Northern Cheyenne power struggle continues: Gene Small handed lifeline as tribal court calls his removal as president unconstitutional

An order filed Nov. 5 by the tribe’s constitutional court determined that Small did not have due process ahead of his removal as Northern Cheyenne president in September by the tribally elected council. The court also determined that the legal team for the council members missed a key court deadline to respond to his appeal, prompting a decision that puts Small back in the executive seat.

A certified copy of the order, signed by Appellate Judge Steven T. Small and associate judges Michael Monson and Adrian Miller, was sent to the council, alerting its members that their removal of Small violated the tribe’s constitution.

On Nov. 9, lawyers for the council accepted Small’s return as president while asking that same court to overturn its decision and to set up an independent panel whose "impartiality is not reasonably questioned” to decide the case once again.

The council alleges that Judge Small and Gene Small are second cousins and says their relationship has not been disclosed publicly. The council argues that the judge must recuse himself from any decisions on the matter, noting that he did so on Nov. 3 in a ruling that seemed to have put Gene Small further away from the presidency. The council also says that evidence it presented to Small on Sept. 11, several weeks before his impeachment hearing, met the due process requirement. It also seeks guidance from the tribal court to show which motion led to them missing a deadline.

The timeline for any next steps remains unclear.

On Monday, Small talked to podcaster Jonathon Maza Kuté, saying that he had surrendered the fight after a Nov. 5 visit by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose officers told him that he needed to clear out of the Little Wolf Capitol Building the next morning by 8 a.m.

“I honored it. I’ve been fighting this for more than a year and maybe this was my sign to just call it,” Small said. “I was kinda fine with it. I was played out. I’m sick of this shit.”

On the morning of Nov. 6, federal agents entered the Capitol building and returned it to the council. Small said he was at home eating breakfast when he got a call that federal authorities were in Lame Deer at the tribal headquarters.

Shortly after that, he said, he learned of the tribal court order returning him to the president’s seat: “No lie, I get another call saying, ‘Your order is out. It’s in your favor.’” Small said he received a copy of the court order, then sent it to the BIA so the bureau would recognize his authority. It’s unclear if that has occurred. The BIA told Buffalo’s Fire it won’t comment on the matter or publicly say which group it acknowledges as the rightful government leadership in Northern Cheyenne.

The council contends that the issue is simply procedural, and it does not clear Gene Small from any wrongdoing by him before or after he was removed.

Small continues to post on the Northern Cheyenne President’s Office Facebook page. After the ruling, he shared a video calling for a new election and requesting legal help.

“Maybe some of you people out there in Facebook world, some of you anonymous lawyers, maybe some of you can have some input on this,” he said in the video. “The way I read this, everything's null and void from the time that they took over.”

He continued, “Does that make their election null and void? I don't know. We'll have to look into it. I do believe that we do need another election.”