 - Eastern Shoshone tribal members are awaiting further review of a decision made during a special General Council meeting last weekend to replace all six members of the Shoshone Business Council.){kind=link}
(Fort Washakie, WY) – Eastern Shoshone tribal members are awaiting further review of a decision made during a special General Council meeting last weekend to replace all six members of the Shoshone Business Council.
The tribal members who were appointed to the SBC during the meeting – Wade W. LeBeau, Larry McAdams, Bobbi Shongutsie, Mike Garvin, Sokaiheechee Mills, and Alison Durgin – said they have presented documentation of the decision to the acting Eastern Shoshone Attorney General for review.
LeBeau, who was selected as Chairman for the new SBC, said he had not heard back from the Attorney General’s Office as of Tuesday morning.
He had heard, however, that the SBC members who were removed during the special General Council meeting – Wayland Large, Clinton Glick, Gloria St. Clair, Gus Thayer, Stanford Ware, and Latonna Snyder – were initiating their own petition to reverse last weekend’s General Council decision.
Tribal offices closed
Those SBC members held their own meeting last Saturday, according to a public notice posted January 10 on the Eastern Shoshone Tribe Facebook page.
The public notice said the SBC “is shutting down the tribal offices effective on Jan. 12, 2026, until the Non-Sanctioned Eastern Shoshone Council Meeting Actions are resolved through tribal court.”
That action was taken without authority, according to LeBeau, because the General Council had already voted to remove the SBC at that point.
“Once the resolution passed … they had no more authority to do any Shoshone tribal business,” he said. “They were putting out information to the tribe as the SBC, which was incorrect.”
On Jan. 11, LeBeau and the other tribal members who were appointed to the SBC during last weekend’s General Council meeting released their own public notice indicating that the transition to new leadership “does not disrupt any tribal services, business operations, or governmental functions.”
“All departments, employees, vendors, banks, contractors, and partners are instructed (that) payroll, contracts, programs, clinics, housing, casino operations, and enterprises continue without interruption,” the public notice states. “All Tribal Business shall proceed as usual, (and) any action taken in contradiction of this Shoshone General Council decision, such as recognizing removed officials, blocking lawful access to accounts, or interfering with the newly appointed council, may constitute interference with a sovereign government operating under federal treaty protection.”
Regardless, LeBeau said the tribal offices were closed on Monday, and he and the other newly appointed SBC members were unable to access the building.
“They told everybody not to go to work, (and) everybody’s following them,” he said, referring to the other SBC. “They’re holding the Shoshone Tribe hostage while they’re doing another petition, (and) they’re telling all of their people that we are the ones that are doing this.”
The tribal offices reopened on Tuesday, according to EST public relations officials, who said the SBC did not have any other comments or information to share publicly at this time.
Process questioned
Before last weekend’s General Council meeting took place, the SBC had posted a public notice indicating that the petition for the meeting was presented incorrectly, as it “did not contain a meeting request form from each of the circulators” and because “the original petition was not returned with the Enrollment Office verification of signatures.”
“Eastern Shoshone law as enacted by the General Council states that a General Council meeting can only be held after the agenda is fixed by the Business Council,” the public notice states. “Because the Business Council has not received a Meeting Request form from each Circulator of the Petition, it is unable to schedule, or set an agenda for, a General Council meeting for Jan. 10, 2026.”
LeBeau and others responded to that public notice post with comments refuting the claim that the petition was presented incorrectly and encouraging tribal members to attend the General Council meeting as scheduled.
On Jan. 9, the SBC posted another public notice listing additional reasons the petition for the General Council meeting was invalid.
“(The) petition presented did not meet the requirements,” the public notice states. “Therefore, any items acted on may not be recognized as valid and may be considered null and void.
“The Eastern Shoshone Business Council will not sanction the Jan. 10, 2026, Special General Council meeting.”
Shongutsie, who was appointed to the SBC during last weekend’s General Council meeting, posted her own message Jan. 9 in response to that public notice, explaining that, “under our traditional law … the Shoshone General Council is the supreme governing body, (and) the SBC exists only to handle day-to-day business that is delegated to them by the General Council.”
“They are not above the people, and they do not have power to control the General Council,” she said. “When enrolled members lawfully petition for a Special General Council meeting, the role of the SBC is administrative only. They must assist with notice and logistics. They do not get to approve or deny the meeting.
“What is happening now is an attempt to shift authority from the people to the SBC,” she continued. “This is not how our government was designed to function. … The people are the government. The General Council is the highest authority. No council stands above it.”
County 10 will continue to follow this story and provide updates as more information becomes available.