Meeting to address BIA oversight of upcoming election


CONCHO, Okla. – A special Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal council has been called for March 2 to possibly rescind a request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to run the divided tribes’ 2013 election.

Earlier this month, a petition with 189 valid, verified signatures was filed with Janice Prairie Chief-Boswell’s administration to rescind a resolution passed at the regular 2012 Tribal Council meeting to suspend the Cheyenne and Arapaho Election Commission and turn over the responsibilities of conducting the tribes’ 2013 election to the BIA. The candidates’ filing period opens May 1 and closes June 1. The primary election is scheduled for Oct. 8 and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 5.

“We are working on repealing that resolution because the BIA has not shown itself to be responsive enough to handle conducting an election,” Lisa Liebl said. “Instead, we are working on securing a third-party contractor to come in and conduct the election.”

The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Hammon Community Hall in Hammon, Okla., and is open to all Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal citizens who are age 18 or older. Lunch will be served at noon.

The meeting comes less than a month after the legislature affiliated with Leslie Wandrie-Harjo’s administration formally filed a similar request with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to oversee the tribes’ election. A letter was delivered to the superintendent of the BIA’s Concho agency in El Reno, Okla., and mailed to Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn on Jan. 31.

Multiple appeals on the tribes’ split government and its implications are pending before the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, but no timeline has been given on a ruling.

The council will also vote on a resolution to request the Office of the Inspector General to investigate and audit the BIA’s Concho agency and its handling of the tribes’ trust assets, as well as request that the BIA replace its superintendent, Betty Tippeconnie. The council passed a similar resolution concerning Tippeconnie in 2011 after she wrote that the BIA would recognize the judges affiliated with the Wandrie-Harjo administration.