By Sandra Chereb
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. — American Indian and states' rights activists say they may attempt to disrupt the transfer of livestock confiscated from a northern Nevada tribe and sold at auction Friday by the Bureau of Land Management.

"We're contemplating what we can do to hold up the trucks," Jackie Holmgren, a member of the Nevada Committee for Full Statehood, said Friday as about 30 protesters gathered at the BLM's wild horse and burro center 15 miles north of Reno where the seized cattle were being held.

"I don't know if we'll lay down in front of the trucks or what we're going to do," said Holmgren, whose group denounces federal ownership of Nevada's public land. "This is a peaceful demonstration, but we want to show we don't agree."

Most of the 30 protesters at the corral early Friday had left by mid-afternoon, but Holmgren said reinforcements were expected to arrive today to keep watch over the impounded livestock.

The 157 head of cattle seized last week from Raymond Yowell and the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone south of Elko were sold to two bidders for $27,444, BLM spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said.

Yowell had estimated the value of the herd at $100,000.

The BLM said the tribe's livestock association owed about $2.5 million in unpaid grazing fees and fines that have accumulated since 1984.

The government received four separate bids on the cattle, offered in three separate lots, during a one-hour bidding window that commenced at 8 a.m. — two minutes after a federal judge refused a temporary injunction sought by the tribe.

U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben ruled the auction could go forward, rejecting an argument that selling the cattle would irreparably harm the tribe. However, he ordered the federal government to hold on to any money it gets from the sale until legal issues are worked out.

The two successful bidders, who were not immediately identified, will have until 4 p.m. Sunday to pick up the cattle, under terms of the auction listed on bidding sheets.

Lawyers for Yowell and the tribe contend the land the cows were seized from belongs to the tribe under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley — a pact they say gave the Western Shoshone title to 26 million acres covering roughly half of Nevada and parts of Utah, Idaho and California.

The BLM says a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision made clear the land is public land and under the management of the federal government.

The tribe paid the BLM grazing fees from 1940 to 1984, but then stopped.

"The Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863 gives us title to the land. This supersedes any other laws the Interior Department has," said Allen Moss of Reno, subchief of the Western Shoshone National Council.

"They have lied to us before. Now it is up to the federal government to show how or when the Shoshone people ever lost title to the land," he said.

But government lawyers and state BLM Director Bob Abbey say that issue was decided in the courts years ago.

Abbey called the confiscation and resulting tension with the tribe and other activists frustrating and counterproductive.

"There are opportunities to look at the reservations to see if there's a need to provide for some expansion," Abbey said. "Unfortunately, we spend too much time debating the Ruby Valley Treaty."

A handful of Indians picketed outside BLM headquarters as bids were accepted inside, but most of the protesters congregated at the gates of the holding facility where the cattle are penned.

Tribal members formed a circle, beating drums and reciting prayers, while other demonstrators carried signs. One read: "God, guns, guts, gave us freedom and liberty."

Friday's auction was the second in six months of cattle impounded by the BLM. In November, the BLM seized 62 head from Goldfield rancher Ben Colvin. Jackie and David Holmgren, leaders in the states' rights movement and Mineral County ranchers, said they've also received trespass notices from the BLM for alleged illegal grazing.

June 1, 2002

E-mail this story to a friend | Printer-friendly version