HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Records say tribal officials in Montana detained dozens of people because they didn't want street people or transients to be the face of a rodeo event in Fort Peck.

The minutes of the tribe's law and justice committee and documents summarizing a Bureau of Indian Affairs investigation appear to support claims in a lawsuit filed last month on behalf of 31 tribal members.

They claim they were hauled to the tribal jail's yard that July and held without adequate shelter, toilet facilities and medical care before being released a day after the Wild Horse Stampede.

Bureau documents say law enforcement officers told an agency official they questioned the legality of the roundup.

Officials from the tribes, bureau, Roosevelt County and Wolf Point declined comment.

 

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