Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 27, 2006 15:16:00 GMT -5
Tribal reinstatements sought
U.S. appeals court to hear old Ute case
deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650206516,00.html
<http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650206516,00.html>
ROOSEVELT — Mixed-blood Indians whose names were stricken from the
membership rolls of the Ute Indian Tribe some 55 years ago say an
announcement by the U.S. Court of Appeals may open a door they thought
had been closed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals late last month scheduled oral arguments
for Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C., in a 2002 lawsuit involving hundreds of
terminated members of the tribe's Uinta band who are seeking
reinstatement as federally recognized members of the band.
Oranna Felter, the lead plaintiff in the case, was 17 at the time
of her termination. The Roosevelt woman and her entire family had their
names removed from the rolls of the Ute Indian Tribe in accordance with
the Ute Partition Act of 1954. The lawsuit seeks to have the act
repealed.
The partition created two classes of Utes — those who were
defined as less than one-half Native American and who were removed from
the tribe, and the "full-blood" Utes who kept their tribal status.
A total of 490 people, 260 of them children, were cut off from
their Native American heritage during a time in the nation's history
when the federal government was moving toward ending its oversight of
Indian tribes.
In the history of U.S. Indian policies, the mixed-blood Uinta Utes
are the only ones who have not yet regained their status as Native
Americans. Members of other tribes that were terminated have since been
reinstated.
"The fact that the Court of Appeals scheduled oral argument on the
Felter appeal on its own motion indicates that the three-judge appellate
panel wants to clarify the record before rendering its decision to
affirm or reject Roberts' decision," said Dennis Chappabitty, an
attorney in Sacramento, Calif., who is representing Felter and other
plaintiffs.
He said the announcement that the court will hear the matter tells
him that the judges see some substantial basis to reverse a judge's
order last January to dismiss the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Richard
W. Roberts, in dismissing the lawsuit, ruled that the statute of
limitations had expired six years after Felter alleged government
wrongdoing in 1954 and 1961.
Chappabitty argues that the majority of those terminated were
children who had no control over what had happened to them. The
Appellate Court must accept the case for review but is not obligated to
hold oral arguments.
Heber attorney Mike Humiston, who has represented terminated Uinta
band members in a number of civil and criminal matters in the justice
system, said the questions the judges ask during the oral arguments will
provide a good gauge of which way they are leaning.
"It means it's complex enough that they want to hear it," said
Humiston. "It certainly holds the door open."
U.S. appeals court to hear old Ute case
deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650206516,00.html
<http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650206516,00.html>
ROOSEVELT — Mixed-blood Indians whose names were stricken from the
membership rolls of the Ute Indian Tribe some 55 years ago say an
announcement by the U.S. Court of Appeals may open a door they thought
had been closed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals late last month scheduled oral arguments
for Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C., in a 2002 lawsuit involving hundreds of
terminated members of the tribe's Uinta band who are seeking
reinstatement as federally recognized members of the band.
Oranna Felter, the lead plaintiff in the case, was 17 at the time
of her termination. The Roosevelt woman and her entire family had their
names removed from the rolls of the Ute Indian Tribe in accordance with
the Ute Partition Act of 1954. The lawsuit seeks to have the act
repealed.
The partition created two classes of Utes — those who were
defined as less than one-half Native American and who were removed from
the tribe, and the "full-blood" Utes who kept their tribal status.
A total of 490 people, 260 of them children, were cut off from
their Native American heritage during a time in the nation's history
when the federal government was moving toward ending its oversight of
Indian tribes.
In the history of U.S. Indian policies, the mixed-blood Uinta Utes
are the only ones who have not yet regained their status as Native
Americans. Members of other tribes that were terminated have since been
reinstated.
"The fact that the Court of Appeals scheduled oral argument on the
Felter appeal on its own motion indicates that the three-judge appellate
panel wants to clarify the record before rendering its decision to
affirm or reject Roberts' decision," said Dennis Chappabitty, an
attorney in Sacramento, Calif., who is representing Felter and other
plaintiffs.
He said the announcement that the court will hear the matter tells
him that the judges see some substantial basis to reverse a judge's
order last January to dismiss the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Richard
W. Roberts, in dismissing the lawsuit, ruled that the statute of
limitations had expired six years after Felter alleged government
wrongdoing in 1954 and 1961.
Chappabitty argues that the majority of those terminated were
children who had no control over what had happened to them. The
Appellate Court must accept the case for review but is not obligated to
hold oral arguments.
Heber attorney Mike Humiston, who has represented terminated Uinta
band members in a number of civil and criminal matters in the justice
system, said the questions the judges ask during the oral arguments will
provide a good gauge of which way they are leaning.
"It means it's complex enough that they want to hear it," said
Humiston. "It certainly holds the door open."