Clifford Birdinground is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
and member of the
Crow Tribe
The Crow, whose Endonym and exonym, autonym is Apsáalooke (), are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a List of federally recognized tribes in the United St ...
of
Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
. Birdinground served as the
Chairman of the Crow Tribe from 2000 to 2002.
Birdinground's predecessor, former Chairwoman
Clara Nomee
Clara Mae White Hip Nomee (May 12, 1938 – January 31, 2012) was an Crow politician and tribal leader who served as the Crow Chairperson, Chairwoman of the Crow Tribe of Montana for five-terms from 1990 to 2000. Nomee was the first woman to ...
, was indicted in 1997 convicted of
felony theft of tribal land in September 1998.
However, her conviction to did not prohibit her from holding tribal office.
[ She ran for re-election for a sixth term in 2000.][ However, Birdinground won the May 2000 election, defeating Nomee with 67% of the vote.][
Birdinground took office in 2000. Upon taking office, Birdinground canceled all deals and transactions made by the Nomee administration following her 1997 ]indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...
.[
Birdinground pleaded guilty to one count of ]bribery
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
in U.S. federal court
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...
in 2002, and resigned from office in a letter of resignation dated September 5, 2002.Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
.[ Goes Ahead, who had been elected vice chairman in 2000, ran for the special election to complete the remainder of Birdinground's unexpired term in November 2002.][ However, Goes Ahead was defeated in the election by ]Carl Venne
Carl Venne (July 20, 1946 – February 15, 2009), whose Crow name was Aashiise Dakatak Baacheitchish, was, until his death, the chairman of the executive branch of the Crow Tribe. He won a November 2002 special election held after the Septem ...
.[ Venne received 1,589 votes to win, while Goes Ahead received 1,481 votes.][ Venne was sworn in as Birdinground's permanent successor on November 12, 2002.][ Goes Ahead remained Vice Chairman until his term expired in 2004.][
]
References
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Chairpersons of the Crow Nation
Native American leaders
21st-century Native American people
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