A sign to the offices of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Photo from USGS / Flickr
Members of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of South Dakota went to the polls last week. According to unofficial results posted on Facebook by a tribal member, Boyd Gourneau won the chairman's post and Darrel L. Middletent, Sr. was elected as vice chair. Orville C. "Red" Langdeau, Jr., was elected treasurer and three others won seats on the council. According to The Sioux Falls Argus Leader, all six are allies of the late Michael Jandreau, who served as chairman of the tribe for 36 years before his passing in April 2015. They defeated Jandreau's critics, including former chairman Lewis J. Grassrope and former vice chairman Kevin Wright. Following Jandreau's death last year, Grassrope and Wright sought more information about the tribe's finances, saying members were kept in the dark by the former chairman. One big issue was the tribe's use of a $22.5 million federal loan guarantee in connection with the purchase of a failing financial firm based in New York City.
Unofficial results from the September 8, 2016, election. Photo by Stephanie Bolman Altamirano
The tribe at some point sold the loan to Great American Life Insurance Co., a buyer on the so-called "secondary" market, for $20 million. But the tribal entity that was paying off the debt went into default, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. Great American filed the lawsuit because the Bureau of Indian Affairs has refused to guarantee the loan. Neither the tribe, nor any of its entities, are being sued. Turtle Talk has posted the complaint from the case, Great American Life Ins. Co. v. Department of the Interior. Read More on the Story:
Former Lower Brule leaders reclaim control of tribal government (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/7)
Former Lower Brule official says money not misspent (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 8/28) Also Read Today
Gavin Clarkson: ‘Derogatory term’ used re: Westrock transaction (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/8) Human Rights Watch Report:
Secret and Unaccountable: The Tribal Council at Brule and Its Impact on Human Rights (January 2015)
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