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Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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Confusion reigns in election of Benton Paiute Tribal Chief |
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Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
By Stacey Powells
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 Benton Paiute Tribal Council headquarters off Yellow Jacket Road in BentonINTERNET PHOTO
For the most part of 30 years the Benton Paiute Tribal Council (BPTC) was headed by Joseph Saulque. During the election for a new tribal chief in May 2007, Saulque lost to opponent Mike Keller by one vote. Within 30 days, Saulque appealed.
“Joe said the tribal committee was biased against him,” said Adora Saulque, Joseph's sister.
Joseph Saulque has another take on the matter. “I appealed because my sister Adora was campaigning for Mike Keller,” he said. “She was a member of the election committee and she should have remained neutral.”
According to Joseph Saulque, the arbitration council for the tribe voted 3-0 to vacate the May election. Another election was slated for Nov. 10, 2007. During that election, a total of 78 people voted and in the end Joseph Saulque lost by 32 votes. Opponent Mike Keller had 55 votes to Saulque's 23.
“The Tribal council was supposed to appoint a new election committee but the election committee they appointed were all supporters of Mike Keller,” Joseph said.
The second election was appealed by Joseph's son, Eomoquso Saulque. “My son appealed the second election because the election committee sent the ballots by certified mail and only paid $.41. The voters had to cover the rest of the certification costs and were supposed to send back the returned cards with the proper signatures so they all matched up to the voters who received the ballots, but that never happened,” Joseph said.
“Also, I caught Rana Saulque, my sister-in-law, campaigning for Mike Keller and she was on the election committee and wasn't supposed to campaign for anyone.” According to Joseph Saulque, tribal member Vatorano Marquez also appealed the second election.
“The Tribal Council seated Mike Keller on Nov. 13, 2007 and didn't wait for the appeal to be completed. That's not what the law says,” Joseph said.
The second appeal is awaiting a hearing. “The arbitration director, Barbara Pena Diaz, can't hear the appeal because she's my sister but they finally found someone to hear the appeal and we are just waiting for Barbara to step down as head arbitrator so the new person can be brought in,” Joseph said.
The tribe, rather than the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), handles its own arbitration hearings. According to Joseph Saulque, the BIA won't recognize Mike Keller as the new Tribal Chairman because there is still an appeal pending, but the Benton Paiute Tribal Council sees things differently. “The Tribe recognizes Mike Keller as its new Tribal Chair so we are moving forward in that direction,” said Adora Saulque. “The problem is with the BIA who won't recognize Mike Keller until the arbitration is finished.”
Joseph Saulque founded the reservation back in 1971. “I found the executive order that set the land aside in Benton as a reservation on July 22, 1915. In December of 1971 the BIA told me it was a valid executive order and I started meeting with other tribal members in 1972,” he said.
After Saulque graduated from BYU he became the ad hoc administrator for the Benton Paiute Tribe and set everything up, including the administration and the infrastructure for the tribe. “The first documents were approved by the BIA in 1976 under the Indian Reorganization Act and I was elected tribal chair in 1976.”
He resigned as tribal chair in 1978 because he went to work for the BIA but was terminated by BIA in 1980 because, as he said, he acted too much like a tribal chair. “The position of Tribal Chair for the BPTC was still vacant and I was reappointed and served from 1980 – 1999. Rose Marie Saulque was chair until 1993 then Joseph was elected again until the vote in 2007.
“It's true that the BIA won't recognize me as the new tribal chair,” Mike Keller said. “The first election was in May and I beat him [Saulque] by one vote. Joseph put it into arbitration and the election committee awarded him a re-election because they felt absentee ballots were not turned in with the correct return address. He lost the second election by 32 votes and it was appealed right off the bat by his son. He mailed the results of the second election to the BIA but they can't tell a sovereign nation who they can and can't have as leader. The BPTC wants change.”
According to Keller, lawyers for the Tribal Council are trying to get BIA to retract its temporary decision because the BIA shouldn't have sent a letter recognizing one person over another. “They should have looked at the election,” Keller said. “I'm not sure why they did what they did. It's frustrating but we are moving forward with business as usual.
“I'm recognized in Bishop as Tribal Chairman but Joe won't step down. We've been having our council meetings and have had to hire security to keep Joe at bay so he doesn't disrupt anything.”
The BIA sent Joseph a fax stating they still recognize him as the chair but nothing will be settled until the appeal is heard. “I'm still the tribal chairman, but no one in the community will recognize it. They just ignore me when I try to do something.”
Several attempts were made to contact Troy Burdick, Superintendent, Central California Agency of the BIA for comment, but there was no response as of press time.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 March 2008 )
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Copyright © 2009 The Mammoth Times All Rights Reserved
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