FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Uintah band members who want Ute Tribe chairwoman Maxine Natchees ousted presented the tribal business committee with a second recall petition last week.

Unlike the first recall petition against the veteran tribal leader, which was presented 18 months after signatures were originally collected, the signatures on this petition were gathered recently. The recall petition ordinance mandates that signatures must be collected and submitted within 60 days.

According to petition carriers, 145 names were collected. In order to trigger a recall election against Natchees, 123 of the 145 signatures must be declared valid by the tribe's Department of Vital Statistics. To be valid, the ordinance requires that a signature be that of a tribal member, age 21 or older, who lives within the original boundaries of the reservation and is affiliated with the Uintah Band.

The disputed tribal chairwoman has come under attack from her constituents for her loyalty to controversial tribal finance advisor John Jurrius. She is accused of failing to listen to her Uintah band members and disregarding the tribe's constitution. The latest recall effort has Natchees' supporters in other bands taking to the airwaves to urge anyone who signed the petition to go to the tribal court and have his or her name removed.

The radio ads claim that if Natchees is removed from the business committee, tribal elders and children will lose their monthly payment benefits. At different times during his employment with the tribe, Jurrius has threatened to leave if his supporters on the committee face the possibility of being removed from office. The ads connect the elders' and children's payments to Jurrius and his financial plan for the tribe. Curtis Cesspooch, a Uinta band member who signed the recall petition contends that message is false advertising. "They are really playing on that financial plan, and the financial plan isn't the issue," he said. "The issue is accountability and violations of the constitution. All we are doing is exercising our constitutional right to replace an elected representative who we feel no longer represents us."

Natchees' supporters maintain that those pushing for the recall election are trying to "overthrow tribal government."

Vital statistic clerks are expected to issue their decision on the validity of the petition's signatures next week.

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