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Show Smoke From The Reservation , By C. L. FRETWELL I In 1934 Congress passed the Wheeler-Howard Act (48 Stat. 984) which authorized Indian tribes of the United States to incorporate. Acceptance of the act with its corporate provisions was to be determined by Tribal vote, and several tribes elected not to bind themselves by its terms. The Utes, however, approved ap-proved it for the Uintah and Ouray reservation at a Tribal election on December 19, 1936, and adopted a constitution and by-laws one month later. Their corporate charter was ratified and issued by the Secretary of the Interior, August 10, 1938. Thus the Ute tribe became a "body politic and corporate of the United States of America." Key document of the Ute's tribal set-up is the constitution and by-laws, which, with their corporate charter offers a classic clas-sic example of government in business. Government of the tribe is by a duly elected business busi-ness committee, manned by six members, two from each of the three bands represented on the reservation. This body is at once the legislative and executive execu-tive authority in the governmental governmen-tal organization of the Ute tribe. In the co-existing business structure, struc-ture, it is the corporations "Board of Directors." Here in actuallity Is complete government govern-ment control over the economy of a people. Except for a referendum re-ferendum provision, necessitating necessitat-ing a vote of the tribe, judgment judg-ment of the Ute Tribal Business Committee's actions is vested in the Secretary of the Interior The Constitution and By-Laws By-Laws of the Ute tribe is not the product of reservation analy- sis applied to reservation condi- tions. It is a stereotyped docu-1 ment, the mold for which was formed by Interior department attorneys. Its general provisions are the same as those approved by every Indian tribe that accepted ac-cepted the Wheeler-Howard Act. Recently I had occasion to question the author of this generic gen-eric constitution and by-laws, and his reply was significant to the current Uintah and Ouray controversy. A number of tribes, he said in substance, were filling a long felt need' through the Wheeler - Howard Act, while others were finding it objectionable. He was positive posi-tive in stating that the Interior Department had committed a grave mistake when it sold the Constitution and By-Laws to the Ute tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Ou-ray reservation. Wording of the Ute Constitution Constitu-tion decrees that it shall not be inconsistant with the Constitution Constitu-tion of the United States. To examine it, however, is to discover dis-cover some rather startling provisions pro-visions for a constitutional form of government. Acknowledging the stipulated restrictions placed upon the Tribal Business Committee, Com-mittee, it is nevertheless armed with broad, arbitrary powers. Picked at random, the following follow-ing provisions of the Ute Constitution Consti-tution and By-Laws are entitled to more than a passing glance, but their mention here should suffice to stimulate positive discussion. dis-cussion. The Ute Tribal Business Committee Com-mittee has the power to: Determine who shall and who shall not be members of the tribe, subject to the review of the Secretary of the Interior; to employ legal counsel, but choice and fixing of salary must be approved by the Secretary Secre-tary of the Interior; to levy taxes tax-es upon members of the Ute Indian tribe of the Uintah and Ouray reservation, and to require re-quire the performance of community com-munity labor in lieu thereof. (See Article XIII, Sec. 1, U.S. Constitution); to exclude from the territory of the Uintah and Ouray reservation persons not legally entitled to live therein; to reg'uate inheritance of property, proper-ty, real and personal, other than allotted lands; to regulate the domestic relations of members of the Ute tribe. Reservation justice is at the mercy of a Tribal court established estab-lished by the Tribal Business Committee, and the Tribal Bill of Rights, Article VII, of the Ute Constitution affords limited protection to an Indian accused of an offense. The guarantee of justice is set forth in these words: "Trial by jury may be demanded by any prisoner accused ac-cused of any offense punishable by thirty (30) days imprisonment." imprison-ment." Nowhere is provision made for legal counsel, even in the case of offenses where the accused is entitled to "demand" a jury trial. Article VI of the Constitution Constitu-tion of the United States, is the foundation, supporting the whole structure of American justice. Yet it is not applicable on the Uintah and Ouray reservation, to offenses coming under the jurisdiction of the Tribal court. These are only random references refer-ences to a few provisions of the Ute Constitution there are others, equally confusing to the people of the reservation who must live under all of their constitutional con-stitutional provisions. The Ute Constitution is amendable, but few. if any of the residents of the Uintah and Ou.ray reservation, understand the procedure necessary to effect amendments. And those who have it in their power to make needed changes are not inclined to look with favor UDon change It is unfortunate that the Ute people who are dissatisfied with their present governmental st ucture had to seek help outside out-side of their tribe. - |