By Denyse Clark The Herald
(Published May 28‚ 2004)
A six-year battle waged in federal court by more than a dozen members of the Catawba Indian Nation challenging the tribe's leadership has been thrown out by a federal appeals court in Virginia.
The suit alleged Chief Gilbert Blue and other members of the tribe's Executive Committee have failed to hold regular elections and remain in office illegally. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled Wednesday the suit was before the wrong court because the tribe's constitution states only state or tribal courts have jurisdiction over Catawba legal issues.
"I think it's the correct result," said tribal attorney Jay Bender about the court's decision. "The settlement agreement allowed the tribe to say where cases are heard."
A 1993 land-settlement agreement between the York County-based tribe and state and federal governments allowed for the creation of a tribal court to hear disputes between tribal members, but it deferred that right to state courts if no such court was created, Bender said.
The federal appeals court reversed a previous district court's judgment and dismissed the lawsuit filed in 1998 by 16 tribal members against Blue and six other tribal leaders. The lawsuit requested Blue and members of the Executive Committee be removed from power and an election be held for new tribal officers.
It also alleged misuse of money from the settlement agreement. In the agreement, the tribe received $50 million as compensation for 144,000 acres of Indian land in York, Chester and Lancaster counties taken in the 1840 Treaty of Nation Ford.
Money from the settlement was put into a trust fund to benefit all tribal members, according to the lawsuit. In the settlement, tribal leaders agreed to release financial information on the trust fund, but the suit stated the Executive Committee never presented any details about the fund.
The plaintiffs' lawsuit also accused tribal leaders of stopping the adoption of a new constitution. The suit says a new constitution was supposed to be adopted within
24 months of the settlement.
An election was held in 2002, but it was not officially recognized and tribal leadership has remained the same.
J.D. Mosteller, attorney for the plaintiffs, said the case will now be filed in state court.
"It's just part of the process," Mosteller said. "It's just how things happen in litigation. Ultimately, we're going to prevail on the merits."
Since the suit was first filed, one plaintiff has died and two others have asked to be removed. The case has been heard in federal courts in Columbia and Beaufort and Richmond, Mosteller said.
Deborah Crisco, a former plaintiff named in the lawsuit, said she is concerned that neither the state nor anyone else outside the tribe has a true interest in the problems on the reservation.
"I feel like nobody wants to get involved in what's going on here," Crisco said. "These federal judges are all passing the buck."
Denyse Clark • 329-4069
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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