IRS PLANS TO SELL CROW CREEK SIOUX NDN LAND

The Internal Revenue Service plans to auction land on one of America's poorest Indian reservations, the Crow Creek Reservation east of Pierre, according to a federal lawsuit that seeks to block the sale. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe sought to block the auction scheduled for 10 a.m. today in Highmore. A judge denied the request but indicated he will set the case for trial, said Terry Pechota, the lawyer for Crow Creek Tribal Farms Inc. Although the auction will occur, no land would change hands until sometime after a court date in late March, said Duane St. John, a member of the tribal council. The auction would sell about 7,100 acres of land on the reservation, according to a lawsuit filed late Monday in U.S. District Court for South Dakota.

The tribe has been planning to develop wind energy, and "this is our prime wind energy land - it's prime wind energy land in the whole United States," St. John said. "So that's going to be another big hurt to us."

The IRS intends to auction the land to settle delinquent federal employment taxes owed by the tribe, the lawsuit states. As of August, the tribe owed the IRS about $3.1 million in back taxes, penalties and interest, according to the lawsuit. The estimated value of the land is $4.6 million, according to a Pierre appraisal company, the court records show.  "For decades, the land was lived upon and used by members of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe," according to the lawsuit, which maintains that "a plethora of federal laws" protect such land and that it should not be sold.

"Cultural activities were conducted upon the land. Members died and were buried on the land," the lawsuit states.

St. John said four families now living on the land also could be displaced if it is sold.

IRS spokeswoman Carrie Resch said the agency's policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

"It is pretty unusual for the IRS to be engaged with a tribe trying to collect taxes like this," said David Getches, dean of the University of Colorado Law School. Tribes typically are not subject to federal taxes, but there are exceptions to that rule for business entities associated with tribes, such as casinos, Getches said.

"What is scary to tribes is the prospect of having lands that they own being auctioned off for back taxes," Getches said.. . . (read more)

Crow Creek Sioux flag of their nation