The Oglala Sioux Tribeof South Dakota took out a $1.1 million loan to pay off a $1.5 million debt in a sovereign immunity dispute.

The tribe failed to pay C&W Construction, an Indian-owned company, for road work on the Pine Ridge Reservation. After winning a court ruling, the firm secured a $1.5 million levy on the tribe's funds.

"The tribe's now in a situation, financially, they have no choice," Russ Janklow, an attorney for C&W, told The Rapid City Journal.

The tribe is using its share of a motor fuel tax as collateral for the $1.1 million loan. The tribe's transportation department, which relies on the tax revenues, has laid off seven employees and will stop doing some road maintenance as a result.

Get the Story:
OST road debt loan shuts down highways (The Rapid City Journal 4/24)

District Court Decision:
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. C&W Enterprises (March 25, 2009)

8th Circuit Decision:
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. C&W Enterprises (September 5, 2008)

Related Stories:
Oglala Sioux Tribe hit with levy in immunity case (4/21)
Judge allows levy on Oglala Sioux Tribe funds (4/10)
Oglala Sioux Tribe in sovereign immunity dispute (4/3)