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Troubles have beset the tiny Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians in recent years. But members are hoping they can put the adversity behind them soon with the results of a write-in election that is under way.
The election among about 100 eligible voters moves into its second phase Monday when the 17 nominees are expected to be winnowed to the top vote-getters.
It is "very important so they can get some stability and begin moving forward," said Daniel Picard, superintendent of the Uintah and Ouray Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has been helping field nominees for the two top positions in the tribe's governing executive committee, chairman and vice chairman.
Whether putting the Skull Valley Goshutes back on track means reviving their biggest economic development enterprise — a proposal to use reservation land for storage of used nuclear-reactor waste — has yet to be seen. Right now, the biggest concern is making the tribal government functional again.
Over the past five years, tribal affairs have fallen apart.
• The most recent tribal chairman, Lawrence Bear, died at age 75 last June.
• Bear was elected after his nephew and then-tribal chairman, Leon Bear, was ousted in 2006 in the wake of pleading guilty to federal tax-evasion charges tied to a tribal funds scandal.
• Lena Knight, 34, was the vice chairwoman when she died in a car accident four years ago.
• Tribal members elected Marlinda Moon to replace Knight, although Moon had pleaded guilty in a 2005 tribal fraud case. Moon has been acting chairwoman since Lawrence Bear's death.
• The tribal business office in Salt Lake City burned down in May 2008. The new office is in Tooele.
• Perhaps the tribe's strongest advocate, attorney Tim Vollmann, was killed last month when his bicycle collided with a dump truck. Just last year, a suit argued by Vollmann had helped the Goshutes overturn a pair of U.S. Interior Department rulings that had blocked their multimillion-dollar nuclear storage project.
The BIA stepped in to help with the election at the request of Moon and tribal secretary, Kristen Bear Stewart, Lawrence Bear's daughter, both of whom had been targeted in a recall effort last fall. The BIA also wanted to help after the failure of an election at the community center on the reservation, which is about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
Stewart declined The Tribune's request to weigh in on the elections. "We can't really comment on that because that is pending," she said.
Moon did not respond to a call seeking comment.
But other tribal members are happy that the elections are under way, with a final round of balloting expected to begin this week.
A number of the candidates — 11 for chairman and 17 for vice chairman — agreed that the most important outcome will be the election of executive committee members who put the needs of the band and its members first, rather than advancing their personal interests.
Rex Allen, a former tribal secretary who wants better accountability from the executive committee, is one of the 11 Goshutes nominated to both the chairman and vice chairman positions. "Right now," he said, "everything will be on hold until after the election."
His two sisters, Mary Allen and Charlotte Allen-Craig, also have been nominated to both posts.
A former vice chairwoman, Mary Allen wants to see more business-like operations, especially when it comes to housing, health and economic development.
"You've got to have a good person in there," she said, "not just to take care of their family but everyone."
Allen-Craig, a student, said younger members don't want to be shut out of tribal government anymore.
"Let's hope we can all agree on individuals who are not looking for personal or financial gain," she wrote in a letter to fellow Goshutes about the elections. "Let's hope we have an individual willing to give our people back the control and allow all tribal members to be involved with tribal business and government."
Garth "Jerry" Bear, Lawrence Bear's nephew, is hoping that people will agree with him that the executive committee needs to include people like himself who live on the reservation, who raise their children there and who see its needs firsthand every day.
"The general council is the people," he said, "and the executive committee is not listening to the people."
Matt Bear, another nominee and Lawrence Bear's son, said he's also hoping "the right people" are ready to bring about badly needed change, electing people who will do what's right for all Goshutes.
"If people want change," he said, "they step up and make it."
Skull Valley Goshute elections
What happened? • The Skull Valley Band of Goshutes asked the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to help with an election after deaths and dissatisfaction with the status quo left the executive committee in a shambles.
What's next? • In the next few weeks, after band members return their write-in ballots for chairman and vice chairman, there will be a new, functional executive committee to carry out the wishes of the tribal council, which consists of those eligible to vote in the tribe.