Five members of the Blackfeet Tribe filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court recently, seeking compensation for what they allege is the federal government’s illegal use of tribally owned natural resources.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs state they are also seeking affirmation of the tribe’s legal ownership of all natural resources, all water delivery infrastructure and all waterways originating on or passing through the reservation. It names the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior among the defendants in the case.

“This petition is meant to stop all attempts by the above-mentioned public officials and/or institutions who [are] acting in collusion to permit the illegal dispositions of the Blackfeet tribal property,” the complaint states.

Monetary damages are sought for “the illegal capture and utilization of the tribal water right by the Pondera County Canal and Reservoir Company, Milk River Irrigation Association and the St. Mary River Irrigation Districts of Alberta Canada,” along with all other water users on the reservation.

Monte Mills, a University of Montana law professor and co-director of the university’s Indian law clinic, said Wednesday that he doesn’t expect the suit to get very far.

“My guess is the federal officials they’ve named would respond by filing a motion to dismiss,” based on failure to state a claim and sovereign immunity, Mills said. “In order to be able to sue these federal officials, there would have to be some waiver of their sovereign immunity. It doesn’t seem that they have been able to point to any statutes that do that.”

Mills said that after reviewing the two-page complaint, it appeared that the individuals were concerned about how water was being used on the reservation.

On Indian reservations in the U.S., the federal government holds the land and resources in trust for the tribes. A water rights compact for the Blackfeet Tribe was ratified by the state but is still awaiting approval by Congress. While the suit does not mention the compact specifically, Mills said it could have been motivated by disagreement with the terms of the compact.

He also noted that the suit is filed “pro se,” meaning it was filed individually and without an attorney representing the plaintiffs. While the plaintiffs seeks acknowledgment of the tribe’s resource rights, the tribal government is not one of the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are Richard Horn, Duane Many Hides, Roy Ingram, Ernest Olson and Larry M. Reevis.

Officials from the Blackfeet Tribe did not respond to requests for comment. The Bureau of Indian Affairs declined to comment on the case.

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at [email protected].