The arrest of Nathan Chasing Horse brought a renewed interest in the 2015 banishment by the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board.

International media coverage, social media, and online forums following the story are asking why did the Tribes banish Chasing Horse. 

On July 13, 2015, the Tribal Council voted unanimously to banish Chasing Horse during a Special Full Board Meeting. The resolution is worded very basic and not stating why he was banished. 

Reason

The banishment was done to keep tribal people from harm. 

Public Safety.

Former Councilwoman Roxanne Gourneau said the board went into executive session with law enforcement and prosecutors over the past several years regarding Nathan Chasing Horse, and even though what was discussed cannot be shared publicly, it was clear that many people and the authorities perceive him as a threat to public safety. 

This is not only for young Indian girls, it is also for tribal members who were driven away by Chasing Horses cult at gunpoint from the Sun Dance site.

History

During a Tribal Committee meeting, a large number of people filled the Council Chambers to voice their worries about Chasing Horse being on the reservation for the next Sun Dance in the Chelsea region. They were advocating for his banishment from reservation lands.

Supporters of banishment said there was at least one open criminal investigation into Chasing Horse allegedly sexual abuse on one of his young followers.

There are other investigations into Chasing Horse, they said, but no charges have been filed. 

Worries were mainly safety-related and tribal members told of previous experiences with Chasing Horse, including incidents of alleged sexual abuse, human trafficking, threats to tribal members, intimidation, guns being used to keep tribal members out of ceremonies, and disrespecting the land on and around where the Sun Dance was previously held in Chelsea.

Councilwoman Gourneau said the TEB has a reserve power to protect the people. Even though she never met him, she understands some people think they are violating religious freedom. She said there is a big difference between religious freedom and what is being done by Chasing Horse and his cult following. 

Nobody is telling the people how to worship or trying to take away religious freedom. Everyone has the right to worship how they want, and what the council is doing here is protecting people from a public threat.

Tribal leaders are politicians and their lives are expected to have some kind of scandal, but not when it comes to spiritual leaders, Gourneau said. Spiritual leaders should have no scandal surrounding their lives, and they shouldn’t be holding guns at people who want to attend a Sun Dance on their own reservation, she added.