From Intercontinental Cry (intercontinentalcry.org):
“The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has auctioned off 7,100 acres of land belonging to the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in central South Dakota, one of the most impoverished reservations in the United States.
The land was sold on Thursday in a bold but hardly shocking attempt by the IRS to recover $3.1 million in federal employment taxes, penalty charges and interest that was owed by the Tribe.
According to a recent lawsuit filed by the tribe, the IRS acted unlawfully because the land is owned by Crow Creek Tribal Farms Inc., a corporation formed under Tribal law.
The lawsuit further contends that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) misinformed the tribe, telling them “that, because it was a federally recognized Tribe, it was not necessary to pay federal employment taxes.””