Northern Cheyenne Tribal School: What the December 2024 Record Shows — and What It Does Not

LAME DEER, Mont. — Statements made during the September 30 proceeding involving Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Gene Small raised renewed questions about Northern Cheyenne Tribal School and responsibility for actions involving its former leadership.

Truth in Focus went back to the contemporaneous public record. The clearest document located so far is the official record of a Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council special session held December 10, 2024.

What the December 10 record establishes

The minutes show the Tribal Council considered a resolution concerning the Northern Cheyenne Tribal School Board of Trustees. The resolution described alleged improprieties, misuse of authority and dysfunction involving the board and stated that the situation risked school mismanagement or federal “re-assumption.” Those statements were the Council’s stated basis for action; the minutes themselves do not independently prove each underlying allegation.

The Council then voted to dissolve the existing NCTS Board of Trustees and establish an ad hoc governing committee. The resolution named Stefan Rainingbird, Howard Ontiveros, Donavin Limberhand, Eva Foote and Gwen Spotted Horse to that committee. The minutes record the motion as made by Torrey Davie and seconded by Melissa Fisher.

That matters because the documentary record shows that the removal of the trustees was a Tribal Council action. It should not be described simply as an individual action by President Gene Small.

The superintendent question is separate

The same meeting record also distinguishes the board action from an individual employment decision. During discussion, Councilman Torrey Davie said the Council was addressing alleged policy issues involving the superintendent but was not taking personnel action against the employee, describing an employment decision as a matter for the appropriate school administration and human-resources process.

That does not prove that no later suspension, termination or other personnel action occurred. It means the December 10 minutes, standing alone, do not establish that Gene Small personally fired or removed a superintendent.

Before attributing that action to any person, Truth in Focus is seeking the separate personnel record, board action, administrative notice, policy or other contemporaneous document that establishes what happened and who possessed authority to do it.

Why BIE matters to the records check

The Bureau of Indian Education identifies Northern Cheyenne Tribal School in Busby as a K–12 Tribally Controlled School. That federal relationship does not by itself answer who had tribal employment authority, but BIE may possess correspondence or oversight records that help establish the sequence of events.

On September 30, Truth in Focus sent written questions to the Bureau of Indian Education asking which governing body BIE recognized after the December 2024 Council action, whether BIE received the resolution, whether it received notice concerning a superintendent employment action, what role BIE would have in such an action, and whether the “re-assumption” language reflected an actual BIE process or only the Council’s stated concern.

Questions still open

• Which former superintendent is being referenced in the current dispute?
• What employment action occurred, and on what date?
• Who possessed authority to take that action?
• Was the action taken by the school board, ad hoc committee, school administration, Tribal Council, Tribal President or another body?
• What contemporaneous record supports that conclusion?
• What, if anything, did BIE know or do at the time?

Truth in Focus is not deciding who readers should support in the continuing tribal-government dispute. The purpose of this report is narrower: separate a documented Council action from a separate employment allegation and identify what records are still needed.

Sources reviewed

• Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, Special Session Minutes, December 10, 2024: https://www.cheyennenation.com/nct/legislative/minutes/21/10dec24ss.pdf
• Bureau of Indian Education, “Supporting Tribal Education and Economic Development in Montana,” May 1, 2025: https://bie.edu/news-article/supporting-tribal-education-and-economic-development-montana
• BIE Northern Cheyenne Tribal School Report Cards: https://www.bie.edu/DPA/ReportCards

Right of reply: Truth in Focus sent questions to the Bureau of Indian Education on September 30. This report will be updated if relevant records or responses materially clarify the account.

Readers with firsthand records may contact news@truthfocus.net. Please distinguish what you personally witnessed from what you were told by someone else.