Friday, October 3, 2008

Northern Arapaho Takes State and County to Court

The Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Fremont County and the state of Wyoming with the hope of settling an old reservation boundary dispute, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.

Although the suit challenges things such as sales tax and vehicle registration fees, it will ultimately call for defining what lands in the Riverton area are "Indian Country" and, thus, should be included within the boundaries of the tribe’s Wind River Indian Reservation.

Should the court see it the tribe’s way, all of Riverton and some unincorporated areas near the towns of Pavillion, Shoshone and Hudson are within the exterior boundaries of the reservation and, therefore, should be exempt from sales tax and vehicle registration fees.

A 1905 act opened up the area in question to non-Indians for settlement. However, the tribe contends that the act never terminated the reservation or “Indian Country” status of that land.

No comments:

Post a Comment