Arapaho suffer setback in ruling that says feds can put conditions on tribal funding deals
The federal government may jointly administer some services to the two tribes sharing Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation, a U.S. District Court judge ruled last week.
The order gives legal force to a long-running but disputed practice and could set a crucial precedent for the government’s obligations to the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, two distinct governments given jurisdiction over the same reservation.
Judge Brian Morris ruled that the Bureau of Indian Affairs may take practical impact and financial cost into account when deciding whether to allow each tribe to operate federally funded services independently.
Specifically, the order states that while the BIA must allow the Arapaho to operate its own tribal court, it was justified in rejecting the tribe’s proposal for its own game and fish department and water engineer.
Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/arapaho-suffer-setback-in-ruling-that-says-feds-can-put/article_9a2377b1-19d5-5086-a97a-5b6515032f07.html