. Our councilman, Wayne Ducheneaux, doesn’t come to our community like he should. There is a connection that is not being made fully. Those of us in the eastern district miss out on a lot of the things that are happening here. We want to see our reservation and tribe rise up with a vision, with a goal that will bring life back into our people,” he said.
Medicine Eagle, who traveled a significant distance to attend the community meeting, said he favored longer terms for the elected officials, acknowledging the frustrations they and tribal members face when there is too little time to implement effective programs.
“When we as a people choose our leadership, we need to stick with our choices. The best we can do is give our tribal president four years to do what he needs to do. If you want to make a resolution, that’s what you should put in there. Two years isn’t enough,” Medicine Eagle continued.
He said the first year is devoted to effectively training the administration staff, giving the administration only a year to implement changes.
“Then we complain because they don’t get anything done. Their work load is training and we are getting left out again,” he said.
“We as a people can change that. Maybe these guys,” Medicine Eagle said, motioning toward councilmen, “don’t want to change it, but we, the people, want it. We’re the ones who want to see change for the better.”
Tribal members used the occasion to vent on other issues related unrelated to the supposed resignation and council dispute. They brought up old, yet continued arguments about blood quantum.
Full-blood tribal members suggested that tribal members whose blood quantum was less shouldn’t be enrolled members.
Younger enrollees said they felt they were under personal attack because of their inability to speak the Lakota language.
Ms. Rosebud, Shere Wright, daughter of a councilman, admitted her inability to fluently speak Lakota, but she introduced herself in the language.
“I don’t speak Lakota. Please don’t disrespect us for that. No one was there to teach us,” she said.
Wright told the group she stood by the tribal councilmen. “I know they (the tribal officials) are trying. I know they can get things done. They are up here fighting. If we can’t get along with each other, how do we expect our leaders to lead us?,” asked Wright, near tears, her voice cracking with emotion.
Wright suggested the tribal president simply buckled under pressure.
“I know the council didn’t push him out. He was under a lot of pressure and he couldn’t handle that. He should have been strong and dealt with it, dealt with the issues, his duties, making the right choice and doing the right thing for the people.
“I’m here on behalf of the council because I want to say I know they didn’t push Willie out of his office. He didn’t just ditch them. He deserted all of us. Not just the councilmen, but all of us,” she said.
“We’re setting ourselves behind because all we’re doing is fighting. We need to grow up. I think we should all work together,” she said.
Wright, whose peer group is between 18 through 25 years old, said tribal officials largely ignore them because they still consider the young adults adolescents.
Although old enough to vote, the young adults are forgotten, she said.
Even while she was addressing the assembly of tribal members, older tribal members interrupted her.
“They don’t involve us. When we come in this building, we’re still looked at as children,” Wright said.
Diane Spotted Tail, half Lakota and half Apache, told the group the meeting should have included all tribal members.
“I think this is something very dramatic. I think our missing councilmen need to be here so they can go back to the community people and tell them what is happening. What are our councilmen doing sending all their officers out and having a meeting of their own? We elected these people sitting here. They are here for the people, not for themselves. This is the first time I ever heard of an elected official sent out. All the time you are always hearing our council is in executive session,” she said.
“We need to know what’s happening. It is we, the people, who need to.”
Spotted Tail said she had heard frequent complaints about operation of the tribe’s housing program.
“Everyone hears it. Maybe there needs to be an investigation because I personally know of some people who haven’t paid rent since the day they moved in, yet they owe thousands of dollars and they transfer here and there. It happens all the time in every community,” she said.
Tillie Black Bear, whose son-in-law sits on the council, defended the council saying tribal members’ expectations of a council representative’s time and resources were entirely too high. She said her son-in-law was often called upon for money out of his own pocket to help tribal members – from the moment he filed to run for his seat.
“When we talk about how bad our council is and how poor their leadership is, I disagree,” she said. She said her son-in-law took a pay cut to serve as a tribal councilman.
“We need to support our leadership. We need to give them the guidance they need,” she said.
Many of the elderly members who spoke in Lakota during the meeting expressed discontent concerning a recent pay raise for council members and pointed to the tribal government’s failure to provide them with sufficient assistance.