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Native Sun News Today: Oglala Sioux Tribe treasurer speaks out on corruption

Monday, October 10, 2016

Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellowbird Steele has been accused of double dipping by Melanie Two Eagle Black Bull, the tribe's treasurer. He has denied the allegations. Photo by Bureau of Indian Affairs

OST treasurer brings charges
Whistleblower uncovers racketeering, conspiracy to cover-up wrongdoing and double dipping
By Ernestine Chasing Hawk
Native Sun News Today Editor
nativesunnews.today

PINE RIDGE RESERVATION –– Nineteen months ago in 2015 when Melanie Two Eagle Black Bull took the job as treasurer for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, she took an oath to protect the tribe from wrongdoing and to provide transparency.

Black Bull said she came to Native Sun News Today as a whistleblower because the other reservation newspaper Lakota Country Times receives money from the tribe as their official newspaper and is not allowed to publish negative stories that reflect badly on the tribe.

A month into her job, Black Bull, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from the Porcupine District, said she thought she was going to have a heart attack after looking at the tribe’s debt and their financial practices.

“It scared the hell out of me, I almost quit. It was scary to see how they functioned and how they ran the tribe and how all of this wrongdoing has been over looked,” she said.

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But Black Bull, who has an Associate’s Degree in General Business, a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and a Masters Degree in Lakota Leadership, took on the challenge and this year’s clean audit report reflects her expertise in finance.

“In 2016 we had no audit findings for the first time in the history of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The first time in the history of the tribe there is transparency and accountability and our audits reflect that,” she said.

But getting there hasn’t been easy because from the get go she said she was coerced by some of the leadership of the tribe to “do things their way,” and not to “rock the boat.”

Before becoming treasurer Black Bull said she worked for 10 years as a coordinator in the OST Executive Directors office and became quite familiar with routine business practices of the tribe.