However, after a conflict with reservation vice president Rick Wolfname that began in July 2007 escalated, the Northern Cheyenne tribal council declared that it would oust Little Coyote as the tribe's president.
The move by the tribal council to remove Little Coyote from office was deemed unconstitutional and void by the Northern Cheyenne Constitutional Court.
[citation needed] The Constitutional Court was however overruled by Bureau of Indian Affairs' regional director Ed Parisian, and later the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman.
Their involvement in this matter set a historical precedence of the BIA directly meddling with tribal governments.
On August 14, 2008, a jury trial found Little Coyote not guilty on charges of criminal mischief based on the events from December 28, 2007.