Kiowa Drama, Then & Now

  I created the above digital image on my computer which illustrates the old Kiowa story of Tso Ah, now commonly known as 'Devil's Tower, in the state of Wyoming. The image portrays the moment when a group of seven Kiowa sisters, being pursued by a bear, climbed upon a tree stump and were thrown up into the nighttime sky to become the seven stars of the Big Dipper constellation.
  The Tso Ah account occured several hundred years ago after the Kiowas left the Yellowstone area and just before they occupied the Black Hills in South Dakota. That was then.
  This is now.  Recall charges were filed today against Dwayne Davis, Chairman of the Kiowa Election Board, for a number of violations of the Kiowa Constitution & By-laws and the Ordinance of the Kiowa Election Board. The recall question and list of charges, with other documentation, can be viewed on the official website of the Kiowa Tribe at: kiowatribe.net.
  One of the charges against Davis is his scheduling of a recall election against the Chairman of the Kiowa Busness Committee, Donald Tofpi, which is scheduled to occur this coming Saturday, May 29 despite a Temporary Restraining Order issued by the CFR Court against the Election Board and the Kiowa Hearing Board.  A letter dated May 13, 2010 from Anadarko Agency Superintendent Robin Phillips to Dwayne Davis states that the Kiowa Election Board is denied use of the Agency as a polling place for the recall election due to Temporary Restraining Order litigation in the CFR Court and Appellate Court.
  Also, in a meeting today of the Kiowa Business Committee, the KBC approved and issued a resolution declaring the recall election invalid due to the many violations and descrepancies perpetrated by the KEB and KHB in their conduct of the recall process.  The KBC vote was unanimous in support of the resolution.
  To be continued.....
 

"Oh, Spit"

The above email message was forwarded to me a couple of days ago and, as you will read in the content, it presents a clear picture of the current state of our Kiowa Election Board and some of the players who continue in their attempts to influence and access Kiowa government thru the back door.

The email was composed by Anita Onco Johnson who is a candidate for KBC Treasurer in the upcoming election and she granted me permission to forward it on in hopes that others would contact her for discussion of the content.

Click on the text image for enlargeing and easier reading.

MUCH MORE TO COME

Click on letter image to enlarge for reading.

As illustrated in the above letter and previous post, one dissatisfied tribal member is able to easily threaten disruption of tribal governance for all Kiowa membership due to the weakness of our current tribal constitution. In accordance with an approved ballot vote of the Kiowa Indian Council, a well-planned and well-designed approach by numerous Kiowa members to amend/change/revise/rewrite the constitution has been in progress for several years but roadblocks to that effort continue to be thrown up by the few who wish to retain their ability to disrupt progress for the Kiowa Tribe. I am not a proponent of immediate, radical change but this is one area of tribal government that needs serious study and input from all constituents of Kiowa tribal government.

Current recall procedures against Kiowa Business Committee Chairman Don Tofpi are another illustration of Constitutional weakness which allows for misinterpretation and abuse of powers. Recall petitioner Charles 'Buddy' Toyebo personally advanced his appeal to the Kiowa Hearing Board without a public hearing and determination issued by the KBC in violation of step 1 of the process. The KHB accepted his appeal and scheduled a hearing without serving notice to Chairman Tofpi, a violation of step 2 of the process. The KHB, without affording due process to the recallee, advanced the recall charges to the Kiowa Election Board for a ballot vote election, a violation of step 3 of the process. The KEB continued the Constitutional violations by issueing absentee ballots for the recall election without using tribal funding. Would the U.S. Government allow outside funding of any U.S. federal elections, say from North Korea, Iraq, the Taliban, Mexican drug cartels? I think not, and I feel this may be bordering on a criminal violation against Kiowa tribal government. Those entities and individuals party to this mockery of tribal government seem determined to play this out to the end and I encourage those voting to cast a no vote for recall unless you support and condone these numerous violations. The BIA recognizes that this is not a valid election and will not allow KEB use of the Agency as a polling place as in previous legitimate elections.

In addition to the above violations, the appointed term of the previous Kiowa Hearing Board Chair, Helen Poolaw, expired on December 31, 2009 and she has attempted to continue in that position by self-appointment. The Kiowa Constitution clearly states that only the KBC has the authority for appointments to the KHB. The KBC appointed two other tribal members to replace her and another position on the KHB, however, the Kiowa Election Board has refused to administer the oath of office to those appointees in hopes that Poolaw might somehow regain appointment. Conspiracy, collusion? The KBC issued a memo to Mrs. Poolaw reminding her of her term expiration yet she continues in attempts to retain her previously held position on the KHB. The memo also declared to the rest of the KHB that all activities of the KHB since January 1, 2010 wherein Mrs. Poolaw was a participant are null and void, thus also voiding their actions on the Charles Toyebo recall against Chairman Tofpi.

Stay tuned, there'll be much more to come.

THE BEAT GOES ON

Took the above photo recently of the sign which marks the location of our new casino, described in a previous posting, one mile west of Verden and six miles east of Anadarko on Highway 9.

We will order the modular building within the next few days and the manufacturer quoted that fabrication and delivery of the building will occur in 2-3 weeks. The building is modest in size, by design, and will house approximately 150 Class II slot machines. Though our marketing study projected a slightly larger facility, we opted for the more cost effective design with expansion to occur as revenue allows.

Contrary to negative rumors spewing forth from a few disgruntled tribal members, the project is being approached in a business-like manner by the Kiowa Business Committee utilizing our own internal technicians and professionals in all planning and development phases. We project total start-up costs at approximately 1M dollars as opposed to tens of millions projected by an outside developer.

Funding for start-up of the facility will be from a bank loan utilizing one of our CD's as collateral, and repayment of the loan will take first priority from casino revenue. Following loan repayment, all revenue will come directly to the tribe and be deposited in accounts established in accordance with our Revenue Allocation Plan as mandated by National Indian Gaming Commission regulations.

And speaking of disgruntled tribal members, our tribal government is experienceing another episode of disruption, false accusations, and mean heartedness from a handful of tribal members who are famous for their never-ending opposition toward any Kiowa Business Committee elected by the Kiowa Indian Council. This smalll group of underachievers label themselves as 'THE KIC' and profess to speak for the entirety of the Kiowa Indian Council.

A prime example of their negative activity is the recent filing of very weak recall charges against KBC Chairman Donald Tofpi. In subsequent postings in the near future, I will address more of their activity and provide information on the positive happenings within tribal government in the recent months. Meanwhile, you can read Chairman Tofpi's response to the recall charges posted on our tribal website at: http://kiowatribe.net/.