A federal judge dismissed charges of disobeying a federal officer against three members of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community of Minnesota.
Jim Anderson, the tribe's chairman, Chris Mato Nunpa and Susu Jeffrey were charged when they tried to enter Coldwater Spring without a federal permit. The spring, under control of the Bureau of Mines, is a sacred Dakota site.
Anderson and the two other men cited an 1805 treaty and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in their defense. But Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan bypassed the treaty and religious issues and dismissed the charges because he said federal prosecutors did not prove the men committed a crime.
The Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community is not federally recognized.
Get the Story:Charges against Indians dismissed (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 5/11)
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Judge throws out Coldwater Spring case (Minnesota Public Radio 5/10) $rl Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community - http://www.mendotadakota.org
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