A non-Indian business owner says he will challenge the jurisdiction of the Colorado River Indian Tribes in federal court. Bob Johnson runs a mobile home resort on 26 acres of tribal land on the California side of the Colorado River. He was paying $2,600 a year in rent, an amount the tribe said was far lower than the market value of $101,500 a year. The dispute ended up before a tribal judge, who sided with the tribal government. An appeal is pending at the tribal appellate court but Johnson said the dispute belongs in federal court. Johnson and a group called Colorado River Residents for Justice claim the tribe was never properly granted land on the California side of the river. The tribe's reservation spans 300,000 acres in California and Arizona. Get the Story:
River eviction dispute in hands of tribal court (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 12/8)