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Francis K. Hamilton Sr, front left, Tribal Legislator Robert Wilson, Luther Blackbear and Chester Whiteman, front right, are in the Cheyenne-Arapaho Courthouse. The men intended to escort Chief Judge Bob Smith off the reservation. According to BIA sources Judge Smith had left the premises already for his own safety that day. PHOTO COURTESY OF BOBBIE HAMILTON

CONCHO, Okla. – The staff of outgoing Cheyenne and Arapaho Governor Darrell Flyingman showed up for work Nov.

17 to find padlocks on all the doors and a group of protestors, Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement and tribal police officers at the administration’s offices.

“We were told there was a meeting Saturday and that Flyingman was no longer governor and you are all fired,” Lina Gilliland, the governor’s spokeswoman, said.

Flyingman’s staff members were escorted through the group of protesters to their offices by a BIA officer and were left with a security guard, Gilliland said.
She and four other women shut themselves in the main office while protestors occupied the reception area and refused to leave.
“They pounded on the door; they changed our accounts; cut off our Internet and turned off the power,” she said.
BIA officers told the women they could not interfere unless one of the women received “bodily harm.”
The next day, the staff was locked out again.
Flyingman was due back in the office Nov. 19 but was advised by Pat Ragsdale, deputy director for the BIA Office of Justice Services, it would not be in his personal interest or the public’s for him to show up at the tribal headquarters.
According to the Associated Press, about two dozen people showed up Nov. 19 to keep Flyingman from entering the tribal offices.
The governor was out of town Nov. 13 when members of the tribal legislature filed a document with the Department of Justice, the Department of Interior and the BIA invoking traditional law to immediately remove Flyingman from office and naming Lt. Gov. Teresa Dorsett as governor.
“We have laws that are older than the Constitution,” Chester Whiteman, Sergeant of Arms for the Tribal Council, said. “We are tired of this corruption. Darrell Flyingman made a statement a couple of years ago that if the people didn’t want him then he would leave. Well, we don’t want him.”
In a meeting Nov. 16, legislators proclaimed a state of emergency for the tribe and declared the tribe’s judicial branch corrupt and in collusion with the governor, stating the tribe’s Supreme Court has overturned valid recalls of Flyingman and twice restored him to office after his removal by the people. Dorsett, acting as governor, submitted nominations for positions in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Supreme Court the same day.
Later in the week, Council Speaker Patrick Spottedwolf accused Flyingman of being responsible for the theft of millions of dollars in tribal elder care and other funds.
Flyingman said he is innocent.
“All programs have been extensively audited by NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission) and no wrongdoing has been found on my part. In fact, it was several legislatures which were found to have embezzled money from our tribes,” he said in an official statement.
BIA Office of Justice Services spokeswoman Nedra Darling said demonstrators returned to Concho Nov. 20, but they were peaceful. Flyingman had given his staff administrative leave through the end of the week and, as of press time, was planning on going to work himself Nov. 23.
Ragsdale said he asked the governor to help avoid conflict by not returning to the tribal headquarters while tempers were high, but he recognized that Flyingman had work to do.
“BIA law enforcement is currently on the premises to see to the fact that all tribal employees are able to complete their jobs on a day to day basis without being hindered or intimidated by the current protestors,” Flyingman said.
Darling said the BIA recognizes Flyingman as governor and tribal officers would be on hand to ensure public safety.
Flyingman lost a Nov. 3 election to Janice Boswell. Boswell and her running mate, Leslie Wandrie, will be sworn into office Jan. 1, 2010.

Correction to story: The photo caption originally posted with this story incorrectly stated that protesters escorted Judge Smith out of the courthouse. According to spokeswoman Lina Gilliland, this information was incorrect. Smith was not at the courthouse when protesters arrived. Judge Smith is still in office and holding court.