The Ute Indian Tribe issued a press release on Tuesday, February 11th titled “Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Ute Indian Tribe’s Exclusive Right to Control its Lands”. The release states: “On January 9th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth
Circuit reaffirmed its position that the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation has the exclusive power to control hunting and fishing rights on its tribal lands. In United States v. Uintah Valley Shoshone Tribe, the court affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, holding that the ‘Uintah Valley Shoshone Tribe’ is not a federally recognized Indian tribe, does not have governmental powers, and does not have the authority to sell hunting and fishing licenses on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.” The press release went into further details, including comments from Luke Duncan, chairman of the Ute Indian Tribe. In closing, Duncan said, “The Ute Indian Tribe applauds the Tenth Circuit’s recognition that the Uintah Valley Shoshone group has no authority within the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and its ruling that upholds the tribe’s exclusive authority to issue hunting and fishing licenses within the reservation.”
