(Fort Washakie, WY) – The Eastern Shoshone Tribe released final results this week from the primary election that took place Sept. 15.

For the Eastern Shoshone Business Council, the results indicate that the following six candidates will progress to the General Election, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 27:

• Rory Tendore, 249 votes
• Pamela “Pam” Gambler, 175 votes
• Sharolyn “Shay” Jimerson, 163 votes
• Robyn Rofkar, 146 votes
• Jennifer Fienhold, 144 votes
• Leslie Shakespeare, 140 votes

Voters will select three of those candidates to replace outgoing ESBC Members Gloria Sinclair, Wayland Large, and Gus Thayer, according to the moderator of a candidate forum that was held earlier this month.  

ESBC candidates had the chance to share their priorities and qualifications during the candidate forum – and field questions about General Council authority and the recent dispute about ESBC leadership.

Tendore

Tendore said she decided to run for a seat on the ESBC based on her experience as a member of the Eastern Shoshone Housing Board, which “had to address a lot of difficult issues” during her tenure and “come to terms with the fact that our government structure doesn’t serve all of us – it serves a select few.”

“We had the opportunity to look at the good and the bad and the ugly of the issues that happened at housing, (and) what it led to was us holding each other accountable – addressing those things in a way that allowed us to have conflict but to come to a good resolution,” she said. 

Tendore also referred to her current position working for a community college, where she sees that “we’re producing people with beautiful advanced degrees, but we’re not in a position to employ them locally … because we can’t afford to employ them.” 

“How can we move in a different direction to allow our people to work and stay and thrive here at home?” she asked. “We’re failing in those regards.”

Asked about her top priorities for her potential term on the ESBC, Tendore said she wants to make sure the General Council has the information and data it needs about local programs, resources, and finances so it can provide “oversight” and “actually address” any issues or gaps in service.

She also encouraged more tribal members to attend General Council meetings.

“A responsibility for us (is) showing up and engaging in that process,” she said. “What can we do currently to be able to bring that unity back together – or at least hold each other accountable to be able to make sure we have a productive meeting?”

Gambler

Gambler described herself as a “historian” and “professional researcher” who has spent 45 years working in education – including 30 years as a teacher and administrator at Wyoming Indian High School.

“From that experience I know some of the issues that our students face,” she said, referring specifically to the problem of “homelessness in our community,” which “should be our priority.”

“We need to look at our housing situation and come up with ideas on how we can help our families,” Gambler said. “We have to look at our economy and see how we can get our people back to jobs (so) that we can feed our families.”

Now, having completed the work she set out to do in the field of education, she said she would like to serve on the ESBC – because she’s “not done yet.”

“I would like to do more for our people,” Gambler said.

She said she would still maintain a focus on youth and education on the ESBC, however, calling it her “top priority” to ensure that “our children are educated to meet the demands of our world right now.”

Gambler said she would also prioritize “protecting our elders” as well as “our water,” and she would “respect” the authority of the General Council – which means being as “transparent” as possible as a member of the ESBC.

“You have to make sure that you inform your people of what is going on and how it’s going to affect them,” she said. “You also have to listen to their voice and their concerns and their issues, and if you don’t know the answer, then you research it.”

Jimerson

Jimerson said her interest in local government was sparked in the fall of 2023, when she learned about the Pilot Butte Conveyance Act – a piece of federal legislation that came “close” to passing into law, demonstrating to her “just how fragile and how quick we can lose things in legislation like that.”

As a member of the ESBC, Jimerson said she would work to “protect (the) authority of our tribe to decide our own future.” 

That also means “planning for the next 50 years,” she added.

“We should have proactive plans in place already – instead of reacting to what’s already being passed,” she said. “I want an Eastern Shoshone Tribe that is at the table before the decision is made – not standing outside the room after the decision has already been made.”

To accomplish that goal, she proposed creating a “legislative affairs” department that “monitors” developments that could affect the tribe on the federal, state, county, and municipal level.

Jimerson’s other priorities for her potential term include land, water, sovereignty, and the tribe’s “economic future.”

For example, Jimerson said she would like to create an Eastern Shoshone Land Protection Restoration Fund that would keep track of “what we own, what we need to protect, (and) what we want restored.”

She would also like to develop a “50-year water security plan,” including an assessment of “how much water (we) currently have,” “how much (we’re) currently using,” “what threats are emerging,” and “what will our children need in 2050 and 2075.”

Rofkar

Rofkar spent 29 years working at Fort Washakie School, where she also coached youth volleyball, sponsored multiple clubs, and served on the Fort Washakie Charter High School Board of Trustees. 

After retiring from Fort Washakie School as Technology Director in 2021, she said she began working at the Eastern Shoshone Cultural Center, but she stepped down as interim director of that organization last year, and now she is the Project Director for the Eastern Shoshone Cultural Hub Development Project.

“At this time in my life, I know I would be a valuable member of the Shoshone Business Council,” Rofkar said. “I’ve learned a lot about our treaties and our history; I work with boards and committees, regulations, and requirements; and I love to plan and organize.”

She listed her top priorities on the ESBC as “our people – especially our elders and young people; our land and water; and our economy.”

Tribal elders and young people need more support and activities, she explained, expressing concern about homelessness in the community as well.

She also suggested that the tribe should purchase more property in order to expand its land base, and she encouraged leadership to do more to address water supply issues affecting local irrigators.

When asked about the General Council, which she called the “overarching branch of our government,” Rofkar said she would like to see more tribal members participating in the meetings.

The decisions made during those meetings need to be enforced, too, she added, and the General Council should receive regular updates from the ESBC about “daily business operations.”

Fienhold

Fienhold said she decided to run for a seat on the ESBC after being “inspired” by her time working with students at Fort Washakie School.

“I realized from working with kids that they’re the most precious commodity we have, (and) I took the business of protecting littles really seriously,” she said. “So everything I do, I frame it with, ‘What is this going to look like in five generations? Are we leaving something behind that’s going to be sustained? … 

“That’s where my interest in the law began – (and) not just the law, but also how legal reform would work.”

Now she is a self-described “law reformist” and “anti-nuclear activist” whose focus has been keeping nuclear activity from “entering our tribal boundaries.”

Part of the effort has involved updating tribal laws pertaining to environmental protections, which are more “crucial now (than they’ve) ever been because we have data center developers that are knocking at our front door,” Fienhold said.

Other areas of tribal code need updates too, she continued.

For example, she said she would like to figure out “how to break down that jurisdictional obstruction that is preventing us from obtaining justice for our people” when they are reported missing and murdered.

She would also like to see the “restoration of integrity processes” regulating tribal elected officials, she said, suggesting leaving it to the General Council to define requirements related to transparency and other matters.

“The people are the ones who have the ultimate say,” Fienhold said. “The people are the source of our power. … That’s something that sets us apart and something that we need to protect.”

Shakespeare

Shakespeare has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in public administration, and he said he started his professional career with the tribe during the effort to update the tribal traffic code.

That update resulted in a dramatic decrease in alcohol-related deaths on the reservation, Shakespeare said, showing that “it makes a difference when we have our own laws and we enforce our own laws.”

“We are a nation, (and) we should think like that,” he said. “We should govern ourselves like that.”

Next, Shakespeare said he went into law enforcement, serving as a Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer for several years – an experience that he said “helped shape my view of how I wanted to continue and help things improve.”

He also worked for Wyoming’s then-governor Matt Mead as a tribal liaison and served on the ESBC before becoming the first local tribal member to be named BIA Superintendent of the Wind River Agency.

If he is elected to the ESBC again, he said he would focus on five primary areas: 

• protecting tribal land and treaty rights
• expanding tribal jurisdiction capacity 
• bringing federal dollars under tribal control through self-determination and self-governance
• institutionalizing relationships with the state and federal government
• converting sovereignty into tangible outcomes like better housing, jobs, and water infrastructure

“Sovereignty isn’t something we should be defending in the court – our members should be able to see it every day of their lives,” he explained, adding that “strong sovereignty requires strong institutions, clear laws, consistent procedures, ethical government, accurate records and decisions (that) survive changes in leadership.”

Other priorities he mentioned during the forum include:

• ensuring that tribal programs run efficiently in accordance with established rules and procedures
• making sure financial audits are clean
• setting up a fund to acquire more tribal land
• funding higher education and providing jobs for local graduates
• fortifying local infrastructure (ex. roads, electricity, water lines)

Of course, he noted later, it is up to the General Council to “set our goals and priorities for the future” – and then to hold the ESBC “accountable” for achieving those goals.

“That’s how I want to see General Council moving forward,” Shakespeare said.

He also suggested allowing tribal members to attend General Council meetings remotely, so they can participate even if they aren’t physically present.

Other ESBC candidates on this month’s primary ballot were Lanell “Bianas” Vonfeldt, who earned 97 votes; Stanford “Hawk” St. Clair III, who earned 95 votes; and Lawrence “Larry” McAdams, who earned 90 votes.

There were also three write-in candidates: Wayland Large (79 votes), John St. Clair (25 votes), and John Washakie (25 votes).