1972-12-15 Char-Koosta News

              Tribe
Bankrolls
Wheelers
Dixon (Char-Koosta): The Tribal Council has agreed to a partnership with Joe Wheeler and his sister Irene in their attempts to sue Missoula and Lake Counties for damages in earlier cigarette and firecracker arrests.
The attorney representing both Wheelers, Marvin Ping of Missoula, appeared before the Tribal Council November 3 to request financial assistance in persuing the two suits. Both suits resulted from arrests and confiscation of inventory earlier this year for cigarette tax and firecracker violations. Joe Wheeler was found innocent of Missoula County charges that his cigarette stand north of Evaro was in violation of state civil laws and Irene Wheeler was pronounced not guilty of selling fireworks in violation of state laws. Both claim that confiscated inventories were not returned. Each Wheeler is asking for about $250,000 for direct and exemplary damages.
Although the tribe has been backing the Wheelers in their fight against the state's claim to jurisdiction in the two cases the damage suits had been considered outside the tribes's commitment. However, Ping told the Tribal Council the suits were integral with the tribe's stand on concurrent jurisdiction and that they must "hang together or the courts will certainly hang them separately".
Ping explained the Wheelers action's contested the right ot County or state authorities sieze goods belonging to tribal members on tribal lands ana ne
added that this was part of the state:s plan to deny the tribe any jurisdictional authority.
The Tribal Council agreed to turn the matter over to Tribal Attorneys Wilkenson, Cragun and Barker. If the Washington attorneys approve the additional tribal committment, the tribes will bankroll the Wheelers in their civil suits proviaeu the expenditure would be reimbursed with any awards the suits might bring.
Joe Wheeler operates a tax free cigarette stand on Evaro Hill in Missoula County. His sister, Dorothy Clinkenbeard,
(Continued On Page 2)
Water Study Report Wednesday
Dixon (Char-Koosta): A special presentation of a four-year reservation water study will be made Wednesday, December 20, in the Tribal Council Chambers at the Dixon Agency.
The report will be the first public airing of the controversial Clyde, Criddle and Wood-ard hydrological survey of res-
ervation waters. The presentation will be made by Tribal Attorney Richard Baenan of the Washington D.C. law firm of Wilkinson, Cragun and Barker. The firm has been reviewing the engineers findings since the study was completed this fall.
The Salt Lake engineering firm began the study in 1968_
on a $75,000 contract with the tribe. The study, according to prelimiary reports, will include an inventory of surface irrigation water, reservior water storage capacity, watershed storage, aquafers, ground water, and water running through the reservation from other sources. The survev is intended to (cont. on page 8)
Salish, Kootenai, Pend 'd Orielles Tribes
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VOLUME 2 - NUMBER 16       Full Moon of Continuous Snow (Dec. 15,1972)'     PRICE 10c
More on BIAShakeup
Students Tell Their Tale
Missoula (Char-Koosta) : Five University ot Montana students—three of them from the Flathead Reservation—gave their side of the "Trail of Broken Treaties" story to a packed-house pot luck dinner in Missoula last Friday.
The dinner, sponsored by the Kyi-Yo Indian Club of the University of Montana, was the first in a series of state wide public forums on the controversial trek. In all, some 150 Montana Indians participated in the caravan of which 17 were University of Montana students. About 15 Montana Indians have agreed to travel around the state to present both sides of the November 2 through 8 take-over of Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington. The group plans to visit the Flathead reservation sometime after the first of the year.
John Woodenlegs, a Northern Cheyenne, introduced the program Friday night. He said
the reason the trip to Washington was planned was to let BIA and the government know that there are Indians out here that care how their lives are run.
Woodenlegs told the 100 persons attending the presentation there was a good reason why the BIA never does any thing. He said when Custer left Washington in 1876, he told the Bureau not to do any thing about Indians until he got back. "Everybody, except the BIA, knows what happened to Custer". Woodenlegs explained "and we dropped in there to let them know the good news"
Wesley Stiff Arm, a Gros Ventre-Cree, explained the University program which gave the U of M students 15 hours of credit for making the trip. He said an existing omnibus course plan provided students with credit for involvement in social work. He said the students receiving credit for the trip will be required to account for their time and assess the value of the experience.
Kathy Ross, a 21 year old Salish Indian from Ronan, told about the first leg of the trek which started late in October.
(cont. on page 5)
Shakeup in Top Indian Spots
Washington,D.C: (from  news release) Three top Department of Interior Indian Officials are out of work in the wake of the week-long take-over of the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in Washington.
Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton removed "all present authority" from Interior Department Assistant Secretary (in charge of Indian Affairs) Harrison Loesch—Indian Commissioner Louis R. Bruce and BIA Deputy Commissioner John Old Crow.
Replacing all three for the time being is Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget Richard S. Bodman. Bodman was given Secretarial orders to "assume immediate administrative control of the Department of Interior's Indian Operations. Morton explained the extraordinary house cleaning by saying:"l have taken this action because I believe it is essential to the well being of the American Indian that we return out Indian programs to operational effectiv-ness without delay".
(cont. on page 2)