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JULY 31, 2000

Anti-Indian groups seem to be springing up all around the country, but don't count the North Central Idaho Jurisdictional Alliance as one of them, says Daniel M Johnson, the group's chairman.

"It's all about jurisdiction," said Johnson of the group's challenges to the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho. "This is not a race issue. We are not racists."

Since 1996, the Alliance has challenged the tribe's authority on several issues, including taxation and water rights. Besides believing that much of the reservation no longer exists as Indian Country, the Alliance says the tribe cannot interfere in the activities of non-Indians.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday struck down the Alliance's first assertion. By refusing to dismiss criminal charges against Christopher Webb, a Nez Perce tribal member, the court upheld the reservation boundaries as established by an 1863 treaty.

The Alliance attempted to intervene in Webb's case, but were turned down by the court. Johnson also says they were denied access to public records used in the case, yet they are forced to abide by the court's ruling.

For Johnson, the denied access represents one of the primary reasons the Alliance is opposing the tribe.

"We have no voice or representation [in tribal government]," says Johnson. "That is such a principle of all citizens. All citizens have grown up with equal representation of the law."

All citizens, except those on the Nez Perce reservation, says Johnson. His grandfather was a homesteader who, like many others, came to Idaho 100 years ago when the tribe's land was opened up to white settlement under the Dawes Act of 1887.

He believes no one would have moved knowing he or she would end up living in a reservation. "Nobody wants to move into a foreign nation where they would never be a citizen," said Johnson.

"It would be like me going to Cuba," he added.

Similar views on equal representation in tribal government were recently echoed in Johnson's neighboring state of Washington. There, the state Republican party came under fire for passing a resolution in June calling for the abolishment of "non-republican" tribal governments.

The Alliance has seen its own share of criticism. They have come under attack for adopting a controversial essay which predicts violence if the Nez Perce tribe continues to assert jurisdiction over non-tribal members.

In June, the Alliance was criticized by a researcher for the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, a Washington-based human rights organization, for using a "language of equality" to attack tribal rights.

"They say, `Everyone in the United States should be under the same law.' What this means is that the tribal government should be done away with," said Robert Crawford. "It's a form of forced assimilation -- to do away with the means by which tribal culture is protected."

But Johnson disagrees with these and other characterizations that they are racist. The Alliance says they are not trying to eliminate tribal government.

"They [the tribe] would still have their heritage and culture," sais Johnson. "We don't see our position as taking anything away from the Nez Perce people."

Johnson said that he'd become a tribal member, if given the option by the tribe. "I'd shut up tomorrow," said Johnson.

"Give me a vote, give me a voice," he said.

But with Johnson's estimation of only 10 to 12 percent of the reservation consisting of tribal members, he doubts the tribe would ever consider the option.

Get the Nez Perce decision:
USA v. Webb (9th Circuit. No. 9930155. 7/00)

Related Stories:
Court upholds Nez Perce treaty (Tribal Law 7/31)
Bigotry discussed (The Talking Circle 06/21)
Nez Perce dispute heats up (Tribal Law 7/19)
Couple may sue city over essay (Tribal Law 6/15)

Relevant Links:
The Nez Perce Tribe - www.nezperce.org
Nez Perce Treaties Site - members.stratos.net/cpetras/index.htm
North Central Idaho Jurisdictional Alliance www.camasnet.com/~stingray/ncija