The Osage Nation of Oklahoma is asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant its motion to intervene in the Cobell v. Kempthorne case.

The tribe claims ownership of the mineral estate on its reservation. Though proceeds from development end up in the hands of individual Indians, the tribe says neither the Cobell plaintiffs nor the federal government can represent its interests.

The Cobell plaintiffs, who represent individual Indians, oppose the Osage Nation's motion to intervene, which was filed as resolution of the 12-year-old battle nears. The D.C. Circuit has asked the parties to brief the issue without delaying action on an appeal of a federal judge's decision to place $455.6 million in the Indian trust fund.

Get the Story:
Osage Nation moves to intervene in Cobell case (The Native American Times 1/12)

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