Fort Hall Business Council.
TThe Fort Hall Business Council is the governing body of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. The Council was established under the Tribes' Constitution & Bylaws, which was approved by the Tribes and ratified by the federal government in 1937 under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Council consists of seven members, each elected for staggered two-year terms.

L-R: Council members Donna Thompson, Elma Thompson, Marlene Skunkcap, Devon Boyer, Ladd Edmo, Lee Juan Tyler, and Nathan Small.
Serving the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.

Serving as a Fort Hall Business Council member is a full time, paid position. The duties of the Council include the oversight of governmental services and economic development on the reservation; negotiating with federal, state and local government officials on all activities affecting the Tribes, the reservation and the Tribes' off-reservation treaty areas; managing tribal lands.
In recent years, the primary focus of the Council has been overseeing the growth of the Tribes' economic prosperity; protecting the Tribes' off-reservation treaty rights; enacting tribal laws to ensure protection of reservation land, water and air and human health; strengthening public safety; promoting wellness; expanding its tribal farming operations. Each council member is also assigned to meet regularly with one of the five reservation districts to provide information and to obtain feedback on the activities of the Council. The five districts include Gibson, Fort Hall, Ross Fork, Lincoln Creek and Bannock Creek.
FHBC Resolution
Fort Hall Business Council.
Chairman, Devon Boyer
Devon's bio will be coming soon


Vice-Chairwoman, Marlene Skunkcap
Marlene Skunkcap was elected to the Fort Hall Business Council in 2020 and is currently serving as the Vice-Chair. She has previously served on the Business Council for two consecutive terms, in 2004 and in 2006. She currently resides in the Fort Hall District.
After spending her early married life in Browning Montana, she returned home to Fort Hall in 1981 to attend Idaho State University. She graduated in 1985 with a Bachelors in Social Work. She worked for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Health and Human Services Mental Health Program. Marlene continued her education at the University of Utah Graduate School of Social Work, where she earned her Masters of Social Work in 1989.
She was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a social worker and later worked for the Blackfeet Community Hospital Behavioral Health Program. It was her goal to return to work for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and she returned to Fort Hall to serve as a medical social worker and managed the Social Service program. After she was elected to serve on the Business Council for her first term, she then worked for the Sho-Ban School for three years. She has also served on the Tribal Water Commission.
She is a mother to five children and has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. After her husband, LeRoy Skunkcap passed away in 2018, Marlene’s interest in national politics motivated her to run for Business Council again. Marlene is committed to serving the tribal membership to the best of her ability, using her past leadership experience, and knowledge of the Tribal government operations, and ultimately, providing transparency in all transactions that impact the Shoshone-Bannock people.


Tribal Secretary, Ladd Edmo
is serving his second term on the Fort Hall Business Council. Edmo is a lifelong resident of Fort Hall and currently resides in the Fort Hall District. He attended schools in Fort Hall, Blackfoot, and graduated from Intermountain Indian High School. Ladd continued his education at Haskell Jr. College in Lawrence Kansas, where he was on the Dean’s Honor Roll, and received an Associates of Applied Science Degree. Mr. Edmo specialized in carpentry and construction services. Prior to serving on the FHBC, he was the Fort Hall Housing Authority’s Construction Project Manager, and in 2014 he was elected as a Tribal Land Use Policy Commissioner. Edmo is a hunter and fisherman and has four children and three grandchildren.


Tribal Treasurer, Elma Thompson
Elma Thompson was elected to the Fort Hall Business Council for her first term in 2020 and is currently serving as the Treasurer. She has an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration, is FEMA Certified, CERT Certified in Emergency Management, Gaming Commissioner, and has years of management and supervision experience. She has worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, served as the Executive Director for the Eastern Shoshone Gaming Commission, and was on the Gaming Commission for the Maidu Tribe in Northern California.
Since 1986, she has worked for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in a variety of Tribal departments, including Personnel, Fort Hall Police, TERO, Enrollment, Language and Culture Preservation Department and at the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Operations. Most recently, she was employed as the Surveillance Manager for the Shoshone-Bannock Gaming Commission.
Elma volunteers with the Fort Hall Recreation as a Ceramics Instructor, along with teaching contemporary and traditional arts and crafts for both adults and children. She also volunteers to coach softball teams, and is a small business owner, owning and operating Native Flair Arts and Crafts. She lives on the Reservation, in the Fort Hall District. She has three sons and one daughter and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.


Sgt.-At-Arms, Lee Juan Tyler


Council Member, Donna Thompson
is serving her 3nd term on the Fort Hall Business Council. Donna is a lifelong resident of the Fort Hall Reservation from the Fort Hall District. Prior to working with the Tribes, Donna was the Human Resources Director at the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center and has a combined history of 30 years working with the Tribes in Accounting, TERO and Gaming. Donna has served on the Sho-Ban Jr/Sr high school Board and currently serves as the Chairperson for the Enterprise Agri-Business Board. In Donna’s spare time, she enjoys spending time with her three daughters and twelve grandchildren in all their sports.


Council Member, Nathan Small
has been serving on the Fort Hall Business Council since the late 1980’s as a council member and Chairman. Small was instrumental in opening the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ first gaming operation and served as gaming manager from 1990 to 1998. He has been a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Bar Association since 1980, and has held positions as both a prosecutor and public defender in the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Courts.
Small also worked for a time in the Tribal Water Resources Department and the Environmental Waste Program advocating for protection of clean environmental resources. Small is also an original founding Board member to COLT (Coalition of Large Tribes) organization that promotes the sovereign rights of Tribes.
In his past time, Nathan is an avid fisherman, and looks forward to traveling with his family to central Idaho each summer to spear salmon in the traditional way of our people.

Latest News.
District Representatives.
Fort Hall District
Donna Thompson & Nathan Small
Gibson District
Devon Boyer & Elma Thompson
Ross Fork District
Lincoln Creek District
Bannock Creek
Our Location.
We are located just off Interstate 15, Exit 80 and down Agency Road in the Tribal Business Center
