Timbisha Shoshone Tribe
On June 10, 2010, the Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe to stop an act of Congress that will take money belonging to the Timbisha Shoshone and other Western Shoshone tribes. This suit challenges the power of Congress to control and even take Indian money and other property.
The case arises out of the astonishing injustices the federal government has meted out to the Western Shoshone tribes, including the Timbisha, in order to divest them of rights to their lands in Nevada and California. These nine tribes live on tiny remnants of their lands, while the federal government controls nearly all their homelands. Gold is mined extensively throughout much of the area.
For more than a century, Congress has done practically whatever it wished with Indian property and Indian monies held by the federal government. Such congressional acts have rarely been challenged, almost never successfully.
A successful lawsuit could prevent Congress from freely taking or controlling Indian property and funds. Tribes could have much greater ability to manage their affairs if they could stop unjustified government control and confiscation of their property. We are fighting the government’s efforts to dismiss the suit and are trying to overcome the predisposition of the courts to deny tribes the constitutional rights that others enjoy.