Zuni leaders mum on councilman Tsikewa's two-week suspension

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

ZUNI — The governor's office is keeping a tight lip about the recent suspension of a tribal councilman.

Gov. Arlen Quetawki no fan of The Independent, or the press in general did confirm that Councilman William Tsikewa was on administrative leave, but that's about all he would say.

Neither Tsikewa nor any of the tribe's other council members could be reached for comment. A written message requesting information left at Tsikewa's residence was not responded to by press time.

According to Quetawki, the council met with Tsikewa Aug. 15 and voted there and then to suspend him with pay for two weeks. The governor would not disclose the vote count or Tsikewa's salary.

As with any job, he said, "they put you on administrative leave, to do their research ... and then they notify you on what the finding is."

"If they are true," he said, "we take the proper steps to deal with it."

If not, he added, the matter dies.

He said the council would meet with Tsikewa next Tuesday to decide on its next course of action.

"That's it until we check into it further," he said. "We just want to make sure that we go through the right process."

Quetawki said he could not comment on the reasons for Tsikewa's suspension because it was an internal, personnel matter. But the Zuni governor also believes that airing the issue in the press would interrupt his people's traditional healing processes.

By exposing the councilman's suspension to the media before the tribe had a chance to finish its investigation and draw its own conclusions, "what you're doing is disrupting our way of life."

Quetawki questioned the motives of whoever leaked the news of Tsikewa's suspension and wondered if it had anything to do with the current election season.

Tsikewa was seeking re-election, but failed to win enough votes during the tribe's Aug. 9 primary to advance to the general election in December. Of the 17 candidates in the race, only the top dozen vote-getters moved on.

Quetawki also failed in his bid for a second term. The governor and his running mate. Lt. Gov. Carmelita Sanchez, finished third during the primary, failing to secure one of the two spots in the governor's race on the December ballot.