Opinion
Tim Giago: Fire Thunder out of limbo after 66 days


"The sixty-six day stay in limbo for Cecelia Fire Thunder, the first lady president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is over.

At a special tribal council meeting held to determine whether to proceed with impeachment or to allow the president to resume her duties, a raft of accusers and supporters turned the proceedings into something that was near comical, or so it would seem if it did not have such serious connotations to the tribal government.

One antagonist even accused Ms. Fire Thunder of genocide. This fabrication even brought smiles to the faces of the grimmest observers. Genocide? This accusation was skimmed from the false assumption that Ms. Fire Thunder had placed all of the tribal lands as collateral for a $38 million loan from the Shakopee of Minnesota. The assumption was that if the tribe failed to pay off the loan and the land was lost, the people would die. Of course the premise was all wrong, but the stretch was beyond the imagination."

Get the Story:
Tim Giago: Notes from Indian Country (The Native American Times 1/9)

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