This weekend, the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA) is bringing people from 10 states to Riverton to “inform” and “educate” us about federal Indian policy. They insist that they respect all cultures. Their descriptions of themselves and their motives might seem reasonable to many residents of Wyoming. So why would they be listed in a publication on white supremacist activity in Montana published by the Montana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights? The Citizens Equal Rights Alliance members insist that their organization was formed to assist tribal members. We have heard this before. When the Wind River Indian Reservation (then the Shoshone Reservation) was reduced in size in 1872 to cut out the gold fields of South Pass, it was rationalized as protecting the Indians from the miners. The Shoshone tribe received a pittance for the land and nothing for the gold. Fortunately, federal Indian policy changed, and the tribes retained their oil and gas resources. CERA literature talks about taxpayers subsidizing tribal governments. In fact, the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribal governments rely largely upon income from tribally owned oil and gas wells. Meanwhile the severance tax revenue from the Indian-owned oil and gas goes to the state of Wyoming.Get the Story:
Marjane Ambler: Equal rights for whom? (The Casper Star-Tribune 6/13) Also Today:
Northern Arapaho Business Council urges civility toward anti-Indian group (County 10 6/13)
Small turnout for CERA Workshop at Riverton City Hall; EPA decision said to be unconstitutional (County 10 6/13)
Group's arrival sparks concern among tribes (The Casper Star-Tribune 6/12)
Related Stories
Northern Arapaho Tribe criticizes anti-Indian
group's meeting (6/9)
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