Little Shell opposition sets March 6 election

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) – An opposition faction within Montana's Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians has scheduled a March 6 election, in defiance of the tribe's president and some council members who says the move is illegitimate.

The 4,300 member, loose-knit tribe has been roiled during the last six months by a denial of its petition for federal recognition and the suspension of government grants and stimulus money.

Members of the Little Shell Alliance, a group upset with the direction of the tribal government, circumvented the tribal council and President John Sinclair to set up the March election. The alliance says more than 400 tribal members supported the election in a recent referendum.

Sinclair says he's trying to set up a three-judge tribunal to put Alliance members on trial. But he says that could take months and won't be done by the March 6 election.