The Ute Tribe Business Committee has issued an edict to all tribal staff and members that the tribe will "no longer purchase items or do other business within Roosevelt city."
The announcement came two days after U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins lifted an injunction that had prohibited Roosevelt from charging tribal members a sales tax and from prosecuting tribal members arrested in Roosevelt for misdemeanor crimes.Jenkins' decision to lift the injunction was the result of a recent 10th Circuit Court of Appeals mandate confirming a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that removed "homestead land" - such as Roosevelt - from within the reservation boundaries.
According to Business Committee Chairman Ronald J. Wopsock, the tribe will only purchase items in Roosevelt that cannot be obtained elsewhere and will soon urge their members to "avoid Roosevelt city for all purposes."
Wopsock said the tribe's boycott of Roosevelt has nothing to do with the judge's ruling, but is the result of the city's "refusal to discuss issues of mutual concern with the tribe."
Roosevelt city officials said the opportunity to communicate with the tribe was never presented to them.