HELENA, Mont. (AP) – The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs says it is not picking sides in a Blackfeet Tribal Business Council dispute that has lasted more than a month and left the tribe without a functioning government or the ability to pay its bills.

Two factions of the governing council are asserting their own legitimacy, with the two sides meeting only once in a failed attempt to appoint a treasurer who can issue checks to employees and vendors, who have been paid just once since last month.

Chairman Willie Sharp, Jr., told the Flathead Beacon the tribe may be unable to provide certain services if the impasse continues, including food for the reservation’s Head Start program, college students’ stipends or buying chemicals to treat the drinking water in Browning or East Glacier.

On Monday, Sharp declared a state of emergency in which he is seeking recognition by the BIA and assistance from the Native American Bank to release funds to meet the tribe’s payroll and pay its debts.

“People are suffering because they don’t have any money to pay for anything,” Sharp said. “It’s a bad situation.”

The BIA, which reviews a wide range of Blackfeet tribal council actions and is responsible for carrying out the U.S. government’s “trust responsibility” to American Indians, says it recognizes all nine council members, and not the two factions.

“We believe the solutions must come from the Council itself,” BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling said in a statement to the Great Falls Tribune. “We still give great weight to the (Council) in working through these impasse problems themselves. We have and continue to offer mediation services to help resolve the impasse.”

It is not clear how the BIA plans to respond to Sharp’s emergency declaration.

One faction is led by Sharp, and includes Forrestina Calf Boss Ribs and three previously suspended councilmembers whom Sharp unilaterally reinstated: Paul McEvers, Bill Old Chief and Cheryl Little Dog.

The other side consists of Councilmembers Shannon Augare, Leonard Guardipee, Roger Running Crane and Earl Old Person.

Before the split, the tribe had been operating with only six of its nine members in a tumultuous year of infighting that included an attempt to overthrow Sharp. The turmoil has resulted in four people, including McEvers, Little Dog and Old Chief, being removed or suspended before this latest round and Sharp declaring an emergency to allow the body to continue operating without a full slate of members.

Then Sharp attempted to suspend Augare, a state senator who was facing federal drunken-driving charges, and Guardipee for not attending any meetings during a business trip to Washington, D.C., earlier this year.

Augare, Guardipee, Running Crane and Old Person called Sharp’s actions illegal, and said the dispute is over their opposition to bonuses that Sharp wanted to approve for certain employees of Head Start, a federally funded early-childhood development program.

Sharp then reinstated McEvers, Little Dog and Old Chief – a move the other faction said was illegal without a vote of the active Council.

The two sides have since been trying to operate as mini-councils, with each side issuing orders and statements as the legitimate Council.