Thurmond Cournoyer (l) and Galen Drapeau (r)
MARTY, SOUTH DAKOTA –– The Yankton Sioux Tribe’s July 21 primary resulted in candidates Galen Drapeau and Thurmond Cournoyer winning slots for the chairman’s race in the September 1 general election. The current chairman, Robert Cournoyer, placed out of the running at third place. Within 24 hours of the announcement of the results, the tribe’s Election Board called for a re-do of the primary, citing issues such as confusion over whether voters who were on the tribal rolls could use state IDs instead of tribal IDs when they presented themselves at the polls. Some tribal members protested, saying their constitution did not provide for repeating an election, and the General Council, which is the tribe’s ruling body and includes all voting-age members, met for three days in emergency session. “We kept a quorum for three days straight, with as many as 75 people present,” said Frances Zephier. “Many wondered if they should just write, ‘I protest,’ on their ballot, because they felt they were voting under duress.” In the end, voters decided they’d better fill out their ballots again, or risk disenfranchisement, she said. “A re-do such as this is a terrible waste of resources and not even proper under our constitution, which allows for recounts and for disputes such as the one over IDs be taken to tribal court,” said Sharon Drapeau. “We started to wonder if we’d have to vote and vote and vote until losing candidates finally accepted the will of the people.” Vice-chairman Karen Archambeau disagreed, saying, “A lot of people didn’t get to vote.” A few members of the Business and Claims Committee, a group to which the General Council delegates day-to-day activities, tried to fire the Election Board to prevent them from going through with the second primary, but were unable to muster enough votes. The second go-round took place a week after the first one and produced the same candidates: Galen Drapeau and Thurmond Cournoyer for chairman; Ida Ashes Brown and the current vice-chair, Karen Archambeau, for vice chairman; Lisa Arrow and Sam Sully for secretary; and the current treasurer, Leo O’Connor, and Roxann Spotted Eagle facing off for that post. Chairman Robert Cournoyer then requested a recount of the votes for just the chairman’s race. On Tuesday, August 2, that took place, with Galen Drapeau and Thurmond Cournoyer winning for the third time. Soon after the recount, the Business and Claims Committee did fire the Election Board. At press time, the committee had not yet hired a new Election Board; when this group is in place, it may choose to certify either the first or the second election, which will apparently not affect the candidate slate. The campaign for the general election is about to get underway with plenty of good will between the two candidates for chairman, said tribal member Isadore Zephier: “They’ve both been very gracious.” “We’re called ‘the land of the friendly people,’ so we’re remembering that,” said Drapeau, who added: “I’m not a politician. I’m just a person running for a leadership position. I already have a job on a spiritual plane for my people, so I think about them and pray for them all the time. I’ll never stop doing that, because it’s part of me.” Should he be elected, Drapeau said, he will bring his concern for present and future generations to the practical plane with economic development and more: “People say we should hire a grant writer. I say, let’s hire a team of them! We can bring businesses here that will provide jobs and needed services. I want to talk to companies like Wal-Mart and restaurant chains. We need a hardware store around here. In some cases, the tribe can own franchises of these businesses.” Bottom line, he said, the tribe has been standing in place economically for years. “Let’s move forward in a beneficial direction and deal with problems like our housing shortage,” said Drapeau. Thurmond Cournoyer’s platform includes economic development; improved housing, roads, and law enforcement; and cleaning up official corruption and questionable employment and election practices – “going after abuse of power,” he said. He’s also determined to clarify recent constitutional controversies and reaffirm the supremacy of the General Council, ensuring it has a final say over business deals and as many meetings as members feel necessary. He’s got his eye on imprudent spending as well. “We have boarded-up houses here, and yet some of our officials and employees are traveling far too often at the tribe’s expense to ‘trainings’ and ‘workshops’ that are nothing more than fancy vacations,” he said. “Further, Aid to Distress, a fund for personal emergencies, should be more fairly distributed.” Finally, Cournoyer said, he wants more governmental transparency and an energized tribal newspaper: “Everything is geyapi here. The people need real, up-to-date information.” “The people have spoken in this primary — more than once!” said Drapeau. “Whoever wins the general election on September 1, there will be new faces to take us new places.” (Contact Stephanie Woodard at (718) 986-3571, swoodard2@gmail.com. Or visit www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-woodard) Related Stories:
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