But Cesspooch is unmoved. He said the audits that are currently being conducted are all tied to tribal departments or the federal government, and do not provide the Business Committee with the information it needs to make informed decisions about its energy-development interests.

"When the new council took the reins, we didn't really know what was going on in the oil fields. We were just taking the words of those people who are in charge," Cesspooch said. "The B.C. now is going be in control and not anyone else. That's the goal that we're seeking."

Plans to bring in an outside auditor was only one of the coalition's complaints. The group is also demanding an accounting of monies paid to "certain tribal members" for assistance since May 14, saying the funds were used to obstruct an ongoing effort to remove Irene Cuch, Frances Poowegup and Ronald Groves from the Business Committee.

"These payments are a bribe to pay off tribal members for votes so they will not sign the recall petitions," the coalition alleges. "This is a direct violation of the election ordinance and code of ethics."

The group is asking that a quarterly audit be conducted of the assistance funds to verify that the money is not being used improperly.

Asked about the increase in assistance money — funds used to help tribal members travel for medical care or to meet other needs — Cesspooch said the rise came during the months before the Business Committee elections. He noted that three of the people responsible for determining who received assistance funds during that time are no longer on the Business Committee.

"We had nothing to do with that, because we weren't even on the council yet," Cesspooch said, referring to himself, Steven Cesspooch, and Phillip Chimburas, who were elected in April but weren't sworn in until mid-May.

Coalition members are also demanding that that the Business Committee explain its decision to transfer money from the general fund that was budgeted for air-monitoring stations needed during the environmental-impact statement process to the tribe's EPA department. The coalition says that the reallocation of this money has led to problems for energy-development firms working on tribal lands.

"The producers are being fined thousands of dollars just to do work on our lands," the coalition statement alleges. "This is detrimental to the oil and gas development and our cash flow."

Cesspooch said he's heard no reports from oil and gas companies of fines being levied for EPA violations.

Not all of the coalition's demands are focused directly on fiscal matters. The group is also calling for a resolution to bar five former contract employees of the tribe and a former superintendent of the Uintah and Ouray Agency from any further involvement in tribal affairs. Listed in the complaint are attorneys Rob Thompson, Tom Batchell, Sandy Hansen, and Dan Israel, and former agency superintendent David Allison.