"What's particularly upsetting is the Department of Interior now maintains that because it released the money, it has no more authority or obligation for it," Hansen said. "That means the $190 million could end up in the Bahamas tomorrow and the tribe would have no recourse."

However, Natchees said the money remains under the same restrictions as when it was federally managed.

"It's not accessible to us. We can't withdraw and spend it the way we want," Natchees said. "Their allegations are the government cut us a check for that amount. That's absolutely not true."

Alyson Heyrend, communications director for Matheson, said tribal members brought the issue to Matheson's attention at a meeting Wednesday.

"We're at the beginning of looking into this issue," Heyrend said. "There is severe disagreement within the tribe on this issue."

Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman Gary Garrison said the BIA doesn't get involved in internal tribal matters, though it could step in and mediate if requested by the tribe. He added that BIA "would certainly do what Congress wants us to do."

Once released to the tribe, the funds "become the personal dollars of the tribe. It's up to them to manage the funds themselves," he said. "There may not be anything at this point and time that Congress and BIA can do."

The money is the Ute Tribe's compensation for the federal government's breach of a 1965 agreement in which the Utes deferred the development of certain lands so that the water from those lands could be used as part of the Central Utah Project's Bonneville Unit, which supplies water to the Wasatch Front.

---

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com