And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From Charles Petras via Martha With Perfect Justice... Nez Perce Treaties - http://members.stratos.net/cpetras Lewiston Morning Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho) Friday, November 12, 1999 http://www.lmtribune.com/11121999/northwes/449444.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Former tribal lawyer says ruling isn't consistent By: Tara King Of The Tribune Fifth District Judge Barry Wood's decision that a 1893 land-sale agreement reduced the Nez Perce Reservation is contrary to two recent decisions made by a higher court, said Douglas R. Nash, former chief legal counsel for the Nez Perce Tribe. "It's one of the factors that would clearly invite an appeal of the state court's decision," Nash said of the ruling Thursday night. Nash, who has retired from his role with the Nez Perce Tribe, oversaw the Snake River Basin Adjudication for most of the 10 years it has been waged. He had not yet seen Wood's ruling when interviewed. "My general reaction (to news reports) is that Wood's conclusions are incorrect as a matter of both fact and law," he said. Wood's ruling was made on a motion for summary judgment, which means one side says there are no facts in dispute and asks for a favorable ruling based on law. But there were facts in dispute, Nash said, and many focus on the history of the allotment process that opened up the reservation to non-Indians. In the murder case of Appollis Scott and Bryan Crowe last year, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge ruled on a similar issue of diminishment after listening to testimony during an all-day hearing in Boise and considering lengthy briefs filed by lawyers on both sides. In that case, the diminishment issue was raised when Crowe's attorney announced he would challenge the U.S. government's role as prosecution in the case. During the hearing, documents spanning nearly 150 years were presented, treaties were interpreted and experts on Indian law testified on the diminishment issue. Two months later, Lodge ruled Congress did not intend to diminish the reservation when the land was opened to white settlers. In contrast, Wood's ruling is based on legal precedence and not factual evidence, Nash said. "I believe that is a significant difference and that's why I say the case invites appeal procedurally as well as substantively," Nash said. Also, Lodge handed down an identical ruling confirming the existence of the reservation earlier this year in the sexual abuse case of Christopher Lee Webb. That case is now being appealed in the 9th Circuit Court. If the tribe appeals Wood's decision, the case would continue in state court and be heard by the Idaho Supreme Court. After that, it has the potential of being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court because it involves a federal question of treaty interpretation. With Perfect Justice... Nez Perce Treaties - http://members.stratos.net/cpetras Lewiston Morning Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho) Friday, November 12, 1999 http://www.lmtribune.com/11121999/northwes/449463.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- County gets trust lands reprieve; Lewis County's portion of Waha property is being withheld from designation pending more information By: Jodi Walker Of The Tribune NEZPERCE -- Lewis County will have a chance to explain formally why placing 1,200 acres of tribal-owned land into trust with the United States government would hurt the county. The decision came Wednesday after the county voiced opposition a month ago to the application, which was filed by the Nez Perce Tribe in 1992. County officials have no record that the county was notified of the application prior to the appeal process in September of this year. "I figured that was about what was going to happen," said Lewis County Commissioner Joe Leitch. The September notice from the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs in Lapwai stated the "Waha property" was located in both Lewis and Nez Perce counties. About 1,200 acres are in Lewis County and 2,600 acres in Nez Perce County. Nez Perce County responded to the application in 1992 and saw no adverse effect from providing trust status for the land because it was not on the county tax rolls. The Lewis County property is on the county's tax rolls. Trust status allows land not only to be removed from tax rolls, but also allows the tribe to be eligible for federal money. The land also cannot be sold as the federal government holds the title. In the Wednesday decision from the Portland Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the local superintendent's decision was overruled. The Nez Perce County land will be allowed to continue into trust status but the Lewis County portion will be withheld for more information. Lewis County requested property descriptions and other pertinent information from the bureau in a letter dated Sept. 20. The tribe was supposed to have 20 days to respond to the request. The county has not received that information or any explanation, according to Laurine Nightingale, Lewis County commissioner. "I don't know why they are playing such hardball," Leitch said. Until that information is received, the county cannot answer the specific questions the bureau most likely will ask, Leitch said. Questions like how much tax is on the land are impossible to answer without a legal description, he said. "I still feel we need information," said Nightingale. The land in question is timber land. The entire parcel, in both counties, makes up about 50 percent of the timber owned by the tribe. The tribe intends to manage the timber land and not change the land's use, according to Samuel N. Penney, executive director of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. More than 20,000 other acres of land in area counties are awaiting review by the Interior department and may be changed to trust land. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
