Disenrolled Paiutes hope for reinstatement order

Jace Radke

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 | 8:39 a.m.

Fourteen disenrolled members of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe are waiting for an order that will determine if they will be let back into the tribe after being kicked out in 1999.

After three days of hearings at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort northwest of Las Vegas, Judge William Johnson of the Umatilla Valley Reservation near Pendleton, Ore., said he would issue an order in the case within the next 90 days.

At issue is a 1999 mandate by the Las Vegas Paiute tribal council that banned people from the tribe if they do not have one-quarter Southern Paiute heritage, despite the fact that their ancestors are on a 1940 census roll.

In June 2003 an appellate court recognized the 1940 roll as the base for determining tribal membership and remanded the case back to the local tribal court for a decision within six months.

Since then the local tribal court judge has resigned and no progress had been made until last week's hearings before Johnson.

The disenrolled members have been unable to collect annual disbursements of about $100,000 a year from the tribe's businesses, including three golf courses and a smoke shop.

A decision in the matter has been slowed by the resignation of local attorney Greg Koppe from his position as tribal judge in September. In a letter to then-tribal chairwoman Gloria Hernandez, Koppe cited apparent tampering with court records and files and the firing of the court clerk without his notification or consultation.

In a letter responding to Koppe's allegations, Hernandez denied that there had been any tampering with court files and stated that the firing of the clerk was a unanimous decision by the tribal council.