The Coeur d'Alene Tribe plans to talk with Benewah County, Idaho, about hunting rights within reservation boundaries.

The tribe asserts hunting rights on Indian and non-Indian land on the reservation. But county officials, particularly prosecutor Doug Payne, have accused tribal members of trespassing.

But Chairman Chief Allan wants avoid confrontation and litigation. “We have given our word. We should go home and try to work it out,’’ he said at a meeting in which the tribe wasn't formally invited, The Spokesman Review reported.

Wendy Olson, the U.S. Attorney for Idaho, spoke at the meeting and urged the parties to discuss the matter. However, she suggested that the tribe is within its rights to hunt throughout the reservation.

“I believe the weight of the authority would be on the side of the tribe,” Olson said, citing the 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Menominee Tribe v. US.

Get the Story:
Sides to work on tribal hunting (The Spokesman Review 9/29)

Related Stories:
Coeur d'Alene Tribe asserts right to hunt within reservation (9/26)