Cherry Todd Electric Cooperative candidates Pam Kills In Water (left) and Kathleen Wooden Knife (right), two of the three Rosebud Sioux tribal members running for the board of directors, listen to questions at a September 8, 2016, candidates forum sponsored by the grassroots Oyate For Fairness and Equal Representation (OFFER). Photo from Rosebud Sioux Tribe
RST member accuses Electric Company of ‘apartheid’
Sicangu Oyate can vote for tribal members to be on electricity company board
By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News Today
Health & Environment Editor
nsweekly.com ROSEBUD –– Coordinators of a citizens group who organized a candidates’ forum in Tribal Council chambers here on Sept. 8, urged members of the Sicangu Oyate to vote at the Sept. 17 election of board directors for the electric company that controls service on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation. “We need to get as many tribal members as we can at the Cherry-Todd Annual Meeting this year,” said Oyate For Fairness & Equal Representation (OFFER), in announcing the unprecedented forum. “Please plan on attending. We need everyone's help to get our tribal members elected to the Cherry Todd Electric Board of Directors!” The annual meeting of the Cherry Todd Electric Cooperative, to be held at the Ben Reifel Auditorium in Mission, will provide an opportunity to vote on three seats to be filled, and three tribal members are running for those seats. The tribally enrolled candidates, Shawn Bordeaux, Pam Kills In Water and Kathleen Wooden Knife, attended the forum, as well as incumbent Dave Assman of Mission, who told the audience that people need to go to the annual meeting because “It’s your opportunity to vote.” Also running are two non-tribal incumbents besides Assman and one other non-tribal candidate.
SUBJECT: Cherry Todd Annual Membership Meeting DATE: September 14, 2016 For nearly 70 years Cherry Todd has been...
Posted by Rosebud Sioux Tribe on Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Assman, Bordeaux, Kills In Water, and J.R. Reagle seek three-year Todd County board positions, while Wooden Knife faces Lauren Buettner and Gary Garvin as member-at-large candidates. Buettner and Garvin communicated regrets to OFFER for being unable to attend the forum, OFFER Coordinator Ronald Neiss said. “Tribal members comprise over 80 percent of this electric coop membership and yet there have only been three tribal members elected to the 8-member board in the entire almost 70 years of CTE 's existence,” he said. “Apartheid is alive and un-well on Sicangu Makoche (Rosebud Sioux Tribal Homelands) and its name is Cherry Todd Electric Cooperative,” he said.
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: RST member accuses Electric Company of ‘apartheid’ (Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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