Northern Cheyenne court gives officials three days to avert ‘lawlessness,’ return government authority to original council members
Decision adds teeth to earlier ruling against leaders governing without constitutional support since 2025
The second court ruling in two days regarding tribal leadership on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation emphatically supported the authority of eight tribal council members who were removed from their posts a year ago.
Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court Judge Frans A. Andersson issued a Sept. 23 court order doubling down on the previous day’s appellate court decision that clarified who is in charge in Lame Deer, Montana.
Andersson wrote Wednesday that Melissa Lonebear, Melissa Fisher, Kristi Killsnight and their colleagues “hold office as members of Tribal Council, uninterrupted, since September 10, 2025. During that period of time, no other person has held office of Tribal Council.”
Andersson also referred to the special October 2025 election that ushered in replacements for the ousted council members as “the void election.” Any “purported actions” taken by the replacement group, Andersson wrote, “have no effect and are void.”
Andersson’s ruling arrives with little time to spare before the next round of council elections on Nov. 3. The sole power to carry out and certify the elections, Andersson added, belongs to Lonebear, Fisher, Killsnight and the members of the original council. Andersson gave the opposing faction of Northern Cheyenne leaders three days to turn over all of the property and materials needed to run the council and administer the elections, including “access to the Little Wolf Capitol Building and other tribal properties, records of Tribal Council, computers, telephones, servers, and other electronic communications or data storage devices.”
Andersson warned that anyone who fails to comply with the court order could be found in contempt of court or criminal contempt.
“Any attempt to undermine or inhibit the administration of the November 3 Election is an attack on the democratic process,” Andersson continued. “Attempts by unelected individuals to exercise Tribal authority in contradiction of the Constitution is lawlessness.”
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