Indian commissioner worried about voting rights case

Friday, February 16, 2007  

The first Indian person to win election in Fremont County, Wyoming, said she was worried a voting rights lawsuit will set back Indian and non-Indian relations.

Keja Whiteman, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was elected to the county commission last year. She said she doesn't support the lawsuit, which accuses the county of violating the voting rights of residents of the Wind River Reservation.

"I'm worried this lawsuit will take us back 10 years in Fremont County in race relations," she said in court, the Associated Press reported.

Five members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and of the Northern Arapaho Tribe want the county's at-large system changed. They want to create districts created, with one to represent the reservation.

Get the Story:
Indian commissioner testifies against suit (AP 2/16)

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