"Chairman Carl Venne had asked his staff to work on Monday, a federal holiday, so the tribe could finalize a multimillion-dollar deal to bring a coal-to-liquids plant to the reservation.
Instead, his staff was left to cope with Venne's sudden death on Sunday.
“Everybody is in shock and disbelief,” said Robert “Corky” Old Horn, chief of staff for the Crow Nation. “We are trying to get our thoughts together and trying to help the family. Those that worked with him are zombies right now.”
Tribal citizens of the Apsaalooke Nation are mourning their 62-year-old chief who apparently died in his sleep while at his sister's home in a border town just off the Crow Reservation in southeastern Montana.
Venne's memorial tribute is slated for 5 p.m. at the Apsaalooke Center in Crow Agency on Wednesday. The funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday at the same location. Schools in Hardin, Lodge Grass and Pryor will be closed for the funeral. Montana's top political leaders, including Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, will be in attendance.
Meanwhile, condolences have been arriving from across the country, including from President Barack Obama."
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