Two Indian tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Montana are in a legal fight over the control of mineral leases. At stake, according to the Eastern Shoshone Tribe’s business council, are more than 600 contracts.
The Shoshone Tribe was sued by the Northern Arapaho Tribe which also took the BIA to court. The tribes shared the Wind River Reservation and took part in a joint business council that administered programs. But the Arapahos pulled out of the council two years ago and now claim the BIA and the Eastern Shoshone are interfering with sovereignty by allowing the council to make decisions on behalf of both tribes.
“We still think mediation is the best say to resolve things, but one tribe can’t run programs for another without its consent,” said Dean Goggles, Northern Arapaho Chairman. “That’s a problem we have with the BIA, too, which is approving contracts with the defunct JBC. The BIA is encouraging the Shoshone Council to take actions on shared programs, over our objections.”
The federal complaint said that since 2014 when the joint council was dissolved, the Councils had made management decisions cooperatively, until the Shoshone Council claimed the joint council had returned.
“We’re discovering that this so-called ‘joint’ council has approved mineral leases, employment in our shared tribal programs, and other things without our knowledge or approval. This has to stop,” said Ronald K. Oldman, Northern Arapaho Business Council Co-Chairman.
