Non-recognized tribe wins round in suit

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2002

A federal appeals court on Monday dealt the state of Utah a setback by refusing to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a non-federally recognized tribe.

Ruling that the Timpanogos Tribe can have treaty rights without being acknowledged by the federal government, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's attempt to have the case thrown out. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge said the state couldn't assert sovereign immunity.

As a result, the state is temporarily prohibited from bringing criminal charges against tribal members for hunting without state permits. An injunction a federal judge issued will stand, the court said.

"[C]onsidering that the state has no sovereign interests over Indian land, or more particularly, no interest in enforcing its gaming laws within sovereign Indian territory, the injunction sought implicates no special sovereignty interests," wrote Judge Stephanie K. Seymour for the majority.

The ruling comes in a dispute that emerged only recently but has its roots in the late 19th century. To the surprise of the Northern Ute Tribe, which is federally recognized, the Timpanogos Tribe in 1999 filed a lawsuit claiming it was a separate entity with hunting, fishing and other rights on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation.

The tribe based part of its claim on an executive order and subsequent law that established the reservation. Then-President Abraham Lincoln in 1861 only said the land was set aside for the "Indians" of Utah.

But to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, "Indians" doesn't mean the Timpanogos. When state officials learned the tribe was asserting hunting rights by issuing tribal permits, they promised prosecution.

Wildlife director Kevin Conway at the time said "the Timpanogos Tribe has neither treaty, aboriginal, nor any other federally recognized hunting right on the Uintah Valley Reservation."

The tribe responded with a request for a preliminary injunction. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell in August 2000 granted the motion, which protects about 200 Timpanogos hunters.

Campbell will now consider additional issues in the case, including a ruling on the merits of the tribe's rights to the reservation. The tribe originally asserted a broad number of claims against the state and the Ute Tribe but limited them to the hunting issue.

Separately, the tribe has intervened in a lawsuit the Ute Tribe has pending against the Department of Interior regarding a long-running dispute over tribal assets. The 10th Circuit heard an appeal in January.

In November 1999, a federal judge dismissed the Timpanogos from a state taxation settlement, citing its non-federal status.

The Timpanogos Tribe also calls itself the Snake Band of Shoshones.

Get the Case:
TIMPANOGOS TRIBE v. CONWAY No. 014056 (10th Circuit. April 15, 2002)

Relevant Links:
Timpanagos Tribe - http://www.timpanogostribe.org
Northern Ute Tribe - http://www.northernute.com
Indian Affairs, State of Utah - http://www.utah.org/indian
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources - http://www.nr.utah.gov/dwr/dwr.htm

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