Entering the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Photo: Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Impeachment hearing set for OST President

Monday, September 14, 2020

By Travis Dewes

Native Sun News Today Staff Writer

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PINE RIDGE RESERVATION — There appears to be a lot of movement leading up to the September 14 impeachment hearing of Julian Bear Runner, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

A second complaint has entered the Oglala Sioux Tribe council after a complaint against president Julian Bear Runner was accepted on August 24. The new complaint which was submitted to council last week was against 12 council members who voted to accept the previous complaint against Bear Runner.

The complaint against the 12 tribal council members was dismissed by council on September 2.

The complaint named council members Chancey Wilson, Duane Yellow Hawk, Ryan Jumping Eagle, Robin Tapio, Nakina Mills, Valentina Merdanian, Jackie Sears, Randy Lays Bad, Phillip Big Crow, Rich Greenwald, Glen Gibbons, and Craig Dillon for not following the policies and procedures of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Constitution and bylaws while accepting an illegal complaint against the Oglala Sioux Tribal President Julian Bear Runner. It went on to say that the complaint which was accepted against Bear Runner was based on “gossip, heresay, rumors, slander, and lies” while there is no criminal complaint filed against Bear Runner in the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court.

The Tribal Council voted to recess on September 1 in order for tribal attorneys to prepare a written legal opinion.

When council resumed on September 2, the legal opinion was read aloud and stated that the tribal government would effectively shut down if a complaint against a majority of the council members was accepted.