Northern Cheyenne tribal judge reinstates eight council members, voids special election

A Northern Cheyenne tribal judge on Tuesday weighed in on a months-long dispute between the tribe’s president and a majority of the tribal council, ruling to reinstate eight ousted council members and void an October election that was held to replace them.

The conflict emerged last spring when Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Gene Small, a Lame Deer rancher who campaigned in 2024 on government transparency, initiated an audit of the council’s use of federal COVID-19 relief funds. Ten elected members serve on the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, and while some council members objected to the audit, the body ultimately approved the examination.

On Sept. 11, 2025, the council voted to remove Small from office, alleging constitutional violations unrelated to the audit. On the same day, a group of traditional leaders, called chiefs, issued a declaration calling for the removal from office of the eight council members who voted to oust the president. The chiefs then selected eight new temporary council members, and on Oct. 30 the tribe held a special election to fill the eight seats. Meanwhile, the eight original council members continued to meet and issued repeated statements claiming to be the tribe’s official governing body. Small and the newly elected council members also continued to meet and claimed they were the official tribal authority. Small challenged the council’s vote to remove him, and in November a Northern Cheyenne Constitutional Court judge ruled that the vote to remove Small as president was invalid.

Conflicting speculation and claims about who’s in charge have roiled the tight-knit tribal community for months, and the BIA declined invitations to intervene from both Small and the ousted council members, meaning no federal arbiter would help resolve the standoff.

In a lawsuit filed in tribal court, plaintiffs including the eight council members booted from office by the tribe’s traditional leaders allege that the chiefs’ declaration ousting them violated the tribe’s Constitution.

The defendants, including people elected to the council in the special election, argued that the eight council members’ removal was authorized by tribal traditions and customs.

Tribal Judge Frans Andersson’s ruling sided with the eight ousted council members and found that the chiefs’ declaration was unlawful. Because the council members were never lawfully removed from office, in Andersson’s assessment, there were no vacancies on the council to fill, and so the Oct. 30 special election was judged invalid.

Andersson wrote that while societies, customs and traditions can inform and influence policy, those cultural systems alone do not have inherent power within the tribal government. He ordered the defendants to “immediately peaceably surrender” and allow the eight original council members to access the tribal council building and other resources, including computers and phones, needed to do their jobs.

Melissa Fisher, one of the plaintiffs, told Montana Free Press Wednesday the judge’s ruling was “not just a victory for us.”

“It’s a victory for our nation and for our people,” she said. “We stood up and fought for our Constitution, and the Constitution is the law of the land. I feel awesome today. Today is an amazing day.”

Tribal President Small told MTFP Wednesday afternoon he plans to appeal the decision to a tribal appellate court and intends to “lock this [tribal] building down to not let anyone in here.”

He said he is frustrated with the ruling and alleged that the council member plaintiffs had misused funds meant for COVID-19 relief and should not be allowed to remain in office. He said the audit examining how COVID dollars were spent has not been released.

“I just can’t allow these people back in this building,” he told MTFP. “From what I’ve seen, the mismanagement, they’re going to come pay themselves for work they never did.”