Eugene Little Coyote was the president of the

Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe. Located in southeastern Montana, the reservation is approximately ...

from 2004 to 2007. He was elected in November 2004, defeating the incumbent president, Geri Small. However, after a conflict with reservation vice president Rick Wolfname that began in July 2007 escalated, the Northern Cheyenne tribal council declared that it would oust Little Coyote as the tribe's president. Little Coyote was forcibly removed from office and arrested for trespassing in the tribal office building on December 28, 2007. It is worth noting that the move by the tribal council to remove Little Coyote from office was deemed unconstitutional and void by the Northern Cheyenne Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court was however overruled by Bureau of Indian Affairs' regional director Ed Parisian, and later the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman. Their involvement in this matter set a historical precedence of the BIA directly meddling with tribal governments. Little Coyote was also a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

for April 2008 election and a candidate for the September 30, 2008 primary election. On August 14, 2008, a jury trial found Little Coyote not guilty on charges of criminal mischief based on the events from December 28, 2007. The jury verdict was unanimous.

References

Eugene Little Coyote takes over as Northern Cheyenne tribal presidentTribal standoff ends with arrest
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Northern Cheyenne people Native American leaders {{NativeAmerican-politician-stub