Political unrest has gripped the Northern Cheyenne Nation in southeastern Montana. Its causes run deep — decades of broken trust, financial mismanagement, and competing visions of sovereignty — and its consequences are unfolding in real time. 

This multi-part series, Inside the Northern Cheyenne Reckoning, examines how a grassroots movement, a forensic audit, and the return of traditional leadership have upended tribal politics in Lame Deer. Through months of on-the-ground reporting, it follows the people demanding accountability, the leaders fighting to keep power, and the cultural revival emerging in the struggle’s wake.