Brandon Sazue camped in the freezing cold to protest an Internal Revenue Service auction of tribal land, wore a wire as part of bribery and corruption probe and was the victim of retaliation by fellow tribal council members.

Still, that wasn't enough for voters of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of South Dakota to keep him around. He lost his bid for re-election by 11 votes, but he isn't going quietly.

“I’ll fight right to my last day because I don’t see our tribe moving to the future," Sazue told The Mitchell Daily Republic.

Sazue appealed the results of the election but he said he was rejected. Now he wants to call a general council meeting to push for a new vote.

“That will be up to the people to decide,” Sazue told the paper.

Duane Big Eagle Sr., the winner of the election, says Sazue needs to move on.“When you’re talking tribal politics, everybody’s pointing fingers at each other,” Big Eagle told the paper. “It’s all fingerpointing and false accusations.”

Get the Story:
Ousted tribal leader questions legitimacy of election (The Mitchell Daily Republic 4/23)
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Related Stories:
Crow Creek Sioux chair loses reelection bid by 11 votes (4/20)
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe removes leaders after guilty pleas (3/30)