Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Russell Means Cecelia Fire Thunder
Means sues over election
By Dirk Lammers, Associated Press Writer
SIOUX FALLS — American Indian activist Russell Means has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the Oglala Sioux Tribe from swearing in the woman who beat him for the tribal presidency.
Cecelia Fire Thunder defeated Means in the Nov. 2 election on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
But Means, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court this week, contends that Fire Thunder should have never been a candidate because she doesn't live within the exterior boundaries of Pine Ridge, as required by law. Fire Thunder lives in the town of Martin in Bennett County, which shares its north and west borders with Pine Ridge.
Means' suit asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order and require the tribe's Court of Election Appeals to hear his complaint contesting the election.
Neither Means nor Fire Thunder could be reached for comment Thursday.
Fire Thunder told the Lakota Times newspaper last month that she's not concerned with Means' complaints about her residency because she contends Bennett County is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge reservation.
She's scheduled to be sworn in, along with other tribal leaders, at the Little Wound School in Kyle on Dec. 11.
Means said in the lawsuit that the Oglala Sioux Tribe's election board has refused to allow the appeals court to meet and hear his and others' complaints.
Election Board chairwoman Melanie Grey Eagle could not be reached at the tribe's election office Thursday.
Means' campaign was his third run at the tribal presidency. He started an acting career after his involvement in the American Indian Movement's confrontations with the U.S. government in the 1970s and remains outspoken on Indian rights.
Means grew up on the Pine Ridge reservation and maintains a ranch there.
Fire Thunder was born on Pine Ridge, moved to California when she was a child and returned 24 years later in 1987.
She went to nursing school and eventually became part of an effort to provide free health care to people who couldn't afford it.
After returning to the reservation, Fire Thunder has worked for a hospital, the tribe, state government and as a private consultant. Most recently she has worked on domestic violence programs.
The tribe's ongoing and well-publicized financial problems were the foundation of both candidates' platforms.
Shannon and Jackson counties, which comprise the reservation, have about 16,000 residents. The reservation regularly is listed among the poorest places in the nation.
Fire Thunder has said that under her leadership, the tribe will see changes and will heal and prosper as a nation. She has said she'd like to take the first 30 days in office to get the tribe's finances in order and review the programs on the reservation.