Northern Cheyenne tensions mount as ousted council seeks president’s removal

But the hearing, scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Little Wolf Capitol Building, in Lame Deer, Montana, got off to a rocky start. Disagreements over public access to the hearing room eventually spilled out of the building, where the two sides confronted one another and law enforcement eventually arrived on the scene.

In the afternoon, a Facebook livestream started up displaying proceedings with Northern Cheyenne members who have been embroiled in the government dispute. North Dakota-based Steve Kelly, an advocate for the tribal members at odds with the tribal president, led questioning on the livestream.

The ramifications from the proceedings between Kelly and various Northern Cheyenne members remain unclear as talks continue this week in Lame Deer, but the tribe’s safety, finances and leadership are all at stake.

By Wednesday afternoon, the situation had rippled out to affect local students at the St. Labre Indian Catholic High School.

“Due to safety concerns, our Lame Deer bus will not be stopping at the Tribal Building / B&G club today, Sept. 30th,” St. Labre stated in a Facebook post at 1:55 p.m. on Sept. 30.

The private school provides tuition-free education to more than 500 Northern Cheyenne and Crow students across three campuses in Southeast Montana, including a main campus in Ashland on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation east of the government headquarters in Lame Deer.