Clara Caufield: A sad development for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Friday, July 12, 2019  

Even though trying to avoid the negative in these weekly scribblings, I suppose something must be acknowledged and noted about the recent scandal affecting the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana.

A former Tribal President, who recently resigned, L. Jace Killsback, has been indicted for a number of federal charges which boil down to embezzlement, fraud and theft of tribal and federal funds (running to hundreds of thousands of dollars). He has pled guilty and will be sentenced soon, facing prison time and restitution.

This is extremely disheartening and discouraging news and I suspect there may be other repercussions. According to the Billings TV stations and newspapers which had a hay day with the story, (they ever love a good political scandal, especially when it involves Tribes) Killsback fully cooperated, alleging a conspiracy and may thus face a lighter sentence.

That makes me wonder why our Vice-President and Tribal Treasurer also recently resigned.

And common sense says, there probably were other people involved, for the Tribal President doesn’t carry around a personal tribal bankbook, writing checks or singlehandedly having the authority to authorize large wire transfers. The Tribe has a sophisticated financial management system, approved by the Federal government as a condition of receiving and managing federal funds.

But, as we frequently read in newspaper stories, non-Native County officials, bank officers and fraudulent investors – all types of embezzlers - can temporarily outwit any financial system. But sooner or later, a paper trail undoes them.

This type of behavior is totally unacceptable to the Northern Cheyenne people and many who supported him must share my disappointment. In Montana, many citizens believe that the Tribes receive too much federal funding and are generally incompetent at managing it. This development only buttresses that prejudice, and then we are all tarred with the same black brush: “See! We are trying to help the Indians, giving them money and they are stealing it!”

Killsback, at one time considered one of our brightest and best young people, enjoyed a long political career; coming home after attending U.C. Berkeley (a top ten college); getting elected to the Tribal Council for many terms, a force to be reckoned with; then became Tribal Health Director, the top paying job on the Reservation. We must acknowledge that in both capacities, he did some good things.

Finally, after three tries he realized a long-term goal, elected Tribal President, one of the youngest to do so, ever stressing the importance of education as qualification for that office. He gained strong support from younger voters, the largest block and inspired many of them, often on area, state and national stages as an eloquent spokesperson for the Tribe.

Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com

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