Members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe went to the polls on Sept. 17 to vote on their picks for three open Shoshone Business Council seats. Seventeen candidates are running.
Tribal members and families filtered into Rocky Mountain Hall in Fort Washakie on a stormy weekday to vote in the primary for who should be on the Business Council, or SBC.
The six-member SBC facilitates the tribe’s governing body, the General Council, which almost any adult tribal member can participate in and submit agenda items to.
Voters said they’re casting ballots with a range of pressing issues in mind.
“Any ongoing cases with the state or the government, those are probably the main things, like water, land rights, anything like that, [and] to make sure that our treaties aren't broken with the state,” said Gail St. Clair, a Fort Washakie resident. “And yeah, just [concerned] about the children and our future.”
Pamela Gambler said she, too, was worried about planning for the tribe’s youth.
“I think they need to address kids’ safety and education, and also address some of the substance abuses that we have here on the reservation,” said Gambler. “And just concerned about the upkeep of our housings.”
Terry Roberts told Wyoming Public Radio he wanted more transparency from the SBC and more General Council meetings.
“I just want to know where the money is being spent,” said Roberts. “There's really no accountability. We're hardly even having General Councils because we can't get enough people, because it's always the same agenda items.”
In recent days, some tribal members have voiced concerns about a number of primary election related disputes, like incorrect information on absentee ballots and the sudden replacement of one election judge.
On Sept. 19, about 15 people gathered outside the SBC’s chambers to protest those and other grievances.
A petition being circulated for an emergency special General Council meeting to address absentee ballot errors garnered over 117 signatures by Sept. 20, according to a post made on social media.
Official primary election results haven’t been announced yet. The tribe’s general election is set for Oct. 22.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
