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Show Ote Tribe Asks Court To Study Utah Election Law The Utah Supreme Court will receive a request for an opinion on whether people living on an Indian reservation, or on a military mili-tary base, are eligible to vote in a Utah election. According to information released releas-ed Wednesday to this newspaper, by Francis McKinley, official of Ute Indian Tribe, the attorney general recently handed down an opinion, that, according to his interpretation in-terpretation of the existing Utah law, Indian people as well as those living on any Utah Reservation Reserva-tion were not eligible to cast a vote in any Utah election. The law also says that people whose established residence is on a military mili-tary base, likewise are not eligible elig-ible to vote. The Ute Tribal Committee, the National Congress of American Indians, and the American Heritage Heri-tage Foundation, have combined their legal staffs to protest this opinion. The Ernest Wilkerson law firm of Washington, and Bryant Croft of the firm of Boyden, Tibbies, Staten and Croft, Salt Lake City, are working on a request re-quest for the supreme court to allow such people a chance to vote. The request will be filed in the next few days. An immediate study and opinion is expected to be made on this rather important question. Mr. McKinley Mc-Kinley reported that for twenty years Indians living on reservations reserva-tions hod voted, as had others employed em-ployed by the Indian Department. Another rather significant fact relating to loss of voting franchise is that Utah is the ouly state in the union with such a discrmina-tory discrmina-tory law on its books. If the supreme court is unable to rule in favor of granting a vote to those affected in the coming com-ing election, representatives to the Utah legislature have assured the Ute Indian Tribal committee the existing law will be ammended at the coming legislative session. UTE TRIBE ARTIST (Continued from page one) Congress of American Indians to be held at the Newhouse Hotel, September 24-28, along with native arts and crafts made by the Ute people. The art exhibit has also been displayed at the University Univer-sity of Utah this summer. Joint Undertaking A joint undertaking between the adult education division of the Ute Tribe and the ' extension div- ision of the University of Utah, the art education program is aimed aim-ed at developing the latent artistic ability of the Ute people and to enhance creativ work which will be helpful in the overall cultural and social development of the Ute people. "It is rare to find a Ute Indian who doesn't show exeptional promise in the artistic field and it is our job to discover and encourage en-courage that ability," stated Francis McKinlay, coordinator of the program, recently in reviewing review-ing the accomplishments of the art class during the first year of its operation. Instructor of the art class is Delbert Smedley, supervisor of art education for the Jordan school district. , |