The Red Lake Nation of Minnesota is taking the Bureau of Indian Affairs to court over a juvenile detention facility on the reservation.

The tribe used $2 million in federal and tribal funds to build the 13,00 square-foot facility. But a lawsuit says the BIA failed to request money to operate the center, which sits unused after five years.

"They were there in front of the cameras when the cameras were rolling," Chairman Floyd Jourdain told The Minneapolis Star Tribune of the federal officials who came to Red Lake after the fatal March 21, 2005, shootings that involved a juvenile. "They sure as hell grabbed the spotlight. But once the cameras were off, they all left."

The tribe is seeking over $2 million for breach of contract. A hearing is scheduled at 9am, in Courtroom 28A, on April 7 before Judge Kollar-Kotelly at the district courthouse in Washington, D.C. The case is Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v. US, No. 06-1826.

Get the Story:
Red Lake lockup sits locked up and empty (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 3/21)
So much pain, so much progress in Red Lake (The St. Paul Pioneer Press 3/21)

Committee Hearing:
OVERSIGHT HEARING to Examine Tribal Programs and Initiatives Proposed in the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget (February 25, 2010)

Related Stories:
MinnPost: Red Lake facility sits unused after five years (2/26)