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Attorney: Don Wharton
Case Update
NARF has been retained by the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Indian Reservation to analyze the legal implications of the Surplus Land Act of March 3, 1905 for the Shoshone or Wind River Indian Reservation as they may have affected the boundaries of that reservation. The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled in January of 2008 that the boundaries of the reservation had been diminished when it upheld the conviction of a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe for a crime committed within the City of Riverton, Wyoming. The defendant in that case, Mr. Andrew Yellowbear, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for Wyoming seeking a ruling from the federal courts that the boundary has not been diminished and the State therefore lacks jurisdiction. Although the district court initially dismissed the petition, it was appealed and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the matter to the district court with instructions to reconsider an amended habeas petition. The amended petition challenges Mr. Yellowbear's incarceration by the State of Wyoming resulting from his conviction in state court on the basis that the state had no jurisdiction over the crime because it took place within the undiminished boundaries of the Wind River Reservation i.e. "Indian Country" -- and was therefore within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government. In addition, the Northern Arapaho Tribe has filed a case against state and county employees challenging the collection of certain taxes, which attempts to raise the question of the boundary. The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes are also cooperating in an application to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for delegation of "treatment in the same manner as a state" in the administration of certain Clean Air Act programs which will require determination of the boundary. Finally, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe is working with local and state governments to seek common grounds for agreement on a range of shared interests. NNARF is working with the Tribe's Attorney General and the Shoshone Business Council to secure the vindication of the boundary.
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