Llevando "Cowboy" Fisher serves as the president of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Photo courtesy A Cheyenne Voice

Northern Cheyenne Tribe declares State of Emergency
Series of accidents and shootings prompt action
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Correspondent
www.nsweekly.com

LAME DEER, Mont. –– Following a weekend of violent events on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, including a drug-related “shoot-out” on the main street of Lame Deer resulting in wounded by-standers, Tribal President Llevando “Cowboy” Fisher issued a “Declaration of State of Emergency.”

Other incidents over that drama-filled weekend included several traffic accidents, one fatality, and one-near fatality on the Kirby Creek Road, and a vehicle which collided with three horses on Highway 212, thankfully with no additional fatalities.

The emergency declaration, addressed to all members and residents of the Northern Cheyenne community has been widely distributed throughout the reservation attracting wide attention. It has invoked many questions and comments from tribal members, as indicated on Facebook; gained front page coverage by the Billings Gazette newspaper and a dramatic story from a Billings based television station.

The declaration reads as follows: “The use and distribution of illegal drugs, and the associated acts of violence, have had severe consequences for the health and welfare of the Northern Cheyenne community. Crime, including drug-related offenses, has increased on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in recent months. I regularly receive reports of major crimes occurring on the Reservation, and many of those crimes involve methamphetamine and other extremely harmful substances. It is against this backdrop that I hereby declare a state of emergency to address these problems.

Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Northern Cheyenne Tribe declares State of Emergency

(Contact Clara Caufield at acheyennevoice@gmail.com)

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