HORTON, Kan. – Chairwoman Nancy Bear said she and other newly elected members of the Kickapoo Tribal Council are ready to move forward and concentrate on running the government of the Kansas tribe.
Vice Chairman John Thomas, Secretary Bobbi Darnell, Treasurer Norene Negonsott continue as tribal council members and will be joined by Shawn Jessepe and Bernadette Thomas.
Although the council is looking forward, Bear said she wasn’t sure if the turbulent past nine months were over, saying, “We have already had accusations that we are an illegal council and that it was an illegal election.”
The months leading up to the Oct. 2 election were filled with innuendo and allegations traded between two factions of the tribe. The battle began in January between members of the tribal council, ending with removal of Chairman Steve Cadue, Vice Chairwoman Thelma Simon and Treasurer Jimmy Cisneros by other council members.
Accusations of wrong doing, possible money laundering and abuse of power flew back and forth during the past nine months, along with reams of court documents. Cadue, Simon, Cisneros and their supporters said they hoped the election would put them back into office. But when the votes were tallied, none was re-elected.
The trio have tried to get federal officials to initiate investigations into tribal operations for the past several months and aren’t stopping their efforts, Cisneros said.
“We are working with an attorney now to file RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges against the existing Kickapoo Tribal government.”
He added that a meeting with the Internal Revenue Service was planned.
The election was had one of the largest turnouts in the history of the tribe, Bear reported, “Over two hundred and fifty showed up.”
Bear said the council plans to move forward with plans to build a new casino and hotel. She said water issues remain very important to the tribe and would continue to be on the front burner until a permanent solution for a good and safe water supply could be found.
“We’re not here for all the political fighting. There are much bigger issues facing the tribe. That is what we are here for,” Bear said. “To me this is real counter-productive. We have to stop and go to court and file papers. It takes us away from more important battles.”
Bear went on to say that tribal members needed to know the tribal council members haven’t been using per capita accounts to fund projects on the reservation. “Absolutely not. The per capita fund has not been touched by the current tribal council … we have not taken one single payment from the accounts.”
However, she said per capita payments wouldn’t begin until enrollment issues are clarified, adding documentation has been forwarded to the BIA. Dual enrollments and other questionable enrollment problems had to be cleared up before payments could be made to members, she said.
Bear and the council still face issues of taxation of cigarettes, roads and other economic development programs.
Taxation is one of the biggest problems facing not only the Kickapoo but also other Kansas tribes, Bear acknowledged. “I don’t really understand why the state is trying to tax us. We provide our own road work, youth programs, just like the state does.”
But Bear said she hoped the recent election would put differences behind them so the council could concentrate on other things.
“Everything that has been in the paper has been allegations. We heard from the FBI yesterday and they have found no wrongdoing with the whole CNI thing. The NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission) has written us back and told us that there are no problems of auditing or crookedness going on at the Golden Eagle Casino.
“I’m ready to move forward. We need to take care of all of those issues that face the tribe, the taxes, the water and multiple other things.”
Cisneros reported that tensions ran high election night with accusations of wrong-doing. He said he wasn’t sure that all of those voting were actually tribal members.
Cisneros alleges members of the tribal council corrupted the whole election process, saying it was rigged.
“We were contesting that because we don’t have an election ordinance … it was just a mess, people were just furious. The four crooks got back in.”
Cisneros said the possibility of violence prompted Simon, Cadue and himself to try to calm their supporters. “I know a lot of them wanted to get real violent, but we told them not to … but they may just go ahead and do it on their own.”
He also said he had received reports that tribal council members removed records from tribal headquarters prior to the election.
“What the hell good is sovereignty? That is a dictatorship. Indian people have no right to go around talking about sovereignty and Indian rights when they don’t even treat their own people right … all you could hear last night was ‘oh those Mexicans’… it’s really sad. We’re not going to give up. We have lots of documentation,” Cisneros concluded.