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Little Shell Chippewa Tribe Members Count Amendment Ballots

Little Shell Chippewa Tribe Members Count Amendment Ballots

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Jan 15, 2010 at 5:34 PM MST

Story Updated: Jan 18, 2010 at 7:42 AM MST

For more than 30 years now, the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe has been fighting to gain recognition from the federal government. But Friday, the tribe's internal affairs took the spotlight, as members voted whether or not to amend part of their tribal constitution.

Members of the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe have dealt with struggles for years. Friday, a group of concerned members gathered in the hopes of changing the tribe's election rules, after a delayed election last year that some call "fraudulent."

"We wanted to basically force a new election and improve and reform our tribal government and how we conduct elections," explained tribe member James Parker Shield.

"These ballots are giving us the go ahead to hold- make an amendment to hold our new election,” noted John Gilbert, Chair of the Little Shell Chippewa Alliance. “And we're doing this with the blessing of the tribal members."

At this point, the Little Shell Chippewa Alliance has the blessing of the 365 members who voted to pass amendments to the tribal constitution that would set specific election rules and separate the branches of tribal government.

Only 6 members of the tribe voted no, however, the tribe is said to have 4,300 members. Disputes over the 2009 election and Chairman John Sinclair's accounting practices have caused contention within the tribe.

"Enough is enough,” said Gilbert. “We've had enough of this bickering, this corruption, all of this. We're all tired of it... This way here we'll get us a new governing body. This bickering will stop. This fighting will come to an end. We have more important things to focus on."

Yet Alliance members say the election issues have little to do with the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe's struggle with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Our struggle, internally, does not have any bearing whatsoever on our Federal recognition,” Shield said. “In fact, in Washington D.C., they barely know we exist."

The alliance planned to seal the votes and send them home with a local legislator.

Absentee voters still have two weeks to request and return ballots before the final tally.

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