California, feds disagree on CRIT’s western border The boundary dispute dates to an 1876 executive order from President Ulysses Grant that defined the reservation’s western boundary as “the west bank of the Colorado River.” But the river’s “west bank” has moved course in the nearly 140 years since the order. The tribe and the United State Government maintain that the boundary should be a fixed line that represents the location of the bank at the time of the order. The state of California and some of the west bank residents argue the boundary should be considered “riparian” and move with the river over time. A 1969 secretarial order from the Department of Interior established the reservation’s western border in California – an order the tribe and the federal government have cited as the final word on the boundary. But California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a brief in French’s suit in October arguing that the 1969 order is far from the final word and asked the judge to rule on the larger boundary dispute. In the decades since the order, non-Indian property owners have been moved into lease agreements and make rental payments to the tribes. Some of the residents refused to sign a lease or stopped making rent payments, some have been evicted and some have been forcibly removed by the tribes. At least one CRIT member thinks the tribe needs to more strongly assert its territorial authority in the so-called disputed area. Michael Tsosie, a tribal member who doesn’t hold an official position, released a proposed ordinance earlier this week that calls for removal of non-Indians from the western part of the reservation, imposes access restrictions to the area and encourages tribal settlement. havasunews/news/california-feds-disagree-on-crit-s-western-border/article_1fe07e4c-9893-11e4-abe4-b344640eac2d.html
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 22:22:11 +0000
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