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Federal court judge hears Mille Lacs band/county testimony before overflow crowdBy Joel Stottrup Neither side in the case of Mille Lacs County vs. the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe over a reservation boundary dispute were given an idea during a federal court hearing Friday in St. Paul how the case will turn out. But the approximately 115 people who attended the hearing, at the end of which Judge James Rosenbaum simply said he would take the arguments under advisement, probably got their admission's worth, even if it was free. The hearing was the result of a lawsuit the county filed early last year asking federal court to determine if the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe has a reservation of 61,000 acres, as it has contended in recent years. The county has countered that the Indian band has only a few thousand acres, such as where its casino, government center, museum and other property is located, mainly along Mille Lacs Lake. The county board claims the 61,000-acre reservation that existed in 1855 has since been disestablished by a treaty. One of the band's first moves was to ask federal court to give a summary judgment to dismiss the county's lawsuit on three points. Attorneys for both sides gave their arguments over about a hour's time Friday on the seventh floor of the federal courthouse in St. Paul. About 45 people from Mille Lacs County, many from near the lake of that name, rode by bus to attend the hearing. But when it came time for the reservation dispute hearing at 11 a.m., it was delayed about 20 minutes because of the size of the audience. An overflow crowd of 15 to 20 people had to sit in a jury-assembly room. Then, in what the judge called a rare occurrence and a court staff person called a first-time event, a speaker phone was placed on the judge's bench. The attorneys were asked to speak toward the phone so the proceedings could be heard by the overflow crowd. Judge Rosenbaum pressed hard questions at attorneys from both sides -- Tom Tobin for the county and Scott Knudson representing First National Bank of Milaca that was intervening on the side of the county, and Mark Sloan, representing the band. But no one who attended Friday morning will know the results of the hearing until Rosenbaum has finished his review. Then, the case will continue toward a June trial date or be dismissed by Judge Rosenbaum. Princeton Union-Eagle |