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Snoqualmie Lawsuit Claims Member Ousted For Religious Reasons

By Howard M. Friedman

Yesterday's SnoValley Star reports that nine members of the Snoqualmie Tribe of Indians who were banished by the tribe's new government have filed suit against the Tribe in federal district court in Washington state. Plaintiffs claim the banishments violate the Indian Civil rights Act, the Tribe's constitution and various provisions of the U.S. constitution. The suit in part claims that one of the defendants, Linda Sweet Baxter, purportedly charged with crimes amounting to treason, was in fact ousted for her leadership in the Indian Shaker Church, a Christian-based fundamentalist religion. Baxter apparently has "admonish[ed] Tribal leaders in the name of the great spirit." The suit was brought in federal court because the tribe has never set up its own tribal courts. Disputes over the Tribe's new casino and other spending by the Tribe appear to lurk in the background in the dispute.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 05, 2008 (boomark / email).