UTE RESERVATION AND THE HAGAN vs UTAH DECISION

A recent Supreme Court decision, Hagen vs. Utah, has stripped the Northern Ute of tribal jurisdiction on over 2.9 million acres of their land. This case involved Robert Hagen, a Native American who plead guilty to distribution of a controlled substance in Myton, a town within the original reservation boundaries on the land that was opened to non-indian settlement through allotment in 1905.

The Utah Supreme Court upheld Hagen's conviction, ruling that Congress had "diminished" the reservation thereby allowing state jurisdiction. Whether or not Congress had diminished the reservation, the fact remains that the Act of May 5, 1864, ch.7713 stat.63, establishes that the land is "set apart for the permanent settlement and exclusive occupation of such different tribes of Indians of said territory as may be induced to inhabit the same." (Executive order 38-1 1c. Kappler, Indian Affairs: Lawand Treaties 900-1904).

Even if the reservation had been diminished by opening settlement through allotments, the law as stated clearly intends "to allot portions of reservation land to tribal members and, with tribal consent, to sell the surplus lands to (non-indian) settlers, with the proceeds of these sales being dedicated to the Indian's benefit" (from the general allotment act of Feb. 8, 1887 ch. 119,24 stat. 388).

How then can the state have jurisdiction over Hagen on land belonging to the Ute tribe? Under the current state of affairs, it would be almost impossible to ascertain jurisdiction, with what tribal land, state land, allotment land and land given back to the tribe. Two houses on the same block could be under different jurisdiction laws.

The tribe's loss of jurisdiction over these 2.9 million acres is an infringement on the tribal sovereignty as the 1905 act dictates. The land in question is held in trust by the Northern Ute, whose tribal government should have jurisdiction in the area, to govern their own people.

WE URGE THAT THE JURISDICTION OF THE 2.9 MILLION ACRES BE RETURNED TO THE TRIBE.


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