Campaign Donation Causes Tribal Dispute in Oklahoma Story-Date: 09:06 a.m. PST Sunday , November 2, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Campaign Donation Causes Tribal Dispute in Oklahoma By Carrie Goeringer, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News WASHINGTON, D.C.--Nov. 3--The U.S. Senate committee hearings on campaign fund-raising of the Democratic National Committee has subpoenaed business committee members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma to testify in public concerning their $107,000 donation . They donated the money in a botched attempt to gain President Clinton's support in the return of Ft. Reno lands. "Our tribal officials have visions of grandeur and are living in a fantasy world" said Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal member Mel White Bird at a press conference in Oklahoma City Oct. 24. Mr. White Bird is the chairman of the Finance and Budget Oversight Committee for the tribal council of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. He says the money for the donation was taken in violation of the tribal constitution, that the business committee members who made the donation cannot make expenditures over the amount of $15,000 without the approval of a referendum vote of the tribal council, which includes all tribal members. While Washington, D.C., is concerned with the DNC's methods of fund-raising Mr. White Bird and other Cheyenne-Arapaho are increasingly concerned with the actions of business committee members Archie Hoffman, Charles Surveyor, their advisor Tyler Todd and attorney Rick Grellner. On Oct. 4, the tribal council voted to remove Rick Grellner as tribal attorney but the business committee refused to comply and questioned the validity of the recent meeting on technicalities of parliamentary rules. Also at the recent Oklahoma City press conference was former employee of the tribes, Tonya Thunderbull. "These people receive $35,000 salaries," she said of the business committee, "and they decide who gets help and who doesn't. They use the tribes' emergency assistance funds for their own families. Even employees get assistance repeatedly." Mr. White Bird charged that four days after the business committee made the $107, 000 donation to the DNC an indigent tribal member was buried in little more than a cardboard box. Through the efforts of Mr. White Bird and the FBOC the $107,000 was eventually returned to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes but even they did not know how the money was used until Ms. Thunderbull came forward and stated most of it was used to purchase vans for senior citizens and the rest went into the general emergency relief fund. The same emergency relief fund she says the business committee uses at its own discretion. Why would the tribes donate $107,000 to the DNC when members have such pressing needs? That's what the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Washington Post asked in March of this year when the fervor arose to return the money. Business committee spokesman Tyler Todd said "the tribes are making a concerted effort to become more involved in politics." It was reported that part of their donation money was used to celebrate President Clinton's birthday in Oklahoma City in August of 1996. "I'm a Democrat," said Jerome Bushyhead, member of the FBOC, "but I'm questioning the legality of it ... and we don't need to be donating to politics because we don't have the money to do it." In a recent letter to the editor in the Watonga Republican Tyler Todd called Mr. White Bird, Mr. Bushyhead and other members of the FBOC "Sorry losers...who continually oppose efforts of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Business Committee despite strong advancements in governmental and political affairs." Mr. White Bird calls the whole situation an "embarrassment to the tribes which further compounds our financial situation." He continues, "Our tribes have many problems created by our tribal officials and their lack of management skills ... their willingness to throw away our money ... Audits for the last four years were finally completed and they read like a `Nightmare on Elm Street.' We have close to a $3 million deficit and tribal and federal funds are being mingled together, a clear violation of federal guidelines. We have been placed on `high risk' status by the BIA for not complying with contracts ... the BIA is partly to blame because they failed to monitor activities after an audit in 1992 when our tribes failed miserably ... When all is said and done, we, the people, will owe a lot of money." Mr. White Bird and the FBOC have sent a formal complaint to the BIA about the financial status of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and a written request to Washington attorney Bruce Coburn that he return payment to the tribes for representing business committee members, their advisor and their lawyer, in the campaign fund-raising investigation. Ms. Thunderbull was a financial accounting technician for the Cheyenne and Arapaho for the past four years. She says she was fired unfairly and false accusations were made against her by a business committee member. Over the past year she has been speaking with the FBI and she recently joined the FBOC to help them bring about finance reform. Tribal members say the financial problems have been chronic and ongoing for years. At a recent FBOC meeting Ms. Thunderbull explained, "I don't want to be on the frontline but I am. I'm here to let the people know what is really going on ... there are only a few of us who will speak out." But voices are emerging, getting louder and more adamant. ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------