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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho Indian To Fight Bison Killing Charge

Compiled From Wire Services

Robert Miller, a member of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, plans to fight charges that he illegally killed a bison near West Yellowstone last November.

Tribal attorney Candy Jackson said Miller maintains 19th Century treaties between his tribe and the U.S. government allow him to hunt in parts of Montana and Yellowstone National Park.

Those places were traditional Indian hunting lands long before park or state boundaries were established, she said.

Miller was cited and jailed for two days after killing the bison.

But the state is now considering dropping the charges, said Wayne Phillips, an attorney for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

It would be an attempt by the state to encourage the tribes to hunt brucellosis-infected bison in the park, Phillips said.