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Steps are being taken to try and resolve a long-standing dispute over leadership in the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe.

The Little Shell Alliance held a meeting Saturday where they unanimously asked for help to try and resolve their issues.

James Steele, Jr. is the Chairman of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council and has strong ties to the tribe.

"It kind of hurts to see your grandfather's tribe at an impasse. And in my role as Chairman of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, I felt like I needed to try... something," Steele said.

Having a third party resolve a dispute might seem like a no-brainer. But for the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council to help settle the leadership dispute within the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe is incredibly rare.

"This is not something the Tribal Leaders Council does, ever," Steele said. "Other tribes have internal courts and constitutional courts and election boards that can sort these things out."

There are big incentives to figure it out. Along with losing their federal recognition, the state has decided to withhold funding from the tribe until the leadership dispute is settled.

The Little Shell Alliance unanimously passed a resolution asking the Tribal Leaders Council to help.

The resolution asks the Tribal Leaders Council to act as a neutral third party and decide how the tribe should proceed. A panel will be made up of tribal judges from other tribes.

"This, in my opinion, would primarily look at the legitimacy of the government. Which council is the legitimate government or maybe this body decides there needs to be a new election," Steele said.

At this point, nothing is certain about how the process will work but Steele says preliminary talks have indicated both groups want the ultimate decision to be binding.

John Gilbert, the Chairman of the Little Shell Alliance, is optimistic about finally putting the dispute behind them.

"We don't need any more negative publicity. We're tired of it. We want something good to come out of things anymore," Gilbert said. "We want to be able to go forward with a smile and feel good about ourselves and say, 'Hey, we are the little shell people, we're the little shell tribe,' and our membership needs some good news."

The Tribal Leaders Council won't intervene unless both sides agree.

Steele says he plans to meet with Tribal President John Sinclair and his group next month.