National | Politics

Native Sun News Today: Oglala Sioux Tribe treasurer under fire after speaking out

Friday, October 14, 2016

Nate Livermont is the new executive coordinator for the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board. Melanie Two Eagle Black Bull serves as treasurer for the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Whistleblower faces removal as Oglala Sioux Tribe treasurer
By Ernestine Chasing Hawk
Native Sun News Today Editor
nativesunnews.today

PINE RIDGE RESERVATION – Becoming the treasurer for the poorest people in the Nation hasn’t been an easy job for Melanie Two Eagle Black Bull, especially since she witnessed a small segment of the population receiving excessive amounts of money, while the majority of tribal members live in abject poverty.

When she set out to try to equalize this disparity and hold people accountable, Black Bull was schooled in the meaning of “tribal politics” and reported that she witnessed countless examples of tribal corruption, and retaliation against whistleblowers.

As treasurer it is her job to understand tribal program budgets and program expenditures she said, but when she approached program directors for information regarding their finances she was often stonewalled from obtaining documents.

“You had some of the people at the tribe who were working against me. They were losing documents, they were losing paperwork. Program directors were getting mad and come to find out they would say, ‘Oh I found this document, here it is.’ Little games were being played by employees who had connections and who were a part of the system for a long time,” she said.

When Black Bull started to require that accountants compile monthly reports, print out their budgets and initial them and sign them, she was accused of being threatening and called a bully when she said all she was asking of employees was to do their jobs as set out in their job descriptions. She said part of the reason she required signatures was that in case there is an audit, and any wrongdoing is uncovered, responsibility falls on the accountant and not her as the treasurer.

“You need to reconcile your travel, you need to show me your monthly program reports,” she told program directors and to complete their quarterly reports so she could include that information in her reports to council for transparency.

“It was said from prior workers that they were manipulating accounting reports. And whenever I was asked to go to training on the system I said, ‘No’ and here is the reason why. I am not going to be accused of tailoring documents. I am not going to be accused of manipulating documents,” Black Bull stated adamantly.