"The 2004 election for the Oglala Sioux Tribe's president will turn on character and gender, meaning the kind of man Russell Means is and the fact that Cecelia Fire Thunder is a woman.

Fire Thunder is the kind of woman Native people call a good woman. Even her Lakota name translates to ''Good Hearted Woman.''

A licensed nurse with a caring and uplifting manner, she's also a fierce fighter for Indian education and health care and against family violence. She's an administrator and policy maker, with both organizational and governmental experience.

As an adult, Fire Thunder underwent a successful operation to implant a hearing device. She sometimes tears up at the sheer joy of sound after decades of deafness.

Means makes fun of her because she has cried in public, but his real point is this: She's a woman, women are inferior and a woman can't be OST president because the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty says only adult males can vote to change it."

Get the Story:
Harjo: Character and gender in the Oglala Sioux election (Indian Country Today 10/29)

Relevant Links:
Russell Means - http://www.russellmeans.com
Oglala Sioux Tribe - http://www.lakotamall.com/oglalasiouxtribe

Related Stories:
Russell Means arrested for missing court date (10/25)
Pine Ridge Election: Profile of Russell Means (10/22)
Pine Ridge Election: Profile of Cecilia Fire Thunder (10/21)
Russell Means, Fire Thunder to debate in Pine Ridge (10/18)
AIM leader, nurse face off in Pine Ridge election (10/8)
Russell Means top vote-getter in Pine Ridge primary (10/7)
Means says South Dakota GOP needs to do more (8/9)