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Date Posted: 20:18:47 07/06/02 Sat
Author: Lynn Msc
Subject: Native American justice: On the right of perpetual occupancy
In reply to: Lynn Msc 's message, "Am new on this board and wish" on 23:35:45 06/25/02 Tue

Native Times.com

Cattle Seizure from BLM considered illegal

David Scholes            

On Friday, May 17th, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sized 157 head of cattle that belonged to the Raymond Yowell, Chief of the Western Shoshone National Council, and the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone.  According to the federal government the cattle were illegally grazing on public land.  The BLM proposed to sell the cattle the next week.  Glade Hall, an attorney filed, a lawsuit late Thursday seeking a temporary restraining order on Yowell’s behalf.  He argued the land had not been cleared of Native American title or the right of perpetual occupancy.  He also accused the BLM of unreasonable search and seizure.  Federal Judge Mckibben denied the last-minute request to block the BLM from auctioning the confiscated cattle. The cattle, valued at $100,000, were auctioned off for $27,444.  U.S. District Judge Howard Mckibben has ordered the money be held until the dispute can be looked at more thoroughly.

            The Shoshone and others maintain that the land was never transferred to the U.S. and remains theirs.  Lois Whitney of the Western Shoshone Defense Project said, “The roundup of the cattle is the equivalent of state-sponsored terrorism against the Shoshone people.”  The Defense Project also stated that the dispute stems back to the 1863, Treaty of Peace and Friendship also known as the Ruby Valley Treaty.  Under this treaty the “Western Shoshone agreed to accommodate newcomers on to their land, in part by agreeing to become agriculturalists and herdsmen.”  The treaty was to establish a reservation for that purpose.  However, this did not happen and the tiny reservation created in the 1900s “did not include land for this purpose.”  Whitney also contends that the treaty “simply granted the U.S. limited access to the land and it was not ceded.”

            The problem lies, according to Whitney, that the “U.S. cannot provide the documentation of how it has acquired title to the Western Shoshone homelands it now declares that the Shoshone have no right to.”  Christopher Sewall, also of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, says the in the “Treaty of Friendship the U.S. government made a commitment to establish land for the Shoshone to become farmers and herdsmen.”  The Shoshone were to allow free passage and settlement through the area.  The Shoshone did their part “although there is still little settlement by non-natives,” says Sewall. 

            The tribe had paid the BLM grazing fees from 1940 to 1984.  In 1984 Raymond Yowell, as a representative of the Te-Moak Livestock Association informed the BLM that they no longer would be paying grazing fees.  Yowell claimed the land was traditional cattle ranching land and they were not in trespass.  In 1999, the BLM canceled the historic grazing preference of the Association in the Shoshone Crane Spring Allotments.  In 2000, the Western Shoshone presented documents to support the claim that the disputed lands adjacent to their reservation were not public lands, but are and will always belong to the Western Shoshone.  Later that year the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a requested preliminary injunction against the BLM’s impoundment actions.  In 2001 the BLM reported that they had received complaints from non-native ranchers “because the Indians are able to do things that other ranchers cannot.” The BLM says the tribe owes $2.5 million in grazing permit fees.  Mckibben, according to the Las Vegas Sun, has said, “There is no question …that with respect to actual Indian lands, the cattle were grazing beyond areas of Indian lands and were on public lands.”

            On Monday, June 3rd, the tribe will vote on weather to accept $100 million for the sale of the disputed land.  Shoshone members say they would rather have the land, 26 million acres.  Whitney said the sale of the land will “forever take away our rights as Shoshone people to use our land spiritually, economically and socially.”  The payments would amount to an estimated $20,000 to each of the 6 to 10 thousands members who could show they are at least ¼ Shoshone.

            Nevada Senator Harry Ried introduced the referendum vote along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) says Sewall.  “Since when does a senator or the BIA tell a tribe when they should have a vote?  The tribal governments never gave their permission or endorsement for this vote,” Sewell said.  Sewall and others have wondered what is the BIA’s involvement in this action.  The Defense Project has filed under the Freedom of Information Act to try to find out the reasoning.  Deborah Schaff has said that this is “a manipulation appeal backed by the U.S. Congress and the BIA.  It is being made directly to the Western Shoshone individuals in violation of the government to government relationship.”

            Sewall also stated “someone, not the tribes, have paid for ads in the local paper announcing the referendum vote.”  All of this says Sewall “has been done behind closed doors, without consulting the tribes.”  The referendum involves money that has been sitting untouched in an Interior Department trust fund for more than 30 years.  However, there is still confusion as to whether the referendum is for past damages and not for title or rights to the land. 

            Reid had introduced similar legislation in the Senate- the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act- that would offer payments for the disputed land.     Earlier this year 20 Shoshone representatives traveled to Washington D.C. to discuss the bill.  However, the day before they arrived Reid had canceled the meetings but made no attempt to contact the Shoshone, according to Sewall.  Sewall also said that while the Shoshone were there “not a single senator would meet with them.”  He also said that while Senator Reid added the protection of treaty rights in the bill “he would not say what those treaty rights were.”

            There are groups, Sewall said, “that want to see the land privatized.  Reid has promoted mining interest in the past.  The mining industry wants to acquire private land so they do not have to follow federal guidelines. Reid’s major major backers are the mining companies.”  During the end of the nineteenth century some Shoshone land was sold to the railroads.  This land has since become privatized “leaving a checkerboard reminisces of the Shoshone land base.  “Some Shoshone land is now completely surrounded by private lands, said Sewall.”  This does not lend itself to ranching needs. 
            The Western Shoshone are made up of about 12 different bands each with their own government.   The Te-Moak band has partnered with state rights groups to protest the sale of the animals.  Jackie Homgren is a member of the Nevada committee for Full Statehood, which doesn’t recognize federal ownership of public lands.  Both groups contend that that the land belongs to the Western Shoshone and not the U.S. government.
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Am unable to find any further developments on this....Lynn

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