S.D. Sioux sues for tribal presidency

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Sioux activist Russell Means has filed suit in South Dakota to stop his tribe from swearing in its first woman president

The Fargo (N.D.) Forum reported Friday that Means, who ran unsuccessfully for the tribal presidency, is suing to stop the Oglala Sioux tribe from swearing in Cecilia Fire Thunder, a 58-year-old grandmother.

Fire Thunder became the tribe's first official woman leader when she beat out the American Indian activist 2,222 votes to 1,711 in the Nov. 2 election on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

According to a lawsuit Means filed in U.S. District Court this week, Fire Thunder never should have been a candidate because she lives outside the reservation's boundaries in the town of Martin.