Fort Peck Journal - History of The Journal

History of The Journal

The story of the Fort Peck Journal starts in March 2006.

Fort Peck Tribal newspaper editor Bonnie Red Elk called the tribal chairman John Morales when he was in Florida for a story about him conducting business in the Sunshine State, as tribal documents were sent overnight for him to review. Morales warned Red Elk that there were going to be changes at the tribal newspaper when he got back to Montana.

Two days later, the Wotanin ran a story about the chairman conducting tribal business from Florida. Morales returned and immediately rumors began circulating that Red Elk was going to be fired for questioning the chairman.

On March 28 during the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board meeting, Morales officially fired Red Elk. Several TEB members, the governing body on the Fort Peck Reservation, spoke up against her firing but it did no good. Morales terminated Red Elk and immediately appointed Iris Allrunner and Lois Red Elk Reed, two of his staunchest political supporters, to the editorship of the paper. The doors to the office were barricaded and the locks were changed.