QUOTE
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Abortion-clinic proposal sparks hardball politics on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
By Bill Harlan, Journal Staff Writer
Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder says the tribal council can’t order her not to speak to the media.
“That’s a violation of my constitutional rights,” she said in an interview Tuesday.
The gag order is just one of the fights between the embattled tribal president and the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council.
Last month, the tribal council suspended Fire Thunder, pending an impeachment hearing, for proposing an abortion clinic on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and for allegedly raising money for the clinic.
She proposed the clinic in response to South Dakota’s new abortion ban, which has since been referred to a statewide vote in November. Fire Thunder said the new state law might not apply to a clinic on the reservation. She also suggested women from throughout the state could use it.
That proposal sparked protests.
“We are in a war of ideology,” Leon Matthews, pastor of Pine Ridge Gospel Fellowship, said last week. Matthews teaches sexual abstinence in Pine Ridge schools. “There are people trying to oppress us with their liberal ideology. The Oglala Sioux Tribe respects life,” he said.
In addition to suspending Fire Thunder last month, the tribal council also banned abortions on the reservation, a move Fire Thunder said “should end the discussion” of an abortion clinic. But Fire Thunder said the suspension letter ordered her not to talk to the media.
Tribal Councilman Will Peters said “massive national attention” led to the president’s suspension. “Abortion is what got this ball rolling, and she used the media,” he said.
Councilman Garfield Steele, chairman of the tribe’s judiciary committee, said Fire Thunder can defend herself at the impeachment hearing. The date for that hearing has not been set.
“We’ve all got to follow procedure,” Garfield said last week. He also said he was likely to vote to impeach the tribal president.
Fire Thunder has supporters, among them Robert Grey Eagle of Rapid City, who is the attorney for the tribe’s Public Safety Department. “I think she’s performed miracles,” Grey Eagle said Tuesday.
When the tribe’s police department was about to lose 49 officers, Grey Eagle said, Fire Thunder and others went to the South Dakota congressional delegation to get more funding.
Fire Thunder also improved the tribe’s overall financial health, according to Grey Eagle. “She’s a compassionate and strong leader, and I think some people have a problem with that,” he said.
Fire Thunder also has not given up on the idea of a women’s clinic. The board of directors for a proposed Sacred Circle clinic met Monday night. “We are going to have a clinic,” Fire Thunder said. It could provide birth control, counseling and other services to women.
But Peters said, “Abortion is what sparked people to contribute, and I don’t think it’s ethical now to say you’re changing the game.”
Fire Thunder denied she “solicited funds” for an abortion clinic, and she also said the suspension letter was unclear about the allegation. “What do they even mean by ‘soliciting funds?’” she asked. She said that tribal presidents routinely raise money for various projects on the reservation. “Is that ‘soliciting funds?’” she asked.
Fire Thunder is the first woman elected as president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She believes that might be a factor in her political struggles, but Peters said gender had nothing to do with the suspension. “If she was a man, she’d definitely be impeached by now,” he said.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe, in fact, has a history of hardball politics going back to the AIM era of the 1970s. Six years ago, a group opposed to the tribal council moved into tribal headquarters in Pine Ridge Village and occupied the building for a year and a half.
Last year, there were two attempts to impeach Fire Thunder.
“The third time’s the charm,” abortion opponent and former tribal councilwoman Eileen Janis said last week.
Grey Eagle agreed that Pine Ridge politics tends toward extremes. Police Chief Ron Duke was recently fired, and Grey Eagle has received notice that his own contract won’t be renewed “for reasons undisclosed.” Grey Eagle won’t fight his own dismissal, but he said: “There’s a tendency not to hear the full story before making decisions. I think we need to refrain from drawing lines in the sand.”
Fire Thunder has even joked about her recent troubles. “I love my job,” she said during a speech in Rapid City last week to the Native American Journalism Foundation. “Unfortunately, I’m on vacation for a couple of weeks.”
Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who attended the event, said Fire Thunder “leads in the image of Rosa Parks,” and he praised her for her persistence in overcoming obstacles. “She gets up and gets up and gets up,” Daschle said.
Fire Thunder acknowledged, “Being a politician is not an easy job,” but she vowed to fight to serve out her term. “I’m good at what I do, damn it!”
On Tuesday, Fire Thunder met with her attorney in Rapid City to prepare a response to the letter of suspension. She promised a news conference soon to discuss details of her defense.
Abortion-clinic proposal sparks hardball politics on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
By Bill Harlan, Journal Staff Writer
Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder says the tribal council can’t order her not to speak to the media.
“That’s a violation of my constitutional rights,” she said in an interview Tuesday.
The gag order is just one of the fights between the embattled tribal president and the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council.
Last month, the tribal council suspended Fire Thunder, pending an impeachment hearing, for proposing an abortion clinic on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and for allegedly raising money for the clinic.
She proposed the clinic in response to South Dakota’s new abortion ban, which has since been referred to a statewide vote in November. Fire Thunder said the new state law might not apply to a clinic on the reservation. She also suggested women from throughout the state could use it.
That proposal sparked protests.
“We are in a war of ideology,” Leon Matthews, pastor of Pine Ridge Gospel Fellowship, said last week. Matthews teaches sexual abstinence in Pine Ridge schools. “There are people trying to oppress us with their liberal ideology. The Oglala Sioux Tribe respects life,” he said.
In addition to suspending Fire Thunder last month, the tribal council also banned abortions on the reservation, a move Fire Thunder said “should end the discussion” of an abortion clinic. But Fire Thunder said the suspension letter ordered her not to talk to the media.
Tribal Councilman Will Peters said “massive national attention” led to the president’s suspension. “Abortion is what got this ball rolling, and she used the media,” he said.
Councilman Garfield Steele, chairman of the tribe’s judiciary committee, said Fire Thunder can defend herself at the impeachment hearing. The date for that hearing has not been set.
“We’ve all got to follow procedure,” Garfield said last week. He also said he was likely to vote to impeach the tribal president.
Fire Thunder has supporters, among them Robert Grey Eagle of Rapid City, who is the attorney for the tribe’s Public Safety Department. “I think she’s performed miracles,” Grey Eagle said Tuesday.
When the tribe’s police department was about to lose 49 officers, Grey Eagle said, Fire Thunder and others went to the South Dakota congressional delegation to get more funding.
Fire Thunder also improved the tribe’s overall financial health, according to Grey Eagle. “She’s a compassionate and strong leader, and I think some people have a problem with that,” he said.
Fire Thunder also has not given up on the idea of a women’s clinic. The board of directors for a proposed Sacred Circle clinic met Monday night. “We are going to have a clinic,” Fire Thunder said. It could provide birth control, counseling and other services to women.
But Peters said, “Abortion is what sparked people to contribute, and I don’t think it’s ethical now to say you’re changing the game.”
Fire Thunder denied she “solicited funds” for an abortion clinic, and she also said the suspension letter was unclear about the allegation. “What do they even mean by ‘soliciting funds?’” she asked. She said that tribal presidents routinely raise money for various projects on the reservation. “Is that ‘soliciting funds?’” she asked.
Fire Thunder is the first woman elected as president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She believes that might be a factor in her political struggles, but Peters said gender had nothing to do with the suspension. “If she was a man, she’d definitely be impeached by now,” he said.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe, in fact, has a history of hardball politics going back to the AIM era of the 1970s. Six years ago, a group opposed to the tribal council moved into tribal headquarters in Pine Ridge Village and occupied the building for a year and a half.
Last year, there were two attempts to impeach Fire Thunder.
“The third time’s the charm,” abortion opponent and former tribal councilwoman Eileen Janis said last week.
Grey Eagle agreed that Pine Ridge politics tends toward extremes. Police Chief Ron Duke was recently fired, and Grey Eagle has received notice that his own contract won’t be renewed “for reasons undisclosed.” Grey Eagle won’t fight his own dismissal, but he said: “There’s a tendency not to hear the full story before making decisions. I think we need to refrain from drawing lines in the sand.”
Fire Thunder has even joked about her recent troubles. “I love my job,” she said during a speech in Rapid City last week to the Native American Journalism Foundation. “Unfortunately, I’m on vacation for a couple of weeks.”
Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who attended the event, said Fire Thunder “leads in the image of Rosa Parks,” and he praised her for her persistence in overcoming obstacles. “She gets up and gets up and gets up,” Daschle said.
Fire Thunder acknowledged, “Being a politician is not an easy job,” but she vowed to fight to serve out her term. “I’m good at what I do, damn it!”
On Tuesday, Fire Thunder met with her attorney in Rapid City to prepare a response to the letter of suspension. She promised a news conference soon to discuss details of her defense.