Uinta group sees surge in support

ROOSEVELT — Messages of support and empathy are pouring in for a group of mixed-blood Uinta Indians who recently launched a letter writing and e-mail campaign to alert Indian tribes, governments, influential organizations and elected officials to their plight.

Oranna Felter is the lead plaintiff in a lengthy court case that she and hundreds of others aligned with her hope will lead to the eventual repeal of a law that took away their membership in the Ute Indian Tribe over 50 years ago.

"Over 1,000 letters of support have been sent across the United States and Canada and overseas," said Felter, who lives in Roosevelt. "I am still sending out letters and will continue to do so until the last of September."

The letters sent in regard to Felter v. Kempthorne (formerly Felter v. Norton) ask for involvement in the case from others in all walks of life. It is the plaintiffs' way of gaining momentum by spreading the news about what happened to 490 Uinta band members in the mid-1950s when they were taken off the tribal rolls and their world changed, said Felter.

Three years ago, Felter and hundreds of other terminated mixed-blood Uintas and their descendants filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to have the termination order overturned. They got a ruling in the case earlier this year, but it was not what they hoped for.

U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts ruled to dismiss their claims for redress because the statute of limitations had expired in 1967. After careful study of the ruling, Dennis Chappabitty, a Sacramento, Calif., attorney who represents the plaintiffs in the Felter case, said that he would appeal last February's federal court decision.

The appeal is expected to be filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia before the end of August, Chappabitty said Tuesday.

"We are asking the Court of Appeals to reverse Judge Roberts' decision on dismissal and return it back to him for further action and a decision on the merits of the Felter case," he said.

In preparation for the appeal, Chappabitty asked his clients to send out letters educating people about the reason for the lawsuit.

The Uinta band members' names were taken off of the official rolls of the Ute Indian Tribe because of the Ute Partition Act of 1954, but they maintain there was never a legal vote on their termination.